AN- Oh dear, I wrote another Teen Wolf fanfic. I fully admit I have no idea what I am doing. No beta so read at your own risk, people. I don't think this needs a spoiler warning on anything.I might make this a series depending on feedback. I might not. I make you no promises and will tell you no lies.

The entire situation could be blamed on animal instinct. Wanting to seek somewhere safe, finding someplace to hide, to rest, to sleep was pretty high on the survival list especially after a lifetime of being hunted physically and emotionally. For seeking a moment of comfort from feeling trapped on all sides by dead family, crazy hunters, and responsibilities that had been his sister's birthright thrust on him along with high expectations he had never been expected to meet. Sometime he felt condemned by fate, completely and utterly fucked.

Admittedly it had been weakness on his part. In his defense, Derek could claim that he had been lured to the couch to watch a movie with hot white chocolate topped with whipped cream and finely chopped walnuts, cause Stiles had somehow, somewhere along the line picked up his affinity for creamy sweet drinks. He should have known it was a trap but who in their right mind could be expected to resist that kind of bait.

It didn't help that Stiles put himself into the cushiest corner of the couch either, leaning back at an angle against the arm of it with his legs folded underneath him in the awkward, angled manner that all teenagers seemed to master. He was offering silent invitation, whether he realized it or not, if Derek wanted to come and take it, claim him.

It was freely offered so of course Derek started off stubborn, sitting resolutely at the other end of the couch, pretending to watch a movie that he didn't give two flying fucks about and wouldn't be able to recount even under certainty of death. He vaguely remembered that it had explosions and lot of talking in it. All he could really focus on was Stiles and the warm beverage in his hands, how the scents of both mingled and merged enticingly together, making an olfactory blanket that was comforting. Like everything else in his life that seemed to have the potential for being nice or making him feel good, Derek resisted. He didn't want to repeat part mistakes, leave himself unguarded but damn him, Stiles felt safe. Derek found his resolution crumbling with every sip he took, with every breath he breathed in, making the constant tension in Derek's back and in-between his shoulder blades become weak and sag in relief as his traitorous limbs followed suit.

By the end of the movie, Derek found that his distant positioning had somehow changed without his notice, his body having inexplicably migrated without him realizing it toward the other end of the couch until he was sitting flush, thigh to thigh with Stiles who oddly enough didn't seem bothered by it. He smelled extremely relaxed for a human in such close proximity to a predator. Stiles smelled like a complex mixture of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty from sweat, chemicals, and constant raging hormones. It made Derek want to lick his skin, taste him, and then replace it with his own scent, something that was woodsier, darker, and saturated in musk.

Sheer want that was turning rapidly into crushing need that was strong enough to make Derek not trust himself around Stiles. It also made him weak enough that he couldn't bring himself to leave when he should have. Derek knew he needed to find some balance and quickly before he did something unforgivable that both of them would regret. He wasn't ready to give this up just yet though, this little space of blessed respite which was more than he knew he deserved.

"Are you leaving already? I thought we were going to do a marathon. If you're worried about my dad showing up, he's on the night shift and won't be back until morning.", Stiles said when Derek drew away from him, getting up off the couch.

"No. I was….", words were hard enough as it was and as per usual they failed Derek, the man who was more comfortable as a wolf not knowing how to word his question to where it made sense. "Would you care if I got comfortable?". Derek grimaced even as the words left his mouth. They sounds ungainly and inadequate.

"Mi casa su casa, dude.", Stiles shrugged, taking advantage of the intermission to change out the disks. Derek hadn't offered any opinion good or bad about the Avengers so Stiles switched gears, popping in Labyrinth cause who didn't love David Bowie in tights and a giant codpiece. He was willing to bet dollars to donuts that Derek had never seen it. "Take off your boots, whatever."

"I was thinking a little bit more than my boots.", Derek admitted, swallowing nervously enough that his throat clicked. He didn't know how to make this not sound creepy, especially now that Stiles was giving him a funny look. "Let me just show you."

"Show me?", Stiles's mouth was drying out rapidly, more so than he would care to admit, becoming the fine quality of sandpaper. "Yeah, why don't' you just show me. Cause I'm all cool like that. Super cool. Cool as a cucumber cool. Cool, cool, cool.".

