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“It has to be you,” Stiles said, thrusting the bottle of yellowy-green liquid at Derek.
“Why?” Derek asked, keeping his arms firmly crossed.
“Because I don’t know if it works or not,” Stiles said.
“You made it, you try it,” Derek said.
“I did!” Stiles said. “And I tried it on Scott.”
“And it didn’t work?” Derek asked.
“We have no idea!” Stiles said. Derek raised an eyebrow. Stiles sighed. “Look, the potion book Deaton gave me said it’s meant to make the drinker ‘loose of lips’ and ‘value verity’.”
Derek stared at Stiles, unimpressed.
“It’s meant to make you chatty and prone to oversharing,” Stiles said. “Can you see why I couldn’t tell if it worked on me and Scott?”
They stood in silence for a moment, broken only by the sloshing of the bottle as Stiles held it between them and waggled it significantly. Derek soon deflated, unfolding his arms and snatching the bottle, inspecting its contents with great suspicion.
“What’s in it?” Derek asked, opening the bottle and sniffing the contents.
“I think it tastes better if you don’t know,” Stiles said. Derek gave Stiles another unimpressed look. “No, seriously. It’s not made of mars bars and sunshine, you do not what to know what’s in there.”
“I’m not drinking a strange liquid if I don’t know what’s in it,” Derek said.
“If you knew what was in it, it wouldn’t be a strange liquid,” Stiles said. “And besides, it’s not a strange liquid, it’s a truth serum made by me.”
“Which isn’t strange at all,” Derek said, eyebrow raising once more.
“It’s perfectly safe! I drank it, Scott drank it, and there’s very few ingredients in there that are considered to be poisons.”
“Very few-”
“I was kidding! Seriously, it’s just the normal magic mumbo jumbo. Eye of newt, mushrooms at midnight, blood of a virgin- kidding!” Stiles added hastily as Derek’s face twisted with disgust. “We need to know if this works, so you’re going to have to drink it.”
“Fine,” Derek said. “How much do I need to drink?”
“A couple of mouthfuls should do it,” Stiles said.
“A couple of mouthfuls?”
“The book said something about it being proportional to the feats of falsehoods you’re trying to undo,” Stiles said.
Derek gave the bottle a long assessing look before tipping it back and swallowing. He shuddered at the taste and handed the bottle back.
“Well?” Stiles asked.
“It’s not poisonous, but I don’t know if it’s worked yet. I would be surprised if it did though, none of your other attempts at messing with Deaton’s magic books have worked so far,” Derek said. Stiles stared at him. “What?”
“Dude? I think it’s working,” Stiles said.
“It’s working? How can you tell? You haven’t asked me any questions yet. No wonder you and Scott couldn’t tell if it worked, you clearly didn’t test it properly,” Derek said. He frowned. “That was harsh, I’m sorry. I know you’re not an idiot, and Scott’s… Scott’s… Scott amazes me sometimes. He’s not a born wolf, and yet the way he controls his shift, and he can take people’s pain, and taught Isaac to do it too.”
“This may be the best day of my life,” Stiles said.
“I couldn’t even teach my betas to control their shift,” Derek said, and he looked so morose that Stiles reached out a hand to pat Derek’s shoulder. Derek glared at the offending hand, but said, “Thanks. It means a lot to receive comfort from pack. I know you’re human, but you’re part of Scott’s pack and even though I’m not part of Scott’s pack, I’d like to be. Not just because I shifted to omega when I gave up being Alpha to heal Cora, but because Scott’s a good Alpha. A true Alpha and it would be an honour to be his beta.”
“Holy shit,” Stiles said. Derek’s eyes widened and he snapped his mouth shut.
“It seems to be working,” Derek said, through gritted teeth.
“Working?” Stiles said, laughing. “This is not just working, this is… years of therapy couldn’t make you talk like this. This is magic. I haven’t even asked you any questions yet.”
“No,” Derek said slowly. “I just… it seems really important that I tell you these things.”
“Tell me?” Stiles said. “Me specifically or just me the guy who happens to be nearest?”
“I think it’s you, specifically,” Derek said. Every word was said carefully, measured. “It seems really important that you know.”
“Huh,” Stiles said. “I guess I was the one who made the stuff? Which would explain why it didn’t work on me, there’s nothing I can tell myself that I don’t already know, and Scott must be the same.”
“It’s not because you made the serum,” Derek blurted out. Then his face twisted strangely as he tried to glare at himself and keep his mouth firmly shut.
“Right,” Stiles said. “Maybe I should try asking you questions?”
After a few moments of frowning and brow furrowing, Derek nodded and braced himself.
Stiles nodded. “So… Superman or Batman?”
“What?” Derek asked, startled.
“Like, who would win in a fight, Superman or Batman?” Stiles said.
Derek stared at Stiles. “I don’t know the answer to that.”
“You’re not meant to know, you’re meant to argue which one you think would win,” Stiles said.
“That’s… that’s not the point of a truth serum,” Derek said. “You’re meant to use it to get information out of people. That’s not information.”
“You can tell a lot about a person based on their answer to that question,” Stiles argued.
“The serum is not for making friends!” Derek said.
“Fine,” Stiles said. He looked around the room for inspiration. “What were you doing before I got here?”
“This is my home,” Derek said. “I live here. That’s how you knew to come here, because I am here a lot. In my house. Where I live.”
