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the_water_clockAuthor: Clio
Title: The Fun Was in the Capture
Pairing: Lydia/Erica
Rating: PG
Summary: Once Allison lets Erica know what Lydia's been up to—you know, the whole trying to make a girlfriend out of your fuckbuddy thing—Erica decides to take matters into her own hands.
Warning: none
Length: 2300 words
Notes: Written for Femslash February. Title from "Lust to Love" by the Go-Go's. Set a week or so after "Distractions" and in the same timeline as the "baking and waiting" Sterek series. Thanks to verity and radioaches for the once-over!
Erica was having one of those pre-college summers that she only expected to see in shitty eighties teen movies on cable. She had a totally fine job as a cashier at the supermarket, she was a werewolf with a pack and everything, and she was getting laid on the regular by a certified hottie. When she wasn't working she was either hanging out at Derek's with whomever, running around under the full moon, or having insane monkey sex in the backseat of a Volkswagen Beetle, which should have been physically impossible but somehow wasn't thanks to the whole triple jointed werewolf thing.
She didn't even feel bad about her life being seriously good because hey, summer would end and she'd just be another state college student, whatever, and she'd probably have to fight stupid monsters who didn't know any better than to fuck with their pack (they tended to stay away in the summer, weirdly) and her source of sexual satisfaction was moving four hours away so that was probably going to be the end of that. Besides, her life had seriously sucked, pre-werewolf, so getting one good summer wasn't even kind of karma evening out.
Then Allison came over and informed her that she'd somehow been on actual-facts dates with Lydia. Which, Allison would know, and Erica realized that the closest thing she had to the female friendship thing Allison and Lydia shared was Isaac, and not that he wasn't awesome but it probably wouldn't hurt to have a few more pals. So she handed Allison one of the controllers, and they spent some quality time companionably shooting at things in the new Borderlands game while Erica worked up the nerve to ask a question.
"So what was the problem with those dates?" she asked. "Which she never said were dates."
"I think Lydia was trying for something more than sex," Allison replied.
"Really?" Erica asked, because, well.
"Really," Allison said, nodding.
"Huh," Erica said, and she couldn't help smiling. "Guess I'll have to help her out, then."
Allison smiled back. "Guess you will," she said, and shot another dude.
But this was Lydia, which meant it was easier said than done. Erica thought of herself as pretty low maintenance; she'd been perfectly happy on the two dates that Lydia had apparently thought were disasters or whatever. And she didn't want to ask Lydia or anyone else; she wanted to figure this out on her own.
Something that didn't lead to sex, so nothing physical. And Erica wasn't enthusiastic about anything typically romantic, or, to be honest, expensive, like a nice dinner out. Never mind that if they both wore pretty dresses on that nice dinner out, well, there went the idea of not having sex immediately after. A movie meant sitting next to each other in the dark and they could never agree on the movie anyway, which meant bitching at each other and that always led to more sex. Really great sex ... and now Erica was getting a little distracted.
She sat down on the window seat in her bedroom and looked out at the pale light the waning quarter moon cast on the backyard, and there it was—the perfect idea. She picked up her phone.
Doing anything tomorrow night?
Now I am. What do you have in mind?
Dress casual. No walking. Pick you up at eight.
Not going to tell me what we're doing?
Surprises are fun. Trust me.
If I must. Doing anything tonight?
Erica glanced at the clock. It was nine, but she could wait until tomorrow to get everything she needed.
Now I am. What do you have in mind?
You in my bed.
And Erica would have had to be made of stronger stuff to resist that. Plenty of time for not having sex tomorrow.
The Reyes family were hike-to-the-picnic lunch types—hence Erica's familiarity with the forest; it wasn't just from running with the pack—but they were also a family of modest means, so that picnic was usually some cold homemade fried chicken, carrots, and brownies. Erica had a sense this wouldn't be the best plan for Lydia. She'd probably only eat the carrots.
