Chapter 22: Moon

Stiles yawned big like a lion. Catori saw this and threw a cushion at his face.

"Hey!" The boy complained, since he was so sleepy it startled him.

"You're supposed to be helping me, not taking a nap in my bed!" His friend told him off, looking at him over her shoulder.

"But I'm lazy" Stiles complained in a childish voice, making her roll her eyes.

"Then what's the point of coming here in the first place?"

"To be embarrassed by your mother calling me your boyfriend?" He was grinning widely as he reluctantly stood up and leaned his hand on the back of the chair Catori was sitting in.

"No" She chuckled in spite of herself. "To be helping me with the notebook"

"Fine" Still lazily, Stiles sulkily took the notebook from the desk and opened it.

He then began to bounce the pen on the paper as he also tapped his foot on the ground. The boy was trying to think what to write down and how to write it.

"Stand still" Catori told him off, being annoyed by his usual fidgety demeanor.

"Should I start with sybil?" He asked, ignoring her words completely.

"I guess" The girl sighed, still overwhelmed. "I have to wrap my head around it sooner or later"

"You know there's nothing wrong with being supernatural, right?" Stiles immediately went to comfort her. "I mean, all your friends are"

"Except for you, ironically" Again, she shielded herself in the sarcasm and concealed her restlessness by diverting the attention from her and changing the subject.

"Yet I'm the smartest of all" He bit the pen and wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

Catori didn't even look at him, just raised her eyebrows with mocking agreement. But her green eyes were focused on the screen as her eyes darted around the keyboard.

"What are you doing anyway, Cat?" He looked over her shoulder for a moment as he scribbled the word 'Sybil' on the notebook.

"Looking up selkies"

"Anything interesting?"

"This is" Catori nodded, pointing to the screen as she read that part out loud. "Selkies are similar creatures to seals. They can turn into humans by taking off their fur, which is vital to them. If someone were to own their fur, they would own the selkie itself"

"Awesome!" He leaned his elbow on her shoulder while he read the information himself. "They're like wereseals!"

"I guess..." Catori mumbled absently.

She felt lucky that at least she lingered on her human form. Even if that didn't help rid her from the pressure of being a supernatural creature. And the weirdness of it.

Stiles didn't move from the spot, as he was still reading the information Catori had found about selkies. He hadn't noticed the shift in her facial expression.

He just went back to the notebook and began to write down all the things he knew about sybils and selkies.

Sybil. Seer. Prophetic black outs. Warning nightmares. Can perceive auras and danger.

Selkie. Marine creature, seal. Can create storms. They use their fur to shift. Owner of the fur owns the selkie.

He nibbled on the pen, trying to think of something else to write. But nothing more came to mind, so Stiles glanced over to Catori. The boy turned her around in the chair so she was facing him and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"What?"

"You have that face again"

"What face? This is my natural expression"

"No" Stiles smirked mischievously. "Your natural expression is the grumpy menacing one, this is an expression of dread"

"What do you mean?" Catori still played dumb, averting her gaze from him.

His caramel brown eyes were flustering her, especially since they observed her with such fondness and concern.

"That's your 'omg, I'm a freaking sybil' face"

The girl reluctantly settled her green eyes on him, smiling a little in spite of herself when she saw that smirk still in his lips. This time it was more self-satisfied than before because he knew he was right.

Catori sighed and remained quiet for a moment.

She found it very heartwarming to see how much he worried about her. How Stiles was always looking after her and he had done so much for her already. In his odd, twisted and cunning way.

How he comforted her and protected her when they found her and brought her back from Vanessa's hideout. How he tired her on purpose so she would get some very needed sleep when she was afraid of getting nightmares from that scarring experience. How he always tried to soothe her anxiety about anything.

For the first time, it was easier for her to show weakness. To speak her mind without worrying about upsetting him. Not being afraid of Stiles judging her because she was afraid or uncomfortable with her current situation. Besides, after all he was doing for her, Catori owed him at least that.

Not that she couldn't tell him if she didn't want to. If she didn't feel like it or trust him to share her burden with him.

"I'm scared of what being a sybil can imply" The girl finally confessed, taking a deep breath when the pressure in her chest was slightly relieved.

"What do you mean?" Stiles frowned a little, but listened intently.

"What if I attract them again? What if it makes me a target?" Catori nibbled on her bottom lip in apprehension. "Or what if I'm dangerous? I have no idea what else I can do! Or... or..."

