Comment-fic fills: Letters and Family
Letters Prompt: Teen Wolf (TV), Stiles, he finds a letter his mother's mother had written - to him, fifty years before he was born
Words must be weighed, not counted - Polish Proverb
Stiles had been moving his mother's books to a higher shelf. He would never trash the old collection of fiction, but he needed to make room for his ever increasing reference books.
A folded piece of yellowed stationary fell out of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Impossible. In the months after his mother's death, Stiles had scoured her belongings for every personal scrap. This time, it was obvious that the pastedown (the technical name for the endsheet glued to the book cover) was loose. The stationary would have fit there without making anyone suspicious.
And now Stiles was insanely curious. The handwritten letter was in Polish. Stiles knew that much, not that he could identify any words. The date in the upper right hand corner was 1 Sierpien 1946. A quick Google search and Stiles knew that it the equivalent to August and that it was derived from 'sierp' meaning a sickle or scythe. Stiles has spent too much time around the wolves to not be unnerved. He was going to have to translate the loopy handwriting. He needed someplace to start...
Wait. Somewhere... aha! He found it! He had an old children's book, 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff,' in both Polish and English. His mother's mother had sent it from Poland to California on the day of his birth.
He knew what that inscription said because his mother had told him before every time before reading the story to the impatient boy.
But Stiles stopped and stared at the inscription. Because the handwriting matched the letter. Because the greeting with his name matched the letter's salutation and Stiles was sure that if he flipped the letter over, the closing signature would match that of his grandmother's on the children' book.
Two years ago, Stiles would have thought it impossible, a joke. A letter addressed to him fifty years before he was born? Hidden in his mother's favorite book from her teenage years? Stiles checked the publication date of 'Frankenstein.' 1935.
He had more questions than... his mind flew in a hundred directions at once.
He looked back at the letter. There was one word not in a sentence, alone in the middle. With dread, Stiles typed 'wilcze' and 'Polish translation' into the Google search bar.
Wolf cub.
Stiles needed the letter translated. He couldn't trust anyone to do it for him. He needed to know every nuance of every word.
He set his jaw. It looked like he was going to learn Polish after all.
*
Letters Prompt: author's choice, author's choice, [character] has written a thousand variations of the letter - and never sent a single one
Once Upon a Time
Baelfire,
Son,
My son,
Precious boy,
Bae,
I'm sorry.
I apologize.
I'll fix this.
I should have...
I'll make it up to you.
I will find you.
I will make a way.
The way is almost complete.
I'm closer.
I'm coming to you.
Love,
Your Da
Your Father
Rumplstiltskin
Jacob Gold
Rumple
*
Letters Prompt: author's choice, any/any, waking up alone but with freshly written notes on their body
Leverage, Parker/Hardison
Hardison stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom. He didn't notice the words until after he had splashed water on his face.
The black marks were hidden in the shadows of his clavicle. 'See you Thurs.'
Parker.
She wouldn't have stopped there, though no other words were immediately visible to his eyes. Just because she could do a backbend and read words on the back of her legs didn't mean that he could. He would have to set up the mirrors -again.
Or he could go bug Eliot and ask him to read any words on his back. But that might not work as last time Parker had written 'Eliot don't help him cheat' on his back. The hitter had, of course, taken Parker's side and kept mum.
He sighed. Eliot first. If it was time sensitive, Eliot would yell at Hardison but give him answers. If it wasn't time sensitive, Eliot would yell at being pulled into their 'games' and Hardison would unpack all of the mirrors.
Time to go get yelled at.
*
Family Prompt: Teen Wolf (TV), Stiles, he names his daughter something moon related (Luna? Selena? Diana? Artemis?) because even though he hasn’t been a member of the pack in a decade, he’s still not over them.
Stiles watches his dad fumble with his cell phone, trying to take a picture through the nursery window. He grins a bit -because his daughter is on the other side of that glass and nothing can dim this day- and takes the phone away from his father to do it for him. The absent fingers on his right hand don't slow him down anymore. He doesn't notice the scars unless his wife is kissing them these days. Stiles kisses his wife's similar scars.
The phone saves the picture and that's when he realizes that his dad had been trying to embed the photo in a text to Scott. Stiles's brow furrowed; what Scott would be interested in his daughter? And then it hit him: McCall. Stiles hadn't seen or talked to his former best friend for a decade. Only one Scott had mattered his entire childhood. Now there was one at the office and one at his favorite coffee shop...
His dad stood at Stiles' elbow, stiff but patient. Finally, Stiles made a decision. He typed 'Deva Stilinski' into the message, hit send and returned the phone to his father. He knew his wife would forgive for picking the final name without her input.