Luckily the supermarket Erica worked at was the upscale Whole Foods clone favored by families like the Martins who lived in big houses set back from the road, so after her morning shift she swung by the "foods bar" and filled little plastic containers with a bunch of different pre-made salads. Lydia liked variety, and also vegetables. But Erica still picked up a box of those tiny chocolate cookies, because it was more fun to eat ten little cookies than one enormous one.
Then she spent the afternoon in physical labor that was a lot more enjoyable than she was anticipating, portable speakers for her iPod so she could hear forest sounds and the music all at once. Since they'd finished fixing up the house, she hadn't actually put her strength to the test outside of fighting and whatever training Derek was putting them through, and it was nice to be doing something constructive for a change. The old logging road hadn't been used by anything bigger than an ATV for some years now, but there wasn't any debris so large that Erica couldn't handle it on her own, and when she was done she could drive the truck all the way from the main road to the clearing she'd found some months ago.
She drove home with the radio cranked up and singing along, glowing in the satisfaction of a job well done.
Erica dressed for her date in denim cut-offs and a short sleeved shirt, because she'd found her legs were less distracting for Lydia than her breasts. And when she went around to Lydia's place she saw that Lydia had dressed fairly casually for her, in a simple cotton sundress and low heels.
"Are you going to tell me now?" she asked.
"You'll figure it out," Erica said, shrugging, and opened the door of the truck for her.
While she walked around to get in herself, Lydia of course looked over the bags in the back seat. "Blankets?" she asked as Erica got in. "Cushions and a cooler? Where are we going on this picnic?"
Erica smiled. "You'll see," she said.
Lydia nodded, but said nothing. She put a hand on Erica's thigh and turned to the window to watch the scenery go by.
Though when Erica turned onto the logging road she said, "I didn't think you could drive down here."
"You can now," Erica said. "But it's a little bumpy, so hang on." She stopped the truck long enough to put it in all wheel drive, then proceeded down the dirt road.
"Derek's latest pack project?" Lydia asked.
"No, just mine," Erica replied, trying to sound casual about it.
Lydia gave her a dubious look. "You moved all those branches and things?" she asked. "By yourself?"
"Only took me a few hours," she replied, shrugging.
"You wolves," Lydia said, shaking her head.
"What?" Erica asked.
"Always leaving presents like dead birds," she said.
"I guess," Erica replied, though she hadn't thought about it that way. "What's wrong with that?"
Erica could almost see the wheels turning in Lydia's head. At last she said, softly, "Nothing, I suppose. So long as you don't put any real dead animals on my doorstep."
"I can promise that," Erica replied. "Here we are."
Lydia looked out at the clearing as Erica turned the truck around. "I didn't even know this was here."
"I don't think anyone does, yet," Erica replied. She hopped out of the truck and began unloading the bags out of the back seat.
"So where are we picnicking?" Lydia asked.
"Right here," she said, and climbed into the truck bed to arrange the cushions and blankets. Erica helped Lydia climb up into the back to join her.
"Cozy," Lydia said, leaning back against one of the cushions.
Erica couldn't tell if that was good or bad, but she bit her tongue. "It's a nice view of the sunset," she said, and unpacked the food.
"Oh," Lydia said, looking up in front of them at the sky that was just starting to go orangey-red as the sun started to sink behind a nearby hill. "That's actually … really pretty."
"It'll be even nicer when it's dark," Erica said, and handed a fork to Lydia.
And remarkably, for a while they didn't say anything more. They ate, and watched the sun set, and listened to the forest; Erica could be as bitchy as anyone about living in a dumb small town like Beacon Hills, but at times like this it wasn't so terrible. She tried to remember what it was like before Derek turned her, before she could hear everything for miles and had to actively tune some of it out, like the cars going by out on the main road. She focused on the creatures in the trees around them, the birds singing their evening songs while the smaller animals were quieter, aware of the predator in their midst.
Then there was that separate part of her that was always hyper aware of Lydia, no matter where they were. She tried not to be creepy and listen to Lydia's heart beat all the time but she couldn't help but notice that it was elevated; for all her appearance of calm she was nervous.
