#avswcompliment

For @averysterekwinter day 1 : compliments

Summary: Derek was a good brother who went to Starbucks to get Laura her ridiculously over-priced Peppermint Mocha Lattes to post on her Instagram. She didn't need to know that Derek wasn't going back because he was secretly a converted Starbucks fan, but for the cute barista leaving him notes - and who is quite possibly Derek's mate.

A/N: Day 1 of @averysterekwinter​. Theme: Compliments. This is a little late but real life was kicking my ass six ways to Sunday, literally.

Preview:

Derek wasn’t new to compliments. He was well aware of how he looked and what scents his body tended to elicit. Though this was very much a first.

Are you a beaver? Because damn. What was Derek even supposed to do with that? And it didn’t stop there, oh no. Your smile is proof that the best things in life are free. Derek felt pretty justified in not understanding what was going on. Was it meant to be an insult? Or a compliment?  

Laura wheezed on the floor – being entirely unhelpful when she was the one who got Derek into this mess in the first place.   Though Derek had been the one swindled into going to Starbucks – on a Sunday, no less – just so Laura could have her ridiculous order of a Peppermint Mocha Latte to post on her Instagram. Something to do with aesthetics. Derek didn’t know what was so aesthetic about ordering a holiday drink in the middle of January – or paying a ridiculous amount for a fancy version of peppermint flavoured hot chocolate.

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Stiles Stilinski is a Nice Thing Summary:

Scott rolls his eyes, and Stiles army crawls from the bed to the open doorway, peeking out down the hall before scrambling up and darting across, slapping the post-it onto Derek’s bulletin board and diving back into his room. “I’m doing a thing,” he says once he’s back on the bed, Convex Optimization textbook out so it at least looks like he’s doing his homework. “For Derek. You know, compliments and shit so he frowns a little less often.”

The darkness of humanity

In your eyes I see

The scars of its cruelty

But also its light

Its hope

Its resilience through tragedy

This is your glory

@averysterekwinter for Compliment, day 1.

@barlowstreet @ice-dispenser @stillbeatingheart @wheredidhiseyebrowsgo @ratman83 @philosopher2020 @theanarik @alienace @offeringpeoplegumisnotcooking @leavederekalonepls @isthatbloodonhisshirt @lilassparks @someofusarequeer @sizzlingballoonbasement @lozninja @atomika89

I decided for this week to try to worry less about perfection and hit more challenges.

Read it on AO3 - Toss a coin to your author

Summary: Derek is in love with Stiles - not that Stiles has even the slightest clue. He’d know if he were a wolf, but he’s painfully human. Which means that Derek is going to have to use his words. Which means: complimenting Stiles. How did that turn into a competition, though? Only Stiles.

AN: For @averysterekwinter. Trying to combat depression rn with short fluff. We’ll see how far I get. 

Preview: 

Derek Hale has been in love with Stiles Stilinski for a very long time. And by wolf customs, he’s been extremely obvious about his feelings, letting Stiles borrow clothing that positively reeked of Derek, letting him bury his face in Derek’s neck as they hugged, and even letting him eat before anyone else in the pack. If Stiles had been a wolf, they’d have been mated by now.

But Stiles is very much human, and that’s never been a problem for Derek until he realized that it also meant that Stiles has no fucking clue that Derek has been wooing him for the past year or so. Sure, Stiles hasn’t outright rejected Derek in that time, and it seems like he won’t outright laugh at him either if Derek makes another move. But it also doesn’t seem like Stiles even realizes that he’s being courted by his Alpha.

The pack knows - or at least the born wolves though. Cora’s been rolling her eyes at him a lot, especially when Stiles once again does not figure out that Derek treats him like a second and a mate in one. Emissaries may get privileges, but not this much. Not usually.

It seems as if the bitten wolves might figure it out soon - the instincts aren’t as strong with them, and they’re used to dating and wooing in a more human way, unlike Derek. He’s never been great with humans romantically. He’s never been with a human he didn’t have to hide a part of himself from. Stiles would be the first. If only he’d figure it out.

“How long have you been trying to hit on Stiles?” Erica is the first to confront him.

Read on AO3

I remembered @averysterekwinter was on and had a need.

“Stiles, wait.” Derek catches the teenager just as he’s about to hop into the rust bucket he calls a car.

“Can we not do this tonight?” Stiles grumbles wrestling with the door. It’s late, he’s tired and his hand hurts like a bitch after that damn pixie had tried to take a chunk out of it. “I’ve got to drive back to Berkeley tomorrow and I really don’t feel like listening to you complain about your token human.”

“What? No,” Derek hesitates mid-step. “I was just going to say good work tonight.”

“Oh.” Stiles seems taken aback as he climbs into the driver’s seat. “Uh, thanks.”

