Chapter Text
Stiles can’t stop the breath of relief that whooshes out of his lungs as he watches Derek shift. Then, when he inhales again, his brain slowly registers the fact that while Derek was covered in his own fur as a wolf, he doesn’t seem to have retained his clothing from before he shifted.
“Um, you’re… I didn’t consider that…” Stiles says, voice shaky.
Derek frowns, then he looks down and huffs. Stiles would be amused, but that would require his libido to not focus on the fact that not only is Derek wildly attractive — something he didn’t expect, remembering the kid he knew of before the fire — but also very much naked. And Stiles has yet to have experience with someone else’s nudity up close. Of course, he’s very familiar with his own nudity but…
He stops his mind from wandering once he sees Derek’s eyebrow lift with curiosity.
“Hey, healthy bisexual here, can’t blame me for appreciating the view,” Stiles blurts, and tries to act nonchalant to match his words.
He’s probably failing.
“Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, and maybe offer refuge if you needed it,” he tells Derek quietly.
“Not a fugitive,” Derek grumbles, shrinking a little towards the wall behind him.
“No, I know, but if you were interested in a warm meal and… maybe clothes?”
Derek lifts an eyebrow again.
“What? I’m just saying. You might need some, unless you decide to wolf it for eternity,” Stiles tells him, grinning. “You are pretty cool as a wolf though, but I’ve heard it’s not particularly healthy for you guys to stay like that for too long. Something about losing touch with humanity?”
“How do you know that?” Derek asks, voice sharp and eyebrows drawn together, a glint of red flashing through his eyes.
“My Dad’s the Sheriff,” Stiles says, then realizes that it probably isn’t enough of an explanation for his knowledge. “He knew your parents, and he’s… well, he knows a lot about this town, and who lives here. Lived. He knew Laura.”
“Oh.”
“But I also know because my Mom knew, since forever,” Stiles says then. “She had magic, and she knew your family.”
Despite the dimness of the light in the cave, Stiles can see Derek’s eyes widen in surprise.
"If you're wondering whether you should remember her--" Stiles continues hastily, "--it's unlikely. She hasn't been close to any of you, but she was aware of the pack.”
"That's unusual," Derek says, his confusion giving way to what looks like irritation to Stiles.
"Well, she didn't have enough magic to become an emissary. Or not the right kind of magic, at least," he explains to Derek. "But her family... my family has a long history of magic."
"I can't smell magic on you," Derek says gruffly, then sniffs the air like he's trying to find the right scent.
"You wouldn't. I'm a spark, not a druid. Turns out that since I can only channel magic and don't innately have it, there's no giveaway of it in my scent or anywhere."
"You talk a lot."
Stiles chuckles; a hint of derision in his tone.
"Oh if only I had a dollar for every time someone told me that," he tells Derek. "Would make student loans that much easier to pay off. Or well, I probably wouldn't have any."
"Why did you come here?"
"Like I said, I wanted to make sure you're okay. I didn't know for sure that it was you, but my dad likes to say that I have no self-preservation instinct."
Derek huffs with what could maybe be amusement if Stiles lets himself believe that.
"By the time I was here, I figured whoever was by my window was probably not just a random human," Stiles continues. "No one really knows about this place beside me and Scott."
"I do," Derek tells him. "I grew up here."
"Well, yeah. Obviously. Which is how I figured it had to be you," Stiles tells him, only just managing to hold back the 'duh' that's close to slipping out of his mouth.
It's probably not a good idea to antagonize the guy who can turn into a wolf that is bigger than Stiles.