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“It’s so adorable,” Allison says for the twentieth time, petting the strange creature taking a nap on Stiles’s lap.
“When it’s sleeping,” Peter comments, glaring daggers at it from where he’s perched on the stairs.
“You’re just mad because he shredded your shirt,” Stiles replies with a grin. “And peed on your shoes,” Isaac adds helpfully.
“There we go,” Stiles says, hitting the ‘send’ button.
On the screen of his computer they can now see the message Stiles carefully wrote up on the forums of Beacon Hills’s Exotic Pets Owners website. It explains in a few words where and when they found Bob and has a few photos of the strange animal that found its way into Stiles’s house. Stiles has never been happier that his dad was at a seminar out of town.
On his lap, Bob makes a small sound in his sleep and pushes his head against Allison’s hand. It is ridiculously adorable, Stiles thinks. It looks almost like a very small cat, except that instead of fur it has bright blue and purple feathers, and its tail resembles that of a parrot. It’s not a bird though, it has four legs and no wings, has a mouth full of pointy teeth and the most adorable pink little nose ever.
“Are you sure your family has never seen any of those?” Derek asks Allison, but she shakes her head.
“I’ve asked my dad, we’ve been through the bestiary twice and dad even made a few phone calls. No hunter we know has ever even heard of anything like Bob.”
“You really could have come up with a better name, Stiles,” Lydia complains without looking up from her book.
“I don’t know,” Scott says, “I think it kind of suits him. Bob the birdcat.”
Stiles’s phone starts vibrating as the tune from Game of Thrones rings in the air. He struggles to get it out of his pocket, accidentally waking up Bob in the process. The creature hisses at him once for good measure, then jumps into Allison’s arms to lick her face. She laughs.
The call is coming from a masked number, which explains why Stiles sounds suspicious when he answers it.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Stilinski, hi, I believe you might have found my pet.”
The woman on the phone sounds young and very British.
“How did you get this number?” Stiles asks. “I only gave an email address on the forums.”
“The forums?” She seems confused for a second. “Listen, I can drop by your house to pick it up, it’ll only take a minute I promise.”
“Excuse me, but I don’t feel very comfortable giving my address to a perfect stranger when I don’t even know how you got my number, or even know my name,” Stiles replies as calmly as he can. Nevertheless, he can see the werewolves around him tense up. Sometimes it’s awesome to be part of a pack. Sometimes their over protectiveness of the human members can be a bit annoying.
There’s a small pause on the phone before the woman replies. “I understand. Then maybe we could meet somewhere?” “Sure, I can drive to your place to bring Bob back.”
“Bob?” She definitely sounds confused.
“Ah, sorry, that’s what we named him. What’s his real name?”
“It’s, um, Bubbles. Listen, I’m not really from around here, so dropping by my place might be an issue. I’m staying at the Hyperion hotel downtown. They have a bar. If you could meet me there with, um, Bubbles, that would be perfect.”
“Alright, sure. When would be the best time?”
“As soon as possible!” she says, sounding relieved. “Thank you very much.”
She ends the call without saying goodbye, which Stiles finds a little bit rude before he realizes he does the same thing all the time.
“Well, I guess it’s time to take you home, little guy,” he tells Bubbles. He still thinks Bob suits him better. “Allison, would you mind driving me downtown? The Jeep is in the shop.”
Allison makes an apologetic face. “I can’t, I’m taking Lydia to the airport for her trip to New York,” she reminds him. “We should get moving soon, by the way,” she adds to Lydia, who nods absently without taking her eyes off her book.
“I’ll take you,” Peter offers, or rather tells him.
Stiles raises an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, right. Remember how he can’t stand being touched by werewolves?”
“A, I’m not gonna touch it, you are, and b, I want to make sure this monster is out of our lives, the faster the better.”
Peter gets up, folding his arms and looking determined. Stiles is way too accustomed to this look on the werewolf’s face.
“A, he’s not a monster, you are,” Stiles says mockingly, “and b, you aren’t going anywhere dressed like that.”
Peter looks down at his ripped-up shirt and sighs. “Fine. Someone else drive him then.”
Derek rolls his eyes and gets up from the couch. Stiles raises an eyebrow at him, and Derek rolls his eyes again. “Get your coat,” he says before walking out the door.
Stiles has to sit in the back, because Bubbles tried to launch himself at Derek’s face when they first get in the car. Even so, the cat-like creature keeps hissing at Derek for most of the ride, and Stiles has to hold on to him and scratch him behind his ears to keep him somewhat calm.
They get to the Hyperion in a bit more time than they would have if Stiles had been behind the wheel, because Derek is a pretty careful driver, unlike Stiles who tends to be a little bit aggressive.
“Are you okay to go in there alone?” Derek asks, looking at Stiles in the rearview mirror. “I’m supposed to pick up Boyd and Cora from work.”
