packpapa: (pic#6691434)
[ Dᴇʀᴇᴋ Hᴀʟᴇ ] ([personal profile] packpapa) wrote2013-08-30 05:52 pm

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Summer is truly starting to set in as the sun rises slowly in the blue, cloudless sky, and the birds outside are chirping merrily. But with the large window covering most of the wall in the main living space and the sunlight above, Derek stirs with a groan, burying his face further into the warm pillow and the covers surrounding him to shield his sensitive eyes.

He feels a little groggy as he starts to pull himself out from the depths of sleep, not that far from what it feels like after experiencing wolfsbane in his system, and, what he can only assume, it feels like to have a hangover.

It doesn't take long for him to fully come to his senses and when he does he jolts up with a start. Brigid. He looks to his right where she's still lying beside him, but thankfully he doesn't appear to have disturbed her. She looks peaceful in slumber, he thinks, unable to remove his eyes from her sleeping form, and he reaches out without thinking about it, carefully brushing the wild strands of red hair away from her face. He finds himself smiling, almost as if nothing's changed and they're still teenagers without a care in the world, but the weight of the darkness around his heart doesn't let him forget for long.

He's glad she's here, he realises, even though he still can't let himself believe it's going to last; he wants to, but he can't. The second he starts to let himself hope, he knows everything can only go downhill from there, it always does. But maybe if she sticks around long enough, if she manages to settle without bolting as soon as she discovers every single sordid detail, and he knows she's going to have to meet the others at some point.

Derek carefully manoeuvres himself into a sitting position, back against the head of the bed and covers hanging over his clothed lap. He didn't plan to sleep through the entire night and half of the morning as well, but he needed it, and he knows that Brigid did as well. And he can already feel a lot of the weariness gone from the solid night of sleep. He catches the fresh scent of Isaac, but he can't hear his heartbeat from within the loft, so he knows he must have been and gone, always trying to stay out of his way to make sure he's not a nuisance. He doesn't mind having him around, though, and it's not as if either of them have anyone else, but he can't help feeling relief that he can hold off on introductions a while longer until he can catch her up with the recent going-ons.

He doesn't know how long he sits there, watching as the sun fully rises in the sky and glancing down to the woman beside him, a woman he never thought he would get to meet and the memories of the girl she used to be faded from the hard years that followed. He's an alpha, yes, but he knows he's far from perfect, that he wasn't born to the role, and that he's going to make a lot more mistakes before he finds his feet. And he's still got a long way to go before he can be anything to anyone beyond that, but if she's at his side then he thinks he can learn to try that much harder to discover who he was supposed to be before he got thrown off course.
bostonhowler: (eating)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-08-31 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Rule one: I'm always right; rule two, if you think I'm wrong, see rule number one." She quips taking her tea. The apple cinnamon flavor is a bit strong, but she likes it better when she's trying to cut back her caffeine intake. And it doesn't leave the aftertaste the peppermint does.

She sips it slowly, blowing on it to cool it. This is California; she'll find another tea shop like she had back in Boston. If Boston had looseleaf tea shops, California most certainly does. Half the fun of going in is because she can tell the taste just from the smell.

Brigid frowns, sipping her tea. "You need one, Derek. You know that. I have a few names of Emissaries that are attached to packs, but they might know someone." Doubtful, since that's usually passed on. "I can get them later, though. Why isn't he your Emissary?"
bostonhowler: (Happy)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-01 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
She settles next to him, probably far too comfortable in his loft already. Less than twenty-four hours and she wants to jump right in and help him fix everything. Brigid curls up in the chair, frowning down into her tea. Her fingers itch for the book, but she doesn't want to risk it with the pancakes.

Then, she steals Derek's syrup putting it on her pile of pancakes. She's so used to pack, still, that it doesn't even occur to her that it might bother others.

Another sip of her tea and she finally cuts into the pancakes. Something teases at the edges of her memory; something she read in the book. Brigid munches for a moment, tucking hair behind her ear. His mother had seemed to trust the Emissary, but she's not going to point that out. Not to Derek. She can't imagine everything that had happened over the years.

