aefenglom | Network: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

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Network: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

The Network: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

The Watches

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[ The “Negative Nancy” remark gets a wry smirk out of him, though the amusement doesn’t quite manage to reach his eyes as he begins to walk away. When she suddenly catches his hand in hers however, Stiles turns to peer at her questioningly. He recognizes the look she gazes at him with, one he might have resented from someone else but only elicits a faint, sad smile when it’s from Lydia. The next few moments, as she struggles to finish a sentence, sharpen his awareness to a fine point. That’s not normal – not for Lydia Martin. ]

…Alright, I’ll believe, [ he lies convincingly, even throwing in a longsuffering sigh for added effect. ] We’ll figure something out. Maybe Derek can pitch it for once and put that Cro-Magnon brain of his to use.

[ Continuing to walk, Stiles gives it a minute before trying to address what’s really alarming him. ]

So, what were you going to say? I got you out of…?

[ The question is asked casually, but he watches her carefully from the corner of his eye, worried. ]

[ Instead of apologizing or tipping Stiles off to why she grabbed his hand like that, Lydia pretends not to notice the questioning look at all. Issuing her own sigh, only half in response to Stiles giving one, Lydia shrugs to his suggestion that maybe Derek can help. She'd doubtful; Derek never helps with the logic stuff, he's always doing the brawn part, which Lydia isn't sure they'll need this time. ]

It wouldn't hurt to have an extra head trying to think it through.

[ For a moment, she thinks that he's going to let it go and she hopes that he does, largely because she's frustrated enough by whatever's happening; never mind trying to figure out how or why so that she can explain it to Stiles. That's wishful thinking and she knows it, though, and Stiles proves it a minute later as they walk.

More out of the reflexive desire to actually answer his question than the belief that she'll suddenly actually be able to get it out, Lydia tries again. ]

Ei—

[ and she stops again, mouth still open like the words are supposed to keep coming, only they just...don't. ]

Ei-ei-chan—

[ Once again, her voice stops abruptly only able to get out the first word and, even then, in a stuttering fight so that it sounds more like two words I can rather than the singular Eichan she means it to be. This time, her jaw snaps shut with a frustrated click of her teeth and her face goes red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. In a lame attempt to cover and only half-lying because she remembers the word but whatever was supposed to come after it is gone again. ]

I can't remember. ...I don't know. I don't know what's...wrong. Listen, I just know you got me out, okay? And it took a lot, it had to have. Just trust me, okay?

[ When she looks back at him, her expression has softened into something more hopeful. ]

Can you?

[ Those broken, stammered attempts to say “I can” – because what else could she be trying to say? – legitimately terrify him. Forever prone to overreaction from losing his mother far too young, his first thought is that Lydia must be suffering a stroke. The idea, nonsensical as it is, is abandoned quickly when she seems to finish the thought a moment later by admitting, “I can’t remember.” Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, he clasps her opposite shoulder and gently squeezes it. The fact that she can’t recall is definitely concerning, but at least Lydia doesn’t appear to be physically unwell. Either something happened in their world that messed with her memories – likely, knowing their luck – or there’s strange magic afoot in Aefenglom. The latter possibility feels like a stretch; Stiles has never known Mirrorbound to experience memory alteration during their time here, after all. ]

I trust you, [ he tells her firmly, because he does. ] I guess it’s not a big deal right now. We can look into why you can’t remember later. Does anything else feel wrong or weird?

[ Suddenly, it occurs to him that Lydia might be a Monster. ]

Are you…uh… [ A delicate pause. ] Okay, don’t get mad at me for asking, but…are you…growing anything? Anywhere…?

[ PLEASE DON’T SMACK HIM. ]

[ While Stiles's concern is not lost on her — he's never been very good at hiding that sort of thing from his expression, in her experience — Lydia appreciates very much that he doesn't push on it. He's not keeping it a secret, at least acknowledging that he sees something wrong and knows they'll need to address it, but he's not, like, having a panic attack over it or anything. That's about the last thing she needs right now because she's kind of already secretly panicking enough. Her own concern being compounded by his would be too heavy to carry while she's still trying to wrap her head around what the holy hell is going on and how she even got here.

So she looks relieved when he's willing to leave it at that; that he trusts her and they'll figure out why she's having trouble remembering when there aren't more pressing things to worry about. ]

I mean, besides the fact that I'm here at all, no, I'm okay I think.

[ Her eyebrows lift in challenge at that particular question. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Slowly and with a hint of slightly frustrated incredulity, ]

...no...

