Human is Just a Word 50/?
Chapter 50
Derek still didn't like flying.
He lost contact with his pack even before he reached the airport. Stiles stayed a bright beacon in his mind for longer than the others but in the end he lost contact to his mate as well. The feeling of loneliness mixed with the general dislike of flying and Derek was in a grumpy mood even before he boarded the plane.
However, Stiles had insisted on making out before he left which had ended with Stiles' naked legs wrapped around his waist and Derek thrusting into him with more force than he probably should have. But the thought of leaving his mate was kind of scary, for both of them, so neither of them was holding back marking the other one with bite marks. On Stiles they would stay for days, maybe even still visible when Derek would be back in two weeks, and that was a thought Derek really liked.
The marks Stiles had left on him had already faded away but Derek remembered the feeling of Stiles' teeth on him and he let his hand linger over that spot on his neck while he waited for the plane to take off. Even the guy sitting next to him with his cheap aftershave and the tendency to sweat through his shirt didn't seem so bad. At least for the first few minutes. The longer they were in the air, the more distant Stiles felt and the more aware of his surroundings Derek got.
When they finally landed and Derek could get out of this tin can, he breathed easier. Not that the air outside was that much better but it hadn't been through that many lungs.
Derek got his luggage and then he was scanning the crowd for Professor Rodriguez, or Maria as she liked him to call her.
There were too many people waiting for somebody and too many already heading towards the exit, brushing past Derek and not caring if they had to push him out of the way to get past him. Derek bit back a growl, the last thing he wanted was for the security to take an interest in him.
He finally spotted her and with a relieved sigh he went over to her.
"Derek, good to see you." She greeted him with a motherly hug. "Hope the flight wasn't too bad."
She didn't know that he was a werewolf so she didn't know how bad just a regular flight for him was. He just smiled at her and assured her that everything went well.
At first Derek had thought that he would stay at a hotel but she had insisted that he would stay with her. Since her children were out of the house it was always too empty and quiet she said.
Derek wasn't sure which he preferred, an impersonal hotel room with the lingering scents of too many people, or staying at her place. Since she didn't know about his nature he had to play human all the time which would be exhausting. But there had been no arguing with her anyway.
They had to drive for about two hours to get to her place and by then Derek was exhausted and longing for a shower. The scent of strangers clang to his skin and he felt icky and sweaty all over.
At least the conversation was nice so that the drive didn't get too awkward.
"This is my place." She parked the car in front of a tiny house. Derek doubted that it had more than two bedrooms and he wondered how a family of five had lived in there. Humans liked to have their own bedrooms and all that.
Now, however, it was only Maria left, he could tell that by sniffing once when he followed her inside.
There were other scents but they were faint as if those people visited regularly but didn't stay long enough to leave a permanent imprint.
"It's a nice house." He said because he didn't know what else to say. He should have brought Stiles for the socializing.
"It's my home." She gave him a warm smile and showed him his room.
"Dinner will be ready in half an hour. Freshen up and call your boyfriend." She said the last part with a wink that made her look more like a teenage girl than a woman in her forties.
Derek had a quick shower and then he called Stiles just to let him know that he had arrived safely.
Apparently he was interrupting some kind of video game challenge Stiles, Sean and Isaac had going, however that had happened. Stiles assured him that they weren't missing him at all and that he should have fun and then it was time for dinner anyway.
When Derek made his way over to the kitchen, he was a little worried on how to interact with Maria. They didn't really have much in common and now he would spent the next two weeks with her. What should they talk about?
"How's Stiles doing?" She asked while she filled his plate.
"I've already been replaced by a video game." He said in flat tone but couldn't help the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
That apparently broke the ice and over dinner she told him how she met her late husband and how he had left her in the middle of their second date because he had forgotten to water his orchids.
They had a good laugh over that and everything became less awkward.
Derek wasn't exactly sure what they had for dinner but it was delicious. Shamelessly he helped himself a second time which earned him a warm smile.
"I need the recipe for this."
"You cook?"
"Stiles does." Derek answered with his mouth still full. He had tried and failed to decipher the spices with his nose and tongue and now he was just enjoying a good meal.
"He loves trying out new stuff." He remembered the first time Stiles had dragged him off to the store to get some red wine for a sauce he wanted to try. Derek had been skeptical but the result had convinced him. By now his kitchen was well stocked. Half the stuff he had no idea what it was or what Stiles used it for but he didn't actually care.
