A flash of lightning, followed two seconds later by a crack of thunder. Then that sound again.
Sharp, clear, not distant even though the rain makes it sound like it is.
Stiles opens his window, still not quite sure of what the sound is, trying to locate it. There's no use, of course, and the wind makes it hard to locate where the sound might come from.
So he does the only reasonable thing; he goes outside in just his boxers.
"Anyone there?" he shouts, though he's pretty sure the sound is not coming from another human. Still, he's rewarded with a small sound in reply, so he goes down from the porch towards the location of the sound.
He's soaked within seconds, the wind tearing at him, threatening to tip him over, as the claps of thunder and lightning bolts tear up the sky.
Stiles wanders around in the garden, circling the house two times before he calls out again.
"Hello?"
When the sound comes again this time, there's no doubt as to what and where it comes from.
Brushing aside the branches of a bush, Stiles finds a small kitten, soaked and all alone.
This time the lightning and thunder are just overhead, and the world is coloured monochrome.
For a moment, Stiles is frozen to the spot, but then he reaches in to grab it, instinct telling him it's not alone by choice and that he must save it.
Stiles cradles it in his arms, walking fast to get back inside. He grabs a towel from the bathroom, sits down on the couch and starts drying the kitten off. It's shivering, and so is he, but he doesn't notice the water running down his body, soaking the couch. All he cares about is the poor little creature on his lap.
He's getting worried because it hasn't made a sound since he picked it up, but at least it's opened its eyes.
"You hungry, little one?" Stiles asks, picking it up and bringing it to the kitchen. He grabs a bowl, adds some milk and puts it on the floor next to the kitten. It lets out a pitiful sound, but thankfully starts drinking it. Stiles breathes out, not realising he's been holding his breath from worry.
Once done, the kitten headbutts his foot, so he picks it up and carries it back into the living room. Lying down on the sofa with the towel underneath him and the blanket on top, he curls up so the kitten can lie close to his stomach.
"I'll take you to Deaton tomorrow; let him have a look at you." He yawns, looks down at the cat and smiles.
Seconds later, Stiles falls asleep to the sound of purring.
"Wake up kiddo." Opening his eyes, Stiles sees his dad standing over him. He blinks and rubs his eyes, wondering why he's on the couch, when the events of the night come back to him.
"Where is it?" he asks his dad, but based on the look on his face, his dad doesn't know what he's talking about.
"The kitten, dad. It was right here with me last night."
A muffled meow, then the blanket moves and a black head appears.
"There you are! You had me worried little one." As he sits up, Stiles suddenly starts coughing, and he feels a burn in his throat.
"You're staying home today. Can't have you get sick before lacrosse season starts, and the lil' fella needs someone to look after him."
"Thanks dad."
"You hear that? I'll be right here with you."
The kitten closes its green and golden eyes and headbutts him in reply.
A warm shower definitely helps, despite the fact that the kitten stands outside the bathroom door meowing the whole time. His dad had tried to take it downstairs to feed it, but it just came right back upstairs again.
It sits on his bed while he gets dressed, and then climbs up on his shoulder, sitting there until he finds some food and water for it.
They eat in comfortable silence, only broken up by the occasional fit of coughing from Stiles.
Stiles calls Deaton to let him know he'll bring the kitten over, but it's not until he's hung up that he realises he's got no cage to put the kitten in to take it there. The only solution seems to be putting the ball of fluff in a cardboard box with holes in it.
He finds one in his closet, empties the contents onto his bed, stabs holes in the top with a pair of scissors, puts in the towel from last night and gently places the kitten inside.
"Sorry for this," he says as he closes the lid and puts her in the jeep.
The accusing meows follow him all the way to Deaton's clinic.
"It's a girl, roughly nine weeks old, so I guess something happened to her mother. I haven't heard anything or gotten any new cats in over the last few days, so I assume she was the only one in the litter, unless something happened to the others as well."
"She'll be okay though, right? I can keep her?" There's hope in Stiles' voice, because he'd started to worry on the way over that he'd had to give her up.