At last Lydia said, "You're quiet."
"When we talk we end up fucking," Erica replied. "I thought I'd try something different, see what happens."
Lydia narrowed her eyes. "Allison."
"She's fun to play video games with," Erica said, shrugging.
"I'm not sure how I feel about my girlfriend and my best friend talking about me when I'm not there," Lydia said.
Erica ignored the dig in favor of that slip of information. "So I'm your girlfriend?" she asked, smiling.
"If you want to be, sure," Lydia said, trying to sound nonchalant but also not making eye contact.
"Hey," Erica said, ducking her head and trying to get Lydia to look up, because she was getting better at Lydia's tells. "I do. Want to be, I mean."
Lydia tossed her shoulders back then, as if that had been the answer she was expecting. "Good," she said. "I'm going to open the cookies now."
"Cool," Erica said, and took a couple for herself before tidying up the empty food containers. The sun had set now, so she got out the citronella candles from the bag and set one atop the cab of the truck and the other on the open gate. The moon had already risen sometime in the afternoon, and with the sun gone it was brighter, the sky trading blue and gold for black and silver.
Lydia was wrapping her cardigan around her shoulders.
"Cold?" Erica asked.
"A little," Lydia said.
"Well, come here," Erica said.
Lydia hesitated, but still crawled into Erica's arms, her back to Erica's chest, and Erica pulled one of the blankets over both their bare legs.
"Better?" she asked.
"Yeah," Lydia said, nestling into Erica. "No funny business, though."
"Of course not," Erica said, and oddly, she really was content just to look at Lydia, at the way the moonlight made her pale skin glow silver, tried but failed to leech the color from her hair. Erica wasn't that big of a girl really—hair and heels and attitude did a lot to make her seem larger—but Lydia was so tiny in her arms, and maybe that urge to shield her wasn't just weird werewolf instinct crap. Not that Lydia couldn't take care of herself, but Erica's personal lesson from becoming a werewolf was that everyone needed help sometimes.
Lydia sighed and shifted a little, tipping her head forward and closing her eyes. "Thanks for bringing me out here," she said. "It's lovely."
"Next time just tell me," Erica said. "I'm really shitty at guessing games."
Lydia turned to look at her, and Erica tried to look determined, because seriously. "I'll try," she said.
"Thanks," Erica replied.
"Well, I guess one kiss wouldn't hurt," Lydia said.
Erica laughed. "Probably not," she said, and they kissed, Erica loosening her grip so Lydia could turn toward her more easily.
Then Lydia turned back around, and they put their heads back and looked up at the stars.
At the next pack meeting a couple of days later, Erica sat sideways in the big chair-and-a-half in the corner, as usual, and when Lydia came in she set her bag next to it and said, "Room in that for me?"
"Yeah," Erica said, dropping her legs from the arm of the chair.
"Great," Lydia replied, dropping a quick kiss on Erica's lips. "I'll be right back."
"Okay."
Nearby, Isaac was smirking.
"What?" Erica said, scowling.
"Scott and Allison are back together, Stiles and Derek are whatever that is, and now you two are sharing a chair?" he said. "Who's going to stare at each other across the room, longingly, and provide entertainment for the rest of us while Derek is being boring about whatever?"
Danny came in then, Jackson following him, and when he waved at them Isaac sat up a little straighter and waved back.
"Oh man," Erica said, laughing. "I think you answered your own question there."
"Shut up," Isaac said. "You don't get to be smug just because you have a girlfriend."
"Come on! Stiles is still insufferable and that happened back in April! At least give me a week!"
Boyd sat next to Isaac as he usually did, and Erica saw the slight disappointment in Isaac's face, until Danny sat on the couch opposite, near Stiles.
"Did I miss something?" Boyd asked.
Lydia was back, too, and Erica slid over to make room for her in the chair. "Nope," Erica replied. "Show's just starting."
"I hate you so much," Isaac said.
Lydia took Erica's hand, and leaned in. "You'll tell me later?" she asked.
"Of course," Erica whispered back, and kissed her on the cheek, just because she could.
