Out Of Milk

26

"I'm an Alpha."

"Good for you." Stiles said. "But Dev is about 8 foot tall, 500 pounds and can time travel with fucking magic powers, so if you think you can take him on, you're an idiot." He stopped, obviously seeing the expression on Derek's face. He was an Alpha. Surely he could take on a single bear?

No fucking chance he'd be able to fight this guy. The bouncer at the door had a friendly enough face, but it was somewhat marred by the sheer size of him.

"This is Dev." Stiles said, half dragging Derek towards the door. "Dev!"

"Hey, little one." The giant called Dev grinned. "Whose your friend?"

"This-" Stiles said with a flourish, "Is Derek."

The guy obviously knew who Derek was, which was comforting. Stiles must have mentioned him to his workmates – maybe even mentioned that they were together.

"Ah, we get to meet you at last!" Dev said, standing up from the stool. He towered over Derek, clasping a massive hand on his shoulder. "You come with me, and let the kid get to work before mamma see's he's late." Stiles grinned as he dashed past them both, giving Derek a thumbs up before disappearing through the doors.

"So, did he give you a rundown of the Rules here?" Dev asked good naturedly.

"He told me to behave, mostly." Derek replied, shortly. He didn't like the way the man was gripping his shoulder, or how small he felt. He had thought Stiles was exaggerating to get his point across – he wasn't. The man who was grinning at him would easily be able to overpower him.

"Best advice in the world." Dev laughed, steering him through the door. "Gotta warn you, he gets a lot of unwanted attention. Nothing he can't deal with, but just know – you attack anyone in here – we'll put you down."

Derek didn't like the bar. Far too many people, far too many smells. And he kept losing sight of Stiles in the crowds. Dev though, seemed to take it as his personal mission to keep Derek company, pointing out people and putting faces to the names that Stiles talked about almost constantly on the phone. "So the white dreads with the monkey – that's Wren. Won't say a word to anyone." He said, frowning, "Works hard though, and keeps his head down."

Wren. Stiles talked about him. Liked him a lot, actually. Derek didn't like the way he kept his hair over his face so you wouldn't be able to get a good look at him, but he got the feeling the guy, or tiger or whatever Stiles called him, did that on purpose. Derek thought it was untrustworthy.

"You don't talk much." Dev suddenly said. "For a kid who can't keep his mouth shut, he surely picks the quiet ones."

Stiles was collecting glasses when it happened. Derek was watching him move about the room with a happy smile. From what Derek had seen, Stiles was well liked – he wasn't sure why he was surprised. After all, he was the glue that held the pack together, even though he was miles away. He was tipped well, didn't seem to mind about being constantly on his feet and managed (although Derek wasn't sure how) not to drop a single glass all night.

When it happened though – Derek wasn't expecting it. One moment Stiles was collecting glasses and the next some guy had his arms wrapped around his shoulders, trying to kiss him. Without even thinking, he launched himself out of his seat – only to be shoved back down roughly by Wren. "Don't. Watch." He hissed at Derek, turning to look at Stiles.

Stiles had it under control. The guy was already face down on the table, arm twisted behind his back. "I mean, not that I don't get it, or anything, I'm totally hot, but keep your damn hands to yourself or I'll rip your fucking arm off." He was saying, politely. "And you see all these people here? All of my friends here? They'll all develop a sudden case of amnesia when the cops come around." He smiled gently, still talking to the man in a calm voice. "You can even think yourself lucky that you decided to grab me, because if you'd grabbed anyone else, you'd already be fucking dead."

Someone in the back yelled out, "Just kill him, Shaman!" which caused a riot of laughing in the darker shadows of the bar. Dev wandered up to them and grabbed the man by the collar as Stiles let him go.

"You, my good man, are no longer welcome at this bar."

"See?" said Wren, walking away. "Watch."

Stiles got one break, just after midnight. He sat on the step with a large glass of water and his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder. Derek got the feeling he did this every night. The only difference was Derek was behind him, Stiles sitting between his legs.

"Yeah." Stiles was saying to Jackson. "Yeah, you're totally right." He leaned back into Derek and snuggled. Derek was glad Stiles couldn't see his expression, because he was sure it was pathetically happy, like a puppy. Dev had slapped him on the back on the way out. "Well done you, for not killing that guy." Derek wondered if he just hadn't seen Wren push him down to stop him. He guessed he owed the guy a thank you.

"No, sure. Totally. I don't know why they wouldn't just pick you either." Stiles agreed. Derek thought Stiles did a lot of agreeing with Jackson. "You're the one who does all the late nights too. Jerks."

They were walking down the street at 4am, the place still pretty busy near the bars. Stiles was alternating between talking with his hands and grabbing Derek's arm, which he was okay with. Perfectly okay with, actually, because it was great just being with Stiles and seeing him so animated – laughing and talking and pointing like a child with too much energy. The way back to campus was well lit, but empty at this time of night – or morning, depending on how picky you were being.

They were half way back to campus when Stiles stopped and turned back. "Don't even think about it, Fabio." He called out to the deserted street. Derek looked at him, confused, until he saw a tall figure a few blocks down from them. Had he been following them as they walked? Why hadn't Derek noticed?

Stiles stood under the street lamp and glared at the figure. "This is Valeruis' route, my friend. You don't need that kind of trouble."

The tall figure took a few steps forward, then turned and walked, slowly away.

"What the hell was that all about?" Derek said, once the shadow had disappeared into the night. He hadn't even noticed they were being followed!

"You know vampires?"

"I've never seen one."

"Well, think of vampires on steroids that suck your soul out." Stiles said, gesturing down the street. "You've just seen one. They follow me sometimes, but if you stick to routes you know are patrolled, you're pretty safe. No shortcuts for the Shaman." He laughed. "It was the first thing Talon kicked my ass over."

"You knew his name." Derek said, not very happy about the idea of Stiles walking the streets with people who wanted to suck his soul out. His soul was the best part of him.

"Huh? Oh!" Stiles burst out laughing. "Fabio isn't his name. It's just what the guys call em." He grinned, pointing down the street. "Hi Mr Valeruis!" He waved at a man in a very expensive suit and jacket walking on the other side of the street from them. He didn't say anything, just kept walking. Stiles started walking towards the campus, dragging Derek behind him. "He never says Hi back, but hell, pays to be polite, right?"