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Derek only meets Stiles because the kid's about to be hit by a car.
He looks damn confident doing it, too. He walks straight into the street with a bravado like no other, and Derek would probably be staring in begrudging awe if there wasn't a bright yellow Hummer bolting down the street the kid's currently swaggering on.
Derek acts on instinct, running forward and catching the boy's sleeve, yanking him back just in time. The Hummer barrels by, beeping obnoxiously over the loud techno music blasting out of it. The boy stumbles over his feet, falling into Derek's chest with a muttered, "Motherfuck!"
Derek catches him, nearly knocking his chin on the back of his head, and quickly rights him.
"What the hell was that?" the kid dusts himself off exaggeratedly, fixing his red flannel shirt and glaring at Derek's jacket. Derek subtly looks at his jacket, wondering what was wrong with it. Did the kid have a problem with leather?
"I was saving your life?" Derek frowns. The kid rolls his eyes, to Derek's surprise.
"I was doing fine, I know my way around here," he says with a wave of a bony hand, and Derek takes a minute to take in the stranger's appearance. Fluffy dark hair, pale skin dotted with moles, big hazel eyes glowering at the lapels of Derek's jacket. He's about Derek's height, all long legs and skinny torso. "I didn't need your help."
"Did you want to be hit by a car?" Derek asks, indicating to the street. He feels a little exasperated. The kid doesn't even look where Derek's pointing, sighing exasperatedly and flailing his arms.
"Thank you, fair fellow," the kid bows dramatically and Derek actually can't believe what he's seeing. "My true knight in shining armor." Derek blinks. "If you'd excuse me--" he turns around, walking straight into the street again. Luckily, this time there aren't any cars, and the kid gets across safely. A guy leans out of a car driving by and yells to the kid.
"Hey Stiles!" the kid waves and the guy drives away with a whoop.
Derek just stands there because what actually just happened?
*
Derek doesn't actually realize the kid's blind until he saves the him from running into a pole the second time they meet.
He's just exiting the bookstore, purchases clutched in hand, and he sees the kid walking casually, hands stuffed in his pockets. He thinks his name is Stiles, because that's what the guy half-hanging out of the car yesterday yelled, but Stiles is a pretty odd name, even for a pretty odd guy like him.
He notices 'Stiles' is on a direct path to a telephone pole a few yards away, so naturally he rushes forward, grabbing the kid's shirt sleeve.
"Uhm, excuse me?" Stiles yanks his arm away from Derek, scowling in the air next to Derek's face. Derek waves the hand that's not holding his books towards the pole, wondering why the kid doesn't understand obstacles and insists on hitting every one while he walks.
"You were going to run into a pole," Derek says when the boy just raises a curvy eyebrow. The boy pouts out his bottom lip and Derek only gets a little distracted.
"Was I?" Stiles asks faintly, nodding a little. "Well, thank you for directing me in the right direction. You're truly my knight in shining armor." Derek's talking before he can stop himself.
"Is that your name for me now?" Derek feels his eye twitch because why can't his brain to mouth filter work at times like this? The kid really frowns this time.
"What are you..." he trails off, head tilting. "Wait, you're that guy from yesterday, aren't you?" Derek blinks.
"You don't recognize me?" the kid snorts rather loudly and Derek can't help but scowl.
"Don't think I would," Stiles chuckles, smiling a little. Derek thinks it suits him. "You... Can't tell?" Derek suddenly feels very stupid.
"Tell what?" he asks.
"I'm blind, dude." Suddenly it all makes sense, and Derek feels a blush crawling up his neck. God, he's got a fucking college degree and he's as unobservant as a plank of wood. Mind you, it's a degree in History, so it's not like he needs to work with new information like this. He works with age old documents all day. Maybe he's just making excuses.
"I-- oh." he's surprised to hear Stiles chuckle a little, smiling at his chest.
"Nah man, that's actually-- don't worry about it dude, that's actually pretty, you know, nice," the kid says. "Everyone's worrying about me just because I'm blind, it's nice you were helping me just because I was being an idiot." Derek sort of makes a weird sound in the back of his throat and blushes further.
"Yeah, uh, o-of course, uh--"
"Stiles, my name's Stiles," he holds out a hand and Derek carefully takes it. His hand is warm and bony and Derek will probably spend the next few nights writing sonnets about them.
"Derek," he manages to get out, suddenly glad the kid can't see his blush. He probably looks like a tomato. The kid holds his hand for a little longer than normal, but Derek isn't complaining.
"Well, I have to go," Stiles says, dropping Derek's hand, and Derek nods, coughing a little.
"Right, I'll, uh, see you around?" Stiles suddenly laughs, turning around.
"You will, I won't," it takes Derek a minute to get it.
"Jesus fuck--" he slaps himself in the forehead because really? But Stiles is laughing, walking away with a wave. Derek stands there and watches him disappear around the corner, taking out a white pole from his pocket, and decides he is screwed.