We should proooobably avoid the word 'turn', too. I haven't been here super long, but if wolves are a thing here? 'Turn' would so not be mysterious. Like, at all.
[ give her a second to think. ]
I mean, if we don't think of anything more entertaining, I could probably get away with calling it 'me time'. [ after a second, her nose wrinkles. ] Except that actually sounds super shady and potentially pornographic, nevermind, veto on the 'me time'.
action; i think peter thinks your his straight bff tho
LARPing. [ she echoes, testing it out. then her lips press together a little like 'welp' and she shakes her head. ] Nope, can't do it.
[ but after a second, her chin sinks into her palms. wow, this is stupidly hard. ]
I could totally be pet-sitting or something? Like, I don't know how many animals there are but I know that chick with the weird eyes had some kind of dingo bear thing.
[stiles shoots her a mock affronted look] What's wrong with LARPing?
[stiles you don't even LARP so I would shut up if I were you. he shakes his head]
Unless you know someone with a pet whose name you could drop, that's a risky lie. That's why the ridiculous works so well. Even if people know it's code and we're not just drunk or something, if it's obscure enough it could mean anything.
Like... the full moon is coming could be 'the socks are on the roof'. Something completely incomprehensible.
The biggest problem with it all is how regular and obvious disappearing once a month can be after awhile. Especially in a confined space like this. If you came up with some sort of imaginary anniversary...
[ okay, sally - get your head in the game, pet-sitting is so not ridiculous. ]
What, so like, if I ever start telling you about how much I hate clowns, that means I'm - [ 'Feeling wolfy', is the word Josh used. It's weird to use it on herself, but: ] feeling wolfy or whatever? And if I mention how my uncle was a clown - he totally wasn't, but just go with it - that means tonight.
How's that? [ she's good at wit, but utter incomprehensibility is not her strong suit. ] Like, I've never actually done this before, I don't know how much warning I'd actually have - my roommate, he always knew like two or three days in advance, but I don't know if that's different for everyone or what.
Sure, yeah, clowns could work. It's definitely not something someone would automatically associate with werewolves and I guess we've already set a precedent for ourselves in terms of saying ridiculous things on the network [and ruining stiles' life]
And actually-- better than an anniversary, maybe drop something about monthly sleepovers or movie nights or whatever.
[throwing his hands up in the air] Hell, go Wiccan and make it about some kind of cleansing ritual or something. Claiming an alternative religion can keep people from poking too deep or risk looking like intolerant assholes.
Monthly sleepovers, except nobody's invited but me. [ she's not suggesting it - she's repeating it skeptically to show the flaws in that plan. ]
Wiccan, I could do. I kind of... did, for like two months. I mean, not the lifestyle, just the magic. So okay, like... [ she puts on a fake casual voice. ] Oh, it's just this detox thing I do. Lots of candles, lots of inhaling and exhaling - y'know, so this stupid ship doesn't drive me totally nuts? Yeah.
[ the casual voice goes away now, and she looks thoughtful for a second. ] If I even have to say anything. I mean, it's not like people are spying on my every move.
[stiles shrugs like her problem with his sleepover suggestion isn't his problem which. technically it isn't. whelp.] What, you never played musical houses when you were a teenager?
But yeah, go with the Wiccan thing. You've already got a good party line to feed people and, like I said, most people won't even ask because they don't want to look like bigots.
I mean. [considering] Some people will actually be bigots, but you don't have to answer them anyway.
And as an added bonus, if they have a problem with you being Wiccan they're almost certainly going to have a problem with you being a werewolf so you'll know better than to ever let them find out.
Preeeeetty much. [ which concludes their excuses brainstorming, at least as far as she's concerned - mostly because now she's falling into her thoughts for a second, going over her excuses and getting used to the fact that she even has to make excuses in the first place. like, okay, she had to make a ton of excuses back when she was undead and potentially cannibalistic, but that was a different kind of excuse. that was like 'hey i have to run home real quick', not 'hey so leave me alone for the next twelve hours or i'll probably kill you'.
then she looks up to stiles again, lips pressing together as she decides whether or not to ask what's on her mind and how to even ask it if she did. eventually, here comes a quiet: ] This is seriously going to suck, isn't it? [ a pause in which she swallows, then tilts her head a little. ] I mean, like... I've seen Josh and Nora do it like six billion times, and it looks like it sucks pretty bad.
