Video - Day 386

[teenyoda]

[Stiles' face shows up on the screen and he's looking maybe just a little worse for wear. There's lines around his eyes and he looks like he hasn't been sleeping well.]

So, the timing on this could be better. I'll be jumping on the wagon to Alfheim tomorrow morning and, um, I need a favor.

[He really should have locked this from his dad, but he hadn't really been on his game when he'd decided to make this.]

Could someone come in and check up on Scott while I'm gone? He went all grey and we can't find his bracelet. I've got him sort of... tied up to his bed, but I need someone to come by and make sure he eats and uh, you know, bathroom stuff.

[Anyone who knew him could see this wasn't an easy thing to ask. Someone was feeling especially guilty at the moment.]

I can't leave him like that, so if no one can do it, I'll just have to, ah, let him go. But with all this going on right now...

I'd just really appreciate a little help. I'll owe someone. Hugely.

[There's a pause, then Stiles looks directly into the screen instead of letting his eyes jump all around it.]

Please.

Comments

[gymnast]

[ Allison's eyebrows lift slightly at the sock part, but she's just... not going to ask. There are far, far more important things at hand. ]

That's good. [ Though she's not too sure how she feels about him tying Scott up to a bed. If his bracelet somehow magically gets on him again and there's no one around, he's going to seriously freak out. ] Have you found anyone to keep an eye on him? [ Please tell her who, too; she may be the one that broke up with Scott but that doesn't mean she wants strangers making sure he's okay. ]

[teenyoda]

[What? Dogs and cats chewed on shoes, dragons seemed to go for socks. He had four pairs that had been destroyed by pointy little teeth, one while still on his feet.]

Uh, yeah. Pretty much. I mean, dad'll do the late night and early morning stuff and Erica said she'd stop in too. Sansa said she would as well and I'm meeting her in a bit to see if she's, uh, dragon-compatible and stuff. She seems nice.

[gymnast]

[ She's not lucky enough to have a pet dragon to find out this little tidbit of information. ;;

Although she doesn't know Sansa and she definitely doesn't approve of Erica offering, let alone actually doing it, it's not like Allison gets a say anymore. So she'll just... have to accept Stiles' choices and hope that nothing happens. So she nods slightly and offers something that's supposed to be a smile, but it's mostly just a pressing together of her lips. ] Okay, good. It would really suck if anything happened to him.

[teenyoda]

...

[He was pretty sure that all three of them were incredibly stupid. Maybe if he smashed their heads together a few times...]

You know, you can come by to check on him. Make sure he's okay. Just say hi.

[gymnast]

[ She reaches up to rub her shoulder a little awkwardly. ] I might. I'm just... [ Not sure she should. ] It'd be weird, you know? Especially if he doesn't know I'm there. [ It'd be one thing if they were still dating, or if he knew she was checking on him, but to just show up? It feels way strange. ]

[teenyoda]

[He resisted the urge to reach through the screen and strangle her. Okay, no, but really--]

Allison, god. You guys are still friends. How is showing that you care about a friend 'weird'? So you broke up. It happens. You both still obviously care about each other, otherwise you wouldn't have even bothered to answer, so just... care. Show him. The world won't end if you guys are in the same room together.

[gymnast]

[ She wants to argue, she really does - especially since they aren't friends yet, at least not on her end - but she just sighs instead. ] Look, I'll think about it, okay? [ Talking to him at Christmas was weird enough; she's not sure that checking up on him and talking to him, especially since he probably doesn't even look like him right now, is going to be any better. ] I know you said we're friends and everything, but it's not that easy for me to just jump into that. Back home, I apparently had all summer; here, I literally just broke up with him before I woke up again. It's a huge difference.

[teenyoda]

Which is all the more reason to get over it. We're in a strange place with weird stuff going on, more weird that we're used to, and we need each other, Allison. You, me, Scott, Isaac, Lydia, Erica, and yes, Derek... We need to give a crap. Because no one else will. Not like that.

I'm not saying you have to sit around a campfire singing Kumbiya, but we're stuck here and you don't really have the option to fly off to Paris for the summer, so just... put on your big girl pants and just be friends already, god. Why does one of you have to get to some almost dead-dead state for the others to admit you guys matter to each other?

[This is Stiles. Stiles is unimpressed. With all of you.]

[gymnast]

[ Her jaw clenches a little. ] You think I'm not aware of that, Stiles? I've been here longer than you. I've tried to bring everyone together, to work with everybody - including Derek - but you don't understand what I'm going through. I'm not denying that he still matters to me, but I can't-- [ She presses her lips together for a moment. ] You just don't get it.

[teenyoda]

No, I don't. And you know why I don't? Because no one says anything. So I'm just left to guess, and then I guess wrong and baskets and tables are flipped and juice and mashed potatoes and jello gets spilled and that's a huge mess to clean up, Allison.

[Okay, so he was overboard with his metaphor a bit. Shh.]

Derek's an ass, okay. We get that. But Scott's not. Do you really think he'd be anything but okay with you? Like, ever?

[gymnast]

[ Well, Allison doesn't like talking about her feelings, so... ]

I know how Scott is, Stiles. Believe me. [ She was breaking up with him and he was still being incredibly sweet, telling her that it was okay when it so clearly wasn't. Even when she got back here and had to do it again, he was sweeter than she deserved. ] But I broke up with him. Twice. [ She feels like she doesn't deserve his niceness, for them to just magically be friends again. ] I can't tell him I need space and then turn around and hover over him. Even if he's okay with it.

