iluvroadrunner6 | prompts { 2021 } alphabetasoup

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prompts { 2021 } alphabetasoup

I have an itch and don't want to just write flash fiction. IDK if I'm going to use this prompt table for all the same people, ~~but I'm going to start with some Teen Wolf and Leverage because that's where my brain is~~ I lied, this is turning into a Teen Wolf/TVDverse Soulmate AU collection, I'm just indulging my bliss here.

A is for	Amused.	B is for	Bitter.	C is for	Curious.	D is for	Disappointed.	E is for	Ecstatic.
F is for	Frustrated.	G is for	Grateful.	H is for	Hurt.	I is for	Irritated.	J is for	Jealous.
K is for	Kind.	L is for	Lethargic.	M is for	Mischievous.	N is for	Nostalgic.	O is for	Optimistic.
P is for	Pensive.	Q is for	Quixotic.	R is for	Relaxed.	S is for	Surprised.	T is for	Touched.
U is for	Uncomfortable.	V is for	Vexed.	W is for	Worried.	X is for	Xenophilic.	Y is for	Yielding.
Z is for	Zealous.

A is for	amuck.	B is for	bric-a-brac.	C is for	crow.	D is for	diatribe.	E is for	esoteric.
F is for	flavor.	G is for	gravity.	H is for	horology.	I is for	ineluctable.	J is for	jubilee.
K is for	Kaboom!	L is for	leonine.	M is for	Mars.	N is for	nautical.	O is for	opiate.
P is for	point-blank.	Q is for	quandary.	R is for	ramshackle.	S is for	spartan.	T is for	thief.
U is for	ugly.	V is for	vex.	W is for	whilom.	X is for	Xanadu.	Y is for	yin.
Z is for	zombie.

A is for	Allurement.	B is for	Baroque.	C is for	Casuistry.	D is for	Dragon.	E is for	Envenom.
F is for	Fugacious.	G is for	Gnome.	H is for	Hauteur.	I is for	Improvisation.	J is for	Jeremiad.
K is for	Knot.	L is for	Luddite.	M is for	Macabre.	N is for	Narcotic.	O is for	Oxymoron.
P is for	Perversion.	Q is for	Quirk.	R is for	Reprobate.	S is for	Scintillating.	T is for	Torrid.
U is for	Umbrage.	V is for	Vehement.	W is for	Writhe.	X is for	Xerox.	Y is for	Yearning.
Z is for	Zingy.

A is for	Ares.	B is for	Baal.	C is for	Charybdis.	D is for	Dionysus.	E is for	Egeria.
F is for	Fenrir.	G is for	Gaea.	H is for	Hades.	I is for	Isis.	J is for	Juno.
K is for	Kali.	L is for	Lakshmi.	M is for	Maui.	N is for	Nyx.	O is for	Olokun.
P is for	Pangu.	Q is for	Quatzalcoatl.	R is for	Ravana.	S is for	Sedna.	T is for	Thanatos.
U is for	Ulysses.	V is for	Valhalla.	W is for	Wyvern.	X is for	Xanadu.	Y is for	Yggdrasil.
Z is for	Ziggurat.

Chronological Order:

Part 1

surprised (scott/lydia pt. 1)
hurt (scott/lydia pt. 2)
worried (hayley/klaus pt. 1)
frustrated (freya/peter pt. 1)
vexed (scott/lydia, pt. 3)
disappointed (stiles/allison, pt. 1)
curious (stiles/allison, pt. 2)
xenophilic (derek/caroline pt. 1)
optimistic (derek/caroline pt. 2)
irritated (peter/freya pt. 2)
jealous (derek/caroline pt. 3)
grateful (tyler/elena pt. 1)
uncomfortable (chris/melissa pt. 1)
pensive (stiles/allison pt. 3)
zealous (stiles/allison pt. 4)
touched (derek/caroline pt. 4)
bitter (klaus/hayley pt. 2)
mischevious (cora/isaac pt. 1)
lethargic (freya/peter pt. 3)
yielding (freya/peter pt. 4)
quixotic (stiles/allison pt. 5)
nostalgic (cora/isaac pt. 2)
relaxed (derek/caroline pt. 5)
amused (derek/caroline pt. 6)
ecstatic (cora/isaac pt. 3)
kind (peter/freya pt. 5)

Part 2:

ineluctable (tyler/elena pt. 2)
quandry (tyler/elena pt. 3)
point-blank (jeremy/malia pt. 1)
esoteric (bonnie/matt pt. 1)
spartan (bonnie/matt pt. 2)
thief (allison/stiles pt. 6)
flavor (freya/peter pt. 6)
vex (cami/marcel pt. 1)
diatribe (rebekah/stefan pt. 1)
ramshackle (allison/stiles pt. 7)
yin (bonnie/matt pt. 3)
whilom (davina/kol pt. 1)
gravity (allison/stiles pt. 8)
bric-a-brac (hayley/klaus pt. 3)
zombie (cami/marcel pt. 2)
ugly (hayley/klaus pt. 4)
horology (freya/peter pt. 7)
Xanadu (tyler/elena pt. 4)
amuck (bonnie/matt pt. 3)
crow (jeremy/malia pt. 2)

Completed: 46/104
Word Count: 84,022

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Previous]

Caroline puts her desk between the two of them, sitting in her office as she tries to process the last hour. Part of her is grateful that most of the students were asleep, so they didn’t see her panicking in the soulmate's face she doesn’t remember. But as the panic subsides, and she bridges the gap from confusion to acceptance, she can’t help but notice that he seems amused by all of this.

