#mason is the only person she even mildly trusts

[arolesbianism]

Found another relationship meme so y’all know what time it is. Anyways Softie and the different flower victims woo

[littlemaatta]

Santa Scheme - Derek Hale x Reader

@iamabeautifulperson18 said: Secret Santa with the pack and you propose to Derek cause he is bad at feelings. 

a/n: wow i really went OFF with this one. it’s not very Derek-centric till the end, lots of pack interactions and stuff but i hope you like it :))) and yes I am posting a christmas story in july. 

sort of like end of season 5 pack plus derek.

warnings: NONE. lots of fluff, i don’t even think i swore in this.

reader is described as: slightly shorter than derek, only mentioned once or twice. no other size, skin, or hair descriptors. i think it’s gender neutral as well? 

Lydia had gone out of her way to organize a pack Christmas party this year. She got Derek to let her decorate the loft, even going as far as renting more furniture for the sparsely furnished living space. 

She brought in a tree, garlands and lights to hang on the walls, and she even organized a Secret Santa. 

She approaches you one day with a small box in her hands and a smile on her face, “Pick your Secret Santa.” she says as she holds the box out to you.

You reach in and pull out a piece of paper. 

“Thank you.” Lydia says, about to turn around to go find Derek when you stop her.

“Are we allowed to have other presents, cause I was kind of planning something for the party...” you ask softly. 

Lydia gives you a knowing smile as she nods, “l’ll make an exception for you.”

__

“Yes, you have to participate.” Lydia says with a roll of her eyes as she holds out the box full of names for Stiles to pick from.

With a pout on his face, Stiles reaches into the box and pulls out a slip of paper. 

He unfolds it and reads the name before shoving the slip of paper into his pocket. 

Scott, Malia, and Lydia each take their turns next and then the box is empty, the younger and older members of the pack having already picked their names.

“Good, now everyone has picked their Secret Santa and we can move on to who is bringing what to the party.” Lydia says with a satisfied smile.

Stiles groans and is answered with an elbow in the ribs from Scott. 

They each volunteer an item or dish and Lydia walks away happily. 

__

You got your Secret Santa present and your other surprise purchased well ahead of time, knowing that the stores would of course be crazy the closer it got to Christmas time. But you ended up at the store the day before Christmas Eve despite your best efforts not to. 

And to your not-so-surprise you ran into a few members of the pack doing their last minute Secret Santa preparations.

The next day, you grab your nicely wrapped present and the cookies you made and head to your boyfriend’s loft.

Derek is standing outside in the hallway when you arrive and you furrow your brows in confusion when you spot him leaned up against the wall. 

He looks up at your approach and smiles.

He pushes himself off the wall and leans down to wrap his arms around your waist and kiss you softly. 

“What are you doing out here?” you ask.

“Lydia kicked me out, she said my sour face was interfering with her decorating process.” he responds with a small smile.

You let out a laugh, knowing Lydia she will want everything to be perfect for this party and imagining her shooing Derek from his own loft so that she can decorate seems right on brand. 

The loft door opens a small crack, enough for Lydia to stick her head out to see you. 

“Good, you’re here.” she says with a large smile. “Give me your stuff.” she orders, opening the door a little more so she can reach out. 

“Hi Lydia, nice to see you too.” you answer, playfully sarcastic as you hand the redhead your present and food.

Lydia simply rolls her eyes and smiles in response, taking your things before shutting the loft door again.

You share a look with Derek and laugh as you move back to where he is leaning against the wall. You lean into his side as he wraps an arm around you.

You stay there as the rest of the pack arrives, Lydia coming out to take their things and not allowing any of them to peek inside until she is ready.

Finally, she opens the door, a wide smile on her face as she steps aside and gestures for you all to enter.

You and the rest of your pack are awed the moment you step inside Derek’s loft. 

The place has been transformed. Three large couches make a U shape in the center of the room, a table piled high with all of the Secret Santa gifts sits to the left of it. 

The large windows at the back of the room are trimmed with green pine garlands, with red poinsettias throughout. A large wreath hangs in the center. 

In front of the windows stands a magnificent tree, beautifully decorated and with a star on top. 

A long table covered with a red tablecloth sits to one side of the room, with a large variety of food including the dishes brought by some of the pack members. All of it nicely laid out, with plates and silverware stacked at one end. 

You turn to Lydia, your eyes displaying your shock at what she has managed to do to your boyfriend’s loft. 

“Lydia,” you breathe, eyes leaving her to roam around the loft once more, “This is amazing.” 

“You like it?” she asks, her question open to the entire pack.

A murmur of assent travels through the pack, some of them beginning to wander around the loft to admire the decorations.

Lydia claps her hands together and smiles, “Who’s hungry?”

__

After a delicious meal, full of laughter and fun, Lydia begins the Secret Santa. 

Everyone goes to grab the presents that they brought and then give them to their Secret Santa.

