Work Text:
"Checkmate," Daniel says as he hits Jackson's queen with his bishop with a smirk on his face.
"Shit --" Jackson says, louder than he intended.
"Jackson..." Stiles reprimands him from where he’s lying on the sofa, surfing the internet on his iPad.
"Okay, sorry," Jackson says, looking at Stiles from the table of the living room. Their eyes meet and there's a smirk on Stiles's face. He obviously knows what he's thinking -that Daniel must hear worse things at school every day- but he still doesn't like it when he says certain words in front of him.
When Jackson looks back in front of him, Daniel looks very proud of himself.
"Dad, your game was good, but you need to improve your defense. You focus too much on the attack. It's okay to create a threat, but you also need to guard and protect your more important pieces... otherwise, you're giving your opponent a big advantage."
"Guard and protect?" Jackson asks, raising his eyebrows.
"Who are you and what have you done with my nine years old kid?"
Jackson can hear Stiles snort in amusement as Daniel rolls his eyes dramatically.
"That's how you call it, dad," Daniel says matter-of-factly.
"I know that's how you call it. I'm just surprised that you know how to call it. Derek is doing an awesome job... that's for sure," Jackson admits, because he has lost more matches than he's won since Derek started to teach him how to play.
"Derek is a great teacher. I like playing with him... He thinks I'm clever, y'know... He says if I practice I can be a great chess player," Daniel says with obvious pride in his voice.
"Of course you're clever, don't we tell you that too?"
"I know..." Daniel admits, looking at the chess board.
Of course, it's not the same if Derek says it. Somehow, Derek saying it makes it official... makes it more true, because Daniel has always had a special connection to him and he adores him.
"I love playing with you too,” Daniel says seriously.
"Sure..." Jackson says dryly.
"Derek wins all the time..." Daniel smirks.
Jackson hears a muffled laugh from the other side of the living room.
"You're a smartass... If you are saying that hoping that I'll change my mind, the answer is still no. You're not going to that camping trip and that's final."
"But why not?" Daniel whines. "All my class is going. Andrea is going. They're my friends, and I want to go too! I need to go!"
"You know perfectly well why. How many times do we need to tell you that there's a full moon on the 30th? We can't risk it. It's too dangerous for you and everybody else. Daniel, you have to understand, anything could happen. It'd be totally irresponsible to let you go," Jackson says seriously.
"Didn't you ask Derek when you were at his house yesterday?" Jackson decides to try another angle. "What did he say?"
Daniel bites his lip and looks at the chess board again to avoid Jackson.
"He's not my father," Daniel says seriously.
"But he is your alpha. So, what. Did. He. Say?" Jackson repeats, stressing every word.
Daniel sighs and shakes his head. "He said it was too dangerous. He said I couldn't go," he admits reluctantly.
"Then why are you asking me again?" Jackson raises his eyebrows.
"Because he's not my father," Daniel repeats, "You are, and if you let me go, Derek can't say anything about it."
Jackson snorts and wonders why Stiles hasn't said anything yet.
"What if you change in the middle of the woods all by yourself, then what?"
"Dad, that's not gonna happen! You're teaching me and I'm stronger now! I can control it next time, I know I can! You have to trust me, okay?" Daniel whines.
"Trust has nothing to do with it and you know it. Your father and I, we trust you with a lot of things because we know you're mature enough to handle them... but this is just not one of those things. You cannot handle this, you aren't there yet and that's okay, you don't have to be. And I know Derek has told you the same thing... even if yes, he's not your father, I got that."
Daniel doesn't reply but the angry look he's giving him makes Jackson uneasy, wondering if he's using the right words to convince his son that going to the woods that weekend is certainly a terrible idea.
"Aren't you going to say anything? Your kid is being impossible!" Jackson says, looking at Stiles.
Stiles sighs, lowers the iPad, and meets Jackson’s eyes. "What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know." Jackson shakes his head and waves his arms. "Anything?"
Stiles sighs, sits up straight and leaves the iPad on the sofa before he gets up and walks to stand next to the table. He rests his left hand on Jackson’s shoulder, squeezing lightly.
"Daniel, what happened the last time there was a full moon?"
"That's not fair!" Daniel whines again.
"Just tell us, what happened?" Stiles waves his right arm.
Daniel sighs and looks away from his parents.
"I turned, okay? You happy now?" And it's obvious to both Stiles and Jackson that it hurts him to admit it.
"Exactly," Stiles nods. "Daniel, we agreed that if you turned... if you couldn't control it, you were not going. And it was what? Almost a month ago? Do you really think that anything is gonna be different this time? You're too young, Baby. You're not ready."
Stiles comes closer to Daniel and runs the fingers of his right hand through his hair before resting it against the back of his head. "It's not easy. I know that and your dad knows that even better than me. You need to be patient and you'll get there, okay?"
"Besides, even if we wanted, Derek is your alpha and he has the final word. We just happen to agree with him this time," Jackson says as calmly as possible.
"This is so not fair... Being a werewolf sucks!" Daniel says, getting up suddenly and moving away from the table. "Why can't I be human like you?" Daniel shouts angrily at Stiles. "Why do I have to be a wolf like dad? Why?" he says loudly again as tears appear in his eyes.
"I hate it! I hate being a werewolf! I wanna be like Andrea!" Daniel says, waving his arms.
"I could go camping with my friends and instead I'm stuck here with you! Why do you have to ruin everything?" He shouts one more time as tears are falling down his cheeks, before turning around and climbing the stairs quickly towards his room.
"Daniel! Come back here right now! Daniel!" Jackson says, getting up and heading towards the stairs as well.
Stiles grabs his right arm in time and squeezes it briefly to stop him.
"Wait, Jackson. That's okay, leave him alone. Let him calm down for a few minutes." Stiles runs his hand along Jackson's arm soothingly before resting it on his shoulder.
"He'll get over it. He doesn't think what he said... you know that." Stiles moves closer to Jackson and hugs him as he runs his right hand along Jackson's back, hoping to comfort him, because even if he doesn't say it, he knows it hurts him deeply. He knows Jackson feels guilty when he says that because in a really twisted way, he feels responsible.
Jackson hugs him back, rests his chin on Stiles's shoulder and Stiles can feel him breathing in his scent deeply before he starts to relax in his arms.