Ficlet: The Dangers of Laughter
Author: tryslora
Title: The Dangers of Laughter
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Stiles/Jackson, implied Isaac/Derek/OFC
Character/s: Stiles, Jackson, Isaac, OCs
Summary: When Isaac brings the girls over for Nikki to babysit, Jackson’s laughter reminds Stiles just how good he is with kids.
Warnings: past divorce, angst, OCs
Submission Type: ficlet
Word Count: 1000 on the nose
Prompt: #58 - Laughter
Author's Notes: It’s funny, I didn’t even need to really think about it this week. I let it percolate for a day, and I knew I’d be writing this for the prompt. This series (All Our Yesterdays, if you’d like to read the rest of it) needed a little laughter injected into it! As always, I do not own the world nor characters of Teen Wolf, I just like to play with them.
It’s the laughter that pulls Stiles from his slumber, slipping into his dreams and begging him to come see what’s happening. After a week at home, he still sleeps more than he is awake, and his bed is still in the study because he can’t easily manage the stairs. But he can pee on his own now, and if he moves slowly he can lean against the walls and manage to get around the house.
Showers are still tricky; he and Jackson try not to talk during them. Or look at each other.
It’s awkward, but it’s been nice knowing his ex-husband still has his back.
He wants to know what’s making Jackson laugh now.
Stiles pushes himself to his feet, wobbling slightly before he shoves his feet into his slippers. He walks with a slide in his step, careful movements, terribly slow but they get him where he’s going. The laughter pauses, and he knows they can hear him coming. There are more voices now that he’s listening-Jackson and Isaac and Nikki, along with a collection of children.
Nikki must be babysitting tonight.
They go quiet when he pauses in the doorway. Nikki is sprawled across the couch, her head in Caleb’s lap at one end, her feet propped on Isaac at the other. The baby lies on her chest, perfectly content and asleep while she strokes its back. Her gaze flicks to Stiles, then back to where Jackson lies on the floor, apparently being a jungle gym for the girls. He is lying on his back with his feet up, Isaac’s daughter flying like an airplane with his feet against her stomach while he holds her arms wide. Derek’s older girls are climbing him, teasing at each other and him, while Jackson laughs.
Something about it twists in Stiles’s gut; he’d forgotten how much Jackson loved playing with Nikki. It had been strange, because Stiles was the more relaxed of the two but it was Jackson who loved to get down on the floor with kids when Caleb and Nikki were small.
He misses those days, and wishes that Jackson had been there for the times that he’d missed.
“I should be going. Athene and Derek are waiting for me.” Isaac pushes to his feet and holds out his arms. Jackson relinquishes the girls to hug him while Nikki manages to somehow get off the sofa without waking the child she holds.
“I’ll take care of them and I’ll see you later.” She leans up on her tip-toes and Isaac has to bend to let her kiss his cheek. “No later than 2am. You promise, right?”
“It was once, Nikki,” Isaac protests.
She raises an eyebrow and it reminds Stiles sharply of Lydia. “Three times, actually. One of these days you’re just going to bring over a pack-n-play and leave them here all night. It might be simpler.”
“Take the girls upstairs.” Stiles motions and Nikki goes, giving him a worried look until he tells her, “It’s all right. Having the girls here isn’t a problem. Just head on up so I don’t trip over anyone. I’m not too steady yet.”
Jackson waits until everyone else is out of the room and Isaac has left the house before he comes to his feet. He puts an arm at Stiles’s back and Stiles leans against him, grateful for the support to get to the couch so he can sit.
“I take it this happens often?”
“Sometimes they like to have some time alone.” Stiles doesn’t question what’s going on with Isaac, Derek, and Athene. It’s not his business, and he doesn’t mind Nikki taking the girls off their hands for an evening. “I forgot how good you are with kids.”
“There’s a reason Angie loves me.” Jackson smirks. “I’m not as good as Isaac, though.”
“Do you ever think about having more?” The question slips out and Stiles blames the injuries and lack of strength for his filter being undone, even after a week of healing.
Jackson rolls his eyes. “How? I don’t have a wife, or a girlfriend. I’m a single father. They don’t tend to give out children to people like me.”
“You have money.”
“I’m not going to buy a child.” Jackson gives him a look. “Before we split, I’d figured we’d adopt more together. Once we figured out how it all worked with our surprise child. We just never got there.”
They still could.
Stiles manages to catch the thought before it escapes, swallowing the words down and coughing over the taste. They aren’t married. They aren’t even together, and getting together isn’t an option. Not now. Not even if he has begun to forgive. “No,” he says quietly. “We didn’t.”
“You didn’t do it on your own, either,” Jackson points out quietly.
Stiles shrugs. “I considered it. But me and Nikki… we worked on our own. I couldn’t imagine bringing someone else into the mix and trying to split my time. The whole single-parent, one child thing is a familiar ratio for me.”
His chest aches, and he rubs at it idly, pushing Jackson’s hand away when he silently offers to take the pain. “Stop it,” Stiles mutters. “I’m getting better. I don’t want to become dependent on painkillers or wolf tactics.”
“Stay here.” Jackson pats Stiles’s shoulder as he stands. “I’ll bring dinner in. I was going to wake you up soon, anyway.”
Stiles leans back and closes his eyes. He hears Jackson’s footsteps pause at the door to the kitchen. Jackson’s voice is low when he says, “If I had the chance, I’d adopt more. Or foster. Little wolflings that need a home, maybe.”
Wolflings sounds like something Stiles would say. Or maybe did say, once upon a time.
He doesn’t have a response for that, so he just makes a low noise and Jackson leaves the room.
It’s too easy. And he wants to hear Jackson laughing like that again.
