Anchor verse

Anchor - Chapter 2

His son's new identity comes with a few changes. Some are mind boggling, like the fact that Stiles can turn into an animal now. Noah chooses to not think too closely about that: it does not make sense. At all. It goes against everything he ever thought to be true in the world. Yet he'd seen the evidence: there is a whole world hidden inside the everyday, visible world he lives in. And his son is now a part of it.

Some changes are a surprise. Like how the kid is able to snatch the last pizza roll right from under his nose. Without upending the table in the process. Speed and agility come with the territory, so it seems. Still, Noah was happy to see him stumble over the front end of the couch the next day. It was a comfort that at least some things never change.

Some changes take some getting used to. Like how Stiles has buried his nose in his father's neck. "Son? Do you have to?"

"I gotta learn your scent," comes the answer, muffled against his skin. The kid is crowded up against his side, where he is standing in the kitchen to make coffee.

"I've been your father for 17 years. You'd think you'd know it by now."

"Everything smells different now."

"Really? Did they change the recipe for Old Spice?" Noah moves his body away from his prying teenage son. He loves the kid, God, he loves him, but he can be such a weirdo sometimes.

Stiles rolls his eyes at him, but he doesn't try to smell him again. "You know what I mean, dad. Better. More. It's not just Old Spice I smell, I can discern all the little things that make your scent the Dad Scent."

"No beef jerky today," Noah responds, just a tad sour. The day before at the station Stiles smelled beef jerky on him and followed his nose to the bottom drawer of his desk to fish out the incriminating package. He considers hiding his contraband snacks in the evidence locker from now on, away from Stiles' newly updated sniffing capabilities.

"Nope," Stiles answers smugly, popping the p. He finally moves away from Noah, though not before he pours some coffee for himself.
"I did some reading on anchors, you know."

'Some reading'. Meaning he stayed up half the night to research the topic.

Stiles launches into some elaborate story about anchors, something Noah himself only recently learned about. He is his son's anchor, something to hold on to, to help him control his newfound powers. And that's really all he needs to know for his end of the case. His son does all the work, he just has to be there. Or not even that, the thought of him is supposed to be enough. Last week that didn't really work for Stiles. The kid refused to tell him the details when he picked him up from the Hale house last week, just that he'd needed the help of the pack to finally change out of his fox body. Which he turned into without the help of the full moon.

Yeah, that's right. His son turned into a fox. Not a werewolf, not the grotesque humanoid figure the sheriff was still not entirely used to seeing, but a full fledged fox. Tail and all. Somewhere deep down, Noah is relieved. The werewolf form seemed so violent, so intimidating; he has a hard time reconciling that image with that of his teenage son. A fox is a little easier, if he gets over the 'how the hell is this possible?' part of it.

Having to visit the vet with Stiles was just pure irony. He understands dr. Deaton is more than just a vet, although it's hard to put the finger on what the man is exactly. Not very forthcoming with answers, that's for sure. They went to see dr. Deaton at Derek Hale's request and Noah could get behind his reasoning wholeheartedly. That period in which his son was possessed by an evil Japanese spirit was one of the darkest times in Stiles' life and therefore in his life too. The kid still wakes up from nightmares at least once a week. Luckily, the vet saw no reason to suspect that Stiles his newly acquired animal form had anything to do with the evil demon. Noah didn't miss the clear relief on his son's face at those words. Deaton thought it likely his Spark influenced the appearance. How or why, the man didn't elaborate on. Noah came to understand that was the vet's signature.