Work Text:
When Daniel comes from school, he finds Stiles in the living room waiting for him.
"Hey dad!" he says, heading to his room to leave his stuff there.
"Hey, wait. Come here." Stiles says from the sofa. "I want to ask you something," Daniel hears before he has a chance to get to the stairs.
Daniel sighs and takes a seat in the armchair, leaving his bag and jacket behind him.
"What's up?" Daniel asks.
"What's up is can you tell me what's this?" Stiles says grabbing a bunch of arrows he had left on the sofa next to him.
"Umm... arrows?" Daniel says raising his eyebrows.
"Don't be a smartass. I know what they are. But what were they doing in your room?"
"'Cause they are mine?" Daniel says matter-of-factly.
"Yours? And how are these yours exactly? Why do you have this stuff?" Stiles asks, waving his arms.
"Dad, they are just arrows, okay? It’s not like I have a gun..." Daniel says, waving his arms.
"I don't care." Stiles says, because it just bothers him that his son has stuff that he didn't know about. "You're only ten and it is a weapon. You can hurt somebody with this shit. It's not a toy. And it was on your shelf... You brother could have grabbed it and hurt himself. You cannot just leave these things around. That's just irresponsible..." Stiles sighs. "Who gave these to you anyway?"
"Andrea. She's teaching me to shoot."
"She's teaching you?" Stiles frowns. "Since when?"
"Since Sunday. When I went to her house. She was practicing and I told her I'd like to learn and she offered. That's all."
"And okay," Daniel continues. "I'm sorry I left them around. I can see how that wasn't smart. I'll keep them safe from now on. I promise."
"And why didn't you tell me? You need to tell us this stuff... You can't just do whatever you want. I... I thought you knew that by now." Stiles is surprised to say the least. It might not be a secret but he likes to know what his son does.
"I told dad, okay? He knew she gave them to me when he picked me up."
"He did?" Stiles waves his right arm.
"I just told you." Daniel shakes his head. Sometimes he thinks that his dad doesn't listen to him. "He said he'd tell you. If he hasn't, that's not my fault."
Shit. What the hell is wrong with his husband?
"Okay, fine." He'll talk to him when he gets home. "And why... why do you want to learn?" Stiles asks confused.
"Why?" Daniel raises his eyebrows. "Why not?" Daniel says matter-of-factly.
"It's..." Stiles hesitates. "It's just..."
"'Cause I'm a werewolf I can't learn to shoot an arrow? It's that what you are saying?"
And yeah, maybe he didn't say it but somehow that's what he was thinking at first. Somehow his brain associates arrows with hunters and hunters hunt werewolves. That's what he's always seen.
"That's stupid, dad."
"Okay, first of all, you don't call your dad stupid, and second of all, I never said that."
"No, but you were thinking it."
"I wasn't..." Stiles shakes his head. Sometimes his son just gets on his nerves.
"The fact is your father has been shot by arrows. He was hurt, okay? They are weapons."
"God, dad, I know that! But he healed and that was years ago. I wasn't even born yet! If I learn, it's just another way to defend myself if I need to. But it's just for fun... I'm not planning on using it against anybody. That's not why I want to learn."
"Besides," Daniel runs his hand through his hair exactly in the same way that Jackson does. "Dad said it was okay. So, if he doesn't mind..."
Yeah, the Whittemore's logic, he knows about it all too well.
"Yeah, I'll talk to your father later. And, I'm not saying you can't learn, I never said that. I'm sure Andrea is a good teacher and I'm not against archery... like, in general, you know..."
"Yep, you're only against archery used against wolves, I get that. You don't have to be a genius to get that," Daniel smirks and that's Jackson's smirk and it makes Stiles smile because his son is smart and he knows him and Jackson pretty well. Not to mention that he usually knows the right thing to say and that's not fair.
"So can I eat something now or do you have more questions?"
"No, not a question. Just, don't mention it to your brother and keep these out of sight. I don't want him wanting to imitate you just yet, okay? He's too young for this thing."
"Fine. Yeah, no problem." Daniel says, nodding as he gets up and heads to the kitchen.
"Got you those strawberry cookies you like... and chocolate milk." Stiles says.
"Sweet!" He hears Daniel say.
"It's in the fridge." Stiles adds, smiling, getting up to follow his son.
"Got it!" Daniel replies louder from the kitchen.