Hey buddy! Just wanted to let you know your link for your moodboards isn't working. By the way! I started following you on AO3 for your Ziam fics, and now because of you, I have fallen down the BTS rabbit hole. So thanks I guess haha? I love all of my new sons so much :)
LKJA:LDJ I M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW. I’m not sure what was wrong with it because the url was right but I also realized some of my moodboards aren’t on there because I didn’t tag them (I suck at tagging, I never remember my tags).
A loud thud woke Stiles up, flailing along with a few things clattering off Derek’s nightstand on the other side of the bed.
Jumping out of bed, fearing the worst, Stiles ran to turn on the bedroom lights before cautiously creeping around the bed blocking his view. Derek was lying on the ground, face down and arms uselessly splayed out in what looked like a half cheer above his head. He had clearly tried to brace himself and failed.
“Derek!” He cried out in further alarm as Derek failed to move in any way that looked to be okay. He grunted as he tried to gently turn Derek onto his back before giving up and yanking one side of his body to the opposite side, finally getting him flat on his back after uncrossing his legs. In a quick assessment born out of necessity and practice, he couldn’t tell that anything was wrong.
Falling to his knees beside Derek and steadying his head he began tapping at his cheek. “Derek? Derek, wake up.”
“Mmmm-wake.” Derek mumbled, finally prying his eyes open to squint at Stiles.
“Are you okay? What happened? You were only supposed to be out with the pack, what did you get yourself into?” Stiles asked, still worried. Was it a curse? Was it finally brain damage?
When Derek began giggling he came to the conclusion it was definitely brain damage. Until he smelled his breath.
“You’re drunk!” Stiles accused, sitting back on his heels and staring down at Derek in Shock. “How are you drunk? You don’t get drunk.”
“Scott...Wolfsbane drinks.” Derek managed to mumble out.
“Scott did this?!” Stiles cried out in outrage, wanting to go after his own brother for this inconvenience.
“Hel-ph me up?” Derek asked, clearly wanting to get into bed.
Stiles refrained from ranting about that. Derek was heavy, okay. He was all muscle and lose alcohol limbs right now. That meant a lot of either dead weight or very wriggly weight like his new baby brother.
“Sure thing, big guy. Let me just learn how to lift twice my bodyweight in one night with no former practice.” He huffed as he helped Derek sit up and then pulled him up from a squat before tipping him onto the bed. He tried to slow Derek’s descent onto the bed but he really just fell in at the end.
Stiles stood at the side of the bed, looking at his work. “Yeah, no. I’m just taking off your shoes. You get to be uncomfortable tonight. And don’t throw up in our bed.” He warned as he moved to take off Derek’s shoes.
“Y’ur thuh besth.” Derek sighed into the side of his pillow facing Stiles, face all squished on one side.
“You know it.” Stiles agreed as he shut off the light and moved back to bed. “Don’t think I’ll forget about tonight. I’ll be telling everyone this story every christmas eve you dick.”
“Whah, why?” Came the mumbled and disembodied voice of derek. “Y’don’ have to.”
Stiles grinned into his pillow. “Just you wait.”
“If you say so.” Came a final sigh before Stiles was left in total dark and silence trying not to shake or be too loud as he laughed.
Stiles was too busy cooing at Jacob trying to get him to eat to notice that Derek had woken up and had just walked into the kitchen.
“We have a baby. Why do we have a baby?” Derek asked, confused and scared from the doorway, still holding onto his head as if it was still in pain. “We can’t have a baby.” He finally settled on.
“Such keen Alpha werewolf senses.” Stiles continued cooing at the baby, completely ignoring Derek in his concentration. “All gone. Who knows where they went.” He popped his mouth open in the end and the baby mimicked him and Stiles was ready and spooned some baby mush in with the opportunity.
“This, my dear werewolf boyfriend, is my baby brother. This is not the baby of our loins. You remember him? Born a few months ago. Melissa almost killed my dad? You had to watch me and Scott cry. It was a mess.” Stiles turned to Derek with an amused grin. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit over the head with a tire iron.” He paused, turning his head this way and that as if testing the origins of the pain before turning back to Stiles. “Did I?”
Stiles snorted, turning back to his baby feeding task. “Don’t know. But I doubt it. You didn’t have any blood on you when I put you to bed.”
Derek grunted and made his way fully into the kitchen, taking a seat beside Stiles. “Thanks.” He mumbled, resting his head on the table.
“Should you still be feeling this way?” Stiles asked, multitasking between the baby and Derek, running a free and still clean hand over Derek’s hair. “Should I call Deaton?”
“No.” Derek sighed. “I can feel the wolfsbane running its course. We’ll only be bothering him for no reason at all.”
“What happened?” Stiles asked again.