You give your present to Liam, Liam gives his to Stiles, Stiles gives his to Mason, Mason gives his to Hayden, Hayden gives hers to Malia, Malia gives hers to Derek, Derek gives his to Scott, Scott gives his to Lydia, and Lydia gives hers to you. 

Everyone begins opening their presents, gasps of excitement and ‘thank you’s fill the room.

The gift exchange shows you how much your pack members really know each other, and how much you all listen. There was, of course, a spending limit so that certain members of the pack wouldn’t be allowed to go overboard and spend exorbitant amounts on their gifts.

You got Liam a new bag for his lacrosse gear, knowing that he had accidentally ruined his old one, and you stuck a personalized t-shirt you had made for him inside.

Lydia, having heard you complaining about your wardrobe and not having time to shop for yourself, bought you some new clothes. Just a few items, though she would have liked to get more, all of them fitting your style perfectly while one or two may help you to change it up and step out of your comfort zone. Lydia being Lydia, you know that you can trust her to pick things that will look good on you. 

And you couldn’t be more grateful that she knew how helpful this gift would be for you.

Everyone is pleased with their gifts and the party continues as conversations carry throughout the group.

You sit next to Derek, with his arm wrapped around you and your head leaning against his shoulder. You join in a few of the various conversations, sharing laughs with your friends. 

When Derek gets up to go get another drink, you stand up too but head over to the window.

Your heartbeat picks up as you run your fingers over the ribbon wrapped around the small box in your hands.

Derek joins you at the window.

“Lydia really did a great job with this place, didn’t she?” he says softly. 

You smile and nod, glancing up at the decorations on the window again. You take a deep breath, deciding that now is the time to do this. 

“Derek.. I have something for you.”

He furrows his brows as he turns to face you, taking the small box from your hands and studying it, “I thought we were only doing the Secret Santa gifts, no extra ones.”

“Just open it.”

Derek can hear your heart racing, you know that. You also know he can probably tell how nervous you are from your chemo-signals. And you are mildly aware that you’ve caught the attention of the other supernaturals on the other side of the room, though Mason and Stiles are still kind of oblivious. 

You ignore these facts though, focusing only on Derek as he unties the ribbon on the box.

He lifts the lid off of the box to reveal a silver band. A ring. Simple and silver, but perfect for him.

He looks up at you, silently asking for you to explain what this is.

“Derek, I.. I know you’re not good at doing stuff like this, you told me on our first date that you’re not good at showing your feelings or doing romantic stuff, and that’s okay, because I love you. With my whole heart, I love you.

“I can’t imagine my future without you in it. So, will you marry me?”

Your heart is pounding in your chest and you know that Derek can hear it. You wonder if he could even hear what you were saying over the pounding of your heart. But when a huge smile takes over his face, you know he heard you. 

He closes the gap between you, his arms wrapping tightly around your waist and lifting you off the ground as he crashes his lips against yours.

“Yes.” he whispers as he pulls back, before kissing you one more time. 

The cheering of the pack behind you makes you pull away, Derek setting your feet on the ground again as you hide your face in his chest. 

You lean back eventually to look back up at Derek, both of you are still smiling widely despite your slight embarrassment as your friends continue to cheer and clap behind you.

[queen-scribbles]

Late Night Honesty

Because @haledamage is an enabler on par with some others I could name (/cough Knitter) and my arm didn’t really require all that much twisting, I’m posting this tonight instead of tomorrow: very shortly post-Book 1 fic for Mallory.

---

Two weeks.

She’d been stuck in this room for two weeks. Fourteen whole days. And she was starting to go stir-crazy.

“You need your rest,” her mother insisted.

“You’ll heal faster,” Nate encouraged.

“Push too hard and you’ll relapse,” Elidor warned.

Due respect to all of them, but she was tougher than she looked, and they weren’t the ones stuck surrounded by dull beige walls and not even a window for some kind of view. Mallory was getting very close to telling them exactly where they could stick their advice. (Especially Nate; she valued the man’s friendship and knew he was only trying to help, but in her opinion, anyone with supernatural healing abilities needed to keep their attractive mouths shut regarding those who had to do without that advantage.) At least she didn’t have to take those damn pills anymore. And she had been walking around her room for the past several days without incident beyond Elidor fussing when he thought she was trying too hard.

But she felt (mostly) fine now, and desperately needed to at least go through the motions of her workout routine, even if done in such a way to avoid over- exertion. She’d forgone it enough days to make her palms itch. So she stuffed her feet in the slippers by her bed, tugged straight her sweatpants and t-shirt, and poked her head out the door.

To her surprise, the hall was empty. No hovering nurse, no concerned vampire, no Mum. No one to talk her way past with half-truths about where she was headed or persuade to let her go alone. Works for me, Mallory thought with a half-smile, tightening her ponytail as she stepped into the hall and tugged the door closed behind her.