Title: The Fun Was in the Capture
Pairing: Lydia/Erica
Rating: PG
Summary: Once Allison lets Erica know what Lydia's been up to—you know, the whole trying to make a girlfriend out of your fuckbuddy thing—Erica decides to take matters into her own hands.
Warning: none
Length: 2300 words
Notes: Written for Femslash February. Title from "Lust to Love" by the Go-Go's. Set a week or so after "Distractions" and in the same timeline as the "baking and waiting" Sterek series. Thanks to verity and radioaches for the once-over!
Erica was having one of those pre-college summers that she only expected to see in shitty eighties teen movies on cable. She had a totally fine job as a cashier at the supermarket, she was a werewolf with a pack and everything, and she was getting laid on the regular by a certified hottie. When she wasn't working she was either hanging out at Derek's with whomever, running around under the full moon, or having insane monkey sex in the backseat of a Volkswagen Beetle, which should have been physically impossible but somehow wasn't thanks to the whole triple jointed werewolf thing.
She didn't even feel bad about her life being seriously good because hey, summer would end and she'd just be another state college student, whatever, and she'd probably have to fight stupid monsters who didn't know any better than to fuck with their pack (they tended to stay away in the summer, weirdly) and her source of sexual satisfaction was moving four hours away so that was probably going to be the end of that. Besides, her life had seriously sucked, pre-werewolf, so getting one good summer wasn't even kind of karma evening out.
Then Allison came over and informed her that she'd somehow been on actual-facts dates with Lydia. Which, Allison would know, and Erica realized that the closest thing she had to the female friendship thing Allison and Lydia shared was Isaac, and not that he wasn't awesome but it probably wouldn't hurt to have a few more pals. So she handed Allison one of the controllers, and they spent some quality time companionably shooting at things in the new Borderlands game while Erica worked up the nerve to ask a question.
"So what was the problem with those dates?" she asked. "Which she never said were dates."
"I think Lydia was trying for something more than sex," Allison replied.
"Really?" Erica asked, because, well.
"Really," Allison said, nodding.
"Huh," Erica said, and she couldn't help smiling. "Guess I'll have to help her out, then."
Allison smiled back. "Guess you will," she said, and shot another dude.
But this was Lydia, which meant it was easier said than done. Erica thought of herself as pretty low maintenance; she'd been perfectly happy on the two dates that Lydia had apparently thought were disasters or whatever. And she didn't want to ask Lydia or anyone else; she wanted to figure this out on her own.
Something that didn't lead to sex, so nothing physical. And Erica wasn't enthusiastic about anything typically romantic, or, to be honest, expensive, like a nice dinner out. Never mind that if they both wore pretty dresses on that nice dinner out, well, there went the idea of not having sex immediately after. A movie meant sitting next to each other in the dark and they could never agree on the movie anyway, which meant bitching at each other and that always led to more sex. Really great sex ... and now Erica was getting a little distracted.
She sat down on the window seat in her bedroom and looked out at the pale light the waning quarter moon cast on the backyard, and there it was—the perfect idea. She picked up her phone.
Doing anything tomorrow night?
Now I am. What do you have in mind?
Dress casual. No walking. Pick you up at eight.
Not going to tell me what we're doing?
Surprises are fun. Trust me.
If I must. Doing anything tonight?
Erica glanced at the clock. It was nine, but she could wait until tomorrow to get everything she needed.
Now I am. What do you have in mind?
You in my bed.
And Erica would have had to be made of stronger stuff to resist that. Plenty of time for not having sex tomorrow.
The Reyes family were hike-to-the-picnic lunch types—hence Erica's familiarity with the forest; it wasn't just from running with the pack—but they were also a family of modest means, so that picnic was usually some cold homemade fried chicken, carrots, and brownies. Erica had a sense this wouldn't be the best plan for Lydia. She'd probably only eat the carrots.