Laughter is a dangerous thing.
Title: The Dangers of Laughter
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Stiles/Jackson, implied Isaac/Derek/OFC
Character/s: Stiles, Jackson, Isaac, OCs
Summary: When Isaac brings the girls over for Nikki to babysit, Jackson’s laughter reminds Stiles just how good he is with kids.
Warnings: past divorce, angst, OCs
Submission Type: ficlet
Word Count: 1000 on the nose
Prompt: #58 - Laughter
Author's Notes: It’s funny, I didn’t even need to really think about it this week. I let it percolate for a day, and I knew I’d be writing this for the prompt. This series (All Our Yesterdays, if you’d like to read the rest of it) needed a little laughter injected into it! As always, I do not own the world nor characters of Teen Wolf, I just like to play with them.
It’s the laughter that pulls Stiles from his slumber, slipping into his dreams and begging him to come see what’s happening. After a week at home, he still sleeps more than he is awake, and his bed is still in the study because he can’t easily manage the stairs. But he can pee on his own now, and if he moves slowly he can lean against the walls and manage to get around the house.
Showers are still tricky; he and Jackson try not to talk during them. Or look at each other.
It’s awkward, but it’s been nice knowing his ex-husband still has his back.
He wants to know what’s making Jackson laugh now.
Stiles pushes himself to his feet, wobbling slightly before he shoves his feet into his slippers. He walks with a slide in his step, careful movements, terribly slow but they get him where he’s going. The laughter pauses, and he knows they can hear him coming. There are more voices now that he’s listening-Jackson and Isaac and Nikki, along with a collection of children.
Nikki must be babysitting tonight.
They go quiet when he pauses in the doorway. Nikki is sprawled across the couch, her head in Caleb’s lap at one end, her feet propped on Isaac at the other. The baby lies on her chest, perfectly content and asleep while she strokes its back. Her gaze flicks to Stiles, then back to where Jackson lies on the floor, apparently being a jungle gym for the girls. He is lying on his back with his feet up, Isaac’s daughter flying like an airplane with his feet against her stomach while he holds her arms wide. Derek’s older girls are climbing him, teasing at each other and him, while Jackson laughs.
Something about it twists in Stiles’s gut; he’d forgotten how much Jackson loved playing with Nikki. It had been strange, because Stiles was the more relaxed of the two but it was Jackson who loved to get down on the floor with kids when Caleb and Nikki were small.
He misses those days, and wishes that Jackson had been there for the times that he’d missed.
“I should be going. Athene and Derek are waiting for me.” Isaac pushes to his feet and holds out his arms. Jackson relinquishes the girls to hug him while Nikki manages to somehow get off the sofa without waking the child she holds.
“I’ll take care of them and I’ll see you later.” She leans up on her tip-toes and Isaac has to bend to let her kiss his cheek. “No later than 2am. You promise, right?”
“It was once, Nikki,” Isaac protests.
She raises an eyebrow and it reminds Stiles sharply of Lydia. “Three times, actually. One of these days you’re just going to bring over a pack-n-play and leave them here all night. It might be simpler.”
“Take the girls upstairs.” Stiles motions and Nikki goes, giving him a worried look until he tells her, “It’s all right. Having the girls here isn’t a problem. Just head on up so I don’t trip over anyone. I’m not too steady yet.”
Jackson waits until everyone else is out of the room and Isaac has left the house before he comes to his feet. He puts an arm at Stiles’s back and Stiles leans against him, grateful for the support to get to the couch so he can sit.
“I take it this happens often?”
“Sometimes they like to have some time alone.” Stiles doesn’t question what’s going on with Isaac, Derek, and Athene. It’s not his business, and he doesn’t mind Nikki taking the girls off their hands for an evening. “I forgot how good you are with kids.”
“There’s a reason Angie loves me.” Jackson smirks. “I’m not as good as Isaac, though.”
“Do you ever think about having more?” The question slips out and Stiles blames the injuries and lack of strength for his filter being undone, even after a week of healing.
Jackson rolls his eyes. “How? I don’t have a wife, or a girlfriend. I’m a single father. They don’t tend to give out children to people like me.”
“You have money.”
“I’m not going to buy a child.” Jackson gives him a look. “Before we split, I’d figured we’d adopt more together. Once we figured out how it all worked with our surprise child. We just never got there.”
They still could.
Stiles manages to catch the thought before it escapes, swallowing the words down and coughing over the taste. They aren’t married. They aren’t even together, and getting together isn’t an option. Not now. Not even if he has begun to forgive. “No,” he says quietly. “We didn’t.”
“You didn’t do it on your own, either,” Jackson points out quietly.
Stiles shrugs. “I considered it. But me and Nikki… we worked on our own. I couldn’t imagine bringing someone else into the mix and trying to split my time. The whole single-parent, one child thing is a familiar ratio for me.”
His chest aches, and he rubs at it idly, pushing Jackson’s hand away when he silently offers to take the pain. “Stop it,” Stiles mutters. “I’m getting better. I don’t want to become dependent on painkillers or wolf tactics.”
“Stay here.” Jackson pats Stiles’s shoulder as he stands. “I’ll bring dinner in. I was going to wake you up soon, anyway.”
Stiles leans back and closes his eyes. He hears Jackson’s footsteps pause at the door to the kitchen. Jackson’s voice is low when he says, “If I had the chance, I’d adopt more. Or foster. Little wolflings that need a home, maybe.”
Wolflings sounds like something Stiles would say. Or maybe did say, once upon a time.
He doesn’t have a response for that, so he just makes a low noise and Jackson leaves the room.
It’s too easy. And he wants to hear Jackson laughing like that again.
Laughter is a dangerous thing.