Imaginary Lint

Title: Imaginary Lint
Author: Claire Watson (myredturtle)
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: offscreen Lydia/Jackson & Allison/Isaac, pre-relationship Stiles/Derek & Scott/Isaac/Allison
Characters: Lydia Martin, Stiles Stilinski
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1,000
Warnings: No beta. Discussion of sexual manipulation.
Author note: This takes place after S3 E04 Unleashed. I had to ruthlessly chop 150 words out of this so that it fit the requirements. It was probably good for me.

 

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“About your virginity,” Lydia said, sitting beside him. “What about Derek? He’s a good choice, you know, if you can convince him to do it. He’s so appealingly broken. If you play your cards right, you’ll be able to tie him to you for however long you want.”

Stiles frowned. “What?”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t give me the shocked and offended routine. It doesn’t work with me. We’re alike, you and I. It’s one of the reasons I never let anything happen between us. Why else did you think I never bothered giving you the time of day?”

“I assumed it was because I wasn’t popular enough,” Stiles replied lightly, feeling off-balance.

Lydia gave him a penetrating stare. “Are you telling me you still haven’t worked it out? We like to fix people to our own liking, Stiles, you and me. People aren’t interesting if they’re well adjusted and happy, we want something that requires work. Jackson and Derek, they’re very alike really. They’re both extremely malleable, and they’re both so eager for approval and acceptance that they’re easy to mould whichever way we want. You, on the other hand, are anything but malleable. You might be as broken as the rest of us, but you’re all hard edges. You’re sure about who you are, and you won’t let anyone shape you into something different. Your mistake with your fixation on me was thinking that I was more like Jackson, when really I’m more like you.”

Stiles felt slightly sick, but tried to hide it, picking at imaginary lint on his shirt to give his eyes something to do rather than look at her face. He wasn’t really like that, was he?

“That’s why it your friendship with Scott initially worked so well,” Lydia went on, either not noticing or not caring about Stiles’ reaction to her words. “He was malleable enough to let you take the driving seat, and he needed your validation enough that he overlooked your flaws. When he became a werewolf he thought he didn’t need you to look after him anymore, and ‘poof!’ went that friendship.”

“Scott’s still my bro,” Stiles protested, although it was weaker than if they’d been having this discussion a week ago.

Lydia shook her head patronisingly. “Your relationship is all but over,” she said. “If you weren’t stubbornly hanging on the past you’d recognise that and move on. When was the last time he needed you? When did he last find you useful for anything but research? When was the last time he put you first, for anything? Face it, as soon as he got a bit of ‘get up and go’ he got up and left.”

Stiles shook his head, but for once he didn’t have the words to tell her why she was wrong. She was articulating every fear that he’d had about Scott – with a few extra for added oomph.

“I chose better with Jackson,” Lydia continued relentlessly, “because Jackson’s insecurities are about who he is and his worth as a person, not his physical ability. It’s a pity for you that you didn’t predict werewolves. Luckily for me, getting the bite only exacerbated Jackson’s issues, so it worked out fairly well.”

“Are you saying that you’re with Jackson because he’ll let you turn him into anything you want him to be,” Stiles asked slowly, wondering just how it was he’d never seen how ruthlessly manipulative Lydia was before now.

“He really was a jackpot for me,” Lydia confirmed, smug smile curling her lips. “Handsome, athletic, rich, not stupid, and damaged just perfectly. Of course I ensured I snapped him up nice and early. And now I’ve got him for the rest of his life.”

“But he dumped you,” Stiles blurted before he could think better of it.

“Oh, I know,” Lydia gloated. “It’s a brilliant hook for future use, and the best thing about it is that he thinks that it was all his own doing, and that he needs to ‘make it up to me’. There would have been more impact if he’d actually slept with Allison rather than just making out with her, but I suppose one can’t have everything.”

Stiles blinked. “Allison and Jackson?”

“Are you messing with me?” Lydia demanded. “Is my only competition for valedictorian really blind to everything that’s going on around him?”

“I’m not blind,” Stiles protested weakly. “I thought Allison was going after Isaac?”

“She is. Sort of. More like Allison’s trying to set things up so that she can have Isaac and Scott at the same time,” Lydia said with a wave of her hand. “With Allison pulling all the strings, naturally. Scott’s right where she wants him, soon Isaac will fall into line, and then she’ll be set.”

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “It’s all completely cold-blooded,” he complained. Now that Lydia had pointed it out, he could see exactly what Allison was doing. Something occurred to him, and his eyes hardened. “If she thinks she’s going to bleed Derek dry through Isaac in some form of reparation, she’s got another think coming.”

Lydia patted him on the arm approvingly. “That’s better. Now you’re paying attention. Now, the only thing that we need to do is get rid of Blake to give you a clear path. Don’t front, you know you’d climb that like a tree if you got the chance.”

“Get rid of Ms Blake?” Stiles echoed.

“I’ll take care of it,” Lydia offered. “Provided you ensure that I’m valedictorian. Something for something Stiles, it’s only sensible.”

“But – she’s done nothing wrong,” Stiles objected.

Lydia gave an elegant snort. “Oh please, when have new staff ever been anything but evil? I’d wager my new Louboutin’s that she’s somehow responsible for all the murders.”

Stiles didn’t know what to say. There was a part of him that was seriously tempted. He wondered what it said about him that the only issue he had with this plan was the planned cold-blooded manipulation of Derek.