Work Text:
“Where are the kids?” Zach asks, sitting on one sofa at Stiles and Jackson’s house.
“Sleepover at Scott’s,” Stiles says, sitting on the other sofa. “They had a birthday party in the afternoon and Scott had to pick up Andrea, so he just picked up Ilya and Daniel too”.
“Yeah, they wanted to stay over and we wanted to talk to you,” Jackson says, sitting next to Stiles.
“Have you turned off the oven?” Stiles asks, running his left hand along Jackson’s thigh.
“Yeah, I have,” Jackson nods.
“Okay, wait a sec… that ‘talk to you’ thing sounded very ominous, don’t you always talk to me?” Zach frowns. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not at all. Nothing has changed… I mean, what Jackson meant is that we wanted to take this opportunity to tell you something. Something that is not too easy to talk about but it’s something that we feel you should know, you know? So, having the kids around was kind of counterproductive, I guess.”
“I see… because they don’t know…” Zach guesses.
“No, they know, actually… like, really well…” Stiles nods.
“Yeah, they do…" Jackson agrees, "but you don’t, so we thought that a relaxed setting would be better…”
“But it’s nothing bad because nothing is wrong?” Zach asks, furrows his eyebrows.
“Well, we don’t think it’s bad… or wrong… no—I mean, it’s not bad for us or the people we know… but it doesn’t mean that we won’t accept whatever it is that you feel about it… so, yeah, don’t worry if you feel like you need time to deal with it or something…”
Jackson stops Stiles resting his hand on Stiles’s forearm and pressing lightly as he shakes his head.
“He just means that we're open for any reaction that you might have about it, that's all. I mean, considering that we're friends and we know you pretty well, we don’t think you won’t understand it but if you—”
“Need time? I’ll have it?” Zach raises his eyebrows.
“Exactly,” Jackson says, nodding mirroring Stiles.
“Okay,” Zach nods. “This is definitely weird—You two,” Zach points in Stiles and Jackson’s direction, “aren’t making any freaking sense… So, just tell me what’s going on, because you’re kind of freaking me out.”
“Sorry, that’s not what we wanted…” Jackson shakes his head.
“Yeah, but it’s kind of delicate, so we just wanted to prepare you in case preparation was better than… not prepared at all, you know?” Stiles says.
“I’m a detective, remember? I’ve seen all kinds of shit… as you have,” Zach looks at Stiles. “I think there’s nothing you can tell me that I’m not prepared for.”
Stiles wants to say that he’s not so sure but he just looks at Jackson and when Jackson finds his gaze, he simply gives him the go-ahead sign that Jackson knows so well.
Zach looks at their silent conversation and rolls his eyes. “Come on, tell me. I came here for free food,” Zach jokes, “and I’m getting hungry.”
“Okay, I’ll try to be direct and get straight to the point,” Jackson says, confidently.
“Fantastic,” Zach agrees, signaling for him to continue.
“Yeah, so… we just wanted you to know that werewolves exist and I happen to be one… that like sums it up, right?” Jackson says looking at Stiles.
“Well, yeah, that’s not bad… I mean, there’s more but—”
“Wait, werewolves? What do you mean? Like men who become wolves? That kind of werewolves?” Zach says with a tone much softer and under control than Jackson expected.
“Is there any other kind?” Stiles says, raising his eyebrows.
“Stiles,” Jackson shakes his head.
“Yeah, you got it right… that kind would be the one… and I know it can be hard to get your head around it… but we don’t have any reason to lie to you and it’s not something we share openly for obvious reasons… Not to mention that we are not allowed either—”
“Hold on,” Zach snorts. “I don’t know why you are doing this… but you don’t really expect me to believe this, do you? What kind of joke is this? Come on, you two—”
“Well, we didn’t expect you to… not without proof… and if there’s something I can give you is a lot of proof,” Jackson says.
“What kind of proof?” Zach frowns.
“For starters...” Jackson closes his eyes and a couple of seconds later, when he opens them again, their usual blue is replaced by an electric blue. “This proof.”
“Shit,” Zach raises his eyebrows and looks absolutely petrified. “Oh my god, are they? How did you do that? That’s crazy.”
“They are his wolf’s eyes… and once you get used to them, it’s not that crazy,” Stiles says.
“About how… it’s easy," Jackson shrugs, "I just concentrate…” Jackson closes his eyes and changes them back to their human form. “My wolf is a part of me—we’re linked but I’m in control, not the other way around, so in case you’re wondering, you have nothing to worry about.”
“Well, I’m still in a reasonable shock over here but I don’t think you’re finally telling me this so that you can murder me in the middle of your living room… I know how much you like everything spotless and perfectly in order…” Zach says with some of that irony that he enjoys using when he’s got the chance.
Stiles snorts, smiling. “You know, he’s got a point…”
“I know I do,” Zach nods, licking his lips.
“I’m glad you’re taking it well… more than well... I was pretty sure, you wouldn’t freak out… too much,” Stiles says.
“Well, as mind-blowing as this whole revelation is, it’s still not hard to imagine that it can’t be easy for you to trust me with this secret… so, instead of freaking out, I’d just like you to explain like… fucking everything… I mean, you were going to, right?”
“Yeah, we figured you’d have tons of questions… and we’ll answer them as well as we can,” Stiles says.
“Okay,” Zach nods. “Then, tell me, how did it happen, I’m guessing you were not born like that, right?” Zach opens his arms wide. “And how does it affect you? Like, what’s the deal?”
“Well, the deal is simple, I guess… I can transform, obviously, and I have some abilities… but it’s not a big deal...”
Stiles snorts, hiding his face behind his hands, trying not to laugh but there are some laughing sounds coming through.
“Sure, you summon me here to tell me you’re not human and now, you want to downplay it? Are you kidding me?” Zach raises his eyebrows full of disbelief, amusement, and confusion.
"Stiles, you're not really helping," Jackson shakes his head.
"I know, sorry," Stiles licks his lips and looks at Jackson with a guilty look that Jackson finds both terribly hysterical and cute.
“Fine," Zach shakes his head. "What sort of abilities are we talking about exactly? Because you know, I’ve seen too many movies… did they get anything right?” Zach asks expectantly.
“Some of my senses are enhanced… like... I can recognize scents pretty easily, I can hear things from far away, like your heartbeat, for example, if I focus. I can faster than I did as a human... I heal faster too... Oh and I can take away somebody’s pain touching that person.”
“Seriously?” Zach raises his eyebrows.
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing…" Stiles nods. "He’ll say it’s nothing but it’s actually super cool. And you forgot your other very annoying and terribly unfair superpower?”
“What’s he talking about?” Zach frowns.
“Nothing, you know him. He loves to exaggerate.”
“No, I don’t.” Stiles shakes his head. “It’s true… you don’t fucking age!”
“I do age! I fucking do.”
“Yeah, fucking slowly! You look the same as you did what?” Stiles opens his arms wide. “Five, seven years ago?”
Zach snorts. “Oh my god,” Zach says, shaking his head, smiling.
“He’ll deny it but it’s not just him, you know? There’s an ample amount of evidence to support my statement. This is a common thing in his pack and he knows it.”
“Shit. It’s like that song… you’re fucking ’Forever Young’,” Zach adds, laughing.
“No, god, no,” Jackson shakes his head. “He’s exaggerating… which shouldn’t surprise you… I was sixteen when I turned and I can assure you, I’ve changed a lot since then…”
“Yeah, but I don’t think you’ve actually changed since I met you,” Zach offers. “How come I didn’t notice before?”
“Well, it hasn’t been that long,” Stiles says.
(To be continued...)