"Whoa" Stiles kneeled on the ground to be at eye level with her and placed his hands on her upper arms to calm her, seeing as her rambling was so uneasy. "Easy there, nothing's gonna happen, okay?"

"You don't know that, Stiles" Catori shook her head, feeling herself shaky and cold. "What if something terrible happens because I'm a sybil?"

"It's not" He assured sternly, shaking her gently to get a reaction from her. "And even if it were, all of us would be here to stop it"

She didn't reply, just frowned and shielded herself in silence.

"Okay, that's enough" Stiles took her by the hand and pulled her up to her feet along with himself. "C'mon, Cat"

"What are you doing?" The girl uttered in surprise as he took her with him.

"Dragging you away from all this crap" He held her hand tight in his, yet gently and lovingly.

For a moment she resigned herself to follow him, feeling numb and faraway. Yet when he squeezed her hand, she looked up at him instead of at the ground. There he was, doing it again.

She never had someone who cared so deeply about her, other than her family, of course. That was enough to cheer her up.

"Who said you can hold my hand, nerd?" Catori angrily told him, causing the boy to stop dead on his tracks.

Moving cautiously slow, thinking he had messed up, Stiles turned to face her. Indeed, Catori's face was grave and serious. So he made an apology face until she broke and grinned.

"Ha, ha" He humorlessly laughed, rolling his eyes when he noticed she was teasing him. "Very funny"

"It was" The girl smirked proudly, actually walking beside him instead of letting him drag her. However, she never let go of his hand.

"Hopefully you'll feel okay with being a sybil soon" Stiles changed the subject smoothly. "But until then I'm gonna make you forget about it all"

"If you think you kissing me has that kind of effect on me, Stilinski..." Catori stared at him smugly. "You're very mistaken"

"Stop bullying me, Cat!" He complained, outraged, gladly humoring her.

She just smiled at him sweetly, leaving a tender kiss on his cheek.

However, the girl was very curious to see what he had in mind to help her forget all her worries.

*

Who knew lying down doing nothing could be so pleasant. Especially cuddling with Stiles.

Never in a million years would Catori have dreamt that being cheesy and all touchy with him would bring her such joy. Overall with someone she used to hate and who used to hate her.

Yet at that moment, even if her mind kept drifting back to more serious and less trivial matters, everything felt alright. Her body and mind were completely relaxed. She felt calm, tranquil, peaceful, at ease.

Especially since they had been talking for a while before. And sharing all her insecurities and thoughts with Stiles helped her feel much better. Had she known it would be so easy, she might have done it sooner.

Catori glanced up to Stiles and grinned when she saw he had closed his eyes in content. The sunlight fell over his face, lighting it up, and he seemed to be enjoying it judging by the delighted grin on his lips.

She rested her head back on his chest and felt his arm moving even closer to her, also shoving her torso closer to his. The girl comfortably leaned her arm on his shoulder and sighed happily.

"This is great" Stiles finally piped up, even though Catori suspected he had fallen asleep. She had seen him taking naps in unexpected places, after all.

"Don't get used to it" She replied, smiling mischievously even if he couldn't see her.

"Wouldn't dream of it" His grin was audible in his voice as he gently squeezed her side to tickle her. Catori slapped him in the shoulder lazily, not bothering to move much.

"Hey, you can see the moon!" She noticed when she looked up to the sky.

"Where?" Stiles opened his eyes and squinted at the sky.

"There!" The girl pointed it for him, until he finally spotted.

"Oh, yeah..."

"The moon..."

Catori sat up slowly, knowing that feeling within her which suddenly overcome her. It definitely was sybil related.

"Cat?" Stiles leaned on his elbows as he slightly sat up as well, observing her.

"The moon!" Catori jumped to her feet, feeling jittery and restless.

"Yes, that's the moon" He slowly stood up as he glanced at her in confusion. "What about it?"

"I remember the full moon!"

"Catori, what the hell are you talking about?!"

"I remember having a... sybil thingy... a whatever you want to call it... about the full moon!"

"A sybil thingy? You mean, as in whatever you see when you black out?"

"Yes!"

"You did say something about the full moon once" Stiles remembered, recalling the exact moment in which she said it. "We just thought it was nonsense"

"It wasn't" Catori rummaged through her mind, trying to gather any possible details. "It has something to do with Vanessa, I can sense it"

"It does? How does it relate to her?"

"I don't know, but it's important! It might help us know Vanessa's plan!"

"Wh-" Before he could complain or ask anything else, she had taken his hand and pulled at it.

"We need to go"

"Where?"

"Another pack meeting"

"I have a feeling it might be the last one"