bakerstreet | The Other Wordly Meme

The Other Wordly Meme

The Other-Wordly Meme

Words are magical things; they can have so many lovely connotations and varied histories.
Words have family trees just like people. They are linked to each other.
Some words are full of flavor and color and describe things you never suspected there were words for.
Words are why we're here.

The meme is simple: post a comment with your muse's name and canon in the subject line.
List any preferences you may have ("No Shipping," "No Smut," etc.), if you decide to leave the next step up to responders.
Responders (or original posters, if they so decide), go to the Other-Wordly blog and hit 'Random' until you get a word. Use the word as a prompt to write up an RP scenario. Do this several times, if you like. Mix and match. Have fun with it!
Don't stop with a word, though! Words can often have etymologies that are at odds with their current meanings. Words can shift connotations over time. Let your imagination carry you with the words as its wind.

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[Quiet nights in Beacon Hills feel like a trap now. Afternoon practice had turned into afternoon counseling session for Scott (nothing new there), so by the time he and his best friend parted ways in the parking lot, afternoon had turned towards evening and the sun was starting to set. From seemingly nowhere, a light rain began to fall and Stiles picked up the pace to a light jog to his jeep. On the way, he noticed a very familiar face and slowed his steps, no longer bothered by the droplets.]

Lydia! Hey- ah, nice... weather we're having.

[ by this point, she really shouldn't be alarmed by stiles' strangeness. she's seen enough of it, and far stranger things, like her boyfriend being a lizard monster and then a werewolf. and peter hale taking over her mind. and yet, the look she gives him is a pausing sort of perplexed. ]

It's raining.

[ she says it as a correction, matter-of-factly, and then she stands off the steps of the school. ]

And my car is still in the shop. [ she raises her eyebrows expectantly like HEY REMEMBER HOW YOU WERE GOING TO TAKE ME HOME AND THEN MADE ME WAIT FOR HOURS WHILE YOU PSYCH EVALUATED SCOTT fun times. but at least at this point, she expects that. it's not like last year where she was left crying in the car with no explanation and a brb where he didn't come back.

her curtness doesn't really invite his chatter while he presumably takes her home, but she's never really needed to invite it, either. ]

[Something about Lydia Martin will always make him nervous. It doesn't matter that she's run back into Jackson's lizard-slash-werewolf arms while he stood on the sidelines like a chump. If anyone knows that you can't help who you have feelings for, it's Stiles. Harboring an unrequited crush for a decade isn't exactly his idea of a great time.

But he doesn't really help himself out much by forgetting about agreeing to take her home after practice, huh?]

Oh! Right! Coach needed me after practice. Wanted to...talk strategy for the next game. [strangely, the lie might have been more believable after he helped win a game. He didn't need to lie but it just sort of fell out of his mouth because he didn't want her to think he forgot a out her. Even though he did.]

So, uh... Still need that ride?

[ she hoists her purse higher on her shoulder, fixing him with an impatient look. ]

Would I still be here if I didn't?

[ and now she'll step in closer with a glowering sort of expression, suspicious and searching his own face. because why would mr. finstock be talking strategy with stiles and not scott? ]

If you're lying to me, and this is some freaky werewolf thing, you are going to seriously regret it. Because I will find out.

[ her voice lilts with tested patience as she says it, waiting a beat to really stare hard into his eyes and convey the point, then flouncing past him to lead the way to his jeep with her heels clicking loudly on the asphalt. she was lied to all last year, she's not doing it again this year. she won't. maybe if someone had told her the truth she wouldn't have poisoned everyone, she'd known she could ask for help without feeling like she was out of her mind and needed to take it all on herself. maybe peter hale wouldn't have been able to use her. she's not doing that again. ]

Nothing freaky or werewolf about it. Scout's honor. [He holds up a hand with three fingers up to solidify the point. The fact that it was Scott related didn't make it werewolf business so he wasn't REALLY lying. This time it was mostly girl problems. Which was funny since now it was causing Stiles issues in that department as well. He keeps a tense smile on his face until she walks past, then immediately goes limp and leans his head back in silent exasperation at higher powers and/or Scott who are clearly out to ruin his adolescence.

Recovering into a normal walk by the time he reaches Lydia's side, he hurries forward to grab the passenger side door and opens it for her.]

After you.

[ she comes to a jerky halt in front of the door as stiles moves in front of her, expression perplexed, and she blinks back alarm as she tilts her head towards him, considering the gesture. she brushes it off a moment later, squaring her shoulders out and climbing into the jeep. with the help of the roll bar.

after waiting patiently in her seat, purse in her lap, for him to shut the door and come around to the other side, she verbally assaults him as he climbs into the car. woman trap'd. ]

You need to tell Scott to stop.

[His hand stills, keys in the ignition but not turned just yet.].