“Can’t say.” Derek admitted, avoiding eye contact with Stiles.
“So he just told you he couldn’t say?” Lydia asked him, leaning against the bar as Stiles rolled dough out on the table before him. “As in like he didn’t know or he didn’t want to say?”
“I don’t know.” Stiles huffed. “But everyone is acting so strange like they know something. I’m pretty sure my dad dropped off Jacob this morning as an excuse when I told him Derek was busy.” He stopped rolling and turned to face Lydia. “Lyds, my dad looked guilty. Why would he? And how does that connect with Derek? I don’t get it.” He finished, frustrated. It was probably nothing to get frustrated over, except there were too many coincidences happening regarding that one night Derek couldn’t tell him about.
“Do you think something is happening?” Lydia asked, leaning in to judge the edges of the last batch of cookies Stiles had made.
Stiles huffed in exasperation, of course he thought something was happening otherwise he wouldn’t be worrying about it. “I’d say we have something threatening us but then Derek wouldn’t have been drunk and I’m pretty sure he would have told me if something was a threat.”
“How can you be sure? You’ve been more busy cooking and preparing for a party than you have been out and training with the rest of them.”
Stiles glared at her. “I’m preparing for our Christmas party. That’s hardly enough time or reason to keep me from things happening.”
“Sure.” She agreed easily and falsely, straightening a cookie on the tray he had out for cooling.
He opened his mouth, ready to argue with her before deciding it wasn’t worth it. He was sure Lydia knew as much as he did and that was nothing. Stiles was more than just the so called pack mom. He was their fucking emissary in all but name for fucks sake! Deaton was about to retire! He fumed in utter silence, ignoring Lydia until the front door opened.
Derek called for him from the entrance of their house. He was clearly back from training the betas or so that was what he said he was doing. Stiles couldn’t be so sure anymore. So he ignored him, returning back to rolling the dough as aggressively as he could without tearing the sheet to pieces.
Entering the kitchen Derek immediately went to pull a water bottle from the fridge before turning to watch Stiles and Lydia. “What have you been up to all day?” Derek asked as he reclined against the counter, ready to settle in for a long time.
“Me?” Stiles scoffed. “Oh, I just finished wrapping presents and now I’m baking again. Y’know, things that aren’t important and that aren’t secrets.” He replied testily.
Derek was silent before letting out an extended ‘OK’ and sounding completely confused.
Without a hint of his actions, Stiles dropped the rolling pin and walked out of the kitchen without another word. He headed for his car keys before either of them could think to even chase him down.
“What did you say to him?” Derek demanded from Lydia, turning to face her.
“Nothing!” She denied, looking guiltily back at him. “I tried to make him think nothing was happening and instead I might have accidentally convinced him it wasn’t important…” Derek raised his brows at her, expecting her to continue her explanation. “...to what he does for the pack.” She looked down at the countertop, truly ashamed.
“Lydia.” Derek stared at her in shock. “What the fuck?”
“I don’t know!” She cried out in frustration. “He kept asking all these questions!
“Fuck!” Derek cried out, running to the nearest window with a view to the front of the house. Stiles was already pulling away in his jeep. “He’s gone.”
“Probably to Scott’s, or the Sheriff’s.” Lydia tried to console him.
“Thanks Lydia. I think I already know that.” He replied sarcastically, making his way to sit on his couch alone. Lydia finally did the decent thing and left.
“Why were you looking for Derek this morning?” Stiles questioned his own father in his own living room.
The Sheriff held Jacob on his lap, keeping him entertained while Melissa was out with Scott. It was a bit difficult to reconcile his childhood of lonely holidays spent with his distant aunt while his dad worked, to this; his dad taking time off work for his second son during the holidays. Logically, he knew his dad could work less and actually take time off now due to the dual income with Melissa. Not to mention he finally had a full force at the office packed with humans and wolves.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I dropped off Jacob for babysitting. Maybe I just expected Derek to be up early too.”
Stiles frowned, not buying the explanation. “Are you sure?” He gave his dad one last chance to explain. “Because when you knocked on my door you specifically asked for Derek and when I told you he was asleep, then you asked me to babysit.”
“Yep. I’m sure.”
Instead of yelling and upsetting both his dad and little brother, Stiles stood up and pulled out the keys from his pocket. “I’ll see you around.” Was all he said, dismissing his dad’s questioning as he left as quickly as he came.
He drove around before deciding to hide out in the grocery parking lot. After about half an hour of cooling down he entered the store and bought what he needed.
He woke up early on Christmas morning to pick up what he bought before returning home only to find Derek pacing in the living room.
“Where did you go?” Derek asked, sounding sleepy and looking relieved as Stiles walked in weighed down with bags on his arms and a giant cardboard box in his hands.