"There might be more ammunition you can take into that conversation." Brigid is still feeling her way through the information cataloged over years of reading history and translating the book. "Maybe." She gestures with her fork toward the book. "If I remember correctly, an Emissary serves an Alpha, but if someone else takes their place, then the Emissary must either appoint a replacement or serve themselves. It's part of the pact they made with the early wolves."

She sops up some syrup with a bite of pancake. "But, that's only if I remember rightly. A few hours with the book and I can look it up." A few hours because she's going to have to translate things.

Brigid rests her chin on her upraised knee. "And then I'll call Carlos and you two can complain I'm being perfect and wonderful at each other." She grins and sticks her tongue out at him.
bostonhowler: (eating)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-01 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
She snickers into her tea. Put like that, it does sound utterly ridiculous. Brigid just grins, because, really, the thought of either of them demanding anything, from an Alpha, an Emissary, anyone, wouldn't have been even contemplated all those years ago.

"Well, it's one solution to the problem." Brigid points out. She drops one foot to the floor, eating her pancakes for a moment. "But, I'm not sure of the rules for it. They're in the book, I know that much, I just don't have them memorized."

Her fingers tap against the table, beating out a random pattern while she tries to think of another solution. Sighing, she shakes her head. "That's all I have, really. It's force a decision out of him, or look for a stranger. And that will announce you to the world, if you don't want to do that yet." Brigid doesn't know what he's thinking, or what might be happening. She wants him to have all the possibilities laid out in front of him so he can make the best decision for the pack.

Her eyebrows rise. "Are you kidding? If you said your name was Derek, he'd probably start laughing and tell you all sorts of... never mind, you talking to Carlos is a bad idea." She isn't going to explain that either. Well, not right now, anyway.
bostonhowler: (History keeper)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-02 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
She blushes, her hair falling forward to hide her face. "I'm not just going to abandon you to hang out with my translations, Derek. Besides, it will only take a couple hours." Brigid wants to spend time with him. Not just her book.

She finishes off her pancakes, sipping her tea. "True. He did." She licks the drop of tea off her lip. "But, I had two weeks to look into things. There's rumors of a rogue alpha out here, but no one is eager to come look into things." An advantage for them and one she plans to make use of if Derek allows it.

That's going to take time to adjust to: a new Alpha, someone she's going to have to figure out how to read, how to -- She stops that train of thought. Derek is not Markus and he's not going to need half the toptoeing that Markus had. If anything, she's going to have to keep reminding herself that he's not the boy she knew any longer. She can't take all the liberties she could, if he were a Beta.

She raises her eyebrows, sipping the dregs of her tea. "Ooooh no. No. You do not need to know about fourteen and fifteen year old me and how horribly awkward I was and Carlos will take great delight in sharing those stories." She really doesn't want him to find out a few things. They aren't bad, just really pathetic.

Brigid pushes herself up and gathers up her dishes. "Here, I'll even do dishes. Then, movie? We've both earned a day off." A nice quiet day of arguing over movies and getting reacquainted. Nothing can go wrong, right?
bostonhowler: (Broken)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-02 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Only probably?" She asks, turning on the water to start the dishes. "Anyone beyond your uncle I should be worried about?" No reason not to get some business out of the way while she does up the washing. There isn't much to do, but better to do it now, than let it sit.

"Keep your curiosity to yourself." Brigid grumbles. Because she does not need Derek and Carlos ganging up on her for any reason ever. Carlos knows some things that Derek doesn't and vice versa. Especially when it comes to the whole werewolf thing. She'd never asked for permission to tell him. Better to have him ignorant, than to worry about him getting drawn into pack politics. And thus having to answer to Markus.

She glances at him, turning back to finish the dishes. "Just one day, Derek. Tomorrow, I'll go through the book and do all the translating and everything." Brigid's voice takes on a submissive, pleading tone. It's not because of him. She has her own damage to work through. Especially when it comes to Alphas.

Derek will be just as good for her as she is for him.
bostonhowler: (distraught)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-02 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
A pair of missing Betas, a pack of humans. Derek has landed himself in an unusual situation of pretty epic proportions. That's alright; she's here to help. She's not going to leave him alone again.

But having a hunter around, after what he's been through? She looks up, her eyes questioning. Why would he allow that? Why have the girl around?

