Fic: By Its Cover || G || pre-Stiles/Derek
By Its Cover
Pre-Stiles/Derek
G, 1375-ish words, unbeta'd
Written for the prompt "A well loved book" from 1_million_words
AO3 link
"Thanks for letting me check this stuff," Stiles called over his shoulder as he ran his fingers over the titles of the books on Derek's shelves.
"Whatever I can do," Derek offered quietly, standing in the doorway awkwardly. The bookshelves just happened to be in Derek's "bedroom", which was only a few steps from the main room of the loft, but Stiles supposed it was his only private area so it was weird for him to have Stiles here.
"What's this one?" Stiles asked, carefully pulling a leather bound book off the shelf. It was one of the oldest in the collection and the binding was incredibly damaged. Stiles was almost scared to be touching it.
Derek came closer. "That… oh. That's the Alpha journal. I believe it started with my great-great-grandfather and was passed down to each successive alpha after."
Stiles looked over at Derek, eyes wide and questioning. Derek seemed to understand and nodded. Stiles barely breathed as he unwrapped the tie and opened the front cover slowly.
The writing was old but clear, although the handwriting was something to be deciphered.
"Have you ever read through this?" Stiles asked, turning a few pages.
"Not… not in a long while. Not since before Laura," Derek explained haltingly. Stiles didn't say anything.
He opened the book to about halfway through and found the handwriting changed, was neater and something easier for him to read. He skimmed a few paragraphs and found they were from Derek's grandfather.
As Stiles' eyes skipped down a random page a word jumped out at him, lamarckii. He must have made a weird noise because Derek was at his side in a second, looking down at the page with him.
"My grandfather knew about it," Derek breathed, eyes trained on the written description of the very strain of wolfsbane the pack was trying to find out more about.
Stiles started to speak cautiously. "Can I-"
"If it'll help you can borrow it," Derek cut him off. Stiles smiled gratefully and closed the journal carefully before putting it in his backpack.
"Thank you," Stiles said gratefully, emphatically.
Derek nodded and watched Stiles leave.
***
A week later the pack was able to successfully track down a drug dealer who was selling pills laced with the lamarckii wolfsbane, although the hunter who was using the dealer as a middle man remained a mystery. The drug was the most recent in a series of attacks against werewolf pack-based towns up and down the west coast. While it was unlikely any werewolves would have bothered taking the drug themselves because usually they had little to no effect on them, a human could suffer incredible side effects like vomiting and various leakage that would be toxic to any werewolf in the area.
"They're turning our communities against us without them realizing it," Scott said, concerned, to everyone assembled at his house for a meeting. "Deaton's trying to find out more about where this strain could have come from or where it can be brought in from but his rep's pretty known outside our border. I don't know how many people will talk to him up front."
"Satomi's been making inroads with the packs further north, maybe she's heard more by now," Derek explained. "At least we can get the word out about this pill so everyone else cane on the lookout for it."
"Dad's got his ear to the ground from the law enforcement point. I gave him the chemical break down you came up with, Lydia, and he's passed it down the line like it's just a bad batch of E," Stiles said with a snort. "Let's hope no one gets their hands on any pills for real and tries to do a comparison and sees we tweaked it a little."
"I have some backup documentation to fool them if that happens," Lydia replied, referring to the falsified lab reports she worked with Parrish to come up with out of the Beacon Hills Sheriff's department to appease any eager beavers in other jurisdictions. "If we hear of anything popping up we'll just have to make sure we get our hands on it before extensive testing."
"For the time being it seems we're okay. We can sleep tonight, at least," Scott said wryly.
The meeting was unofficially dismissed and everyone broke up to leave.
"Hey, you need a ride?" Stiles asked, noticing Derek's Toyota wasn't at Scott's as they left.
"I was wondering if I could swing by and grab the journal," Derek replied, falling into step with Stiles, who immediately stuttered in his step.
"Can I keep it for a couple more days? It's just… a valuable resource," Stiles said, lying badly and as he did he knew Derek knew.
But Derek just looked at him, expression shuttered, then nodded. "Okay."
"Really?" Stiles asked, half relieved and half wary. "Okay. Thanks. I should be done with it on Thursday."
Derek nodded again. "See you Thursday." Then he turned and walked into the darkness, disappearing behind Scott's house where Stiles knew he started running to get back to his own place.
***
Stiles was late getting home from school and he knew it because Derek told him so as soon as he opened his bedroom door and greeted him, sitting in Stiles' desk chair tensely.