Luckily the supermarket Erica worked at was the upscale Whole Foods clone favored by families like the Martins who lived in big houses set back from the road, so after her morning shift she swung by the "foods bar" and filled little plastic containers with a bunch of different pre-made salads. Lydia liked variety, and also vegetables. But Erica still picked up a box of those tiny chocolate cookies, because it was more fun to eat ten little cookies than one enormous one.
Then she spent the afternoon in physical labor that was a lot more enjoyable than she was anticipating, portable speakers for her iPod so she could hear forest sounds and the music all at once. Since they'd finished fixing up the house, she hadn't actually put her strength to the test outside of fighting and whatever training Derek was putting them through, and it was nice to be doing something constructive for a change. The old logging road hadn't been used by anything bigger than an ATV for some years now, but there wasn't any debris so large that Erica couldn't handle it on her own, and when she was done she could drive the truck all the way from the main road to the clearing she'd found some months ago.
She drove home with the radio cranked up and singing along, glowing in the satisfaction of a job well done.
Erica dressed for her date in denim cut-offs and a short sleeved shirt, because she'd found her legs were less distracting for Lydia than her breasts. And when she went around to Lydia's place she saw that Lydia had dressed fairly casually for her, in a simple cotton sundress and low heels.
"Are you going to tell me now?" she asked.
"You'll figure it out," Erica said, shrugging, and opened the door of the truck for her.
While she walked around to get in herself, Lydia of course looked over the bags in the back seat. "Blankets?" she asked as Erica got in. "Cushions and a cooler? Where are we going on this picnic?"
Erica smiled. "You'll see," she said.
Lydia nodded, but said nothing. She put a hand on Erica's thigh and turned to the window to watch the scenery go by.
Though when Erica turned onto the logging road she said, "I didn't think you could drive down here."
"You can now," Erica said. "But it's a little bumpy, so hang on." She stopped the truck long enough to put it in all wheel drive, then proceeded down the dirt road.
"Derek's latest pack project?" Lydia asked.
"No, just mine," Erica replied, trying to sound casual about it.
Lydia gave her a dubious look. "You moved all those branches and things?" she asked. "By yourself?"
"Only took me a few hours," she replied, shrugging.
"You wolves," Lydia said, shaking her head.
"What?" Erica asked.
"Always leaving presents like dead birds," she said.
"I guess," Erica replied, though she hadn't thought about it that way. "What's wrong with that?"
Erica could almost see the wheels turning in Lydia's head. At last she said, softly, "Nothing, I suppose. So long as you don't put any real dead animals on my doorstep."
"I can promise that," Erica replied. "Here we are."
Lydia looked out at the clearing as Erica turned the truck around. "I didn't even know this was here."
"I don't think anyone does, yet," Erica replied. She hopped out of the truck and began unloading the bags out of the back seat.
"So where are we picnicking?" Lydia asked.
"Right here," she said, and climbed into the truck bed to arrange the cushions and blankets. Erica helped Lydia climb up into the back to join her.
"Cozy," Lydia said, leaning back against one of the cushions.
Erica couldn't tell if that was good or bad, but she bit her tongue. "It's a nice view of the sunset," she said, and unpacked the food.
"Oh," Lydia said, looking up in front of them at the sky that was just starting to go orangey-red as the sun started to sink behind a nearby hill. "That's actually … really pretty."
"It'll be even nicer when it's dark," Erica said, and handed a fork to Lydia.
And remarkably, for a while they didn't say anything more. They ate, and watched the sun set, and listened to the forest; Erica could be as bitchy as anyone about living in a dumb small town like Beacon Hills, but at times like this it wasn't so terrible. She tried to remember what it was like before Derek turned her, before she could hear everything for miles and had to actively tune some of it out, like the cars going by out on the main road. She focused on the creatures in the trees around them, the birds singing their evening songs while the smaller animals were quieter, aware of the predator in their midst.
Then there was that separate part of her that was always hyper aware of Lydia, no matter where they were. She tried not to be creepy and listen to Lydia's heart beat all the time but she couldn't help but notice that it was elevated; for all her appearance of calm she was nervous.
At last Lydia said, "You're quiet."
