Anonymous asked, "That's okay about the Scira prompt! Write anything else I just love those two. :)"
I live to please.
Day 2 of the OTP feels meme: Red
After Kira and Scott pick themselves up from the floor, brands burned behind their ears, the twins skulk off, and Mrs. McCall calls an ambulance for Mr. McCall.
Derek and Scott talk briefly and quietly—too quietly for her to hear. Apparently, being a kitsune doesn't allow her super hearing. But the two of them both look over at her at the same time.
Scott smiles at her nervously. Derek stares at her with essentially no expression—somehow, that's comforting.
They turn back to each other, and Scott clasps Derek's shoulder. "Thanks for being here," he says, and his voice isn't as warm as normal, but it's not cold either.
Derek actually kind of ducks his head. "It's not—I don't mind."
Scott smiles then and tightens his grip on his shoulder. "I think we should talk some time, about the pack and everything. You'd know more about it than I do."
"Okay," he says, looking up. The corners of his lips actually tug upward.
Kira gets the feeling that it's not normal. She kind of wishes it was. He's the only one who's known anything about her.
Derek starts to leave the house, and when he brushes by her, she carefully reaches out to touch his arm.
"Thanks, Derek," she says, smiling slightly.
He looks surprised briefly, but tucks the look away immediately. "You're—welcome?"
She lets go of him and steps back so he can walk all the way out. She turns to Scott. "How are you feeling?" she asks, a little concerned. She still feels sort of shaky, but she hopes Scott feels better. Since he's used to all of this.
"I'm okay," he says, shrugging. He rubs his hand over the brand and smiles a little. "I've had it worse. Better, too, but—this could be worse."
She nods, pursing her lips a little. So this is what it's going to be like, dating a werewolf? Or is this just because she's a kitsune? Why is everything so complicated?
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asks, carefully crossing the room. "Does it hurt?"
She touches the symbol behind her ear. "No, I'm just…tired."
"Yeah," he says, and sighs. "I understand that." He carefully takes her hand and pulls it away from her ear. "I should take you home."
She grimaces. She's going to be so grounded. "Yeah, let me call first…" She reaches for her phone and then groans. "It's—I still don't have it. It's still confiscated." She feels suddenly drained and frustrated, which just isn't fair. She's been holding it together. She's been fine. But she doesn't have her phone and apparently that makes her want to cry?
"Hey, it's okay," he says quickly, tugging his own phone out of his pocket. He unlocks it and hands it to her quickly. "Here, use mine. I'm really sorry about…all this."
"Well, it's not your fault," she sighs. She takes the phone from him and starts to dial her mom's cell. Then she cuts her eyes back to him. "It's not, right?"
"No! Well, I don't think so. I don't know," he admits. "Things here are…bizarre."
"I've noticed," she sighs.
Scott is kind of closing in on himself, and stepping back to give her room. He has to drop her hand to do that, and she feels the loss keenly.
The phone is ringing, but she steps closer to him and takes his hand. "This helps. Is that okay?"
He looks immediately relieved. "Yes," he breathes, and leans even closer to her.
She'll take it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, mom," she says. "I'm okay."
"Kira, where are you? Your dad said you were studying with one of your new friends, but that you'd try to be back for dinner."
"I know, I'm sorry," she sighs. "We lost track of time. You know how history is…" It's weirdly easy to lie about what happened. She kind of wonders if she should tell her parents the truth, because maybe they'd know more about this whole kitsune business—but no, for now it's best to wait. It's not just her secret any more. There are werewolves to consider now, too.
Is this seriously her life?
"We figured," Mom says gently. "Dad said we shouldn't worry."
"You shouldn't," Kira says.
"We already ate."
"I'll…stop for food or something," she says. "I'll be home soon, okay?"
"Okay. And Kira? You know you can tell us if you're dating someone."
"I know. I did that before, didn't I? Don't worry, Mom. It's not like that." She glances at Scott, grins a little despite herself, and says, "Yet."
Scott smiles at her and squeezes her hand gently.
"See you soon, honey," her mother says.
"Love you."
"Love you, too." There's a click on the other end of the line, and Kira hands Scott his phone back.
"Thank you," she murmurs.
"No problem," he says. "Do you, uh, want to get some food? Together?"
She smiles. "Yeah, okay."
Scott borrows his Mom's car to take her home, but he pulls into Burger King on the way. "Is this okay? I don't have a lot of money. Gas…" He shrugs a little shyly.
"No, it's fine," she says easily. "I like Burger King."
"Great," he says, and hops out of the car.
She gets out, too, and nearly smacks the door into Scott. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't know—I didn't think you'd be standing there—"
"It's okay," he says quickly. "Really. Um. I was going to open the door for you. But—you beat me." He smiles goofily at her, obviously amused by the whole situation.
So she allows it. "Well, thanks for the thought," she says, smiling. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine," he says. "Really. Don't worry!" He swings the door shut behind her. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm better, I think. I need to eat something, though," she says, rubbing her stomach. "Some protein."
"Good place, then," he says, grinning.
He buys her Whopper before she can get her wallet out.
