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Stiles is pissed. All he had been trying to do was reason with the witch wreaking havoc on Beacon Hills. He had even gone alone and without the wolves to make her feel less threatened. She didn’t see it that way though, apparently not appreciating Stiles’ sarcasm. She’d said something about him learning to be less prickly and opening his eyes and then cast a spell before Stiles had a chance to react. Now he’s a hedgehog. A damn hedgehog. To make matters worse, he’s all alone in the woods and has no way of telling the pack what happened. He just knew they were going to be angry. Especially Derek. Stiles could already picture the glare Derek was going to send his way. Well, if they found him. But even if they found him he couldn’t exactly speak to them. If he couldn’t tell the pack what happened how was he supposed to get out of this?
Luckily Stiles hadn’t gone that deep into the preserve but the distance back to the road still seemed to take forever for Stiles with his newly tiny little legs. He just wanted to make it back to the jeep, he could figure out the rest later. He’s just reaching the edge of the woods, near where he parked his jeep, when he hears a voice calling his name. Stiles doesn’t think he’s ever been happier to hear Derek Hale’s voice.
“Stiles? Are you out here?”
Stiles wants to answer him so bad but when he tries the only sound that comes out is some pathetic puffing sounds. Great. Not only is he small but he also doesn’t have that much vocalization either. Stiles still keeps at it, some chirps and squeaks also making their way out, as he finally comes into view of Derek and the jeep. He hopes Derek’s sensitive werewolf ears will be able to pick up on the noise.
Even from so far down on the ground Stiles can see Derek’s nose twitch as he looks around. “Stiles?” He says his name, softer now, sounding confused. Could Derek smell him?
Stiles makes the noise again, going right up to Derek’s feet. Derek looks down at him, his brows furrowing. He’s probably not used to little creatures coming right up to him. That and… “Since when are there hedgehogs in the wild? Let alone Beacon Hills?”
Stiles climbs onto Derek’s shoe, giving another puff of displeasure. If he could just get Derek to realize it’s him.
Derek bends down and carefully scoops Stiles up into both of his hands. Even though Derek is gentle Stiles still gets a little disorientated going from somewhere low to high that fast. Derek brings him up to eye level and smiles. “Hey little guy. You haven’t seen a human running around here? You probably would have heard him stumbling through the trees.”
Stiles narrows his eyes as best he can in this form. “Seriously? I’m right here!” Stiles wants to say but it comes out as a series of hisses and clicking.
Derek’s smile falters a little as he tilts his head, studying stiles, well studying the hedgehog. “I… there’s no way,” Derek mutters to himself. “It wouldn’t be the craziest thing to happen. One way to find out.” Before Stiles can even begin to think about what that means Derek lowers his head and inhales deeply. When he pulls back his eyes are wide and his voice comes out sounding choked. “Stiles?!”
“Yes!” Stiles wants to say but can only whistle and jump in Derek’s hand.
Derek stares for a moment before closing his eyes with a groan. “Shit.”
Stiles couldn’t agree more.
Derek puts Stiles in the passenger’s seat of his jeep before getting in himself and driving off. He calls the rest of the pack along the way, telling them to meet him at Deaton’s. He doesn’t tell them anything, not wanting to scare them. He’s not sure what to feel himself. Stiles is a hedgehog. Which means... “I can’t believe you went after the witch alone,” Derek growls, clutching the steering wheel tightly, his claws threatening to come out.
Stiles doesn’t think it’s fair of Derek to try and have this argument right now considering he can’t exactly defend himself. Luckily for him, they pull up to the clinic before Derek can really start going off. Stiles really wishes he could see out of the jeep, wanting to know if Scott is here yet. He doesn’t have to wonder for long because a moment later Derek is lifting him up and tucking Stiles into his jacket before walking towards the building. Stiles takes advantage of the moment by burrowing his head into Derek’s chest and allowing himself to smell. He makes a noise of contentment and feels Derek’s steps falter before carrying on.
“We have problem,” Derek says, getting right to the point.
“Well that’s not anything new,” Lydia says from her seat along the opposite wall. “Care to elaborate?”