"When we talk we end up fucking," Erica replied. "I thought I'd try something different, see what happens."
Lydia narrowed her eyes. "Allison."
"She's fun to play video games with," Erica said, shrugging.
"I'm not sure how I feel about my girlfriend and my best friend talking about me when I'm not there," Lydia said.
Erica ignored the dig in favor of that slip of information. "So I'm your girlfriend?" she asked, smiling.
"If you want to be, sure," Lydia said, trying to sound nonchalant but also not making eye contact.
"Hey," Erica said, ducking her head and trying to get Lydia to look up, because she was getting better at Lydia's tells. "I do. Want to be, I mean."
Lydia tossed her shoulders back then, as if that had been the answer she was expecting. "Good," she said. "I'm going to open the cookies now."
"Cool," Erica said, and took a couple for herself before tidying up the empty food containers. The sun had set now, so she got out the citronella candles from the bag and set one atop the cab of the truck and the other on the open gate. The moon had already risen sometime in the afternoon, and with the sun gone it was brighter, the sky trading blue and gold for black and silver.
Lydia was wrapping her cardigan around her shoulders.
"Cold?" Erica asked.
"A little," Lydia said.
"Well, come here," Erica said.
Lydia hesitated, but still crawled into Erica's arms, her back to Erica's chest, and Erica pulled one of the blankets over both their bare legs.
"Better?" she asked.
"Yeah," Lydia said, nestling into Erica. "No funny business, though."
"Of course not," Erica said, and oddly, she really was content just to look at Lydia, at the way the moonlight made her pale skin glow silver, tried but failed to leech the color from her hair. Erica wasn't that big of a girl really—hair and heels and attitude did a lot to make her seem larger—but Lydia was so tiny in her arms, and maybe that urge to shield her wasn't just weird werewolf instinct crap. Not that Lydia couldn't take care of herself, but Erica's personal lesson from becoming a werewolf was that everyone needed help sometimes.
Lydia sighed and shifted a little, tipping her head forward and closing her eyes. "Thanks for bringing me out here," she said. "It's lovely."
"Next time just tell me," Erica said. "I'm really shitty at guessing games."
Lydia turned to look at her, and Erica tried to look determined, because seriously. "I'll try," she said.
"Thanks," Erica replied.
"Well, I guess one kiss wouldn't hurt," Lydia said.
Erica laughed. "Probably not," she said, and they kissed, Erica loosening her grip so Lydia could turn toward her more easily.
Then Lydia turned back around, and they put their heads back and looked up at the stars.
At the next pack meeting a couple of days later, Erica sat sideways in the big chair-and-a-half in the corner, as usual, and when Lydia came in she set her bag next to it and said, "Room in that for me?"
"Yeah," Erica said, dropping her legs from the arm of the chair.
"Great," Lydia replied, dropping a quick kiss on Erica's lips. "I'll be right back."
"Okay."
Nearby, Isaac was smirking.
"What?" Erica said, scowling.
"Scott and Allison are back together, Stiles and Derek are whatever that is, and now you two are sharing a chair?" he said. "Who's going to stare at each other across the room, longingly, and provide entertainment for the rest of us while Derek is being boring about whatever?"
Danny came in then, Jackson following him, and when he waved at them Isaac sat up a little straighter and waved back.
"Oh man," Erica said, laughing. "I think you answered your own question there."
"Shut up," Isaac said. "You don't get to be smug just because you have a girlfriend."
"Come on! Stiles is still insufferable and that happened back in April! At least give me a week!"
Boyd sat next to Isaac as he usually did, and Erica saw the slight disappointment in Isaac's face, until Danny sat on the couch opposite, near Stiles.
"Did I miss something?" Boyd asked.
Lydia was back, too, and Erica slid over to make room for her in the chair. "Nope," Erica replied. "Show's just starting."
"I hate you so much," Isaac said.
Lydia took Erica's hand, and leaned in. "You'll tell me later?" she asked.
"Of course," Erica whispered back, and kissed her on the cheek, just because she could.