"I don't see a problem with that, as long as you're aware that she's young. Had she been with her mother, she would have had to stay with her for at least another three weeks. "
"Huh, I didn't know that. Thanks, doc."
As Stiles puts her back in the box she starts meowing in protest again.
"Oh, and Stiles? She'll need vaccines soon, so I'll let Scott know when it's time to bring her in," Deaton adds, and Stiles nods in reply.
On their way back, he buys some cat food and cat litter, almost running through the store in his hurry to get back to her as soon as possible. He trips a couple times, almost letting go of his purchases, but he manages to get back to the Jeep without any incidents.
When he gets home, Stiles checks Craigslist for used – and cheap – items he'll need for his little girl. Litterbox, travel cage, scratching post (he decides to buy bowls for food and water new), all found within short travel distance.
He then puts the litter in the cardboard box, just to have something until he picks up the litter box on Saturday.
Stiles puts her in the box, and she seems to not know quite how to react to the feel of it underneath her paws.
When she doesn't do anything before getting out of the box, Stiles suddenly realises he doesn't know where she's peed or pooped after he took her in.
So Stiles texts Scott, asking him to come over after school, but doesn't say it's because Stiles wants him to sniff out the waste so he can do something about it before the kitten start using his room as her toilet.
While waiting for Scott to finish school, Stiles figures he can finally start playing Dragon Age 2. He finished the first game a couple weeks ago, but school and Derek and the supernatural have clogged up his time, so this is his first opportunity to play it.
He makes a male warrior, names him Derek and models him after him as well.
Stiles immediately takes a liking to Varric; sees some of his own stubbornness and humor and stupid bravery in him.
Then, a couple hours later, he meets Merrill. Black hair, green eyes, careful and awkward; everything about her seems to click with the small kitten resting in his lap. When Hawke bring Merrill with him to the Alienage, and Stiles sees how gentle and fearful she looks, he knows he's found the perfect name for her.
Stroking her, Stiles pronounces her name for the first time, and the purring that follows only makes him completely sure he made the right choice.
"Why do you smell like a cat?" Scott asks, a slight frown on his face as he tilts his head to the side.
"Well, hello to you too, Scotty. Didn't Deaton tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Stiles arches an eyebrow. "That I got a unicorn? Really, Scott? I heard a kitten under the storm a couple days ago and took her in. I went to Deaton to have her looked at, and figured he'd tell you."
"And I'm here because...?"
Realising they're still standing in the open door, Stiles stands aside to let Scott in.
"Yeah, about that... Figured, you know, with the whole super-smell you've got going on, that you could help me out."
The look on Scott's face makes it clear he thinks Stiles' upcoming suggestion is not something he wishes to be a part of.
"I, uhm, need you to help me with training her to use a litterbox. In a way. Sort of."
"You mean you want me to sniff out the places she went but shouldn't have? So you can put it in the box to make her understand that that's where she's to go?"
"Yes?"
Scott shakes his head, but does as he's asked. "You owe me big time."
It turns out she's peed twice in his bed, once in his dad's, pooped in a corner of his wardrobe and under his bed.
Stiles isn't mad at her, could never be. It's just that knowing he's slept in a place where she's peed, that his dad's done the same, is a really disgusting thought and he feels really really filthy.
He puts the bedsheets in the washing machine, and goes to work on removing the stains and smells from the mattresses, floor and wardrobe. In the end, he finds he needs to wash the mattress covers as well. It takes a long time,
Stiles stands under the spray of water, scrubbing himself for what feels like hours before he feels even slightly clean.
It's not like him to spend a long time getting clean, but just the thought of having slept in pee makes him feel utterly disgusting.
Stiles stays home from the school the next day as well, so he takes a quick trip to the pet store while Merrill sleeps, buying bowls, a pack of treats and a small blue and white mouse-shaped toy with a bell inside.
The treats are a big hit, but nothing compared to the toy. The way Merrill runs around in the livingroom one would think Stiles had given her caffeine. She's seemed so calm up until this point that Stiles had started to worry, so seeing her like this is a most welcomed sight.
