Leslie shoulders her bag and jogs up the porch steps. She reaches straight for the doorknob and twists it, unsurprised when it turns easily in her grasp. There just isn't much point in locking doors when you live with a pack of werewolves.
The house is quieter than usual as she walks through the hallway and heads straight for Owen's office. She can hear soft music playing which usually means her brother is working on another contract.
She passes the living room and notices details at a glance. Someone's sneakers left haphazardly by the couch, a jacket strewn over a chair and headphones on the coffee table. She doesn't have to announce her presence as she nears Owen's door because she knows he would've heard her as soon as she reached the driveway.
Her brother is sitting at his desk by the window (because, drawing needs to be done with natural light), as she strolls right into his office and drops down on the couch on the far side of the room.
Owen turns in his seat. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself," she greets with a small smile.
"How was school?"
Leslie shrugs noncommittally. "Same old. How's the hunting going?"
Owen rolls his eyes. "Slow."
Just as she's about to ask how much progress they've made, there's a swift knock against the doorjamb before her brother's second-in-command pokes his head in.
"We've got a lead. Apparently it's heading to the strip tonight, probably looking to feed. Hey Les'," Zachary lifts his chin at her in greeting and winks.
Leslie raises an arm in a silent wave.
"Okay, I'll go see what I can find. You're still meeting with that witch tonight, right?" Owen asks, propping an arm up against the back of his desk chair.
Zachary nods, punching a fist into his hand as he shifts to stand in the doorway. "I have to, we already flaked on her twice."
"Wait, you can't go by yourself, what's Riley doing?" Leslie interrupts, sitting forward and watching the two of them with a look of concern, especially her brother.
She sees Zach wince. "Riley's checking out another lead," he informs with a shake of his head.
"It's fine, sis', it's just going to be a recon thing tonight, nothing dangerous," Owen reassures her.
Leslie raises an eyebrow at him and doesn't reply.
-x-
He and Leslie climb the stairs to his apartment slowly. She's carrying two boxes of pizzas propped against her front, her hands hooked over the edges of the solid cardboard. Derek trails her quietly, eyes focussed on the bit of bare skin visible between her shoulder blades above her tank top. It's something to be said about their fledgling relationship as both of them seem to take their time. It feels like they both want to prolong their last few moments of being alone together before having dinner with his sister.
As they climb the final flight leading to his apartment door, Derek pauses on the second last step, reaching up and tugging softly on Leslie's hip. She turns to him with a questioning look on her face, pausing on the top step so that their faces are level with each other.
He knows Cora's listening for them, can probably hear them with her wolf-ears loud and clear, so Derek raises a finger to his lips motioning for quiet. Leslie raises an eyebrow at him, and maybe it's the dimness of the hallway or the flickering lights in the stairwell, but Derek suddenly has the urge to kiss her.
He hadn't done so upon his first hello, and they hadn't been sitting next to each other at the coffee shop. They hadn't held hands to the pizza place and he hadn't noticed the deprivation…but now – all of a sudden – it all comes rushing to the forefront of his mind. He could probably blame it on being distracted by what was going on in Beacon Hills but he reminds himself that he doesn't want to be that guy. Especially for her.
So, even as he hears Cora get up from her bed and start moving around her bedroom; even as he listens to her footfalls, light against the apartment floor…Derek takes the time to trail a finger down the side of Leslie's face. Her eyes drift shut at the contact, face tilting towards his hand, savouring his touch. Her expression lights up with a small, pleased smile as her eyelids slide open to reveal warm, hazel eyes.
Derek hasn't yet called her anything else but her given name, but he remembers a growing amount of moments when he's almost called her something else. Like during brunch with his sister – he can still clearly recall that sentence – brunch with his sister and his g…Leslie.
He wonders if this is what an epiphany feels like. A moment when everything slows to a crawl, when every blink takes a minute and every breath is a lifetime. His eyes study her face avidly. Her cute upturned nose and the few light freckles over her cheeks. Her long lashes fan over her skin as she blinks at him enquiringly, and Derek hopes that she can see the feeling in his gaze. Can see in his eyes everything he still hasn't found the courage to say. Everything that hasn't had the right time.
