Im Gonna Raise The Stakes; Im Gonna Smoke You Out ~Ch.2~
Chapter Two:
Stiles went over to Derek’s the next morning at a much more reasonable hour. It was definitely a term to his agreement with Derek. No calling Stiles before 9am. He doesn’t get to Derek’s until 1030 but for the first time he isn’t greeted and glared to death before he can leave his car, so he walks up to the door, hesitates, and then walks right in. Derek can’t get mad, I mean they are supposed to be mates now and that’s what mates do right? Oh how the hell should he know.
Stiles finds Derek in the kitchen and he’s making breakfast. Wow, domestic Derek is definitely not something he thought he would see. And he never realized that Derek had electricity. He’s not quite sure why he didn’t think he would but he realized Derek can’t actually live like the caveman he impersonates so well. There’s also the fact that Derek probably wouldn’t like lighting fires in his home. For obvious reasons.
“Wow that smells delicious. What’s cookin good lookin?” huh. Why did he say that? Well I guess it’s true. He does pull off a black t-shirt better that Stiles ever will. Maybe better than anyone ever will. That’s probably a bit dramatic but only a little bit. He’s just going to assume he’s becoming too comfortable around the creepy, formerly suspected of murder, werewolf.
Derek just glances at him and raises an eyebrow. “Apple Cinnamon Panacakes.”
“Oooooo, is there enough for two?” Stiles makes it quite obvious that he wants some just so there’s no miscommunication that could cost him food that smells THAT good.
“Of course there’s enough for two. How much do you think I eat?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know how much it takes to power an Alpha werewolf. But mostly I was just hoping.” Ohh he really was.
As they ate the breakfast in companionable silence Stiles began to wonder what they were going to be doing today. It was quite difficult for him not to know what to expect but there was only so much you can learn from Google. Apparently werewolves don’t like to keep very good public records. Whodathunk? Oh my god. What if this is like, just endless kissing and, you know, other stuff. No, that can’t happen! He hasn’t even gone to second base yet. His heartbeat began to pick up considerably and it seemed almost impossible for Derek not to notice. He definitely could not imagine going there with a guy, let alone Derek hale. Right? ... I mean right.
“Stiles, are you going to have a panic attack or something?” Derek didn’t even look worried about that. He just looked mildly curious. Yep, only mildly. Maybe he didn’t actually think that it was a possibility. Or maybe he wouldn’t really care if it was. The last one was more likely.
“No. I was just … thinking.” Don’t ask what I was thinking about. Please.
“About what?” Fuck. Ummmmm.
“What are we doing today?” That seems to have answered Derek’s question because the glare is back in place. He doesn’t even know why he gets glared at so much. Truthfully, he’s over caring because Derek would just sigh or roll his eyes. Or just glare some more. He really is a man of few words, although this whole ordeal seemed to open him up a bit.
“We’re just going to talk Stiles. We need to get to know each other better so we can be prepared for any situation. This is the first step in making them believe we’re mates.” Stiles doesn’t even want to think of what the second step might be. So he’ll just focus on the task at hand; having a conversation with Derek Hale.
“Ok so what do you want to talk about first?” Stiles hopes that Derek has a plan because he would have no idea where to start. He has so many questions about him.
“Well mostly we need to know things about each other that other people wouldn’t know. We need to prove that we rely on each other and trust each other more than anyone else.” The funny thing is that Stiles really does trust Derek. Maybe not more than his dad or Scott but he’s up there. Which is weird seeing how many times Derek threatens him or throws him against things.
“I don’t like lacrosse.” What? Stiles didn’t know why he said that. He’s never told anybody that. “I don’t know why I sad that…”
“Why do you play it if you don’t enjoy it?”
“Mostly, because I want to make people happy. Like Scott and my dad. Me and Scott I have always been inseparable. Sorry, we ‘were’ always inseparable,” Derek actually seemed empathetic at the moment. It encouraging on. “When Scott said he was going out for the team I thought it might be a good way to make my dad proud. He never said as much but I always felt like he expected more from me. But the A.D.D. makes certain things difficult. Sometimes I can’t concentrate enough to get the marks he thinks I should get. So when I got a different kind of opportunity I took it. I never expected to be on the bench the whole time but I should have. Scott was always just as horrible so I didn’t feel too bad about it. But of course you know how that changed.”
“Is that why you were so excited about making first line?”
“Yeah. That and Jackson has been an ass to me for years and he never thought I would do it. So it was nice to rub that in his face.” Stiles got a smug look on his face but Derek still looked like he was contemplating what was just said to him.
“I made you miss your game.” It was a fact but it almost sounded like an apology. Stiles didn’t want him to feel guilty about it. What happened just happened. It wasn’t anybody’s fault but Crazy Uncle Peter.
