[ A couple weeks. Stiles kept his cat in the down for... quite a bit longer than that, but the only reason they ended up adopting her officially is because Derek gave the okay and kind of insisted that they shelter her from the life of being a stray. He'd projected pretty hard onto ol' Nameless, empathizing with her in a way that made him want to keep her, but - he doesn't really need to project his own bullshit onto Cobain to care about her. The guilt did enough of a number on him already.
D'you got competition, Tate asks, and Derek levels him with the most unimpressed stare imaginable. ]
No. Only thing I'm going to have to compete with her for is your attention.
[ And, like, the bed. He's already been kicked out of his own by Stiles' stupid thing. Derek drags his eyes from Tate to the open roof, looking for signs of Cobain. He breathes in, then out. ]
If you had told me about her sooner, I could have helped. Brought some blankets out from the den, or... something. I've literally got cat food in my kitchen going uneaten.
[ Because his cat only likes fish, the cliche little thing. Stiles' cat, he means, not his cat. Definitely not his cat. Derek looks back to Tate. ]
Keep her. She can stay in the treehouse, if I haven't scared her off. I don't mind.
[Tate's - amused, just for a beat, trying to bring some levity into the moment again. He could've been a little more forthcoming with the details but he wanted that introduction to go better - and it says a lot about how much Derek trusts his requests when he barreled in anyway, without respecting his wishes. But Tate's quietly not thinking about that, because Derek says keep her and it snags his attention happily.
He looks at Derek, head tilted against the bed to flick over his figure like he's suspicious of the agreement. He is, really, but he's also not going to jeopardize it. He was going to keep her regardless of what he said, but now it just means Cobain can wild it out in the woods.]
You really have catfood I can swipe? I was gonna get some, but this saves me wasting my five finger discount.
[ Regardless of whether or not Derek feels like he's in the wrong for going over Tate's head the way he did, it's obvious he feels pretty shitty about how things turned out. He rolls over, putting his back to the wall so he can stay on his side and see Tate better. He frowns, clearly unimpressed with Tate for wanting to steal things after the citations he just got, but. Maybe it's a testament to his mood, the way he presses his lips together and says nothing. ]
Stiles has a cat. So.
[ So. Yeah. He's got catfood. Derek draws his arm back, using the fold of his bicep and his forearm as a pillow. He's not saying much now that he's established Tate isn't upset with him for scaring her, but. That's mostly because he doesn't know how to bring up the roar, or... how to bring up the fact that he busted that door down without asking, or how to bring up the fact that it sucks Tate kept this from him for so long. It's easier to just stare and will Tate to speak first. ]
[Gourmet taste or - shitty food? Tate arches his brows and stays laying on his back, face turned toward Derek. It starts to put a crick in his neck but he pushes through, dark eyes skimming over Derek's firm lipped expression. Tate doesn't know what to take the initiative on in terms of holding up the conversation when Derek's like this. Is he mad? Fed up and disappointed? Tate doesn't know. But Tate's - still suffering that ding to his confidence from when Derek walked by him moments ago, so he frowns gently.
Then he turns on to his side, figuring - he can navigate this along the lines of what he knows for sure. Appeal to the alpha side of Derek, stop teasing him. If he's surly, he's going to bark and snap. Feed the ego. Appease the ego. And, well, failing all that - Tate knows how to shift this physical as a distraction now. He starts that, just lightly, by reaching out to trace his fingers down Derek's arm.]
[ There's a reason - a whole backstory, actually - behind Stiles' furball's taste in food. Derek could answer Tate's question, but it seems like such a pointless and small conversation to have, so he just... shrugs his shoulders, letting things lay. He sinks further into the bed, watching Tate watch him, offering very little back. Just silence.
The touch on his arm doesn't read as a proposition, or... anything even vaguely sexual. It just feels like Tate's bridging the distance that Derek's put between them, thanks to his shitty attitude and the things that he's done. There's a spike of guilt in his chest when Tate asks if he's mad, and Derek just presses his lips together for a second, weighing the question. He slowly shakes his head. ]
No. Just... I thought you'd brought a girl here. It kind of freaked me out.
[ Derek chews his words, taking a second. Trying to figure out how to apologize. Ultimately, he doesn't. ]
[Nonanswer, Tate just - lets that slide with a swipe of his tongue along the backs of his teeth, trying not to let something so insignificant have any weight on him. But the little nosy part of him inside just wants to know the answer anyway, because he wants to know everything about Derek - about Stiles - about these people that are in his life. He wants to know for the sake of knowing and yet he can't. His fingers stop tracing just for a beat, but then they resume. Down his arm to his wrist, then back up to his bicep. Rinse, repeat.
