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Stiles’ phone rang, the Spice Girls ringtone cutting through the comfortable silence in the kitchen. “You miss me already?”
It was the full moon tonight. On some full moons, Stiles would spend time back home in the Stilinski residence. Not that he needed to. Humans could stay near the pack during full moon. From what John understood, all in the Hale pack had their wolves in control for a good few years already.
Still, it was nice that Stiles decided to come home once in a while. It’s an appreciated gesture.
The sheriff waved his hand, motioning for Stiles to get out of the kitchen. It could be pack-related, therefore, important. Stiles mouthed “thanks, Dad” as he turned to leave.
They were just going to heat up dinner anyway, no need for the two of them to be there at the moment.
“So, about your request,” Stiles said as he made his way to the door, “I found some interesting positions we could try out.”
Huh.
No need to know what that’s about.
-
“Good afternoon, Sheriff!” Isaac greeted as John arrived in front of the Hale house. “Hello, Isaac.” John noticed there were a few stains and holes on the shirt Isaac was wearing. Isaac just grinned at him and shrugged his shoulders, “It’s an old shirt.”
Nothing to worry about then.
It was the day after the full moon. Per unspoken agreement between him and Melissa, they bring food for the pack every after full moon.
It was his turn this month.
“Wow, Sheriff! You got us pizza!” Scott ran towards them from the side of the house, moved in, and got some of the pizza boxes John carried with him. Isaac followed suit, getting the remaining boxes. “Hello to you too, Scott.”
"Thanks for the food!" Scott turned back and made his way to the house. Isaac and John followed him in. "So, how was the night?" John asked Isaac. "It was okay. We ran around the property to tire ourselves out a little."
Howls suddenly cut through the air. John readied himself.
"Don’t worry, Sheriff. The others are out training." Isaac assured him.
“And Stiles?”
"Training with Derek." Isaac answered.
"They’re upstairs." Scott added.
After Scott and Isaac left to call the others, John went through the hallway to go up the stairs. If Stiles were training though... All the training equipment were downstairs. (Well, at least that’s what he remembered from Derek’s tour of the newly renovated Hale place.) So why did-
“It’s hard-”
“Derek, stop!”
“Stop moving your legs.”
“No! Wait, Derek! I-”
There was a loud thud.
“You’re the one who wanted to do this, Stiles.”
The wooden floorboards squeaked. John froze in place.
“Yeah I know, I know. It’s just that-”
He heard footsteps.
“It’s more difficult than I thought.”
Silence followed. John took a tentative step upwards. It was odd that Derek didn’t notice his presence yet. As of the moment, he couldn’t decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Stiles, stop squirming.”
“I’m not squirming!”
“I can’t get the pace right if you keep on moving.”
“I’m not!”
John was just four steps away from the top. He didn’t know if he should continue for his own sake.
“Ahh, Derek!”
There was another loud thud. After a beat, movement seemed to resume. There was more squeaking.
“Don’t grip my shoulders.”
He shook his head and just decided to leave.
“Well give me a warning, oh great Alpha. I’m not a seer.”
He didn’t really need visuals.
“This isn’t working.”
“Make your mind up, Stiles.”
He took a step down the stairs. He didn’t really need to know this was happening.
“Remove your shirt.”
John reminded himself that Stiles was 21 now.
“Stiles.”
His son was now a responsible adult…
“It’s harder to top you with your shirt on!”
…who received the talk twice. Twice.
“There, better?”
Derek is a werewolf who won’t hurt Stiles or anyone in the pack. The years have taught him that.
“Now get down so we can try it out.”
But… he didn’t need details.
“You gained weight.”
That was all he asked of them after they told him… well, aside from keeping themselves alive and keeping him in the loop.
“I gained muscle. Now push.”
No details. It was all John really asked for.
He took another step down, not really wanting to hear any more of their… current situation. Then he remembered the rest of the pack were currently within the Hale property. If he could hear them, then did that mean they-
His train of thought was abruptly cut when the steps decided to betray what stealth he had, creaking under his weight. After a beat, he heard footsteps rushing to the direction of the stairs.
