entranceway | 2 ☽ text

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[ she's been missing for a month. cora doesn't know it for certain, but she can sense something is different about wonderland. it's the smell, the way the leaves crunched differently beneath her feet when she walked out of the woods earlier that day. she can't quite put her finger on what's different, but she knows that the world she had left behind earlier that morning (five weeks ago) has somehow shifted on its axis. ]

[ however, despite her suspicions, cora's not going to bother with the pleasantries. nor is she going to bother to ask. she doesn't do network posts — doesn't see the purpose in them — but she'd been out for a run in the woods. she'd gone out in hopes of pushing herself out of her negative headspace, but has only seemed to dive further in it. ]

Throw a dog a bone. Anyone know any good jokes? Could use a couple. My brother doesn't smile much and it'd be nice to see him :) for once. Or :D if I'm lucky.

[ ha ha. something is off and perhaps it's because derek hale has learnt how to smile. ]

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It actually imploded? You laughed, didn't you?

[ clearly she's missed a lot. it's still difficult to wrap her head around it, the whole idea that derek might not actually be joking. he's not much of a joker, not like stiles, so she can simply assume that what he says is actual fact. cora's not sure how she feels about it, the idea that she's been missing and that she hadn't even noticed she was missing. ]

[ and, damn, she must've been out in the woods for a really long time. ]

Tea room. Not really liking tea.

Everyone thinks it was an event.
But yes, I laughed.

[ If they can joke, then they can make this easier, right? That's Stiles' way of coping, typically, and maybe he'll start borrowing it more often. Especially if his little sister is going to go off and disappear after being sick for so long. Is she better? Did she go back home and slip through time the same way the others had in the past?

He doesn't know, and it's worrying him more than would like to admit. But at least she remembers this place. ]

It's not all bad.
Stay there.

[ a joke? but cora doubts it's one of those ha ha i'm being funny to make you laugh sorts of jokes. those don't exactly exist within the hale skill set. the kind of jokes she's used to receiving and giving are usually at the expense of someone else — and they're never intended to be humorous. ]

[ did the world really fall apart? ]

Next time you do, try not to break the world. I'll set a scone aside for you. ;)

[ cora shifts in her seat and stays put. she doesn't particularly have any desire to run away for now. ]

I promise nothing.

[ The Hales take too much delight in schadenfreude, largely because someone out there does the same towards them. Some deity that was wronged by an ancestor, or something, that's decided that they should continue suffering. So of course Derek prefers that humor these days, and any other "attempts" fall short.

Especially when he's too distracted by tracking down his sister, wherever she's tucked herself away now. It's not that difficult, but by the time he does find her he can feel some of the tension that's built up start to disperse. ]

There you are.

[ cora stands — and, rather than reeling it in and doubting herself, acts on instinct. she moves towards derek and envelopes him in a hug. this is what allison had said to do, didn't she? but cora's not doing it because allison said to, she's doing it because she wants to. holding herself back from going after the things she wants has earned her nothing but pain and regret. (she should've thrown peter off the second floor of the abandoned centre where they had thought they had lost derek for good when she had had the chance.) ]

[ allison had told her, in very few words, that falling back into the old habits and wants of an eleven year old didn't necessarily make her less tough. ignoring what her heart wants her to do makes her weak. ]

Before you ask, I'm okay.

Edited 2014-03-29 02:08 (UTC)

[ Though the two of them are particularly tactile with one another on any given day, Derek is a little caught off guard by the hug. It's admittedly surprising, but he doesn't tense up or pull away. There's only the slightest pause as her arms come around him, and then he's bringing his own up to wrap around her shoulders. Relief washes over him, only helped by the fact he bows his head forward to bury his nose in her hair and he doesn't smell that oil-slick sickness. She's okay, she is.

He shifts one hand up, curls his fingers gently through her hair to touch the back of her neck. It'd been hard, not knowing what had happened to his little sister. But at least she's here now. ]

Not even going to let me be the overbearing brother, huh.

[ cora laughs. her arms tightening around him. for so many years, she had never thought she would get to see him again — and while he had been shorter and leaner, with less muscle for armour to protect him from the cards life deals him, she still finds he smells like the derek in her memory. he just has a little more tragedy in the air about him. ]

Are you really going to let anything stop you?

[ she thought she could bypass it, maybe give him a little bit of a break on being the big brother — but cora doesn't really think anything will stop him, not even her preventing him from asking the one question she will never give a straight answer to, not even to him. but she says it so she doesn't give him the automatic response she gives everyone. i'm fine. i'll be fine. even though it's the truth this time. maybe she can believe herself a little more by not hearing hte words pass his lips, even if the question lingers in the air. ]

No. [ Derek admits it right off the bat, ducking his head down to tuck his nose into her hair. He had told Chris that he wouldn't have been able to recognize her scent, at least enough to track her, but now it seems so stupid. She's warm and bright, this twinge of earth, and he'd be able to recognize it anywhere. It hasn't changed, not really. She's just wearing the same armor that he does.

