sciencesaggressively | red alert: idiot genius

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derek

red alert: idiot genius

Newt is royally screwed. It's not even his fault--maybe a little his fault--he'd just been trying to get to know the area around Dimera better and hey, there's the woods, is he not supposed to want to know what's in the woods? He'd spent more than a few hours writing notes on plants and trees and animal life and examining the soil and okay, yeah, climbing a really cool tree or two. He hadn't even noticed that the sun had started to go down because the trees had provided a shade anyway, hadn't even really kept good track of how far deep into the woods he'd gone. So when he looks at his phone and sees that it's nearly seven then looks around and realizes he has no idea what part of the woods he's in, he freaks out a little.

"Okayyyy, this isn't good." He opens his contacts list and stares at the list of names. Who to call? Not Chuck, he'd never live it down with Chuck. Derek's name is next and hey, now. Werewolf with a keen sense of smell who spends a lot of time in the woods, sounds promising. He hits the dial button and holds the phone to his ear, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. "Come on, dude, pick up. If you pick up, I promise I'll never bother you about werewolfy stuff again." A false promise but if that's the deal he needs to make with the universe right now, he'll do it.

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Derek doesn't have to be at work for three more hours, and Stiles is at work, so he made himself a sandwich for dinner and is reading a book when his phone rings. He stares at it suspiciously and then snatches it up, squinting at the unknown number on the display.

He waits until the very last second to accept the call and then brings it up to his ear curiously. "Yeah?"

Derek doesn't sound super pissed about having to answer the phone, so Newt takes this as a good sign.

"Heyyyyyyy, it's your old buddy, Newt! Listen, guy, you busy? I need a favor, not even a huge one, I'm just kind of lost in the woods and fear that I will be mauled or something, so y'know. I could use a hand." Newt crosses his fingers because please, this is a little embarrassing but it's not like he really has a choice right now.

Derek instantly has a headache. He didn't even know werewolves could get headaches until Stiles and Newt blundered their way into his life.

"So wait," Derek starts, after letting out a put upon sigh. "You wandered your dumb ass out into the woods and you want me to come sniff around until I find you?"

Newt makes a face that he wishes Derek could see. Wandered into the woods, please. "First of all, my ass's IQ is flawless, okay? And I did not wander into the woods, I very purposely came here to like, study some stuff, I just maybe kind of forgot to leave a breadcrumb trail."

He spots a mushroom troop he hadn't seen before and kneels down to take a closer look. "Listen," he says, poking at one of the mushrooms and it's the cross-veined, Xeromphalina kauffmanii, nothing super fancy, "are you going to help me or not? I'll like, buy you a drink or something."

Edited 2013-10-19 10:23 (UTC)

Derek sighs and sets his sandwich down, wiping his hands on his jeans and tipping his head back. "You're not near the mountain lion den, are you?"

He'll go find Newt, but he figures he's allowed to have a little bit of fun first.

Newt definitely doesn't squeak. He just doesn't, okay, but maybe he does a little bit. "Mountain... lion... den? Dude, if that's a joke, you really need to work on your sense of humor because not cool."

He's getting a little paranoid, though, it's getting darker and the only light he's got is the dim one on his phone. He's spent a lot of time in dark places, so it's not like he's scared of that, but he's really itching to get either get back home or to a bar right now. If Funny Guy would just cut the comedy act.

Derek can practically hear the guy's heartbeat rabbit up from over the line and he rolls his eyes, bending over to pull on his boots and lace them up. "Do you even have an idea what general section of the woods that you happen to currently be lost in?"

He takes a huge bite of his sandwich and waits for an answer while he laces his other boot.

Newt stops mid-pace and squints into the phone before holding it back against his ear. "Are you-- Are you eating in my time of distress and need? Just casually having a snack, is that how it-- Never mind, no, I just know that I'm like, by this gnarly tree that is actually pretty creepy now that I really look at it."

He tilts his head at the tree and raises an eyebrow because he swears the branches look like they're reaching for him. Paranoid, goddamn that Derek Hale. "You know, if I die in here, you're gonna have to answer to Chuck. He could rival you in a death glare competition."

"Yup," Derek gets out around a second bite. He rolls his eyes and slips into his leather jacket, switching the phone to his other ear. "Wow, a weird looking tree in the middle of the woods? I sure do appreciate the specificity."

The sandwich comes with him as he heads out of the building, and he eats it as he walks the few short blocks to the end of the city. "I'm coming, hold on."

Once he's at the tree line, he shifts into beta form to help jumpstart his senses and starts sniffing. "Okay, yell or something. Do it loud"

"Oh, you're so hilarious, wow, treat me to your stand-up show sometimes, will ya?" He mutters a few choice obscenities to himself along with a huffy sigh but at least Derek's on his way.

"Yell or something, I-- Okay." He feels like a complete idiot, not like he's not totally used to being loud at all times even when he's by himself, but somehow it's different when someone's demanding you do it. "Let me stretch it out first, dude." So he rolls his neck back, shifts his hold on the phone so that he's holding it steady with his shoulder and stretches his arms behind his back. Feels about right.

"Okay, I'm ready." He takes a deep breath then screams at the top of his lungs. "WOLFMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Derek mutes the call in anticipation and listens hard, focused on the woods. Newt's voice, when he hears it, is faint enough that Derek is a little surprised, but he at least gets a direction.

"How long have you been walking?" Derek asks when he brings the phone back to his ear. "You must be all the way out near the city barrier, but I'm headed your way. I'd make it faster if I shifted, but there's no way that I'm giving you the satisfaction."

"I dunno, dude," Newt replies. He probably shouldn't be sounding so irritated, especially since Derek really has no obligation to help him at all--an important piece of information that he very well knows but also rejects--but goddamn, he's hungry and filthy and so very much wants to pass out face down in his bed.

