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

[everyonetakes]

"Nah, I wouldn't punch Thomas. He's a nice guy and it's not his fault they share a face." She doesn't take offense to being called mouthy either, not even a little, and not even from her husband, because she knows she's mouthy. Telling people what she thinks, not feeding them some version of what she's feeling, that's just always been better simply because she doesn't trust people most of the time. It's been easier to keep them at a distance if they think she's an asshole, but with time that's changed. Now it's not about keeping people away, but being honest, and for someone who used to lie a lot, that's kind of a neat prospect.

"So what you're saying is I'm going to have to meddle," she says, heaving a sigh, because she's pretty sure neither of them are going to do any kind of grand gesture without being pushed really hard in that direction. Gentle nudging clearly hasn't worked and Kate wonders if she can find some kind of truth telling serum and then lock them in a closet together. Anywhere else that sort of idea would be totally insane, but in Darrow, she thinks it might actually be possible.

[sciencesaggressively]

"That's like, literally not even at all what I said but if that's what you want to hear, I guess I can't stop you." Newt had learned a long time ago that a Kate with a mission is a Kate to be reckoned with, and he'd much rather work with what she pitches than stand in her way. It's not even that it's just easier that way but most of the time, she turns out to be pretty right with her instincts, even if her matchmaking attempt between Derek and Mindy had seemed a little questionable to him. But hell, it'd come from a place of knowing she has two friends who deserve to be happy, so he can't really fault her for it either.

"Anyway, I'm sure you already have some master plan in the works so come on, lay it on me, I want to hear all your awesome ideas. If anything goes wrong, though, I definitely told you this was a terrible idea and heavily discouraged you, okay? Derek probably still has the shovel I had him get to dig Seymour's grave, I don't want him using it to dig mine next."