"Hey creeper," Stiles greeted him casually, heart pounding in a slightly-terrifying way.
Derek just rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so. Here's the thing," Stiles started. He could see Derek bracing himself for the worst news possible about the journal.
"Calm down, would you? I don't want you to wolf out on me before I get this out," Stiles said quickly. Derek didn't relax but he seemed to shrink down somehow and get less intimidating.
"The journal was old, I know. And clearly something you hold incredibly dear. I would never do anything to harm that kind of thing, okay?" Stiles said as he opened his backpack on his bed and pulled out a cloth bag. Derek rolled closer to the bed to see.
Stiles opened the bag and pulled out the journal that looked nearly brand new.
"I know someone, through Deaton, who does amazing restoration. Usually this kind of thing would take him way longer but I asked nicely and he rushed it for me. It would be nice to handle it if it didn't seem like it would fall apart just by looking at it."
Stiles handed the journal over to Derek who accepted it, almost reverently. He ran his hand over the smooth leather and touched the new tie.
"Who did you take this to?" Derek asked quietly.
"Like I said, someone Deaton recommended, so I knew he was okay but I might have done a little something to it before I handed it over, so it couldn't be read. Right now it can only be read by pack members but I can remove that," Stiles explained, still a little nervous Derek would wolf out on him for not asking and handing what was likely his most prized possession over to a total stranger.
"No, that's a good idea. Smart thinking," Derek said genuinely. He rose from Stiles' desk chair and held the journal just as delicately as he would have before it was restored. "This is, uh. Amazing. Thank you, Stiles."
"You're welcome," Stiles replied, a bit stunned. "You're not pissed?"
Derek shook his head. "I knew you were up to something but I knew it wasn't… bad."
Stiles felt his heart wrench a little at the realization that there were very few times in Derek's life he could legitimately say that.
"I don't know if you want to know this or if you're ready or… whatever," Stiles started. Derek looked at him, eyes intense on his. "But Laura made a couple entries in it. If you ever want to read them."
Derek nodded, as if he didn't know what to say or couldn't trust his voice.
Stiles cleared his throat to break the mood. "I have homework I should do."
"Right, yeah."
Derek took the stairs to leave and on his way by he brushed against Stiles and Stiles could swear that for a split second Derek's hand squeezed his arm.
Maybe.
Leave me prompts for things to talk about in April!
Pre-Stiles/Derek
G, 1375-ish words, unbeta'd
Written for the prompt "A well loved book" from 1_million_words
AO3 link
"Thanks for letting me check this stuff," Stiles called over his shoulder as he ran his fingers over the titles of the books on Derek's shelves.
"Whatever I can do," Derek offered quietly, standing in the doorway awkwardly. The bookshelves just happened to be in Derek's "bedroom", which was only a few steps from the main room of the loft, but Stiles supposed it was his only private area so it was weird for him to have Stiles here.
"What's this one?" Stiles asked, carefully pulling a leather bound book off the shelf. It was one of the oldest in the collection and the binding was incredibly damaged. Stiles was almost scared to be touching it.
Derek came closer. "That… oh. That's the Alpha journal. I believe it started with my great-great-grandfather and was passed down to each successive alpha after."
Stiles looked over at Derek, eyes wide and questioning. Derek seemed to understand and nodded. Stiles barely breathed as he unwrapped the tie and opened the front cover slowly.
The writing was old but clear, although the handwriting was something to be deciphered.
"Have you ever read through this?" Stiles asked, turning a few pages.
"Not… not in a long while. Not since before Laura," Derek explained haltingly. Stiles didn't say anything.
He opened the book to about halfway through and found the handwriting changed, was neater and something easier for him to read. He skimmed a few paragraphs and found they were from Derek's grandfather.
As Stiles' eyes skipped down a random page a word jumped out at him, lamarckii. He must have made a weird noise because Derek was at his side in a second, looking down at the page with him.
"My grandfather knew about it," Derek breathed, eyes trained on the written description of the very strain of wolfsbane the pack was trying to find out more about.
Stiles started to speak cautiously. "Can I-"
"If it'll help you can borrow it," Derek cut him off. Stiles smiled gratefully and closed the journal carefully before putting it in his backpack.
"Thank you," Stiles said gratefully, emphatically.
Derek nodded and watched Stiles leave.
***
A week later the pack was able to successfully track down a drug dealer who was selling pills laced with the lamarckii wolfsbane, although the hunter who was using the dealer as a middle man remained a mystery. The drug was the most recent in a series of attacks against werewolf pack-based towns up and down the west coast. While it was unlikely any werewolves would have bothered taking the drug themselves because usually they had little to no effect on them, a human could suffer incredible side effects like vomiting and various leakage that would be toxic to any werewolf in the area.