“There were more important things than a lacrosse game going on that night.” Stiles just really wanted to keep this from being awkward so he moved on from that topic. “Ok, so what I want to know is what you do during the day. With you I gotta start from basics because I know absolutely nothing about you. How is that fair? I’ll tell you. It’s not. And mates would know things such as what you like to do when you’re not threatening or maiming.”
“I almost lost track of the question in all that rambling.” Derek looked amused other than annoyed for once. He was probably just making fun of him or something. “When you guys aren’t here complaining and expressing all your teen angst, I’m usually reading. Sometimes I’m working out or fixing the place up a bit.” What seriously? He can’t really expect Stiles to believe that he’s done work on this place.
“I want to know something about you that nobody else knows. That can’t be too difficult.” Stiles expects Derek to just blow off the question by answering but not the way Stiles wants him to. Instead Derek shows a little bit of vulnerability before he starts.
“Ok. Well, nobody knows that I talk to my mother every night before I go to sleep.” Derek looks to Stiles as if trying to gauge his reaction and he’s pretty sure what Derek is seeing there is shock. Not at what he said but that he actually opened up to him and told him something like that. “So do I.” Stiles whispers not looking at Derek directly.
“What is something that nobody knows about you?” Derek seems to want to move the subject away from dead family members and Stiles has to say he’s relieved.
“I already told you something nobody else knows. Why do I have to tell you two?”
“Because they are gunna want to know why I chose you, of all people, as my mate.” Derek was looking at Stiles like this was supposed to be obvious. Which was quite insulting.
“Fine then. Umm.” Stiles decided to tell the first secret that popped into his head which he probably should have thought through because it wasn’t exactly something he should tell anybody. Especially Derek. “I Love One direction. Yep, I bought their CD online and I know every song. I listen to them when no one’s home and I run around the house like Tom Cruise in Risky Business.” What!?! Why did he say that. No, no, no. oh god. Derek’s looking at him like a crazy person.
“Seriously. That’s what you come up with? Of all things? I just have to ask why in the world that would make the Alpha of a werewolf pack believe that you are my mate?”
“Well I don’t know! It was the first thing that popped into my head. And sometimes I lack the proper filters for serious kinds of conversation. Or really any kind of conversation. But hey, how do you know that he doesn’t have the one direction infection?” That was a long shot but 1D is good godammit! But I doubt Derek will ever think so. “You can’t say you don’t listen to any kind of popular music. I’m sure there is just some secret Britney obsession under the surface of that cold wolfy exterior.”
“Really Stiles? I try and keep my Pop music to a minimum. And the other Alpha has an infection but it’s definitely not for a British boy band in tight pants. More like cancer.” Their pants were quite tight. Not in a bad way. They looked comfortable enough. Wait! Did he say the alpha has cancer?
“What? Cancer? Aren’t werewolves supposed to have immunities to things like that?”
“We are immune to most human diseases but we became the way we are by a mutation of cells. The same thing happens with Cancer.”
“I know Exactly what happens. And Mutated cells makes it sound pleasant.” This was a really sore spot for Stiles and he really didn’t want to go into it. But that wasn’t the point of today was it. He was really beginning to hate this. Even more than before.
“Your mom?”
“Yah. Pancreatic. The symptoms didn’t show up until later and it ended up being too late to stop it. Not too late to avoid the pain, muscle spasms and nausea. My parents tried to keep me away near the end but there was only so much they could hide from me.” Stiles really didn’t want to talk about this anymore and it seemed that Derek picked up on this and actually helped him out by moving on.
“Well that’s why all this has been moved forward so suddenly. The alpha is dying and he wants to join the packs because he thinks his own pack isn’t capable enough to stay out of trouble and out of the sights of the hunters. But they won’t just pledge their loyalties to me for no reason. Hence, the marriage to one of the alphas favourite daughters among the pack.” Well it was nice finally understanding why this was happening no matter that it hit a little close to home.
“I think that’s enough for now. I told Lydia I would train with her today.” Derek started to clean up the table and Stiles helped however he could. When they were done something occurred to Stiles that he forgot to ask.
“Derek? If you’re fixing this place up why does it still look like its falling apart?” Today has apparently made him brave. Derek just looked at him. Actually, he looked through him. Stiles seemed to have hit one of Derek’s own sore spots on this one.
“If I… If I actually fix this place up I won’t have a constant reminder of what happened and how it was my fault. I won’t be reminded every day that the only thing that letting someone get that close to me can do is cause pain.” For the first time since Stiles has gotten there the cold exterior returned to Derek and Stiles knew that he should be leaving. Somehow he always managed to put his foot in his mouth and mess everything up. Too bad, because he was actually starting to enjoy this new open Derek.