She plays with her new toy for a really long time and Stiles wonders where she's got all the energy from.
He plays with her for a bit; tossing the mouse and watching her chase after it.
Merrill finally tires in the end, so Stiles ends up taking a nap with her for a couple hours, with her curled up by his feet on the couch.
That afternoon Stiles is rummaging through his closet when he finds a small toy bunny from when he was a kid. It's brown and white and perfect in size for Merrill to sleep with when Stiles is away at school.
He's barely left her for a few moments at a time, but it's clear that Merrill is scared of being alone. Stiles completely understands it; he would have been too had he been that small and all alone in a storm.
The toy bunny doesn't smell all that good, having been left in a box underneath a lot of other stuff from his childhood, so Stiles cleans it and keeps it with him the rest of the day and the night so it'll smell like him again.
On Saturday he drives around picking up the stuff he bought on Craigslist. The previous owner of the travel cage even includes an unused leash that's pink with cats printed on it.
Scott comes over later in the afternoon with Kira. Stiles and Scott normally have game nights on Saturdays, but Kira wanted to come over to play with Merrill. She had apparently asked Lydia as well, but Lydia is a dog person and figured Prada wouldn't be too happy if she came home smelling like a cat.
Stiles wouldn't have minded Kira being there so much if Scott hadn't constantly been distracted by her and looked away from the screen to watch and listen to her make cooing sounds at Merrill.
He doesn't tell Scott that though; he's not stupid. At least Scott isn't as bad as he was when he first got together with Allison.
Putting Merrill on a leash for the first time is an hilarious event.
She absolutely hates it, and while Stiles feels sorry for her, he really can't stop laughing either.
First, she freezes. Then she flops over on her side and lies still for a moment, before she gets back up again, and tries to lick and scratch it off.
When Stiles releases his hold on the leash, she runs under the coffee table, where she tries to back out of it, and then starts licking again.
In the end, it seems she's given up, because she just lies on her side for a while, occasionally trying to get out of the leash but failing constantly.
Then pity takes hold of Stiles, so he picks her up and takes off the leash.
As soon as she's free, Merrill starts purring in gratitude.
After that, Stiles lets her wear the leash for a few minutes each day so she can get used to the feel of it, because he doesn't want her to be an indoor cat, but he would never let her outside without a leash.
At least not until she's used to the smells around the lot, and old enough.
Stiles is really not ready for Merrill to get pregnant with a litter until she's at least a year, and letting her out too soon without giving her some form of birth control is not a good idea either.
She gets used to wearing it, but still purrs whenever Stiles takes it off of her.
Derek picks him up from school on Wednesday. It's clear he's missed Stiles as much as Stiles missed him because Derek leans in to kiss him; doesn't care that anyone can see them even though they've been careful so far.
And then Derek moves to nuzzle his neck but draws back with a scowl on his face.
"What's that smell?" Derek asks, though it sounds more like a demand.
Stiles cocks his head to the side and asks "What smell?" before it dawns on him.
"Oh, right, I didn't tell you about that; I took in a kitten while you were away."
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'Why?'" Stiles starts flailing, the look on his face making it clear that he thinks Derek's a complete idiot for not understanding why. "She was all alone, Derek. I found her under some bushes, all alone, no mom to be seen anywhere. There was a storm; I couldn't leave her out in it."
"No, I mean, why didn't you tell me?"
"Oh." Stiles stops flailing, drops his hands into his lap, and starts plucking at a loose thread at one of his sleeves.
"Well, I wasn't exactly dressed for being outside in a storm, and it was cold, so I got a cold and had to stay home from school on Thursday and Friday. I didn't want to worry you."
"Stiles…" The name is a growl, a warning, telling him never to hide anything again.
"Okay, okay. I won't do it again, I promise. Wanna go to my place? Dad's about to leave for work, and I don't like leaving her alone." He makes puppy-dog eyes at Derek. "We can make out on my bed if you want," Stiles adds upon seeing the odd look on Derek's face, and changes his expression into wagging eyebrows.
His reward is a huff followed by a kiss.
