Title: Scarecrow
Rating: PG-13
Genre and/or Pairing: General, Derek/Stiles
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Word Count: 2472
Summary: Stiles feels like he is made of sticks and straw.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf. Which is terribly sad.
A/N: I was working on this other Teen Wolf fic (that will be posted when I have it done, clearly) when my nephew asked to see the music video to "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" and after watching that this fic demanded to be written. It's not beta'd but it has been read through by my friend Riina. I hope you enjoy this though!
{Story Time|
Stiles was glad that he had his sunglasses on, because the world was bright. Really, really bright. He feels like he's stiff, like if he had been a scarecrow. Wood for bones and straw stuffing. The straw must have replaced his brain too because it was hard to think. Really, really hard.
He was careful each time he put his foot down because he wasn't sure where the road was anymore. It was long though, seemingly going on forever. Blinking hard he lurched forward.
He didn't remember how he got where he currently was. Stiles assumed he had walked there but he couldn't be sure because there was no memory. He vaguely sees himself laying in a supine position whenever he tried to remember.
Supine.
That's a silly word.
And now Stiles really wished Derek was there so that he could touch his nose and say "boop". He giggled at the thought.
But that hurt, so he had to stop giggling.
His arm bent to cradle his stomach. Maybe if he did that it wouldn't hurt. Why was it hurting again?
Stiles didn't remember.
And he wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he didn't remember or not.
When the music first started playing, Stiles wasn't sure if he heard it, because when he realized he was hearing the music of Duran Duran it was in the middle of the song. He was sad when the song ended, but clapped happily when he restarted.
After a few times of the song abruptly starting and stopping did he realize that it was his phone.
Which was in his pocket.
Maneuvering his hand that didn't hurt as much, he grabbed his phone.
"Hello?"
"Stiles." Derek growled.
Stiles looked around, he didn't see Derek anywhere. "Derek. Hey man."
"Stiles. Where. Are. You." He didn't sound like a happy puppy. But then he usually didn't.
His was missing a shoe. Huh. "I'm missing a shoe." He said.
There was a pause before Derek's voice had a twist of - of something, Stiles wasn't sure what, but a twist of something in it, "Stiles?"
"That is m'name." Stiles nodded. He didn't nod for very long because of the straw stuffing in his head. He didn't want to loose it and nodding made the world all lopsided. Which wasn't how the world was supposed to look.
Or was it?
"What is going on? You're not drunk in the middle of the morning are you?" Derek asked.
"What?" Stiles asked, turning around to see if Derek was behind him. "I don't understand." He sighed. "Where are you? I want to boop your nose."
"I'm at home." Derek said.
Stiles pondered this. If Derek was at home and Stiles could hear him then, "Am I at your house too?"
"No." Derek growled. And okay, it was all rumbley. Stiles remembered something slightly rumbley. As if the rumbley thing was how he got to Not Derek's House. "That's why I called you."
"Oh." Stiles said. "We're on the phone. I would nod my head but that makes the world tilt in a way that isn't good." He paused, "Or I think it's not good."
"Why did you get drunk so early?" Derek said, "You know we were going to meet up and plan training for the Pack."
"We were?" Stiles said, "That sounds familiar." He paused, "Hey, Derek. Where are you? You should be here because your warm."
"I'm warm." His tone was flat. Like his abs. Stiles liked Derek's abs.
"I like your abs." Stiles said. "I'm cold."
"It's summer." Derek answered, "And if you're drunk you should feel warm enough."
"I haven't had a drink in a while." Stiles said, "My mouth tastes metallic like." Giggling he added, "That's a fun word to say. Metallic. Metallic. Metaaaallllic."
"Wait. What?" Derek said, his voice rushing for an answer. "Did you say you haven't been drinking?"
"Derek, why is metallic so much fun to say?" He looked around slowly, "I don't see you."
There was a pause where Stiles could only hear Derek breathing. Which was good, because if Derek was breathing it meant that he was alive. Only usually when he heard Derek breathing, the man was right there in front of him. But where was he? "Where are you?"
"That is the third time you asked that." Derek's voice was different now and Stiles didn't understand.
