[ derek looks - cozy. that's the first thing he notices now that he's not distracted by an intruder and the potential for animalistic disaster. he looks clean and warm and stiles kind of wants to rub his face against his shoulder, which is weird. so he doesn't. instead, he rocks his weight back onto his heels and slides his hands into his pockets because he doesn't know what to do with them. or he tries to, anyway, but his ring catches on the edge of his pocket, which just makes the movement more awkward, so he tugs that hand free and lifts it to scratch along the edge of his jaw instead. his other hand sinks in smoothly, fingers pushing up against the little cloth bag tucked in his pocket.

stiles swallows quietly, trying ignore the small surge of nervousness that rolls through him rather suddenly, and then tension he's starting to pick up from derek. he flings his hand out from his jaw toward him, literally a second away from apologizing for the stupid cat even though it's not like he led it back to the den on purpose, and he definitely didn't invite it inside.

derek beats him, though, so he's just left standing there with his hand out and his mouth open as he tilts back onto flat feet. stiles blinks, then cranes his hand over toward the front door. ]

... It came from outside. Like, it's - from outside. It's a stray.

[ he looks confused? but also like he's... not really sure what he's saying. like, he's obviously stating facts her, but he looks like he kind of wishes he wasn't? his face is a mess, basically. he drops his hand. ]

I'm not leaving it— I put it back where it came fr— I'm confused. You thought I went and adopted a cat and hated the idea even though that's - not what I was doing. I put the cat outside, where it came from - but I can't put - the cat outside? ... What?