Digging through memories of her first visit, she figured out which direction to head from what she mentally referred to as the hospital wing and set off at a pace best described as a mosey. Elidor, at least, had half a point; pushing too hard would mean a relapse, they just differed on what they considered ‘too hard’. This would be fine. She was fine.

To her mild surprise, Mallory actually made it through a few turns in the maze of hallways without anyone acting concerned about where she was headed. Of course, she only passed two or three agents, all of whom simply nodded and murmured ‘Detective’ as they passed. Mallory nodded back and kept walking. If she didn’t act suspicious, maybe no one would ask what she was doing or where she was heading.

The next corner she rounded, however, nearly ran her slap-bang into a familiar figure, far closer to her height than almost anyone else here.

“Just the person I was looking for,” Felix grinned, grabbing her arm to steady her. “Though not where I was expecting to find you. Finally decide to escape, did you?”

Mallory shrugged and crossed her arms. “It’s not escaping if no one’s explicitly told me not to leave.”

He laughed. “Planning to ask forgiveness rather than permission?”

“Don’t need either; I’m a big girl,” she retorted, eyes narrowing when he bit his lip, eyes glinting with mischief. “Make that comment and I’ll whup your ass. Super healing or no.”

Felix chuckled and held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. “Dunno what you’re talking about. And I’m sure you’d try.”

“Sure y’ don’t.” Mallory lightly kicked the wall.

He gave a jovial shrug and changed the subject. “So where were you headed? Maybe I’ll tag along.”

“Training room,” she said, spine already tensing defensively. “I’ve gone too long without punching something; it’s making me fidgety.”

“Might not be my first choice,” Felix commented, skipping right over the suffocating concern she’d feared and tugging her back into motion. “But I think you’ll still be better company than some others I could name.”

“Alright, you can keep an eye out for the fainting spells my mother and Nate are so sure will overtake me with the slightest bit of exertion,” she deadpanned.

He grinned. “Do I get to catch you if you swoon? Please say yes.”

Mallory couldn’t resist a chuckle. “While I doubt there will be any swooning, sure, feel free to catch me if I’m wrong.”

-o-

The training room was empty when they reached it, the lights flickering ever so slightly as Felix closed the door behind them.

That was the final straw that prompted Mallory to ask, “Where is everyone?” She’d seen far more people on her first visit to the facility, and the place being all ghost-town now was more than a little unnerving.

Felix chuckled and leaned against the wall. “Well, most are probably sleeping; I think it’s roughly... 2:30 in the morning?”

She shook her head and sighed. “Of course it is. My internal clock’s going to be screwy for months at this rate.”

He smiled sympathetically. “You can always go back to your room and try to sleep. S’what I figured you’d be doing.”

“No.” Mallory kicked off her slippers and stepped onto the nearest training mat. She gave the punching bag that hung over it an experimental nudge to test its resistance. It moved stiffly and not very far. Good, won’t have to pull my punches much to avoid it swinging back to hit me in the face. “I need this, and we’re already here, might as well.”

Felix shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, amber eyes glinting as he watched her. “Your call.”

She let out a slow breath and cracked her knuckles as she mentally reviewed her routine. It was a struggle to recall in spots after so long without doing it, and Mallory frowned to herself as she swung into motion. Fortunately, her irritation proved premature; each step came to her as she reached it, flowing through from move to move with long practice. She lost herself in the familiarity and almost forgot she had company. It helped that Felix was was actually quiet as he watched. She didn’t trust that smile tugging at his lips, though.

Especially when it started to spread, his eyes gleaming like he knew something.  “So, detective, I have a question.”

Mallory raised a brow, more grateful for the excuse to rest than she thought she’d be. “What?” she panted as she reached up to adjust her ponytail.

“There’s this thing you do with the higher, spinning kicks where you ever so slightly lean back on your heel and shift as you’re turning,” Felix began, pushing away from the wall and offering her one of the water bottles from a small table shoved against the wall.

She took it with a nod of thanks. “And?”

“Just curious if that’s part of any particular style is all, ‘cause you do it, and Adam does it, but Nate doesn’t.” He grinned. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. I’m infiltration and reconnaissance; of course I watch friends as well as enemies.”

Mallory snorted. He had a point. “Maybe Nate doesn’t have to b’cause his legs are almost as long as my entire body,” she said dryly. “But I don’t really remember when I started doing it, it just helps keep my balance for follow-through.” She tried to ignore the small, smug seed of warmth brought on by the fact she and Adam had a similar quirk to their styles as she took a drink. I don’t care, why would I care?

“Adam’s not that much shorter than Nate,” Felix pointed out, still grinning with faux innocence. “So I don’t think it’s a height thing for him.” He cocked his head as the grin bled into a more ‘mildly concerned’ look. “Are you still doing alright? Ready to call it a night?”

“I’m fine.” Mallory shook her head and took another swig from the water bottle. “I want to do another maybe ten minutes, and then I’ll go shower and try to get some sleep.”

