Sterek Stories - A Collection - I

Summoning a demon - part 4

Celebrating your birthday during a pandemic

"... to you!" Scott draws out the last 'you' until his voice cracks, only seconds before Stiles' eardrums would have shattered.

He fondly watches the face of his best friend on the screen, who's smiling broadly despite needing to catch his breath after singing that loud. "Thanks, bro."

Scott inches even closer to the camera, blocking out the view of the backroom at Deaton's clinic. It's a miracle his singing had not set off the dogs. "I can't believe you're not here to celebrate your birthday!"

"I can't believe you called me at 8 am on a saturday!"

"Sorry dude, I always forget about that time difference." Scott really looks like he is sorry, which makes Stiles forgive him for waking him up.

"That's okay, man, it's only an hour anyway. I'll live." He'll probably turn over and try to get back to sleep after this call. "But, yeah, weird not being able to celebrate my birthday with you. Although we wouldn't have been able to go to Jungle anyway, since they're closed."

Scott grimaces. "Not much to do here, no. Everything is closed, except for, like, basic necessities. Luckily people can still come here."

Stiles nods his agreement. "Taking your dog to the vet has become a real outing, I guess."

"Did I tell you I treated a dog with blisters on his feet this week? He was being walked by ten different people a day, just because they needed an excuse to get out of the house!" Scott adjusts the face mask that is shoved below his chin. "Not real blisters, you know, but close. Poor animal could use a vacation!"

Stiles listens to his friend ramble on about the dog, while he thinks - not for the first time - about another dog. Or, hellhound. Demon. Whatever fits the description. Ever since he saw Derek in that dog or wolf like shape, he thinks about taking him out for a walk.
The virus is spreading fast in the city he is in and to contain it, everybody is ordered to stay home as much as possible. If you're not working in a critical job, you're only allowed outside to get groceries and do things like walk the dog. Being a student living in a tiny dorm room, Stiles doesn't have a pet. Except now he has. Kind of?
He fully expects Derek to bite his face off when he presents him the idea.

"Oh, by the way! Isaac said he met you! How did that happen?"

"Huh?" Stiles is pulled from his thoughts about whether or not Derek would wear a leash by the sudden change of subject.

"Isaac! You know, my buddy that works at that fancy coffee shop on Mainstreet," Scott explains. "He asked about you."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Stiles scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "We uh, we met the other d... a while back."

"Small world!" Scott smiles, luckily not finding his friend's reluctant answer odd. "He asked if you often did stupid shit. I just told him that was a given, right?!"

Stiles laughs with him, albeit somewhat forced. Yes, he is commonly known for getting up in 'stupid shit', although none of his teenage shenanigans rank up to summoning a demon because he is bored and lonely, stuck in a dormroom by himself during a pandemic. Stiles obviously hasn't told Scott about what he's been up to. Nobody knows. Well, maybe Lydia has her suspicions, seeing as he had asked her to help him with the Latin translations. But she hasn't said a thing, just made him promise to pay for lunch as soon as they could meet up in person again. So clearly she expects him to still be alive by then.

When Scott hangs up to get back to his furry patients, Stiles is awake enough to scroll through his birthday messages. There's one from early this morning, from his dad who came out of his night shift. The sheriff promises to call him this afternoon. He has a voice text from Lydia, with 'Jackson says congratulations too' tacked on at the end, and various other messages from friends and family. It's all very nice, but he's still alone, isn't he? Not for the first time Stiles regrets listening to his father when told he would be safer isolated in his dorm than back home.
He gets it, he really does. Melissa brings home enough horror stories from the hospital to know this whole pandemic situation is very serious. People lose their lives, and not just the infirm or eldery. He doesn't mind wearing a face mask and washing his hands until his skin is raw, if it helps keeping people safe. Lydia sent him a tube of hand cream for that anyway. It sucks that most businesses in the hospitality sector are closed right now, but it doesn't affect his day to day life a lot. He's too poor to go out for dinner often and he often doesn't have the time to go clubbing either, between his studies and his part time job at the university's library. Which is closed now, just like the rest of the university. All of his classes are online now, some professors catching up with the transition easier than others. It's not just the old fossils that have trouble navigating the digital world. Just yesterday Stiles spent two hours looking up a professor's hairy nostrils. The guy is forty years old at best, you'd think he knew how to angle his camera. Or how to use a clipper.