prompts { 2021 } alphabetasoup

[iluvroadrunner6]

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

Comments

M ~ cora/isaac ~ teen wolf/tvdverse ~ 2,427

[iluvroadrunner6]

[Previous.]

Because they’re Hales, and they each of the emotional maturity of a walnut, they all need to be smacked in the face with their soulmates. Cora, much to her chagrin, is no exception.

It’s especially annoying because although she’s a grown adult, fully capable of making her own choices, fate seems to just dump a world of color onto her, without warning and with no consideration that maybe the other person doesn’t want to be with her. Because he absolutely, one hundred percent did not. Especially when this person is Isaac Lahey.

It’s not that Cora doesn’t like Isaac. During her prior stay in Beacon Hills, he was… fine. Nothing super impressive, but cute enough in that teenage boy way and charming enough when he wanted to get her attention. But there was nothing about him that said fate, or destiny, or any other word that comes from a thing like having a soulmate.

But one day, she’s rounding a corner in New York City, late for her late night job tending bar at a dive downtown when she runs smack dab into a familiar scent, something that cloys in her nose as a reminder of both pack and something more all at the same time.

And when she steps back, there’s Isaac in all his technicolor glory—but now covered in twenty-five percent more coffee. Her coffee, to be more precise. She should apologize, as that’s what polite people do, or even greet him, like the old friend that he is, but all she can do is stare, and say his name like it’s almost a swear.

“Isaac!”

“Cora.”

He grins at her, but he doesn’t seem to share the stunned silence of suddenly discovering his soulmate. Confusion is the next emotion that wars over her features, trying to figure out why he isn’t saying anything, but then again, she isn’t saying anything either. All she can do is shake herself out of it, and try not to find herself dazed by the colors and vibrance that New York City has shoved back into her life.

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah, you too.” She shakes her head. “Scott didn’t mention you were in town.”

“Oh, you still talk to Scott?”

She shrugs. “He likes to keep tabs. Say that I’m basically pack, as though that counts for something when I’m three thousand miles away.”

“Well, given that most of the pack is so scattered, I guess it means something to Scott.” He glances down at the coffee covering him, and she shakes herself out of it.

“I am so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. You seemed like you were in a rush.”

“I was late for work.” She pauses briefly to toss her now empty coffee cup into one of the nearby public garbage cans, before looking back at him. “I could probably clean up your shirt, if you want to come with?”

“Do you work at a laundry mat?”

“A bar. But soda water cures a lot of ails, right?”

Isaac nods slowly. “Yeah, sure. That would be great.”

“Great,” Cora nods, before waving one hand. “Then follow me.”

* * * * *

Wednesday night is probably the easiest night to have a closing shift where the last thing you want to do is bartend. Only the regulars are coming in, and they usually come in early, looking to get in their requisite socialization for the day before returning to their apartments to be up for work the next morning. It also gives Cora and Isaac a chance to talk, as there’s not much for Cora to do to attend to customers.

“So, anything interesting beyond Sunny’s.” He gestures to the dive around them and Cora shrugs.

“Mostly just keeping it moving. Occasionally check in with Peter or Derek or Malia. Derek was just through the city a couple of weeks ago.”

“Huh. Guess we just missed each other.” He tips his head to look around. “Have you been working here long?”

“About six months.” She shrugs. “It’s something to do, and bartending is an easy gig to pick up when you move around a lot.”

“How much longer are you thinking of staying?”

She shrugs. “However long it takes for me to get bored.”

“That’s a boring way to live. Then again, I guess there’s nothing here to keep you grounded. No friends, boyfriend, girlfriend?” He pauses, before tipping his head to the side curiously. “No soulmate?”

It’s almost as though he says it to get under her skin, and for a moment, she wonders if he’s experiencing the same things she is. Her eyes narrow, waiting for some kind of teasing smirk to let her in on the joke, but from what she can tell, the question seems like an earnest one.

“No. No soulmate.”

“Maybe you haven’t found your soulmate because you don’t stick around anywhere long enough?”

She grit her teeth before attempting to deflect. “What about you? Do you have a soulmate hidden somewhere?” She dials her focus down to the man in front of her, drowning out everything else. His breathing, heart rate, chemo signals, all of it remains normal. Not even the slightest uptick when he responds.

“No. Not for me either.”

There’s a frustration that builds under her skin at the idea that he might be fucking with her, and has gotten too good at avoiding werewolf detection. But she also doesn’t know why Isaac would have any reason to lie. It’s not as though they don’t know each other, or know each other too well. There’s a civil adult conversation they could have about the situation, and that would be it.

Then there’s a feeling of slight dread that maybe Isaac isn’t the person who brought her world into color. Maybe it was someone else she crossed paths with on the street that night, and running into Isaac provided too much of a distraction for her to get the actual message.

It had to be a mistake.

Pushing the thought out of her mind, she refills his beer. “If you’re going to be in town for a while, we could hang out? Give each other the excuse of having an actual friend to stick around?”

He grins at her before leaning closer. “Are you saying you want to be my friend, Cora Hale?”

She snorts. “I’m saying that of the people around, you’re my least worst option.”

Isaac laughs. “From you? I’ll take it.”

* * * * *

She never finds the right person on the sidewalk that night. No one comes back to her route, looking for the short brunette woman who may be their soulmate. It’s all just normal, day in and day out, except the color in her vision never fades, and now Isaac’s in her life. She doesn’t know what any of it means. There’s no instruction manual for managing a soulmate, no GPS system designed to help you find yours. All Cora has is this feeling in her gut that it can’t be Isaac.

Yet as time goes on, there comes a point when there’s a part of her that wants it to be.