“If you’re sure.” The grin reappeared as he settled back against the wall. “I have it on good authority you’re a big girl, after all.”

She laughed and tossed him the water bottle, which he caught, before picking up where she’d left off with the routine. Two weeks without it, she’d forgotten what good stress relief even just going through the motions could be, how much it helped clear her mind to deal with things-

“Deal with me?” the mocking voice echoed in her head, accompanied by the flashed image of hard eyes surrounded by greying black curls.

Mallory flinched and thrust her hand out toward the face in a palm strike, the movement far more vicious and forceful than any she’d done so far.

Wicked laughter filled her ears. “Just what are you planning on doing with me?”

She kicked out, which proved equally ineffective at stopping the hideous laugh.

“Going somewhere?” his voice menaced, underscored by the glint of metal and smell of rain on pavement.

A hand brushed her shoulder as she readied to throw another punch, and Mallory instinctively whipped her hand up and back.

Reality crashed in once more as she made solid contact and heard Felix yelp in the same instant her knuckles started to sting.

“Shit!” She pivoted on one heel, hazel eyes wide in mortification. “Felix-”

“Trying to injure your way through the unit, detective?” he asked, his own gaze thoroughly amused over the hand pressed to his bloodied nose. “Watch out when you get to Mason; he’ll actually fight back.”

“I’m so sorry!” Mallory said fervently, her face warming despite his joke. She started to reach out with one hand and then pulled back.

Felix waved off her chagrin, a smirk peeking out from behind his hand. “This’ll be gone in a minute, tops. Don’t worry about it.”

“Sure, your nose’ll heal, but you still got blood on your shirt,” she pointed out, reaching forward to pluck at the fabric and exhibit the small crimson stains.

“Again, don’t worry about it. If it comes out, it comes out, if not...” he shrugged.  “Not like it’s my favorite shirt or anything.” There was a gleam in his eye that made Mallory suspicious, but he didn’t give her a chance to follow that rabbit trail. “Or my first--or worst--bloody nose, for that matter.”

“No? What a relief,” she deadpanned, running one hand down her ponytail.

“Yeah, that honor goes to this spiky rogue demon-monster-thing we had to fight.” Felix gestured broadly as he spoke, and she could see, sure enough, his nose had already pretty much stopped bleeding. “Bigger than you but I think less intimidating,” he teased, winking in response to the dirty look she sent him.  “Whacked me across the face with its tail when it was trying to get Mason. Damn near broke my nose. And cheekbone. And jaw.”

Mallory snorted. “Good thing you have that lovely super-healing, huh?”

“It did come in handy,” Felix agreed, wiping his hand on his shirt. “Still was a mess of a nosebleed for a couple minutes. I did have to throw out that shirt. And it took forever to get the bloodstains out of the scarf. In fact, if you know they’re there, you can still kind of see them,” he admitted as they left the training room and meandered down the hallway.

Mallory raised a brow. “Let me guess; the scarf was a favorite.”

“Yeah.” Felix scuffed his foot against a mark on the floor and grinned. “Worth the extra effort to save.”

“I suppose with the ability to heal from just about anything, your clothes would take a worse beating than you do,” she said with a chuckle.

“You would be correct. It’s happened to all of us,” he shrugged. “That spiky demon thing also absolutely shredded Mason’s favorite pair of jeans.” He snorted. “I think he might’ve ripped its head off if Nate hadn’t stopped him.”

Maybe he should’ve killed it if it was that dangerous, Mallory thought, wondering how much damage the thing had done to Mason in the process of ‘absolutely shredding’ his favorite jeans.

But Felix was still talking, which denied her a chance to comment. “...Nate lost a jacket fighting a banshee, and, well,” he turned to grin at her slyly, “I haven’t seen Adam wear his favorite t-shirt since a certain warehouse encounter ended with him getting shot.”

She actually stopped in her tracks at that, despite them not having reached her room. “What?”

His grin widened at her reaction. “Oh, come on, detective, surely in your line of work you’re familiar with the fact you can’t really fix bullet holes.”

“Yes, but, I’m usually more worried about that ending up true of people opposed to clothes,” Mallory snarked, eyes on the floor as she resumed walking and tried to quash the small squirm of what felt an awful lot like guilt. She was familiar with the concept, and having experienced that irritation, couldn’t help but feel a little bad now. No matter how much of an ass Adam could be.

“Fair,” Felix chuckled, matching her pace. “And it’s just an observation, not like he’s complained about it or anything.”

“That’s not saying much,” she muttered. “Only thing I’ve heard Adam complain about is including me in things.”

He shrugged. “In his defense, we were chasing a ‘psycho vampire killer’, and you are human, which meant there was more risk to you than us.”

