[ Another long, robotic pause. Tate's getting in his own head, and Derek feels like it's his fault, so there's just - another knot getting tightened in his stomach. His lips are dry, and he bites them, peeling off dead skin. The bark feels brittle beneath his thumb, and he starts digging away at it, ripping it clean, tortuously slow. ]
Good. Right? Putting aside all the... the rules of the city, the fact that he's a guy, everything that scares you about this - it's good, that you have him in your life. Right?
[ Derek leaves the branch alone. He's painfully aware of how he looks, how he's sitting, how his voice is frigid and emotionless, well-practiced in shielding how he feels from other werewolves, the kinds of people who could hear a skip in his heartbeat and use it to ruin him. Derek needs to make more of an effort to reassure Tate, so he just - reaches out, knocking his knuckles against Tate's calf. ]
You could just tell him how you feel. Maybe he feels the same way as you. Scared it wouldn't work. You could figure it out together.
[ Is that good advice? Jesus, that doesn't sound like good advice. Derek - scrambles, again. ]
no subject
[ Another long, robotic pause. Tate's getting in his own head, and Derek feels like it's his fault, so there's just - another knot getting tightened in his stomach. His lips are dry, and he bites them, peeling off dead skin. The bark feels brittle beneath his thumb, and he starts digging away at it, ripping it clean, tortuously slow. ]
Good. Right? Putting aside all the... the rules of the city, the fact that he's a guy, everything that scares you about this - it's good, that you have him in your life. Right?
[ Derek leaves the branch alone. He's painfully aware of how he looks, how he's sitting, how his voice is frigid and emotionless, well-practiced in shielding how he feels from other werewolves, the kinds of people who could hear a skip in his heartbeat and use it to ruin him. Derek needs to make more of an effort to reassure Tate, so he just - reaches out, knocking his knuckles against Tate's calf. ]
You could just tell him how you feel. Maybe he feels the same way as you. Scared it wouldn't work. You could figure it out together.
[ Is that good advice? Jesus, that doesn't sound like good advice. Derek - scrambles, again. ]
Can I... tell you how Stiles and I started?