Chapter Text
“Medium black coffee.”
Stiles looked up from the milk he was steaming to see Sexy Puppy standing at the register. Lydia smirked at him as she walked over to make his drink.
“Dammit Lydia you’ve gotten to him first for the last three days. I thought we said no supernatural abilities allowed!”
“I’d hardly call luck a supernatural ability. Maybe if you paid more attention to your surroundings, you wouldn’t be so far behind the rest of us.” Lydia’s smile was radiant as she capped the coffee and brought it back to the register.
Ever since the tall, muscled, leather-clad werewolf had begun his daily coffee routine at the Skullery—a horrendous name in Stiles’s opinion, but his boss was a skeleton who thought he was terribly clever—an impromptu competition developed among the baristas. At first it was just Stiles hogging the register whenever the handsome werewolf showed up. Then Erica began cutting him off when she noticed what he was up to—he was sure it was just to bother him as Erica seemed to subsist off of Stiles’s pain—and of course, whenever Erica became involved in anything Isaac was quick to follow. The whole thing became a game pretty quickly and even Lydia joined in once Stiles started a score sheet in the back room. He’d titled it ‘Sexy Puppy Sightings’ and, of course, Lydia was winning.
“Here’s your change; see you tomorrow!” Lydia almost sang the words. Stiles heard Sexy Puppy reply with his customary grunt and watched him leave the café. He felt a bit creepy for staring at the guy everyday when he left but hey, it was a great view.
“Oh damn, Lydia got him again?” Erica pouted, suddenly right next to him.
“Jeez, you gotta stop doing that! You’re gonna give me a heart attack!” Stiles was always a bit disturbed by how silently the girl moved around. Her pout turned into a smirk as she slid her hand up his chest, pausing over his heart. Stiles’s vision whited-out for a moment, then filled with images of a certain werewolf. And suddenly there was warm leather sliding against his naked chest, as a large hand wrapped firmly around his dick and moved in long, languid strokes. Hungry hazel eyes held his gaze, inches away from his own and moving closer…
“Oh my god!” Stiles shoved in front of him blindly and Erica’s wicked giggles filled his ears as the café came back into focus. A troll standing in front of the counter froze, his credit card halfway to Lydia’s outstretched hand, and tried to peer around the espresso machine to see what was going on. Lydia just rolled her eyes and plucked the card gently from the distracted patron.
“Looks like someone has a leather fetish…or do you just have a thing for leather jackets on werewolves?” Erica purred. Stiles felt his face and neck burn crimson.
“I do not! It’s not...it’s just…this is totally sexual harassment!” Stiles stuttered. Erica just laughed again and patted him on the cheek before sashaying over to the register to help Lydia with the line that was beginning to form. Stiles tried to rub the blush off his face before putting together the drink orders the girls passed to him. Despite the fact that he and Erica had known each other since elementary school and had become close after working together for 3 years at the café, Stiles still got embarrassed every time the succubus tapped into his fantasies. And boy did the girl enjoy seeing him squirm; you would think he’d be completely immune to it by now.
He was the only monster with fae blood that he knew of who blushed. His mother’s people were notoriously flirtatious, and much too graceful to ever blush. Unfortunately, Stiles inherited the pale skin, slender limbs, and large brown eyes of his mother, but absolutely none of her elegance. The tengu blood he inherited from his father’s side of the family didn’t really help him in that department either.
The line for coffee was getting dangerously close to literally ending out the door and Stiles scrambled to fill all the orders the girls pushed his way, trying desperately not to spill anything. Despite the stress, he really did like his job. The rush hours went by pretty quick since he was constantly moving, and during those awkward times of the day when no one wanted coffee, Lydia, Erica, and Isaac were all awesome company.
When his shift finally ended, Stiles dramatically dropped into one of the many comfy chairs scattered around the café.
“Oh sweet relief, how I’ve longed for your comforting embrace!”
“I can comfort you whenever you want, sweetheart. I’ve been told that my embrace brings the best relief…” Erica purred as she slid into the chair next to his.
