everybody wants to rule the world

[triskeles]

holding hands while the walls come tumbling down when they do i'll be right behind you

Comments

[cheesed]

[ As the crowd feels their hearts soften around the edges, John smiles at Stiles easily. It's not manic like his usual expressions are, wired and wide, but instead something lighter. It takes a lot of balls and a certain kind of person, to step forward like that for someone else. Hopefully this kid gets through things all right. ]

Sounds a lot like he'll slug you pretty hard for that one, but here's hoping you can get to grandma's and back before he misses you too much. [ His eyes flick to one of the nearby cameras, eyebrows twitching in amusement. It's a sort of hear that? directed to the audience at home, but then he's looking dead on at Stiles again. ]

Who else is waiting for you back in sunny ol' Beacon Hills? Can't just be Scott, can it?

[hypercompetent]

My dad. [ Stiles fidgets with his fingers, unable to stop the nervous gesture, as he thinks about his family. His mom's gone, and his dad--well, he was all he had left.

It occurs to him a couple seconds later that he probably meant something else. ] --Romantically? Oh god, nothing. I'm the biggest loser to have ever lost--pun really, hopefully not intended--but definitely mateless.

[cheesed]

[ John nearly cackles when Stiles catches the usual intent behind the question, pulling his glasses off so they don't slip down his face while he shakes with barely restrained laughter. ]

We'll come back to your dad in a sec, but-- definitely mateless? Think you could meet your match here in the capitol?

[ And that's when he utilizes his eyebrows as mentioned, waggling them at him. ]

[hypercompetent]

[ Stiles scoffs, and loudly. ] In the Werewolf Thunderdome? Yeah, that would sure as hell be my luck, that I meet my mate and then I have to cut their heads off.

[ His sarcasm is really not meant for national TV, oops. Maybe you should turn down the bite a little, buddy. ]

[cheesed]

[ John enjoys it. The alphas? Probably not so much. The audience? It's a mixed board. ]

Nah, you could definitely meet them outside Werewolf Thunderdome. Win in their honor, run off into the sunset, the whole spiel.

[ He waves his glasses, positively delighted by this interview to be perfectly honest. ]

[hypercompetent]

Dude, I've got three days until the competition--my whole time out here is gonna be spent between that training room and this super cushy bed I don't have back home. If I meet a mate here they're gonna be-- [ As he's ticking off on his fingers. ] out for my blood, a servant I'm gonna run away with, Aladdin style, or my sheets.

[ Stiles does grin at that, lopsided and sarcastic. Lydia is going to kill him when this is over. ] They are black silk, pretty fancy stuff.

[cheesed]

You marry those sheets, Stilinski. You marry them good and take them home with you. [ He points with his glasses, hardly bothered by the absurdity of this conversation. His supervisors are going to have his head, but he's just showcasing how very different Stiles is from all the other betas that they've all interviewed so far. ]

Think your dad would approve of that one? [ Easing back from absurd into an actual interview, there, they can't be too mad at him. ]

[hypercompetent]

If I was happy, you bet your ass he would be. I mean, I'm trying not to give him a heart attack, so it's gonna have to be someone a little more sentient, but he's cool like that.

[ The banter has definitely helped to relax Stiles a little, though, and he seems to really be settling into his own during the interview. His answers aren't forced, which is either a blessing and a curse, and the tension is leaking out of his shoulders, albeit slowly. ]

It's what my mom would've wanted to see, anyway.