"I don't understand, Derek." He pouted, "I have straw stuffing in my head now and so I don't think I understand much but I really don't understand you, dude. Or how I can hear you breathing when you aren't here."
"Stiles." Derek said, his voice softer, "Are you injured?"
"Maybe." Stiles tried to shrug but it hurt and when he did his phone fell. Blinking down at it he vaguely heard Derek's voice say something. Looking around, he realized that he was on the shoulder of the road. Trying to bend down and pick up Derek's voice was hard, so instead he laid down and put his face up to the phone. "Sorry. I dropped my phone."
There was a growl, "Maybe isn't a good answer, Stiles. Are. You. Injured."
"I tried to pick it up but that hurt so I didn't." Stiles rambled on, ignoring his question. "Not that this is any more comfortable because there are rocks up against my body, but I'm all straw and sticks so it won't do any harm. Will it?"
"If you didn't pick up the phone, how are you talking to me?" Derek asked.
Stiles heard some rustling in the background now, "I laid down. I'm feeling better. It hurts less to lay down than it does to walk. Even though my stomach area hurts. It had hurt when I was walking too so that's not any different." He paused, "Hey Derek?"
"Yes?" Stiles heard a car start.
"How come I can hear you but I can't see you. I don't- I don't understand and my head hurts. The straw is getting in the way." Stiles pleaded.
"Stiles." Derek said, "I need you to listen carefully and answer the best you can. Can you do that?"
Stiles nodded for a second before he remembered that he shouldn't, "Yeah, I think so dude."
"Okay, good." Derek's voice was soft. Like how Stiles imagined Derek's hair would be.
"Is your hair soft? It looks soft." Stiles smiled. "Can I run my fingers through it?"
"Stiles." Derek's voice was sharp on his name, but then became like Derek's hair again, "Do you have any idea where you are?"
"No?" Stiles said, he didn't remember much.
"Can you look around and tell me what you see?" Derek asked.
"Can do." Stiles glanced around, relying the facts as he saw them. "I'm laying on the gravel at the side of a road. The road is long. And gray. Over that way in that one direction is that old barn that is falling down and is at a forty five degree angle now instead of the usual ninety. Which is just silly. But maybe that barn was born that way." Stiles' breathing hitched, "Because I was born this way baby. I forget the lyrics. I think she sings something about a disco stick which is code for a dick." He giggled, but his giggles got cut short, "Ow, ow, ow, ouch."
"Are you okay?" Derek's voice was sharp again, it cut at his mind.
"I'm always okay, Derek." Stiles answered, "Even when I'm not, I'm okay."
It wasn't long after that when Stiles heard a car, "Derek, I hear a car. I think-I think something happened to mine. I don't remember. Derek, where is my jeep. I love my jeep."
"I know you do." Derek said as Stiles heard the engine in both Derek's car and the car that pulled up turn off. "I see you. I'm going to hang up now, okay? But I'll be right there beside you in a second."
Stiles frowned, "What do you mean? You've been invisible this whole time." There was no answer, "Derek? Derek?" He tried keep the panic out of his voice but what if something happened to Derek. What if he was a scarecrow now too. "Derek?"
"Stiles." Stiles turned his head to squint at Derek. "I'm right here." He bent down and looked Stiles over.
"Are you checking me out?" He asked, "Do you find me attractive?"
"I find you injured." Derek said, leaning down close to Stiles. "You have to tell me if you think I could pick you up and take you to the hospital or if I need to call for an ambulance."
"I walked here." Stiles stated, "You don't need to pick me up." He reached up with his hand and using his index finger, poked Derek on the nose, "Boop."
Derek sighed, "You said earlier your stomach hurt and you tasted metallic." He frowned, "Probably internal injury. I'm calling for an ambulance." He stood up and started to walk away.
Stiles didn't like that Derek was leaving him. He was finally there. He could finally see Derek. And his eyebrows. Derek had nice eyebrows, "When you go away I miss your eyebrows."
There was no response. Not from the Derek that had been standing there a moment ago and not from his phone. That wasn't fair. He was all alone again. He didn't like being alone.
"Ambulance is on it's way." Derek's voice said and Stiles wasn't sure if it came from his phone or not when Derek suddenly appeared in front of him again. "Did you say that you miss my eyebrows?" He raised on of said eyebrows.