“Mm,” she grunted in reluctant concession. It was a hard point to argue with “I won’t risk losing you!” echoing in her memory and making her stomach lurch and feel all fluttery whenever she dwelt on it. Which she tried not to do; it just confused her. “Think I handled myself pretty well, though.”

“I think ‘pretty well’ is being modest,” he said dryly. “You were the one who got close enough to take Murphy down.”

“It was a team effort,” Mallory waved off the praise. “And it’s not like what you four did was small potatoes.”

“True,” Felix agreed cheerfully. “You were still damn impressive.”

She chuckled and swished the end of her ponytail as it slid over her shoulder.  “Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

With her looking at the floor and him looking at her, neither noticed the imposing blond figure outside Mallory’s room until they’d almost reached it.

Felix’s head snapped up first. “Oh, hey, Adam,” he said, a grin in his voice and eyes even if he kept it from tugging his lips. “Coming to check on the detective?”

“I was.” His voice held a frown that matched his expression when Mallory looked up. It was, of course, aimed at her. “Where were you?”

“Went for a walk,” she replied, lightly elbowing Felix in the ribs before she crossed her arms. “That’s allowed, right?”

Adam’s frown deepened, but before he said anything, Felix cleared his throat. 

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, that grin finally reaching his lips. “I can see where this is going, and I’d hate to get in the middle of Mom and Dad fighting.” He was off down the hallway before either of them could protest the comparison. Both glowered after him briefly anyway before returning their attention to each other.

“I thought you were supposed to be resting,” Adam said sharply.

Mallory shrugged as she reached for the door handle. “And I thought you had better things to do than babysit me at three in the morning, but apparently we were both wrong.”

He let out a sigh that verged on a growl as he grabbed the door when she jerked it open and followed her into the room. “Detective-”

“What?” she snapped, crossing her arms again and cocking a brow at him, almost daring him to say what she suspected was coming.

“Where were you really?”

“Went for a walk,” she repeated. “Really.” Then, after a beat of tense, eyes-locked silence, “to the training room.”

Adam stiffened(if that that was possible; the man already rivaled most boards).  “What?!”

“You heard me, It’s not like I was full-on sparring with anyone; I just wanted to run through the motions of what I do as a workout. It’s been two weeks, Adam. Do you really expect me to believe you wouldn’t be restless if I tied you down for two weeks?!”

He crossed his arms(mildly distracting, but only for a second) and scowled.  “That’s different-”

“Why? Because I’m human?” she demanded, rolling her shoulders in a vain attempt to relieve their building tension.

“No, because you are still recovering-”

“Don’t. Start,” Mallory cut him off. She took a wide step forward and poked a finger into his chest. “I already get enough fussing from Mum and Nate for five people, I don’t need you adding to it. Why do you even care?!”

Something flickered in Adam’s icy green eyes, and Mallory wondered if she’d caught him as off-guard with the question as she had herself. But it was gone a heartbeat later as his scowl deepened and he batted her hand aside. “If you’re going to be part of Bravo, that makes it my responsibility to see that your recklessness and overconfidence don’t have consequences--”

Her temper blazed high enough it took a couple tries to make her voice work.  “Overconf-?!”

“--particularly if you are going to exhibit a complete disregard for your own safety and health, forcing others to worry about it for you.”

“I am not fragile, Adam!” Mallory snapped, glaring up at him with added irritation from the flutter in her chest that his argument could almost be classified as concern. I can take care of myself.

A muscle in his jaw twitched as he stared at her for several long seconds. That same something flickered in his eyes again, softening them considerably and making her insides twist before it disappeared.

“Being tougher than I thought you were does not make you invincible, Detective,” he finally said, tone much softer but no less stern. “You should remember that and act accordingly.”

“I should, huh?” she challenged, tilting her chin up.

Adam held her gaze and raised a brow fractionally. “Yes. You should.”

As if to underscore the finality of his words, he turned on his heel and strode from the room.

Mallory watched the door close behind him and just stared at it for a minute, waiting for her temper to cool and breathing to slow. He is the most infuriating-

She shook her head with a sigh. It wasn’t worth the energy. Besides, as she’d been informed several times, minimizing stress would accelerate her recovery. 

Of course, less stress would be a lot easier to achieve if she could get her thoughts on something other than bloody Adam. I’m still glad I shot him, she grumbled to herself as she grabbed a change of clothes and went to take that shower.

That, of course, brought to mind Felix’s comment and another pulse of guilt swirled with the lingering agitation to make her motions jerky and sharp as she started the water and stripped off the dirty clothes. Adam could be an arrogant, infuriating ass at times, and she really didn’t regret shooting him, but having sacrificed a couple favorite articles of clothing in the line of duty, she did feel just a little bad about being the cause of that. The irony of which was not lost on her. Totally fine with having shot him, feeling guilty for ruining his favorite shirt in the process.

You could always replace it, if you feel that bad, a little voice in her head prodded as she stepped under the blissfully warm spray.

