—- KIRA IS CAREFUL , WARY . she hasn ‘ t spent much time with stiles
— well
— without one of the others with them , at least . she worries this was carefully designed to pan out this way
— worried that seeing her reminded him of the nogitsune . she tries her best to keep out of his way regardless , despite how much she wants to befriend him properly . they have similar ( read : nerdy ) interests and she ‘ s sure that if they could just have a normal conversation , outwith all the craziness that has become central to their lives , they could become good friends .
❝WE DON ‘ T REALLY TALK MUCH , do we ?❞
“yeah?” it’s automatic. primed from the drop of his name. a callback, an answer as hands pause & he leans back to better see around the lip of his locker door. he stills then because she looks —– wary —- cautious in a way that causes his guard to snap into place & his heart rate to falter & spike. worry blossoms within the cage of his ribs & stiles takes a second to access. glancing up & down the hallway in search for the source of her discomfort until the peculiar weight of her words settles over him.
“oh —” &there it is, the crushing face of reality in the wake of self-revelation; he’s the reason. it hurts, & guilt slides in & takes over. he steps back then, lets the locker fall shut & claps a hand over the back of his neck before a shoulder lifts in an open & empty shrug. “yeah, i mean, i guess not, huh?” in a sense, he supposes it’s its fault. he hadn’t wanted to impede —– & then everything sort of hit the fan. again & again & again.
his brow furrows, & he takes a second to evaluate the dull grey-blue of his locker before glancing back toward her. “you know.” he starts, lips parting & then flattening as he wets them. “i —- uh, i’m heading out for lunch, did you want to come?”