Tate has a habit of not thinking things through and he's guilty of that, so he's guilty of being about fifty percent the cause of this misunderstanding if not a slight bit more. But Derek's reaction is always to snap like a dog disturbed from a nap - Tate can lay the blame on him but by now he should know kinder ways of rousing him.]
No. I mean, I think you were stupid overreacting but... I could have told you she was a feral bitch. And maybe also a cat.
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D'you got competition, Tate asks, and Derek levels him with the most unimpressed stare imaginable. ]
No. Only thing I'm going to have to compete with her for is your attention.
[ And, like, the bed. He's already been kicked out of his own by Stiles' stupid thing. Derek drags his eyes from Tate to the open roof, looking for signs of Cobain. He breathes in, then out. ]
If you had told me about her sooner, I could have helped. Brought some blankets out from the den, or... something. I've literally got cat food in my kitchen going uneaten.
[ Because his cat only likes fish, the cliche little thing. Stiles' cat, he means, not his cat. Definitely not his cat. Derek looks back to Tate. ]
Keep her. She can stay in the treehouse, if I haven't scared her off. I don't mind.
no subject
[Tate's - amused, just for a beat, trying to bring some levity into the moment again. He could've been a little more forthcoming with the details but he wanted that introduction to go better - and it says a lot about how much Derek trusts his requests when he barreled in anyway, without respecting his wishes. But Tate's quietly not thinking about that, because Derek says keep her and it snags his attention happily.
He looks at Derek, head tilted against the bed to flick over his figure like he's suspicious of the agreement. He is, really, but he's also not going to jeopardize it. He was going to keep her regardless of what he said, but now it just means Cobain can wild it out in the woods.]
You really have catfood I can swipe? I was gonna get some, but this saves me wasting my five finger discount.
no subject
[ Regardless of whether or not Derek feels like he's in the wrong for going over Tate's head the way he did, it's obvious he feels pretty shitty about how things turned out. He rolls over, putting his back to the wall so he can stay on his side and see Tate better. He frowns, clearly unimpressed with Tate for wanting to steal things after the citations he just got, but. Maybe it's a testament to his mood, the way he presses his lips together and says nothing. ]
Stiles has a cat. So.
[ So. Yeah. He's got catfood. Derek draws his arm back, using the fold of his bicep and his forearm as a pillow. He's not saying much now that he's established Tate isn't upset with him for scaring her, but. That's mostly because he doesn't know how to bring up the roar, or... how to bring up the fact that he busted that door down without asking, or how to bring up the fact that it sucks Tate kept this from him for so long. It's easier to just stare and will Tate to speak first. ]
no subject
[Gourmet taste or - shitty food? Tate arches his brows and stays laying on his back, face turned toward Derek. It starts to put a crick in his neck but he pushes through, dark eyes skimming over Derek's firm lipped expression. Tate doesn't know what to take the initiative on in terms of holding up the conversation when Derek's like this. Is he mad? Fed up and disappointed? Tate doesn't know. But Tate's - still suffering that ding to his confidence from when Derek walked by him moments ago, so he frowns gently.
Then he turns on to his side, figuring - he can navigate this along the lines of what he knows for sure. Appeal to the alpha side of Derek, stop teasing him. If he's surly, he's going to bark and snap. Feed the ego. Appease the ego. And, well, failing all that - Tate knows how to shift this physical as a distraction now. He starts that, just lightly, by reaching out to trace his fingers down Derek's arm.]
Are you mad?
no subject
[ There's a reason - a whole backstory, actually - behind Stiles' furball's taste in food. Derek could answer Tate's question, but it seems like such a pointless and small conversation to have, so he just... shrugs his shoulders, letting things lay. He sinks further into the bed, watching Tate watch him, offering very little back. Just silence.
The touch on his arm doesn't read as a proposition, or... anything even vaguely sexual. It just feels like Tate's bridging the distance that Derek's put between them, thanks to his shitty attitude and the things that he's done. There's a spike of guilt in his chest when Tate asks if he's mad, and Derek just presses his lips together for a second, weighing the question. He slowly shakes his head. ]
No. Just... I thought you'd brought a girl here. It kind of freaked me out.
[ Derek chews his words, taking a second. Trying to figure out how to apologize. Ultimately, he doesn't. ]
Are you mad?
no subject
Tate has a habit of not thinking things through and he's guilty of that, so he's guilty of being about fifty percent the cause of this misunderstanding if not a slight bit more. But Derek's reaction is always to snap like a dog disturbed from a nap - Tate can lay the blame on him but by now he should know kinder ways of rousing him.]
No. I mean, I think you were stupid overreacting but... I could have told you she was a feral bitch. And maybe also a cat.