Derek reaches inside his jacket trying to pull Stiles out but Stiles resists, clinging to Derek’s shirt, snorting and hissing into it. What if the others don’t believe it’s him? Sure, Derek does, but what if the others don’t and he winds up stuck like this. What if they laugh at him? He’ll never hear he end of this.
Derek sees the others giving him strange looks and sighs, peeking into the jacket. “You want help, right? No one will be able to help if they don’t know what’s going on.”
Stiles relents and let’s Derek bring him out of the jacket, crawling up onto Derek’s shoulder as soon as he’s free. Derek allows it, deciding it’s better to have Stiles comfortable than angrily hissing at everyone.
“Your problem is that you got a hedgehog?” Isaac asks, eyeing Stiles warily.
“Not exactly.” Derek says, “The problem is the hedgehog is…”
“Is Stiles here?” Scott asks, looking to the door behind Derek. “I just caught his scent. Did he follow you?”
Stiles huffs in annoyance, causing Derek to smirk. Leave it to Scott to catch his best friends scent at the same time Derek pulls a hedgehog out of his jacket and not put the pieces together. “Stiles is here, yes.”
“Why hasn’t he came in then? I’ll go get him.”
Lydia puts her hand out, stopping Scott. Her eyes are on the hedgehog on Derek’s shoulder “I think he’s in the room, Scott.”
Scott looks around the room before turning back to Lydia. “What are you talking about?”
The others follow Lydia’s gaze, starting to catch on. Erica’s the one that comes forward first, going right up to the hedgehog and inhaling deeply. She pulls back, a hand covering her mouth. “Oh, shit.”
For the second time, Stiles agrees. Scott stares from the hedgehog to Derek a few times before settling on Derek. “Are you sure it’s him?”
Derek sighs. “Pretty positive. It smells like him. It… well acts like him. Has his personality. His jeep was just left in the woods with no other traces of him. He came right up to me in the preserve, getting right on my shoe to get my attention. What kind of small animal would come right up to a predator? Not one that’s completely an animal, that’s for sure.”
“I think it could be possible,” Deaton finally says from the corner of the room where he’d been observing the scene. "I have heard of spells like this. The problem will be figuring out what sort of spell it is. And what its purpose was.”
“You mean besides turning Stiles into a hedgehog?” Isaac asks
“Spells like this usually have a deeper meaning to them,” Deaton says
No one says anything right away, processing what little Deaton has told them. Scott moves, finally, walking towards Derek with his eyes on the hedgehog on his shoulder. Stiles looks on with wide eyes as Scott gets close to him and sniffs. Scott pulls back a little but stays close, looking right at Stiles. “You’ve really gotten into it this time, haven’t you?”
Stiles hisses at him, causing Scott to laugh before he turns around to face Deaton. “So what can we do?”
“I have some books you can go through,” Deaton says, pulling the books out, handing a few to Derek and Lydia “I also think we should try and talk to the witch. See if she can explain her reasoning behind the spell and maybe offer a way to break it.”
“You’re assuming this witch is going to be helpful,” Derek says
“Not all witches are malicious, Derek,” Deaton tells him. “It’s best that we go into this peacefully first. She might be more likely to help us that way.”
“And if she doesn’t? And we can’t find a way to break it ourselves?”
“We sever the link.”
Deaton doesn’t say anything more. He doesn’t have to. No one wants to think about what that means. Not even Derek. Scott and Deaton go off to find the witch with Erica, Boyd, and Isaac trailing along as backup if they need it. Lydia takes a few of the books home with her to go over leaving Derek to take care of Stiles.
“We should tell your Dad.” Derek tells him, once they reach the car. Stiles knows he’s right but he still snorts his displeasure. He doesn’t really want to worry his Dad if he doesn’t need to, not if there might be a way to fix this. Derek runs hand along his back. It should feel weird but he finds with Derek he doesn’t mind it. “We’ll tell him tomorrow if we haven’t fixed this by then.”
Stiles nods his agreement. At least he’s figured out how to do that. They’ll fix this.