"Derek, trust me, you'll love her. She accepted Scott and Kira from the start, and I know she'll love you as well.".
Derek's hand stays at the nape of his neck all the way to his home.
They're making out on Stiles' bed, Derek pinning him down, when Derek suddenly growls and turns to the door. Stiles isn't worried though; he's learnt to recognise it as a warning growl, not one that means danger.
It doesn't explain why Derek is turning to his… Oh…
He hears a meow, followed by a scratching sound. Stiles just laughs as he gets up and opens door to let Merrill in.
"Hi, girl, you feeling lonely?"
She rubs up against his leg and jumps up on the bed. Derek's eyes briefly flash red as she approaches him, but she's not scared. Instead, Merrill walks over to him and starts rubbing her head against him as she starts purring.
Stiles almost falls over from laughing at the look on Derek's face. It can best be described as incredulous and disbelief; as if he'd expected to scare her off, not have her completely ignore his growl and eyes.
"I told you she's unique," Stiles comments, sobering up. Derek looks like he wants to speak but can't find the words to describe what he wants and feels.
He crawls into bed, links a hand with Derek's and brings their joined hands to rest on Merrill. She starts purring again, and this time Derek smiles down at her, wonder in his eyes over the small creature and her trust in him.
Stiles would very much like to continue their makeout session, but Derek is enamoured with Merrill. So he just rolls his eyes and flops down on his back, wondering when it's his turn to get attention because it's just not fair that Derek's been gone for a week and then proceeds to give his attention to a kitten over him.
Still, Stiles can't really blame him; Merrill is probably the cutest thing he's ever seen, even including Derek as a teenager.
"You so owe me sex later for ignoring me for her sake," Stiles says, all serious, but there's fondness in his voice nonetheless. "And a month of curly fries."
And with that he falls asleep.
Merrill moves on to lie on Stiles' chest, purring as she, too, falls asleep, but not before rubbing against Stiles' face and licking him a couple times.
Derek falls asleep a while later, staying awake because he enjoys watching Stiles sleep, creepy as it might sound. He's no Edward Cullen; Derek just likes to watch over Stiles in his most vulnerable moments. Especially after the whole deal with the nogitsune and not knowing it was Stiles. It makes Derek feel calm; knowing that Stiles is safe.
The three of them sleep like that until the Sheriff gets home from work and orders pizzas before he wakes them up because it means it'll be too late for Stiles to stop him from finally eating something that's not green.
"Really, dad? You just had to order the pizza with the most unhealthy stuff on it? And two of them?"
"Yep," his dad answers around a large bite of pizza, grinning. "Figured you'd stay for dinner, Derek, so I ordered two."
Derek nods in thanks and smiles, before he starts to dig in.
Dinner is mostly quiet, save for a few meows from Merrill. She seems to think she's being left out of a great meal, so Stiles hands her some treats to make it up for it.
"Thanks for dinner, Sheriff," Derek says as he gets up to leave.
"Anytime."
Stiles finally gets to kiss him again once they're out on the porch; his back pressed up against the door, fingers buried in Derek's hair.
"Come by tomorrow? Need to kiss you. Missed you. Don't go." Talking and kissing is hard, and right now coherency isn't Stiles' strongest point, but he doesn't want to stop kissing Derek at the same time as he wants to tell him he needs him without sounding needy.
"Pick you up from school?"
"Uhm, actually, wait for me here? Not to sound like I'm using you or anything but Merrill doesn't like to be alone for too long and I worry about her and -"
He's silenced by Derek's lips on his own again.
"I'll come over tomorrow. Don't worry."
"Thanks, Derek."
Stiles arrives home from school to find Derek and Merrill in the middle of a staring contest.
He looks at them, waiting to see who'll break away to acknowledge him, but neither does.
"I'm home?"
When there's still no reaction, Stiles fetches the bag of treats for Merrill and empties some pieces into his hand as it's so far proven to be effective when it comes to getting her attention.
"Oh, come on!"
No reaction this time either, so Stiles tries the first thing that comes to his mind, which is to strip.
Granted, it might not be his best or brightest idea, but he doesn't like being ignored.