She doesn't mind, per se—but she does worry about it. "I thought you said you didn't have much money?" she asks as they sit down in a booth.
"I have eight dollars," he says as he slides her tray in front of her. "That's all, though, so if you want ice cream, I can't help you."
She laughs. "Yeah, okay. I'll buy some then." She tears open a ketchup packet and squeezes it out onto the sheet of nutrition sheets on her tray. "I have some questions, if that's okay?"
"Okay," he says, opening his burger up to add extra ketchup. "I'll answer whatever I can."
"Thank you," Kira says. She dips a fry carefully into the ketchup, swirls it once, and then looks up at him. "Why do you have red eyes? Everyone else seems to have blue eyes."
He shrugs. "I'm the alpha. Most werewolves have gold eyes, I think, but here…well, Isaac is the only gold eyed beta left."
"Alpha?" she queried. "Like…in a regular wolf pack?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know much about wolves."
"I didn't either," Scott admits freely. "You figure things out, though. The alpha is the leader. For werewolves it's usually passed by death…" His face darkens slightly. "Derek was the alpha before me, and before him it was Peter. Laura was before that. Before…I don't know who it was."
"Derek is still alive," she points out. She eats her fry and sighs. It's just not as good as McDonald's. She dumps a packet of salt over the fries.
He nods and contemplatively takes a bite of his burger. "It's different for me. I don't really understand it, but apparently I'm a 'true alpha.'" He draws air quotes with one hand around the phrase, still holding onto his burger with the other. "I don't really know what that means, but I didn't have to kill anyone to become alpha. And Derek gave up being an alpha to heal his little sister."
"That's really nice of him," she says, and eats another fry. "So a beta—given what I know of the greek alphabet—that's like a second-in-command kind of person?"
"No, just a regular werewolf, so long as they're in a pack," he says, shrugging. "That's where it kind of breaks down. But an omega is a lone wolf, or sometimes the wolves that get picked on by everyone else? I don't really get it."
"Do you have omegas?"
"The twins want to be in my pack," Scott says. He takes another bite of the burger, looking vaguely uncomfortable by the question. "But I don't know if I want to have anything to do with them. They helped kill a fr—someone. Someone important to Derek and Isaac."
"I'm sorry," she says, sighing.
"It's okay."
"So the red eyes—that means you're the leader?" she reiterates.
"Yeah," he says, nodding. "I'm the boss."
"Cute," Kira says, giggling a little.
"I kind of hate it," he confesses. "The responsibility—I just. Wish I could go back to how it was. When I was just the boss of me."
She shrugs, eats another fry. "So delegate."
"I don't think that's how it works."
"How do you know?" she asks, frowning. "You don't even know much about yourself being a 'true alpha.'" She pauses with a fry on its way to her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was rude."
"No," Scott says, looking at her with something like wonder. "It's true."
She shrugs. "If you're stressed about something there's usually a simple answer you're overlooking," she says. "That's what Dad always says." Her burger tastes like it was prepared by angels. She basically tears through it, apparently more drained by the Oni than she had realized.
Scott doesn't comment, just digs back into his own food. "Did you have other questions?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, but not now," she says. She's finished the burger, so she goes back to her fries. "I don't want to learn too much at once. Anyway, you seem tired."
"Thanks," he says, seeming a little surprised. "Most of the time people just keep asking."
She frowns. "I guess so. Hey, what kind of ice cream do you want? I think I want a sundae…"
"You don't have to."
"Scott, you were willing to protect me with your life tonight, and you bought me dinner. I think some ice cream is in order."
He pouts a little. "Just a cone, then."
"Is that really what you want, or are you just saying that to keep me from spending money?" she wonders, poking his leg with her toe under the table. "Come on. Be a true alpha."
"What does that have to do with anything?" he asks, but he's grinning again. "I mean, if you insist…I'll never say no to an Oreo brownie sundae."
She smiles. "See, that wasn't too hard, was it?"
He rolls his eyes and goes back to eating his fries. "I'm not answering that."
She pats his shoulder and stands to get the ice cream. "I know what you're feeling. Kitsune are psychic…"
"You said that was a joke," he complains.
"And you'll never know when I'm being serious about it," she says, and winks.
"I'll…ask Derek about it," he says, huffing. His eyes are kind of sparkling, though, like he finds it all very charming.
She giggles. She finds him very charming. "Okay, sure. But how can you be sure I won't convince him to help me trick you?"
"I won't," he says, and grins at her loosely. "I guess I'll just have to trust you."
"Can you?" she asks. It occurs to her that she's hovering next to a booth in Burger King with an employee behind the counter who could be hearing this whole exchange. What does she think of them? That they're supernatural creatures, or just two dorky teens on a date? She flushes, just thinking about other people seeing her like this, like she's unhinged or something and—
"I trust you," Scott says, voice like velvet, eyes briefly flashing red.
Her shoulders slump in relief and she hesitantly touches his face again. "I trust you, too," she says, quiet. "Thank you."
"Any time," he says, and she knows it's true.
Originally posted on tumblr at imagreatbowler, and crossposted from AO3.
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