originallutece | (no subject)

He’s important to you, isn’t he?

What was he to you at home?

[ sweats. ]

Yeah.
Yeah, he's really important to me.
He's one of my best friends, here and at home.

[ derek's.. more than that, actually, but. well. hhhhh. ]

[There's just enough of a pause to indicate some doubt.]

He has more depth than I first thought.

I could live without the flexing and the defensiveness, but. I'm more fond of him than I was.

He's... been through a lot.
The flexing and defensiveness is mostly just him protecting himself.
But he's a good dude once you get past all of that.
Don't tell him I said any of this, he'll kill me.

But also: you're fond of Derek. Noted.

I am.

He's been . . . helpful, these past few weeks, when it's come to my transformation.

Good. I'm glad.
I mean that.
How's all of that been going though?
Is that guy still being a massive d-bag?

I haven't spoken to him since then. I doubt I will again; the kind word for what he is, is "prideful". He'll never admit he was wrong or that he was lashing out in self-loathing; instead, he'll go to the end of his days insisting he was correct and morally justified in threatening me, because of course I'm a bloody child who can't be trusted to control herself.

[she's still mad]

So that's a yes.
Let him be miserable if he wants.
Did you tell him you were going to do it before you did it?
Not that it matters.
Not that you were obligated to tell anyone at all.
I'm just curious.

No.

It wasn't his business-- and honestly, I wasn't certain I'd do it until the night of.

Besides: I knew he wouldn't understand. I supposed I hoped that once the deed was done and there was no chance of my backing out, he'd try to see reason.

What is he, the vamp king?
I don't get why he's so mad about it.
Does he have like, a monopoly on vampires?
Is he just mad he didn't get to turn you first?

[ actually, this kind of reminds stiles of scott, and how despite being a werewolf himself, he used to talk about lycanthropy like it was some kind of curse. ]

God, no. He was turned against his will, and the laws and rules governing his existence are more difficult to bear. He finds it a cursed state of being.

All well and good for him. What irks me is his patronizing attitude-- that not only do I not know what's best for myself, but that I-- I-- was a fool who acted out of emotion instead of rational logic. The rules governing us are different, and frankly, it's far more pleasant than being human.

Before I unpack the rest of that: are you saying that there are different rules for vampires who are bitten against their will and those who ask for it?

No. I'm saying there are different rules between universes. If Dr. Reid had bitten me, I suspect I'd be the same as him, following the same rules. As it stands, I was bitten by Alucard.

So okay
Let me just
Get this straight then
This guy is mad because you
-Took the time to think about it
-Weighed the pros and cons - and I know you did, because I had you do it with me
-Told at least one person you were considering it just in case it went wrong
-And now abide by the rules that apply to the world the vampire that bit you comes from
That's what he's mad about
-That's what he's willing to kill you over

[ sounds like a whole lot of buuuullshit, but ok. ]

Yes.

[There's a lot of judgement packed into that one word, but she sighs sharply after a minute and adds:]

In any case. Let's return to Derek, shall we? I'd like to understand him a bit better.

Edited 2019-03-24 21:49 (UTC)

Uh, okay.
Shouldn't you just talk to him then?

Obviously.

But I'd like an outside perspective as well.

For example: defensiveness is all well and good, but this is the man who refused to give me his name because he was so puffed up. That's more than mere defensiveness, Stiles.

Except it's not.
The Hales were a prominent family back where we come from. They gained a lot of attention for their contributions and their efforts in helping rebuild Beacon Hills.
And they also gained a lot of negative attention from people who were less than thrilled about them merely existing.
Derek not wanting to give his name to a stranger is absolutely him being defensive because he has reason to be defensive.

Edited (hhhh.) 2019-03-25 01:07 (UTC)

Even here?

This is the sort of information I mean, though.

They've brought a hunter here before.
One we knew from home.

[ hunter's daughter, to be specific, and too early in her timeline to know anything about her family and what they do, but stiles knows what she turns into, at least for a while. ]

Everybody knows Derek back home.
But Derek doesn't know everybody.
And that means anybody could be an enemy to him.
Giving his name flat out would be just the same as painting a target on his back.