get out, and get gone — this town is only gonna eat you.

[centrally]

A hotel.

It's a lot nicer than the motel Scott was just at not long ago — and how recent is evidenced in the gasoline reek still coming off his hair and clothes, since the other shirt he packed for the field trip is probably ruined with blood — but it still raises his hackles (metaphorically) and makes him feel on edge. He actually pinched himself when he first found himself here, figuring it for a weird dream; last he knew, he was drifting off to sleep on the bus, head leaning against the window, headed for home. It'd been a relief to know that Derek's probably alive, despite the ramifications for the future with the alpha pack, and it'd been a relief to leave the Glen Capri and Coach's wolfsbane-filled whistle behind. Thank God for Lydia figuring that one out, and giving all of them — Scott included — an explanation for what was going on that night.

Scott keeps to the hallways, leaving the doors alone for now. He assumes they only lead to rooms where other people, who probably have nothing to do with supernatural weirdness and shouldn't be bothered, are staying, and he's more interested in finding any of his friends. Or management, who's bound to have answers. Hell, he'd even take Ethan or the mysterious darach, since the former might be willing to help and the latter would explain why he's stuck in a fancy hotel.

He finds himself outside of the hotel gift shop, peering through the glass with a frown. Maybe someone inside could tell him the fastest way back to Beacon Hills...? And maybe he could buy a chocolate bar or something at least while he's at it, because now that he thinks about it he's pretty hungry.

Comments

[chaney]

A week into his captivity in this hotel and it's been a neverending series of doors that lead to nowhere useful and sometimes dangerous looking places, and having only Isaac around as a familiar face. Derek still isn't quite sure what to make of Isaac wanting to stay away from home. He gets it, but at the same time, his own reluctance to return to Beacon Hills is overridden by something his mother said to him — they lived in Beacon Hills to protect it.

The town wasn't just a home to his family, it was an important place they were guarding. Because of the nemeton, and quite possibly because of other things that Derek's yet to be made aware of. He's a Hale. He has to go back. He has to help protect the town, has to find Scott and tell him that—

Derek stops. He knows that scent.

"Scott?"

He takes off, running down the hall in the direction opposite the one he'd intended on taking. He practically flies past open doors, around several corners, and down two flights of stairs, letting his nose be his guide. There's gasoline tinting the edges of Scott's scent, worry flooding his senses.

But then he spots him standing outside of the hotel gift shop. Scott reeks of gasoline, but appears otherwise okay.

Derek heaves a sigh of relief. He knows he probably got worked up over nothing, but this place — he doesn't trust it. Not one bit.

[centrally]

That is the very last person he'd been expecting.

Which is stupid, come on, Ethan literally just told him and Stiles and everyone that Derek's alive, but there's hearing it and even knowing it and seeing it for sure. Derek, without a sign of all the awful wounds and bleeding and brokenness from that fall, and the fight that'd led up to it. It seems unreal, and Scott just stares for a long moment before catching himself and shaking his head.

"What the hell are you doing here? What is this place?"

[chaney]

Something's wrong.

It's something about the way Scott stares at him, whether it's wordlessly for a moment too long or the intense scrutiny of his gaze. Whatever it is, it's setting off a new series of warning bells in Derek's head.

He ignores Scott's questions.

"You smell like gasoline."

[centrally]

There's a shift, and he's defensive now.

"Uh, nice to see you too."

Scott's not much for keeping secrets — wanting to or being any good at it — but if there's anything Derek doesn't need to know, it's the gory details of what's happened in between his fall and now.

Also: "Is that a beard?"

It's only been a few days!! Derek please.

[chaney]

Scott can be shady and underhanded when he wants to, but Derek doesn't feel like this is one of those times. Something's up that has nothing to do with one of Scott's surprisingly well thought out schemes that even had him fooled, because he isn't being fooled. No, he can see straight through the lie Scott's trying to perpetuate, the things that Scott isn't saying.

He isn't okay. There's a reason his clothes are saturated with gasoline. Something happened, something he doesn't want to tell him about.

