Chapter Text
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Two turtle doves, and A partridge in a pear tree.
After that fateful day, Stiles dove in research to find the perfect courting gifts for his wolf. He wanted them to be meaningful in ways that showcased his understanding and acceptance of all that made the older man as they were two sides of the same coin.
Peter valued Power no matter its shape.
Before the coma, Peter had been the Left Hand of the Hale Pack; in charge of all the dirty and unspeakable works that came with keeping his bonded safe.
The Alpha might be the head of the pack but the Left Hand would hold the heart safe. They would manipulate, threaten, lie, cheat or kill and nothing was below a Left Hand when it came to protect.
They needed power to do so, whether through competency (Jack of all trades, master of none though oftentimes better than master of one - and Peter had already mastered several trades before being out of is teenaged years), Strength (to keep going, no matter what) and knowledge (a thirst to always learn more, from books, from others but more importantly from mistakes so they would not repeat themselves.).
Stiles learned early on that he was the only one he could rely on. He had learned to take care of his father and himself (basic house chores such as cooking and cleaning; lying and charming the Child Protection services each time they were called because of anonymous tips on his father’s drug addiction and potential neglect; deep research spiral due to his unofficially diagnosed ADHD that taught him so many diverse topics from how to restore the most delicate embroideries on antic garments to how to break a human’s mind in ways that no one would ever suspect).
He had needed the strength to keep going forward and just like Peter, Stiles was a survivor.
Peter valued Loyalty which was why he no longer had any bonds with the remaining Hale. He had been betrayed by their abandonment (unconscious for Cora - but abandonment all the same), and nothing would ever repair the broken trust on either side - they were still family but they weren’t Pack.
Stiles valued Loyalty just as badly; it was his loyalty to his mother's memories that kept him in Beacon Hills - his dad had lost him the moment he chose to drown his sorrow in alcohol instead of raising his orphaned son and making said son be the adult in the house at barely 10 years old; Scott had gone too far by working with Gerard and helping the hunter forced against his will Derek to give him the bite. The others never deserved Stiles’s loyalty to begin with.
Most importantly and to no one's knowledge, Peter valued Emotions.
He had been a late pregnancy and his parents were more focused on the Pack than on their latest child. As the saying goes,they were good people but bad parents. Peter had been raised by his grandparents who were traditionalist - the wolf was part of them and it was a duty to all werewolves to follow their instincts no matter how primitive they seemed.
The wolf felt and the human would trust.
Stiles’ Mother had raised him to express his feelings and follow his instincts. He would openly talk about his emotions and do his best to be the safest place for others to do the same, once you got past his snarky mask. He was tactile with the ones he cared for, even more since the start of all the puppy piles he ended up being part of which had helped with the touch-starveness he didn’t realize he was suffering from. The amount of physical affection he showed Peter had increased since his 18th birthday.
On Stiles' birthday, Peter had come by theStilinksis house while the Sheriff was out and while they were discussing the Boy’s plans for the day in the dining room, Peter had pushed toward Stiles a gift.
-”For your birthday, Dear. I hope you won’t find it too childish.”
It had been an original copy from 1862 of “Bajarz polski: Baśni, powieści i gawędy ludowe”, a polish fairytale book which contained his favorite childhood story “królewiczu Niespodzianku” (the Unlooked for Prince).
Stiles had mentioned to Peter that he had fond memories of his mother reading the adventures of Prince Milan and his beloved Hyacinthia. How Little Stiles had been rooting for their love and that he couldn't stop giggling when at the end, the Prince who was suffering from an enchantment that had made him forget his love and who was about to marry another was freed from his curse by two doves flying out of a pie cooked by Hyacinthia and would end up marrying his true love in a perfect happy ending.
Stiles has thrown himself in the wolf arms, tears in his eyes and had hugged him close for a long time during which he had felt Peter shudders and grip, taking comfort in the physical closeness of the only person he would consider being Pack with.
Stiles needed to find something of at least equal sentimental value to his birthday gift for his courting gift to Peter. Reading through his book once again to reset his thoughts, Stiles lingered on the illustration of the dove pie; drawn as a crown on a silver plate from which the two doves would break free.
Stiles breath stuttered. His smile grew wicked as he went back to work with renewed fire in his eyes, his goal now clear in his mind.
It was time to take out the Argentry.