Stop... drop and roll? Yeah, I keep trying to tell him that all that fur has got to be pretty flammable. [He gives an awkward laugh because diffusing a situation with jokes is pretty much all he's got.]

Funny.

[ she says it with an unimpressed half-sneer, tilting her chin up and slowly turning her head to face him. there's firm decisiveness in her eyes and she's very clearly not asking - she's assuming his cooperation. because in the end, they want the same thing: this weirdness between scott and allison to stop, one way or the other. lydia just prefers the allison not being caught in his dangerous, horrible, nightmare-y werewolf drama life way. ]

I mean whatever he's doing that's keeping Allison from even looking anywhere else. There was an agreement, and I remember it involving space. I see no space. In fact, I see a dangerous lack of it. So, whatever he's trying to do, he needs to give it up. He needs to leave her alone.

[ there is a venn diagram of hyper-feminine fashionistas and people willing to talk shit and make demands of superpowered werewolves and lydia martin is smack in the middle of it. ]

[This is really the rock and the hard place Stiles never wanted to be between. His love for his best friend runs deep. Deeper than his crush for Lydia Martin? Yeah, probably.]

Look, I'm not saying that Scott's not rocking the lovesick puppy thing. But it definitely takes two to tango and I don't know if you noticed? But Allison is taking a hell of a crack at the Xena: Warrior Princess lifestyle. If she didn't want him around, I don't think he'd have much of a choice.

And it took two to mutually break up.

[ sassy retort out of the way, she soldiers on with rational matter-of-factness. ]

What Allison wants and what's good for her aren't on the same page right now. She's incredibly powerful, and I love her, but this is hard for her to begin with and Scott's puppy dog eyes aren't making it easier.

[ she slumps down a little in her seat, looking annoyed by the fact that it's even a problem - not because she doesn't like scott. he's great, and he was a great boyfriend. lydia didn't exactly have a track record that was bragworthy in comparison, so it's not scott as a boyfriend she's against. it's the fact that allison has expressed wanting to keep things friendly, and been having trouble doing it. it's watching out for her friend to make sure she stays true to what she'd reasonably decided she wants. ]

How long do you see them keeping this up if they don't get time apart?

How the hell am I supposed to know? [He's been trying, really trying to be a voice of reason for Scott's girl woes, but really? He has no freaking clue what he's doing. The werewolf drama is almost easy by comparison, because at least he feels prepared by horror movies and campy supernatural teen dramas to know what to expect. But girls? World's ultimate plot twist.]

It's like those two have magnets built into them. Every time they try to walk away it just- [He makes a gesture of his hand being drawn back and a humming noise.]

"Sometimes things you wouldn't think would be a good combination turn out to be perfect."

[ she's paraphrasing, but she says it reflectively, peering out the window. after a beat of silence, she blinks, turning her gaze towards him with a blank enough expression that it's unreadable why she'd remembered what he'd said to her in the first place. then, after some more pause, she continues. ]

That's what you said, about Allison and Scott. [ she takes a beat, then a deep breath and continues. it doesn't truly make for a better explanation of why she'd recalled it, but hopefully it makes sense as she continues; she agrees. they are good for each other - perfect, even. and when allison's in a better place, she does genuinely hope she goes back to scott, because scott is what she deserves. when she's done baking. ] She's still in love with him. I don't think she ever stopped; I don't think she will. But Allison needs time for Allison. She won't get that with him around.

[ is she doing that thing where she talks about herself and pretends it about allison to balance out allison doing it at the beginning of the year??? who knows. but she did love jackson and he is gone and she is certainly not interested in jumping back into anything remotely emotional because she's currently dating herself as much as allison is - but with more casual sex. ]

[He glances at her sharply when she says it, mouth hanging open because wow he remembers saying those words and knows exactly what he meant by them. So maybe she's figured it out? And maybe this is her way of trying to-]

Oh. Yeah, them. [The soul crushing heartbreak sure doesn't feel any less soul crushing as time goes on. He looks back down at his lap for a moment before falling back on his only coping mechanism.] I don't really know what you want me to do about it. I only chain him up one night a month.

[ wow stiles u know what's safe glancing down in your overwhelming manpain while driving this will end well for everyone involved. ]

Which leaves the other 27 to 30 nights for Allison to be the one doing it.

[ yeah you think on why lydia made that kinky. it'll keep you warm at night. or ... in need of a cold shower at night. whichever. she keeps a tight-lipped expression as she continues. ]

I told you. Talk to him, he'll listen to - [ she shakes her head guilelessly, turning to look back out the windshield as she finishes - but what she sees cuts her off, and she reaches across to place a hand on stiles' shoulder to get his attention as she begins to shriek in a loud, shrill, uninterrupted wail.

with stiles' spot check he can definitely pick up on what's causing it as he glances up - in the headlights, too close up the road for anything but an immediate stop to prevent them from four-wheeling over - is a body, limp and lifeless with a puddle around it reflecting black in the headlights. ]

[Stiles' jaw works open and shut while he works through the notion of kinky sex and why that's where Lydia jumps to. But he eventually turns his eyes back towards the road- only just in time to see the body.