"Stiles?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up.", Derek allowed himself to smile a little to take some of the sting out of it. Stiles flushed but grinned lopsidedly back at him, smelling of amused embarrassment. It was a quirky combination that tingled on his nose, but Derek found himself rather liking it. It was so endearing and so very Stiles, so much so it caused Derek to quickly retreat to the bathroom, before he did something phenomenally stupid like kiss Stiles or admit things that neither one of them were ready to hear.

While he waited for a more comfortable Derek to reappear, Stiles nervously tapped his fingers against his thigh, wondering what the werewolf had meant. Did comfortable mean he was going to get naked cause werewolves seemed to really dig the casual nudity? Was he going to have to get naked? Had they come that far into their weird pseudo non relationship that naked time was now an option? Was he ready for naked time? Was little Stiles ready for naked time in the presence of an all natural Derek whose porn quality abs were made by the gods of lust and inappropriate thought themselves?

Stiles was beginning to work himself into a full blown panic attack when he heard an odd clicking noise coming toward him. He couldn't place it but the question answered itself before he could get up to investigate when a wolf entered the room. He could only assume it was a wolf. It was wolf shaped sort of, if wolves were the size of ponies. It was covered in shaggy black fur from nose to tail, its fangs a startling white contrast against it. The wolf's eyes were a revelation of clear blue though, icy azure gems that sparkled with an inhuman intelligence. Looking into those strange eyes was the tip off for Stiles and the only thing that kept him for pissing himself in fear.

"D-Derek…", Stiles stammered, mentally regrouping as the wolf watched his reaction, its enormous head tilted delicately to the side as if in inquiry. "Is this what you meant by getting more comfortable?".

Stiles jumped when the wolf's tail wagged, the gesture spastic and unsure. To his credit, Stiles made Derek react in turn by spazzing out. It took a moment for the wolf to realize it was in a good way, the scent of fear disappearing completely under a wave of barely contained excitement. Stiles threw caution and every inborn survival instinct to the wind as he circled around him, getting closer and closer with every dizzying rotation, making Derek wish that the teenager would just stand still for a moment. "Oh my God, oh my fucking God, this is so cool! I didn't know you could do this! Wolf out completely! I mean I knew you could get all fangy and grrr but not four legged. And you've got a tail and fur and holy crap, I can see your balls. I mean they're covered in fur but is that weird? I'm making it weird.", Stiles tried to say all at once, his hands floating about and making nervous air gesture around him as if he wanted to touch him but was unsure if he were allowed to. "Can you understand me?".

Growling, Derek rolled his eyes in exasperation at him, the expression coming across clearly even on a lupine face. "Don't be a sour wolf. Oh my god, this makes that name even better.", Stiles grinned, feeling really high and giddy from the earlier fight or flight adrenaline. He didn't know what quite to do with himself yet or what he should be doing. This felt like it was a big thing going on between them. Stiles hoped he didn't fuck it up. "Hey, can I touch you? Ok, wow that sounds really inappropriate but I've never petted a wolf before. Not that you're my pet or a pet, or…". Stile's brain was starting to have a meltdown when a large head was pressed into his flailing hands, his fingers instinctively digging into deep fur. It took a moment, but eventually his brain caught up enough with current events for Stiles to realize that he was scratching Derek behind his fluffy pointed ears and that the fur there was thick and soft with an slightly oily texture to the touch. Derek's furred head was braced against his stomach, and was wonderfully warm, the wolf's naturally high body heat seeping through all his layers of t-shirt and plaid.

"Is this fine? Do you want to keep watching movies like this?", Stiles asked because he didn't know what to say, what would keep Derek here with him. The only thing he really sure about was that he didn't want to ruin this moment. Derek didn't, couldn't answer him of course, at least not with words. Instead he drew away, Stiles feeling less for it. He panicked momentarily, thinking that Derek was leaving. To his immediate relief, the wolf loped over to the couch, settling back down in its cushions with a sigh. When Stiles didn't join immediately, the human staring at him like he was in a daze, Derek bit back his pride enough to whine at Stiles as he wagged his tail a bit. He hoped that the meaning would be clear enough without coming off as pathetic or ridiculous. The noise seemed to jolt Stiles out of his lapse in mental function though, the boy joining him finally on the couch, settling back into his corner.