Stiles roams around the loft a bit while Derek goes over one of the books Deaton gave him, just trying to keep busy so he doesn’t start panicking. He realizes he’s not doing a very good job of it when hears some disgruntled hissing only to realize the sound is coming from him. Stiles feels eyes on him and looks over to the couch to see Derek watching him, looking concerned. Which isn’t a surprise at the moment, he’s looked like that ever since they figured out Stiles really was a hedgehog. Derek bends over and lowers his hand to the ground and it takes Stiles a moment to catch up to what Derek is doing. Once he’s figured it out he scurries over to Derek’s hand, climbing into it, and allowing Derek to lift him up onto the couch. Stiles had expected Derek to just put him somewhere on the couch but instead he lowers Stiles down onto his lap. Stiles snuffles around for a little bit, happy to be close to Derek. If this ever comes up Stiles can just blame it all on being a hedgehog.
“You might be a hedgehog but you still need rest,” Derek tells him.
Stiles knows he’s right so he settles down on Derek’s lap, hoping to at least get a small nap in. Stiles is surprised that once he’s comfortable on Derek’s lap, Derek brings a hand down to his stomach and starts petting him. What’s even more surprising is Stiles likes it. He sighs in contentment, or it would be a sigh but he’s not sure what it is he actually does since he’s a hedgehog. He feels himself start shaking and looks up to see Derek laughing “You’re whistling. And purring.”
Stiles tries to curl up and hide away from Derek but Derek just pokes at his belly “Come on, Stiles. Don’t be like that. I wasn’t making fun of you. You just… you’re kind of adorable.”
Stiles huffs. He is not adorable. Stiles still stretches out again, giving Derek access to his stomach, and is happy when Derek resumes his rubbing. Stiles might purr again, so what?
Derek’s hands feel like magic. He just wishes he had the chance to have them on him as a human. Not that he won’t be human again. He knows the pack will do everything they can to get him back to normal.
As if sensing where Stiles’ thoughts were going Derek speaks softly, almost as if he’s afraid to speak too loud despite it just being the two of them. “Go to sleep, Stiles. We’ll fix this. I’m going to get you back.”
Derek watches the hedgehog yawn widely before closing its eyes and drifting off to sleep. At least in this form Stiles doesn’t seem to have as much trouble sleeping. Sighing, Derek goes back to reading through the book of spells Deaton had given him, absentmindedly rubbing Stiles’ belly. The purrs continue even as Stiles sleeps, making Derek smile softly down at the little sleeping form.
Getting tired himself, Derek moves until he’s laying down on the couch, trying not jostle Stiles too much as he moves the hedgehog to his chest. He doesn’t even think about it when he leans down to kiss the top of his head, planning to just take a nap right after. That doesn’t happen though. One minute Derek is kissing the top of Stiles’ hedgehog head, the next his lips are pressed to a decidedly more human head. A human head that belongs to a now human Stiles who is now sprawled out on top of him, completely naked. Derek feels his eyes drifting and turns his head away. Now was not the time for that.
Derek lays there for a moment trying to decide what to do. Does he let Stiles sleep? Does he wake him up? He can’t very well just continue to lay here with a naked Stiles on top of him.
Derek tries to maneuver his way out from under Stiles but is stopped when Stiles wraps an arm around his waist keeping him in place “Don’t go. You’re comfortable.” Stiles eyes shoot open when he hears his own voice speaking “What? How…? I’m human again?”
“You are,” Derek says, clearing his throat. “You’re also naked. I was just going to try and find you some clothes.”
Stiles looks down and blushes, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch before moving off Derek. “I… yeah… clothes. Clothes would be good.”
Derek nods, getting up to head to his bedroom with Stiles following behind, still wrapped in the blanket. Derek finds some sweats and a t-shirt for Stiles to wear, leaving him to change. He calls Scott to inform him that Stiles has changed back so they can stop searching for the witch. Scott doesn’t sound that surprised, just saying he’ll see Stiles tomorrow. Derek decides he should probably find something for Stiles to eat since he spent most of the day as a hedgehog and there’s no telling how long it has been since he ate last.
“Grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup?” Stiles asks, walking up behind Derek, a smile in his voice.
Derek turns around to respond but his breath catches when he sees how Stiles looks wearing his clothes. He likes it, enjoying the way their scents mingle together. Shaking his head, Derek turns back to the stove. “It was the quickest thing I could think of.”
“Lucky for you I like grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup.”
“Lucky for you, since this is the only thing I planned to cook.” Derek retorts.
