In The Stacks

for @sunflowerqueen for the Stiles Shipping Central discord server's monthly ficlet exchange, the prompt for which was "libraries/bookstores"! this one probably only qualifies as pre-slash 😅 but i hope it satisfies anyway, haha | Stoyd | 1.5k | Gen | Libraries | Pre-Slash | Anxiety | Emotional Hurt/Comfort | (also on AO3)

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Stiles didn’t go to the library very often. It was a quiet place, and Stiles was not a quiet person. He was also more adept at internet searches than he was at navigating the Dewey Decimal System, and he didn’t have the patience for poring through book after book after book looking for something that he could’ve just control+F searched for if it had been digital.

But sometimes, unfortunately, professors wanted you to prove you actually knew how to read. Thus, here Stiles was, entering the Beacon Hills Community College library for the first time, seven months into his journey of higher education. He’d been hoping to hold out the whole first year, just for kicks. He tried not to resent his Violence and Social Conflict in American History professor for requiring he break his streak and began scanning the stacks for whatever arbitrary shelf number corresponded with social conflict.

He’d found naturalism and related systems, Aristotelian philosophy, and general statistics of Europe when something drew him up short. The shelves weren’t exactly packed full—it was mid-afternoon on a Friday, the sun was shining, and the library was nobody’s first choice in those circumstances—but Stiles had passed his fair share of other students so far, none of the slightest bit familiar. But here, in the public finances aisle, was a very familiar face.

Stiles had entirely forgotten that Boyd went to this school too. He hadn’t seen him on campus all year. He’d barely seen him anywhere else either, only in passing when Scott was back in town from UC Davis and needed to do werewolf stuff, tucked into the backseat of Derek’s car or hovering impatiently at the edge of the woods. As much as Stiles had tried—and he'd really tried—he had never managed to get Boyd to look at him twice, much less be friends with him.

Him and Scott. Stiles had wanted Boyd to be friends with them, not just him. To be part of the pack and stuff. Hadn’t Boyd gotten the bite so he could have friends? Stiles had offered to be that friend! Collectively, with other people!

The specifics weren’t important. Obviously, it hadn’t worked.

Stiles was just opening his mouth to comment on how unlikely and fortuitous it was for them to run into each other like this and maybe it was a sign that they should try the whole “friend” thing again when he heard the wheezing. He stopped to actually take in what he was seeing.

Boyd had folded his considerable height onto the floor. His back was pressed up against the lowest shelf, head tipped back into a space absent of books, eyes closed tightly. His hands were clenched into fists on his knees. His breathing was strained enough for Stiles to hear it from the end of the row, sounding tight and pained and also, unfortunately, familiar.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Boyd’s eyes snapped open, flashing yellow. Stiles glanced around hastily to make sure there was no one to see, but this particular patch of the library was blessedly empty. By the time he looked back, Boyd’s eyes were brown again and his face was slack with relief.

“Stiles,” he said. “What are you—”

He didn’t finish the question, distracted by the need to breathe. Stiles approached with caution. Not because he thought Boyd might lose control or hurt him, but because he’d had panic and anxiety attacks than he could shake a stick at and company didn’t always help the situation.

He half-expected Boyd to snap at him. That’s what he’d done most of the time in high school, whenever Stiles had tried to ingratiate himself. He’d gotten a little more chill about it over the course of senior year, even going so far as to tolerate Stiles’ presence at the same lunch table, but Stiles’ presence had never been his favorite thing.

He didn’t snap this time. In fact, the closer Stiles got to him, the less tense he seemed to become. The fists on his knees loosened to reveal splotches of red where his hidden claws had dug into his palms, cuts already healed. His shoulders slumped, bit by bit, from where they’d been hiked up around his ears. He wasn’t wheezing anymore.

Gingerly, Stiles eased himself to the floor, leaving a good few inches between them. Somehow, against every natural inclination, he managed to not say anything. He just pulled a random book off the shelf across from him and started skimming.

It was a few minutes before Boyd shifted beside him. “What are you doing here, Stilinski?” he asked, voice hoarse.

Stiles shrugged. “I go here too.”

He wasn’t looking, but he was almost certain Boyd rolled his eyes. “Not on campus. I mean…”

Stiles shrugged again, his nonchalance a little less genuine this time. He didn’t look up from his book. “Just wanted to make sure you were okay. I can leave, if you want.”