“Dinner.” Was all Stiles replied, passing him to get into the kitchen without a second glance. Pretending to not see Derek reach out to try and help him.
“Dinner? I thought we already bought everything we needed.” Derek followed him in.
“We did.” Stiles assured him. “Before I decided I didn’t want to make dinner anymore. This is courtesy of Safeway.” He tapped the cardboard box now sitting on the kitchen counter, looking up at Derek defiantly.
Derek stared at the box before turning back to Stiles. “Why didn’t you say anything? We could have planned something else. You shouldn’t have to worry about dinner if you don’t want to.”
Stiles gave Derek a shrug. “It was a recent thing.” Somehow it didn’t seem right to accuse Derek of ruining the Christmas spirit when Derek hadn’t really done anything except let his guard down with others for once. He felt like a dick for feeling this way. “Besides, it’s what everyone expected.”
Derek stepped in closer to Stiles, looking more secure when Stiles didn’t make space between them. “Does this have anything to do with what Lydia said to you?”
Picking at his fingers in front of him, he averted his eyes to his hands. “A little.” He finally admitted. He wanted to be useful to the pack. He liked being useful. And he also liked taking care of what he and Derek had created together. But recently he couldn’t help but feel he was being kept away from information for some reason or another. He feared they thought he was inadequate.
Derek wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him into a secure hug. “What Lydia said was wrong. In fact, I’m positive she regretted implying it at all.”
Letting his fingers free, he wrapped his arms around Derek tightly in return. “Thanks. I don’t know why I’m acting this way.” He admitted. “I basically accused my dad of keeping secrets from me to benefit someone else.” His breath hitched as he admitted his perceived crime, hiding his face in Derek’s shoulder.
“You know he would never do or agree to anything that went against you.”
“Sure.” Stiles agreed, remembering his highschool days.
“I’m absolutely sure.” Derek responded, humor lining his voice. “I have firsthand knowledge to that.”
Stiles laughs, remembering about telling his dad about Derek a few years ago.
“C’mon, let’s go back to bed. It’s only 8 and we have nothing we need to do right away.” Derek pulled back from their hug and gently pulled Stiles with him back upstairs to their room. “We can take a nice long nap.”
“That sounds good.” Stiles sighs contentedly as he kicks off his shoes and dives into bed. Immediately Derek is on the bed and wrapping his arms and legs around him, spooning him close. “Feels good.” He murmurs, comfortable enough to finally relax.
Derek hums against the back of his neck but doesn’t say anything. Instead, he holds him close until Stiles falls asleep.
He wakes with a long yawn and instantly reaches out for Derek who’s still in bed, only this time he’s reading something on his phone. “I thought you were downstairs. I heard noises.” He snuggles into Derek’s side, willing himself to wake up.
“It’s nothing.” Derek assures him, running his left hand through Stiles’ messy hair, skritching at his scalp.
He startles awake to what he think is hours later but going off Derek’s amused look, it had only been about twenty minutes that he fell back asleep for. “I should get up.” He mumbles, completely unmotivated to do so.
“You can just stay here with me.” Derek suggests. “And not get up.”
Dressed and in a better mood he made his way into the kitchen only to guiltily look at the prepared food he had picked up from the grocery store. Part of his Christmas tradition was helping his mom cook Christmas dinner and one bad mood one year ruined that.
He began digging the food out after turning on the oven to heat. Surely people ordered this food because it tasted good. Hopefully it would pass muster. Some of the pack was surprisingly very picky at what they liked to eat.
Derek jogged down the stairs to meet him in the kitchen. “Everyone’s on their way. I volunteered us for drinks and cookies.”
Stiles turned from shutting the oven door on the turkey. “What do you mean?”
Derek reached him with a grin, pulling him into a kiss. “I mean that I contacted everyone to make a part of dinner and they’re on their way. Your homemade Christmas dinner tradition can continue.”
He couldn’t help matching Derek’s grin before pulling him back in for a deep kiss. “You’re serious?” He was pulled along between exhilarated laughter and stopping Derek for kisses to get their dining room ready for guests.
When Erica and Boyd arrived, Erica carried in a basket of dinner rolls and a boxed gift while Boyd held onto a pan of tin foiled macaroni and cheese and bacon with a gift bag hanging from his left wrist. Stiles led Boyd into the kitchen to keep his pan warm in the heater beneath the oven. Soon after, Scott and Kira arrived with fried chicken and Green Beans ready to be put in the microwave and their gifts tucked into their arms.
Every single guest came with a plate and Stiles watched excitedly as his dining table was filled to the edges with food. His dad, Melissa, and Jacob came last. His dad carried a large pot and Derek quickly went over to take it out of his hands.
