thanksgiving is, after all, a word of action [set on 11/26]

[triskehale]

Thanksgivings in the Hale house used to be quite the big deal. Feeding over a dozen werewolves, many of them teenagers was no easy feat. Derek loved all the chaos, and he helped out in the kitchen since he was old enough to stand on a step stool and reach the counter.

The first year after everyone died, he and Laura each got a rotisserie chicken and some biscuits, trying to hang on to some semblance of tradition, but the food tasted like ash. Laura went to bed early, and Derek pretended not to hear her cry. They stopped trying to do anything for the holiday after that.

It's been almost a decade since that disastrous attempt, and a few months ago Derek decided that he wanted to try again. While Laura and the rest of his family will always be the cause of this gnawing ache in his heart, Derek has a new family here in Darrow. He has so many people that matter to him, and care about him. It's more than Derek deserves, or ever thought that he would get, but he's grateful. He's thankful.

So he decides that he's going to do his best to put on a Thanksgiving of his own, and invite his new ragtag sort of pack. His new family.

The invitations go out and on the big day, Derek arrives at Semele's just after dawn. He puts two giant turkeys in the oven and quickly sets up the long table and chairs in the middle of the bar. With each chair he places, Derek marvels over just how many people he has in his life. It's astounding to him, and it's the perfect day to show his gratitude.

And then, all that's left to do is cook. And cook, and cook some more. If he's lucky, he'll have time to go shower and put on something nice before all his guests arrive.


[Hale pack Thanksgiving! Treat this as a gathering post. Tag in, tag around, give thanks! ♥]

Comments

[notaretriever]

"I had ten days of barely eating enough I need to make up for," Luke answers, even though he and Reid have been back for more than two weeks now and he's put most of the weight back on that he'd lost while eating so little in that other version of Darrow. He grins as he says it, though, making it clear it's an excuse he knows he doesn't need, not around Derek, who eats just as much as he does. It's one thing Luke has always rather found to be a bit of a pain about being a werewolf, the sheer amount of calories he needs to consume in order to maintain a steady weight. It's certainly more expensive than eating used to be, but he's gotten used to it after twenty years.

"It's all delicious," he says, smiling over at Derek. "You've really outdone yourself."

[triskehale]

"Yeah, I don't ever want to do that again," Derek tells him. He's never been hungry like he was back there. It was this gnawing ache in his belly, cramping and crippling. Whatever food he found, he gave to Neil and Bitty, and kept telling himself that he would find something to hunt, but all the animals were gone.

"Thanks," Derek replies, smiling softly and ducking his head. "This was really good. I haven't had Thanksgiving since my family died, and I was a little worried about how this would turn out. But it was great."

[notaretriever]

"Yeah, there was nothing to be worried about," Luke says, looking around at the people who have gathered. "It seems like you had a lot of help getting everything ready and everyone looks really happy to be here." They're all having a good time, all of them enjoying the food and Luke has no doubt it's Derek's influence that's brought them all together for something like this.

"You do know an awful lot of people," he adds with a laugh, looking around Semele's. "I don't even know half of them."

[triskehale]

Derek's words make him smile, chest puffing out just the slightest bit with pride as he looks around with a pleased smile on his face. It really is something to have all the people that he's closest to in one room. He knew it was a lot, but to see them all together makes something warm settle in his chest, and he nods as he looks back over to Luke.

"I never thought that I'd have this again," Derek admits quietly, shrugging one shoulder with a wry smile. "It's days like today that I can't hate Darrow too badly."

[notaretriever]

Luke thinks of the previous week, the much smaller dinner he and Reid had hosted, then he thinks of this, all these people coming together because they know Derek, and it all fills him with warmth. Family has always been important to Luke. He'd lost his sister and the Circle -- though he'd made that choice -- but now it's as if they're all being given another chance.

"Maybe Darrow's version of bad is a little worse than the rest of the world, but I think everywhere we could possibly be is capable of bad. It's nice to remember most places are capable of good, too," he agrees.

