Fic: All Out of Place
Author: thisnewjoe
Title:
Rating: G
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Stiles Stilinski, John Stilinski, Claudia Stilinski
Summary: Even Stiles has noticed that something is different.
Warnings: Claudia's decline
Content Notes: none
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 2,165
Prompt: #225, "Slap"
Author's Notes: I need to do an outline because there are some details I don't know how to include, but which would add a lot to this storyline. I'll figure it out over the next few submissions. I've also noticed I repeat words frequently in some of these stories; I'll get that sorted out in the future, too.
While Stiles' father talks with Mr. Whittemore by phone in the other room, Stiles was tasked with helping his mom clean up the kitchen after dinner. Between thoughts of his troubles with Jackson, and thinking that he might go upstairs to do a drawing to give to Jackson, and wondering if he's going to be in trouble with his dad for something, Stiles is feeling a little overwhelmed.
"Honey, please put these things away correctly." Claudia catches his attention and points to the cupboard door stuck a bit open because the plates are sticking out.
"Sorry, mom." He pushes them back a little harshly, and turns just as his mom pats his head and scratches her fingers a few times in his hair.
"It's okay, Little Mischief."
He spares a glance to the other room. "I wanted to talk to Jackson, but Mr. Whittemore says he's mad at me."
She pulls him closer and hugs him, quietly rubbing his back. It doesn't take long before they're being called out of the room.
"Stiles? Claudia? Please come here." Stiles thinks his dad sounds frustrated. Claudia looks down the hall, confused for a moment. She looks at the boy in front of her, studying his face like she's trying to remember something and can't quite get to the memory.
The boy thinks that maybe it will be better to just pretend he's happier than he feels, so he skips down the hall and leaps onto the couch, being followed quickly by a "Stiles! Don't jump on the furniture!" from his dad.
Claudia is making her way slowly down the hall. There's a sort of sliding sound, like her fingers are being dragged lazily down wall as she steps softly. When she reaches the end she looks at the Stiles and John, takes a glance around the room, and pets the door frame.
"Hmph." She grunts, and slaps the wall before meandering over to a chair off to the side, not quite positioning herself to participate in the conversation.
Stiles and his father looked over in her direction. She catches her son's sparkling eyes, and grins as big as ever at him, and he pulls the blankets around himself and smiles broadly back at her. Maybe things will be okay? Maybe his dad won't be mad.
When she turns to her husband, she regards him with a blank expression. He looks confused for a moment before catching himself and schooling his expression.
"Stiles, what happened at the park today?"
It's when he's about to begin talking that he realizes that the phone is on the hook, so Jackson is definitely not talking to him today. He stills, trying not to feel sad about it, to be strong, like Jackson, but he isn't any good at it. He tells the story from his perspective, being prompted a couple times by his dad to speak up a little louder.
When it's all done, and he's answered all his dad's questions, he pulls the blanket up around his head so only his face can be seen. He leans back on the couch.
What the boy doesn't see is how John is about to ask Claudia a question, and notices that she seems suddenly very tired. She's been in the old wood-backed chair that's been sitting against the wall and spends more time collecting dust and junk temporarily than it does collecting humans to sit on it. Stiles used to have to sit there when he was in trouble, but he hasn't been in time out in a while.
"Tired already, Claudia?"
She focuses hard on him for a moment, then lets her focus drop to the patterns in the wood flooring. "No. Why?"
"Don't you want to tell us your view of what happened? You usually do."
Stiles watches them and lets his fingers run through the folds and bumps in the handmade blanket his great-grandmother made for him.
"I don't have anything to say, Noah." She speaks flatly, and though she is annoyed at even the suggestion. John is about to correct her getting his name wrong when Stiles jumps in.
"Are you Noah now, daddy?" He's not using his first name, either, and he's excited that his dad might have a new nickname, too.
