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"What."
The cat blinked up at him while the human hmm’d softly, eyes still fixed on the computer. Derek raised an eyebrow and the cat stared back unflinchingly. Interesting. It was white and fluffy with tan and orange splotches around its face and paws. The cat stared at him for a moment longer before deeming him uninteresting and settled back into the hood of Stiles’ jacket, resting its chin at the juncture of his neck and shoulder.
Derek fought the urge to smile; he did not find it cute, no he didn’t.
… Except that he kind of did.
"Stiles."
"Hmm?"
"Why?"
"Why what?"
Derek huffed and turned Stiles around in his rolling chair. The human squawked and the cat hissed at being manhandled. ”Why that,” he said, pointing at the furball that was now glaring at him unhappily.
"Oh!" Stiles smiled widely and reached over his shoulder to pick the cat up and out of his hood. "Scott and I found her this morning and took her to Deaton, but he said she doesn’t have an owner and she’s still really young so I volunteered." He cradled the kitten in one arm and started to stroke her.
"You volunteered," Derek deadpanned.
"Well, yeah," Stiles trailed off, his smile slipping off his face. "That’s - that’s okay, right?" He dug his fingers into her fur and she started to purr contentedly.
Derek was silent. Was it okay? He never really thought about owning a pet. Dogs were out of the question due to their reaction to his kind, and cats were usually even worse. But this one, this one seemed completely unperturbed. And it was obvious that Stiles was already attached to her and he could never say no to Stiles when he looked like Derek was about to crush all his hopes and dreams. He swore Stiles knew what that look did to him and took advantage of it all the damn time.
This was probably a bad idea, but … it was Stiles. He took a breath and he saw Stiles’ shoulders tense. ”What’s her name?”
Stiles eyes snapped up to meet his, wide in surprise. Derek gave him a expectant look and Stiles’ face split into a huge grin.
"I was thinking Leia," he said excitedly, “‘Cause she’s been acting like a princess all day but she’s also pretty badass and swiped at Scott when he was trying to give her her vaccinations." He cackled and rubbed the kitten’s belly.
"Princess Leia," Derek said with a raised eyebrow. "Of course you’d want to name her something from pop culture."
"Don’t hate," Stiles said, sticking out his tongue in defiance.
Derek rolled his eyes. ”You’re in charge of the litter box,” he said, crouching down so he was eye level with Leia.
"Okay." Stiles sounded happy, smelled happy, and Derek had to smile fondly. He lifted a hand and tickled Leia’s chin with his pointer finger, then stroked down her neck and belly. She purred and shifted in Stiles’ lap so she was sprawled out on her back.
"Just like you," Derek remarked.
"You’re just jealous."
"Definitely." He looked up and met Stiles’ gaze and they stared at each other stupidly for a good minute, goofy grins on their faces.
Stiles leaned down and placed a kiss on Derek’s brow. ”Thanks.” He nodded and stretched up to capture Stiles’ lips in a gentle but chaste kiss. Derek stood and beckoned Stiles over to the bed, and Stiles raised an incredulous eyebrow. ”What.”
Derek rolled his eyes. Again. He does that a lot, especially when Stiles was around. ”Just come here.”
Stiles did, gently picking up Leia and clambered onto the bed to join Derek. He scooted closer and Derek threw an arm over Stiles’ waist, Stiles’ nose buried in Derek’s neck, and Leia nestled between them. Stiles sighed happily and Derek rubbed idle circles on Stiles’ hip with his thumb.
They fell asleep like that, tangled up in each other, content.