“Sure, don’t worry big guy,” Stiles says, winking at the werewolf.
“That woman, she knew things she shouldn’t.”
“Hey, I know. She also seems to own a creature I’m pretty sure no one has ever seen anywhere before.”
Derek unbuckles his seatbelt and opens his door.
“Oh for heaven’s sake Derek, it’s a public place and I know how to defend myself,” Stiles says. “Go get your sister and Boyd, I’ll be fine.”
Taking a good hold on Bubbles, Stiles gets out of the car. He gives a significant look to Derek, who frowns at him, grits his teeth, then fastens his seatbelt back.
“Be careful,” he says, and Bubbles hisses at him in reply.
Stiles tightens his grip on the birdcat, just to be sure it won’t jump out of his arms to go after the car, and waves Derek off as he drives away. Then he turns towards the hotel doors, takes a deep breath, and walks in.
It’s a bit warm in the lobby and Stiles would love to take off his coat, but now that Derek is gone Bubbles is snuggling against his chest and he doesn’t have the heart to move him. The concierge gives them a suspicious look, so Stiles decides to act as if it was completely normal to walk around with a feathered cat in your arms. After all, the good citizens of Beacon Hills have always seemed to easily wave off things they can’t explain.
When Stiles asks where the bar is, he gets directed to a door on the left with the reminder that they don’t serve alcohol if you’re underage. Stiles actually turned 21 two months ago, but since he has no intention of drinking he doesn’t bother mentioning it. Instead, he politely thanks the concierge and walks into the bar.
Alright, so maybe this isn’t as much of a public place as he’d thought. There’s a man at the bar nursing a drink and a couple sitting in a booth. That’s it. Stiles suddenly realizes he has no way of knowing if that’s the woman he got on the phone sitting over there.
But it is her, because she waves him over with a smile, and when Stiles approaches she gets up and takes Bubbles from his arms. Bubbles’s claws get stuck in Stiles’ coat for a second, but then the woman makes a strange clicking noise with her tongue and Bubbles lets go.
“There you go,” she says, putting the creature into a cat bag her companion is holding open for her. “You’ll be home soon, I swear.”
“So, hi,” Stiles says, feeling awkward and too hot with his coat still on. “Hi,” the woman says. “I’m Martha, and this is Mickey.”
The guy waves with a smile. He looks like the kind of person no one ever takes seriously, though Stiles can see in his eyes that this man has seen more things than he’d have liked. Army vet, maybe?
“I’m Stiles,” Stiles says, because he feels like they’re waiting for him to say something. “Well Stiles, sit down, have something to drink,” Martha says.
“And for God’s sake, take that coat off, you look like you’re going to faint from the heat,” Mickey adds.
Stiles bites his lip, hesitating for a second before he nods and takes a seat. After all, he’s kind of stranded there until Derek comes back to pick him up. Plus, he must admit that he’s curious.
“So,” he asks after the barman brings him a soda, “what kind of animal is Bubbles exactly? I’ve looked online but haven’t found anything like it.”
“He’s a very special kind,” Martha replies with an enigmatic smile.
“That’s not really an answer,” Stiles says slowly. “Usually, that doesn’t mean anything good.”
“Usually?” Martha asks, and Stiles can see the curiosity in her eyes.
“Let’s just say I’ve had my share of uncommunicative people who have important information they refuse to share,” Stiles groans. “It’s like they never learn.”
“Tell me about it,” Mickey complains. “Speaking of the devil...”
“And who do we have here?” a man’s voice asks from behind Stiles’s back.
Stiles jumps, startled, and turns around to see a ridiculously attractive man wearing a long military- like coat and a very seductive smile. His mouth goes dry as the man offers his hand and introduces himself.
“Captain Jack Harkness, and you are...?”
“Very pleased to meet you” is the answer his brain supplies him with two minutes later, after he’s made a fool of himself by just starring and Martha had to introduce him. By then, it’s too late to be clever and smooth, and Captain Harkness has already taken a seat next to him. Stiles isn’t sure when the man’s arm wound itself around his shoulders, but it sure feels hot in this bar.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re ridiculously hot?” he blurbs out, because his brain keeps refusing to work properly. “I mean, I spend most of my time with stupidly attractive people, but I swear, it’s like you’re emitting sex pheromones.”
A strange expression, something that looks like surprise, passes on Jack’s face while Mickey starts laughing.
“You gotta be kidding me!” Stiles says, and Jack just smiles like he’s been caught, no big deal.
Stiles leans in and sniffs the air, trying to detect some kind of perfume, but there’s nothing particular. He knows from running with werewolves that, with his very human nose, that doesn’t mean much.
And suddenly, he can’t wait to see what Derek’s reaction will be upon meeting Captain Jack Harkness.