Derek brushes the hair away from her eyes, cradles her face with one large hand and plants a tender kiss against her lips. The awe that comes with being able to kiss her whenever he wants isn't new. He feels her breath against his mouth as she gasps slightly. A moment passes where she is motionless as he kisses her, and then the moment breaks as Leslie tilts her head and returns his kiss.
The exchange is gentle and soul-stirring, conveying emotions and other things that neither of them feel like they're ready for, but Derek knows that they both feel it. He knows it by the sound of her crashing heartbeat and his own, he knows it by the feel of her warm skin against his palm, and he knows it by the sweetness in her scent. It's full and warm and all-encompassing, and it calls to him like a siren in the sea. It calls to him with open arms ready to welcome him home.
As Derek pulls back from the kiss, Leslie blinks up at him with a dazed, contented look on her face, and he finds that the last thing he wants to do right now is have dinner with his sister.
The moment between them passes as Leslie flashes him some teeth with her next smile, shakes herself off and pecks a quick kiss on his cheek just as Cora throws open their apartment door.
"Finally!" his sister exclaims, making grabby hands at the pizza.
Leslie grins, gives the necklace around his neck a gentle tug before skipping forward and letting Cora take the boxes out of her hands. Derek smiles thoughtfully as he climbs the rest of the stairs and trails his sister and his g…Leslie into the apartment.
Cora clears the coffee table of the books scattered all over it so she can put the pizza boxes down. Derek heads to the fridge and grabs some sodas as he keeps one eye on Leslie. He watches her as she studies the apartment, eyes wandering over the books strewn all over the breakfast bar and skimming over the darkened doorway leading into his room. Cora sidles up next to him and opens a cabinet to get some plates. She nudges him when she notices him watching Leslie.
"You're such a creeper, you know that?" Cora teases with a shake of her head.
Derek rolls his eyes at her and stops watching Leslie, concentrating instead on juggling the three cans of soda in one of his hands and grabbing a pack of Doritos with the other.
"So, movie? Leslie, please say you don't have work tonight," Cora adds, glancing up at the other girl as Leslie rounds the sofa and takes a seat.
"Nope, I'm off tonight," she answers, tucking a foot under her opposite leg and leaning against the back of the couch. Derek likes that she already seems so at home after spending less than ten minutes at his place.
"Awesome! Someone who can sway the votes." Cora grabs the TV remote from the side of the TV and starts flipping through Netflix. She wins the movie vote, as predicted, after she tells Leslie that brothers' girlfriends are supposed to suck up to their sisters. When Leslie relents, Derek can tell that she's pretending that she can't see the blush on Derek's cheeks – which just happened to materialise after Cora had called her his girlfriend. She grabs a slice of pizza as the movie starts and leans back against Derek's side. He drops his arm around her and they sit comfortably as Cora settles into the armchair on the far side of the coffee table tucking a throw around her legs.
They must have been more tired than they realised because the next thing he knows, he's easing into wakefulness, slouched low on one end of the couch with Leslie's head pillowed on his thigh. The TV's back to the Netflix menu and Derek can just crane his neck enough to glimpse Cora's closed bedroom door.
Didn't even wake us, he thinks to himself, brow wrinkling into an irritated frown. Slowly, he eases his leg out from under Leslie's head, quickly grabs one of the throw pillows on the floor and shoves it where his thigh had been. He's not surprised when she doesn't stir, knowing from experience that she slept fairly deeply most times because, my body clock is ruined as fuck. He pauses for a moment, propped up on his haunches and brushes the hair out of her face before rising to his feet and looking around the living room for the remote. He switches the TV off and closes the now empty pizza boxes. As he's gathering the empty cans of soda to put in the trash he hears his phone buzz.
