OTA; various locations and times

[mensrea]

A) One’s An Incident

“—listen to me!”

Somewhere near you, whether it’s at the park or on the sidewalk or in the café or riding the tube, there is a young man engaged in a heated conversation. The identity of the person he’s arguing with may not be readily obvious to those without supernatural hearing; the discussion is taking place over the phone. Should you attempt to tune Stiles out, it’ll quickly prove fruitless. His voice rises in volume the longer he’s on the call.

“I’m telling you, it’s fine. …No! I’m not sending you a picture of it. There’s nothing to see! …No. …No. It was just an accident, okay!?”

Distractedly, Stiles turns in your direction. There is an ugly, swollen bruise taking up half his face, clearly the work of someone’s fist. You may be able to infer that this is what the fight is about.

“—oh my god, don’t. You were the one who shipped me off here. You don’t get to pull that card on me, not now. …Dad. …Dad. Would you— …Would you just TRUST me for once!?”

Whatever his father responds with, it elicits an immediate reaction from Stiles. Expression twisting miserably, he seems to lose all energy for continuing the exchange. His voice is wooden, weary.

“Fine. I gotta go. …Yeah, I will. …Alright. Love you too.”

The call ends. Maybe you make eye contact with Stiles awkwardly. Maybe you decide to talk to him. Maybe you try to pretend you hadn’t overheard.

“Sorry about that,” he says to you, light and cheery. His smile is tight. “You know how it is. My old man always has to get his say in.”

B) Two’s A Coincidence

If you venture to the library, you’ll likely find Stiles buried nose-deep in an oversized tome. He’s piled high a wall of literature around him, to the point where it might be difficult to see him from the front. The titles of the books? All on mythology and mythical creatures. On occasion, a particularly interesting passage has him muttering under his breath and jotting down a few notes in his journal. Feel free to pull up a chair and harass him; he could use a break.

C) Three’s A Pattern

Guess who just drove his shitty used bicycle into you or your vehicle? This guy. Eyes wide, he hastily stammers out an apology, then loses his balance. Both bike and boy crash to the ground in a mess of whizzing gears and muffled groans. Maybe he took you down with him.

D) Four’s A Warrant

Night in London isn’t kind to humans—not that that’s ever stopped Stiles from exploring the city at inappropriate hours. However, there’s something different about the young man tonight as he wanders the streets aimlessly. For one, he’s clad only in a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt with no shoes in sight. He doesn’t even have his trusty lacrosse stick on him! If you get close, you’ll see the unfocused, glassy fog to his eyes. Hopefully your intentions are well-meaning. Or maybe you’re looking for an easy snack. Either way, Stiles doesn’t seem to be in a position to argue.

( If you prefer brackets over prose, I’ll follow suit! PM me if you’d like to plot out a specific starter for your character! c: )

Comments

[entitles]

"Oh, but knowledge can be such a burden, and you're already neglecting your studies..." he said, tone implying his doubt that this English class actually exists.

[mensrea]

Exhaling heavily through his nose, Stiles gives Balem a look.

“Share the burden,” he suggests in exasperation. “Who knows? It’ll probably inspire me to study harder.”

[entitles]

"A lot of what you read about in those books is, frankly, nonsense. Generally anything that has a heavy-handed moral lesson attached is made-up, because life doesn't really work that way," he said, helping himself to one of the books Stiles had been going through and flipping through it, "But some of it is true."

[mensrea]

Stiles is now kneeling on his chair, purely so he can partially lie across the table and peer at the pages Balem pauses on. If he were a dog, no doubt he'd be drooling from eagerness to hear more.

"Some of it? Like what?"

[entitles]

"Well, let's see," he said, continuing to flip through the book before stopping at one page, "Ah, here we go."

He tapped one long fingernail against an illustration of some pixies.

"Real as you and I, just good at hiding. They're very small, you see."

[mensrea]

Either this guy is totally off his rocker or right on the money. It’s hard to tell. But, unable to help himself, Stiles responds to the explanation tellingly. A wide, shit-eating grin spreads across his face. There’s nothing mocking about it—if anything, it has a smug nuance to it. After all, he knows from firsthand experience that pixies are indeed the real deal.

“Yeah,” he agrees easily, nodding. “And they like gifts.”

[entitles]

"We all like gifts," he said, and by 'we' he meant 'fae', but he supposed he could be referring to everyone.

But really, give the fae more gifts. Please.

"Ahem, what I mean to say is," he said, "So you do know. I suspected as much. No skilled college slacker would be reading more than the bare minimum amount of books."

[mensrea]

Inordinately pleased that it was so obvious he's in the loop (which really should be more worrying than anything), he beams with pride at the alleged fae.

"High school," he corrects absently, settling back in his chair properly. "But yeah, I'm not really studying so much as researching. I visited the...other place recently, and wanted to learn more about it."

[entitles]

"I didn't think High School students even used libraries anymore, what with...Google, and Wikipedia," he said. He may be old, but he at least tried to keep up with modern technology.

"Ah, yes. I remember you, now. The young winner. It is quite a privilege for a human to visit the Other Realm," he said, even though that privilege often ended badly.

[mensrea]

The way this guy references Google and Wikipedia…Stiles tries not to laugh, really, but it’s kind of funny. Are fae really so estranged from basic technology? When the man continues, however, that humor melts into smug satisfaction so unabashed it’s obnoxious.

“Summer Prince Stiles. Too bad I can’t add that to a resume.”

He almost tells Balem that he’s visited the Other Realm multiple times, but he doesn’t want to get Heiji into trouble.

“I didn’t realize you were there, though. The whole thing was kinda a blur, you know?”

[entitles]

"It was a Seelie affair. It would have been impolite for me to hog too much of the spotlight," he said, "Our world can be a dangerous place, you know. Not just the Other Realm, but..."

He gestures to all the books, "This, in general."