hypercompetent | IC INBOX

[ An affirmative sound leaves him, but Derek knows the only reason he's still an alpha is because he hasn't given up his alphaship yet. He hasn't reached that point in their timeline, and now he and Erica are the furthest back out of the entire pack. But from what he's been told, by Isaac and Stiles both, it was worth giving up to save Cora's life. And he'd do it for any of them, even Allison now. ] Considering everything that Wonderland's thrown at us, it helping you heal faster isn't surprising.

[ He can smell guilt and upset rolling off of him, can see the misery in his face and how he holds himself. But he rubs his thumb along the top of his palm and regards him quietly, just taking everything in as the disorientation associated with taking pain slowly starts to filter through him.

When Stiles draws attention to the box, he turns where he's seated and reaches with his free hand to get it. Carefully lifting it up, he presents it to him. ] Here.

[ Go ahead Stiles, open it. ]

[ stiles' eyes follow him the entire way to the box, because he's kind of curious, and he looses his fingers from derek's to take it from him, adjusting long legs onto the bed and starting to pull it open.

the sight of a cake makes his mouth drop a little open for a second before he grins, rolls his head back in an eyeroll, but it's 100% good natured. ] --Dude, no, oh my god. It's my birthday.

[ of course he knew. entirely too touched and trying too hard not to show it, stiles' grin doubles in size and he holds the cake up to sniff it. ] Chocolate? Man--you totally brought forks, right? I'm gonna smash my face in it otherwise.

[ have yourself one (1) pleased, exhausted and still sick, but so happy stiles. ]

Not that Wonderland thinks birthdays matter, but yeah. [ There's soft amusement in his voice as he watches Stiles' reaction, but he just settles next to him comfortably. Stiles has been running cold, colder than Isaac ever does, so he's been more than willing to share the warmth of his body with him to try and help.

Derek snorts and withdraws a fork he'd rolled up in one of the dining hall's cloth napkins and stuck in his pocket, unraveling it and offering it to him. It's Stiles' cake, as far as he's concerned. If he wants to share, that's fine, but it's his birthday. ]

Try not to cover yourself in it, birthday boy.

I'm guessing you didn't stalk the police files. [ which is how stiles found out about derek's birthday. okay, to be fair, he'd been looking over info from kate argent's case, but he'd still committed it to memory. he's not sure how derek knew his birthday, but it's like him to have figured it out, and honestly, he doesn't care.

taking out the fork, stiles readjusts, sitting cross legged to keep the cake from falling over, then sticks the fork in to take a bite. he chews contentedly, even making an "ohhh my goddd" noise, mouth full of crumbs, before he hears what derek says.

with a grin, he sticks a finger in the icing and boops derek's nose with it. ] You got it.

No, no I did not. [ And he's not surprised in the least that Stiles is finally admitting to his knowledge of Derek's birthday came from his police files. Of course it did, he didn't doubt it at all-- there was no other way for him to find it out, anyways. It's not like he ever talks about it, which resulted in only Cora and Stiles celebrating it this year. In this instance, though, he'll never admit to how he figured Stiles' out.

Something pleased settles over him, and he preens a little as Stiles enjoys himself. He hasn't been back in Wonderland long at all, and he's been miserable the entire time. So of course he's glad to bring him something to help, even if it's brief.

Even if it means getting icing all over his face. Scrunching his nose, he looks down at it before bringing up his thumb and swiping it off. Instead of smearing it on Stiles, though, he sticks his thumb in his mouth and sucks it off. ]

[ he wants to know--oh lord, he wants to know so badly--but stiles watches him lick the frosting off of his thumb and completely forgets about it. for as miserable as he's been feeling, he really cannot ignore that derek is kind of ridiculously, absurdly fine.

like, that should just be unfair, right there. when he's got the energy to feel turned on again, that's gonna be a month's worth of shower fodder.

tipping over a little, the teenager instead rests his cheek against derek's shoulder, taking another bite of the cake. he's exhausted, and even sitting up for a long time is getting to him, but at least he's here. it's a good chance to reflect back on everything's that happened, to quietly, secretly be glad that he's here instead of home.

he speaks up a little quietly after swallowing down another bite. ] ...thanks, dude.

[ for everything, is pretty well implied there. ]

[ It won't be long before Stiles' curiosity wins out against his exhaustion or various distractions, but for now he seems sated with his cake and is too tired for much of anything but sitting there and... really, this is probably the slowest he's ever seen the teenager eat anything.

Letting him settle against his shoulder, he shifts to curl his arm gently around him as he props his cheek on top of his head. Some part of him has to wonder about when this became such a comfortable arrangement, but he doesn't question it. Instead, he just settles there, a soft sound in the back of his throat.

They're both tired, and they've been through a lot of hell between Beacon Hills and Wonderland, but they've gotten through it together. ]

Any time. [ And he means it, too. ]

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