Ficlet: moments not things || G || Gen
Author: marishna
Title: moments not things
Rating: G
Pairing/s: n/a
Character/s: Derek, Cora
Summary: Derek shows up on Cora's doorstep in Rio with one bag of belongings and an exhausted look on his face.
Warnings:n/a
Content Notes: n/a
Submission Type: Ficlet
Word Count: 906
Prompt: 219 - collection
Derek shows up on Cora's doorstep in Rio with one bag of belongings and an exhausted look on his face.
The pack she grew up with since the fire is nice and they welcome Derek into their fold without hassle, although he can feel the hairy eyeball on him what seems like every time he moves. But he understands why and doesn't react.
It's what he would have done with his own pack, after all.
It takes him a couple weeks of decompressing from everything that happened in Mexico--both the first time Kate kidnapped him and the second time when he died. He avoids telling that last part to Cora for as long as possible but she naturally freaks out when he finally does.
"What the hell, Derek?"
He shrugs, uncomfortable, not ready to talk about his life since Cora left again. He doesn't want her to feel responsible in any way. Cora seems to get it and sighs but leaves it at that.
She gives him infinite time and boundless space, never pushing even when, months after his arrival, he knows she's being questioned by her adopted pack.
He grins to himself because he knows how stubborn Cora can be. The thought triggers a memory and at once he's nine and trailing after his mother as she tracks her youngest through the woods. It was after Talia called them in for dinner on a random summer evening. Laura and Derek obediently heeded her call but Cora sneaked off through the underbrush and all but disappeared.
Derek could sense a growing unease in his mother as they tracked her through territory that usually held no surprises for an alpha wolf and her brood. But Cora seemed to magically evade their mother for what felt like hours (it was probably no more than half of one). Talia finally tracked her down as the sun was setting and the waning light made her squint up into the trees. Her gaze fell square on Cora who'd climbed the high branches of white alders and quaking aspens, then leaped from tree top to tree top to cover her scent trail.
Even as Talia scolded Cora for not obeying Derek could tell Talia was proud of her ingenuity.
"You would make a good second," Derek told her on a random Tuesday. They were sitting outside soaking up the late afternoon sun sipping beers.
"Yeah? For you?"
Derek snorts. "No, for someone better than me. Laura, maybe."
Cora's quiet for a long moment as she runs her nails over the edges of the label on the bottle. "I would have liked that."
"Yeah," Derek sighs. "We all would have."
It's about a week later that he knocks on her bedroom door and waits for her verbal okay to walk in. She's working on an assignment for a college course she enrolled in when she returned to South America and it makes Derek smile to see her so normal.
"What's up?"
Derek awkwardly holds up a wooden box. "I have something to give you."
Cora gives him a confused look but puts her laptop aside to accept his gift. When she opens the box she gasps and Derek can hear her heart speed up.
"W-what is all this?" she asks quietly.
"It's everything I saved from the fire, the most important of it," Derek replies as he watches Cora run her fingers over small items like a wedding band, a couple charred photos, a semi-melted key to their old front door and a small blue velvet pouch. She raises an eyebrow at Derek but he just shakes his head so she opens it and shakes out Talia's claws.
Her hand is shaking when she reaches out to pick one of the claws up and her eyes glisten as tears well up. She turns to Derek with a questioning look.
"I think it's time for you to have these things. It's only fair," he explains simply.
"Derek," Cora says softly. She gathers the claws up and scoops them back into the bag, then stands and embraces him quickly before pressing the pouch into his hands. "These don't belong to me."
"I want you to have them," he insists but Cora shakes her head.
"I remember Beacon Hills differently than you do. I didn't keep a collection of things from there but I have my memories. These are yours, Derek, your memories. I couldn't possibly take them from you."
Derek wants to argue with her and insist she take them but he understands what she's saying.
It's time.
"At least take this," Derek says instead and pulls one of the photos out of the box. It's one of the last taken of them as a family, casually standing around in the yard during a solstice moon waiting to run.
Cora accepts it and stares at it for a long time with tears in her eyes that never actually fall. Derek wipes one or two of his own away, though.
Two days later he boards a plane that will begin his journey back to Beacon Hills while Cora watches from the small tarmac and waves until he's high enough that she's a spec in the distance.
"Sucks to leave, huh?" his seatmate, a tourist, asks once they reach cruising altitude.
Derek shrugs. "I'm ready to go home," he replies and then settles back in his seat to watch them soar through the lazy clouds.