She doesn’t know when she falls in love with him—possibly because falling in love is an incredibly foreign concept and she wouldn’t know the signs if it smacked her in the face. Sure, she’d been with people before, dated, had sex, but none of her previous partners have ever created the coiling feeling in her gut that Isaac did. How she feels warm when he’s close. Her stomach flutters when he touches her in any way that might come off as intimate. And all of those warm feelings fade to a cold, sinking feeling in her gut when he shows an interest in someone else.

But she can’t be with him. She shouldn’t waste her time. He’s clearly not her soulmate. He would have said something.

That all flies out the window when Monroe finds them.

She’s working a late night at Sunny’s, and he’s lingering at the bar, waiting for her to close up after a long day at his museum job. As he’s working his way through a basket of fries, a scent drifts through the air that freezes Cora in her spot.

“What is it?” Isaac asks, suddenly on alert.

“Smoke.”

All hell breaks loose soon after. Fire bursts from the kitchen, and Cora freezes, unable to process what to do as she’s brought back to the same house her family died in all those years ago. Hunters follow soon after, and Isaac takes two bullets, snapping her out of her reverie and into action. She charges them quickly, using their guns against them, before grabbing Isaac and taking off out the back door. More hunters are there to greet them, but they make quick work of the group, finding their way to the subway and getting on the train that’s ready and waiting in the station.

It's late enough that the cars are mostly empty, and they’re able to ride the line in circles until it’s determined safe to go back to the apartment they’re sharing. Cora’s able to assess his wounds in that time—no wolfsbane, just lead, thank god. It could have been so much worse, and when they return to the safety of their apartment, that’s when the panic fully sets in.

“Cora?” The way he says her name is gentle, almost as though he’s afraid if he says it too strongly, she might shatter in his hands. “You okay?”

“No,” she snaps. “I’m really not. They could have killed you.”

“So could you,” he points out, before taking her hands and resting them against his chest. “But it’s okay. We’re okay.”

She shakes her head, taking a deep, shaky breath as she tries to keep her tears at bay. “No, you don’t understand.”

“Then tell me.”

Telling the truth about how she feels has never been her strongest suit. She lets him keep her hands there, trying to stay focused and dig up the words that she’s been fighting for so long to bury. “I can’t lose you. Not like that. Not like the way I lost my mom.”

“In the fire,” he points out. “But why me?”

“Because—because, I—”

She can’t find the words. All of it garbles in her mouth and in the end, the only thing she can do is lean in and kiss him firmly. And while it surprised him at first, eventually he responds. His hands slide down to find her waist, pulling her closer. Her arms wind around his neck. Everything is perfect until —
“Wait. Wait. We can’t.”

Isaac makes a noise of frustration before looking back at her. “Why the hell not?”

“Because you’re not my soulmate.”

“You said you didn’t have one.”

“Because I don’t know who they are!” She slumps down onto the couch. “I started seeing in color the night you got to town. It must have been someone I saw on the street, but I never figured out who they were.”

Isaac tips his head to the side, brow furrowing. “Or maybe it’s me.”

Her head snaps up at him. “It couldn’t have been you. You would have said something.”

“You said nothing.”

“You didn’t even react! When I asked you if you had a soulmate, nothing about you said that you were lying.”

“Well, I didn’t see it then,” he admits lamely. “But… lately I’ve been seeing things in color. Usually it’s you. Just you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Cora, you’re my soulmate.” Isaac states it so simply, so matter of fact, and she doesn’t know what to make of it. “Or at least, I want you to be. If you want to be.”

She doesn’t know if what he’s saying is true or not. If there’s some kind of delayed time release on soulmates that she wasn’t aware of, but for now, she doesn’t care. She pushes up from the couch again and makes her way across the room, this time kissing him as though her life depends on it. As he drags her back towards the bedroom, she dives into her choice with abandon.

She’s pretty sure it’s the best one she’s ever made.

* * * * *

Years later, the two of them are fast asleep in a hotel room in Mystic Falls, trying to get some sleep before the next big crisis comes to pass. Cora would much rather take Isaac and run far, far away from here, where she doesn’t have to think about the bigger problems in the world at large, but Scott seems to think something Bad is happening, so they’re staying put until he says otherwise.

A faint buzzing sound breaks through the last remaining vestiges of sleep as she wakes up, and she finds her phone glowing with some kind of text message. As she reaches for it and opens the message, she's greeted with the video of a familiar-looking man that she can’t seem to place. Tall, dark hair, green eyes—something about him nags at the back of her brain, but she can’t quite put her finger on what. But before she can get too far, he speaks.

“Hey, it’s Derek. If you’re receiving this and you remember me, sorry. I must have forgotten to turn the message off. If you don’t remember me, then… I’m still sorry, I’ve just done something a lot more stupid. It’s a long story, but it involves magic and people getting erased wholesale from everyone’s memories. But I’m your brother—yes, you had one between you and Laura—and I’ve apparently gotten caught up in this memory magic too.”

Isaac stirs at the sound of the voice, and he shifts to move behind her, peering down at the screen over her shoulder.

“I know this is going to be a hard sell, but I’m going to ask anyway. Please come find me. Bring me back. If you remember Stiles, he’s probably the one with the most information about what’s going on. And if you don’t remember Stiles… then we’re all probably screwed.”

The man—Derek—looks exasperated for a moment, before continuing.

“Just please come find me. You’re all I have, which conversely means I’m all you have and I don’t want you to be out there alone. Isaac doesn’t count.”

“Rude,” Isaac fires back. The video ends not long after that, and Isaac frowns. “Quick question. Who the hell is Derek?”

Cora looks back at him and shakes her head. “Not a damn clue.”

[Next]