Brigid sighs when he tells her about asking permission. She puts the rest of the dishes to dry on the rack. Her fingers rest lightly on the edge of the sink as she stares down into the distorted reflection staring back up at her.

"It's... it might take me a while, Derek. Markus only got more and more strict over the years." And he'd been horribly strict when they'd been out here. He demanded accountings from his Betas for their whereabouts almost at all times. He runs his pack as if it's almost a cult. She looks up at him. "Almost everything had to be run past him. So, if I do it to you, it's because of that." She walks over to him, finally, and wraps her arms around him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Just... give me time to realize I don't have to run every little thing past you."

Brigid looks up at him, smiling crookedly. "Now, how about we go argue over movies?"
bostonhowler: (Happy)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-04 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
He can badmouth Markus all he likes. The kindest thing she's called him recently is a murderous misogynistic pig. She'd even thought about challenging him. The only reason she hadn't was the phone call. Running is better than challenging an Alpha.

And if she had won? What would she have done? She's not an Alpha. She's never going to be and she doesn't mind that. Let other people have to worry about it. She likes helping.

"It won't take me long. It's just..." She looks up at him, her arms still around his neck. "You're you, and I know that what I remember is still there, but I can't..." Brigid nibbles on her bottom lip trying to think how to put it. "But, if I'm going to help you rebuild the Hale pack, and I am, I can't always treat you like you're the same Beta that I am?" It's a question she has to ask. "Engaged to. Here, when it's just us? I always will." Because in her mind, Alphas need that. "But in front of the others, you are and will always be the Alpha. And sometimes, that'll slip over." Probably less if they ever marry.

She's sticking around for the long haul. She meant what she'd said: She will still marry him, and give him a family. It will never replace the one he lost, but maybe it'll help ease the hurt some.

"If you've got net, hook my computer into it, if not, just plug my phone in and it'll connect automatically. I have Netflix. They're in my big duffel." Which solves the problem of what to watch. "I'll be back." Brigid bounces up on her toes and kisses his cheek, slipping out of his arms and heading upstairs for a moment.
bostonhowler: (Thinking)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-04 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
She laughs, padding back down the stairs. Her hair is actually contained for the moment. She's pulled it back with a headband and run a comb through it. At least it doesn't look like she's stuck her finger in a socket. "Derek, I haul around that book and I love the internet." She's spent more time in dusty libraries than she'd like to admit. "And, I've been in catacombs that double as a library, surrounded by skeletons. Don't tell me you aren't net-savvy." She's allowed to tease him.

She climbs back into the bed with him. Sitting with her back to the headboard, she frowns and pokes a few keys on her keyboard, before the red of Netflix fills the screen. Quickly, she is scrolling through movies. "I have no idea what you want to watch. Most of my favorites are documentaries, along with a few B-movie horror." Especially the werewolf ones. Carlos had never understood why she laughed at them so much. "So...?" She asks, resting her head on his shoulder.

She'd heard the engaged bit, and she knows that it might make it easier around the pack. Honestly, for the first time since she was fourteen, she's contemplating it without dread, without worry. Caring for Derek comes easily to her, and the intervening years haven't changed that. She knows that Markus had been... well, "shopping" is the only word for it, for another husband for her. Brigid had pretended not to hear, but it'd churned her stomach.
bostonhowler: (History keeper)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-06 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
She laughs at him. Because he looks so hopeless about the internet. She probably shouldn't tease him about it, but it's cute. People think her archaic, but there are requirements for computer programming classes for most history majors. She had liked them, even if they hadn't been her forte.

"You'll love it: BattleDogs is hilariously awful." She queues it up, leaning against him. She shifts so the laptop is on both of their legs. Her eyes drift halfway shut.

"You can ask me, you know. Anything about anything." He'd said he'd wanted to know about their time apart, but hasn't asked. "I'll answer." She thinks for a second. "I might have to go to Confession after admitting everything, but I need to find a new church anyway. And a priest."

She's still Catholic, still refuses to give up her faith, no matter what goes on.
bostonhowler: (distraught)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-14 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
She leans against him, taking comfort just from him being there. She's missed him for so long and been through a lot - nothing compared to him, she's sure - but he's like coming home again. Like recapturing the innocent fun they'd once had together.