He waited for Boyd to tell him to fuck off. He’d skimmed another four pages before he realized that he wasn’t going to. Tentatively, Stiles glanced over at him. He found Boyd already looking at him, a frown on his face that, for once, didn’t look annoyed.

“I hate living on campus,” Boyd told him, unprompted. “There’s too many people. Too many strangers.” He looked away, a muscle in his jaw flexing as he clenched his teeth. “Apparently, being kidnapped twice gives you trust issues where strangers are concerned.”

Stiles couldn’t stop a snort from escaping. “Yeah, go figure. I’m not great at making new friends either. And I only got kidnapped the once.”

The huff of breath that Boyd let out, just short of a laugh, should not have made Stiles feel as accomplished as it did. In his defense, he had been trying to make Boyd laugh for literal years. When Boyd turned his face back, he was smiling. Just barely, but it was there. That felt even better.

“I was gonna get food,” he heard himself say. “I mean, I was gonna find some books, and then I was gonna get food, afterwards. If you maybe wanted to— I mean, you don’t have to, it’s fine, I just thought maybe—”

“Okay.”

Stiles blinked at him. “Wait, really? Like, actually? You’ve never been willing to be seen with me in public before. Or tolerated my presence out of either.”

Boyd definitely rolled his eyes this time, but the little smile stayed. He levered himself off the ground and said, “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Stiles saw, though, the way that he looked over his shoulder, eyes roving the stacks like he couldn’t help it. Still searching for threats. He also saw the flare of Boyd’s nostrils as he breathed in and the way his eyes were drawn back to Stiles. Empathy wasn’t Stiles’ strongest suit, and he’d never been accused of being particularly perceptive where other people’s feelings were concerned, but Stiles was almost certain of three things in that moment: firstly, that Boyd did not want to be alone right now and was choosing to allow Stiles to keep him company; secondly, that Boyd was deliberately seeking out his scent and getting comfort from it; and thirdly, that, friends or not, Boyd trusted him.

When Boyd held out a hand, Stiles took it and let himself be pulled off the floor with an ease that was, and had always been, downright distracting. Equally distracting was the knowledge that it would’ve been just that easy even without the werewolf strength—what did Boyd need werewolfiness for when he had biceps like that?

Stiles patted the bicep in question, which Boyd allowed with an unusual amount of patience, and said, “Books! Then food! I gotta find some books.”

He looked around them. They were, in fact, surrounded by books. So many books. Why did libraries have to have so many fucking books? How was anybody supposed to find anything in this place? He said as much out loud and, wonder of all wonders, Boyd laughed. A real one this time, complete with vocalization and dimples and everything. Fuck.

Boyd took pity on him, possibly mistaking his dazedness for simple library-related overwhelm. “What are you looking for? Unlike you, I actually know how to navigate a library like a normal person.”

Stiles told him, and Boyd led the way through the shelves with a confidence that was as attractive as everything else about him. He helped Stiles carry the dozen books he decided he needed down to check-out. He even let Stiles talk about them over lunch, something like fondness hanging around the upturned corner of his mouth, without a single complaint.

Maybe it was just gratitude for Stiles sitting with him, but that was okay. It was progress from where they’d started, and as Stiles drove Boyd back to his dorm, he thought that maybe he would be seeing that familiar face a little more often from now on.

Froggin' Around

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55080547 by OrbitInPlainSight (HiddenInOrbit) (Based on a prompt by SunflowerQueen) Stiles is gifted a rare frog and ends up meeting a hot professor. Words: , Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Frogs, Professor Derek Hale, Derek Hale has glasses, Fluff, No Angst, Happy Ending, Pre-Slash, Sort Of, First Kiss, i actually did research, Derek is a nerd, Stiles is into it, frog app, I'm Bad At Tagging, Not Beta Read read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/55080547

Under Mischeif's Moon

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50379583 by alikatastic Peter Hale leaves Beacon Hills to travel the world but eventually settled in Savannah, Georgia. While there, he runs into Stiles Stilinski, who is running a bookshop downtown. In the beginning, Peter comes in every few weeks to get a new book, but the visits become more frequent, and their conversations become longer. He does not realize he has fallen in love with Stiles until he goes on a trip for a few weeks, and Peter realizes that he does not just miss Stiles. He is miserable without him. Words: 10227, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale, Original Characters Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski is Pushed Out of Scott McCall's Pack, Years Later, magical book store, Kidnapped Stiles Stilinski, Blood and Gore, Peter Hale did therapy, but - Freeform, murderous Peter Hale, Love Confessions, SunflowerQueen (Always_MimiTs) Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50379583

Froggin' Around

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/55080547

by OrbitInPlainSight (HiddenInOrbit)

(Based on a prompt by SunflowerQueen) Stiles is gifted a rare frog and ends up meeting a hot professor.