And he knew that Derek would recognize the name of the Hindu moon goddess.
*
Words must be weighed, not counted - Polish Proverb
Stiles had been moving his mother's books to a higher shelf. He would never trash the old collection of fiction, but he needed to make room for his ever increasing reference books.
A folded piece of yellowed stationary fell out of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Impossible. In the months after his mother's death, Stiles had scoured her belongings for every personal scrap. This time, it was obvious that the pastedown (the technical name for the endsheet glued to the book cover) was loose. The stationary would have fit there without making anyone suspicious.
And now Stiles was insanely curious. The handwritten letter was in Polish. Stiles knew that much, not that he could identify any words. The date in the upper right hand corner was 1 Sierpien 1946. A quick Google search and Stiles knew that it the equivalent to August and that it was derived from 'sierp' meaning a sickle or scythe. Stiles has spent too much time around the wolves to not be unnerved. He was going to have to translate the loopy handwriting. He needed someplace to start...
Wait. Somewhere... aha! He found it! He had an old children's book, 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff,' in both Polish and English. His mother's mother had sent it from Poland to California on the day of his birth.
He knew what that inscription said because his mother had told him before every time before reading the story to the impatient boy.
But Stiles stopped and stared at the inscription. Because the handwriting matched the letter. Because the greeting with his name matched the letter's salutation and Stiles was sure that if he flipped the letter over, the closing signature would match that of his grandmother's on the children' book.
Two years ago, Stiles would have thought it impossible, a joke. A letter addressed to him fifty years before he was born? Hidden in his mother's favorite book from her teenage years? Stiles checked the publication date of 'Frankenstein.' 1935.
He had more questions than... his mind flew in a hundred directions at once.
He looked back at the letter. There was one word not in a sentence, alone in the middle. With dread, Stiles typed 'wilcze' and 'Polish translation' into the Google search bar.
Wolf cub.
Stiles needed the letter translated. He couldn't trust anyone to do it for him. He needed to know every nuance of every word.
He set his jaw. It looked like he was going to learn Polish after all.
*
Letters Prompt: author's choice, author's choice, [character] has written a thousand variations of the letter - and never sent a single one
Once Upon a Time
Baelfire,
Son,
My son,
Precious boy,
Bae,
I'm sorry.
I apologize.
I'll fix this.
I should have...
I'll make it up to you.
I will find you.
I will make a way.
The way is almost complete.
I'm closer.
I'm coming to you.
Love,
Your Da
Your Father
Rumplstiltskin
Jacob Gold
Rumple
*
Letters Prompt: author's choice, any/any, waking up alone but with freshly written notes on their body
Leverage, Parker/Hardison
Hardison stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom. He didn't notice the words until after he had splashed water on his face.
The black marks were hidden in the shadows of his clavicle. 'See you Thurs.'
Parker.
She wouldn't have stopped there, though no other words were immediately visible to his eyes. Just because she could do a backbend and read words on the back of her legs didn't mean that he could. He would have to set up the mirrors -again.
Or he could go bug Eliot and ask him to read any words on his back. But that might not work as last time Parker had written 'Eliot don't help him cheat' on his back. The hitter had, of course, taken Parker's side and kept mum.
He sighed. Eliot first. If it was time sensitive, Eliot would yell at Hardison but give him answers. If it wasn't time sensitive, Eliot would yell at being pulled into their 'games' and Hardison would unpack all of the mirrors.
Time to go get yelled at.
*
Family Prompt: Teen Wolf (TV), Stiles, he names his daughter something moon related (Luna? Selena? Diana? Artemis?) because even though he hasn’t been a member of the pack in a decade, he’s still not over them.
Stiles watches his dad fumble with his cell phone, trying to take a picture through the nursery window. He grins a bit -because his daughter is on the other side of that glass and nothing can dim this day- and takes the phone away from his father to do it for him. The absent fingers on his right hand don't slow him down anymore. He doesn't notice the scars unless his wife is kissing them these days. Stiles kisses his wife's similar scars.
The phone saves the picture and that's when he realizes that his dad had been trying to embed the photo in a text to Scott. Stiles's brow furrowed; what Scott would be interested in his daughter? And then it hit him: McCall. Stiles hadn't seen or talked to his former best friend for a decade. Only one Scott had mattered his entire childhood. Now there was one at the office and one at his favorite coffee shop...
His dad stood at Stiles' elbow, stiff but patient. Finally, Stiles made a decision. He typed 'Deva Stilinski' into the message, hit send and returned the phone to his father. He knew his wife would forgive for picking the final name without her input.
And he knew that Derek would recognize the name of the Hindu moon goddess.
*