"After we left here, Da asked Markus about cluing in his girlfriend to the whole werewolf thing." She barely remembers the woman. "Remember? I wrote you about how she bathed in her perfume and didn't understand why I hated having her over?" She'd complained long and loud both on the phone and in letters.

"Anyway, Markus said no." She shifts a bit next to him, watching the movie intently. "Da obeyed, but he didn't stop seeing her." Some would have, but her Da had loved the woman. "She ended up pregnant. Da petitioned Markus again. She was pregnant with a potential wolf, it wasn't something they could hide from her forever." Even though Brigid had not wanted that woman as part of the pack. "She was about four months along and went to talk to the Emissary, who is also a pediatrician. She was interviewing them or something. Twelve hours later, she miscarried." Brigid's voice drops but she knows he can still hear her.

"Da called me and told me to just go to school and he'd handle everything, even though he knew something was wrong." She bites her bottom lip. "The next day, I was called home from school. I thought Da had been hurt in the line of duty or something. Markus had killed him; Da challenged him because the Emissary had fed her something that had caused her to miscarry. Da lost." Her fingers twist together. "Da wrote me a letter explaining everything, including the test results and his side of the story. I still have all of it. Insurance against Markus." She plans on keeping it forever too. Especially if he protests her leaving.
bostonhowler: (Lost)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-15 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
She looks up at him, her eyes startled. "Derek, I would never think you would do something like that. Ever." Hard life or not, no matter what, she knows that he wouldn't twist something so innocent into a horrible tragedy. Not on purpose. He's not Markus, and she knows it. He may still be new to being an Alpha, but the broken man who'd confessed to her last night about the pack, and about his fault in what happened just isn't capable of that level of cruelty.

She shifts, putting the laptop in his lap and turning him to face her. Her hands cup his face carefully, making sure he's looking at her. "No matter what has happened, no matter what you may think of yourself, you are not cruel or wasteful of life, Derek." She takes a deep breath. "You are a better person, a better Alpha, and I will keep reminding you of that, because obviously you need it."

Her mouth twitches. "And before you rip Markus's throat out, I'll remind him, smugly, that I hold information that most Alphas will come after him for. And remind him that I have no problem sending other packs after his." She shrugs. "And if you rip his throat out after that, well, so be it."
bostonhowler: (wholesome)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-16 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
She will always be a part of his pack. She's always wanted to be. Coming here, Brigid has realized that she really wants to marry him still. She wants to honor the deal made long ago between their parents. Not just for his pack, not just for herself. She wants to marry him because she likes him. No matter what has happened, she can tell that the person he is is something she loves and needs in her life.

And Derek seems to need her as well.

"Which one?" Brigid hasn't heard him threaten people's throats. It's a wolf-thing that she's heard others make. She never has, but she's not a fighter. She much prefers taking people down intellectually.

But his threat to Markus makes her mouth twitch just the tiniest bit. She appreciates it, because it's really the first time that anyone has been on her side, and at her defense since her Da died. "I'd let you do it, even if I can't stand the thought of you hurt."
bostonhowler: (Happily studious)

[personal profile] bostonhowler 2013-09-16 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
She almost smiles at the threat, because she knows he'd never do it to her. He might joke, but that's all it would be. Of course, she'd have to point out that he'd have to catch her first.

Brigid is fascinated by his red eyes. Before, they've meant trouble, or orders, or a flexing of power. Now, they mean safety, protection, pack. Everything has changed so quickly, it's enough to take her breath away.

Disappointment flushes through her when he doesn't kiss her. She wishes he would. It wouldn't be her first kiss, but not far from it. Oh well.

"I know you'd heal, but that doesn't mean I want you hurt." She whispers. They all heal. But seeing someone she cares about hurt isn't something she likes to see.

Brigid sighs. "Markus might guess. He might be a brute, but he's not stupid. There aren't many places I would go. And I told Senora Montoya where I was going, since she's handling the sale of the house and the contents." She shrugs. "But again, I have the book, and Da's letter, and the blood work stuff." Her thumbs brush his cheeks again. "And the Hale Alpha. The name still holds weight in some corners. Plus, Markus isn't going to renege on the deal made, if you invoke it."

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