stilinskihaleworld:

@smellwhatdarachiscookin messaged me a little encouragement to get through my writers block (thanks for our talks, they make me happy!) and suggested I do a little ficlet writing. Here’s a little puppy fic in thanks!

“Derek has been so grumpy lately, don’t you think?” Stiles asks out of nowhere just as Scott beats him at a game of Mario Cart.

Scott raises an eyebrow. “Derek’s always grumpy.”

“-ER, Scott. Grumpier!” Heavy emphasis on the final syllable. “Ever since he came back from his trip around the country with Braeden he has been back to the Sourwolf of old and I for one am tired of it. We got past all the dread doctor business, you and I finally figured stuff out, we just graduated, and he’s just harshing the vibe!”

“Dude, you and I have been cool since like winter break. Regression to the mean, remember? Something had to go wrong at some point.”

“Derek coming back isn’t something wrong.” Stiles muttered, but cringed immediately when Scott turned to him in surprise.

“Is that…” Scott started to ask before cutting himself off. “Nevermind.”

Stiles let him go on wondering and quickly started a new game.

With that illuminating conversation in mind, Stiles set about brainstorming ways to cheer up Derek, which was no easy task. In all the time he’d known him, Stiles had found very few things that Derek truly enjoyed. Trying to think of something proved fruitless and Stiles despaired for a few days as Derek continued to host pack meetings with his furrowed brows and clenched jaw.

Kira proved to be the solution he needed when she announced Chewy’s litter of puppies was finally old enough for adoption and she wanted some help looking for homes. Stiles grabbed up the bunch, headed to Pet Smart for supplies, and directed the Jeep (which Derek had fully repaired on one of his less grumpy days) towards the loft.

When Derek opened the loft door, he looked down at the two squeaking kennels in each of Stiles’ hands with a judgmental brow raise.

“You have small animals with you.” He said gruffly.

Stiles grinned mischievously, ignoring the acceleration of his heart at Derek’s voice. “I brought Chewy’s puppies. Kira can’t handle them all and the pack’s kind of stressed getting ready for college, so I kind of volunteered you.”

Derek stared at him blankly. “You volunteered me for what?”

“To foster her puppies!” Stiles knew the forced enthusiasm wouldn’t work on Derek, but he couldn’t help but try.

“You’re kidding. Me and puppies?”

“You practically turn into one! You could probably even use your magic werewolf skills to house-train them extra fast.”

“Stiles…” Derek was crumbling.

“Please, Derek! Kira’s parents really weren’t expecting puppies and they don’t know what to do with themselves.”

“Oh my God, fine Stiles. Did you bring supplies?”

“Yes!” Stiles set the kennels down at Derek’s feet and bolted back down the stairs for the supplies in the car.

Not wanting to take a third trip, he loaded the dog bed with puppy appropriate food and toys and staggered back up the stairs. The door was ajar when he got back to the top and he pushed it open to find Derek sitting criss-cross on the loft floor looking awkwardly into the open kennels as tiny puppy figures stepped tentatively from their enclosure.

Stiles hid behind the wall and pretended to rearrange the goods in his arms as he watched a brave little puppy totter over to Derek and poke his fingers with its nose. Derek looked down at the puppy with apprehension, as though disbelieving the puppy would want to be near him. A smile crept up Stiles’ face as he watched Derek rub a gentle finger across the top of the puppy’s soft head and the little creature squeaked in happiness as it crowded further into Derek’s leg.

When the first puppy seemed happy, a few others drifted Derek’s way and a tiny grin found its way onto his lips as he lifted a few of them onto his lap. Stiles watched Derek lift each puppy and inspect it before setting it back down on his lap and he decided that was his queue to enter the fun.

“Whatcha doing?” He asked shyly as he sauntered into the open space, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

“Naming them.” Derek answered in a matter of fact tone.

“Already?” Stiles was definitely surprised. People only named things when they intended to keep them.

“Well I can’t go around calling them Things 1-6 now, can I?”

Stiles couldn’t suppress his smile at Derek’s frankness. “No, no I suppose you can’t. So what are they called then?”

Pointing at each pup in turn, Derek rattled off the names as though he’d known them for years. “Twizzler because she keeps smelling at the candy in my pocket, Boots because she’s got white paws, Nemo because he’s got a funny paw, Marlin because he’s always with Nemo, Winnie because she has sticky paws, and Buttons because she keeps chewing on mine.”

Derek looked up at Stiles once he’d finished roll call to find the younger man staring at him fondly.

“What?” He asked, looking back down at his lap awkwardly.

“You’re going to keep them aren’t you?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah.” Derek replied, cracking a genuine smile for the first time in too long. “They like me.”

Stiles’ heart clenched a little at the wistfulness in the man’s voice.

“I like you too, you know.” He blurted, deciding it was finally now or never.

Derek turned the most startled look on him as his mouth fell open with surprise. “Why?”

“Because you’re the kind of person to pretend you hate puppies but then give each and every one of them a special name before agreeing to keep them.”

“Oh.” Derek said, looking up from beneath his eyelashes with a shy smile. “I like you too.”

“I’m glad.” Stiles smiled, strangely comfortable with the admission of feelings. “Now hand me Twizzler.”

Derek chuckled before picking up the requested puppy and plopping her gently into Stiles’ outstretched hand.

“Hello little buddy. Do you have a sweet tooth? We’re going to have to work on that. Don’t want you getting sick now do we?”

Derek watched the babyish interaction for a little while before returning to his own pile of puppies and letting them chew on his fingers. The two played for a long while until the puppies started falling asleep on various limbs and Stiles leaned back against Derek’s side in similar drowsiness.

“I’m glad you’re smiling again.” Stiles whispered before falling asleep.

“Thanks for making me.” Derek replied.

Hope you enjoyed the puppy pile 🙂