“I can only imagine,” Stiles mumbled back, never quite ready for Erica’s brand of teasing despite the fact that he could always see it coming. “Wanna go get drinks at McGhouley’s with me and Scott tonight? Allison is bartending so we figured we’d harass her a bit. Well, I figured I would harass her. Scott will probably fluctuate between staring down his competition and giving her puppy eyes all night.”
The side of Erica’s lip quirked up into a familiar smirk. She should really get copyrights for that thing.
“They’re basically dating already. I have no idea why he doesn’t just ask her out. She’s clearly as hot for him as he is for her,” she said.
“That’s what I’ve been telling him. He says he’s gonna say something tonight after her shift, but he’s also said that the last three times we went and we’re still running on radio silence. So you coming or am I gonna have to watch him pine alone?”
“Sounds thrilling, but Isaac scored tickets to the Beast-Boys concert tonight and I am not missing it.”
“Uh, fine. At least Scott appreciates my awesomeness”
***
Scott totally did not appreciate his awesomeness. About 15 minutes after arriving, Scott finally had the balls to confess his feelings and ask Allison on a date. Apparently, Allison had been pining just as hard as Scott had because she told him she was off in an hour if he wanted to get an extremely late dinner. And that’s how Stiles had been ditched at the bar by his best friend and ride home. It was a bit of a relief though, truth be told; Stiles could only take so much handholding, flirting, and puke-worthy loving gazes.
“Hey sweetie, looking for some fun?” the wasted Jin who had stumbled up to the bar and wedged himself next to Stiles shouted over the music. Stiles gave him, what he hoped was, a long-suffering glare before turning back to his drink.
“Awww, don’t be like that, baby” the stranger threw his arm over Stile’s shoulders, staggering a little in the process.
Stiles had enough of this. This was the third guy to hit on him (at least he was mildly attractive, the other two were old enough to be his father) and Stiles was definitely not drunk enough to enjoy the attention.
“Sorry, my boyfriend’s picking me up” he said as he shrugged off the Jin’s arm and gestured toward to the exit across the dance floor. The man stumbled a bit, blinking slowly, before spotting the two scantily-clad witches downing tequila shots further down the bar and heading in their direction.
Unwilling to push through the throng of dancers, Stiles headed to the back exit. The rush of cool that hit his skin as soon as he stepped into the alley was a welcomed relief. As was the decrease of sound from pounding house music to a muffled bass as the door closed behind him.
The walk back to the apartment wasn’t too bad, only about 10 blocks, and cab fare did not factor in well to the budget of a college student, so walking it was.
Five blocks of silent (and mumbled) reflection on his choice of best friend and roommate (and his eternal horrible luck in timing which caused said friend to actually go on a date with the girl he’s been obsessing over when no one else is free to go bar hopping, leaving Stiles to walk all alone on the empty back alleys in the middle of the night heading to his empty apartment on what could have been an eventful Friday night) later, Stiles hears a low keening sound coming from around the corner of the alleyway he was passing. His thoughts train-wrecked for a moment and he froze with one foot still up in the air, about to step forward. Was that an animal? He listens for a long moment before moving forward again, figuring it was nothing. He doesn’t take two steps before he hears the tell-tale crash of something hitting a metal dumpster and a barely audible groan.
Walk away, Stiles, just walk away. It’s probably just a gang thing that you definitely do not want to get involved in. He tries to take his own advice but can’t move away without feeling guilt tearing through him. What if someone’s being mugged? Or even if it is a gang thing, what if none of his friends know where he is or what’s happening?
Suddenly determined (and completely aware of how stupid this probably is), Stiles creeps into the dark alleyway and follows the rumble of deep, male voices to the intersecting path that runs between the two run-down buildings. He stops at the corner and tries to hear what they’re saying.
“...to Laura. She’s my sister, I am not about to betray her, so fuck you and fuck your contacts.”
“Ah, but Derek, we’re family! I only want what’s best for the both of you; you two are blowing the Miami incident way out of proportion…” the man’s voice was cut off by a growl followed quickly by the very distinct sound of something heavy slamming into a dumpster. This was definitely not ok. Where are the police when you need them? They never seemed to have a problem finding Stiles on the various youthful escapades he and Scott used to engage in, yet here when Stiles would love some lawful interruption of what sounded like a pretty bad domestic dispute, there was no one to be seen.
