Forest for the Trees – 3 – Hazel

Reading Time:
21 Minutes

Stiles Stilinski, it turned out, was really good at being a convincing fake boyfriend.  On Tuesday he brought Derek and his father both a homemade lunch at the station.  He asked Derek how he took his coffee so he could bring him one since he was scheduled to work early on Wednesday.  Without prompting, he’d texted just before Derek got off shift to ask if he could bring a few things over to his place.

Figuring that Stiles would need to come over at some point if they were to sell the act, he’d agreed.  Within an hour, the guy had shown up with a box of stuff.

“If someone in the pack comes over for any reason, it should look like I spend time here,” he’d explained as he put a pair of his shoes under the bench at the door and tucked a second toothbrush and bottle of shampoo in the bathroom.  A red hoodie got draped over a dining chair and a blanket went on the back of the couch.  Both items smelled strongly of Stiles.

“Those aren’t clean, are they?”

Stiles smirked.  “Of course not, how else are we going to make ourselves and our places smell like we’ve been involved?  Speaking of, what do you think about us exchanging pajamas or something?  I know it doesn’t convey entirely the assumed activity, but it was the best I could come up with unless we want to exchange more than clothes.”

Derek blinked and resolutely did not follow that train of thought.  “Uh.  Yeah.  That works.  Also, I can put the blanket on the bed too,” he agreed as Stiles put a few bottles of weird soda in his fridge and some peanut butter cups in his cabinet.  “I should get a few things for you to put in your place too.”

“Cool,” he nodded cheerfully.  “Thankfully, since it’s a new place we won’t have to try so hard to sell that bit.”

“Right.” Since he stupidly hadn’t thought of any of this stuff, he wracked his brain for something to contribute to the process.  “I’ll put together a list of the pack members that will be there Saturday and a few things you might need to know about them.”

“Perfect.  If you have photos, visual aids wouldn’t go amiss.”  Stiles set the now empty box on the coffee table.  “I’ll put together some stuff too.  Faves and pet peeves and random facts people would know about someone they’ve dated for a while.”

Derek nodded.  “We can text each other questions.”  He grabbed the box.  “Give me a minute and you can take stuff with you.”

“No rush, I kinda need a break from unpacking so I don’t have to leave immediately.  Besides,” he said as he followed Derek to the door of his bedroom, running his hand along the wall as he went, “we should probably set up some time to hang out.  It’d look super weird if we don’t act familiar with each other, you know, physically.”

Derek briefly dropped the sock he was holding as he sorted through his hamper for a used but not dirty shirt.  He had the immediate thought that they’d very nearly done exactly that on the night they met.  It felt so different now than it had then.  That night the possibility had been exciting and arousing.  Now, while he was sure he’d be more than a little turned on if he thought about it too hard, he was more anxious than excited.

He hated that he was familiar with the dichotomy.

For as long as he could remember, he’d had no problem with bring physical during a one-night stand, but the only relationships he managed in college had shared two things in common.  It had taken him weeks to be fully comfortable with even casual physical affection, and he had been single again within a couple months.

It wasn’t that he was touch averse.  He was a wolf and wolves were very tactile.  But touching someone for sex was just different in his head than touching for affection.  Affection – genuine romantic affection – existed in this ethereal place in his mind, perfect and real, but always a little mythical, a little unreachable.

He kept up his search for the perfect shirt to send home with Stiles.  “Right, of course.”

“What kind of movies or shows do you like?  We could totally rock the couch cuddle.”

Derek cleared his throat and finally stood, shirt in hand.  He tried to picture the scenario and surprisingly enough, knowing he’d have a TV to focus on made the idea far less intimidating.  So he listed a few documentaries he liked a lot and moved on to the bathroom to grab his extra bar of soap.

“Huh.  I would have taken you for the film noir type.  But that’s so much better.  And convenient, since I have a kind of unhealthy love of random facts.”  Stiles grinned, wide and excited.

Derek couldn’t help but smile back.

As if sensing that, Stiles grinned a little wider as he tucked the now sparsely filled box under his arm and got out his phone.  “You’re off at one, right?”

“Yeah.  What time were you thinking for the shows?  I’ve got them both on my computer, so we don’t need to rent or anything.”

“Perfect.  How ‘bout three?  I’m meeting my dad for a late lunch and I could swing by after.”  He looked up from his phone.  “I might be closer to unpacked by then, but it’s just as likely there’ll be boxes all over still.  Here okay?”