[as bad as stiles can typically be with appropriate reactions to serious situations, werewolf stuff stopped being fun and exciting basically after the second time scott tried to eat him
... okay so it's still sort of exciting, what do you want from him. the point is stiles that stiles is suitably solemn when he answers sally anyway.]
It pretty much sucks, yeah. It gets a little easier in time, but the first one is usually pretty awful no matter what you do to prepare.
[sorry were you expecting sweet pretty lies. because stiles doesn't have them.]
[ no, that's exactly what she was expecting. someone to kick her in the face and tell her (without really meaning to) that she's a big giant idiot for hoping it might not suck as bad as she's anticipating. ]
I know, [ she admits, half plaintively. ] I just... figured I had to ask.
Yeah, my roommate. [ which is exactly who turned her by mistake, not that she's going to say it. ] He's here, actually. I should seriously be talking to him about all this, but he's kind of got enough on his plate? So.
Besides - he's actually not so great at keeping secrets [ no, sally, that's you ] and the more I talked to him, the more likely it'd get back to Aidan, and just. Yeah, I don't want to deal with that. [ she leans back and forth a little at 'him' and 'aidan', as if to emphasize the chain of events she'd like to avoid. ]
[ loaded question. she runs a hand through her hair, shoving it back out of her face as she takes a breath and figure out what the hell to even say. ]
I kind of... screwed up time. Like, time-time. And like, both of them are from the version of time that I didn't screw up, which is fantastic, but Josh apparently knows I did it and Aidan has no idea. I seriously don't want to have the whole 'so I ruined our lives in an alternate dimension, holla' talk just to get to 'by the way, y'know how I'm magically not a ghost right now? I'm also a wolf'. That's just. It's way, way more of a mess than I want to go anywhere near right now.
[ in no small part because in the version of reality that she came from, her and aidan are like. a serious, serious thing. boning in a big way, and also nauseating josh at the breakfast table in their spare time. ]
[nodding because okay he can see how that might be awkward and it's not like he can judge when he's trying so very badly to keep the rest of beacon hills from finding out about his homicidal venture as the nogitsune.]
Okay, fair enough. Wait. How does a ghost stop being a ghost?
[somewhat leery because his only experience with resurrection is creepy uncle peter and maybe the darach which. no.]
[ banshees? what the fuck is a nematon? she kind of wonders if he's full of shit, but she won't ask, since he's been cool enough so far. ] Uh, not so much, actually.
More like... black magic. Lots of it. In my defense, it totally wasn't my idea. [ a beat. ] I mean, that was the first time. The second time was my bad.
[ but that question kind of quiets her down, too. this part's a little hard for her. ] Yeah. [ she makes a point to sound decently casual, but she's not looking at him much now. ] My roommate had to dig up the heart of a guy he killed to get me my body back. Then when I had it, I guess it needed some kind of... something, to keep it going.
[stiles' body language gets tenser and tenser as sally speaks, until he's practically vibrating in his seat. he doesn't even really want to ask, but he find himself doing it anyway...]
action; aren't u sad u ducked out of stiles' network post before it blew up sally?
Okay, so. Trigger words that we should be careful about are as follows: full moon, werewolf, uh.
Aaaaanything else?
action; gurl she created the blow-up and walked away without looking back like a badass
[ give her a second to think. ]
I mean, if we don't think of anything more entertaining, I could probably get away with calling it 'me time'. [ after a second, her nose wrinkles. ] Except that actually sounds super shady and potentially pornographic, nevermind, veto on the 'me time'.
action; i think peter thinks your his straight bff tho
This is why the nerdy excuses work better. Nobody wants to listen anyway. And 'turning' could easily be called LARPing then.
action; she doesn't even know peter but is sure he's great?
[ but after a second, her chin sinks into her palms. wow, this is stupidly hard. ]
I could totally be pet-sitting or something? Like, I don't know how many animals there are but I know that chick with the weird eyes had some kind of dingo bear thing.
action; no he's awful. terrible
[stiles you don't even LARP so I would shut up if I were you. he shakes his head]
Unless you know someone with a pet whose name you could drop, that's a risky lie. That's why the ridiculous works so well. Even if people know it's code and we're not just drunk or something, if it's obscure enough it could mean anything.
Like... the full moon is coming could be 'the socks are on the roof'. Something completely incomprehensible.