How? Mallory scoffed, running her fingers through her hair to check for knots. The silky black strands only snagged once or twice as the water soaked them. I don’t know what color, what size, any of that...

So ask for help.

She could do that. If this was a course of action she chose to pursue, obviously. She wasn’t committing to anything. And if she did, she’d need to give Nate or Felix or whoever she asked a reason why she cared. Peace offering, since she was joining Bravo? She felt bad for costing him his favorite shirt?

Her irritation climbed as she rinsed shampoo out of her hair. Why was everything with Adam so damn difficult? Why did she care?

No, she knew the answer to that one.

How does he always manage to get to me like this?!

You know the answer to that one, too, the little voice chuckled.

Mallory groaned and rested her forehead against the tiled wall. She did know, and wasn’t sure if it was best or most inconvenient, aggravating fact of her life.

Maybe both.

She stood there for a few more minutes, letting the water run over her even though she was clean. Until she remembered the time and reluctantly shut it off. She shivered as she stepped out and quickly reached for her towel, drying hastily as goosebumps prickled her skin. The simple t-shirt and pants the Agency provided were comfortable enough, and even with her internal clock screwed up, she was beginning to feel the fact it was after three A.M. 

Whatever she decided to do--if anything--could wait until she’d had some sleep. And probably should, Mallory thought wryly. Sleep deprived decisions rarely proved the best course of action. And maybe that’s all this was; her tired mind making her feel guiltier over something little than she should.  Or maybe not... You were more honest when you were tired, after all.

Sleep, she chided herself. Sleep first, then worry about the future and all that other stuff like getting along. Adam wasn’t going anywhere(More’s the pity, no she didn’t mean that), neither was the frustratingly warm curl just his name sent through her insides, and for that matter, neither was she. There’d be plenty of time to figure things out later.

For now, though, the room no longer felt suffocating thanks to her late-night (early morning, rather) jaunt, and Mallory was content to slip back in bed. She was asleep almost the second her head touched the pillow.

Her dreams were much more pleasant than she expected. And cast in shades of icy emerald green.

But that was probably just a coincidence.7

[pragnificent]

Preview scene from an upcoming chapter of my AU. @byjove-cannibalcove is responsible for the seeds of this. 

“Do you remember,” Margot asks Will, “the time that we went to that charity gala together, and you called Mason a ‘pig fucker’ in front of the visiting dignitaries?”

He looks up at her. Dark bags droop exhaustedly under Will’s eyes, which are so red that it is nearly painful for her to look at him, but for the first time in a long while something bright seems to flicker in his gaze.

“Oh, vividly,” he says.

“That was after I broke things off with Judy - I was so worried about what might happen if Mason found out about her. She’d grown up in a healthy family, and she just couldn’t understand what it was like to live in a constant state of terror, and I couldn’t stomach the idea of her learning.”

“I remember.” 

“I hadn’t been out in months. I could see my entire life stretching out in front of me, nothing but terror and helpless rage and an endless procession of lonesome days and nights. But you wanted me to go to the dance with you - ‘just as friends.’”

“I believe I said ‘as friends,’” Will cuts in, but mildly. “I’d never have reduced the idea of friendship with you with a ‘just,’ Margot.”

“I was suspicious of why you were so ready to cross that professional boundary.” Margot crosses her legs and smooths the creases on her pants leg, before looking up at Will again. “There’s a level on which I still feel that way.”

“You needed someone in your corner, and not just for an hour a week. I wanted to be that person for you.”

His frankness is at once unnerving and reassuring. Margot goes on with the story. “That old woman from… who was she with?”

“I don’t remember the organization either. It’s not really important, is it?”

“No,” Margot agrees. “She cornered me, and she was going on and on about Mason’s work, how much good he was doing and how useful his contributions had been.

“I was used to hearing that type of thing - I could stomach it. But I saw you getting paler and paler - you were so outraged that you were shaking - and I thought for a moment there that you might pass out. Then you just -”

“I lost my temper,” Will says, but his eyes cut away from hers when she tries to meet them.

“No, you didn’t. It wasn’t like you lost control or exploded. It was something different from that… you became so cold.

“And then you said, ‘I guess even a pigfucker like Mason’s money spends.’

“Half the people there knew exactly what Mason was like, but they pretended to be so scandalized anyway. Then you spent the rest of the evening going from person to person apologizing and looking so upset and shocked with yourself that you seemed on the verge of crying, trying to smooth it all over.”

“I was terrified that it might get back to Mason and that you’d be the one to bleed for it,” he tells Margot. “I knew that I’d been a fool the instant it was out of my mouth.”

“You fixed it, though - if he ever heard about what you said it never came back to bite me.”

“I’m glad.”