Derek almost wanted to say no.  He hardly ever had anyone at his apartment, it was his escape from the pack house.  Only his mother, Holly and Peter had ever really come over.  He had a feeling that was going to change now.  Now that he thought about it, his mother and maybe Laura, would probably pop in randomly that week, so it was even more important that it seem like Stiles was there a lot.

How under the moon had he not already considered this?  He took a breath and just nodded.

“Great!  See you tomorrow!” Stiles put away his phone and left with a wave, leaving Derek with his thoughts and an apartment that smelled far more comfortable than he’d expected.

Before either of them were ready for it, Wednesday morning saw them both at the sheriff’s station, though Derek had to arrive much earlier for his shift.  Even so, 8am felt far too early to Stiles, who had stayed up researching the topics covered by Derek’s choice in documentaries.  He knew the lack of sleep showed since his father shook his head with a smile when they crossed paths at the station doors.

Stiles would have said something in response, but a large yawn interrupted and he was forced to let the slight pass uncontested.  Thankfully, he was able to drown his affronted dignity in his very large, hot coffee.  At least until he reached Derek’s desk and the guy obviously fought off a laugh at his appearance.

“Is one of those for me?”

The dude full on smiled at him.  Stiles glared sleepily.  “I’m not entirely sure you deserve it since you’re making fun of me being tired, which is entirely your fault anyway.”

There was a small crash behind him but he didn’t turn to look, just glared some more.  And yawned, because research and sleep were not good friends in the land of Stiles.  Derek’s eyes widened briefly before shifting over his shoulder, at which point the guy laughed in a manner entirely too attractive for that early in the morning.

Stiles glared a little more on general principal, then handed over the second coffee.  Since he had dragged himself out of bed specifically to deliver an early morning pick-me-up for the dedicated deputy who’d been on shift for hours already like the good boyfriend he was.  For fake.  Because Talia Hale was as much of a bitch as he’d always thought and apparently bug-fuck crazy on top of it.

The asshole thanked him sweetly.  Stiles took a long drink of his own coffee and turned to leave, shouting over his shoulder that Derek could make it up to him later.  He could hear his father cursing as he left.  Totally worth the early morning.  Especially since he still had a third of his apartment to unpack and set up and only five days left to do it before the shop opened.

In an effort to keep his attention on the task at hand, he tried to make a game out of it, giving himself points any time the contents of a box matched the label.  He was up to seven when his phone alarm went off, reminding him he was supposed to meet his dad at the diner for lunch in half an hour.  One hurried shower and two frantic searches for clean clothes later, he was enjoying a late lunch with his dad.

Then, less than an hour after that, he was on his way back to Derek’s.  He bounced lightly on his toes as the elevator took him to the proper floor.  Movies were a good plan.  This was going to go well.  He was going to learn new stuff and not list every single thing he’d found in his reading the night before.

He was determined.  And a determined Stiles Stilinski was a successful Stiles Stilinski.

Or, a mostly successful one since he did in fact talk through a good third of both programs.  It helped that he had Derek to focus on part of the time.

The dude was a bit stiff when they first settled on the couch, and Stiles could practically feel the perimeter of personal space pushing back at him for the first twenty minutes.  Since one of the main things they were trying to do that day was get comfortable in each other’s space, he was left trying to decide how far to push that.

When Derek suddenly relaxed into the couch and draped an arm across the back, Stiles damn near let out a victorious hell yeah.  He exercised the self-control his dad used to accuse him of not possessing, however, and stayed quiet.  At least about that.  He may have made a few comments about the documentary at that point.  But still.  Will power for the win.

Exposure therapy could take some victory laps too.  Well, not true exposure therapy because that was a rather complex psychological treatment that-  Stiles cut off the internal monologue and eased a little closer on the couch every few minutes.  By the end of the first show there was only an inch or so between them and Derek was still relaxed.  Dude even draped his arm loosely around his shoulders.

Even better, by the end of the second documentary they were full on cuddling, Stiles leaning in against his side, head on Derek’s shoulder, his legs folded up on the couch, Derek’s arm firmly around him, holding him in place.

It was actually disappointing when the credits rolled, because they hadn’t really planned anything else to do.  Derek seemed to agree as the arm around his shoulders tightened briefly before falling away as he sat forward to close the lid on his laptop.

