Stiles knew how a lot of people saw his relationship with Derek. Derek was abrasive and rude. He looked like he was constantly irritated with Stiles and was forever telling him to shut up. Worse… Stiles had stopped going out and sticking his nose into every supernatural mess that came into Beacon Hills. It worried people because it was such a sharp change in his behaviour. Not even Stiles’ dad had managed to get Stiles to repress his curiousity and reckless bravery....

1.0 Stiles walks into the bathroom to pee and freezes when he sees his eyes glowing. Beta yellow. What the actual fuck? The problem? Stiles doesn’t remember being bitten. He knows it’s the full moon (he always keeps track of the moon phase). He’s been restless but he’d chalked it up to anxiety. His stomach starts churning and he feels trapped. Paralyzed. And now he watches his eyebrows disappear and feels the prick of his own claws....

Stiles really did think that the very best thing about being a dragon was his ability to perfectly recall any and every one of Derek’s smiles in his hoard. It meant he got to experience the joy of any given smile as if it were the first time. He wasn’t even going to pretend like he didn’t have favourites. There were certain smiles he relived on days when he was feeling down....

Stiles’ birthday goes something like this: He wakes up and has breakfast with his dad. Goes to school. Has a small party with the pack. Turns into a dragon. He’d adamantly told his friends not to surprise him. He doesn’t much like surprises these days. So turning into a dragon wasn’t a welcome surprise. Not the worst but… Who the fuck expects to turn into a dragon on their eighteenth birthday!...

He wakes up and everything feels sharp. Feels bright. Feels wrong. He’s used to this feeling. To the feeling that there’s something wrong with the world. Something wrong with him. But… Something feels more wrong than usual today. Or maybe a different kind of wrong. He feels the phantom stroke of a gentle hand in his hair. Can almost scent Laura in the memory. The gentle warmth she’d always given him because that was the strength he needed....

Use Your Words “Oh my god! You’re here. In a grocery store. Shopping,” Stiles cackled with glee. Derek was instantly annoyed, “I do eat you know.” “Yeah, but I always assumed you just hunted down Thumper or whatever,” Stiles waved a hand. Derek rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure that Scott and Stiles would never see him as an actual person. With feelings. He just turned to walk away....

When Stiles turned eighteen he, to the surprise of everyone, turned into a dragon. He wasn’t quite a were-creature since dragons were more magic than anything else. How else could he shift mass into something significantly larger? He could definitely do partial shifts with claws and scales and such. Everyone was happy since with the scales he was very damage resistant and he healed quickly. Derek was happy for Stiles. He was....

Stiles stirs out of sleep because he needed to pee like five minutes ago. Of course, Derek is wrapped around him like a fucking wereoctopus so it takes him five excruciating minutes to extricate himself. He stumbles into the bathroom and doesn’t bother turning on the light. He leaves the door open enough to let some light in. Doesn’t want to fuck up his night vision and wake himself up more....

“I thought you said this was a pack meeting?” Erica said with a sharp edge to her tone. It grated on Derek’s nerves. He knew he only had himself to blame—he’d bitten teens and now he was responsible for them. At least until they were adults and he could drive them out of his territory. Whenever they wondered about his short temper and harshness, it took everything in him to tell them it was because they weren’t pack but he was still responsible for them and, thus, had to tolerate them in his territory....