Word: Gnomist
...
"Where are they?" Scott asked, skidding to a halt in the entrance of Derek's loft, claws and fangs extended.
"Where's who?" Derek asked, frowning.
He was in the process of getting ready for bed, his toothbrush hanging in his grip loosely, and sweatpants slung low on his hips. He raised an eyebrow at Scott, who looked around the loft suspiciously, sniffing slightly.
There was a crashing sound behind Scott, and he spun around with a roar, coming face to face with Stiles who eeped in response.
"Geez, Scott. You didn't let me finish! You'd think with all of your werewolf hearing you'd actually realise your phone was ringing this whole damn time," Stiles muttered, shaking his head.
"Would either of you care to explain what's going on here?" Derek demanded.
Stiles finally turned his attention to Derek, and his eyes widened at the sight of Derek standing there looking positively debauched. "Uhhh..."
"You said gnomes," Scott hissed, nudging Stiles sharply in the ribs.
Stiles hissed in pain, rubbing his side with a wince. Derek took a step forward - Scott still didn't realise how strong he could be sometimes - but Stiles shook his head.
"I said gnomist, dude. Y'know the saying: power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely? It was meant to be like that. Hotness tends to corrupt, absolute hotness corrupts absolutely," Stiles muttered, obviously trying to keep his voice low but Derek still heard.
He raised an eyebrow slightly at the glance Stiles flicked his way, the gesture deepening when Stiles blushed.
"But you were talking about De... Ohhhhh."
Scott's drawn out response had Derek's eyebrows burrowing together, and he doubted that he wanted to know any more than he'd already heard.
"Now that you get it, can you take me to the hospital? I think you broke my ribs," Stiles groaned.
Scott looked between Stiles and Derek, obviously calculating something in his head, because the grin that spread across his face a moment later had Derek wincing. Stiles must have seen it too because he tried to straighten up and play off the pain, but he gasped and clutched his side before he could say anything, Derek ran forward to grab him when Scott didn't move, and he glared at him.
"Derek's Camaro will get you to the hospital faster than my bike. Take care of him, Derek," Scott called, leaving before either one could protest.
"I'mma kill him. Gonna make a bat out of wolfsbane, shove it down his throat and asphyxiate him. I know you can hear me, Scott!" Stiles called, ending with a whimper.
Faint laughter was the only response. Derek helped Stiles up carefully and made him lean against the doorframe while he hurried to get changed. The drive to the hospital was quiet except for Stiles' whimpers of pain when they went over a bump in the road.
Melissa saw to Stiles straight away, sending him off for an x-ray while Derek stayed in the waiting room. She called for Derek when Stiles was finished, hopped up on pain medication with two cracked ribs.
"He'll be fine in a few weeks, but the medication should help with any pain. If he has any difficulty breathing, let me know straight away," Melissa instructed, pressing a prescription for Stiles in Derek's hand. "Are you able to look after him? The Sheriff's out of town tonight, and Stiles was meant to be staying at my house, but as Scott did this to him, I'd rather he was with someone trustworthy," she added, frowning slightly.
"All right," Derek said, surprised that she trusted him.
"Thank you, Derek. Stiles, you be good for Derek, all right?" Melissa said sternly.
"I'll be an angel," Stiles said, grinning up at Derek dopily.
Derek sighed and guided Stiles out to his car carefully. "Can you put your own belt on, Stiles?"
"Think so. Not rocket science. But there are three belts. This is some good stuff," Stiles murmured, closing his eyes and sighing contently.
Derek sighed and put Stiles' belt on for him. Stiles seemed to come out of his stupor when Derek got in the driver's seat and closed the door.
"I was gonna call you an' ask you out this weekend, y'know," Stiles admitted, yawning widely. "If you said no, then Scott was gonna be there for me with ice cream an' double stuffed Oreos. Not that I would've told him why he needed ice cream and Oreos, but he wouldn't've asked. He's nice like that. Well, except when he's not," Stiles murmured, blinking owlishly and resting his head against the window.
"Yeah, except then," Derek muttered, rolling his eyes. "You can ask me out when you're not hopped up on pain medication, okay? I'll even say yes."
Stiles snored loudly in response, his face squished against the passenger window. Derek tried not to grin at the sight and turned the car on to head home slowly, trying not to disturb his passenger.
...
End of word challenge.
Thanks for reading!
