Work Text:
The next time Derek was assigned to brew the coffee at the station, he was going to make sure that it was salt and not sugar that ended up in Deputy Masters’ cup.
Derek had just finished a double shift, one that had felt much longer than it actually was, which had left him bone-tired and simply craving for the sweet softness of his bed. But instead of getting some well deserved sleep, or even eating the leftover dinner that Stiles had no doubt smuggled into the loft’s fridge sometime during Derek shift, Derek was sitting in an optician’s waiting room, waiting for his mandatory eye test.
Deputy Masters’ kids had apparently been urging their father to visit an optician for months already, but Masters had paid no mind to their worried words, which had eventually led to an incident at work.
There had been a call about an armed robbery in progress in a lone grocery store, on the East side of the town, and Masters had tackled a fellow deputy to the ground thinking he was the robber. Although, for Masters’ defence, Deputy Collins had been off duty and in civilian clothes. Collins had been on an evening walk when he had witnessed the robbery, called it in and then remained close by, ready to arrest the robber coming out of the grocery store when Masters interfered.
Luckily, Masters’ partner had caught the real perpetrator and Deputy Collins had walked away from the scene sporting just a few additional bruises and a minor road rash. However, the incident had made the Sheriff put his foot down and command Deputy Masters to visit an optician, and to make sure none of his other deputies mistook a friend for a foe because of poor eyesight, the Sheriff talked to Melissa who talked to someone who then arranged a visit for every one of the deputies, including Derek.
Derek wasn’t too happy about it. He’s a werewolf, so visiting an optician would be both a waste of time and money. Still, the Sheriff hadn’t budged, claiming that if any of the other deputies heard that he let Derek skip the visit some others would also demand the right not to go.
”It’s not like I can tell them that you’re a werewolf with a better than perfect eyesight. So, to preserve the peace at the station and my sanity, just go get your eyes checked, son.”
So, here Derek was, visiting an optician for the first time in his life.
Despite the chair being hard and kind of lumpy, Derek was mere seconds away from falling asleep - a testament of how exhausted he actually was - when his name was called. He got up from his makeshift resting place, only to be ushered into a chair just as uncomfortable as the one he had just escaped from.
The optician sat down behind a desk that was facing Derek’s chair, and gave a short explanation of what would be happening before he held up a card with a row of letters on it for Derek to see.
“Can you read this?”
“G, O, C, F, P, R, D, E,” Derek listed almost boredly, although it did take some effort to have his eyes focus enough to get the letters right. But the strain was temporary and would be fixed with a good night’s - or day’s - sleep instead of a pair of prescription glasses.
The optician nodded approvingly before raising another card where the letters were slightly smaller.
Derek read the new card. He didn’t even have the time to think about spelling out the letters like he was supposed to before his lips had already formed the word.
“Mieczyslaw.”
The effect of reading out that word, that name, was almost magical. The optician became completely motionless, like Derek had hit a pause button on the man, and for a moment the two of them just stared at each other in silence.
“I- Did you actually just read that?” the optician eventually asked, his eyes wide and voice full of shock.
Derek nodded tiredly, biting back a sigh. “My boyfriend has Polish roots. That’s his given name,” he explained briefly, wanting to go back to the examination so he could get home to his bed. The bed which Derek would possibly even get to share with the aforementioned boyfriend if Stiles was able to come up with a reasonable excuse to disappear from his father’s house for a while.
“Huh,” the optician hummed and seemed to ponder Derek’s words for a second before turning back to the task at hand. “Please read out the letters again. And uh, one at a time. Please.”
Surprise surprise, Derek had a perfect vision.
* * *
Sheriff Noah Stilinski wasn’t too happy about having to visit an optician when he had updated his glasses, his reading glasses, just a few months earlier, but as the sheriff he was supposed to lead by example. If he wanted all of his deputies to visit an optician without causing a mutiny, he had to be willing to get his own eyes checked as well. It was a less of a bother than to deal with another incident like Masters’.
So, the sheriff did like all his deputies before him and sat in the optician’s chair.
The optician held up the first card, which Noah had no trouble spelling out. The next one wasn’t hard to read either, it just… surprised them both.
“Can you read this?”
“Mieczyslaw.”
“I- What?” the optician exclaimed and almost dropped the card.
The sheriff suppressed a sigh. After all, he had brought this on himself.
“It’s my son’s name.”
“Your son's name? Someone out there actually has a name like that?” The optician paused, took in the look on the sheriff’s face, and smartly changed the course of the conversation. “What I meant to say was that your son, who has such a lovely, unique name, must be very proud to have both his father and his boyfriend in law enforcement.”
“His boyfriend?”
The optician’s face ashened and his eyes darted around the room. Noah was sure the man was trying to think of a way to get out of answering, but when it became apparent that there was none, the optician caved under the sheriff’s stare. Noah could see the moment it happened, the moment the man gave up thinking excuses, although the optician still took a few extra seconds to answer. The sheriff’s best bet was that the man was trying, and failing, to collect himself.
“I- uh, one of the deputies also read that out loud and then explained that it was his boyfriend’s name. I just thought- I mean, it’s not a very common name... around here?” the optician stammered, but there was quiet hesitation in his voice which Noah appreciated.
The sheriff knew too well that it was not safe for every kid to come out to their parents. He knew that his own first reaction to Stiles trying to come out, while not violent, had been undermining and hurtful. So, Noah was glad the optician was being cautious and regretful after slipping out information that could be sensitive, even if it was about someone who wasn’t his patient. The man would remember this encounter and be more careful the next time something like this happened, Noah just knew it.
The sheriff nodded once, his lips pressed tightly against each other, his expression outwards more solemn than thoughtful.
“The deputy who also read the letters together, it was Deputy Hale, right?”
The deer in the headlights look that the optician gave was enough of a confirmation for Noah.
“Uh, so…” the optician started after the silence stretched longer than Noah had intended. He had gotten lost in thought.
“Shall we finish the exam?” the sheriff proposed.
“Yes!” was the optician’s almost too eager reply. “Please read out the letters one at a time.”
And so Noah did.
His eyesight hadn’t changed at all from what it had been when he had last gotten his eyes checked, meaning the sheriff had no trouble texting both his son and his deputy about the family breakfast they were going to have on Saturday.
On his way to the door, Noah could also see the optician discreetly throw away the card with Stiles’ name on it, no doubt as an attempt to avoid having any further part in Stilinski family’s matters in the future.
The sheriff made a mental note to make sure Stiles visited this particular optician sometime.