second scream ♚ voice ♚ seelie only.

[amplified]

Allison?

( Lydia seems... panicked. Bothered. When she fell asleep, she dreamed a lot of things. Remembered a lot of things. Things that, pieced together with how everyone acted around her when she told them what she knew of home, pieced together with how Allison acted around her and how Derek seemed surprised that she wasn't surprised to see Allison, make too much sense to have just been a dream. The time seems to actually have passed for her, at home, living out her life. Losing her best friend. Losing the boy she was sort-of dating. Opening herself up more, learning more about her abilities... She feels the changes here, too. Pieces together with how nobody would tell her what really happened. And now she understands why. She knows. She knows everything. And while she'd started to try to move on and swallow her grief down in Beacon Hills, Allison is here. Alive. And every single wound is reopened. She feels vulnerable, and hurt, and angry, all at the same time. )

I - remember everything. All of it. I fell asleep... I woke up, god knows how much later - seriously, how long was I out? But I woke up, and my memories were different... It was like I lived it all. Every last second. ( She goes quiet for a moment, because she's swallowing down her emotions. It's fresh here. Really, really, very suddenly fresh. )

How did that even happen? What kind of magic are they working with, that they can just send someone to sleep and alter their memories? Because that's seriously powerful, in a way that makes me wonder how much they actually need our help. ( She's going to channel all of her sudden emotional torrent into researching all of this. Because she's not so sure she can handle this ever being a regular thing, and there's no way of knowing whether or not it will be. )

Comments

PRIVATE - Video

[teenyoda]

Lydia?

...

[Shit. He'd been hoping she would stay in blissful ignorance and not know about what happened. And then he felt that wash of guilt all over again. Hell, he was probably the last person she wanted to see right now. But he had to make sure she was okay.]

Are you... I thought you'd left. You've been gone a while.

[She'd been gone through the little excursion that had garnered him new scars and a few new nightmares.]

PRIVATE FOREVER.

[amplified]

Stiles. ( It's barely a breath, relieved that he's still here. Still in one piece. Not a Nogitsune. Back to himself. ) -- How long? I don't think I ever actually left. Just took a little... ( Nap isn't the right word. ) Coma. But I'm here. I'm okay. ( Ish. )

Did you know?

[teenyoda]

Did I know what?

[He could play the game. He could pretend he didn't know anything. He'd been doing it since they first got here and he could continue if it would keep people from unneeded stress and pain.]

[amplified]

That Allison is dead. ( :| Don't fuck with her, her best friend is gone, she mad. )

[teenyoda]

Oh. Right. Yeah...

[He sighed, and scratched at the back of his head.]

Yeah, I knew. Derek knows too. And, ah, Allison.

[amplified]

What? ( She was going to scold him for not telling her. But three of them knew? Three! And they didn't tell her! ) What about Isaac? Stiles, why didn't you tell me?

[teenyoda]

No, Isaac doesn't know, and hey, don't get mad at me. What did you want me to do, dump the information on you on top of getting pulled in here in the first place? And for the record, Allison doesn't want anyone knowing either. That included you and Isaac. And I think she has more call on this than anyone. I'm sorry, Lydia, but...

[His hand lifted, then fell.]

What do you want me to do?

[amplified]

I could tell something was off, Stiles. The way everyone seemed so surprised that I wasn't totally freaked out to see Allison... I knew there was something wrong. I just didn't know what. ( She's not going to chastise him too much, but... Well. She's in pain. And for a moment, her eyes well up and get red, and her voice gets thick. ) Don't hide things from me anymore.

[teenyoda]

I can't... I can't promise anything, Lyds.

[Not if it was anything like that. He'd been put in a bit of a sticky situation; tell the former love of his life or respect the wishes of the dead ex-love of his best friend's life. Decency didn't really fit in, there.]

[amplified]

She's my best friend. ( and she's feeling a little betrayed right now. ) Do you really think, after everything, that I still need protecting? Does she?

[teenyoda]

So who am I supposed to respect more in that situation, Lydia? She asked me not to tell you. It was her thing to tell. Should I just tell her to screw herself because you want to know? If she'd wanted to tell you, she could have. She didn't. She asked me not to tell. I have to respect that.