Title: moments not things
Rating: G
Pairing/s: n/a
Character/s: Derek, Cora
Summary: Derek shows up on Cora's doorstep in Rio with one bag of belongings and an exhausted look on his face.
Warnings:n/a
Content Notes: n/a
Submission Type: Ficlet
Word Count: 906
Prompt: 219 - collection
Derek shows up on Cora's doorstep in Rio with one bag of belongings and an exhausted look on his face.
The pack she grew up with since the fire is nice and they welcome Derek into their fold without hassle, although he can feel the hairy eyeball on him what seems like every time he moves. But he understands why and doesn't react.
It's what he would have done with his own pack, after all.
It takes him a couple weeks of decompressing from everything that happened in Mexico--both the first time Kate kidnapped him and the second time when he died. He avoids telling that last part to Cora for as long as possible but she naturally freaks out when he finally does.
"What the hell, Derek?"
He shrugs, uncomfortable, not ready to talk about his life since Cora left again. He doesn't want her to feel responsible in any way. Cora seems to get it and sighs but leaves it at that.
She gives him infinite time and boundless space, never pushing even when, months after his arrival, he knows she's being questioned by her adopted pack.
He grins to himself because he knows how stubborn Cora can be. The thought triggers a memory and at once he's nine and trailing after his mother as she tracks her youngest through the woods. It was after Talia called them in for dinner on a random summer evening. Laura and Derek obediently heeded her call but Cora sneaked off through the underbrush and all but disappeared.
Derek could sense a growing unease in his mother as they tracked her through territory that usually held no surprises for an alpha wolf and her brood. But Cora seemed to magically evade their mother for what felt like hours (it was probably no more than half of one). Talia finally tracked her down as the sun was setting and the waning light made her squint up into the trees. Her gaze fell square on Cora who'd climbed the high branches of white alders and quaking aspens, then leaped from tree top to tree top to cover her scent trail.
Even as Talia scolded Cora for not obeying Derek could tell Talia was proud of her ingenuity.
"You would make a good second," Derek told her on a random Tuesday. They were sitting outside soaking up the late afternoon sun sipping beers.
"Yeah? For you?"
Derek snorts. "No, for someone better than me. Laura, maybe."
Cora's quiet for a long moment as she runs her nails over the edges of the label on the bottle. "I would have liked that."
"Yeah," Derek sighs. "We all would have."
It's about a week later that he knocks on her bedroom door and waits for her verbal okay to walk in. She's working on an assignment for a college course she enrolled in when she returned to South America and it makes Derek smile to see her so normal.
"What's up?"
Derek awkwardly holds up a wooden box. "I have something to give you."
Cora gives him a confused look but puts her laptop aside to accept his gift. When she opens the box she gasps and Derek can hear her heart speed up.
"W-what is all this?" she asks quietly.
"It's everything I saved from the fire, the most important of it," Derek replies as he watches Cora run her fingers over small items like a wedding band, a couple charred photos, a semi-melted key to their old front door and a small blue velvet pouch. She raises an eyebrow at Derek but he just shakes his head so she opens it and shakes out Talia's claws.
Her hand is shaking when she reaches out to pick one of the claws up and her eyes glisten as tears well up. She turns to Derek with a questioning look.
"I think it's time for you to have these things. It's only fair," he explains simply.
"Derek," Cora says softly. She gathers the claws up and scoops them back into the bag, then stands and embraces him quickly before pressing the pouch into his hands. "These don't belong to me."
"I want you to have them," he insists but Cora shakes her head.
"I remember Beacon Hills differently than you do. I didn't keep a collection of things from there but I have my memories. These are yours, Derek, your memories. I couldn't possibly take them from you."
Derek wants to argue with her and insist she take them but he understands what she's saying.
It's time.
"At least take this," Derek says instead and pulls one of the photos out of the box. It's one of the last taken of them as a family, casually standing around in the yard during a solstice moon waiting to run.
Cora accepts it and stares at it for a long time with tears in her eyes that never actually fall. Derek wipes one or two of his own away, though.
Two days later he boards a plane that will begin his journey back to Beacon Hills while Cora watches from the small tarmac and waves until he's high enough that she's a spec in the distance.
"Sucks to leave, huh?" his seatmate, a tourist, asks once they reach cruising altitude.
Derek shrugs. "I'm ready to go home," he replies and then settles back in his seat to watch them soar through the lazy clouds.