[ It's followed with a look that suggests he should probably explain himself before she takes offense. ]

[ This isn’t something that he can explain without admitting what he’s becoming. When Jackson arrived, Stiles refused to provide those details. But he can’t – won’t – hide the truth from Lydia. She’s too smart for her own good; no doubt she’ll figure it out soon enough anyway. Still, this is a topic that’s intensely uncomfortable for him to discuss. ]

In this world, you’re either a Witch or a Monster. There’s no third option. Derek’s a Witch. [ He swallows, then plunges ahead. ] And I’m a Monster.

[ As they walk through the city, she’ll see examples of the latter everywhere. Men with the lower bodies of snakes slithering casually home. Women with beautiful wings for arms amiably chatting with neighbors. Unlike in Beacon Hills, it’s obviously known and accepted that such creatures exist. ]

Witches get access to magic. Monsters… They – we slowly transform into our Monster species over time.

[ Licking his lips nervously, he rolls up the sleeves of his hoodie to show her his hands and arms. A dark, chitinous exoskeleton is growing in over the flesh there, with fine hairs he uses to feel vibrations in the air: Trichobothria. ]

I’m an Arachne.

[ Stiles doesn’t bother spelling that out that name for her. Clever girl that she is, Lydia will know he’s talking about spiders. ]

[ Lydia's eyes narrow with concentration as she listens to Stiles's explanation of this place and what's going on with them while they're in it. That...well, sort of explains some of the questions of which she'd been on the receiving end, but it certainly doesn't make her feel any better about how long Stiles has been here or how little faith he seems to have that she can help them get out again.

When he shows her his hands, Lydia sucks in a quick, sharp breath of surprise and, following the word he uses to describe himself, her eyes move up to his face. She's actually incredibly familiar with the word after her Greek mythology kick back in sixth grade. Arachne was turned into a spider by the goddess Athena.

Lydia lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding for the past several seconds while she processed the information. Then, just like that, she's back in problem-solving mode. ]

That's fine. You're okay; when we get you back, Deaton will help us fix it, that's all. You'll be you again in no time, sweetie.

[ It's said with the same confident air she's gotten so incredibly used to putting forward when she's the exact opposite of confident. She doesn't like that she's feeling shaken by this revelation because it's not a part of her ex, back home. He'd have told her. So what that means to Lydia is that she's either talking to some sort of a clone of him or, terrifyingly worse, she's entered some level of a multiverse that she hadn't realized exists and that's going to make getting them all back really, really difficult. ]

How is that possible, anyway...? Do you...know?

Well, the silver lining is that I shouldn’t need Deaton’s help.

[ He pauses a moment so he can yank the hoodie sleeves back down over his arms. ]

There’ve been a few cases of Mirrorbounds being sent home then brought here again. Back in their worlds, they lost all Monster traits or Witch magic. Here’s the real kicker, though. They told me that – even though they were originally in Aefenglom for months – no time had passed in their world from when they were first taken.

[ A spark of sharp curiosity lights up his eyes; this is a subject that’s interested him immensely. ]

So, this place is totally a separate dimension. Time is relative. And so are our changes here. I mean, otherwise you’d remember me waking up one day with spider legs coming out of my back. [ A beat. ] …Th-that…doesn’t happen, right?

[ Stiles has completely distracted himself from her question. Sorry, Lydia. ]

[ Lydia looks warily thoughtful for a moment at that. That would explain why she doesn't remember him going missing, but it defies literally everything she knows about time and quantum physics, so that's...not great. She can't even use Jackson as a gauge because she hasn't talked to him in an age. They don't really keep in contact these days, even though they're not on bad terms by any stretch. ]

That's weird... I mean, I understand the concept of time being relevant but just...huh, I don't know. I'll have to wrap my head around that.

[ It actually takes her a second to pick up on Stiles's question because she's still trying to figure out how, exactly, that would work. The time thing, not the spider thing. When her brain catches up with her ears, Lydia looks surprised. ]

Oh! No, honey. No, it doesn't.

[ ...and she looks still more surprised by the fact that she's able to get that information out when she hadn't been able to get out anything else regarding home. Why is this different? ]

[ Blowing out a heavy breath in a sigh of relief, he allows himself to take some measure of comfort from that. So, Lydia – who is several years into his future – has no recollection of him displaying Arachne traits. More importantly, it doesn’t seem like the Stiles from her timeline ever told her about Aefenglom, or she’d remember that too. Either they’re from alternate universes (Stiles tells his inner comic geek to settle down) or his memory of Aefenglom is wiped upon returning home. That’s a question for his Mirrorbound contacts to answer. For now, he puts aside these wonderings. ]

The point is, we should figure out whether you’re a Witch or Monster. Jonas is a Witch – he’ll be able to help us out.

[ Taking her hand, Stiles hurries them back to the cottage he shares with Jonas, unconsciously eager to introduce a little piece of home to his new home. ]

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Network: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

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/fin ❤