John looked at Stiles like he wants to say something about it, but doesn't. He turns to Claudia. She still hasn't caught the mistake. This is definitely not like her.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't really remember it, so, Noah, maybe you can just trust him to tell you the truth. I mean, he knows now that Jackson's adopted, and..." She puts her hands in the air and shrugs, like she doesn't know what else to say. "That kid's parents should have talked to him about it before he ever got to school."
"Jackson's my friend, mom."
"I got this, Stiles." John puts a hand up to settle him. "Claudia, that may have been helpful, but it's just not our job to tell them. And the law agrees. Jackson's practically been our son for the past few years, too, and I am worried for him."
She shrugs again, seemingly unmoved by any of this.
Of the things he needs to deal with right now, he's got to deal with Stiles and get his son readying himself for bed so he can talk with his wife without young ears listening nearby.
"I know that you're interested in everything Stiles, but most of what I work on needs to be kept secret. That's why I to keep it out of your reach, and over by my desk."
"I know I'm not supposed to go in your desk."
"And yet, you did, and this time you learned things you shouldn't have known about. It wasn't our secret to tell." He rubs his face. "I know you investigate things anyway, and maybe someday in the future you'll be a detective or a police officer, but for now, buddy, can you just enjoy being a kid and let me deal with the adult stuff?" Stiles dips his head a little under the blanket. "Okay? And look, it's not your fault that Jackson's parents didn't tell him. Your mom and I both think they should have, because it's kinda terrifying for a kid to hear that at his age, but while we love him like a son, we don't have the right, in this case."
He stands, and stretches his back. "He's apparently pretty upset right now, and he's not talking to his parents. I know you're worried about him, and so am I, and so are they."
"Is that because of me?"
"No, it's really not. I mean, you said something you didn't know you shouldn't talk about, but this is why secrets don't work; they make a mess of things, and it causes people to feel hurt and they don't trust each other for a while. It's not your fault."
Cutting across the end of his pep-talk comes Claudia's stern voice. "He's probably going to have nightmares after seeing your files, Noah." She waves in the direction of his office. "Were the photos in the folder, too? Those were horrific."
Stiles hadn't seen any pictures, just the first page that described in general terms the situation with the accident and that Jackson's parents had died, and that Jackson was immediately adopted by the Whittemores.
"Why did you let him see it?"
"Claudia, I didn't let him see it, he's a smart kid. He gets into all kinds of things he shouldn't. I have to bring my work home sometimes. This isn't new, Claudia, we've talked about it enough."
"I think that you could have done better."
"Yes, I could have." John checks Stiles to see how he's handling this situation, partly to give himself a moment to think, to not snap at Claudia, and because there's too many things to be dealt with right now. "We're not really talking about you right now, Stiles. It's still true that it's not your fault they didn't tell Jackson, and I'm pretty sure you already know it's better to ask me or your mom first before talking to anyone about stuff you find when you shouldn't have."
Stiles nods.
"Do you want to go up to your room now?"
"Yeah," he unwraps himself from the blanket and heads upstairs, looking a little sad, but John thinks he doesn't look so guilty anymore.
John calls up to him. "Get cleaned-up and I'll be there in a little bit."
When he hears Stiles close the door and turn on the water, he lets out the breath he suddenly realizes he's been holding and steps a page closer to Claudia.
"Claudia, this is serious. Whittemore's furious about this and having an angry lawyer involved is no good for anyone. It could cost me my job and we can't afford for you to be so flippant about this."
"He's an asshole."
"No, he's angry and confused and probably a little ashamed-though he'd never say so. We've been great friends with them for a long time, so don't knock them down now." John paces around the room. "We'd be furious if that happened to our kid."
"It didn't worked out so well for them." Claudia sounds like she's paying only half attention to the conversation, like she doesn't really care.
"Jackson accused them of being liars. From his perspective, they are. But from their point of view, they've been the only parents he's ever had since his birth. They love Jackson, and this is tearing all three of them up."
He decides to change the subject. "Claudia, you don't seem like you today. Are you okay?"
