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◤ chapter eight: ❛ suggestions ❜ ◢
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AS A CHILD, CAR RIDES ALWAYS LULLED COOPER INTO SLEEP. The gentle hum of a moving vehicle, his little head resting against the cold window, letting his eyelids drupe until he couldn't keep them open anymore awakening only when his hair was being brushed through by his mother's fingers, fading back into consciousness when she whispered softly that they were home. Even now, when he was especially tired and someone he trusted was driving, he could allow himself to relax and fade away into unconsciousness.
But the hum was only aggravating now, and the cold glass only made him shiver and the seat belt felt more like a trap than a safety measure. Allison was a responsible driver, but a tense one, though that could be due to the events from yesterday more-so than a testament of her normal driving.
She wasn't the only one on edge; Cooper spent too much time checking his phone for a text and Lydia's leg kept bouncing. Stiles sending him nothing didn't quell his nerves, though nothing should be better than something negative. Still, not knowing was about to send him over the edge, but he wasn't about to call him or Scott.
Calling was entirely too needy, and Cooper was anything but needy. He was independent, cool, and unattached. And it was better this way. Things with Scott were still a little rocky, and he didn't want the wolf to become too enamored due to Cooper's aura. It felt wrong, now more than ever since he considered Scott a friend.
Auras, Cooper was beginning to learn, were fucking annoying for sirens. Sometimes useful, he can admit, and sometimes he takes full advantage of it because someone falling for him when he's horny is definitely convenient and it's not like they don't have control over themselves. The sex is always consensual, if somewhat influenced.
But auras used on strangers is completely different from auras influencing friends. Lydia seemed immune to his presence, but Julia explained that auras don't affect everyone. His parents weren't affected, nor was Jackson, and now Lydia. Penelope wasn't pulled into Julia's either, so he summarized that auras didn't allure any familial connections.
Those who couldn't be sexually attracted him weren't too affected either, but were suggestable if Cooper projected strongly onto them. (He would never admit it to Julia because she would disapprove, but that's definitely how he has an A in econ.) But then was Scott; someone who could definitely be sexually attracted to him, and someone who was being pulled in.
And he couldn't help it, Cooper knew, so it was on him to destroy his aura around Scott and keep his distance. It was better that way, but it made things rocky and awkward, and that was the last thing that anyone needed at the moment.