Stiles could smell the Tamales from where he hovered between the kitchen and dining room trying to whip up a last minute batch of gingerbread cookies for later. He had a collection of homemade and decorated sugar cookies and other pack favorites, but gingerbread cookies were always best fresh.
He could hear the pack out in the dining room joking around with each other. Scott was yelling something about how all the gifts were his. Isaac was arguing against that, and the commotion from then on wouldn’t quiet down.
“Shit. I forgot to open the wine.” Stiles murmured to himself as he waited for the timer to let him know the cookies were ready to be taken out. He started heading for the fridge before Derek stopped him by pulling him into his arms.
“I already did that.” Derek assured him. Stiles laughed out in surprise at what definitely felt like a dance move before turning in Derek’s arms to be able to face him. “You were busy mixing you cookies. I didn’t want to distract you.”
Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek’s neck. “I don’t mind being distracted.”
“I’m sure.” Derek agreed. “But I’m heading out with your dad for a few minutes while everyone catches up and has a chance to warm up their food. We’re taking the turkey and the rest down to the shelter for them to hand out.”
Stiles leaned in and kissed Derek long and hard before pulling away. “Go on, be a good Alpha. Provide for your territory.” He smiled warmly at Derek, utterly touched that he figured out what to do with the extra food that was making him feel guilty about wasting perfectly good food.
“Derek, you ready to go?” The sheriff walked into the hot kitchen as he shrugged into his jacket.
“Yes sir.” Derek turned to address the sheriff who nodded at him before smiling at Stiles.
“Alright. Go on you two. Go protect and serve. I know you can’t help yourselves.” He happily ignored that only a day ago he’d been upset about secrets. Now he had a feeling it wasn’t anything terrible they didn’t think him capable of handling. But they were still definitely up to something, not that there was anything terrible with his dad and boyfriend getting along.
The timer finally rang, signaling to Stiles the cookies were ready to be taken out. After preening at the perfection of his cookies he headed to the dining room to let the others know the oven was ready for their use.
Dinner was a success. He was satisfied, completely full and feeling warm with Derek resting his arm around his waist and the entire pack sitting around the table talking animatedly to each other. Except for Jacob. Jacob was currently asleep in Scott’s arms on Scott’s shoulder.
After a few false endings and starts they finally made their way to the living room from the dining room to get ready for their secret santa exchange. He and Derek had decorated the house for the Christmas party days before. Their tree was ginormous and Derek had to stop him from watering it every day in excitement. And right now the twinkling tree was infested with presents the pack had brought, a pack that was big and that was only just starting to grow from within.
As host, Stiles got to hand out his gift first which would be going to Boyd this year. Except after he spent some time rummaging under the tree for his gift that happened to be buried under all the ones brought by pack members, he turned around to see Derek on one knee with a small box in his own hands and the pack leaning towards them in anticipation.
Holy shit, addendum! I didn't realize you wrote Grayscale as well. I LOVE that fic! I love DbD AU's and I loved Gavin and Ryan's relationship in that. And you portrayed Gavin so well as a child! Seriously, you're awesome :)
Yeah I did!
Also one that was a ton of fun to write because I love horror stories and both Grayscale and Gemini Dream was my try at it (even though Gemini Dream is more of a mystery story...)
And I am a sucker for DbD even though I am horrible at the game but it’s a lot of fun!
Hi again. I finished the Prince of Los Santos. HoW DaRe YoU??? Like, it was excellent, but my heart was breaking the entire time. And the ending?? Like????? With Ray's dream??? (Trying to not post spoilers haha. I hope you understand what I'm referencing) God, my fucking heart. Fantastic. I hope you're working on more stuff that you'll post soon? (Currently reading Gemini Dream but I want more haha) Cheers, lovely :)
Aaaaaah, Prince of Los Santos was SO MUCH FUN to write, like it was like a dream it went so smoothly!
I gotta admit, the ending might be one of my favorite ones I did, even if I shifted it around like ten times but I am very happy with how it is now!
I did start my next story yesterday and it should go online in July if everything goes smoothly - more infos will follow soon, hehe...
So, I just finished Novocaine... I read Lamp Halo forever ago and have always put off Novo because of the MCD warning, and I cried so hard so many times. How dare you?!!? But that was fantastic. I love the babies so much and Jack and Ryan and Geoff and GAH! I'm off to read Prince of Los Santos next. You're awesome! <3
Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!
Haha, yeah that warning put a lot of people off but better save than sorry, you know? Glad you still decided to read though - I hope you enjoy Prince of Los Santos as well, tell me what you thought of it! =D
This is pretty easy to answer, actually.^^ I daydream a lot. Mostly of possible story ideas, books I’ve read and movies I’ve seen. It’s never really random and thankfully I can influence those dreams.^^
