[ stiles laughs. derek doesn't show the relief that floods through him, hands still tight on his hips and posture unflinchingly rigid, but it's there, clearing away so much of the tension that had been building in on itself since he was first called out to the storage shed. all that nervous stumbling, the way stiles tripped over himself when they were verbally shitposting about blowjobs, it... doesn't really stand out to derek as important, and the "no blowjobs in the contract" shoe won't drop until he's had enough time to second guess everything-fucking-else he has to second guess, but.
stiles' smile? that matters. that's all he cares about. well, he cares about zac efron, too. go wildcats.
revisiting this in a couple of hours is fine, listening to a liar lie about how not pretty he is is fine, that's all fine. derek gets through everything stiles says with quiet, affirming nods, and before too long, he's actually ready to leave. he... doesn't think to tell stiles this before he starts to move, nodding again like he's dismissing stiles before taking a short stride towards the front door, but he doesn't get very far. he tries to make his exit the second stiles asks about food, and derek stops, leaning back on his heels.
he frowns. he frowns, and maybe that's not a good sign. derek backtracks, and he moves to stand closer to stiles than he had been before; he stands close enough to really see the softness of his hair, to notice how much better it looks like this than it does when it's been abused by three metric tons of hairgel. he notices the way stiles' skin looks a little pale, the way he looks a little gaunt, the way his uniform sits a little loosely on his body, and these are all things derek had already noticed, but it's - new, now that stiles is someone who is (almost) officially in his care. now that stiles is someone who genuinely asked him for help to survive.
derek senses the spike of anxiety in stiles, though he's not sure if that's because he's starting to understand which Awkward Stiles Flail correlates to which Awkward Stiles Emotion or if he's just feeling anxious himself and projecting a little. his frown tightens.
is that how we're doing this? "have you eaten yet". derek can't decide if this counts as assertive or not, so he's not sure if he should make a big deal of this. should he give stiles shit for not just - saying hey, can we go grab something to eat? should he be happy that stiles isn't just letting himself go hungry? derek makes a noise. hard to say if it's a thoughtful hum or a displeased grunt. somewhere in the middle, maybe. ]
I... could eat.
[ his voice is stiff and even, like he's trying very, very hard to pick his words carefully. his tone is... neutral, and slow, and when derek brings his hand up to his mouth to scratch at his stubble and think his next move through, it doesn't deviate from that. ]
If you could eat.
[ it's not like he wants to pressure stiles to just-- outwardly and explicitly say "i'm starving let me fucking eat you stupid dog", but he wants stiles to at least realize that that's an option. ]
no subject
stiles' smile? that matters. that's all he cares about. well, he cares about zac efron, too. go wildcats.
revisiting this in a couple of hours is fine, listening to a liar lie about how not pretty he is is fine, that's all fine. derek gets through everything stiles says with quiet, affirming nods, and before too long, he's actually ready to leave. he... doesn't think to tell stiles this before he starts to move, nodding again like he's dismissing stiles before taking a short stride towards the front door, but he doesn't get very far. he tries to make his exit the second stiles asks about food, and derek stops, leaning back on his heels.
he frowns. he frowns, and maybe that's not a good sign. derek backtracks, and he moves to stand closer to stiles than he had been before; he stands close enough to really see the softness of his hair, to notice how much better it looks like this than it does when it's been abused by three metric tons of hairgel. he notices the way stiles' skin looks a little pale, the way he looks a little gaunt, the way his uniform sits a little loosely on his body, and these are all things derek had already noticed, but it's - new, now that stiles is someone who is (almost) officially in his care. now that stiles is someone who genuinely asked him for help to survive.
derek senses the spike of anxiety in stiles, though he's not sure if that's because he's starting to understand which Awkward Stiles Flail correlates to which Awkward Stiles Emotion or if he's just feeling anxious himself and projecting a little. his frown tightens.
is that how we're doing this? "have you eaten yet". derek can't decide if this counts as assertive or not, so he's not sure if he should make a big deal of this. should he give stiles shit for not just - saying hey, can we go grab something to eat? should he be happy that stiles isn't just letting himself go hungry? derek makes a noise. hard to say if it's a thoughtful hum or a displeased grunt. somewhere in the middle, maybe. ]
I... could eat.
[ his voice is stiff and even, like he's trying very, very hard to pick his words carefully. his tone is... neutral, and slow, and when derek brings his hand up to his mouth to scratch at his stubble and think his next move through, it doesn't deviate from that. ]
If you could eat.
[ it's not like he wants to pressure stiles to just-- outwardly and explicitly say "i'm starving let me fucking eat you stupid dog", but he wants stiles to at least realize that that's an option. ]