The biggest problem with it all is how regular and obvious disappearing once a month can be after awhile. Especially in a confined space like this. If you came up with some sort of imaginary anniversary...
action; sure
What, so like, if I ever start telling you about how much I hate clowns, that means I'm - [ 'Feeling wolfy', is the word Josh used. It's weird to use it on herself, but: ] feeling wolfy or whatever? And if I mention how my uncle was a clown - he totally wasn't, but just go with it - that means tonight.
How's that? [ she's good at wit, but utter incomprehensibility is not her strong suit. ] Like, I've never actually done this before, I don't know how much warning I'd actually have - my roommate, he always knew like two or three days in advance, but I don't know if that's different for everyone or what.
action; what you don't believe him??
Sure, yeah, clowns could work. It's definitely not something someone would automatically associate with werewolves and I guess we've already set a precedent for ourselves in terms of saying ridiculous things on the network [
and ruining stiles' life]And actually-- better than an anniversary, maybe drop something about monthly sleepovers or movie nights or whatever.
[throwing his hands up in the air] Hell, go Wiccan and make it about some kind of cleansing ritual or something. Claiming an alternative religion can keep people from poking too deep or risk looking like intolerant assholes.
action;
Wiccan, I could do. I kind of... did, for like two months. I mean, not the lifestyle, just the magic. So okay, like... [ she puts on a fake casual voice. ] Oh, it's just this detox thing I do. Lots of candles, lots of inhaling and exhaling - y'know, so this stupid ship doesn't drive me totally nuts? Yeah.
[ the casual voice goes away now, and she looks thoughtful for a second. ] If I even have to say anything. I mean, it's not like people are spying on my every move.
action;
But yeah, go with the Wiccan thing. You've already got a good party line to feed people and, like I said, most people won't even ask because they don't want to look like bigots.
I mean. [considering] Some people will actually be bigots, but you don't have to answer them anyway.
And as an added bonus, if they have a problem with you being Wiccan they're almost certainly going to have a problem with you being a werewolf so you'll know better than to ever let them find out.
action;
then she looks up to stiles again, lips pressing together as she decides whether or not to ask what's on her mind and how to even ask it if she did. eventually, here comes a quiet: ] This is seriously going to suck, isn't it? [ a pause in which she swallows, then tilts her head a little. ] I mean, like... I've seen Josh and Nora do it like six billion times, and it looks like it sucks pretty bad.
action;
... okay so it's still sort of exciting, what do you want from him. the point is stiles that stiles is suitably solemn when he answers sally anyway.]
It pretty much sucks, yeah. It gets a little easier in time, but the first one is usually pretty awful no matter what you do to prepare.
[sorry were you expecting sweet pretty lies. because stiles doesn't have them.]
action;
I know, [ she admits, half plaintively. ] I just... figured I had to ask.
action;
kicking people in the face when they're down.]So you know other people back home that have already gone through this then?
action;
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stiles is sort of quiet for a moment, picking at a loose thread on his hoodie before he says;]
Yeah. I get that.
action;
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[stiles nods mock seriously and makes a face.]
And we wouldn't want Aidan to find out...
why exactly?
action;
I kind of... screwed up time. Like, time-time. And like, both of them are from the version of time that I didn't screw up, which is fantastic, but Josh apparently knows I did it and Aidan has no idea. I seriously don't want to have the whole 'so I ruined our lives in an alternate dimension, holla' talk just to get to 'by the way, y'know how I'm magically not a ghost right now? I'm also a wolf'. That's just. It's way, way more of a mess than I want to go anywhere near right now.
[ in no small part because in the version of reality that she came from, her and aidan are like. a serious, serious thing. boning in a big way, and also nauseating josh at the breakfast table in their spare time. ]
action;
Okay, fair enough. Wait. How does a ghost stop being a ghost?
[somewhat leery because his only experience with resurrection is creepy uncle peter and maybe the darach which. no.]
Like, was there a banshee or a nematon involved?
action;
More like... black magic. Lots of it. In my defense, it totally wasn't my idea. [ a beat. ] I mean, that was the first time. The second time was my bad.
action;
stiles' fingers tap anxiously on his knee, because honestly the words 'black magic' don't tend to instill a lot of confidence in him either.]
Is this the kind of black magic that involves human sacrifices? [he tries to say it lightly, but his body is all kinds of tense if she notices]
action;
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What sort of "somethings"?
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Yeah, okay, fair enough. It's only the last resurrection we had in my town involved virgin sacrifices and, as a result, was incredibly nerve wracking.
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