“I mean it,” Derek says, folding his arms across his chest. “Drive safe tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you too— uh,” Stiles shakes his head. “I mean, not drive safe since you’re not going anywhere. I just— be safe… in general, or—” he manages to rein himself in. “Yup, okay. See ya.”

***

“Wait, you did all of this?” Derek asks, flipping through the notebook.

“Yeah, I got just a little carried away.” Stiles grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sure it’s not completely accurate, you know. You can’t trust everything you find on the internet, and I don’t have your wolfy senses, so it’s probably full of mistakes. You don’t have to keep—”

Derek cuts him off before he can fall too far into his self-deprecating spiral. “This is great.”

“I—” Stiles lets his hand drop. “Thanks man. You really don’t need to—”

“Stiles, will you just take the compliment?”

“I guess I’m just not used to hearing them,” Stiles says, laughing a little self-consciously. “It’s usually more along the lines of ‘why were you messing around instead of studying for your exams?’ Which, was kinda the case here.”

“You should get them more often.”

“Oh, really big guy?” Stiles’ laugh is more genuine this time.

“Yes. You put so much work into keeping the pack safe. You deserve to hear nice things about yourself.”

“I—” Stiles stumbles over the words, his face flushing. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

***

“What were you thinking?” Scott growls, storming over to Stiles, skirting around the rogue Alpha who had come to steal their territory.

“Oh, I don’t know Scott,” Stiles bites back. “Maybe that my pack needed help?” He lets the bat in his hands drop. Now that the fight is over, the adrenaline rush is fading and he feels shaky with relief.  It had been close. Too close.

“You always jump in without thinking.”

“Pretty sure we just established that I do think,” Stiles argues, scanning the clearing for familiar faces. The pack look mostly okay—a little bruised and battered, but alive.

“Not helping Stiles.”

“What was I supposed to do?” Stiles asks, rounding on Scott. “Just sit around in the car and wait while you guys get killed?”

“We had this.”

“No, you didn’t. Dude, you guys were getting your asses handed to you.”

“Because we were busy trying to protect you!”

“I don’t need your protection.”

“Tell that to Derek.”

Stiles’ gaze lands on the werewolf in question as the words tumble out of Scott’s mouth. He’s standing with one hand braced against a tree, the other pressed against his side.

“Derek?” Stiles jogs over to the beta wolf. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” It’s more grunt than word, but Derek straightens up as Stiles approaches. His shirt is stained with blood, but he waves off Stiles’ concern. “I’ll heal.”

“Not as fast as usual,” Stiles reminds him. “Injuries from an alpha take longer. Let me see it.”

Derek lifts his hand allowing Stiles to take a look at the slash across his ribs, wincing as Stiles picks bits of shirt away from the wounds.

“I’ve got a first aid kit in the Jeep,” Stiles says. “Come on, I’ll patch you up.”

Derek lets Stiles manhandle him towards the car. The human is quiet, his scent picking up sour notes of guilt as they walk.

“Scott was wrong,” Derek says, watching Stiles rummage around for the first aid kit. “About you needing protection.”

“Yeah, well Scott is often wrong about a lot of things,” Stiles jokes. He grins up at Derek, brandishing the box full of first aid supplies, but the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Now, take your shirt off.”

Doing as he’s told, Derek pulls off his ruined shirt, wincing as the movement tugs at his clawed ribs. He sits on the edge of the trunk, holding his arm out of the way while Stiles cleans him up.

“This wasn’t your fault.”

“It was a little bit my fault.” Stiles reaches for some gauze. “Hold this.” He directs Derek to hold the gauze in place while he tapes it up. “I know I’m a liability, but—"

“You’re human,” Derek reminds him. “You don’t bounce back as fast as the rest of us, but that doesn’t make you weak.”

“Derek—”

“No.” Forcing him to put down the tape, Derek takes Stiles’ hands. “You’re strong Stiles, stronger than all of us. Braver too.”

“I don’t know about—"

Derek laughs. “You just went up against an alpha werewolf with nothing but a baseball bat to protect your pack and won. That takes balls.”

“Yeah, well you’d know all about balls,” Stiles teases, ducking Derek’s playful swipe.

“You’re appreciated Stiles. The pack appreciates you.”

Stiles looks at him for a long second.

“No, the pack doesn’t appreciate me.” He holds up his hand before Derek can argue with him. “You appreciate me. And, honestly,” he licks his lips, heart stuttering in his chest, “that’s better.”

He steps up between Derek’s legs, hands clenching and unclenching as his heart races.

Title: First Impressions Ratings: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandom(s): Teen Wolf Category: M/M Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski Tags: A Very Sterek Winter Fest 2021, One-Shot, Alternate Universe, First Time, Unusual Flirting Summary: Derek wasn't sure what to make of the Sheriff's son. Word Count: 5,016 Year: Future Spoilers: Everything Notes: For @averysterekwinter Theme of Compliments. This is a completed One-shot. There will be no more written in the universe. Beta: ScarsLikeVelvet

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