I saw something a while back about how people tend to write Derek with rough hands and how that would likely be wrong because of his healing factor and that Derek would actually have soft hands and it got me thinking...
Derek with blood in his teeth and flesh under his claws who many define as a monster has hands as soft as a baby's bottom. Derek who everyone sees as a rough and tough fighter, a bad boy in leather has soft hands.
Meanwhile Stiles with his doe eyes and pursed lips who most tend to see as a clumsy dork has too many callouses to count on his. Stiles who everyone sees as being weak and uncoordinated, someone who can only fight back with sarcasm has rough hands.
And both of them absolutely love it.
Derek adores Stiles' hands. He loves that callousness and the rough feeling of them.
Derek thinks that they are a great representation of who Stiles is.
Stiles hands that have never been soft. That were always covered in random bruises and cuts from all his childhood escapades, then were always dry from holding his tears in at every event his mom wasn't there for. He still had burn marks from hot pans and oil pops that he got during the months that he was learning to cook for himself. His hands also always had a vaguely chemical smell as he learned to clean and scrub and bleach. The same hands that now had callouses everywhere from clinging onto his bat with all his might and from digging his palms into the ground as a ritual to keep going.
They were just like Stiles. Never really weak. Always learning while never forgetting. Always trying. Never stopping even when he should, even when any sane person would. Always strong.
Not many people saw that. They couldn't see past the general clumsiness and the sarcasm and the natural curiosity people often attributed to naivety. Derek did. He saw it when Stiles would make a good tackle at lacrosse after seeing the other player going for Scott. Or when he snatched unhealthy food out of his dad's strong grip to keep him healthy. He saw it when Stiles would get in between his pack members whenever a fight broke out and hold them back from hurting each other. Or when he would wrangle a sleeping pack member to their own bed during a sleepover.
He wasn't just physically strong either. Everytime a battle was coming and the fear of not coming back was all consuming, Stiles would always be the first to strike, the first to fight through his fear. When a member was hurt or missing and the entire pack felt like they were imploding, Stiles was the rational one, calmly doling out orders and asking questions and making sure that everyone had something to focus on. When, at the end of a long and tiring day, Stiles would still open his arms to any pack member that snuck through his window looking for compassion. Or when Peter came back looking for forgiveness and hoping for a pack, Stiles was the first to agree with it and was always the first to include the man in anything, even if he wasn't fully trusting of him yet.
Stiles is strong just like his hands. So now anytime Derek is having a bad day he'll cuddle up to Stiles and place at least one hand on his face. Feeling each callous and scar and bump, Derek uses them as a reminder that he is worth fighting for and that he doesn't have to be tough to be strong.
Stiles absolutely loves Derek's hands. He loves how soft they are and how gentle they can be.
He likes to draw parallels between Derek's hands and his heart.
Derek's hands who have been through countless battles and hardships, who what were at some point the very soft hands of an innocent teenager with a near perfect life only to then have to face things no one should, barely hanging onto life and narrowly keeping it, those hands were still so soft.
He likes to think that Derek's heart is the same. That the soft heart of a highschooler that was near full with love and hope and happiness but then almost at once, was drained of every good feeling only to leave behind sorrow and anger and fear, it was still soft.
Most couldn't see that, too blinded by the glares and the growls, and the tone. But Stiles could and he did. He saw it in the way that Derek would panic endlessly over what gift to get Issac for his birthday. Or how he would cook for his pack and pour over everything he made with care and precision. How he always kept track of the girls' flows so he knew exactly what snacks to buy and what movies to rent. How every time the pack trained, even if they were doing so individually, he would take his time with each one correcting or complimenting them.
And it wasn't just with pack either. When they go to the park he always keep an extra eye on the playground to make sure all the kids are safe. In the grocery store when someone looks like they need to reach something so, as he's passing by, he gets it for them and leaves. When someone breaks down on the side of the road and looks around like they need help, he always stops to see if there's anything he can do. On the rare occasions that he actually goes out clubbing with everyone he always 'bumps into people' with extra 'things' in their drinks than they paid for.
Dereks heart is still soft like his hands. So anytime Stiles is having a particularly rough day and is damn near at the end of his rope, he lays near Derek and just plays with his hands. He pokes them, squeezes them, runs his fingertips along them, and he reminds himself to keep his own heart soft too.