"Yes, John, I'm fine, like always. Why do you ask?"
She genuinely seems unaware of the many oddities in her behavior in the course of the conversation. He's seen a couple things that were odd, before, but they didn't seem like a pattern. Tonight he realized there's something else going on. It's something uncertain, and dark, and he hates that she doesn't seem to have any idea.
As though she'd forgotten she'd asked him a question, she stands and claps her hands together. "I'm going to get cleaned-up for bed, then I'll check on Stiles. He had a fight with Jax today and I think he might still upset about it."
She reaches out to him, hugging him close and warmly, and turns to head upstairs.
John stares off as she ascends to their bedroom on the way to the master bathroom. He listens for the water running, then calls Melissa.
The nurse is at home and is preparing for her night shift. He runs through the situation with her and tells him she's got to get Claudia in for scans, and that she'll find a time to slot them in that week.
Near the end of the call, John confesses. "She's becoming somebody else, sometimes, and I can't --" he's hoping that she won't say anything about the hitch in his voice. "--I just can't pretend it's not happening anymore."
Melissa gets it. "Has Stiles asked about it yet?"
"Tonight seems to be the first time he noticed anything was odd, and he thought it was a joke." If this thing is as bad as it seems it might be, he really doesn't have any idea how to talk to Stiles about it.
"We'll figure it out, John. We've got good people here, and Stiles is a smart kid. He'll probably ask you about it before you think you're fully ready to tell him about it."
"God, I think you're right."
They finish-up the plans for getting Claudia scheduled, and Melissa offers to have Stiles visit with her and Scott if they need it. John ends the call feeling numb.
When he gets upstairs, he can hear Claudia humming a pleasant tune to herself through the door that she's left slightly open, and Stiles comes into the hall to announce that he brushed all his teeth, even the annoying back ones. With a pat on the head, and a gentle "goodnight" to his son, John sends him to bed and turns toward his room, listening as Claudia finishes humming one of their favorite songs.
Title:
Rating: G
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Stiles Stilinski, John Stilinski, Claudia Stilinski
Summary: Even Stiles has noticed that something is different.
Warnings: Claudia's decline
Content Notes: none
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 2,165
Prompt: #225, "Slap"
Author's Notes: I need to do an outline because there are some details I don't know how to include, but which would add a lot to this storyline. I'll figure it out over the next few submissions. I've also noticed I repeat words frequently in some of these stories; I'll get that sorted out in the future, too.
While Stiles' father talks with Mr. Whittemore by phone in the other room, Stiles was tasked with helping his mom clean up the kitchen after dinner. Between thoughts of his troubles with Jackson, and thinking that he might go upstairs to do a drawing to give to Jackson, and wondering if he's going to be in trouble with his dad for something, Stiles is feeling a little overwhelmed.
"Honey, please put these things away correctly." Claudia catches his attention and points to the cupboard door stuck a bit open because the plates are sticking out.
"Sorry, mom." He pushes them back a little harshly, and turns just as his mom pats his head and scratches her fingers a few times in his hair.
"It's okay, Little Mischief."
He spares a glance to the other room. "I wanted to talk to Jackson, but Mr. Whittemore says he's mad at me."
She pulls him closer and hugs him, quietly rubbing his back. It doesn't take long before they're being called out of the room.
"Stiles? Claudia? Please come here." Stiles thinks his dad sounds frustrated. Claudia looks down the hall, confused for a moment. She looks at the boy in front of her, studying his face like she's trying to remember something and can't quite get to the memory.
The boy thinks that maybe it will be better to just pretend he's happier than he feels, so he skips down the hall and leaps onto the couch, being followed quickly by a "Stiles! Don't jump on the furniture!" from his dad.
Claudia is making her way slowly down the hall. There's a sort of sliding sound, like her fingers are being dragged lazily down wall as she steps softly. When she reaches the end she looks at the Stiles and John, takes a glance around the room, and pets the door frame.
