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“I’m sorry, man, I can’t practice today.” Scott groaned, throwing his bag down in his room while Stiles leaned against the door with his lacrosse stick. “I promised Deaton I’d pick up an extra shift cause he had to go to a call out of town, but he wanted to keep the vet open in case anyone needed anything.”
“It’s fine.” Stiles sighed. “I get it. How’s your classes going, anyway?”
“Alright. Dude, I really wished I’d paid attention during the year, but I feel like I’m actually learning better now than during regular school. I can’t really explain it.”
“Probably helps there haven't been any weird supernatural occurrences lately, either.”
“That too.” Scott chuckled. “I’m really sorry, I really wanted to practice today.”
“I know man, I know. Ugh. It’s fine. I’ll go down to the station or something and bug the deputies.”
“You gotta let me know how many you trick into handcuffs this time, because you didn’t tell me last time what you did.”
“That’s because they never figured it out.” Stiles said proudly. “Well, Danny figured it out, because he likes to hack into city cams every once and a while. I set a thing up that wired through the cameras and as soon as someone comes in and claps their hands three times they’ll be in for a fun surprise. Like, disco ball and strobe lights, surprise.”
“Record it for me, if you can get someone to set it off today.” Scott said, changing his shirt and grabbing a few extra study materials, including a PSAT book.
“Hey, I know we haven’t studied together since like, third grade, but if you want I can help you study for that? I mean, it’s still a year away, but-”
“But you took yours this year already, with Lydia, and can give me pointers?” Scott interjected, grinning crookedly at him. “I know, and I appreciate it. I’m good for now, but I’ll totally call in you helping me study when we’re getting ready for it.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” Stiles sighed, following Scott back out of the house.
“I’m-”
“Stop. I get it, Scotty, don’t worry about it. I’ll go and throw a few shots around before heading to the station. Now get your furry behind to work. If Calisto is still there, tell her hi for me.”
“Dude, I am not telling that demon cat hi. She hates me.” Scott snorted, waving and getting in his car.
He drove to the school and decided to play around a bit, knowing he wasn’t going to be making first line, but not really caring. He played because he and Scott got into it together. Even though Scott got an advantage via werewolf senses sophomore year.
“Jesus Christ, man.” Stiles yelped, when Isaac appeared and put a hand on his shoulder. “Fuck, I swear I’m gonna find a way to put sensors or ID trackers or something in all of you.”
“Not really a lot of us around.” Isaac said, smirking at him. “Just me, Derek, and Scott, right now. You wouldn’t happen to know where Erica or Boyd disappeared to, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t. Once I got out and got them out, as far as I know they left town. Granted not before they went through my room. She stole one of my t-shirts, and I think Boyd took one of Derek’s jackets that had been left there at some point.”
“Have a lot of Derek’s clothes in your room, do you?” Isaac said. He was teasing Stiles. Teasing! Stiles huffed and scowled at him.
“No, I’m not getting fresh with your Alpha, nor him with me. He just leaves crap at my house every time he comes by. What are you doing here, anyway? Don’t you have some scarves to buy or some other super cool persona to invent?”
“Nah, not right now. Thought I’d come see if I could get a little practice in. I know I’ve already got the stamina and whatnot of a wolf, but I still wanna try and be ready. Where’s Scott, anyway? Aren’t you two attached at the hip?”
“He had to go into work ‘cause his boss is out of town for a few hours. Figured I’d get a little running in, and a few shots before going to bug my dad at work.”
“Hm. I’ll practice with you.”
“Fine, but same rules apply to you that apply to Scott, ok? Not wolfy powers or senses. It’s cheating. Don’t think I won’t know when you’re using them. Alright?” Stiles used his fingers to point at his eyes then Isaac’s in as threatening a way as he could. It actually wasn’t too bad. It was nice practicing with someone other than Scott, who he’d been practicing with since they were kids, so he knew all of Stiles’ moves. Granted Isaac was just as good, maybe a little more clumsy because he was so tall, but still good.
“You need to work on your endurance.” Isaac said, not breathing nearly as heavily as Stiles.
“I’m aware.” Stiles said, gasping a bit more before collecting his stuff and heading for his jeep.
“So.”
“So?” Stiles asked, snagging a water bottle out of the jeep and drinking half of it.
“What’s Scott like? I mean, I know we’ve been in school together forever, but I never really hung out with any of you before all this crazy shit happened.”
“Are you asking because you want to know what kind of person he is or because you wanna know if you’re his type? Because, if it’s the second one, hate to break it to you, but he’s totally straight and oblivious.”
