title: ash and dust
summary: cora hale arrives in mystic falls with ash in her lungs and smoke in her hair / or that time cora grew up in mystic falls.
disclaimer: i own neither teen wolf or the vampire diaries.
Stefan Salvatore smells fucking weird.
He smells weird and he puts her teeth on edge (and speaking of teeth, his are sharp and freakishly white and make her want to claw his eyes out) and Caroline fucking adores him, which is just brilliant.
He seems like a nice sort, she concedes, and maybe if she didn't have the instincts of a wolf, she'd like him.
But her every nerve is screaming at her, writhing beneath her skin, and all she knows is that he's wrong. He's wrong and he's dangerous and he smells like death and dust and blood and he terrifies her, scares her like nothing has since there was a fire in her house and howls in her ears.
Hi, he says on the first day he meets her, and he's affected by her scent too, she can see it in his eyes, and all she can think is 'as if you can talk, asshole'. But she doesn't say that. Hi, he says, you must be Elena's friend.
And she hates that, that he's identifying her as someone's property, as Elena-fucking-Gilbert's property, and she already hates him because he smells wrong, so she doesn't smile or blush or giggle like Caroline does. No, she shakes her head and snorts and says, no, I'm not. I'm Cora.
Like her being Cora and not Elena's friend is the most fucking important thing in the history of the planet.
He blinks, like he's astounded by her boldness, and she's pretty used to this look by now, has gotten it from most of Mystic Falls' population, so she's not fazed. After a moment, he shakes his head, and that smile is there again, charming and handsome and ever-so-amused.
She wants to barf.
Right, he replies, and he looks so much like he's trying not to laugh that she considers socking him in the jaw, Cora. Elena's told me about you.
About how I pulled her pigtails in middle school? Which she did, but she doubts was something the brunette had advertised.
He blinks again, like Cora's some kind of enigma he can't solve, like she doesn't add up properly or something, and she won't think about it yet but in time she'll come to worry that he'll get tired of trying to solve her.
notes: i'm sorry this took like forever?
daughterofsmokenbones: pls okay this made me clap my hands and do a happy dance. but i hope this was okay-ish? thanks, sweetie!