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"'Bye! See you back after class!" with a quick kiss, Stiles dashed out the door with a little finger wave.
"Mm,” Derek smiled slightly at his energetic partner before sneezing abruptly. “Hey, wait a min--"
The alpha whirled, nostrils flaring, question dying on his lips having already lost sight of his boyfriend. He sighed to himself, wishing Stiles wasn’t always rushing to and from him. On the other hand, he supposed that it did maximize their time together – something he appreciated. Sniffed the air delicately, he sneezed again, wondering what Stiles had put on. While it wasn’t unpleasant, Derek hated it instantly for having obliterated the traces of his own scent he’d left on his mate and for smothering Stiles’ natural one. There wasn’t anything to do about it now he supposed, he’d just have to mark his boyfriend again upon his return. Inhaling unhappily, he settled at his desk. He ought to get some work done in the meantime.
Half an hour later, the offensive scent still lingered. He tapped his pen on the desk in staccato. He could deal with this, he could. He was a grown, alpha wolf and Stiles would be back in the next half hour or so and he could push him into the shower and get the stuff off so he smelled right again. He crossed his arms. That was the plan. That was the mature, reasonable thing to do. He was a werewolf, not an animal.
The clock ticked on. Realizing he’d been grinding his teeth for the past hour, he finally gave in with a huff, slapping the desk as he arose. He’d tried his best to ignore it, he really had. His forehead lined as he concentrated, stalking the scent trail from his study to the kitchen. Well, Stiles apparently had managed to swipe something to snack on on his way out. Not that he wouldn’t come back and raid the kitchen before dinner anyways. Catching the trail again, he bounded up the stairs, following his nose to their bedroom. He growled. It was stronger here.
Spotting Stiles’ overnight bag, he debated seconds too late whether his mate was going to the protest the privacy invasion. A deep inhale proved it wasn’t the source and the lungful of pure Stiles calmed him a little. Another breath allowed him to determine that whatever it was had been applied nearby though. His nose itched. At least the clothes in the bag were relatively untainted. Though tempted to just bury his face in them and curl up in bed, he’d been irritated too long by the mystery to give up.
Derek made a slow circle, spotting nothing. He tended towards unscented items and Stiles had been distracted away from unpacking last night. Really, the only rooms they’d used were the bedroom and...the washroom. Intent, he checked the adjoining room. Mystery solved.
Sitting innocently on the countertop was a bottle of baby powder. Goddamn baby powder. Where Stiles had even found it was a puzzle. Derek certainly hadn’t bought it. He twisted the lid to confirm and sneezed twice as the fine powder puffed into the air. Ugh. He remembered why it smelled familiar now; he’d hated it even as a kid.
~*~
Derek made a face as he drew closer to his newborn sister. While fascinated by the daily rituals and attention given to her, he tried to avoid the smell of the powder his mother used on her. He’d already had a discussion with his mother as to why people said it was unscented when he could smell it and paralleled it to the claim that water was tasteless when it did have a taste. Maybe it was one of those adult things. For now however, he was resigned to accepting the baby powder smell as a necessity.
“You’ll get used to it someday Derek,” Talia smiled down at her son. He looked as cute as a button with his nose wrinkled up in distaste. “Maybe you’ll grow to like it.”
“Never. When I have my own place, that stuff’s going to be exiled,” he replied with all the certainty of an adult in a child. Talia laughed so hard she nearly dropped the bottle.
~*~
Well, this was his house now. Aside from nostalgia, there was no reason to keep the stuff around, he still wasn’t quite sure what it was good for really. It was time to make good on the vow he’d made years ago. Clutching the container, an irrational thought occurred as he was about to drop it into the garbage. Just being tossing it in the trash was too easy an end for such a long-lived nemesis. Were it alive, he’d probably choke the life from it or tear it to shreds. Well, that was doable wasn’t it?
Derek began to squeeze the bottle, malicious glee spreading over his face. It was ridiculous, but kind of fun. He shook the bottle like he was trying to wring its neck. Too late, he realized the top was still set as open as white puffs shot into the air. Horrified, he tried to drop it while averting his face. It was counterproductive. In his panic, his hands had shifted into claws which punctured the plastic and every movement caused more powder to spill from the top and the new holes. It tumbled down his hands, layering onto the floor and countertop.
Hands wrenching free, he has a split second of success, before the severed bottle releases its contents. An avalanche of baby powder tumbles out. Clouds blossom before turning the counter into a white wasteland. The bottle hit the trash, nearly devoid of its former contents.
In a silent moment, Derek takes in the devastation. His nose twitches. He sneezes. Anger builds at the unintentional mess. How stupid was he to have wrecked the bottle instead of just throwing it into the bin? He sneezes again. But his foe is defeated. He begins to grin wildly. He’s won. Then he sneezes again.
Derek roars, wolfing out, clawed hands swiping powder into the air in a show of defiance. He will not let the powder win. It won’t irritate his nose ever again!
“Hey,” Stiles rounded the doorway. Taken aback, his mouth continued. “-ya Derek! What’s going on?”
Derek freezes. Helpfully, his wolf state doesn’t really allow for blushing though embarrassment at the picture he must make is beginning to dawn. Whatever. His house. And this was all Stiles’ fault anyways. He turned his head to meet Stiles and growled out before stalking out of the room. “Baby powder is not allowed in my house.”
“Yo Derek aren’t you going to clean this mess up? You are one weird wolf, man,” perplexed, Stiles called after him. He yelped as Derek doubled back to drag him along.
“Later. Shower. Now.” Derek cut off any further complaints with a hard kiss. His mate was going to smell like him again and that was that.
Cleaning up the baby powder later, he’d realize a round 2 was required. At least Stiles didn’t make that a hardship.