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_{[Adam resists the urge to laugh. Cora's assurances about dating bring it on and it's an unexpected burst of humor that's probably a little inappropriate, given the circumstances. No offense to Cora, but dating is the very last thing on his mind, and included in that are anyone's personal feelings toward him. He wouldn't have room to humor a crush even if it were a real thing.

Not that anyone should be crushing on Hell castoffs. Might as well stick your hand in an open flame.]}

Can't imagine why you would be, but thanks. I'm not interested, either. _{[Amusement colors the words.]} I'm older than I look. Now you might actually be way too young for me.

[ cora's beginning to wonder why wonderland insists on trying to hook them up at any possible opportunity it gets. ]

[ but she doesn't particularly care to investigate it right now. he's stopped apologising. she's intending to capitalise on it and hopefully send him on his merry way with less weight on his shoulders when it comes to her and ... them. ]

How old were you? Fourteen? [ her face pinches. him being younger than her in teenage years makes it a little ... thank god it's not reality. but it's clear she's amused, tone lighter, less gruff and abrasive. ] You look like your sixteen. [ or eighteen, but cora wants to raise his hackles. the one thing she'll take from that alternate universe is teasing him — he said it himself it was still him, so she imagines the same things she'd done back in that odd high school universe to get him to smile or even fight back apply to here. ] Baby face.

Fifteen. I think.

_{[And had he still been fifteen, he might have had the same easy humor as his teenage self, not afraid to laugh, levity closer to the surface.

The Adam of now's sense of humor is buried much deeper. He's not a kid anymore, either, not the kind Cora's joking about. Hasn't been in a long time, even before his dad's screw-ups had come back to haunt him and his family.]}

That's the first time I've heard that. _{[At least she's able to joke, even a little.]} You might want to get your eyes checked.

My eyes are fine. [ finer than his, anyway. when he finds himself in the dark, that's all he sees, but cora's able to spy the faint outlines of objects up ahead. it's not necessarily hope, nor the light at the end of the tunnel, but it's something. ]

[ it's more than what he gives himself, which is nothing. ]

[ cora's quiet for a long moment. it's as though she has to drag the words from the depths of the ocean grudgingly. ] I'm not going to see you any differently, either. [ it's not an apology for something she had no control over. the notion of saying sorry complicates things. it makes her feel as though she had some semblance of control, when she'd just been as deeply affected and out of touch with her own senses as him. cora's strong enough to try and cut herself free from being someone else's puppet. she doesn't like the insinuation that she's not. ]

[ but even though she feels as though it had been unnecessary to say, it makes her feel a slight sense of relief knowing things won't change. maybe it gives him more of a peace of mind than it's fine does. ]

You sure about that?

_{[The teasing is light. Even without explaining just how much older he feels and the years he'd missed on Earth while being dead, his driver's license still says he was born in 1990.

If anyone's the baby face, it's Cora when she smiles. She looks younger.

The silence, though inscrutable, isn't too unbearably awkward. At least not anymore than it should be after what they've just gone through. He has nothing on his mind to fill it now that he's got an idea of where Cora's head is at. If she doesn't want to talk about it, that's fine with him.

When she repeats his sentiments back at him, he's grateful, if no other reason than her putting in the effort.]}

... Okay.

_{[It is a relief.]}

[ rather than fall into the role of sensitive flower, perhaps not even believing her own attempts to reiterate what he had tried to do for her, he takes it as it is. cora doesn't know if she's convincing enough — nor does she care. with very little time — and patience — for lies, she doesn't particularly think it's best to waste adam's time leading him astray. ]

[ even though she has lead him astray many times before. omitting the truth for the sake of survival isn't the same as lying. he's asked none of the questions that would coax her into a corner, pushing her to either spill the truth or lie (the latter being a breaking of her own code of conduct). it's always been her pushing, pressing her hands firmly against his shoulders to steer him against a wall and pin him there until she's uncovered his identity as a hunter. ]

[ at least that's done and dusted. she's apparently soothed on her end, and his hackles can cease to be raised on his. ]

[ she's over it. he's over it. he's the one with the baby face, not her. she's never quite been open for jokes, always chasing after the closest hale scent, but cora can keep up a thread of banter, even if it's more in stiles' scope than her own. ]

[ for once, cora doesn't roll her eyes out of exasperation. she sounds amused. ] If you want me to prove it to you, I will. [ it sounds like a challenge, and hales never quite back down from one of those. ]

Prove what?

_{[Cora doesn't make a whole lot of sense sometimes. But that's the thing about living in reality (even a reality as weird as Wonderland's), he doesn't know Cora enough to know what she's thinking, not like a boyfriend that's been dating his girlfriend for a few months.

If she wants to prove he's a young, naive high school student, she's going to be shit out of luck.]}

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