A brief moment of silence settled heavily and Stiles fought the urge to drum his hands on his knees.  It was probably time to set aside an hour or so to play with runes or something to expel some of the excess energy, he admitted to himself.  That thought immediately led to thoughts of his back stock which led to the realization that he had never shown Derek the shop.  If the guy was really his boyfriend he would have totally done that.

“Hey, you should come see the shop before it opens.  I could give you a tour or something.”  He glanced at the clock.  Almost seven.  That wasn’t too late was it?  Except that neither of them had had dinner yet.  Should he invite Derek to dinner?  Maybe leave so dude could eat by himself?

Derek paused as he went to stand, then pushed to his feet with the kind of grace shifters everywhere held monopoly over.  “That’s probably a good idea.  We could grab some take out and do that now if you’ve got time.”

He did a victory dance in his head.  He had the best ideas.  “Perfect!  I’ll drive, that way you can meet Roscoe too.”

An adorable wrinkle of confusion formed between Derek’s brows.  “Roscoe?”

That may have opened the flood gates, and he may have spent the entire drive to get food extolling the virtues of his beloved jeep.  Which may also have led to an enthusiastic introduction to Phee when they arrived.  Derek’s face had slowly shifted from confused and surprised to something like amusement as he was led through the immaculately ordered shop.

Like a too proud papa, Stiles gushed about the design of the displays and what he planned to carry and offer.  They were in front of a shelf of ready-made runic talismans when something caught Derek’s attention.  He moved closer, then turned with a strange expression.  “What’s that one?”

“It’s an amulet meant to be worn for mental health and clear thinking.  The first rune is mannaz, which stands for humanity, the mind, and intellect.  The second rune is laguz.  It represents intuition and emotions, also healing and the subconscious.”

Derek continued to stare at it.  “What is it made from?”

“Well, this is just a clear crystal because it’s pretty.”  He shrugged when Derek looked over at him in surprise.  “It’s sorcery.  I invested my power in the crystal, using the runes to guide and shape my intent.  A druid would use a magically inclined material so they could use the runes to focus that magic in the way they wanted.”

He gestured towards a tray of different colored crystal nearby.  “They’d probably anoint it with an oil made from a plant which is magically associated with a similar purpose or power.  Maybe aquamarine or turquoise for communication and healing.  Maybe a piece of willow since it’s got healing properties too.  A mage, of course would be able to do all of that.  A Runic Mage would probably use a much more complex series of runes connected together to create a more nuanced or personalized magical purpose.”

Derek tilted his head to one side.  “I thought the difference between them was just the amount of power they had?”

Stiles held his hand out and wiggled it a little in a wordless kinda sorta.  “Druids are generally considered more powerful than sorcerers, and Mages more powerful than Druids.  But the main difference between them is the way they use magic.”

He could see the question forming, so he led them over to a couple chairs he’d arranged around a tabletop display of tarot cards.  “In a simplistic description there are two sources of magic.  Internal and external.  A sorcerer has a magical core, a well of power within themselves that they can direct towards a magical purpose.  Since it’s a personal source, it’s finite and limits the power available to that sorcerer.”

Stiles shifted in his chair.  If he spoke super formal or whatever maybe he wouldn’t fuck up and refer to himself one way or another.  “A druid doesn’t have a personal source but they can access the magic inherent in other things.  Woods, crystals, animals, that type of thing.  A sorcerer puts their magic into something, a druid accesses the magic of a thing.  Since they can combine multiple things that have magic to them to increase the power of a spell and that magic will continue to feed the spell, druids are capable of more powerful magical workings.”

Derek leaned back.  “And mages?”

“A mage has their own magical core, and the magical channels to access magical sources outside themselves.  But the same way a sorcerer and a druid have different inherent skillsets, there are differences between mages as well.  Each type of magic user has their own basic lane so to say.”

“How many are there?”

Stiles swallowed.  This was not how he’d expected the tour to go.  “Sorcerers are natural illusionists and enchanters.  Druids perform alchemy and limited elemental magic.  Meaning they can use a single element, almost always the element of earth, which is why they’re so heavily associated with plants and trees.  There are three main types of mages.  Runic, Telluric, and Elemental.”

“How is an elemental mage different from a druid?”

“Well, they have their own power to add and more carefully direct their magical intent, but they also have use of all four elements equally, not just one.”  Do not say we, do not say we.  You are a sorcerer as far as this town in concerned, damn it.  “Telluric mages have a natural connection to the telluric currents and work with ley lines in a given area or territory.  And runic is of course,” he waved a hand at the plethora of runic based magics around them.