“Okay-” Stiles said.
“Do you like it?” Derek continued. “When I moved here, I really hoped my pack would feel comfortable here. I don’t think they did at the house, which was disappointing. A place where the pack feels at home is really important. I miss having that.”
“Oh,” Stiles said. “That… yeah, that sucks.”
“But do you like it?” Derek asked again.
“This place?” Stiles said, looking around again. “Yeah? I guess?”
“Good, I’m glad,” Derek said, nodding. “I like when you come around, I wish you did it more.”
Derek looked faintly horrified with himself.
“Uh, thanks?” Stiles said. “Although I gotta say, you really don’t give the impression you like having me around.”
Whatever internal battle Derek was having stopped immediately at this. He took a step forward and placed a hand on Stiles’s shoulder.
“Stiles,” Derek said seriously, looking intently into Stiles’s eyes. “It’s very important that you understand how much I value you. Not only your research skills and fledgling attempts at magic, but you. Your sense of humour, your energy, the way you see the world.”
“Wow, right, that’s unexpected-” Stiles said.
“I think the thing I value most about you is your loyalty,” Derek continued. “You are Scott’s most loyal friend, and you work hard to protect the people you love. I fantasise about having your loyalty.”
“You what now?” Stiles said. He took a small step back, looking flustered. “You mean you fantasise about having Scott’s loyalty, right? It’s a wolfy fantasy… can we stop using the word fantasy?”
“No,” Derek said, shaking his head and moving back into Stiles’s personal space, closer than before, moving his hand up to curl gently around Stiles’s neck, his thumb brushing Stiles’s jaw. “I work hard to prove myself to Scott, to make up for past conflicts and to gain a place in his pack, prove myself loyal to him and to earn his loyalty in return. Your loyalty I long for in a very different way, with no real hope of ever receiving it.”
“Right,” Stiles said, trying to slow his breathing. “I don’t know about no hope. I mean, I think we have a nice mutual trust thing growing between us, you drank a mysterious truth serum I made, and I’m only like twenty percent worried that your hand is on my neck for pain causing reasons.”
Derek withdrew his hand sharply. “I would never hurt you.”
“Uh, dude?” Stiles said, tension easing as he let out a few huffs of helpless laughter. “You hurt me all the time. I’m pretty sure shoving Stiles against walls is your favourite pastime.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “You’re not that useless, that doesn’t actually injure you.”
“I have some nice bruises that would argue otherwise,” Stiles said. “I think you spend too much time with people that have magical healing powers.”
“Oh,” Derek said. “You’re never seriously hurt, though, right?”
Derek looked so hopeful that Stiles had to shrug and say, “Nah. Maybe ease off it a bit, though?”
“If you want me to,” Derek said, sounding disappointed.
“Wait, why the sad face?” Stiles asked.
“It’s just… nice to roughhouse with pack,” Derek said carefully.
“But you used to do it to intimidate me into doing your bidding?” Stiles pointed out.
“That’s not why I do it now,” Derek said. He shifted awkwardly and his fingers twitched.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t touch me or whatever,” Stiles said slowly, not really sure what was going on, but feeling an odd bubble of hope gurgle in his stomach. “Just, you know, try not to break anything.”
Immediately, Derek swept Stiles into his arms, holding him tightly and sniffing Stiles neck.
“Are you okay, dude?” Stiles asked, rearranging himself in case of any awkward physical reactions. Derek was behaving weirdly, but Stiles found himself strangely enjoying the scrape of stubble and the fact that he couldn’t move without feeling all of Derek’s muscles shift.
“Scenting is a normal part of-” Derek cut himself off and shoved Stiles abruptly away.
“Scenting?” Stiles said. “Like working out what I smell like?”
Derek frowned and said nothing, clearly having another internal battle for control. He seemed to win, but when his mouth opened, it was clearly not saying what Derek had asked it to.
“It’s partly that, but more making sure you smell like me too. It’s an important part of dating, not just for werewolves, humans do it too, they share clothes and beds,” Derek said hopelessly. “When you said I could touch you as long as I didn’t hurt you, instinct sort of took over.”
“You want to make sure I smell like you because it’s an important part of dating?” Stiles said. “But we’re not dating?”
“No,” Derek said, clamping his jaw shut. Stiles stared at him, not saying anything for a long time.
“We’re not dating,” Stiles said. He walked forward and very slowly and carefully put a hand up to rest on Derek’s jaw. “But we could be?”
Derek stood stock still as Stiles cautiously closed the distance between them, bringing their lips together for a hesitant kiss. As soon as their lips met, Derek surged forward, kissing roughly and grabbing at Stiles’s forearms so he didn’t fall over. When they broke apart, Stiles beamed at Derek.
“So how long have your instincts been telling you to sniff my neck?” Stiles said. “You don’t want to sniff my butt, too, do you?”
Derek cuffed Stiles over the back of the head.
*
“So how did the truth serum turn out?” Deaton asked.
“Well, on the one hand Derek didn’t actually answer any of the questions that I asked,” Stiles said. “But on the other, I did get a date out of it, so I would say it went well.”
Deaton laughed.
“I meant to ask though, is talking all ye olde a side effect?” Stiles asked. “Or does Derek usually say things like, ‘I long for your loyalty with no hope of ever receiving it’?”
“I don’t know if it’s a side effect,” Deaton said. “But he’s certainly never said that to me.”