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!?
Not Stiles, that’s for sure.
He researched. They all researched.
There’s literally no explanation that they can find for his transformation.
None.
If anything, that bothers him more than not being human. Whatever. Who cares? Almost no one he knows is human.
But Stiles has questions! And they need answers!
It’s especially pressing given that they have no accurate information about dragons.
So he has no idea what to expect.
Maybe his favourite thing about being a dragon versus any creature he’s encountered so far is that he has exactly zero control issues. He changes when he wants and as much as he wants.
Claws? Sure.
Full dragon, okay.
Scales only? Rock on, dude.
He doesn’t feel all that different.
Stiles doesn’t even seem to have the avarice and instinct to hoard that is almost universal in dragon lore.
He certainly enjoys being essentially indestructible when his scales are out. And when they aren’t? He heals fast.
So it’s pretty okay, all things considered.
Only two of Stiles’ senses are particularly impacted by his transformation: sight and smell (taste?).
He can see better than the wolves, regardless of the light. He can also see significantly more detail than they can. It’s like his eyes were upgraded to ultra-high resolution.
Stiles also has a better sense of smell. Sort of. Like a few different reptilian species he ‘smells’ best when he flicks out his tongue and ’tastes’ the air.
It’s super weird.
He can’t even compare it to the wolves because the way they smell and process the information seems to be very different.
From what he’s been able to gather, his sense of smell isn’t as strong as the wolves. He can’t get lingering traces of scent from days or weeks ago. He’d never be able to track someone by scent. But when he tastes the air he can pick up more nuances than when he inhales through his nose.
He’s finally able to detect and process chemosignals!
This pleases him because the wolves love using that against him.
Derek bothers him, though.
Dude is an alpha and they can manipulate their scent. So Derek doesn’t emit much in the way of chemosignals and it’s so frustrating.
Especially since his base scent is so good.
Literally nothing Stiles has ever tasted/smelled is better.
It’s bad (good) enough that he starts spending significantly more time with Derek.
Stiles is a weak guy, okay?
He’s never been able to resist the allure of curly fries and Derek tastes/smells a million times better.
It’s because of how much more time he spends with Derek (and his scrumptious scent) that Stiles’ hoarding instincts finally come into play.
It’s a perfectly ordinary day: Stiles is doing homework and Derek is reading.
Derek must be amused by something because a tiny smile curls his lips. The smile basically doesn’t exist, it’s so small.
And yet…
Stiles trembles with avarice and greed.
Every part of him screams mineminemine.
It’s a desire far, far beyond anything he’s ever felt.
It isn’t lust or attraction or anything so base and trivial.
He craves it almost more than he needs air to breathe.
Of course, it’s a smile.
He doesn’t want to own or possess them (or Derek).
He just needs as many of them as he can have.
He starts hoarding Derek’s smiles.
Every single one is a perfectly preserved memory.
Not only visually. He only needs to recall one particular smile to hear, feel, taste/scent, and see everything happening at that moment, as if he’s living through it for the first time.
His memory doesn’t work like this for anything else.
Just his hoard.
Stiles starts doing nice things for Derek.
Stuff that’ll make his life easier in small ways. He wants Derek to be happy.
Derek deserves as much happiness as he can get.
Stiles tries not to be selfish.
But if making Derek happy means he can increase the size of his hoard?
Well. Okay.
Everyone is super curious about his hoard.
He’d hoped to avoid the whole thing by pretending that he didn’t hoard at all. Like it was just a myth with no basis in fact.
But… he’s not the best at holding things in. So he accidentally makes an off-hand comment about his hoard.
He’ll never tell anyone what his hoard is because it’s his. No lack of filter can overcome his draconic instincts.
His hoard is his alone and he’ll never share it.
Or allow anyone to touch it.
Stiles shrugs off most questions about his hoard.
The only person who hasn’t asked is Derek.
Derek, of course, turns out to be the first person to learn what Stiles was hoarding.
Another day in the loft.
Derek is reading.
He smiles.
Stiles goes perfectly still. He needs to memorize every single detail of this moment.
He barely registers his soft exhalation of ‘mine’.
Not until Derek’s head comes up and he looks at Stiles.
It’s the first time he’s caught Stiles. He blushes and turns away.
“What did you just say?” Derek asks.
“Um… nothing. There was no saying of anything over here. In fact, I’ve never said anything in my entire life. Wouldn’t even know how to do it,” Stiles babbles as he begins to panic.
“Really.”
“I forgot that I have a thing to do. At a place that isn’t here. So I’m going to go do that thing. Somewhere else,” he starts running around because he needs to leave.
“Stop. You said ‘mine’. I heard you. What’s yours, Stiles?”
“Nothing is mine. I have nothing,” Stiles can feel his heart thudding. Knows Derek will hear the lie. It doesn’t help that he’s stumbling over everything in his panic.
“You’re lying. We both know you’re lying,” Derek says and Stiles trips.
Derek smiles. Stiles freezes because that’s a new smile. One he’s never seen before. Soft and fond. And, god, he wants it so bad and another ‘mine’ falls out of his traitorous mouth.
He trembles as Derek’s smile grows wider. Licking his lips, he tastes just how much more potent Derek’s scent is. He’s relaxed his control and Stiles can taste his attraction. The warmth of his affection and, this can’t be true, his love.
“Derek. When…? Why? I didn’t think… except sometimes I did because I could taste hints. But I never expected…” Stiles doesn’t even know what he’s saying.
Something he says causes the first wide, open, and sincere grin Stiles has ever seen on Derek’s face.
“Oh my god. You can’t… It isn’t fair. That smile is for me. Because of me. And it’s mine,” he’s not sure when he got so close. He brings a trembling hand to touch Derek’s lips because that smile is radiant and he wants to see if it’s as warm as it looks. He tastes the air again and he knows that he’s allowed to taste. Leans in and gives it a gentle kiss, hissing ‘mine’ again.
Turns out that what Derek really needs to be happy is Stiles.
It works out quite nicely for Stiles because the happier he makes Derek, the richer he is.
A hoard of smiles treasured and kept carefully safe.