“Dad! You’re here!”
Stiles was wearing white track pants and a loose red shirt. A few steps behind was Derek, who wore black track pants and was in the process of putting on a gray shirt as he exited one of the guest rooms. To John’s relief, both were fully clothed by the time they were in full view.
“I just thought I’d pass by. I brought a couple of pizzas,” John said as he scratched the back of his neck. “But you sounded busy and I didn’t want to… interrupt.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” Stiles moved quickly, joining John to move down the stairs together, “We were just trying new positio-”
Stiles stopped just a step shy from the ground floor as his eye opened wide. John could see the change in Stiles’ expression; what was implied had just sunk in.
“Oh my god!” Stiles’s voice became louder, “Dad! No. There was nothing of that kind for you to interrupt. I was just helping Derek with exercise, okay?” John opened his mouth to speak, but- “And by exercise, I mean actual exercise. not whatever you’re raising your eyebrow at.”
John promptly lowered the eyebrow he didn’t even notice he raised.
“Push-ups.” Derek spoke up as he made his way down the stairs. If that statement was supposed to be placating, it worked. At least, it was something that wouldn’t have mentally scarred John if he had managed to walk in on them.
And the memory of the day he bought Stiles a lock all those years ago threatened to resurface. He took a deep breath and pushed that memory away.
When Derek reached the step higher than the one Stiles was on, his son pouted at the werewolf. John could see where this was going.
“All I know is that you were both distracted.” He said in the most neutral tone he could manage. Stiles turned his attention to him. John just shrugged his shoulders. He was not judging what his adult son and boyfriend were doing. He was just stating facts.
Derek cleared his throat. “I’ll just...” He swallowed as the state of awkward went up notch, “I’ll go check on the others.” He went the opposite direction, his pace quick as he headed for the front door.
“Traitor.” Stiles muttered under his breath, sure Derek would hear it just fine.
John smirked and shook his head, “Son, it’s been almost three years.”
“I know, Dad. Wait... five not three-”
“But isn’t it uncomfortable? I mean the pack’s around while you and Derek have se-”
“Aaand cut.” Stiles’ arms flailed and his face turned red. “The pack has different privacy boundaries, yes, but no, we weren’t, and we don’t...” Stiles crossed his arms and sighed. “Now you’re just doing it on purpose.” John chuckled in response.
After a few seconds, Stiles finally decided to move to the bottom of the stairs. He wrapped an arm around John’s shoulders, “So, Dad. Pizza? Tell me you brought Hawaiian, or anything with vegetables on it.”
And just like that, Stiles seemed to disregard and forget what happened earlier. John didn’t mind that at all. “Yes, different toppings for everyone,” he said, nodding.
The two of them made their way to the kitchen. Some of the boxes were already empty; the rest of the pack seemed to make a quick meal of it. After looking at the remaining slices, there was one pizza left, consisting of two slices from each pizza John initially brought with him. Werewolves were particularly more hungry days after the full moon. “Should have I brought more?” John asked as Stiles took a slice. “What? No. This is perfect. Thanks, Dad,” Stiles grinned before taking a huge bite.
They settled in comfortable silence. John prepared glasses of water while Stiles ate pizza. There was still something John was curious about though. It was genuine and not perverse curiosity. Half of him wanted to know. The other half, well, thought knowing would probably way worse than he could imagine.
Stiles chewed the last of his slice and started drinking the glass of water. The others were still outside. John could hear howling; it seemed like they were just playing around instead of training.
But with the werewolves distracted, if he really wanted to know, it would be the perfect time to ask.
“So,” He broke the silence, “I know you were exercising earlier...”
Stiles nodded.
“But how does ‘topping’ Derek help him with his push-ups, exactly?”
Stiles choked on the water.
-
In the forest, Derek and the pack could hear a shout of “Dad!” echoing from an impressive distance.