Stiles rolls his eyes. “Oh please. We both know if I said I didn’t want that you would have made me something else.” He pats Derek’s cheek as he walks by, laughing when Derek snaps his teeth at him. “Snap all you want, Der. I know you’re just a big softie.”
Derek doesn’t comment, focusing on taking the last grilled cheese off the pan and finishing up the soup. Once he’s done he hands a plate and bowl to Stiles before grabbing his own and taking a seat next to him. Stiles talks about his experience as a hedgehog as he eats. He talks about how weird it was to suddenly be so small while everything else was so big. And how frustrating it was to not be able to express himself or have anyone understand what he was saying.
“You started chirping and squeaking at me,” Derek tells him
“Umm…did I?” Stiles really can’t remember the sounds he made, besides the purring. Was chirping not normal?
“I looked into the sounds hedgehogs make and what the mean.” Derek says, turning in his seat to face Stiles “It says that chirping, squeaking, and singing can be heard when a male is courting a female.”
Stiles blushes, looking down at his hands. Even as a hedgehog his feelings for Derek had to come out. “That’s interesting. But you’re obviously not a female. So, I don’t see how it could mean…that.”
Derek pulls Stiles chair closer, stopping when their knees touch, looking amused. “Don’t you? The sounds you were making were related to you. How you were feeling. The huffing and hissing when you were annoyed or upset. The purring when you were happy.” Derek gently takes hold of Stiles’ chin until Stiles is looking at him. Stiles breath catches at the soft look on Derek’s face. “What I’m saying is, I wouldn’t mind if that’s what you wanted… not that I’m expecting you to court me. But if you were interested, just know that I am too.”
Derek’s the one that looks away, wondering if he said too much, almost dropping his hand before Stiles covers it with his own. “It is. I am. Interested. I’ve been interested. And I will totally court the shit out of you if you want me to, Derek Hale.”
Derek just smiles. “You know courting means different things to different species. To humans, it was always a way to show their romantic interest and intent to marry. For animals though, courting is just a way to attract a mate.”
Stiles raises an eyebrow “And?”
“And I’m saying we’re already there. I know you’re interested romantically and so am I. And well, you don’t have to try and attract me since you succeeded in that years ago.”
Stiles grins. “Really?”
“Really,” Derek says. “So if it’s okay with you, I’d like to skip the courting and kiss you.”
“It’s more than okay.”
Their lips meet in a slow, sweet kiss. Their lips just brushing together softly, neither one feeling a need to rush things. Even when Derek licks his way into Stiles’ mouth, it’s with gentle strokes as their tongues move against each other. When they break for air Derek kisses his way along Stiles’ jaw, down to his neck, enjoying the way their scents have mixed together.
“Like what you smell big guy?”
“I do. You smell like you and me, together. Like us.”
Stiles pulls Derek up for another kiss, mumbling against his lips. “I love that there’s an us.”
Derek smiles. “Me too.”
The pack walks in the next day to find Stiles and Derek curled up together on the couch, their hair a mess, clothes crooked, and both wearing equally big smiles on their faces.
“So how exactly did the spell break?” Lydia asks, causing Derek to blush.
“Well… I was just laying here with Stiles sleeping on me while he was a hedgehog. I bent down to kiss his head. Then he was human.”
“So the witch was right.” Scott says, looking between Derek and Stiles in awe.
“About what?” Stiles asks
“About love breaking the spell. It sounded too cliche but she said it could be broken with the kiss of someone who loved all of you, including your prickly side or something like that.”
Stiles rolls his eyes. “Of course she did.” He looks over at Derek, a smile on his face. “So does this make you my prince?”
“That would make you the princess in this scenario.” Derek smirks.
“Princes can marry princes.” Stiles says, matter-of-factly, then blushes when realizes what he just said.
“Someday.” Derek smiles, leaning over to kiss him.
“The Prince and the Hedgehog.” Stiles kisses Derek’s cheek, smiling into his neck when he hears the others groan. With all the PDA he's had to put up with over the years they can just learn to handle it.
“Oh no,” Isaac says, causing the others in the room to look at him “Is it going to be like this from now on?”
Stiles grins. “I certainly hope so.”