Chapter Twelve:
It was a Friday night, and Stiles was going over to Holly's house for dinner.
The two teenagers had come to an arrangement of sorts. See, Holly was horrible at anything involving numbers, A.K.A: maths and Science. So, since she was Stiles' partner in chemistry- they'd come to the agreement that, if Stiles did basically all the work for the semester- she'd help him with the Coyote part of his bestiary, and even introduce him to her family- who were all Were-Coyotes.
So there Stiles sat at the Meridian family table- eating a hearty meal of Spaghetti and meat-balls- something Stiles refused to let his father eat, and by association himself, so it was like heaven.
"So you're planning on writing a bestiary eh boy?" Mr Meridian, Holly's father, asked. Stiles had met him before…the dude owned the local music store- and his mum used to go over there all the time to buy new bass-stings.
"Well, I've already started actually- filled in a few sections too- but I'm trying to work off of things I learn from the people, or creatures themselves- since most of the bestiaries I've read tend to lie. So I want to do more of a meet-and greet, rather than researching online and writing from what I read."
Stiles felt extremely awkward. Every member of Holly's family- including her little sister, was staring at him intently…making him feel like he was in a den of wolves, or more correctly, Coyotes. He didn't think Holly's family liked him very much- or at least didn't trust him to an extent where they would step staring.
The only family member who didn't look creepy and slightly vicious- was Holly's grandmother sitting across from him, who they said to just call "Ali". She was smiling at him sweetly- like he was some nice, young man, whom he knew he certainly wasn't...especially not these days.
"Mm, and how far could you have possible gotten in this bestiary of yours if you need to meet all the things you're documenting on?" Mr Meridian chuckled mockingly, reminding Stiles heavily of the way Chris Argent had been a few months back. Except that Mr Meridian had facial hair- and Stiles would love to see Mr Argent pull that off.
"Well," Stiles started lightly, placing his fork down, "So far I've documented on Werewolves, Kanimas, Darach, Vampires, Fae…a little bit on this Wraith we had a run in with- but she really didn't stop to chat, and I was hoping to get your help on the Coyote part."
Stiles looked around the table- feeling smug, like he'd trumped the stuck-up man.
There were wide eyes and open mouths all around; Holly, her mother, father and little sister looking at him shocked. Holly's Grandma Ali, though- was laughing her head off, and smiling bright…weird old woman.
"You've… met a fairy?" Mrs Meridian, a beautiful, long-haired woman with burning eyes, asked- looking sceptical.
HAH! Stiles would show her!
"Yeah- I helped one out of a hunter's trap and then walked for hours and winded up in this weird secret location that only trustworthy people can get to… or something. They really didn't explain the logistics of it very clearly, other than 'blah, blah, proven your worth, blah'- either way it was pretty exhausting." Stiles went back to eating, but could still feel the eyes of the entire family on him.
"Vampires?" Holly's sister Macy asked, wide eyed with childish wonder.
"Uh- yeah," Stiles set his fork down again, accepting the fact that he was obviously about to get a lot of questions, "I met one when I was walking through the woods. He's nice- his name's Toby- though I don't know if stealing blood bags from the local hospital is necessarily a nice thing- but it's better than killing people for it." Stiles shrugged.
"Kanima?" Mr Meridian asked, and even he'd lost his fierce look- just looking awed and interested.
"Yeah- Alpha bite gone wrong with that one." Stiles shivered at the memories.
They spent the rest of the dinner just…asking questions;
How did you fight this?
What does a REAL Darach look like?
How can a human know so much?
Etcetera, etcetera.
The attention was making Stiles feel a bit nervous- especially the weird, proud smile Holly's grandma kept sending his way- like all his accomplishments were some awesome thing she'd helped with.
The woman was creeeeepy.
In the end, he diverted the topic towards the Coyote- and the law behind it, taking a notebook out so that he could later write in his bestiary.
Most of his notes were pretty straight forward; Coyote's don't have a beta-form- they're more like shape-shifters, they worship the moon, they have to be born- not bitten, most of the bitten families are Native-American or NA descendants, etc.
All-in all, it was a pretty informative, and completely awkward dinner- and Stiles, once he and Holly made their way upstairs and into Holly's bedroom, was relieved it was over.
"Okay Stilinski, work your magic." Holly declared- pointing over to her desk, as she herself moved over to a rack of CD's in the corner.
Holly's room was a lot neater than Stiles'. The walls were painted in pretty greens, greys and whites, and with the fuzzy white carpet and the crochet white bedspread- it almost gave the room a snowy feel- and a very natural one.
There were the typical necessities of a modern-day American teen too- such as the iPod and iPod dock, laptop, band posters- CD rack- classic Vinyl collection…and Batman action figure line up? Awesome!
Stiles sat at the old wooden desk and got to work- typing slower than usual since Holly had a mac, and Stiles really had no idea how to work the layout on those things.
"You want some music put on?" Holly asked from her position scanning the CD rack.
"Yeah- what 'cha got?" Stiles shot back- not taking his eyes off of the task of figuring out how the hell to use the incredibly frustrating Apple product.
"Uh- let's see…I got Nirvana, The Smiths, The Smashing Pumpkins, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Rush, King Crimson, Jimmy Eat World, The Killers, first few albums of Metallica, Ed Sheeran, Queen, Foo Fighters, Tenacious D- I could keep going, maybe you should just tell me your genera preference?" Holly sounded embarrassed- like her music preferences embarrassed her…which it shouldn't- Stiles didn't really care whether someone listened to The Wiggles- or preferred Black Metal- as long as they were a cool guy.
Besides, Stiles liked most of the bands she'd picked out anyway.
"Okay- uhh- let's go The Killers." Stiles declared, trying to recall a band from Holly's list, turning around in his chair to smile at her. It wasn't every day you got to bond over music after all.
Holly smiled at him, "Cool. Which album?" She asked, scrolling through her iPod to look through the bands.
"Oh- definitely Hot Fuzz – that's not even a question." Stiles said- maybe a bit too loud, but Holly giggled- as if she agreed. Hmm- maybe she wasn't so scary after all.
They spent the next while just listening to music- Holly texting, and Stiles typing away on the mac. It was comfortable, and every now and again they found themselves bonding over the music that was surrounding them.
In reference to a Rush Song: "Oh my God! Geddy Lee could blow your ear-drums out with how high he sings!- wait, is that worse since you have supernatural hearing?"
In reference to an Ed Sheeran song: " You know- I cried the first time I head this. Like, this is sad shit right here."
And on and on they went- slowly forming a friendship.
Holly was a tiny bit distracted though- she was texting someone, and when Stiles asked about it, she told him all about her boyfriend Drew, who lives in Canada and that they always Skype on the full-moon.
Then, after Stiles had almost completed a large portion of the assignment- he had a sudden horrible realisation; Danny and Allison were his only human friends.
God fucking damn.
Sageandmilk: I'm sorry! Longer chapter up next I PROMISE! But this one is more of a filler, for there is