"Is— Obviously, you hit your head somewhere around going for a nice long swim in a gas tank."

Derek goes to grab Scott's arm with every intention of hauling him away from the gift shop and into the nearest shower. If they're going to continue this conversation, it's going to be after Scott's gasoline-soaked scent stops assaulting his nose.

[centrally]

Derek does indeed grab his arm and get hauling, and Scott follows, sputtering indignantly. Okay, hi, nice to see you alive too Derek.

"Hey," he protests, but otherwise doesn't put up any kind of fight. "Where are we going?"

[chaney]

"You are going to shower," he tells Scott as he pulls them both into the nearest empty room. The ones on the ground floor aren't as large or as glamorous as the ones upstairs are, but this will do for now.

Only then does Derek release him.

[centrally]

"Shower," Scott echoes incredulously.

He stumbles into the room with Derek, casting a brief look around as he does. It looks pretty much like an ordinary hotel room, which is both expected and unexpected at this point, though much grander than the Glen Capri. This explains absolutely nothing about anything at all, and it's grating on his nerves, adding the undercurrent of a growl to his voice.

"You haven't answered any one of my questions, and you want me to just shower in someone's room in some hotel? I don't even have money to rent a room!"

[chaney]

If Derek knew anything about what transpired at the Glen Capri, maybe he'd go easy on Scott. As it is, none of them thought to clue him in on what happened to them there, nevermind what happened to Scott and why he smells like he got dunked in tank of gasoline. There's a reason for that, he knows there is, but he's loathe to ask until Scott stops smelling this way.

The scent of gasoline is so potent to a sensitive nose like his that it's starting to make his eyes water. It ought to be bothering Scott, as well. Especially since he's coated in it, but like always, Scott is concerned with everything but himself.

"You're trapped inside an episode of Doctor Who. Now go shower."

[centrally]

"What?"

Scott recognizes the reference, though it's really Stiles who would've given Derek a better reaction to it — probably alluding to The God Complex and how cool yet misused the plot was — but Scott doesn't know the show as well as all that and he doesn't really care in the moment either. He pauses, glowering, and...then turns and goes into the bathroom to shower. Apparently that's the only way he's going to get anything out of Derek, and even if he doesn't act like it the smell is bothering Scott too, though for reasons of bad memories as much as the reek.

You win this round, Derek.

[chaney]

Derek, in the meantime, is on the hunt for something decent for Scott to wear. He doesn't have much to spend, and while there's plenty to choose from, he doesn't exactly know what size the younger wolf wears. Derek's taller and bulkier than Scott, so definitely smaller than him... Though probably not as scrawny as Stiles. (He couldn't breathe in any of the shirts Stiles tried to get him to change into for the benefit of someone who likely already figured everything out for himself.)

Eventually, he settles on a pair of flip-flops, gray sweatpants with a drawstring, and a black medium-sized t-shirt. Scott's a medium, right? He can wear the robe that's hanging on the back of the bathroom door, if not.

He knocks on the bathroom door. "Your clothes are on the nightstand by the door."

Derek leaves them where he says they'll be and retreats to the couch to flip through the pages of a half-done crossword puzzle book.

cw: suicide

[centrally]

Derek Hale, picking out his clothing. They've been through a lot together and Scott's willing to trust him with almost anything by now, but this is definitely a new one. Maybe it's just as well Scott's yet to see hide or hair of Stiles, because he suspects his best friend would see it as some sort of base betrayal. Or just give him shit for it, anyway.

But before that, Scott strips off the gasoline-stiffened clothing with some measure of gratitude before stepping into the shower, turning the water up to scalding. The soap's some vaguely fruity stuff, but it's a fresh bar and it really does seem to pull the smell off him, so he likes it as well as anything; he scrubs his hair with it instead of opening up the little bottle of shampoo too, tipping his head back to keep lather out of his eyes.

This is weird as hell.