“What’s so funny?”

He blinks as his eyes turn to face her again. “What? Nothing. Just … I kind of feel like I’ve been called to the principal’s office.”

He’s not wrong, technically speaking. She arches an eyebrow before crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Spend a lot of time in the principal’s office as a kid?”

“Not really,” he shakes his head, leaning back to match her relaxed stance. “But it’s kind of nice, seeing you in your natural habitat.”

That perks her interest, curiosity inching forward in the place of concern, though she does her best to push it back. “You haven’t before?”

Derek shrugs, the amusement flickering for something a little more awkward. “We only really knew each other for a couple days before I…”

“Fell into a pit that erased you from my memory.”

“It was not intentional, by the way.” Derek sighs. “Nor was it ideal. I have a few powerful reasons to not want to be forgotten.”

“I can imagine,” Caroline nods. “I met your sister.”

He straightens even further at that, eyes wide. “You saw Cora? Is she okay?”

Caroline shakes her head. “From what it sounds like, she found out that she forgot half her family ever existed, so I don’t think that qualifies as okay. And I’m pretty sure she wants to punch you in the face.”

He snorts. “That’s actually standard operating procedure for Cora.”

“Ah.” Caroline nods, rubbing one arm gently. “We only knew each other for a couple days and you thought me that important? That you would leave me a video?”

Derek pauses, eyes falling to the ground as he considers. “You asked me to.”

She asked him to. That sounds like her, but she doesn’t know what to make of this, when he seems to have more information about their relationship than she does. It’s an emotional knot that she cannot untangle soon, so she swallows and straightens again.

“So how did you wind up here, breaking into my school?”

Time to get to the important part of the story. The information that she can act on, rather than things, she is truly too sober to figure out. At that Derek’s face falls, and he almost looks ashamed? Uncomfortable? She’s trying not to read too much into it before he speaks for himself, but it’s a red flag if she ever saw one.

“My uncle made a deal with the creature in order to get our freedom. Me, him, Freya Mikaelson and Allison Argent.” The names make sense—Hope’s missing aunt and Stiles’ mysterious soulmate that Isaac had ties to include. “He would let us out for these items that would help return his mobility, I guess.”

“Mobility?” She blinks, confused. “A tar pit has mobility?”

“It did, a long time ago. It’s called Malivore.”

He then tells her a story about a witch, a vampire and a werewolf who came together to create a mud construct that would consume dangerous supernatural creatures and erase them from memory—that is, until it became too dangerous, and they needed to cut its legs out from under it. It falls in line with most supernatural myths that she’s encountered, but it still takes her by surprise a bit, and she doesn’t know what to make of it.

“So you need the knife—what else?”

He falls silent for a moment, unsure, and there’s that odd sense of shame again. Caroline reaches forward, resting her hand on his and he startles, surprised by the touch and those green eyes meet hers. “Look, Derek, I have a feeling it’s probably bad, and I’m not about to judge you for trying to escape a tar pit of doom, but if all of this is anything to go by, I don’t think we want it to get its legs back.”

Derek looks grim, but he nods. “I don’t know what Allison or Freya were sent after, but Peter…one item is a kid.”

“What?” Caroline tries to fight the urge to jerk back. “What do you mean, a kid?”

“A vessel. I don’t know what the connection is to Malivore, but they were very specific. He’s going to just … wear him like a meat suit, I guess.” Caroline is clearly horrified, and he reaches up to take her arm gently. “Peter made the deal without us. He went behind our back to get us out, and while I’m pissed as hell that he did…”

Derek is out. He’s here. No one may remember him, but he can move about the world and isn’t stuck in Hell. Caroline isn’t sure she can blame him for that. At the same time: “We can’t let Peter find this poor kid.”

“I know. But given that, I haven’t come out when I was supposed to—”

“He might have abandoned you to the wolves and gone on his own?” A beat. “Pun unintended.”

He smirks before nodding.

“Okay.” Caroline pinches the bridge of her nose. “Okay, then let’s…put you in a room here, and we’ll figure out the rest in the morning. I’ll go check and see if Peter is still here.”

“Caroline, you don’t have to—”

“Oh, I’m not letting you out of my sight.” She points at him with a finger, a firm expression on her face. “The last time I did, I forgot you existed. Besides, I should call Stiles and tell him you’re here, anyway.”