[ She also might not trust herself to keep things on a strict friends-only sort of level. Because the break up wasn't about her not wanting him anymore or not caring about him anymore; the attraction and the draw and the love is still there and Allison, especially right now, isn't sure she's strong enough to resist. ]

[teenyoda]

Here's a question. Do you even want to be broken up? I mean, clearly there's something going on with you and him and Isaac and I have no idea what it is, but it's something. Considering what we go through here, isn't something better than nothing?

[gymnast]

[ DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS, STILES? Allison's just going to deflect. Sort of. ]

Between me and Scott and between Scott and Isaac, you mean. [ Isaac and her are friends. She thinks. That's a whole other complication she has yet to figure out completely, so she hasn't even fully started examining her feelings towards him, let alone her feelings towards the three of them.

Yes, Allison is actually somehow emotionally behind Isaac. ]

[teenyoda]

[YES HE DOES. MAYBE SOMEONE WILL ANSWER THEM.]

Between all three of you. I mean, it's not like I'm stalking you guys, but from what Scott's said, there's something between you and him and between him and Isaac. Aaaand between you and Isaac.

You realize polygamy is a thing, right? Not a bad thing if all parties are involved and stuff, but, it does work. Just not in that 'I have fifty sister-wives' sort of way.

[gymnast]

[ WELL TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY because this is so not the conversation Allison was expecting to have. Pretty much ever. So she's just going to stop it from going any further (she hopes; she knows how Stiles can get sometimes) because she can't even wrap her head around being with Scott right now, let alone being with him and Isaac. ]

Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to Alfheim?

[teenyoda]

[Maybe someone wouldn't be so cranky if they were getting some... =|]

Train's leaving tomorrow. I'll probably sleep most of the way there since I have a feeling I'm not getting a good one tonight. Your topic change was noted, by the way, and yes, Allison, I'll have a safe trip and come home in one piece. Thanks for your concern.

[gymnast]

[ Shut up, Stiles. :| She has plenty reason to be cranky.

Even though she's rattled - by the entire conversation, honestly, not just the polygamy part - Allison feels a little guilty at the last part of that. She sighs and closes her eyes for a moment as she rubs her forehead. Sometimes you are a serious headache, Stiles. ]

I am actually concerned, you know. [ Even if she's flustered and a little irritated with him pushing all of this. She'll work on being friends with Scott when she's ready, not when Stiles thinks it's time. ] So be careful. And try not to do anything stupid. Scott doesn't need to... un-grey and find out his best friend ended up getting himself into trouble.

[teenyoda]

[Get some lovin', Allison. It does a body good.

Welcome to his friend's circle. Feel their pain.]

What's the worst that can happen? I die? Again? I'm kind of getting used to it.

[gymnast]

Just because you are doesn't mean everyone else is.

[teenyoda]

Is this the part where I say 'my life, my problem'? Because, you know, not everyone is used to the tension between you three.

[Tit for tat, Allison.]

[gymnast]

[ DAMNIT STILES. ]

You dying repeatedly isn't the same as whatever you think's going on between me, Scott, and Isaac.

[teenyoda]

Me dying repeatedly means I come back repeatedly. You and Isaac and Scott, you guys have this constant tension that's making it really hard to just...

I mean, you didn't even want to come for Christmas. You did, and I'm glad you did, but how is you three not wanting to be in the same area together helping anyone?

[gymnast]

[ Fine, you wanna play that game, Stiles? ]

How is being forced to talk about this or you trying to convince me to do something when I'm not ready helping anyone? I need time, which Scott said he was fine with, so why can't you just leave it alone? Why are you so desperate to make things how you think they should be when you think they should be when you're not even directly involved?

[teenyoda]

Because I am directly involved. You're my friend. Scott's my friend. Isaac's my...

Friendish. When you're all acting like this around each other, it affects me. I mean, obviously not as much as it affects you guys, but come on, Allison. I'd have to be Derek levels of do not care not to notice this. Ignoring it isn't helping.

Don't want to talk to me? Fine, don't talk to me. But talk to someone about it, otherwise nothing's going to get done or fixed and however long we're all still stuck here for is going to be incredibly uncomfortable.

[gymnast]

[ It's not just about feeling like she's not in the right mindset to date anyone, though. If it was just that, she'd be fine with doing what Stiles wants; finding someone to talk to, working all of this out. But: ] Talking won't bring my mom back. [ Her voice is a little quieter now, though no less hard than it had been. ] It won't change the fact that because of me, because I couldn't let him go, Scott almost died back home. Where he can't come back. [ What happens if her mom shows up here? It's not like dead people can't show up and even if Scott could come back to life here, what would stop her mom from killing him over and over again all because Allison can't keep her distance? And, if she even started to entertain what Stiles said about Isaac, too, what would stop her mom from going after him, too?

'What if?' isn't a good way to live her life, she knows that, but it's not just about that, either. She needs time to grieve over her mom; the fact that she tried to kill Scott doesn't change the fact that she was Allison's parent. ]

I'm sorry that you're uncomfortable, but the only way I know how to fix that right now is to distance myself from Scott.