“The thing is,” Margot goes on, “you had a such a prominent public reputation as this sensitive, big-hearted philanthropist - the worst thing I’d ever heard said of you was that you tended to be a bit shy around people you didn’t know. That night, watching you work the crowd, I started to see how hard you worked to build and maintain that image and just how many people bought it. There were a couple people going around the party saying ‘that just goes to show you that you should fear the nice ones,’ but no one actually took that kind of talk seriously. They just figured, you know, that they’d seen you at your worse in that moment - that it didn’t go any deeper than that.”

“But you knew better,” Will says softly.

“That was when I really started to trust the way that you would get angry on my behalf.  Before that, I thought maybe it was just some kind of therapy technique - that it was all part of your job. But I saw that it was sincere, and raw, and maybe a little dangerous.”

“Only a little?”

“Don’t show off.”

[ncttoday]

GINNY BRIGHTON - SERPENT - 19 - BISEXUAL

ginny is a very solitary person. she wasn’t always. growing up, ginny had a mother, at the very least. her father disappeared before she was born and her mother died when she was 10. with no brothers, no siblings and nowhere to go, ginny was alone on the streets. she found herself little hidey holes, mostly by breaking and entering. despite being small and relatively shy on a face to face basis, ginny is tough. she was very young when she became a serpent, but she’s brave as hell in any bad situation. she had a best friend whom she dated for quite a few years, but was friends with since they were in kindergarten. he died the year before all this started and ginny has been relatively isolated since, though she did rekindle her friendship with kitty as a result. ginny is finally getting to the point of wanting people in her life again. 

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: a best friend (probably also would’ve known her boyfriend who died), neighbours, roommate, someone she briefly lived with on the streets.

EVIE PARRISH - GHOULIE SECOND-IN-COMMAND - 19 - BISEXUAL

evie grew up in an orphanage with only her older brother. they were taken from their parents at a young age on abuse charges, but they don’t know much more about their parents than that. parrish was a name given to them by the state, as far as she knows. evie has a lot of anger issues. she works as an EMT and is very intelligent, but also incredibly reckless. she’s known for rocking up with a black eye and a cut lip, laughing about a fight she got into. despite the long blonde hair and small frame, evie is anything but weak. she’s very brave and struggles to let people in. velvet is her ride or die best friend and evie would do anything in the world for her. evie has never had a partner and struggles to imagine anyone ever wanting her in that way.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: ex-hook up (evie has never had a partner, but she’s never been one to be left behind on anything physical), friend from the orphanage, BROTHER (v v wanted), friends in general.

FREYA MASON - SOUTH SIDER - 20 - BISEXUAL

freya is someone who grew up on the north side. she was never much good at north sider things, never the type to want to sit around and brag about wealth with her rich parents. when her parents lost all their money (after it coming out her father had been embezzling from his company), they decided to leave town. freya didn’t want to go with anyway, which worked out fine, because they up and left one day while freya was at school. she moved to the south side and spent a fair bit of her time crashing in abandoned places or trailers. she’s spent a lot of her life as a con-artist or a thief, taking what she needed to take to survive. heather is her ride or die and freya considers her her only real family.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: ex-boyfriend (north side preferably), hook up (past or present), friends, former friends from the north side.

RORY DALLAS - SERPENT KING - 30 - BISEXUAL

rory is a legacy serpent, with a father and grandfather in the serpents before him. he’s loyal to a T and the type to give up anything he has for a person in need. he has a bit of a hero complex, something which has led him to be a fairly lonely person in life. between being a fairly high brow lawyer (putting himself through law school on three jobs) and the serpent king, rory has very little time for friends or family and very little time for himself. his last relationship ended because of this, his complete inability to detach himself from his responsibilities. rory genuinely loves the serpents and believes in ushering them into a new phase of the serpents, one where women are more accepted and the old ways aren’t. rory’s best friend is his second, silas.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: ex girlfriend (broke up because he’s a highkey workaholic), childhood best friends, neighbour, colleague at work, someone rory represented and helped (ideally someone he’d be close with)

ALFIE LEWIS - SERPENT - 20 - BISEXUAL

alfie doesn’t have very much family around him. he has parents, but they’re not in town anymore and he’s not overly close to them. he’s not particularly fixated on it though, quite happy to be independent. alfie has never been the most outgoing person in the world. despite how he might look, alfie is a big sweetheart. most often, he’s used for intimidating purposes in the serpents. standing at 6′5, alfie appears like a brick shithouse, the type of person most people wouldn’t want to take on in a fight. mostly he isn’t violent, though he does what he has to do for the serpents. currently dating velvet (though has been too shy to ask her to make it official). best friend of gunnar. 

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: a cousin would be cool, since he’s pretty distant from most family. other close or best friends. a first love (would’ve broken up on good terms, the only other person he’s been with except velvet). childhood friends/best friend.

