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“I hate you,” Peter said through gritted teeth. He was sitting in the passenger seat of Stiles’s Jeep, eyeing the park across the way with disdain.
“Liar,” Stiles replied, grinning. He leaned over to comb his fingers through Peter’s hair, knowing that it would calm and comfort the wolf. “Look, I know you don’t want to do this, but we have got to get close to this Becky girl to figure out if she’s trying to stay in Beacon Hills. And trust me, we’ve tried everything else…”
Peter sighed, leaning into Stiles’s hand and closing his eyes, centering himself for a moment. Stiles took the quiet moment to reflect, a little amazed at how deep the connection between him and Peter had grown over the years. They were so similar and yet so different.
In the end, though, Stiles and Peter both craved knowledge, believing that knowledge is power, which is what led them here.
Finally Peter nodded to himself, turning quickly to press a kiss to Stiles’s palm before pulling away and shedding his jacket. Stiles didn’t bother looking away as Peter lost the rest of his clothes before he shifted; tanned, bare skin turned into thick, dark grey fur and his face elongated into a snout.
Stiles grinned at the unamused look on wolfy Peter’s face as he hooked an extra large dog collar and leash around his neck. “Alright, let’s do this,” Stiles said, turning the Jeep back on and driving the rest of the way across the parking lot. He parked right next to the entrance to the dog park.
Stiles opened his door, stepping out of the way to let Peter hop out as well. Peter stretched his legs, probably wanting to run free in his wolfskin instead of being cooped up in a fenced dog park. “Let’s do this,” Stiles said to him once his stretching was finished. Leash in one hand, Stiles headed for the gate. Peter, unwilling to be led around like a dog, even by Stiles, pushed ahead so that he was the one leading Stiles.
Peter nudged at the gate with his nose, making Stiles laugh when the latch wouldn’t cooperate. Stiles let him in, unhooking his leash but leaving on the collar.
“Go on, boy!” Stiles said like an obnoxious pet parent, smacking Peter’s hind quarters. Peter glared, but trotted away for appearance’s sake.
If he peed on the tree over across the way to mark his territory, Stiles wasn’t going to say anything.
Instead, Stiles headed for a nearby bench, one end taken by their target: Becky. She had come into town a few weeks ago and was (according to Lydia) a Leshy. What the pack was trying to figure out was if she was planning to stay or not. If she was, they’d need to treat with her - and tell her that under no circumstances could she harm anyone in Beacon Hills, as it was under the pack’s protection. No trickster business would be allowed in Beacon Hills, not under their watch.
Stiles was the only one in the pack who hadn’t yet approached her, so he was the only one they had left to push for information. Apparently Derek had gone too hard on the I’m a werewolf act, Lydia’s girly bonding failed immensely when Becky began ranting about feminism and how women shouldn’t dress nice just for man’s sake, and Isaac’s flirting had fallen flat.
Becky had seemed skeptical of everyone else in the pack, too, so he was hoping that he could sneak into her good graces through a dog-parent loophole. Stiles sat down on the opposite end of the bench from Becky, body language as relaxed as possible.
“Which one’s yours?” Stiles asked conversationally, not looking over at Becky in a manner to keep from being too aggressive. She glanced at him before pointing over to the german shepherd that Stiles already knew belonged to her.
“Barney, the german shepherd,” Becky answered proudly. Stiles cooed appropriately (he hoped - he hadn’t actually ever been a pet parent, so he hoped he was doing this acting thing right). “Your dog is… very large,” she added.
Stiles chuckled, nodding. “Yeah, Snuggles -” Stiles almost choked at the glare Peter gave him from across the grass at the obnoxious dog name “- is a malamute that just… never stopped growing.” He looked over at Becky then. “He’s still a lap dog, though, you know how it goes.”
Becky giggled, body language loosening a bit as she angled toward him. “I haven’t seen you at the dog park before, are you new in town?” she asked politely.
Stiles shrugged, giving a so-so head motion. He’d decided to tell some white lies in hopes to get more information out of her. “We’re kinda just passing through, you know. I’ve got family here, but we’re not here permanently.” Stiles paused, watching as Peter was approached by a little dog who sniffed him and then started yapping. “Do you live in Beacon Hills? How do you like it here?”
Becky hummed. “I’ve only been here for about a month, but it’s growing on me. The area is so full of life… it’s nice.”
Stiles waited, hoping that Becky would elaborate. They needed to know what had brought her here, and if she was planning on staying.
“Have you made any friends?” Stiles asked, hoping the question wasn’t too strange. Luckily Becky didn’t seem skeptical of his questioning.
“Not really, not yet. But as much as I like it here, I’m not sure if I’ll be here long enough for real friendships.” Now Stiles was getting somewhere. He noticed Peter coming closer, under the guise of chasing a scent on the ground. “My, ah, job keeps me moving around a lot, so I usually don’t put down roots.”
Stiles nodded, watching a group of dogs playing chase run by them. “Well, that sounds intriguing, to say the least. But I guess if there’s nothing keeping you here…”
He let the statement hang, watching as Becky’s Barney ran over. Peter came toward them as well, obviously not wanting Stiles to be outnumbered. Where Barney just stood there, looking at Becky and wagging his tail, Peter chose to climb halfway into Stiles’s lap.
“Alright, boy, are we done here?” Stiles asked him, scratching his neck. Peter’s tongue lolled out of his mouth, obviously enjoying the attention from Stiles even though he hated the situation as a whole. Stiles pushed him off, standing.
“It was nice to meet you and Barney,” Stiles said to Becky. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
Peter chose that moment to growl, showing teeth to both Becky and Barney.
Becky gulped, perhaps realizing now that she was up close that Peter was more than he seemed. “Maybe,” she said, “but I do think I’ll be moving on pretty soon. So next time you’re in town, I’ll probably be long gone.”
Stiles nodded, hooking the leash on Peter’s collar. “Well then, good luck on your journeys.”
With a parting wave, Stiles and Peter headed out of the gated area and back to the car. Stiles drove a few blocks away before stopping, watching Peter turn back and put on his clothes once more.
“Seems like she isn’t here to stay,” Stiles commented. Peter nodded, not saying anything. Stiles squinted, wanting to hear Peter’s opinions on the situation. “Seems those dogs didn’t know what to do with you, either.”
Peter glared at him. “Never again, Stiles,” Peter demanded. He reached up, fingers going to undo the collar that was still around his neck. Stiles’s hand moved quickly to cover Peter’s before he could unlatch it. For a minute they were frozen, Stiles’s fingers slipping slowly between the collar and Peter’s skin before tugging at it slightly.
When Stiles looked back up, Peter’s eyes were dark.
“Never?” Stiles questioned, tugging a bit at the collar once more.
Immediately, Peter lunged across the space between them, kissing Stiles soundly and aggressively. When they parted to catch their breath, Peter chuckled. “Perhaps,” he said against Stiles’s lips, “we could keep the collar.”
Stiles nipped at Peter’s bottom lip in reply before threading their fingers together and starting the car, headed home.