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Derek is well aware of how he looks and the reaction that this gets him. He knows this without pride and more than a little bit of annoyance, much more preferring people to leave him be than try to talk to him on the off chance that they might end up lucky.
So, he knows what it means when Stiles looks at him and there is a sudden spiciness to his scent, the way his tongue comes out to wet his lips, the dilation of his eyes, and the up-kick to his heart.
He braces himself for the innuendos, the comments on his body and what Stiles would like to do to it - or have it do to him - and all the ways that Stiles will lean, wink, or otherwise showcase his own body as a possible enticement.
None of that happens.
What does happen is that Stiles blushes like he does whenever one of the random thoughts that he has that he doesn’t want to talk about makes it out of his mouth, and he turns away from Derek to ask Isaac a question that has the taller man stumbling over an answer.
(And it’s not an affected blush and turn like Derek has seen, where the effector is trying to make it seem like they’re shy and want to be chased. Stiles is legitimately embarrassed.)
It’s... different enough that Derek is intrigued.
So, he starts spending more time with Stiles, wondering at the reaction and how he can bring it up without making it seem like he wants to pursue anything.
It’s not like it only happens once; every so often, Stiles will look at Derek and there will be that scent, or his body will heat, or something to that effect. Nothing else will follow, Stiles moving to one subject or the other, and it will leave Derek confused for days.
Soon enough, Derek is comfortable enough with Stiles to ask about it; ask about the way he acts like he wants Derek, but never makes any motion to do so...
Leaving Derek wondering if it would be so bad if he did.
Stiles explains his hesitance - which had only been part of his own self confidence - as seeing how Derek reacted to others making overtures and not wanting to make the shifter uncomfortable. Of being far too happy with being the ‘wolf’s friend to try something he obviously didn’t want from others.
Derek can only reply that those others weren’t Stiles.
That response earns him that spicy smell again, but this time he recognizes a warm undertone to it that reminds Derek of a sip of his mother’s hot chocolate. Not really a scent or a taste, more of a feeling of warmth spreading throughout his entire body.
When Stiles places a hand on his cheek and asks if he can kiss Derek, he feels that way again. Which makes it easy for him to say yes, to tilt his neck in a way that may look like being eager for that kiss, but Stiles sees what it really is - because Stiles sees everything - and the hand on his cheek slips into his hair and grips in a firm way that has Derek letting out a little sigh.
When their lips press, it feels like an inevitability, about coming home and realizing that you were already there at the same time.
It feels like everything that Derek never knew he was missing, and everything he ever needed.