"They're turning our communities against us without them realizing it," Scott said, concerned, to everyone assembled at his house for a meeting. "Deaton's trying to find out more about where this strain could have come from or where it can be brought in from but his rep's pretty known outside our border. I don't know how many people will talk to him up front."
"Satomi's been making inroads with the packs further north, maybe she's heard more by now," Derek explained. "At least we can get the word out about this pill so everyone else cane on the lookout for it."
"Dad's got his ear to the ground from the law enforcement point. I gave him the chemical break down you came up with, Lydia, and he's passed it down the line like it's just a bad batch of E," Stiles said with a snort. "Let's hope no one gets their hands on any pills for real and tries to do a comparison and sees we tweaked it a little."
"I have some backup documentation to fool them if that happens," Lydia replied, referring to the falsified lab reports she worked with Parrish to come up with out of the Beacon Hills Sheriff's department to appease any eager beavers in other jurisdictions. "If we hear of anything popping up we'll just have to make sure we get our hands on it before extensive testing."
"For the time being it seems we're okay. We can sleep tonight, at least," Scott said wryly.
The meeting was unofficially dismissed and everyone broke up to leave.
"Hey, you need a ride?" Stiles asked, noticing Derek's Toyota wasn't at Scott's as they left.
"I was wondering if I could swing by and grab the journal," Derek replied, falling into step with Stiles, who immediately stuttered in his step.
"Can I keep it for a couple more days? It's just… a valuable resource," Stiles said, lying badly and as he did he knew Derek knew.
But Derek just looked at him, expression shuttered, then nodded. "Okay."
"Really?" Stiles asked, half relieved and half wary. "Okay. Thanks. I should be done with it on Thursday."
Derek nodded again. "See you Thursday." Then he turned and walked into the darkness, disappearing behind Scott's house where Stiles knew he started running to get back to his own place.
***
Stiles was late getting home from school and he knew it because Derek told him so as soon as he opened his bedroom door and greeted him, sitting in Stiles' desk chair tensely.
"Hey creeper," Stiles greeted him casually, heart pounding in a slightly-terrifying way.
Derek just rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so. Here's the thing," Stiles started. He could see Derek bracing himself for the worst news possible about the journal.
"Calm down, would you? I don't want you to wolf out on me before I get this out," Stiles said quickly. Derek didn't relax but he seemed to shrink down somehow and get less intimidating.
"The journal was old, I know. And clearly something you hold incredibly dear. I would never do anything to harm that kind of thing, okay?" Stiles said as he opened his backpack on his bed and pulled out a cloth bag. Derek rolled closer to the bed to see.
Stiles opened the bag and pulled out the journal that looked nearly brand new.
"I know someone, through Deaton, who does amazing restoration. Usually this kind of thing would take him way longer but I asked nicely and he rushed it for me. It would be nice to handle it if it didn't seem like it would fall apart just by looking at it."
Stiles handed the journal over to Derek who accepted it, almost reverently. He ran his hand over the smooth leather and touched the new tie.
"Who did you take this to?" Derek asked quietly.
"Like I said, someone Deaton recommended, so I knew he was okay but I might have done a little something to it before I handed it over, so it couldn't be read. Right now it can only be read by pack members but I can remove that," Stiles explained, still a little nervous Derek would wolf out on him for not asking and handing what was likely his most prized possession over to a total stranger.
"No, that's a good idea. Smart thinking," Derek said genuinely. He rose from Stiles' desk chair and held the journal just as delicately as he would have before it was restored. "This is, uh. Amazing. Thank you, Stiles."
"You're welcome," Stiles replied, a bit stunned. "You're not pissed?"
Derek shook his head. "I knew you were up to something but I knew it wasn't… bad."
Stiles felt his heart wrench a little at the realization that there were very few times in Derek's life he could legitimately say that.
"I don't know if you want to know this or if you're ready or… whatever," Stiles started. Derek looked at him, eyes intense on his. "But Laura made a couple entries in it. If you ever want to read them."
Derek nodded, as if he didn't know what to say or couldn't trust his voice.
Stiles cleared his throat to break the mood. "I have homework I should do."
"Right, yeah."
Derek took the stairs to leave and on his way by he brushed against Stiles and Stiles could swear that for a split second Derek's hand squeezed his arm.
Maybe.
Leave me prompts for things to talk about in April!