spark

Chapter 13 : Broken

Buck lay on his side, propping his head up on his pillow as he watched the steady rise and fall of Stiles' chest. A small smile was gracing the firefighter's face as he watched the involuntary action, simply glad that it was happening.

"That's getting pretty creepy, Dad." Alex spoke, causing Buck to turn and see the young werecoyote standing in the doorway to Buck and Stiles' bedroom.

"You know what else is creepy? Barging into someone's room without knocking." Buck retaliates, glowering at the boy as he stuck his tongue out at Buck.

"It's also annoying for you boys to be bickering at this hour." Stiles groaned, sitting up in bed as he grabbed his phone, blearily looking at the time displayed on the lock screen. "Seriously? Seven minutes before my alarm?"

"He started it." Buck whined, pointing an accusing finger at Alex, who was giving Buck a look of betrayal.

"You were the one watching him sleep!" Alex retorts, the two beginning to bicker, not noticing as Stiles got out of bed and trudged out of the room and down the stairs.

The rookie officer walked into the kitchen, waving good morning to Maddie, who was idly sipping on a mug of coffee at the kitchen island. "They wake you up again with their childish bickering?" Maddie asks, only earning a tired hum of confirmation from Stiles. He poured himself a mug and immediately downed it, pouring himself another one right after. "Did you just chug a mug of piping hot coffee?"

"Extreme heats don't affect me anymore." Stiles replies, walking over and leaning against the kitchen island. He reached up and grabbed the skillet and non-stick pan to get started on breakfast, Maddie walking around the island and retrieving bacon and eggs from the fridge for Stiles. "Why does it feel like it's going to be a long day?"

"I can't tell you that, I still need more coffee and some good food to get me going." Maddie joked, getting a mocking laugh out of Stiles as he turned on the range stove. A thud sounded from overhead, causing Maddie to glance up at the sound of it as it was followed by another. "Should we stop whatever that is?"

"Nah, Alex has him handled." Stiles said, lining up the slices of bacon as a loud smack sounded from above. "Wow, Alex isn't holding back."

"I find it strangely comforting that Buck has a kid that can clap back when they roughhouse." Maddie states, Stiles chuckling as footsteps sounded from the stairs. Looking up as they approached, Stiles snickered at the red handprint festering on Buck's cheek, a glower on his face directed towards Alex, who smiled triumphantly. "What're you thinking, Stiles?"

"Hmm, no video games for a week for Alex, and no fun for Buck." Stiles declares, causing both boys to look at him in outrage, both about to argue their points, only for Stiles to harden a glare on them. "You guys need to stop brawling over petty stuff like this, it's getting old. Why are you even brawling??"

"It's fun, especially since Buck keeps losing!" Alex chirps, shooting Buck a teasing smirk as the firefighter rolled his eyes.

"You're the one cheating with your supernatural strength!" Buck shot back, only receiving a shrug in response from Alex.

"I'm just a kid, how else am I going to level the playing field against an adult?" he taunts, letting his eyes glow gold.

"Is it just me, or are you raising two children?" Maddie asked, whispering in Stiles' ear as he nods his head solemnly.

"You two are going to stop this rivalry, or say goodbye to the Nintendo Switch." Stiles proclaimed, causing both boys to turn sharply to Stiles, who was serving the bacon and a large pile of scrambled eggs onto some plates that he set in the center of the kitchen island. Buck and Alex looked to each other, nodding their heads as they begrudgingly shook hands and sat down at the island, serving themselves suitable portions of the eggs and bacon. Stiles smirked at the two as the toaster chimed and he placed some Eggos on their plates. "That's how it's done, Maddie."