(001) Video

[voluntaryapnea]

[Well here we go. He is on a ship and he thinks for the briefest of moments about making a joke about calling it the Ship of Dreams because Lydia has made him watch Titanic a few too many times. But it sounds lame even to him, and he's still not feeling that great about...anything, really.

After a long moment of hesitation, he turns the camera on and gives a small smile that looks a bit more like a grimace than anything. His tone is light and friendly, even if his expression is tired, his skin a bit too pale, and there are bags under his eyes that indicate it's been awhile since he's had any decent sleep. He's still cold, still achy and nauseous, but he knows he's going to get better from that eventually. In theory.]

So I have to admit that the irony in this is kind of hilarious. I mean, my dad's a sheriff and I'm not even out of high school and here I am on a ship about to be a warden.

[He pauses. Warden definitely beats being possessed, so he's rolling with it. It's what he does.]

Can't say this is exactly how I figured things would turn out, buuuut. [He shrugs, looking down for a moment.] It sort of does beat the alternative, so I guess I'm happy to be here.

I'm Stiles Stilinski.

Comments

[voluntaryapnea]

[Normal is definitely something Stiles needs right now. Desperately. He slips his shoes off and pushes them under the bed.]

So how long have you been on ye old ship, Scottie?

[semifreakingnormal]

Um-- [He has to think back, and counts on his fingers - the months here and the months at home didn't really coincide for him - and his eyebrows rise in surprise.]

Um, seven months. I didn't...whoa. I didn't know it was that long.

[voluntaryapnea]

[Seven months. He tries to imagine it. To imagine what it's been like for Scott all this time with no one from home around. Tries to picture how he might have faired for that long himself. Without his dad or Scott or Lydia. It's a strange feeling.]

Over half a year.

[semifreakingnormal]

Seriously. Man.

[Over half a year - not alone, because Scott makes friends easily enough, and he's had friends here. But homesick. Missing other people. Missing his mom, and Stiles, and Allison.

Maybe it's time to go back. See them, and - find out what happens.]

It hasn't felt like that long.

[voluntaryapnea]

[He's glad that Scott makes friends easily, even if Stiles is the opposite. He can be friendly with people if he can shut off the sarcasm for a few minutes and not inadvertently end up being rude. But actual friends? Scott was his only friend growing up and he was always fine with that. Now he has Lydia, too. Even that's different, really, but they're definitely friends.

But he's glad that Scott makes friends easily because the thought that he's been here for seven months without friends would be distressing.]

I don't understand this whole weird time thing. I mean you never vanished from home. Like, not even for a day, dude.

[And he would know. If he didn't notice on his own that Scott had went AWOL, Melissa definitely would have and she would have called him first thing. He lets out a breath and scoots to the far side of his bed before laying down, leaving Scott plenty of room next to him.]

[semifreakingnormal]

I guess that's good, though.

[He pushes out of the chair and hops onto the bed, siting cross legged and looking down at Stiles. Laying down is probably good. Sleep is probably better. It doesn't bother him, hanging out to make sure Stiles does catch a few winks.]

I mean, people say that like, no time passes while you're here. You just hit pause, I guess. And the Admiral can just...grab people at different points in time? I guess?

[He shakes his head: time flux issues are way beyond him.] I don't know. It's like a comic book. Like, find me in the future or something.

[voluntaryapnea]

Yeah, in the way that I and your mom and half of Beacon Hills would have been freaking the hell out if you suddenly vanished off the face of the earth.

[Stiles looks up at him silently for a moment, contemplating that. It means even though he's about to die back home, he hasn't vanished, and that's good. At least there will be some sense of closure and not a lot of what the hell is going on? and people out searching for him for no reason.]

Sounds about right, I guess, yeah. [He chews his thumbnail, gaze flickering up to the ceiling that's decorated with tiny stars and planets that he and Scott had stuck up there when they were kids. They were stuck around haphazardly since they'd been little and had to climb on the furniture. He can still remember his dad finding him standing on top of his headboard and Scott on top of his dresser that day -- pausing in the doorway, shaking his head and backing back out like nope. Not doing this today.]

