[ Derek stops, jaw working a little before he continues. Because he and Allison don't really talk, but they've gotten on better terms and now he's struggling to not let his emotions get the better of him because this... Wonderland takes people, and sometimes it doesn't give them back. ]
[ the fact she's getting a message from derek at all worries her. they might be on better terms, but because of that last event, allison can't help but associate derek and something is wrong.
and then there's the actual content of the message, and allison looks up to find the back of scott's head because he's right here and she has to swallow around the lump in her throat before she can answer. ]
I'm with Scott now. [ and then she needs a second, to hold her jaw closed and let the muscle jump there. what is going on? ] But I haven't, we're looking now.
[ Derek hates this place, hates what it's done to them and what it's probably going to do to them, but at the very least it's given all of them a tighter bond. Even if it's been through the worst of circumstances, they have people they can fall back on.
Allison has, somehow, become one of them. And he can feel a deep empathy with her right now, because even over the phones he can hear it in her voice. ]
[ it doesn't make her feel any better, how quickly they fall into this. how easily they understand what it means to wake up and have people just gone. it's awful, nothing about it makes sense, but it's become so much a part of their routine that she can't really complain.
a message of have you seen them followed by a i'll meet you downstairs. she's trying to hold it together because she can see what it's doing to scott, can see how he's trying so hard to hold it together, trying so hard to be an alpha, and all he wants to do is fall apart. allison just follows, gives him something else to worry about as well. it's all she can do. ]
Besides the decorations, I haven't noticed anything else off. [ which goes to say: is this some kind of wonderland event? wouldn't more be wrong? she doesn't want to think about what it would mean if they've actually gone home, but she can't help it. can't help the way it grips something cold and dark inside her and tugs. ] If you find anything...
[ They'll find them. They have to find them. If only because losing people in this place, and not knowing whether they're missing or if they've been sent home for a spell, is going to wreck all of them. After everything that's happened, they're too interwoven for these losses, whether they're right in front of their eyes or the mansion sweeps them away.
But he's been experiencing loss for almost a decade now. Maybe it's not easier to keep it together, but he at least knows the motions to go through, how to keep a straight face if only for the people that remain. So he'll try to now, to make it easier for Scott and Allison, to keep them together and not falling apart.
Even if that's easier said than done, right now. ]
I was up when the decorations came through the hall. Nothing else seemed off, though. [ There's an obvious at the time that goes unsaid, but it's obvious. He eyeballs the cracks in the floor for a moment before he answers, but then his voice is a little softer when he does. ]
Yeah. Be careful, Allison. [ They can't lose anyone else. ]
[ where derek's a veteran in loss, allison's still finding her footing. still grasping at straws that maybe, maybe soon, it'll get better. has to get better. everything's been going downhill at a very fast rate, and she's just recently been able to figure out which way is up and which is down.
and then there's wonderland, where that could all change in an instant.
but here they can look, because here things can be disguised as something else, something different. it can look one way and mean another and maybe that means they're here somewhere. ]
Maybe it's something else. Something that hasn't happened yet. [ because it needs to be said, because it needs to be out there, needs to be said. when he tells her to be careful, she pauses. lets it sink in a little just how far it is they've come before she nods. ] You too, Derek.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voice; HAY GURL
[ Derek stops, jaw working a little before he continues. Because he and Allison don't really talk, but they've gotten on better terms and now he's struggling to not let his emotions get the better of him because this... Wonderland takes people, and sometimes it doesn't give them back. ]
You haven't seen Stiles and Isaac, have you.
voice; OH HAY BOO
and then there's the actual content of the message, and allison looks up to find the back of scott's head because he's right here and she has to swallow around the lump in her throat before she can answer. ]
I'm with Scott now. [ and then she needs a second, to hold her jaw closed and let the muscle jump there. what is going on? ] But I haven't, we're looking now.
voice; let's bond more over horrible things
Allison has, somehow, become one of them. And he can feel a deep empathy with her right now, because even over the phones he can hear it in her voice. ]
I'll head the opposite way. Cover more ground.
voice; like we have any other choice!
a message of have you seen them followed by a i'll meet you downstairs. she's trying to hold it together because she can see what it's doing to scott, can see how he's trying so hard to hold it together, trying so hard to be an alpha, and all he wants to do is fall apart. allison just follows, gives him something else to worry about as well. it's all she can do. ]
Besides the decorations, I haven't noticed anything else off. [ which goes to say: is this some kind of wonderland event? wouldn't more be wrong? she doesn't want to think about what it would mean if they've actually gone home, but she can't help it. can't help the way it grips something cold and dark inside her and tugs. ] If you find anything...
[ let us know goes unsaid. ]
voice; nope not at all
But he's been experiencing loss for almost a decade now. Maybe it's not easier to keep it together, but he at least knows the motions to go through, how to keep a straight face if only for the people that remain. So he'll try to now, to make it easier for Scott and Allison, to keep them together and not falling apart.
Even if that's easier said than done, right now. ]
I was up when the decorations came through the hall. Nothing else seemed off, though. [ There's an obvious at the time that goes unsaid, but it's obvious. He eyeballs the cracks in the floor for a moment before he answers, but then his voice is a little softer when he does. ]
Yeah. Be careful, Allison. [ They can't lose anyone else. ]
voice; c:
and then there's wonderland, where that could all change in an instant.
but here they can look, because here things can be disguised as something else, something different. it can look one way and mean another and maybe that means they're here somewhere. ]
Maybe it's something else. Something that hasn't happened yet. [ because it needs to be said, because it needs to be out there, needs to be said. when he tells her to be careful, she pauses. lets it sink in a little just how far it is they've come before she nods. ] You too, Derek.