“So all magical users can use runes, but how they use them is different?”

Stiles nodded, humming as he munched on what was left of his curly fries.

“Can you tell which kind of magic is used with a rune after the fact?”

He tilted his head back and forth.  “Mages who’ve developed any form of mage sight can detect foreign magic in something, like what would be there if a mage or sorcerer put their magic into a rune, if it’s still intact and the magic put in it hasn’t faded.  If it was used by a druid, there wouldn’t be foreign magic present.  Just the magic of the item which would be there regardless of the rune.”

Derek looked pensive for a few moments.  “And if you looked at a rune or the site of a magical…”

“Working?”

“Yeah.  That.  Could you tell what kind of magic was used in it from like a picture or pieces taken from the site?”

Stiles took a deep breath.  “You’re talking about evidence.  As in, a crime scene that has been processed.”  Derek inclined his head just enough to acknowledge what had been implied without giving any detail at all.  Derek was working a case that involved the use of magic.  Probably runes too if his interest in the amulet was any indication.

“It would probably depend on the type of working.  Some are geared towards an immediate and very specific outcome and any magic or power that would have been in a crystal or rune might be used and gone.  If a druid focused the power of a magical rite into the land for some purpose, then it would take a powerful mage with magesight to detect anything.  If a sorcerer put their magic in something for a limited working, what power hadn’t been utilized by the spell could have faded depending on how long it’d been.”

Derek’s shoulders dropped a little.  “So evidence from an old working or site wouldn’t tell us anything?”

Stiles shrugged as casually as he could.  “Like I said, it depends.  Not all power is used up, not all magic fades.  The power behind the working and its purpose would factor heavily into it.  And determining purpose or intent can be tricky depending on the complexity of a working.  Like any scene, the more pieces there are to a puzzle, the easier it is to see the picture it makes.”

He nodded again, more slowly, thoughtfully.  Then he started to say something only to be cut off by a yawn.

Stiles laughed a little.  “Sorry, I should take you back home so you can get some sleep.  You were up way earlier than I was this morning.”

He received an almost sheepish little smile as they headed towards the back door.  “Yeah, about that.  Why exactly were you so tired this morning and how was it my fault?”

Stiles threw his head back and laughed freely.

—  —

They didn’t manage to meet up on Thursday, but technology was a thing and Stiles was unafraid to use it.  He sent his first text before he even poured his coffee.

To Hot Guy: What are your pet peeves?  I hate when people talk over me and can’t stand when people take anything off my plate.

He got an answer sooner than he expected and read it over while he sipped his sweet sweet caffine and tried to decide where to start organizing his place.

From Hot Guy: being asked a question over and over

From Hot Guy: mother henning

From Hot Guy: being treated like a child

From Hot Guy: favorite food?

From Hot Guy: spaghetti, meat sauce

From Hot Guy: cinnamon

From Hot Guy: cinnamon rolls

Stiles noticed a trend immediately.  Since the answers were all between five and ten minutes apart, he wondered if Derek was just busy or had to think a bit before he decided what to say.  He made a mental note not to rush the guy, just in case.

To Hot Guy: I love candy.  Especially Reeses.  Chocolate and peanut butter are perfection in edible form.  But as for non-sweets, my absolute fave is curly fries.  French fries are great, but curly fries are heaven.  What’s your favorite activity?  If you had a day all to yourself what would you do?  I would probably either research my way down a rabbit hole or watch superhero movies.

From Hot Guy: reading

From Hot Guy: history or scifi

From Hot Guy: music?

From Hot Guy: instrumental

From Hot Guy: violin. piano. jazz.

Stiles stared at that for a few seconds.  He could totally see it, though he’d half expected some kind of rock, but that was probably because Derek looked tough as nails.  Part of it was the shifter strength and muscles, he was sure, but the dude’s resting bitch face did lend itself to a harsher image.

He kind of wanted to say something about classical music probably being necessary to stay calm while growing up under the thumb of an alpha like Talia Hale.  But he had in fact developed some small bit of brain to mouth filter over the years so he didn’t.  Derek may have spent quite a while on Monday explaining to him and his dad how his mother was essentially bat shit crazy, but she was still his mother.

He reread the last few messages to make sure he hadn’t gotten off track in the exchange, and then replied.