Derek nods and let her move from around the desk to the door to lead him to one of the empty rooms. Before she can go too far, his hand reaches out, catching the side of her waist and pulling her closer. Her body responds as though it remembers something she doesn’t—her heartbeat picks up, her breath catches, and she wishes she understood why this feels so familiar.

“I really didn’t mean to get lost.”

She swallows, then looks up at him with a small smile. “I really wish you hadn’t.”

* * * * *

“So is he cute?”

Caroline looks up at Bonnie with an incredulous look on her face. Calling for an early morning breakfast is part of the BFF package in Mystic Falls, and while Caroline is fixing her coffee, Bonnie seems to have got to the heart of the matter. It’s one of the rare instances that her friend has been in Mystic Falls and she’s taking advantage.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You finally have a soulmate and you don’t expect me to ask the important questions?” Bonnie raises an eyebrow curiously. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

Caroline sighs, before running her hand through her hair. “He is very cute.”

Bonnie grins, pleased. “Good. You deserve a cute soulmate. And he’s nice?”

“As far as I can tell, but technically I’ve known him all of five minutes and he’s already tied into a messy supernatural plot. And he’s also way further along on the into me road than I am into him, so that just makes things awkward.”

“At least until we figure out what kind of memory magic is holding it hostage.” Bonnie tips her head to the side. “Maybe after I meet your mystery man, I might figure it out.”

“Hayley said she was recruiting Davina to help. I’m sure she wouldn’t say no to the extra hands.”

“Sounds like an impromptu trip to San Francisco, it is. I’m sure Matt will love it.” Bonnie’s face gets a bit more serious, reaching over to take Caroline’s hands. “Don’t panic, okay? We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, Derek is not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about Peter Hale.” Because Derek was right, and Peter was gone by the time the two of them got there. He seems determined to maintain his freedom regardless of who gets hurt, even if it’s a little kid. “Do you think Matt might use his old police contacts to find the kid they’re looking for? His name is Landon Kirby.”

Bonnie scribbles the name down on a napkin and nods. “I’ll look into it. But given that you have the FBI on your side, it might be good to loop in Stiles too.”

“I will,” Caroline nods, before taking a big gulp to finish her coffee. “I just hope we can find him before Peter does. We don’t really know how much information he had to go on.”

“I’m on it.” Bonnie looks over at her again. “And I’ll see what I can find about this Derek Hale guy, too. You said that computer records weren’t affected, so maybe there’s something that’ll put your mind at ease.”

“You’re the best.”

“And Care?” Bonnie gives her a firm look. “If he is actually a good guy? I say you sit back and enjoy it. It’s about time you got a good guy for a change.”

Caroline smiles at her in return before nodding. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

* * * * *

When she returns to the Salvatore School and the room that she left Derek in, she blinks in surprise to find it empty. Glancing around the room, she tries to find any sign of him, and she can feel her heart sinking. In a panic, she zooms down to the library, but the knife is still neatly tucked away in its box, so she lets out one sigh of relief. But that still doesn’t explain where Derek went.

She’s about to go try to find Josie and Lizzie, for locator spell purposes, when one wolf stops her in the doorway.

“Ms. Forbes? There’s someone still down in the werewolf cages. Are we supposed to be having visitors?”

She thanks him for the information and promises that she’ll take care of it before disappearing down into the basement of the Salvatore School. Soon she picks up a steady but somewhat familiar heartbeat, and follows it down the hall to one cage where Derek stretches out on the cot, seeming to have locked himself in.

“Derek?”

His head picks up at the sound of her voice, and he looks apologetic. “Hi. Sorry.”

“What are you doing down here?”

“I tried to get some sleep,” he admits, pushing himself up and making his way to the cage door. “But I woke up about halfway through and found myself in the middle of the classrooms, heading for the library. I decided I was safer in a place I couldn’t easily get out of.”

“So you locked yourself down here?” She looks up at him earnestly. “I get it.”

“It’s okay. It’s probably better I’m in here.” He gives her a sheepish look. “At least now you know where to find me.”

“I have a friend who’s a witch. She might see if she can break the compulsion.”

“Maybe.” Derek shrugs. “I’m not what you need to worry about. You need to worry about stopping Peter.”

“Yeah, we’re on that too. We’re trying to find Landon, so between my local resources and Stiles, we’ll find him.”

“Okay.”

Caroline hesitates, before reaching her hand through the bar to rest over his. “This isn’t how I was planning to get to know you better.”

He laughs. “Maybe not, but it’s not the worst date I’ve ever had.”

“A date?” She raises an eyebrow. “Oh, this is not a date. Not even close. There will be dinner, and there will be other date-like activities.” She takes another step closer. “And we’re not having a date until I remember everything you remember. No matter what that takes.”

Derek meets her eyes and nods, smoothing his thumb over her fingers. “Okay. Sounds good to me.”

“Good.” Caroline takes a step back. She just hopes that she actually can remember what came before. For all of their sakes.

[Next]

Edited 2022-08-19 13:22 (UTC)