A day ago, except even less, he was ready to die — the wolfsbane had him perfectly willing to douse himself and find a source of fire because it's better this way because it'll be better for everyone because Derek's death was my fault. But even before that, he'd been wondering if those things might be true, whether he'd admitted them to everyone else or not. Better to run into Derek now than any of them, with that awkward knowledge hanging in the air like an accusation.

No, that's stupid. Like, incredibly, and he can hear Derek letting him know about the clothes so he doesn't linger in the shower any longer after that than he has to. Luckily, the clothes are right where they're promised to be, and they fit okay — the shoes are a little big but whatever, he can walk in them.

By the time he's making his way the door, he's a little damp and a lot frowning.

"You look comfortable."

Not just on the couch — with is that seriously a crossword puzzle book? Scott would personally be playing Tetris, but okay — but with this place. In general.

[freezedout]

Scent memory is a hell of a thing. When you're a werewolf, it's almost enough to knock you completely out and when Isaac gets a whiff of the gasoline, it's like he's right back at the Glen Capri, taken aback to the point that he staggers, eyes wide as he follows it, slightly anxious that something's managed to creep and crawl through the walls to get here.

What he doesn't expect is to find Scott standing there at the gift shop and for a second, Isaac doesn't know if he can do anything except gape, relief flooding him and an instinctual sense of belonging to go with it (not that Isaac actually knows how to place that emotion, having felt it so few times in his life). "Scott," he gets out, a breathless exhalation. "Are you seriously here?" he asks, wondering if this is a hallucination.

[centrally]

Scott's senses have gone into overdrive at his confusion, trying to pick up slack for what his eyes can't tell him. Unfortunately, a lot of this place just smells like a normal hotel (no recently opened doors around), so it's not very helpful. What it does mean, though, is that he feels the motion and smells Isaac quickly enough that he's already turning around by the time the other boy speaks.

"Isaac," is what he starts with, clearly relieved at the familiar face, and even starts forward a few steps with the idea of saying good thing you're here (or maybe not good thing?) before the question actually hits him.

"Uh. I think so?" Because clearly that's the answer Isaac's looking for, here. "What's going on?"

[freezedout]

It's practically like getting smacked in the face with relief and Isaac doesn't actually hold back his happy smile, because having Scott here on the heels of Derek is kind of like things are turning around for him, giving him more support where it didn't exist before. "Any explanation I can give you is gonna make me sound crazy," Isaac says, totally in full comprehension of how this situation works and he's not sure he wants Scott thinking he's crazy. He gnaws his lower lip, thinking that Scott will probably want to get back home, especially with his mother there.

If Isaac still had his mother around, he's pretty sure he'd go back, too. "It's weird, but there's some kind of portal or path that gets us from Beacon Hills to here. Other places too," he admits, "but that's gonna tip me even further onto the crazy scale and I figure maybe you should process that one first."

[centrally]

That.

Yeah, that does kind of sound crazy.

But though his face scrunches up as he tries to process that, it seems important to clarify first: "I don't think you're crazy. No matter what you tell me."

There's no such thing as magic portals; there's no such thing as fate; there's no such thing as werewolves. Or alpha packs. Or dark druids. Or were-lizards.

So, sure, why not?

[freezedout]

It's been a while since Isaac's seen Scott, thanks to his whole 'avoiding life and the messy crap that goes with it' and he's kind of forgotten what he can be like. It's like getting bulldozed with warmth, the surprising and genuine kind of care that Isaac hasn't had much experience in his life. It makes him a little more willing to talk about the hotel, knowing he's not going to get looked at like he belongs in a straighjacket.

"Okay, so, this place? Weird hotel in space," he says. "Literally. Outside is space," he says with a nod. "And the doors lead places. I mean, some lead home, but a bunch lead to all kinds of crazy. Some of them don't even go anywhere, they just..." Say it and accept the insanity. "...change you."

[centrally]

"Weird hotel in space," he echoes slowly, feeling vaguely like his proclamation of a second ago is being tested already. But no; this is Isaac, and Isaac definitely wouldn't make something like this up.

