Characters: Derek, Erica

Genres: Fluff

Notes: This was prompted by Vampira Maxwell on a03: "I think you should do a little ficlet for the Prompts Project about Derek's technofright or technoignorance. That would be hilarious! o.o"

Laptops Aren't As Scary As Werewolves, But Derek Fears Them More

Carefully, quietly, Derek sneaks into Isaac's room looking for Isaac's laptop. He's made a decision - he's going to call Stiles. Or rather he's going to… he's pretty sure Erica called it "Skype". He's pretty sure that's what video calls are called. He's seen Erica video calling Stiles from her laptop, and he's seen Isaac do the same with his, so he's going to try and find Isaac's laptop and do that.

He's also going to pray that Erica doesn't come home before he's done because she's been harping on him lately that he should just suck it up and call Stiles and tell him that he misses him. He knows she's right, but he doesn't want to admit it. He's not going to admit to it. Even if Stiles is probably just going to tell her the next time they speak anyway. He won't be the one to say it.

After a quick search of Isaac's room he finds the laptop and he takes it downstairs to the dining room. He sets it on the table and for a moment just stares at it. Another thing he won't admit to is that he's no good with technology. It makes him uneasy and it's always made him uneasy. He doesn't know why and he's never really cared until now, until Stiles moved all the way across the country and he was left either calling him on the phone or just sort of watching awkwardly in the background any time Isaac or Erica video called him.

After about a minute he grabs the lid of the laptop and jerks it up. He spends another minute trying to figure out how to turn the thing on and eventually he's so frustrated that he's yelling at it. He pokes at every button he can find and when it turns on it startles him just a little. Then, after a few nerve wracking seconds it finishes starting up and it opens to a screen prompting him for a password and he realizes he doesn't know Isaac's password. He didn't know Isaac had a password.

He tries every password he can think of but he still can't guess the right one.

After about five more tries he eventually just gets so frustrated that he throws the laptop against the wall. It crashes and the screen shatters with a crack straight down the center. He smiles at what he feels is a victory against the machine.

Then he realizes this means that he's going to have to buy Isaac a new laptop and the only thing worse than having to use a laptop is having to go and buy one. He picks up the laptop and throws it again. This time some of the keys fall out of the keyboard and he picks them up and crushes them in his fist. It feels good, but it doesn't distract him from what he knows he's going to have to do.

Outside he can hear footsteps approaching and he can smell Erica so he picks up the bits of what once was a laptop and puts it on the table in as neat a pile as he can.

She walks in to find him sitting calmly at the dining room table with the smashed laptop and her only response is to quirk an eyebrow.

Derek gets to his feet as casually as he can and he says, "I have to go get a new one of these."

"I'll go with you," she says with a smile. "You'll buy the wrong one without me."