“No, no, not that.” Isaac laughed. “I appreciate it, but I was just curious what kind of person he was. I know you weren’t there when we fought at the ice rink, but Boyd told the truth. I didn’t want to be scared anymore, Erica wanted to heal from her seizures, and Boyd wanted to be like Scott.”
“Well, Scott and Boyd lived a block away from each other when they were younger, so they knew each other a little bit, mostly in passing. Hm. Well. Scott … he doesn’t understand my amazing pop culture references, he can be oblivious, as previously stated, but his heart’s usually in the right place. He wants to do what’s right, all that noble crap. Why do you care, though? You have an Alpha.”
“Just curious about how his pack works. He may not be an Alpha, but I think that’s because he shares that with you. His pack isn’t entirely wolves, but he’s got at least one human, two if Allison comes back, and whatever the hell Lydia is.”
“Yeah, and you got an emotionally constipated college age dude and his zombie uncle.” Stiles said, tossing a water bottle to Isaac. “I’m gonna get out of here, try not to get into trouble with those two.”
“Can I get a ride?” Isaac asked uncertainly.
“Sure. I’m going to the station, though.”
“That’s fine. I don’t have a car, Derek dropped me off before he went to the bank this morning, so I’ve been wandering around a bit aimlessly.” Stiles shrugged and jumped in, doing his best not to peel out when Isaac was strapped in. “You know she wasn’t kidding, right?”
“What are we talking about?” Stiles asked, eyes on the road.
“Erica. When she said she liked you.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Stiles sighed. “You know,” Stiles laughed lightly, “when we were in kindergarten? We, uh, we used to share comics and talk about our favorite DC characters and which were better. I always thought it was cool that a girl knew anything about comics.”
“She talked about you a lot.”
“Kind of wished we could have spent more time together back then. Before she brained me with a piece of my car. Before everyone got too annoyed at … well, everything I did.”
“I found it relaxing.” Isaac shrugged, and Stiles swerved a bit, staring at Isaac in confusion.
“What?”
“When you rambled. You really did your research on all the topics you talked about and it was like a nice white noise.”
“Did Derek tell you to say that?”
“Why would Derek tell me to tell you that?” Isaac asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.
“He told me the same thing. It’s why he keeps leaving things at my house. Said my constant movements and talking relaxed him for some weird reason. Maybe you got that from him when he bit you.”
“I don’t think so.” Isaac said, shaking his head as they pulled up to the station. “If that were the case, I’m sure I’d be a lot more angry and brooding.”
“No, I think that’s a Hale family trait.” Stiles countered, getting out. “Well, it’s been weird, truly.” He grinned when Isaac snorted, grinning at him.
“Yeah, thanks for the ride, man. I’ll see you around.” Isaac waved and walked off in the opposite direction of the station.
“This summer just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Stiles grumbled heading inside and waving at Tara, who was sitting at her desk, as he went to his dad’s office. “Yo, daddio!”
“Stiles. What brings you in? I thought you were practicing with Scott?”
“Deaton had to go out of town for a thing and Scotty’s covering the clinic. Still went and practiced, and, weirdest thing, Isaac showed up to practice with me.”
“I’m glad he’s adjusting well.” His dad said, shuffling some papers around before Stiles could see them. “Derek finally got his paperwork submitted and has full guardianship of him, approved just this week.”
“Cool, cool.” Stiles said, looking around and tapping his leg. “I’m gonna go bug some of the guys for a bit.”
“Stiles?”
“Yeah, dad?” Stiles asked, stopping at the door after he’d jumped up from his seat.
“Go easy on them, alright? Some of them are brand new, and I don’t need you scaring them away.”
“If they can’t handle me, how are they gonna handle anyone else? Like someone actually dangerous?” Stiles asked innocently.
“I’ll make sure he stays out of serious trouble.” Tara said, strolling in and handing his dad a file.
“Thanks, Tara.”
“So, Mischief, tell me how your classes are going?” She said, putting a hand on his shoulder and leading him out to her desk.
So he launched into detail about his lectures and the kids he was in class with, how several of them hated him already because he was setting the curve, again. Tara was the only one, aside from his dad, that he ever let call him Mischief anymore. He didn’t think Scott even remembered that he used to go by that name.
By the time his dad was done, there had only been three deputies handcuffed to their desks, the strobe lights going as they walked out the door. Seeing his dad laugh, though, was totally worth having to come back to the station the next day to undo it.