He slams on the breaks as Lydia's scream echos around him. With only inches between the jeep's tires and the body, he lets out a heavy huff of a breath, leaning hard on the wheel. He turns to her with wide eyes.]

Are you okay?

No, I am not okay, I am sick of dead bodies!

[ her purse flew off her lap when the car skidded to a stop, clattering to the floor of the cabin and leaving her to gesitculate her lack of patience, holding her hands out and letting out a loud groan. she drops one to the handle of the jeep and shoves it open.

because maybe they're not dead, maybe they just need help. she steps gingerly out of the jeep and moves around the door cautiously. ]

Hello? [ she keeps close to the car, just in case, casting a shifty glance back towards Stiles. ]

Great. Just... great. [He mutters to himself while unbuckling his seat belt and opening his own door. He hops out walks around, leaving it open because they might need to make a mad dash soon, okay?]

I don't really think they're up for small talk... [He inches closer, trying to get a better look at the body. It's a war between his curiosity and the knowledge that it's a fifty-fifty shot that shit could be getting real any minute now.

There's a shift in the body on the ground and Stiles tenses, but doesn't move back, because he's not about to leave her to get hurt.]

Easy... [Whether he's talking to the mysterious form or warning Lydia is anyone's guess.]

He could still be alive.

[ she sounds desperate to believe that, so she inches closer and crouches down next to the body, reaching one hand out - shaky but determined, to brush against the shirt with just her fingertips. she yanks it back, clutching her hand to her chest anxiously. she takes a breath, eyes shut, and steels herself against it before reaching out again to try and shake the body.

it's cold, and stiff, and hardly budges. her hand jerks back and she scrambles to her feet, backing off rapidly as she lets out a sob. nope. not alive. not remotely alive. her hands cover her mouth and she wheezes as she tries to suck in a breath. ]

Oh god.

I don't think that's- [He was sort of expecting that, but couldn't make his mouth work fast enough to warn her that it probably wasn't a great idea. Thankfully, his feet seem to be moving faster and he shuffles around just as she starts to back away, catching her from behind and holding onto her before she stumbles and hurts herself.]

Whoa whoa... Let's just- Let's get back in the car, alright?

And do what, Stiles? That's a body! [ she chokes out the word, which brings forth more emotions that try to crack through into her expression, and she has to shut up and hold her breath to hold back, eyes wide and particularly shiny with the effort of not letting shocked and scared tears fall. ] Call your dad, we have to - we have to call your dad.

Oh my god. [ she takes a deep breath, dragging her hands out her mouth and starting to pace a little. ] Was it- Was it a werewolf? Is that what werewolf marks look like? [ he'd know. he's been there the whole time, they didn't feel the need to fill her in so she's going into this one blind and it crazes her. she wants to believe it's a hit-and-run at this point, because she wants to put the crazy werewolf shit behind her. ]

Maybe. It could be. I don't know. [The last time they assumed werewolf, it ended up being the kanima. As nice as it is to just assume everything weird is werewolf related, there is obviously more going on and they cannot just wrap it up nicely in the werewolf box.]

I'll call him. I just... If something did this, it could still be out there. And the last thing I want is to find out if it's still hungry, so for the love of god can you just get in the freaking car?!

[Way to stay cool under pressure, Stiles.]

[ the final shout actually seems to work well for lydia, who startles and then turns to disengage from him and slink back into the car, pulling the door shut and glueing herself to her seat, back rigid as a board. she's quiet for a moment, tongue pressed to the inside of her teeth, and then she turns to him, criticizing. ]

It wouldn't kill you to ask nicely, you know. [ except it could very well kill them. but it's better than screaming at him because all she wants to demand is why he doesn't know, because he's supposed to know; they're the ones who have it together, him and scott and allison, they're the ones who've known what's happening. lydia's the one who doesn't know, lydia's the one in the dark, she's always in the dark.

she exhales sharply, a reminder to herself to breathe, because she's not doing it. ]

[As she finally turns and gets into the car, Stiles tips his head back and mouths 'THANK YOU' up towards the sky before hurrying to his own side of the car so that he can get in as well.]

Can we not say the 'k' word until we're safely ensconced somewhere that isn't here?

You do know there's no reason avoiding the word would make us less likely to join the dead body club in the middle of the road, right?

[ she's just saying. there's nothing for her to do but criticize while she waits on him to phone up his dad tbh so she will make the most of this time. ]

The Other Wordly Meme

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