[triskehale]

"Very wise of you," Derek says with a teasing gleam in his eye. What Luke says is entirely true, and it's funny that Darrow was the place to make him realize that. Luke is like a brother to him, a smarter, older brother that Derek can trust and go to for advice. Luke will never replace the brother that he lost in the fire, but words can't express how grateful he is to have Luke in his life.

"To the good parts," Derek says, tipping his glass out towards Luke in a small toast. "The shitty ones can wait until tomorrow."

[notaretriever]

"I'm known for my great wisdom," Luke answers, all without cracking the slightest smile even though he can see the way Derek is looking at him. He doubts anyone would actually say that about him, but he did find himself in the strange position of offering advice to nearly everyone he knew in Manhattan at one point or another. Only ever after being asked, but he still isn't entirely sure why it was him they had turned to.

Luke smiles then and touches his glass to Derek's. "That's a toast I can certainly get behind."

[triskehale]

Derek nods and takes a long sip of his drink, settling back into his seat. It's hard not to constantly be on guard, or to worry about what could go wrong, but he's doing his best tonight. Being so stuffed that he's warm and sleepy is certainly helping.

"Hey," Derek says after a moment, nudging Luke's arm wit his elbow. "We should go on a run soon. It's bee awhile."

[notaretriever]

"I might need another week or so to be back to running form, but we should," Luke agrees. He'd been slower to heal this time, slower than he likes, mostly due to the lack of resources he'd had while in the alternate version of Darrow. At this point he more or less feels normal again, but there's still a bit of weight left to put back on and he's tired out easier than he used to be. Another week and he's sure he'll be fine.

"You know, I've spent more time as a wolf in Darrow than I ever did in Manhattan," he says. "There simply wasn't enough room there."

[triskehale]

"I hadn't realized," Derek said with a frown, looking Luke up and down like he'll see some visible injury. "I was pretty bad for the first few days, but I basically spent them sleeping and eating and I was fine after that."

He chuckles softly and shakes his head a bit, thinking back on his own time in Manhattan. "Yeah, I do remember that. I spent a lot of time running around Central Park in the middle of the night. You see a whole lot, doing that."

After a moment, he reaches out and claps his hand down on Luke's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "When you're all good, then. You'll have to pencil me in. It really has been too long."

[notaretriever]

Luke laughs at that and says, "Pencil you in, as if my schedule of staying home is too much to manage." But he does have to acknowledge that he's a little busier now than he's been before. There's Reid in his life now, someone who lives with him, someone he sees every single day, and Luke wouldn't change that for the world, but it does alter his availability.

And there's Mindy and Leo, of course. He's been doing his best to make himself available to her whenever she needs help and that takes up time as well.

"Have you seen Mindy yet since Danny disappeared?" he asks.

[triskehale]

"Hey, you've got a boyfriend and all those teenagers running around," Derek says with a laugh, but he's incredibly happy for Luke, and glad that he's doing so well. "I met the broody one. And people think I'm grouchy."

His happy expression dims a bit, and Derek shakes his head. He heard about Danny's invitation, and his heart sort of dropped into his stomach. He may not be very close with Mindy, but he likes her. He knows what it's like to have the most important person in your world taken from you by this city, and Derek wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"No, but I heard what happened," Derek tells him, brow furrowing with sympathy. "I know how she feels. I wish I could help."

[notaretriever]

Luke nods, scratching his beard thoughtfully. "It's hard enough to lose someone like that, but then to have their son arrive..." He trails off and shakes his head. He can't even begin to imagine how difficult that must be, seeing that little boy every day and trying so hard to be a good mother to him, all the while knowing back in New York she wouldn't be doing it alone.

"I've offered to do what I can," he says. "But there's only so much anyone can really do in a situation like this."

[triskehale]

"I can't even imagine," Derek says, shaking his head a bit. "It must be hard, but I'm sure that he brings her joy too."

He looks up at Luke with a warm smile. He's what an alpha should be, even if he doesn't like to wear the title. "She's lucky to have you as a friend. We're not all that close, but I'll do whatever I can too."