"Don't mind me; I'll just take a shower all. by. my. self."
That at least got Derek's attention, even though he looks disappointed due to the fact that he lost the staring contest.
Derek only reluctantly tells him about the contest after he's thoroughly ravaged Stiles in the shower, and Stiles doesn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed, seeing as the contest was about who Stiles "belongs" to.
"Really? That's what you were staring at each other for? Is that what all the touching and licking and rubbing is about?! You're scent marking me?"
"Yes?"
Stiles flails, falls of the bed, stutters and walks downstairs again just as his dad arrives home.
He stares at Merrill, then his dad, then Derek who had followed him down the stairs.
"They," he starts, pointing to Merrill and Derek at the same time, "are scent marking me."
"Why do I have the feeling you already knew about the stuff?" his dad asks, used to his son's antics. The tone of his voice implies he know she'll regret asking, but he does because he feels it's his duty.
"This is different, dad. It was one thing when only Derek did it but now they're acting like I'm a prize to be won by whomever can manage to make their scent stay on me the longest!"
Derek seems baffled, but the sheriff just laughs.
"Kiddo. You wanted Derek for a long time. You wanted to keep the kitten. The way I see it, you got what you wanted. So now you need to take responsibility for it."
Stiles bangs his head against the wall.
"Do you think you could make her sleep somewhere else than your bed?" Derek asks him when Stiles comes home from school the next day.
"Does this have to do with the two of you having to share me?"
They're lying on Stiles' bed, Merrill curled up by Stiles' feet.
"Kind of? I know she doesn't like to be alone, but I'd like it if we could have just one place in your house where we could be just the two of us. Also, I don't want to crush her."
"Aw, you do care about her!" Stiles grins at him. "But yeah, it's probably a good idea, cause I have to sleep with my door open so she can eat and go to the litterbox at night. Although I don't actually think she leaves my bed at all." He looks puzzled for a moment, trying to recall if she's left or not.
As much as Stiles loves Merrill, there is one thing he absolutely hates.
And that is the smell of her shit.
Sometimes it seems the smell penetrates the house, and Stiles feels sorry for Derek and his enhanced sense of scent.
He also kinda regrets having asked Scott to find her waste earlier, because Scott probably gets enough of the stench at the clinic.
The first time Stiles scoops out her poo he gags.
And then vows to repay Scott in an epic way for doing him that favor.
Repaying Derek for holding out for hours despite the stench will probably be a lot easier, though.
A week later Stiles finds Derek asleep on his bed in full wolf form.
Fishing out his phone, Stiles quickly snaps a shot before laying down on the bed next to him.
"Mreow."
"Merrill?" He looks around but can't see her; not until she stretches and yawns.
Turns out she's been sleeping on top of Derek, and Stiles had missed her because their fur is the same colour.
"Hi girl. Did you have a good nap?"
No answer from her of course, but she starts purring so he takes that as a yes.
Stiles turns over so he's lying on his side and then reaches out to pet Derek who wakes at his touch.
"What did you do today then? You look rather exhausted." Stiles expect Derek to change back to human form so he can answer, but he just licks Stiles' face.
"Eeew, Derek! Not cool, dude."
Judging by the sound of the snort Derek lets out he finds Stiles' reaction entertaining.
Stiles just rolls his eyes, wiping his face with his sleeve, before wrapping a hand in Derek's fur.
Before Stiles knows it, he's fallen asleep.
When he wakes up again, Derek is back to human form.
"I see you've made friends. And you claimed you didn't want to let her sleep in my bed."
Derek actually manages to look sheepish at Stiles' words, but it's clear to Stiles that Derek's come to care for her.
"Actually, I've been taking her outside this past week, trying to make her feel safe again."
"And how's that going? Made any progress yet?"
"It's… easier when I'm a wolf, makes her feel less alone and it seems like she trusts me to protect her. Also a couple of your neighbours saw me, so you'll have to come up with an excuse for the large dog that came out of your house."
Stiles groans.
Stiles really likes how while Merrill is black, she isn't entirely black.