Words: , Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Additional Tags: Frogs, Professor Derek Hale, Derek Hale has glasses, Fluff, No Angst, Happy Ending, Pre-Slash, Sort Of, First Kiss, i actually did research, Derek is a nerd, Stiles is into it, frog app, I'm Bad At Tagging, Not Beta Read

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55080547

I can never be more thankful to the outstanding @always-mimits for being my last minute pinch hitter in this years @stacksonreversebang. I am so glad that you were able and willing to create such a perfectly sweet fic among all the other things you have going on (I don't know how you do it, darling). Thank you for being a wonderful partner and a phenomenal writer. I hope we get to work together again sometime!

Everyone bow to the SunflowerQueen and pay them the love they are due.

My first art for the @stacksonreversebang and my first Reverse Bang ever!

This event has been such a fun and informative experience and I can’t wait to continue doing fandom events in the future!

@thotpuppy wrote the fic for it and I’m super excited to share it.

Happy Steter Bang, everyone!!! I've had a lot of fun writing this and working with my awesome partner @SunflowerQueen (Always_MimiTs) -

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Always_MimiTs/pseuds/SunflowerQueen

Check out their amazing artwork, bringing my story to life!

#SunFlowerQueen https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv0HbuFna_4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bdyu3km1nssi

tuluyan man malanta mga sunflower pero ako ay hinding hindi pa wag ako !!! ❤️🌻 #sunflowerqueen (at Don Enrique Lopez Mati City)

@feynites did this and I love these so here's unprompted knowledge about my life lol Rules: answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you would like to get to know better. (I'm not gonna tag people if you think this looks fun take it :D) Name: Magen Nickname: Sunflower Girl, Meggers, LadyPirate on here, SunflowerQueen some other places Zodiac sign: Leo, The best sign Height: 5′4" Orientation: Hella ace Ethnicity: so white I burn in moonlight Favourite fruit: Pineapple Favourite season: Summer bc it's my birthday and also I live in ohio, which means for three whole weeks the weather is actually nice. Favourite book series: okay so... okay I can't really choose just one, and tbh I'm one of -those- people, the kind who reads like 8 series at once so umm... sometimes I have a hard time keeping the plots straight and it all mixes together and becomes this big chunk of Cool Stuff I Read. But no matter what I always end up falling back into the Abhorsen series, and Discworld. Favourite flower: Sunflowers are best flowers Favourite scent: Lilacs after it rains in early summer Favourite colour: Purple Favourite animals: All animals are good animals but lions are the best animals. Coffee, tea or cocoa: Tea, all the tea, all the different types of tea. Then cocoa, then coffee if I have to I guess Average sleep hours: hello yes what is a stable sleep cycle Cat or dog person: yes Favourite fictional characters: Chances are if I've read/played/seen something I'm probably adopting the whole cast background characters included. This absolutely includes fanfic and fanart, actually recently I'd have to say my fave characters are almost all ocs (my own and my friend's and just. Everything from the good people here). Number of blankets you sleep with: ...a lot? I'm gonna say a lot. Dream trip: Space, get me off this rock I want to go to space I don't care if it's a one way ticket my bags have BEEN packed I Am Ready Blog created: uhhhh.... 4 years...? Maybe...? Number of followers: Idk they're mostly porn bots I think I'm not tagging anyone if ya wanna do it have fun

Junk And Recover

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51121228 by SunflowerQueen (Always_MimiTs) Stiles learns that sometimes you just have to trust yourself and others around you. Even a magical tree stump in your town. Will they be able to come together to defeat the Dread Doctors after the fight between Scott and Stiles? Words: 19999, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Roscoe | Stiles Stilinski's Jeep, Derek Hale, Peter Hale, Theo Raeken, Liam Dunbar, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), The Nemeton (Teen Wolf), Derek Hale's Pack Members, Scott McCall's Pack Members (Teen Wolf), Theo Raeken's Chimera Pack Members Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Emotionally Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Good Peter Hale, Good Theo Raeken, Flashbacks read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51121228

Under Mischeif's Moon (Art)

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50381494 by SunflowerQueen (Always_MimiTs) Words: 0, Chapters: 3/3, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Peter Hale, Stiles Stilinski Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Digital Art, Art, Gift Art Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50381494