"Hmph." She grunts, and slaps the wall before meandering over to a chair off to the side, not quite positioning herself to participate in the conversation.
Stiles and his father looked over in her direction. She catches her son's sparkling eyes, and grins as big as ever at him, and he pulls the blankets around himself and smiles broadly back at her. Maybe things will be okay? Maybe his dad won't be mad.
When she turns to her husband, she regards him with a blank expression. He looks confused for a moment before catching himself and schooling his expression.
"Stiles, what happened at the park today?"
It's when he's about to begin talking that he realizes that the phone is on the hook, so Jackson is definitely not talking to him today. He stills, trying not to feel sad about it, to be strong, like Jackson, but he isn't any good at it. He tells the story from his perspective, being prompted a couple times by his dad to speak up a little louder.
When it's all done, and he's answered all his dad's questions, he pulls the blanket up around his head so only his face can be seen. He leans back on the couch.
What the boy doesn't see is how John is about to ask Claudia a question, and notices that she seems suddenly very tired. She's been in the old wood-backed chair that's been sitting against the wall and spends more time collecting dust and junk temporarily than it does collecting humans to sit on it. Stiles used to have to sit there when he was in trouble, but he hasn't been in time out in a while.
"Tired already, Claudia?"
She focuses hard on him for a moment, then lets her focus drop to the patterns in the wood flooring. "No. Why?"
"Don't you want to tell us your view of what happened? You usually do."
Stiles watches them and lets his fingers run through the folds and bumps in the handmade blanket his great-grandmother made for him.
"I don't have anything to say, Noah." She speaks flatly, and though she is annoyed at even the suggestion. John is about to correct her getting his name wrong when Stiles jumps in.
"Are you Noah now, daddy?" He's not using his first name, either, and he's excited that his dad might have a new nickname, too.
John looked at Stiles like he wants to say something about it, but doesn't. He turns to Claudia. She still hasn't caught the mistake. This is definitely not like her.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't really remember it, so, Noah, maybe you can just trust him to tell you the truth. I mean, he knows now that Jackson's adopted, and..." She puts her hands in the air and shrugs, like she doesn't know what else to say. "That kid's parents should have talked to him about it before he ever got to school."
"Jackson's my friend, mom."
"I got this, Stiles." John puts a hand up to settle him. "Claudia, that may have been helpful, but it's just not our job to tell them. And the law agrees. Jackson's practically been our son for the past few years, too, and I am worried for him."
She shrugs again, seemingly unmoved by any of this.
Of the things he needs to deal with right now, he's got to deal with Stiles and get his son readying himself for bed so he can talk with his wife without young ears listening nearby.
"I know that you're interested in everything Stiles, but most of what I work on needs to be kept secret. That's why I to keep it out of your reach, and over by my desk."
"I know I'm not supposed to go in your desk."
"And yet, you did, and this time you learned things you shouldn't have known about. It wasn't our secret to tell." He rubs his face. "I know you investigate things anyway, and maybe someday in the future you'll be a detective or a police officer, but for now, buddy, can you just enjoy being a kid and let me deal with the adult stuff?" Stiles dips his head a little under the blanket. "Okay? And look, it's not your fault that Jackson's parents didn't tell him. Your mom and I both think they should have, because it's kinda terrifying for a kid to hear that at his age, but while we love him like a son, we don't have the right, in this case."
He stands, and stretches his back. "He's apparently pretty upset right now, and he's not talking to his parents. I know you're worried about him, and so am I, and so are they."
"Is that because of me?"
"No, it's really not. I mean, you said something you didn't know you shouldn't talk about, but this is why secrets don't work; they make a mess of things, and it causes people to feel hurt and they don't trust each other for a while. It's not your fault."
Cutting across the end of his pep-talk comes Claudia's stern voice. "He's probably going to have nightmares after seeing your files, Noah." She waves in the direction of his office. "Were the photos in the folder, too? Those were horrific."