Figuring that said law-enforcers would never make it in time to prevent whatever evil deeds (the second man sounded like a villain, ok? Definitely doing some evil deeds) were happening in this secluded alleywayif he called them anyway, Stiles ran around the corner.
And like the genius he definitely was, he froze awkwardly when two hefty body-guard type men—definitely ogre blood there—and a slender well-dressed middle-aged man turned to stare at him. Even the man on the ground at their feet (though mostly hidden in their shadow) appeared to have lifted his head to look in his direction.
“Uhm, hi. Sorry to interrupt your…thing…but I think you need to move along and leave that man alone, yeah?” he managed to get out despite the overwhelming feeling of whythehellamIdoingthis flooding his brain.
The smaller man’s eyebrows shot up and his lips twitched into a thin smile. The other two laughed in what seemed to be a mix of shock and actual humor. Which, rude, ok? Stiles had some tricks up his sleeve. None he was supposed to use, but well, maybe he had stunned them into leaving without trying to beat the shit out of him. Or murder him. That definitely seemed like a possibility given the general ambience of the dark, secluded alleyway.
“And who might you be?” The small man asked. So he was the villain.
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you leave before I make you.”
Silence followed that. The man’s eyes narrowed in what could be either amusement or murderous intent. The other two looked somewhere between shocked and enraged.
“Dylan, Baez, please escort this young man wherever he is going, I believe he is lost,” the villain said in the same breezy manner he had been speaking in before. Tweedle dum and tweedle dee smirked at that and started toward Stiles.
Taking a deep breath, Stiles relaxed his muscles as much as he could and gathered his energy, directing it to his Voice.
“The three of you will not harm me or the man on the ground. You will leave this place and return home without hurting or speaking to anyone or each other.”
The two thugs stilled in their advancement and stiffened with matching looks of fear before walking past him and around the corner. The third man followed, but his expression seemed more amused than scared as his eyes lingered on Stiles like he was a choice piece of meat.
Stiles watched them walk away then turned to the man slumped against the brick wall beside the dumpster. His face was covered in shadow but from the looks of it, the man was badly hurt.
“Um, hey. Are you ok?” he asked taking a step closer to the man’s slumped figure. A growl echoed loudly in the tight space.
“Whoa, hey, ok,” Stiles backtracked, raising his hands in surrender, “I was just asking. It’s not like I totally just saved your hide or anything.”
The figure stood up and brushed dirt off his pants before stepping forward into the dim light.
Fae magic was powerful but rare and shrouded in secret. Coercion was a rare gift even among his kind and Stiles hated to use it, but it seemed rather necessary for the situation. When villain silently turned the corner, Stiles turned heaved a sigh of relief before turning his attention to the man still on his hands and knees next to the dumpster. And Stiles totally knows this guy.
“Oh my god! I make your coffee!” Stiles blurted out. Sexy Puppy raised his eyebrow and Stiles couldn’t help blushing in embarrassment. Good thing the lighting was so bad.
“What did you do?” Sexy Puppy asked (and Stiles really needed to get his real name before he accidently calls him by his nickname. The guy doesn’t look like he can take a joke.)
“What?” Stiles floundered for an excuse.
“What did you do just then to make them leave?”
“I just asked them? Being assertive will get you far in life”
The man did not look convinced. In fact, he looked like he would like to rip Stiles’s throat out right now.
“You’re lying. What did you do.” His eyes flashed a luminous blue so quickly that Stiles doubted whether he saw it at all.
“Look it’s not really important. You’re welcome though.” Stiles snapped. His night had turned from crap to crappier and he was already feeling guilty for using his Voice when his mother had always told him not to, so being interrogated by his coffee house crush—who apparently was abrasive as fuck—was just not something he wanted to deal with right now.
The man stared him down as if that was going to make him spew forth his deepest darkest secrets. Yeah, no.
“I’m gonna go. Good luck with whatever this whole thing was” Stiles said curtly before turning his back on the man and heading out of the alley.
“Don’t follow me,” he added in his Voice because hey, he’s already broken his mom’s rules, he might as well do it again.
He didn’t turn back as he left the alleyway and headed home.