The question is on the tip of his tongue, and he wants to ask it-- desperately so, because she had been so sick in the hospital, had been starting to show those signs here in Wonderland-- but he bites them back. Instead, he brushes a brief kiss to the top of her head, absent affection that he hadn't thought he could give her for six years. ]

Do you think you're still ticklish? [ It's a better alternative, more lighthearted, a callback to her question. If he can focus on this, then he can turn his attention away from the idea that his sister could've been lost again. ]

[ even though cora wishes derek would stop — isn't that what all little sisters want from their big brothers? — she's relieved to find that he hasn't changed at all. she'll pretend to be bothered by his persistence and his overbearing nature when it comes to her and everything she does, but she finds that it's as welcoming as this embrace — she's gone six years without so much as having that annoying older brother she idolised looking out for her while trying to play it off as anything but reputation damaging. ]

[ cora wrinkles her nose and makes a point of trying to wriggle from his grasp. ] I don't want to find out. [ so don't even try it. but, if derek's the boy she remembers, he'll disregard what she says in a bid to tickle her into something other than grumpiness. she tries to sound stern: ] I'll punch you if you try.

[ Rather than complying, Derek opts to tighten his arms carefully around her. He remembers the two of them being obnoxious towards each other when they were younger, Cora butting into his affairs to get his attention, Derek picking on her as all older siblings were wont to do. But now, they've got a chance to catch up on all that, and he's certainly not going to pass that up. ]

No? [ He shifts around a little, fingers skirting against her ribs experimentally. He knows better than to think that she won't actually slug him, but all the same he risks it with a quirk at the corner of his mouth. The tentative touch turns into actual prodding, little ticklish things. ] Of course you will.

[ threatening derek has never, ever worked, not even when she couldn't slug anything, let alone her pillowcase with her fist. why does she expect him to take note of her threat and heed to her wishes now? it's almost asking for him to do as she wishes him not to, threatening him with a punch if he even tries — but of course he does, and cora's stupid for not thinking he would follow through with his promise. ]

[ she can't help the laughter, but she does attempt to keep her voice stern and threatening. ] Stop! [ cora removes her arms from around his back and makes an effort to snake them between them in order to give him a great, mighty shove against his chest. ]

[ When they were younger, of course they'd rough housed and had play fights. All of her threats had fallen on deaf ears, despite how much of a fight Cora had to her even when she was four, seven, eleven. But he's always been bigger than her, and he's always used that to his advantage when finding all the weak points that get her to squirm and laugh.

To see that it hasn't changed is a relief, in a way.

It's only when she gives the shove that he releases, arms loosening so that she can get space between them. Derek offers her an affectionate look, coupled with a great deal of amusement. The concern is still there, but Cora is lively enough right now that he's briefly soothed. ]

[ free of his assault, cora narrows her eyes and gives derek a shove. ] You are as annoying as you were when you were younger. [ she laughs it out, though, arms coming to wrap around her torso in a bid to protect herself from any future sieges. ]

[ in an attempt to pull herself together, she tries to bite the curve of her mouth into a line, but she finds that it's next to impossible. so, she attempts to harden her voice, but it only comes out as a trickle of faint laughter. ] I'll kick you in the shins next time. [ her attempt at appearing menacing is just as weak as an eleven year-old trying to appear taller than she had been. derek will always be taller and bigger and stronger, but she's agile and at a slight advantage if she happens to muster up tears in a bid to sell the story of him being too rough. she remembers how she used to cry, just to get him in trouble. but she doubts it'll work now — if anything, she believes the pack will jump in and help him. ]

[ to further her menacing facade, she raises her eyebrows and hardens her voice. ] I'm serious.

[ Rather than remain a rock against the shove, Derek relaxes enough that he sways back. Temporarily reassured as he is, it's easy for him to just fall into the roughhousing. So long as Cora is laughing, then he's happy. ] Pretty sure I could say the same for you.

[ But he doesn't mean it, really. For as exasperated as he's been with her since she came back into his life, she... came back into his life. He can't really complain, especially not with how much they get along now compared to how annoyed he'd been with her when they were younger.

A snort escapes him, all clear amusement, and he steps towards her, angled to the side in the event that she does decide to kick him. She's got a lot of tricks up her sleeves-- which is good, she'll need them for when she's up against someone that isn't out to just tickle her. ] I believe you.

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