Yes, I think you need protecting. I'm always going to think you need protecting, but this isn't... this isn't the same thing, okay?

[amplified]

Then I guess I need to be talking to her about this, and not you. ( Lydia flicks her tongue over her lips and drops her gaze, composing herself. Steeling herself. Marble statue time. She's strong and she can do this. She can confront Allison. What she can't confront is Stiles still thinking she's a damsel. )

Of course it is. Actually, it could be worse. Protection from harmful information could become more detrimental than protection from physical pain. The scars last longer. ( Stiles, please. ) I managed to survive Peter's bite, and the Nogitsune. I think I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry about me.

[teenyoda]

I guess you do.

[Oh, hey. Was that him not getting in trouble for something he didn't do? There was a novelty.]

Right. Sure. I'll just shove the last ten years in a garbage disposal and-- oh, wait. They don't have garbage disposals here. Guess you're stuck with me giving a crap. Sorry.

[amplified]

And, I --... Well. I'm sorry for snapping. It isn't your fault, it's just -- ( Mark it in your calendar, Stiles. It's a momentous occasion. ) - You understand, right? If something happened to Scott, you'd want to know. No matter the consequences.

( She rolls her eyes, shakes her head, but she can't help but smile. He still looks out for her. Always. It's something she doesn't fail to notice. ) I can't exactly stop you from worrying... But I can ignore it when you try to tell me what not to do. I'm a big girl, Stiles.

[teenyoda]

I do, but... I'd get it? I'd be pissed, so I'm not saying you shouldn't be, but I'd get it. [Hell, if he wound up dying and Scott showed up here, he wouldn't want him to know. He could understand Scott doing the same. Wouldn't make him feel like a bed of roses, but he'd get it.]

I'm aware of that, Lydia. But I can't just turn my feelings off. Big, little, girl, boy, you're a friend. And I kind of care what happens to you. Just a bit.

[amplified]

I get it - to a degree. I guess I just -- I thought... Maybe she would feel like she could confide in me. Like she would believe I couldn't handle it, or -- I don't know. I'll have to ask her. ( She mostly feels sad about it. )

( A friend. That's right. They're friends now. She's like.. An emotional tether to the real world for him. And he's saved her countless times. She smiles. )

Same to you.

[teenyoda]

Maybe she just didn't want to have her best friend find out about something that she can't do anything about to change. I don't think it's a confidential issue, Lyds, just... It's not really something she might want you to know. Especially here. We're already kind of screwed and adding to that with 'Oh, hey, by the way? I'm dead' just doesn't seem like it would help anyone. It's why she's not telling Isaac, either.

Good.

[And it was. Having Lydia acknowledge him in more than just a 'get out of my way' kind of capacity was still kind of new, but in a good way. A way he was getting used to.]

[amplified]

Isaac - ( Oh, poor Isaac... ) He couldn't handle it at all. I think he really cares for her.

( She draws in a deep breath and her smile widens. ) I suppose I should thank you.

[teenyoda]

He does. We all do. And it's just one more thing he doesn't need to worry about.

Yeah? Thank me for what?

[amplified]

( There's nothing more she can really say to that, she just nods with a quiet 'mmhm' )

-- Everything? Helping me figure out -- whatever this ability is, that I have. For being there for me in general. For being a good friend. I don't think I've ever told you.

[teenyoda]

Hey, you don't have to tell me. That's just... it's what friends do, okay?

[Not that he wasn't secretly pleased that she'd noticed and that it had meant something.]

[amplified]

Still... I haven't always been all that friendly to you. So I feel like I owe you at least a thank you.

[teenyoda]

The past is the past, right? We've moved beyond that. We're friends now and that's good enough for me.

[amplified]

I'd say we're closer than just regular friends. We've been through a lot together. You're -- ( How does she even describe it? ) -- One of the most important people in my life.

[teenyoda]

[Well, didn't that fill him with warm fuzzies?]

We're a pack, Lyds. We're family. We stick together, good or bad.