"Wait — some go home? Which?"

He literally looks around, as though expecting one of the nearby doors to be labeled Beacon Hills.

[freezedout]

Isaac shrugs, which has pretty much become his go-to reply when it comes to confusing questions he can't even begin to know the answer to. "You sort of just have to open a door and remember not to close it behind you, in case you end up in one of the zombie worlds."

"Scott," Isaac says suddenly, aware that explaining the weirdness of the hotel is pretty important, but he kind of wants (needs) to ask. "What's the last thing that happened before you got here?" He can guess, but he needs to hear it, needs to know.

[centrally]

If Isaac doesn't know, that at least explains why he seems so familiar with this place and surprised at seeing Scott. He assumes that Isaac's just been here and other places — like zombie worlds? which sounds terrifying but also awesome — but never home. Scott kind of exhales at the question, getting that look on his face when he's asked questions he doesn't want to answer but also doesn't really know what else to say to. It's not like anything's news to Isaac, but the phrasing — the last thing that happened — makes the whole thing seem a lot more awkward than just where were you or something.

"I think I fell asleep on the bus? We were going home since the meet was canceled, after staying at the Glen Capri."

[freezedout]

Realization that Isaac's from beyond that, that Isaac knows what happens next hits him in the gut like a punch, but he keeps his face passive, almost like he's bored to hear it when it's the furthest thing from the truth. He doesn't tell Scott that he turned up here for the first time after the Glen Capri, too, out of his mind still on wolfsbane, not sure what reality was. He swallows, hard, and knows he has to move the subject otherwise they might start talking about what Isaac remembers, what he knows.

"I saw Derek the other day," he supplies. "He's here, too."

[centrally]

Scott exhales, then nods.

"Ethan said that he's alive."

He's sure Isaac heard that too, but it's as much a reminder to himself as it is to Isaac. It's still kind of weird, surreal after a day and a night of surreal events and now a surreal arrival to a magic hotel; he's sure the both of them are telling the truth, but after watching Derek fall and being so sure he was dead it's kind of...well, another tally for why this field trip was the worst one ever, even more than the time Jared (without Stiles's interference) threw up over literally everyone.

"Do you think, uh," he says and hesitates, because now that he's saying it the thought sounds kind of stupid, "he's been here all this time? Since the fight?"

[freezedout]

"I have no clue," Isaac confesses. "I mean, I've been here for months at a time and he was never here, but that doesn't exactly mean anything. I mean, it's Derek. He could've been hiding in the basement brooding the whole time." Still, Isaac feels like he would've sensed him or something and he hasn't had any pack here since the start. "Maybe before everything, I would've thought he would've come and found me, but honestly...I don't know."

"So yeah, maybe he's been here. Maybe he's been keeping out of sight," Isaac suggests, nodding onwards as he slides his hands in his pocket. "You wanna grab something to eat? They've got awesome food here at the buffet."

leaving this vague enough for you to set it whenever's easiest? <33

[slutbomb]

"Did I actually just hear your stomach growl from here?"

About twenty yards away, Faith's leaning in some open doorway, arms crossed as they usually are. She keeps this up and people are going to start thinking she can't move out of this position. Hell, maybe she'd just rather hang here forever and not have to worry about everyone else's problems. Unfortunately, Scott has that fresh-faced look about him, and she isn't about to just let some kid flail his way through this place.

When the hell did she become the responsible one?

Her hand moves, pointing to their left at a door that doesn't look all that spectacular. "Free food's that way, for the record."

She's nice but she's not about to be dumb to offer buying a teenage garbage disposal a real meal.

<3

[centrally]

Scott grimaces, looking over at Faith sheepishly. There hasn't been any chance to think about it until now, but he hasn't eaten since before the confrontation with the alpha pack the other day; partly because of stuff like being on a crowded bus and a murderous motel, and partly because he's barely had the heart to.

"Thanks." Then he frowns, what she said actually sinking in. "Did you say free?"