Stiles hadn't seen any pictures, just the first page that described in general terms the situation with the accident and that Jackson's parents had died, and that Jackson was immediately adopted by the Whittemores.
"Why did you let him see it?"
"Claudia, I didn't let him see it, he's a smart kid. He gets into all kinds of things he shouldn't. I have to bring my work home sometimes. This isn't new, Claudia, we've talked about it enough."
"I think that you could have done better."
"Yes, I could have." John checks Stiles to see how he's handling this situation, partly to give himself a moment to think, to not snap at Claudia, and because there's too many things to be dealt with right now. "We're not really talking about you right now, Stiles. It's still true that it's not your fault they didn't tell Jackson, and I'm pretty sure you already know it's better to ask me or your mom first before talking to anyone about stuff you find when you shouldn't have."
Stiles nods.
"Do you want to go up to your room now?"
"Yeah," he unwraps himself from the blanket and heads upstairs, looking a little sad, but John thinks he doesn't look so guilty anymore.
John calls up to him. "Get cleaned-up and I'll be there in a little bit."
When he hears Stiles close the door and turn on the water, he lets out the breath he suddenly realizes he's been holding and steps a page closer to Claudia.
"Claudia, this is serious. Whittemore's furious about this and having an angry lawyer involved is no good for anyone. It could cost me my job and we can't afford for you to be so flippant about this."
"He's an asshole."
"No, he's angry and confused and probably a little ashamed-though he'd never say so. We've been great friends with them for a long time, so don't knock them down now." John paces around the room. "We'd be furious if that happened to our kid."
"It didn't worked out so well for them." Claudia sounds like she's paying only half attention to the conversation, like she doesn't really care.
"Jackson accused them of being liars. From his perspective, they are. But from their point of view, they've been the only parents he's ever had since his birth. They love Jackson, and this is tearing all three of them up."
He decides to change the subject. "Claudia, you don't seem like you today. Are you okay?"
"Yes, John, I'm fine, like always. Why do you ask?"
She genuinely seems unaware of the many oddities in her behavior in the course of the conversation. He's seen a couple things that were odd, before, but they didn't seem like a pattern. Tonight he realized there's something else going on. It's something uncertain, and dark, and he hates that she doesn't seem to have any idea.
As though she'd forgotten she'd asked him a question, she stands and claps her hands together. "I'm going to get cleaned-up for bed, then I'll check on Stiles. He had a fight with Jax today and I think he might still upset about it."
She reaches out to him, hugging him close and warmly, and turns to head upstairs.
John stares off as she ascends to their bedroom on the way to the master bathroom. He listens for the water running, then calls Melissa.
The nurse is at home and is preparing for her night shift. He runs through the situation with her and tells him she's got to get Claudia in for scans, and that she'll find a time to slot them in that week.
Near the end of the call, John confesses. "She's becoming somebody else, sometimes, and I can't --" he's hoping that she won't say anything about the hitch in his voice. "--I just can't pretend it's not happening anymore."
Melissa gets it. "Has Stiles asked about it yet?"
"Tonight seems to be the first time he noticed anything was odd, and he thought it was a joke." If this thing is as bad as it seems it might be, he really doesn't have any idea how to talk to Stiles about it.
"We'll figure it out, John. We've got good people here, and Stiles is a smart kid. He'll probably ask you about it before you think you're fully ready to tell him about it."
"God, I think you're right."
They finish-up the plans for getting Claudia scheduled, and Melissa offers to have Stiles visit with her and Scott if they need it. John ends the call feeling numb.
When he gets upstairs, he can hear Claudia humming a pleasant tune to herself through the door that she's left slightly open, and Stiles comes into the hall to announce that he brushed all his teeth, even the annoying back ones. With a pat on the head, and a gentle "goodnight" to his son, John sends him to bed and turns toward his room, listening as Claudia finishes humming one of their favorite songs.