The wolf barely fit on the couch as it was so Stiles found that his lap was claimed with a wolf's head heavy upon it as Derek settled in. It didn't leave Stiles with a lot of options for hand placement, but Derek didn't react when he dug his fingers back into his thick fur, stroking the shaggy black hair around his pointed ears and neck. On his part, Derek had no complaints, Stiles's movements soothing on so many different levels as he let himself sink further into the rich wealth of Stiles's scent. He knew his fur would become saturated with it and Derek was perfectly fine with that. Though Stiles probably had no idea what he was doing, but Derek returned the favor by lifting his head to rub his muzzle against and across the teenager's throat and chest, marking him which pleased the wolf greatly. It was satisfactory enough to satiate the animal need within, lulling Derek into a rare sense of blissed peace. It was unfamiliar to him but welcome, like finally coming home from a too long journey, safe harbor to the life sick and the world weary. It was relief and respite in the form of a steady heartbeat and a warmth that seeped in beyond the mere boundaries of his fur. It was only a mild reprieve from the horrific hardship that was his life and not even one he deserved or had earned, but Derek took it anyway feeling like a thief in the night, one that robbed cradles and ruined innocence.

Stiles hadn't been paying attention to the movie or so he thought, because the next time he looked down, Stiles found his lap was full of snoring werewolf, Derek in a deep sleep and dead to the world. Stiles shifted experimentally to get no reaction whatsoever from him, not even so much as a tail twitch. "You better hope I don't have to pee anytime soon, buddy.", Stiles sighed, the odds of him being able to free himself looking pretty slim. Turning off the movie, Stiles settled back into the couch, getting as comfortable as he could. It must of worked because the next thing he knew, Stiles was waking up to morning light and his dad standing over him with a scared look on his face. It took a moment but Stiles soon realized that he still had a wolf in his lap. A really large scary looking wolf that was awake now and staring up at his father with big eyes and even bigger teeth.

Crap.

Derek blamed it on Stiles for smelling like pack, cause it was always Stiles's fault somehow for making him weak. It was the only excuse he could come up with for letting his guard down like that and falling asleep in Stiles's lap while still in his lupine form, waking up belated to find the sheriff standing over his son with a panicked look on his lined face.

"What the hell is that and why is it in the house?!", the sheriff asked in a far calmer tone than Derek would have expected upon finding one's only son with a wolf the size of a freaking pony stretched out across the couch, barely fitting within the confines of the furniture with his head nestled in the teenager's lap.

"What does it look like? It's a dog. Are you feeling alright, Dad? Did you eat fried food again?", Stiles countered, to his credit the boy's tone even and without a trance of nervousness in it though Derek could hear Stile's heart ricocheting off his ribs in his chest. He started to stroke Derek's ears and muzzle like it was the most normal thing in the world, leaning in as he did so. "Stay.", he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, knowing that Derek would be able to hear him. Hell, with his wolfy senses, the breathed out, barely there whisper was probably as loud as a yell to him.

"I don't see how what I ate for dinner explains why there is a…..a…. I don't even know what's sleeping on you.", the sheriff said wearily. Derek could here the older man's hands running over leather and metal, knew that he would go his gun if he thought Derek even so much as shifted wrong. Not that regular bullets would bother or slow down the werewolf much, but things could go seriously awry if the firearm came into play. Humans were squishy things and could bleed out.

"He followed me home.", Stiles said with a lopsided grin. Derek had to tap down the urge to bite him for that. The teenager smelled of amusement with slight hints of smug on top of it. Derek was a little annoyed with himself that he found that scent was appealing to him.

"Why couldn't you have led him to the animal clinic instead of here? I'm sure some scientist or lab is looking for him.", the sheriff groused but sounded like he was starting to relax a bit. Smelled like it too, the sharp tang of tension starting to ease out of the room.

"C'mon dad, I've always wanted a dog and I know you're worried about me spending so much time here by myself alone in the house. Alone. So alone.", Stiles grinned, that little fucker, the sourness of his apprehension draining away as well to be replaced with a spicy touch of mischief, though Derek was not relieved or amused by it. He fought back a warning growl that was trying to work its way out of his throat. Derek managed to cover it up by curling up closer to Stiles, the noise coming out more like a waking doggy groan. To Derek chagrin, it made the sheriff tense up again though not from anything he had done this time. This one was all on Stiles and his father.

"You know you can't have a dog. Your mom's…", the sheriff trailed off, answering an old sounding argument out of reflex before tragic reality caught up with them both.