"Maybe." Stiles sing-songed.
"Do you remember what happened?" Derek asked.
"No, because of the straw." Stiles answered. "The straw is in my head and so I can't think right." He frowned, "I don't like it." He paused for a beat, "Hey man, if you and werewolves are real does that mean that the Wizard of Oz is too because I know that it was just and old white guy behind a curtain, but if he could give me my brain back, that would be great."
Derek reached out and his warm hand cradled Stiles' head. "You have your brain still. No reason to go over the rainbow."
"What if it's a gay rainbow?" Stiles asked, and hummed happily when his head was suddenly in Derek's lap. Where it was not only warm, but Derek's lap. "Will you go over the gay rainbow with me?"
Derek let out something that sounded a bit like a laugh but it couldn't be a laugh, because Derek that's why. "If you ask me that again when you aren't concussed I will."
"That's cool, man." Stiles said, hand reaching up and resting on Derek's thigh, squeezing for a second because he had nodded and the world was tipsy. "I can ask you again. No problem. We have a plan now, dude. And when I'm not concussed it will involve make-out sessions." Derek snorted. "Hey, your leg is really soft and warm." He nuzzled his face in Derek's jeans for a second, "And I'm sleepy."
"You aren't allowed to nap." Derek said, voice firm.
"But I'm finally sort of comfortable. I should be able to sleep." Stiles protested. "Like, that is something that happens. When you're sleepy. You sleep."
"Not when your have a concussion." Derek said, "Remember how he had a discussion about your concussion?"
Stiles grinned, "You made a rhyme."
Stiles tilted his head to the road when he heard sirens. "Is that my dad?"
"No. It's the ambulance." Derek said.
"My dad has sirens though. It could be my dad." Stiles said, "We need to tell him about us and the gay rainbow make-out session. He'll be supportive though because he's okay with me being biflexible." Derek grunted. "My dad is awesome. He's the sheriff you know. He does cop stuff. Arrests people."
"I know." Derek said in a tone that clearly stated that he knew.
"That's awesome." Stiles said.
"Stiles." Derek got his attention, "People are going to come and check you over, okay? I'll be right beside you. But they're going to fix you up."
"Okay." Stiles agreed.
Stiles wasn't surprised when other people showed up and started asking him questions. Only they were difficult questions and he answered the best he could, but he felt as if they weren't good enough. "Where is Derek?"
"I'm right here." Derek said.
"Good." Stiles smiled at him. "I just wanted you to know that I might sleep even though I don't have your leg as a pillow anymore because I'm really sleepy."
A man who he didn't know got in the way of Derek, "It's okay, son. You can do that if you have to. You're going to be alright."
And with that Stiles closed his eyes, "My dad calls me his son."
A few days later, Stiles was still in the hospital, but it was his last day there. He'd found out that a deer had ran in front of road and caused him to get into a car accident. His jeep wasn't totaled but it wasn't in good condition. It would probably be cheaper to buy a new one than to fix his, but he loved his jeep.
"Hey dude." Stiles said, "You don't have to hide outside of my room."
Derek stepped in, a frown tugging at his lips, "How did you know I was there?"
"Totally saw your shadow, man." He grinned, "You have a very distinct shadow. Just sayin'." He shrugged before patting the side of his bed, a sign so that Derek would know he wanted him to sit beside him.
Luckily Derek did as he was asked.
"So," Stiles said, this was the first time he'd been awake and lucid when Derek was there. "I suppose I have to thank you. For saving my life. That's great that you did that."
"All I did was call an ambulance." Derek said.
"And totally saved my life by doing so." Stiles rolled his eyes, "I know that I wouldn't have called for help. And no offense, but the road to your place is not used much and it would've been ages for someone to drive by and see me." Derek shrugged.
"Fine, be that way." Stiles continued, "But, I want to tell you that I am no longer concussed and am going home later today."
"That's great." Derek nodded.
"Yep." Stiles smirked, "And therefore, I have to ask if you still want to take a trip over the gay rainbow with me." He would have clapped his hands excitedly when Derek went in to kiss him as an answer, but he was too busy running his hands through Derek's hair. "It is totally soft, I knew it."
"Stiles." Derek said.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."