Derek perks his ears, looking around for his phone. He finds it on the breakfast bar where he'd left it earlier and heads towards the kitchen, leaving Leslie slumbering on the couch. When he reaches his phone there are several messages from Stiles. It's 3AM New York time and when he does the math, he's not surprised that Stiles is still up and running on all cylinders. Derek places the soda cans on the bar and swipes a finger across his lock screen.
the Cylph is not an object.
I repeat, the Cylph is NOT AN OBJECT
Derek frowns down at his phone and quickly types back a reply. Explain.
He might as well have saved the effort because there's a certain three dots flashing on the screen that tells him that Stiles is already typing.
Scott's been talking to the alpha.
Got it out of him somehow.
Derek stands with his phone in his hand and when it looks like there's no other message coming, he responds.
What is it then? And what makes them think it's in BH?
Sometimes he thinks that Stiles purposely feeds him the information slowly just so he can make sure Derek is paying attention or something. Same way teachers make sure their students are paying attention—ask them questions or get them to ask questions.
They think it sticks close to the ley lines, telluric currents, whatever
ie, Nemeton
they also don't actually know what its human form looks like
the alpha still thinks he can scent it out but Scott's holding firm on the no-traipsing-around-town-yet thing
Derek pads around the apartment on silent, socked feet. He checks that Leslie's still sleeping as he passes the couch on the way to the pile of books Cora had taken off the coffee table. Derek grabs the book he'd tagged and goes back to the breakfast bar, letting it fall open to the page he'd marked.
"The Cylphius Halorium or Cylph can serve as a powerful tool for an alpha. Once much coveted by the lycan, when used in the vicinity of telluric currents, can create an immense charge of power within he who holds it. Unbridled or unacceptable use may be the genesis of sacrific—"
He types a reply.
Did they happen to tell Scott what they need the Cylph for?
Stiles' messages make his phone buzz continuously in his hand.
Scott tried but couldn't get it out of him. My guess is something bad. Duh.
We'r still stalling. Parrish – Dad's new deputy – found the Nemeton. Did not come across any cylph-like objects/people
Deaton suggests that the cylph might be AWARE and is prob laying low.
He wants me to ask u if u could go visit a friend of his – lives in the area.
Derek is a little surprised that Deaton seemed to be with Stiles as the kid was texting him, but the feeling is small and fleeting.
text me the address.
When the conversation with Stiles finally dies down, it's 3:30 in the morning and all Derek wants to do is go to bed. He reads over the address again before letting Stiles know that he'll be in touch with them again tomorrow.
Derek ambles back towards the living room, stifling a yawn as he stretches his arms up over his head. He rounds the couch easily and doesn't stop to think about his actions, simply leaning down, slipping his arms under Leslie's sleeping form and picking her up. He holds her against his chest in a bridal carry, heads to his room and gently lays her on his bed. He's glad that she hadn't ever thought to change out of her tank top and sweatpants; likes that she never tried to change the way she was even when things had started to change between them. This outfit is what she goes to get coffee in, and it still is.
He grabs some soft pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt from the dresser and pads to the bathroom to brush his teeth and change his clothes. When he gets back to his room he finds Leslie curled up in his bed, the covers tucked tight under her chin. It's like she'd moved without fully waking, her breaths slow and even, heartbeat steady and calm. Derek huffs a light laugh, dumps his clothes on a chair next to the dresser and slips into the bed beside her. They haven't spent too much time sleeping in the same bed together so he keeps his hands to himself, content to just lie beside her and let the beat of her heart lull him to sleep.
When he wakes up in the morning he's surprised to find Leslie gone and a hastily scribbled note lying on the pillow beside his head. Derek grabs it, wondering how she was able to wake up, get out of bed and leave his apartment without his wolf hearing/sensing/smelling any of it.
Had to hustle. Text me! X
Derek sits up and shoves his hand through his bed mussed hair. He's grumpy and irritated because, well, that wasn't exactly the way he'd envisioned waking up today.
He gets up from his bed and pads towards the kitchen. A glance tells him that it's only 7AM. As he pauses by the breakfast bar he notices the book from yesterday. It's lying where he'd left it, but instead of gaping open to the page that he'd flagged, the book is now lying closed.
