suchasourwolf | (no subject)

"He wasn't always. The fire -- changed him. It changed all of us. I used to be a pretty happy guy. No brooding at all." It's supposed to be a joke, but it hits too close to the truth to be funny.

"Thanks. For being part of my pack."

"You mean you actually knew what facial expressions were?" Stiles asks, grinning a little to show he too is just teasing, if only to ease the tension of bringing up the fire. "I'm sure he was a great guy, before."

His grin softens into a smile as he leans into Derek. "If anything, I should be thanking you for letting me be a part of it."

Derek gives him an 'oh very funny ha ha' expression to show there are no hard feelings.

"You're a package deal with Scott, it's not like I couldn't accept you. Besides, you know more about werewolves than some werewolves I know. You're useful to keep around."

He pauses, then adds with a smirk, "And you're sort of cute."

"Of course I am, are you kidding me? I'm a total catch," he says, grinning a little.

"Come onnnnn, you find me irresistible, I know you do. I'm smart and cute, that's like, the best thing ever."

"Sneaky. Manipulative. With a horrible taste in fashion." But he rolls Stiles onto his back to kiss his neck, to show he's only teasing.

"So what am I? Am I a catch?"

Stiles squawked as he's rolled over, then laughs as he stares up at Derek. "I do not have horrible fashion taste!" The teen complains, yet doesn't bother in denying the other things.

"You are a complete sourwolf and sometimes a surlywolf," Stiles teases, his smile softening. "But you're my wolf. And you're not a catch cause you're already taken."

"Okay, what exactly is a surlywolf." He actually sort of -- likes the nicknames. Because he's Stiles' sourwolf, or surlywolf, or anywolf Stiles wants him to be.

"I can't be a catch if I'm taken? You said you were a catch."

"A sourwolf who is surly," he says with a grin that widened at their playful banter.

"Oh that's right, I did say that, didn't I? Well, I guess that means I'm taken too~"

"You make absolutely no sense." Which obviously means that Derek needs to give Stiles a deeply annoyed look, and shift down to nuzzle and kiss at his hipbones, where Derek had left marks a little earlier.

"If I'm such a surly sourwolf, why do you like me?"

"It's a natural born talent," Stiles says, squirming a little at the sensation of Derek's warm face against his hip, letting out a quiet breath.

"Hmmm, sometimes I wonder." Stiles, purposefully, doesn't elaborate.

"Care to enlighten me?" He gives Stiles' hipbone a sharp nip, then moves up to settle firmly against the teen's chest, not planning on moving until he gets at least one compliment.

The teen laughs a little and concedes. "You're brave and smart," he starts, smiling. "You're loyal and you care about others even though you don't seem like you do or you don't want people to know you do. You're protective and possessive and... I love how safe you make me feel."

"Yeah, just don't tell too many people what a nice guy I am."

Derek realizes that he's wearing his shirt and nothing else, and feels a bit ridiculous. So he takes his shirt off and stretches out on top of Stiles, careful not to rest too heavily against him.

It's less of a sexual thing and more protective. Like if he just covers Stiles up, he can protect him from everything harmful in the world.

With a soft smile, he kisses Stiles' forehead, nosing against his temple. "You're braver than you give yourself credit for."

Stiles makes a small pleased sound at the back of his throat when Derek removes his shirt and sometimes he still can't believe that he and Derek are really together. Because Derek is yards and leagues above him that he might as well be in another universe. Yet somehow here he is with him, Stiles the reckless human.

"Of course, wouldn't want to ruin your reputation as resident bad ass alpha werewolf," he teases, enjoying the closeness as he always does and leans in to the gentle nosing.

"Usually my first instinct is to run far, far away and ignore the problem."

"I have to earn respect somehow." Honestly though, Stiles' lacrosse physique is nothing to sneeze at. Derek just happens to be... bigger. But he has a lot of free time in which to improve his muscles.

"You haven't been running, though. You've been dealing with everything -- as well as can be expected."

"Yeah well, someone's got to keep your furry asses out of trouble, right?" Stiles says, chuckling a little as he lifts a hand to comb it through Derek's hair, something he enjoys immensely.

"Thanks though, I guess. Sometimes I think I could have handled things better, looking back on it." But then he's still a teenager dealing with things no teenager should have to deal with.

"You need to have more confidence in yourself." Which is not a hypocritical statement at all, no. "You're doing a lot better than most people in your position would. Okay?"

Ugh, Derek likes the hair petting too, and melts into it. Just a little. This could be a problem.

"I could say the same for you too, mister alphawolf." Stiles sighs a little and turns his head to nuzzle against Derek's face. He really, really likes doing this.

Oh he knows and he plans on using it whenever he can get away with it. But mostly it's calming and it sooths him.

He attempts a glare, but it comes out as more of a wide eyed glance due to the nuzzling. "I'm trying. It's -- hard. I should have waited until I was ready, but I can't exactly take back making a pack. I was just..."

Lonely. He was so, so lonely and scared and he needed someone to be there for him. So he surrounded himself with misfits where were more alone and afraid than he was, so he could feel like less of a failure.

"I know," he whispers softly against Derek's cheek as he nuzzles him again. "You did the best you could, given what you knew. I don't blame you for it. I didn't get it at the time, but I do now. And they're good for you, and you're good for them -- they're good for each other. I think you made a good decision with them. They needed this."

He wouldn't have thought so months ago, but he did now. He saw how they settled into the pack, in their own new skin once they got over the intial high of the power trip they were on.

"You're right," he concedes, reluctantly. Isaac and Erica have settled down well, and Boyd was never a problem in the first place.

"You're good for me too, Stiles. Even if I'm probably the worst thing on the planet for you."

"You're not. Granted, maybe at first, when we hated each other and you threatened me. But not now," he murmurs. "You're good for me, you have been for awhile. You keep me safe and secure, you ground me like nothing else can. You made me feel wanted when no one else did -- you still do."

Stiles leans in and ducks his head some to press his mouth to Derek's in a soft kiss. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"We did sort of get off to a rough start," he admits. "And it took me longer than it should have to start trusting you."

The kiss Derek gives in return is more biting, more desperate than he meant it to be. He shifts to stretch out next to Stiles and pull the teen against him, arm firmly around his waist, one hand at the back of his neck.

"I do want you. I always want you, never doubt that."

"Mm yeah, me too I guess. Though you certainly didn't make it easy." It's a tease as much as it is truth, not that he could ever blame Derek for that of course, not with everything he's been through.

Stiles moans into the kiss, returing it just as roughly and goes easily when Derek moves him, sprawled against his side.

"Good, because I want you too. I have for awhile." And he likely always will.

"I know. I was trying so hard not to want you back. But then that night -- you were so close, you felt so good and I could smell it all over you." It had been torture, knowing that Stiles wanted him and telling himself he had to wait because Stiles is still so young, and he didn't need someone like Derek sniffing after him.

"I got jealous. Because you smelled that way sometimes when you looked at Lydia. And I didn't want you to want her too." Even though Stiles is a teenager, and hormones are crazy at that age, and he's allowed to lust after whoever he wants.

Though the thought of that makes him grip the back of Stiles' thigh to haul him closer. "I thought about trying to make you jealous, too. You made me want to do stupid things like that."