[semifreakingnormal]

Maybe just you and my mom. [And maybe Allison. Scott just smiles a little; it's always been Stiles and his mom, on his list of people to really care about. Then again, he's always been terrible at not caring about people.

Following Stiles' gaze, he tilts his head back, looks up at the ceiling. His smile turns into an all out grin, though, when he sees what caught Stiles' attention. He remembers that day too.]

Dude, those are still up there?

[voluntaryapnea]

Dude, you're the captain of the lacrosse team. A lot of people would have noticed.

[He glances at Scott and can't help but smile, too.]

I think they're there for eternity, dude. And they still glow. Kind of impressive.

[semifreakingnormal]

Co-captain. [Grump grump sharing anything with Jackson, but whatever.] No way. Aren't those things supposed to die, like, after a few months? How many years has it been?

[voluntaryapnea]

[Not anymore, Stiles thinks, but he isn't sure if he should tell Scott that at this point. How much should you tell someone about the future? He doesn't really know.]

Same thing. And...we were what, seven? So like ten years. Obviously it's magic.

[semifreakingnormal]

Beacon Hills needs more magic like this. [The non-deadly, doesn't-make-you-piss-your-pants kind. Scott leans back, grinning as he remembers how they got them up there.]

I totally fell off your dresser, didn't I.

[voluntaryapnea]

[He can't help but chuckle.]

Twice, dude. You fell off my dresser twice. I thought for sure you broke something the second time.

[semifreakingnormal]

Wait, I didn't break something? [It's okay to laugh, Stiles. Scott is grinning outright.]

[voluntaryapnea]

Well, you definitely broke a couple of my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures, but I meant like an arm or something.

[He looks at Scott and grins, relaxing at the trip down memory lane.]

[semifreakingnormal]

Oh, yeah. Sorry dude. [Not that sorry though, because he's still snorting. When Christmas roles around, he is most definitely going to be requesting some Ninja Turtle action figures for Stiles.] Good thing your dad didn't see.

[voluntaryapnea]

[Stiles snorts at the apology, then laughs, shaking his head. Only Scott would still be apologizing nearly ten years later after breaking Stiles' toys.]

Seriously. [His poor dad. And Scott's poor mom, for that matter. The two of them must have caused their parents so many near heart attacks over the years while they were growing up.]

Pretty sure the whole thing was my idea though.

[semifreakingnormal]

[It's just a really, really good thing that his mom is a nurse. It kept the medical bills down, at least a little.]

Dude, it's always your idea. [Which he can say without any kind of gripe; it's a way of life. Stiles has crazy ideas, and Scott goes with them.]

[voluntaryapnea]

[And that Stiles' dad is the sheriff. Because it's probably kept them out of jail quite a few times by now.]

Yeaaah. Why do you listen to my ideas, dude? They're usually terrible. [He smiles, though, because Scott is smiling and he knows that Scott isn't holding any of those bad ideas against him.]

[semifreakingnormal]

[Oh, yeah. They'd be accidental delinquents several times over by now if not for the good Sheriff.]

Yeah, maybe, but they're never boring. [He grins, shrugs. Because Beacon Hills used to be a boring little town, in their very narrowed view of the world, and Stiles made it less so.]

[voluntaryapnea]

[He might have made it less boring, but it also kind of resulted in Scott becoming a werewolf. Bad. Ideas. Scott. So very bad.]

Some of them aren't as bad as others?

[semifreakingnormal]

[On the plus side, he survived? Yay? He could have died, so clearly everything worked out.]

Yeah, sometimes I only break Ninja Turtle dudes instead of like, my arm.

[voluntaryapnea]

[This is true. And yay no more asthma?]

Annnnd I'm glad about that. Arms aren't replaceable. Ninja Turtles are.

[semifreakingnormal]

[Yes!! And yay first line!! See, thinks work out great.]

Yeah, but they heal. I mean, I practically face planted into glass that one time, and I'm okay!

[Remarkable healing, even before he was a wolf u_u]

[voluntaryapnea]

[And there's that reminder of why Scott's dad left that he's known about for years and never uttered a word to Scott about.]

Yeah, I know, dude. You're a champ. [He's so very tempted to reach out and ruffle your hair right now, Scott.]