After dinner Derek offered to do the dishes and they ended up doing them together.
Turned out that they had something in common, the book Derek was about to translate for her. He had read the original version in preparation for this trip and here was his chance to clear up some points he hadn't really understood.
One thing led to the other and suddenly it was close to midnight and they were sitting on her couch with a glass of red wine and were discussing the possibility of aliens. It was off topic and he had thought that real scientists laughed about that idea but according to Maria the universe was too big for only one place to have developed some kind of life form.
"However, I highly doubt that they are flying around in space ships." She said. "And even if, the chances of them spotting us among the myriads of systems in our galaxy alone ..." She shook her head and poured them more wine.
Derek went to bed with a happy smile.
The next day Maria took him to work with her. He met her co-workers, one or two faces were familiar from the symposium, and she gave him the grand tour of the institute.
There was one small incident when she introduced him to one of her co-workers, though.
Brett Talbot was a werewolf, a beta, and he instantly recognized Derek as an alpha.
There was the usual sizing each other up while they both tried to figure out what the other one was up to while at the same time they were trying to not be too obvious about it.
"Brett has been one of my students." Maria said, unaware of the possible bloodshed happening right in front of her.
Derek managed to catch Brett alone a bit later and introduced himself properly before the beta could mull any longer over possible pack interference.
"Relax." Derek said, when the other werewolf backed off against a shelf. "I'm just here for a visit."
Derek assured him that he was without his pack and that he had no intention of invading somebody else's territory. Brett relaxed slightly after that but kept a wary eye on Derek.
Two days later he invited Derek over for dinner, at least that was what he said while humans were in earshot. It was actually more of a formal invitation of the local alpha and refusing would be considered rude at least and could end with Derek getting run out of their territory or killed at worst. So he thanked Brett for the invitation and showed up at the alpha's den at seven that evening.
It started out stiff and formal, the pack not really bigger than Derek's and as that constantly afraid of the surrounding packs. Derek was lucky that he shared borders only with Laura and Peter and neither of them really had any intentions of taking over his territory. Even Peter's testing his borders had died down after Derek had taken in Stiles.
However, Satomi Ito was a friendly host and since Derek was alone and far away from his territory she didn't consider him a threat. In fact it turned out that she knew his mother and had been to Beacon Hills a few times before the fire.
They talked for a while, about old times and the current situation of the Hale territory, and when Derek left late that evening she assured him that she hadn't forgotten her friendship with Talia and that she was still willing to honor it. Derek wasn't sure how far she would go on his behalf but he offered his assistance if she ever needed it and went back to Maria's house with a good feeling.
Over the next few days Maria actually put him to work and basically made him her assistant.
"If I'm taking advantage of you, just tell me." She said when she threw a pile of data at him he had to sort through. "This is probably not part of your usual work."
"It's not." Derek couldn't help the smile forming on his lips."But it's nice to see more than some second hand research. It makes my work easier."
The other effect his internship had, was that he met the other scientists who were interested in his work in person. He had exchanged emails with them before but it was always better to talk to a client face to face. At least for the client. Derek would be fine with only communicating via text messages but people usually responded better to meeting in person. He had no idea why.
However, by Thursday it looked like he would leave as the institute's chief translator. He hadn't expected that but somehow he must have impressed people by his devotion to his work. As if this internship was something he had to put up with instead of it being the opportunity to learn more about the topic. At least that was how he saw it.
He went out with some of the scientists after work once but the other evenings he spent with Maria and endless discussions on her couch. It was nice. Derek missed his pack and of course Stiles but so far this trip had turned out to be fun.
It took a damper when Stiles called him to tell him that he would go back to Beacon Hills for the weekend. Apparently Melissa was waking up. She was not really there yet but the doctors were optimistic that she would gain consciousness very soon and Stiles didn't want his father to deal with that alone. Besides he hadn't seen his father since his visit and Stiles missed him.
"Do you want me to come?" Derek offered. He could cut his trip short, Maria would understand, and in his head he was already calculating how fast he could make it back.
"No, it's okay." Stiles declined. "I'm going to take Isaac with me. Did Laura call you? She arrived in Beacon Hills a few days ago, so if I need an alpha at my side …"
"You're visiting your family." Derek said, not really happy with the situation. "Peter can't deny you that. And he won't attack you. He would attack a member of my pack, my mate actually, and he doesn't want to cause an incident like that." At least he hoped so. Who knew what Peter did or did not want?
Chapter 51
Masterpost