"She was…." Stiles said softly, looking down and away, avoided both the wolf's and his father's eyes. The scent of sadness perforated the room, oddly salty sweet smelling. Sorrow always reminded Derek of sea salt and sweetpea. Taking a chance and keeping his movements slow, Derek raised his head while pushing his ears back to look up at the sheriff with wide blue eyes, a high pitch crying whine breaking the silence in the room.

It got the response he was going for though, both humans distracted long enough by the pathetic sound to be broken out of their old mourning. "He looks more like a lover than a fighter.", the sheriff chuckled, reaching down to scratch Derek behind his ears, the werewolf having to focus on wagging his tail and appearing relaxed while it sounded like Stiles was trying not to choke on his own tongue. "I'm not saying yes but I'm not saying no either. You need to make every effort to find this guy's owner if he has one or the circus he ran away from. If no one comes to claim him, I'll consider it but you'll have to be responsible for him and I mean on everything. Walking, feeding, the whole nine yards. I'm not coming home after a long day to clean up crap in my yard.

Derek was going to do evil, inhumane things to Stiles when this was all over and done with. It didn't help matters that Stiles's belly kept tensing and shaking from held in laughter or that his scent was a riot of relief, glee, and excitement. If Stiles thought for a minute that Derek was going to stay here and play Fido, he had another thing coming and Derek's revenge would be sure that his revenge was swift and merciless.

"We should bring him to Deaton first and see what the doc thinks, if he recognizes him at all. It would nice to know if this big guy was up on all his shots.", the sheriff mused. Derek couldn't wholly stop the groan that came from him. Deaton would never let him live this down if they had to keep up this ridiculous charade much longer. He planned to become a 'lost pet' the first chance he got. "Do you have a name for him?"

"Dere…..DARK!", Stile recovered enough from a bout of poorly smothered laughter to start babbling. "Yup, Dark. Good ole Dark cause his fur is so…um….dark. Yeah.". Stiles Stilinski everyone, thank you and good night. Derek would have face palmed if he had the proper appendages for it. He had to settle for shooting Stiles a disgusted look that translated rather well across species despite the muzzle. It didn't help matters either when Stiles broke out into a cold sweat under his father's steady observation.

"Have you taken your Adderall today?", the sheriff finally asked, making Stiles jump. If it wasn't for the almost three hundred pound werewolf laying on top of him, the reaction might have been noticeable.

"Yes…..No….Maybe. I forgot?", Stiles spazzed, his hands jumping up and down the shaggy ruff of Derek's neck to finally settle in the fur, twisting its length around his fingers nervously. "What does that have to do with anything?". Derek tucked his head back into Stiles's lap to hide his face just in case the force of his disgust made enough human like intelligence come through for the sheriff to start asking questions. How the hell did this idiot keep anything from his father?

"Well, come on, Dark. Looks like you're staying.", Stiles said, attempting to shove Derek off of him. The wolf looked up enough to yawn in his face, unimpressed with his efforts. "Um, please?".

Throwing him a bone, all humor intended, Derek slinked off the couch with a unnatural fluid grace despite his impressive size, making the sheriff step back with a grunt of surprise. "Holy crap, he looks even bigger standing up. Do you have any idea what breed he is? I would say wolf if he wasn't so damn big. Healthy looking coat on him though and nice eyes. Husky mix maybe?", the sheriff whistle low, clearly impressed. Derek held his head high, trying not to preen. Everyone, even Laura, had always conceded that his lupine form was truly magnificent, his fur such a velvety black it shone silver in light with not a spot of white or lesser coloring to mar its richness. His most striking feature though were his clear azure eyes. He would have to be careful that they did not shine crimson around the sheriff.

"He is a good looking dog.", the sheriff said in admiration, petting Derek behind his ears again. The werewolf was grateful for the fur hiding his full body blush, considering that he was dying from embarrassment. Stile wasn't helping either.

"Yup. He's a hot dog.", Stiles laughed, receiving sour looks from both wolf and father.

"Son…that was bad, even for you. You're lucky that Dark can't talk.", the sheriff shook his head, completely missing Stiles's quick look of terror as he remembered certain things about Derek, like how he was in wall slamming as soon as Derek got back his opposable thumbs. Derek grinned at him, showing off all his teeth as he wagged his tail. Revenge was going to be so sweet.

Thanks for reading. Reviews, comments, and concerns for my mental health are always appreciated.