To Hot Guy: Did you ever play an instrument?  My mom wanted me to learn something when I was little but we never got around to it and by the time my dad remembered to bring it back up, I was so busy with school and magical training and everything that I just never tried.  I’d like to think I could have been good at the drums.  Or maybe a ukulele.

From Hot Guy: wanted to.  Never learned.

The urge to ask for more details was extreme but he held himself back, and after ten minutes without anything else, he answered the original question.

To Hot Guy: I mostly prefer fast paced stuff but often nothing with lyrics because they’re distracting as fuck when I’m working or reading.  Strangely enough, though, I can’t sleep at all without the TV or a movie or something playing in the background.  Even like an audiobook will work, but it has to have talking or I just lay there thinking myself in circles.  Are you one of those weirdos that can’t have any light or noise when you’re sleeping?

From Hot Guy: once asleep I don’t care

From Hot Guy: slept through sisters’ screaming matches easy

Stiles laughed out loud.  He’d met both Laura and Cora.  Cora was a year younger than him, but because he’d been a year ahead of his age group after so long being homeschooled to train his magic, he’d skipped a grade when he finally started public school.  Which meant Cora had been two years behind him.  Even so, he remembered seeing her around campus for the two years they were at BHHS at the same time.

It also meant that he could absolutely picture those two having some truly epic screaming matches growing up.  If Derek could sleep through that, he really must not care about noise.

For just a moment, he allowed himself to think about the fact that he could totally get away with playing a movie if they slept in the same room.  Or bed.  None of his college partners could stand to have him sleep over or stay at his place because they said it kept them up.

He knew that wasn’t what this was, though, and since he’d agreed to pretend he refused to make any assumptions, especially when they were being fueled by his libido.  So Stiles made sure to keep the exchange to topics like their daily schedules and how often he’d come back to visit his dad while he was in school.  Stuff that he could reasonably need to know when interacting with Derek in front of his family.

He learned that Cora did her best to not engage with the family unless needed.  And that Derek trusted his uncle Peter despite the fact he was a sarcastic asshole.  That had led Stiles to send a gif of someone dramatically wiping their brow.  Because he himself was absolutely a sarcastic asshole, so it was good to know Derek had already developed some tolerance for such things.

That comment had spiraled into a rehashing of some of the best stories of him being a horrible little asshole for his own amusement when he was younger.

From Hot Guy: into shit at station, right?

To Hot Guy: I was a curious child who appreciated learning and solving puzzles.  My father tended to be stingy with the interesting stuff, so being the accommodating young man that I was, I did not bother my busy and loving father and instead looked into matters myself.

From Hot Guy: crazy rules about files on our desks is your fault

Stiles sent a gif of Dr. Evil.

From Hot Guy: asking Tara tomorrow

To Hot Guy: She was my favorite deputy growing up.  She taught me how to tell when someone was lying.  And how to answer without answering.  Once, when I was twelve my tutor had a family emergency and I had to spend the day at the station.  There were four active cases, two car chases, three arrests, and like five or six interrogations going and half the deputies were home with the flu.  Haigh handcuffed me to my dad’s desk.

From Hot Guy: you got out

To Hot Guy: Took me five minutes.  It took him an hour to notice.  But I was very generous and stayed in dad’s office the whole time until I got hungry and went to the vending machine.  The file rule started the next day, but in my defense, I did solve two of the cases for them.

There was a lull in the conversation between nine and ten that night.  He thought maybe Derek had gone to bed, but since he was still awake and the dude had said noise didn’t bother him when he was sleeping, Stiles went ahead and sent another message.

To Hot Guy: Do you guys have any odd inside jokes in the pack?  Or an odd random fact about the family?  My dad pretends to complain about the fact that I make him way too many protection talismans and magically reinforced equipment and stuff.  It’s kind of a joke at this point and I’m sure if I went more than two months without giving him something new that he would freak out.

It was getting close to eleven and Stiles was watching an old black and white detective movie and actually thinking about going to sleep when he finally got a response.

From Hot Guy: Hale alphas have always been obsessed with the family tree. 

From Hot Guy: There’s a room in the pack house that has a huge fancy family tree on the wall.  Main line only. 

From Hot Guy: Meaning the Alpha, the Alpha’s siblings and the Alpha’s children.  It takes up most of the wall. 

From Hot Guy: Eric, Cora and I all call the room Number 4.

Stiles made Harry Potter jokes until he fell asleep.