She has some darker grey areas (like a couple places on her chest), and then there are the really long, white hairs that are on the most of her back.
The white hairs doesn't form any patterns; they're just there.
As she gets older, the fur on her stomach go from being straight to curly, and it turns out she also have spots where the fur is brown.
Stiles haven't seen any cats - or other animals for that matter - with a coat like that, and it, combined with her eyes that are gold and green, only makes her more unique in his eyes.
Kira and Scott comes home with Stiles after lacrosse one night, and Kira takes out a toy she bought for Merrill.
It's a laser pointer designed for cats, so it's shaped like a red mouse.
Stiles had thought the blue and white mouse had been popular, but the light turns out to be a lot more popular.
It doesn't take her many days to learn that the light comes from the mouse-shaped toy, and so Stiles often finds her playing with the toy itself, or swatting at it with a paw.
Merrill also instantly jumps down on the floor from whatever she's perched on (be it a chair, couch, bed or Stiles himself), to chase the light she'll never be able to catch anyways.
Stiles doesn't use it often, though, and lets her play with the blue and white mouse with the bell instead, but the laser helps when he wants her to go down from stuff she shouldn't be on top of, like the kitchen table.
Most times he doesn't even have to use the light itself; simply picking up the toy makes her jump down, and so he awards her with a treat.
Stiles gets used to the scratches and small puncture marks on the back of his hands. And arms. And legs. It doesn't actually hurt when she bites and scratches, and Stiles knows it's just Merrill being playful.
He keeps a bottle of antiseptic close at hand though, because sometimes she gets a bit too playful, or he receives scratches when she climbs up to sit on his shoulders.
The more she grows, the more playful she gets.
And the more she grows, the more she runs around, barely avoiding banging her head on something.
Stiles figures it's about time that she gets to run around outside, so he calls Derek to tell him he'd like to take her up to the reserve to let her roam around in safety, because having Derek there to watch over her would mean she would feel safe as well.
Scott joins in as well, as well as Liam. Stiles mostly watches, though he joins in a few times. Kira and Malia join in a couple times, but it's mostly the guys.
Turns out the laser pointer also works on werewolves, so whenever Stiles gets to join Derek and Merrill and whoever else is available for playtime, he brings it along for some added fun.
Then Malia almost loses control and wounds Derek one time Stiles uses it, and the laser pointer becomes banned from use around her.
It's a shame though, because watching Merrill, Scott and Derek chase the light is hilarious.
Merrill loves to talk. Well, meow, but to her meowing is talking, so Stiles figures he can call it talking.
She talks (complains) when he goes into the bathroom and shuts the door.
(He only shuts the door on her when he uses the toilet because she got too curious once and fell into the toilet. Stiles has the scars to prove that washing her after wasn't the easiest nor safest thing he's ever done.)
She talks (again, complains) when he shuts her in the bathroom at night.
She talks when she wants attention. Like when he's doing homework and not paying attention to her, as he ought to, according to her.
Also when he's making out with Derek, because she gets shut out of his room. It's actually a kind of moodkiller, but they learn to ignore her.
So Stiles learns to talk back. Well, it's more like it's enough to only say "hi girl," or something like that, and she'll either be pleased with that, or she'll jump onto his lap, or next to him on the bed or couch.
Merrill loves attention.
So when she feels she's due attention, she sometimes meows once, then jumps up to to him.
It's made Stiles jump in surprise on more than five occasions, because he's so engrossed in whatever he's doing (like homework, and research of supernatural and normal stuff) that he doesn't hear her or realise she's by his feet until she's suddenly in his lap or by his side.
His dad playfully tease him when it comes to Merrill, because she's got Stiles wrapped around her little finger (so to speak).
Stiles tries to make her eat more dry than wet food, but he always melts when she rubs against his feet and purrs.
Sometimes he simply puts her down in front of the bowl with the dry food, but she just looks up at him and Stiles knows he can't ignore the look on her face for long.
Stiles lets her sleep whenever and almost wherever she wants.
As entertaining as watching Merrill run around like crazy is, he also fears for her safety, especially when she runs up and down the stairs.
