triskehale | [for thomas]

It's been nearly two weeks since they returned from that other Darrow, and Derek is beginning to settle back down. The things he saw there still haunt him, and keep him up at night, but he's almost to a point where he can ignore the memories. Derek has seen many, many terrible things, and he knows that he just has to keep on going.

He knows that everyone has been struggling, and it's his friends that have been helping to get him through it. Derek is trying to help however he can, and that's why he laces up his running shoes one morning and heads to Thomas' with a hoodie over his track pants and fitted t-shirt. Winter is drawing near, and Derek can see his breath while he walks. There's a calm sort of stillness to the city, one that only seems to come with cold, crisp mornings.

After stopping to get two coffees and breakfast sandwiches, he heads to Thomas' building and knocks on the door, listening hard as he waits for it to open. Thomas saw some horrible things, and Derek wants to make sure that he's doing okay. Feeding him and dragging him out for a long run should hopefully be a good start.

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Thomas jogged after him, smiling slightly as he did. Once he got up to Derek, he fell into a walk, stretching his arms over his head and rolling his shoulders to ease the burn that had formed during their run.

"I'm still not gonna swim," he reiterated with a shake of his head. "Too cold and I don't have your ability to be a human shucking furnace even when it's winter outside. Cold water's either gonna turn me into an ice cube or make me sick."

"Hey, I was never planning on us swimming," Derek says with a laugh. He breaks through the trees and onto the sand, taking in a deep breath of sea air as he slows to a halt. "I'm putting you to work later, man. That leaves no time for me warming you up."

He waits for Thomas to catch up before looking over at him with a small smile. "It's a nice view, though."

When Thomas broke through, the smell of salt and the cool breeze hit him, making him both shiver and smile. The perspiration cooling on his forehead and arms chilled and he rubbed his arms as he jogged to a stop by next to Derek.

"It's not bad, yeah," he agreed, glancing over at Derek and meeting his smile with a grin of his own. "This is one of those things I didn't think I'd ever see again when I was in the Scorch. Everything was so dry and parched. I don't even know if our oceans survived. The sun just took over and if there's water, I doubt it's much and I doubt it's like this."

"It sounds horrible. I can't even imagine it," Derek says sympathetically, trying to picture a dry, scorched earth. "I've always been near an ocean. The Pacific or the Atlantic, and now whatever this one is."

Derek goes over to pull himself up onto a rock, the same one they laid out on after that first swim, and looks at Thomas curiously. "I know you're worried about your friends, but do you think it's better here? Even after everything?"

Sometimes Derek feels bad for preferring Darrow over his home, because things are better here for him. He feels like he should be wanting to escape, just like everyone else, but he doesn't. Not really.

"I've always thought this place was better from a quality of life standpoint," Thomas said, reaching down and dragging his fingers through the sand. He wrote his name and then stroked it away before drawing a ridiculous looking stick figure.

"Going back has never been about going somewhere better. It's always been about my friends and making sure they were alive and that WICKED didn't keep killing people," he said, sighing. "This place is better. If I had my way, I'd bring all my friends here instead of going back there."

"I get that," Derek tells him. He gets wanting to go back and help, at least. He doesn't really have any friends back home, not really. They're all Scott's friends. Hell, Scott is here in Darrow and they still aren't even close. He sighs and then looks up at Thomas again, giving him a reassuring smile. "You got one of them. Maybe the rest will follow."

"Maybe," Thomas said, sighing. He'd love to see Alby and Frypan again but the Glader he'd most want to see would be Chuck. The only thing was he didn't know if he could handle seeing Chuck either, knowing what happened. He didn't know how he'd be able to not break down in tears every single time he laid eyes on Chuck.

"Getting Newt was good for right now," he said, glancing over at Derek. "I didn't expect anyone. I'm good for now."

For a moment, Thomas just smells of pure and simple grief. It's strong enough that Derek looks over at him in concern, but he doesn't ask about it. Thomas may be thinking about someone he lost, and Derek doesn't want to dredge that up.

Sometimes Derek wonders if maybe his sister might show up, or any of his family. Anything is possible, he assumes, but he doesn't dare let himself hope. If he started to hope for that, it's all that he would ever do.

They stay there in an easy, comfortable silence for awhile, staring out at the ocean as the cool, salty air stings their skin. Derek looks over and reaches out to pat Thomas' chest with the back of his hand. "Ready to head towards Semele's? I was thinking we might go fast this time."

He gives Thomas a teasing smirk, eyes bright as the wind whips through his hair.

[for thomas]

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