LUCY FITZGERALD - SERPENT - 20 - BISEXUAL

lucy is about the epitome of someone who’s only a serpent because of family ties. she followed her brother charlie, desperate to be with him, since he’s someone she idolises and adores. lucy was previously in a physically abusive relationship, wherein which she pressed charges. as the result of this, though, lucy struggles with speaking up and being confident. her fear of that person has warped her personality in such a way that she’s afraid of ever speaking up or being around people alone sometimes. lucy is desperately trying to repair herself, tired of being afraid and struggling. she’s enlisted kitty to help her figure out how to move forward from this point and become someone stronger and not so led by her fears.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: a best friend (a pure ride or die who’s been with lucy through everything and seen how badly it’s affected her), friends, first love (probably ended on good terms with lucy being so sweet), co-workers (lucy is a mechanic).

SAMMY WEST - GHOULIE - 21 - BISEXUAL

sammy is really just a big bean. he grew up in the foster system and moved from place to place a lot. he has very little to do with any of that now. he was led to the ghoulies by his ability to hack and to be of use in that department. truthfully, sammy doesn’t know why or how he wound up there, but feels like he sort of stumbles awkwardly through most of life. he has pretty severe self worth issues that don’t seem to be improving all that much. he’s only recently begun dating pixie, but he would do anything in the world for her. he’s very good friends with ace and feels a lot of loyalty to her as well. he’s currently got his best friend brooks living with him. luna is his sister figure from foster care and someone he loves dearly. sammy isn’t really the most intimidating, but he would fight for her.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: ghoulie friends... idk, anything really. he’s such a bean, i think he’d mostly had friends or people he’s mildly afraid of.

HARLEY POND-RADCLIFFE - GHOULIE - 20 - BISEXUAL (DEAD MAYOR’S DAUGHTER)

harley’s father was the first victim of the grudge, but harley didn’t feel grief the way most people did. her father was a cruel and abusive man and harley jumped ship when she was old enough to realise how fucked up her life had become.  harley lived on the streets of the north side for a significant period of time, unsure of what else to do with herself. no one trusted her and once she jumped ship, her father had slandered her to anyone who would listen as a drug user (despite her very young age). it was pixie who eventually led harley to the ghoulies and convinced the leader to let her in. harley goes to great lengths to try to show people she’s loyal, afraid to be distrusted. 

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: ride or die best friend aka the dream plot. a love interest would be awesome, maybe someone who talks to her about her parents or even who knew her back then? some close friends within the ghoulies. someone she was friends with when she was a north sider. someone she considers like a sibling.

BABY PELETIER - SOUTH SIDE - 21 - BISEXUAL

baby is only in riverdale by chance, really. her mother was a north sider who was knocked up by a serpent. her mother, whose parents had been abusive towards her, just left town, with nothing but her and her daughter. she never told her father. because of her relationship with her parents, baby’s mother got baby very into self defence from a young age, teaching her to be proficient in almost every weapon, as well as martial arts, something baby rarely talks about. a year or so back, a robbery gone wrong resulted in baby witnessing her mother dying. having believed her father had abandoned her, baby received a letter from her mother’s estate admitting her father’s name and that he didn’t know about her. baby moved to riverdale to find him, but found out he had been killed in a gang related incident. now she’s in riverdale with absolutely no one in the world, trying desperately to find people and things worth staying for.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: a new best friend (she hasn’t been there long), maybe a half sibling? a sibling of her deceased father, friends of any kind, a roommate would also be awesome. 

HOLLY WINCHESTER - NORTH SIDER - 21 - BISEXUAL

holly grew up in riverdale and lived there full time until she was 13. at that time, holly’s father (whom she is very close to), took her to new york to pursue her dream of theatre. despite seeming to be very shy, holly comes alive on stage, bright and engaging. she grew up on stage, having been very lucky to get that chance as a child. holly would come back for at least a few months every year. recently her mother fell ill and had to stay long term in hospital. holly and her father have come home for her mother and 3 other siblings. holly likes being back, but feels a bit out of step with the rest of riverdale. she is best friends with cindy.

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: friends, for sure. a neighbour. THREE SIBLINGS, ANY AGE/GENDER. a love interest would be super awesome; i’d love a slow burn friends to lovers type of deal for her!

RILEY DANIELS - NORTH SIDER - 26 - BISEXUAL

riley is a v big bean. no mean bone in his body. growing up, he was the golden boy, popular, outgoing, athletic. he and his girlfriend started dating when he was 13. they were together until 23, when he asked her to marry him. they were engaged when she was killed. it was only in the autopsy report that riley found out his fiance had been pregnant. he was absolutely wrecked, but pulled away from everyone else, having absolutely no idea how to operate without his other half. riley obsesses over helping others, sometimes to the point of ignoring his own needs or his own feelings. he goes out of his way to help anyone he comes across, but is also struggling with his own mental health. it’s been about two years since his fiance died, and he hasn’t dated since, mostly out of guilt. he doesn’t feel like one person can get that lucky twice. older brother to lavinia. 

A FEW WANTED CONNECTIONS: a best friend, friends, love interest, anything like that would be chill. really he needs anything at all!