in which stiles is a wildlife documentarian who just happens to stumble upon an injured wolf cub thatās clearly been left to die. and yeah, observe, donāt interfere, thatās like the first rule of wildlife club, butā¦ itās basically a scared puppy, whoāsĀ suffering. how heartless is stiles really expected to be?Ā
the cub is already, like, shivering. from cold, or from pain, or fear, or maybe all three, and stiles turns off his camera, moves in closer.
the cubās too injured to even try to be a threat to him. and once stiles wraps his hoodie around the little guy, scooping him up and carrying him back to his tent, it really does feel like cradling a bigger, wriggling puppy. or like, a brand-new baby, who needs those little mittens to stop him from scratching himself. no, thatās too sweet, stiles is gonna cry.Ā
the cubās curled up in stilesā sleeping bag, chewing contentedly on whatās left of stilesā hoodie, whenĀ derek haleĀ comes tearing through the trees, wild-eyed.Ā
he stops abruptly when he sees stiles with his new danger puppy.Ā
āi know,Ā donāt interfere, i get it,ā stiles says. ābutā¦ he was out there all alone, and i think his leg is broken.āĀ
āso youā¦ brought him back with you,ā derek says, and stiles says, āi had to, you know? i couldnāt just leave him out there. he was trembling, he seemed completely terrified.ā
derek crouches by the curled up wolf cub. reaches out, and sweeps his fingers across the cubās fur, totally unguarded.
āheāll be okay,ā he says. āi can take it from here.ā
āi wanna stay with him,ā stiles says. āat the vet, orā¦ do vets even treat wolves?ā
āsometimes,ā derek says, and stiles says, ādoes that come up a lot? in your role as a tour guide.āĀ
āhere and there,ā derek says, and draws the wolf cub in against his heart in a blur of motion, kissing the back of its head like itās a mischievous kid who had his dad worried. āwhich leg was the hurt one?āĀ
āwait,ā stiles says, and looks, and itāsā¦ none of them.
but thatās not, he knows, he saw it. he only brought a wolf cub back here becauseā¦
he squints at the huddled shape in derekās arms again.
except that now, itās very clearly a toddler in footie pajamas.Ā
āam i tripping right now?ā stiles says, and derek laughs.Ā
ādonāt feel too bad. have you two met before? this is eli.āĀ
āeli,ā stiles says, and looks back at the now completely empty sleeping bag. at the hoodie the cub was playing with, which is still just as gently mauled as it was before. āiām sorry. was there not aĀ baby wolfĀ here, a second ago?ā
āheās gonna be fine,ā derek says. āi promise you.ā
kissing eliās temple again, but thatās notā¦ when he did that before, stiles couldāve swornā¦Ā
āthis is stiles,ā derek tells eli. ācan you show stiles how old you are?āĀ
eli hesitates, and holds up two fingers in a tentative peace sign.
āgood job!ā derek says, and eli says, āand two moons.āĀ
āmonths,ā derek says, and eli says, āno, itās both.ā
āthanks again for finding him,ā derek says, and stiles squints at him.
āi definitely didnāt find aĀ baby.āĀ
āof course not,ā derek says. ābut, given what youĀ didĀ find, and how you reacted, and did everything you could to look after him, i just wanna thank you.āĀ
āhe was hurt,ā stiles says. ātheā¦ what i did find. was that part real?āĀ
āif you saw it? iām sure it was,ā derek says, and stiles says, āand inĀ english, that meansā¦ā
āyouāre not crazy,ā derek says, and stiles says, āyeah? donāt be too sure.ā
āyouāre not,ā derek says. āitās justā¦ā he lets out a long breath. āweāre kind of still recovering from theĀ lastĀ person i let in about all of this.ā
āmama,ā eli says glumly, and stiles says, āwhoa. wait,Ā what?Ā let in about what exactly?ā
āstiles,ā derek says, like heās spelled it all out already, but thatāsā¦ yeah, no.
thatās not remotely how the world works,Ā nice try.Ā
āwhat happened with eliās mom?ā stiles says. āif itās not tooā¦ sorry.ā
āthatās okay,ā derek says. āuh, there was a fire.ā
and eli buries his face in his dadās chest, and lets out a soft howl.
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