he's tried a lot of methods, so far — honesty, half-truths, outright lies. none of them really seem to work, to stop the way he feels as though someone stabs through his chest, rips open the hasty stitches that barely hold him together.
he can't afford to let it show... and so he says nothing. says nothing and focuses on the part about the squidges, something he can actually talk about. ]
Um, no. The eggs just need to be kept warm, you don't actually have to sit on them, we're not birds.
Then how are you gonna keep them warm?! Tap into your motherly instincts, Stiles!
[but his skirting past the subject isn't going unnoticed. He's probably embarrassed or sore about... everything, from the true love's kiss or whatever was going on there, to the whole Peter being loose and Stiles panicking. So she gets a little more serious]
Have you guys talked, since.... you know.... [Don't make her make smoochy noises to indicate the kiss, just don't]
Stuffing them under your shirt? Bundling them in an extra jacket? I've actually successfully hatched one of those eggs, you know, and Scooter's doing great, so —
[ maybe don't try to talk to him about motherly instincts?? though this reminds him how much he misses Scooter...
... which is not exactly a great errant thought to have as she turns the subject squarely into let's not talk about this territory. ]
... yeah. [ at least he takes her "you know" to mean "everything that happened" instead of anything specific... and though his answer is short, it's truthful, with him taking as much care as he can to keep his voice light, to give her no reasons to suspect anything. they did talk... very briefly, and it was horrible all around, but they talked. ]
Sounds fake, but okay! If you're really a squiggle mom, then you must have busted out the Stiles butt warming technique!
[time for Maya to be Scooter's new mom since she's The Other Woman]
Aaaaand?
[Unfortunately for Stiles, the fact that he's being so vague and tight-lipped is actually arousing her suspicion a little. Better come up with something, fast!] You might as well the beans, I already saw you guys smooching!
Squidge. [ said with emphasis. ] Not squiggle. And nope, the jacket warming technique worked just fine.
[ um no??? who even cares about his ex but you're not taking his baby!! and tbh it's more like Scooter will just get a new dad soon enough, it fits right, he was named after him and all that... ]
And nothing. Maya, I don't — [ want to talk about this, he almost says, but it'd just make her more suspicious. ] .... look. Ask Peter, if you really want to know. He should be able to explain better what our talk was about, anyway. [ since he sure as hell has no explanations, mostly because Peter didn't see it necessary to give him any. (not that he asked for them, either.) ]
I.... [She'd wanted him to admit as much, but now that he has, she's at a loss for what to do.] I'm not gonna force you. Just.... don't pretend like nothing's wrong, it'll make you feel worse.
[....]
I can come hang out. You don't have to talk about it. [She offers,] We can do something else.
[ see, you think you want something, and when you get it you realize you actually didn't want it at all... such is the life!!
he very nearly responds that nothing can make him feel worse than he already does, but she doesn't need to hear that and it sounds ridiculous even in his head, even when he knows it's true — so he breathes out, says nothing for a moment.
then, ] ... if you want. There's — there's an arcade. I went there with Lance a couple days ago. Some of the games still work. So, if you... if you want to kick my ass in Deathly Fighting, we can meet there. [ playing games equals not having to talk much... which is what he's after, right now. ]
[Well, that's something. Maya's fine tuned in the art of distraction, especially self-distraction, and at least that way she can be a physical presence, like she's been for Peter. She suspects there's very little -- if anything -- she can do, but she has to at least try. For his sake. Maybe a little for her own, too.]
I hope you're ready to get your butt handed to you. [Or not, she's not actually that skilled in video games] I'll see you there! And we can get snacks.
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also.
he's tried a lot of methods, so far — honesty, half-truths, outright lies. none of them really seem to work, to stop the way he feels as though someone stabs through his chest, rips open the hasty stitches that barely hold him together.
he can't afford to let it show... and so he says nothing. says nothing and focuses on the part about the squidges, something he can actually talk about. ]
Um, no. The eggs just need to be kept warm, you don't actually have to sit on them, we're not birds.
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[but his skirting past the subject isn't going unnoticed. He's probably embarrassed or sore about... everything, from the true love's kiss or whatever was going on there, to the whole Peter being loose and Stiles panicking. So she gets a little more serious]
Have you guys talked, since.... you know.... [Don't make her make smoochy noises to indicate the kiss, just don't]
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[ maybe don't try to talk to him about motherly instincts?? though this reminds him how much he misses Scooter...
... which is not exactly a great errant thought to have as she turns the subject squarely into let's not talk about this territory. ]
... yeah. [ at least he takes her "you know" to mean "everything that happened" instead of anything specific... and though his answer is short, it's truthful, with him taking as much care as he can to keep his voice light, to give her no reasons to suspect anything. they did talk... very briefly, and it was horrible all around, but they talked. ]
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[time for Maya to be Scooter's new mom since she's The Other Woman]
Aaaaand?
[Unfortunately for Stiles, the fact that he's being so vague and tight-lipped is actually arousing her suspicion a little. Better come up with something, fast!] You might as well the beans, I already saw you guys smooching!
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[ um no??? who even cares about his ex but you're not taking his baby!! and tbh it's more like Scooter will just get a new dad soon enough, it fits right, he was named after him and all that... ]
And nothing. Maya, I don't — [ want to talk about this, he almost says, but it'd just make her more suspicious. ] .... look. Ask Peter, if you really want to know. He should be able to explain better what our talk was about, anyway. [ since he sure as hell has no explanations, mostly because Peter didn't see it necessary to give him any. (not that he asked for them, either.) ]
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[Scott and Maya will be their new parents, thanks. Both of y'all lost squidge parenting privileges by being dumb boys]
I will. He's being all dodgy about it like you are, though. [but she'll corner him soon enough.] He's really messed up about this whole thing.
[...]
And... I get it. I'd get it if you were messed about this, too. You don't have to act like everything's okay if it's not.
[said the hypocrite]
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[ what can he say? the truth is too much, yet lying is far less than she deserves. ]
If I say it's definitely not okay, can we stop talking about this? Maya, I can't... I can't talk about this.
[ not now, not yet, or not ever? he's not sure. all he knows is that trying to force out any more words is too painful. ]
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[....]
I can come hang out. You don't have to talk about it. [She offers,] We can do something else.
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he very nearly responds that nothing can make him feel worse than he already does, but she doesn't need to hear that and it sounds ridiculous even in his head, even when he knows it's true — so he breathes out, says nothing for a moment.
then, ] ... if you want. There's — there's an arcade. I went there with Lance a couple days ago. Some of the games still work. So, if you... if you want to kick my ass in Deathly Fighting, we can meet there. [ playing games equals not having to talk much... which is what he's after, right now. ]
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I hope you're ready to get your butt handed to you. [Or not, she's not actually that skilled in video games] I'll see you there! And we can get snacks.