Merrill is also really adorable when she sleeps, jealous as Stiles is of her ability to fall asleep wherever and whenever.
Then there is the fact that she grooms him when he wakes her up by resting his head next to her and patting her.
First she starts purring, then she yawns and then she starts licking his face and fingers.
It's a bit odd, because her tongue feels like sandpaper. And he knows where that tongue's been (her butt, eeew), but it's adorable that she cares so much about him that she takes care of him in such a way.
So he lets her do it, but washes his face once she's running off to play again.
The worst places Merrill's licked him so far are without doubt his lips and eyelids, and Stiles really hopes she'll stick to grooming the less sensitive parts of him.
The trip to Deaton's to get Merrill vaccinated goes well enough, although she looks accusingly at Stiles the whole time.
Derek came along at Stiles' request, and when they get back home to Stiles, Merrill cuddles up with Derek and only looks warningly at Stiles when he tries to approach.
Derek just laughs, while Stiles wonders how long long she'll be annoyed with him.
She doesn't sleep in his bed that night.
It feels… good, to have someone to take care of like this.
Stiles is used to taking care of his dad, sure. But his dad isn't too fond of it, because it makes him feel like he can't do his job as a parent well enough when his own son needs to take care of him.
Taking care of Merrill is entirely different. She's independent, but willing to cuddle and snuggle. She's great at taking care of herself, and Stiles only needs to change her water and make sure she's got food in her bowls and change the litter.
She's always there for him, no matter what. When he wakes up from nightmares at night, dreaming about not being awake and being possessed by the nogitsune, she comforts him when he sits down on the bathroom floor.
Because sometimes the memories of what happened, of what his body did, makes him vomit.
His dad doesn't know. Stiles doesn't think Derek or anyone else knows; thinks they would be brave enough to take it up with him if they did.
The dark circles under his eyes are mostly gone now, and having Merrill there helps even more than "just" being with Derek.
Because Derek can't chase away the nightmares, and Derek can't be there every night; he's got "werewolf business" and Stiles doesn't want to bother Derek too much.
Of course, Merrill can't chase away the nightmare either, but she doesn't ask questions, doesn't try to make him say things he doesn't want to say.
She's there; a quiet, solid comfort who accepts Stiles as he is.
In turn, Stiles takes care of her and finds joy in helping her make a life as part of a rag-tag pack made up by a human and werewolves and a kitsune and a banshee and a werecoyote.
Stiles loves Merrill, and he loves how utterly simple it is to care for her as he does, and how she loves him back unconditionally.
Before Stiles knows it, Playtime With the Kitty is a bi-weekly thing the pack engages in.
Well, actually, Derek, Scott, Kira and Liam play with Merrill, while Lydia, Malia and Stiles watch. Lydia isn't much for playtime, and Malia turned out to be too rough and not in control enough. Especially after that time she wounded Derek.
Stiles, on the other hand, is too uncoordinated, and after face planting and tripping over nothing too many times, Derek decided Stiles has to sit it out too.
Stiles doesn't mind too much; observing is fun and he gets a bunch of great shots of them. Besides, he enjoys making food for everyone. Lydia is a great helper, and Malia really needs to learn how to make food. It's a wonder how she's still alive, Stiles thinks, considering she's mostly human, not fully coyote-who-eats-dead-animals anymore.
The Sundays have turned out to be the best day of the week after Playtime was founded, with all of them gathering at the Hale house (now rebuilt) for some hours of fun before the weekend is over and they have to go back to school and homework and the possibility of more supernatural chaos.
They try to get in at least one more day during the week for practice and exercise and fun, but it mostly ends up being Derek taking Merrill to the house, and Stiles, Scott, Kira and Liam joining them after lacrosse practice.
But as much as Stiles loves the Sundays, he appreciates the quiet days spent in bed, cuddled up with Derek in any form, and Merrill between them.
Days where everything is simple and there are no mass-murderers, or alpha packs or ritualistic sacrifices or people come back from the dead as a supernatural creature or someone being possessed.