He leans against the creepy tree and tries to think. "I got here around like, three-ish, was just exploring. Time flies, huh? And dude, just shift it, not even a big deal, okay?" Except it is a big deal and Newt wants it bad, it's going on his bucket list.

"Hey, don't get snippy. You're the one that got lost in the woods like the worst boy scout ever and ruined my relaxation time." He can pick up Newt's scent but it's all over the place, like he was wandering back and forth. "If you keep walking for enough, you eventually just can't anymore. Like you've hit a clear wall."

Derek is jogging at a pretty good speed, and soon he has to stop and look around again. "Hey, yell again, make sure I'm going the right way."

"I was doing very important science things, okay, I was examining the ecosystem out here and trying to see if there's some, I don't know, breach-like portal thing. Which there's not, by the way, and really? Relaxation time, is that even possible for a werewolf?"

He drops his head back and ow, goddamn, he'd forgotten about that tree. "I didn't hit a wall but that just means more for later. There's gotta be a weak spot somewhere, dude, it's only a matter of time before someone finds it. And by the way? HURRY. THE HELL. UP. Was that loud enough?"

"I walked the entire barrier when I got here and found nothing." He winces when his voice blares out of the speaker and Derek shifts his course a bit. Soon, Newt's scent is easy to pick up, and it's getting so dark that the guy can probably barely even see. "Newt, where are you? Do you hear that? Oh god."

Derek ends the call with a smirk and slips the phone into his pocket before going into stealth mode, approaching silently and jumping up into a tree with an easy grace. Newt is below him and Derek lets out a growl, a low threatening rumble of a sound, and drags his claws along the bark to add to the sound.

"Do you have six doctorates, though?" He frowns deeply when Derek says something about hearing a Newt doesn't even know what, but then the phone goes dead and it's just him and the darkness and the woods. "Dick, oh my god, I am so not buying you a drink anymore."

He pushes back from the tree and takes a couple steps forward, jumping when he think he hears a twig snap or maybe it's just his imagination because he's been walking around the woods for four hours and hasn't seen anything life-threatening but then, he considers, maybe that's because all the life-threatening things don't come out until nighttime.

"Derek?" he calls out meekly, and he's only half-expecting an answer so when he doesn't get one, he's only half-disappointed. But then, wait, there--he hears it, almost like a growl and there's something scraping against the tree he'd just been standing against and holy shit, what it it's a bear or something? What if he's survived face-to-face encounters with two kaiju, survived two drifts with kaiju brains, just to be mauled to death by a bear? This town sucks.

This is fun. Derek still isn't used being able to have fun, so he'll take it where he can get it. He launches himself from the tree and lands right behind Newt, growling in his ear before snorting and retracting his fangs. "Hey, man."

Newt wouldn't call it a shriek, not even a scream or a yelp. It's more of a deep, guttural call of distress that he lets out when he hears the growl of certain death in his ear followed by goddamn Derek Hale's voice. And he only jumps like a couple inches off the ground, which is nothing, it's not even worth mentioning, really, plus he's only clutching at his chest because he's making sure his tie's on straight.

"Dude," he says and okay, maybe his breathing hasn't quite slowed down yet, and he realizes Derek can probably hear how fast his heart rate is, but that doesn't mean he's going to admit to very nearly pissing his pants just now. "What even is wrong with you? Not cool!"

Derek cackles and thumps Newt on the back, knocking him forward until he starts to walk. "Couldn't resist."

They walk for a bit and Derek grabs Newt by the collar when he almost trips over a log, hoisting him over it instead. "So, did Darrow's ecosystem prove interesting to you?"

Newt rolls his eyes but at least the heart attack as been averted and he's finally got someone to show him the way back to Dimera. "I mean, you could have. You didn't."

He shoots Derek a begrudgingly grateful look when he gets saved from face-smashing into the ground but shakes his head. "Not really. I mean, I've got a soil sample but it doesn't look like I'll find anything unusual." It's frustrating to admit, but Darrow's woods--at least the non-walking-talking life forms in it that he'd encountered throughout the day--seem pretty ordinary. "How is it that there's nobody at all here who can offer any insight on what the hell this place is?"

"Yeah, because you're the poster child for self-restraint." Derek rolls his eyes, and then listens as he continues to speak. "The Darrow natives are weird. It's like they're pod people. If you ask one of them about how the city works, or mention being trapped, they just sort of stare blankly until you change the subject or walk away."

Derek saves Newt from tripping yet again, and sighs dramatically. "This would go a lot faster if I shifted and you rode me out."

"So I'm a little high-strung sometimes, I do some acting out, whatever, I can admit it," Newt answers, and yeah, he can admit it, it's only when idiots like the psych team at the PPDC are trying to slap labels and diagnoses on him that he starts to get a little irritated. "Gross about the natives, though, what are your thoughts on doing some totally innocent and non-invasive studies on them? Unethical or?"

He holds his arms out to steady himself after Derek has to catch him again and huffs. "It's dark out here, dude, it's not my-- wait, did you just say ride you out?" His grin is way bigger than it should be, and he's pretty sure that Derek can see it even in the darkness. "I won't tell anyone, promise."

Derek rolls his eyes and cuffs him lightly on the back of the head, almost amused at how quickly Newt believed him. "Not ever happening, pal."

His eyes glow red as he scans ahead, and he can see the faint glimmer of lights through the treeline. Newt won't be able to see them yet, so Derek lets his hand hover near his back, ready to grab him if he falls. "I steer clear of the locals a much as I can. They weird me out."

"Never say never." Then he gets a bright idea. He gives Derek a sidelong glance and weighs his options for maybe two seconds before deciding that yes, his idea is the best idea, and ducks out from under Derek's hand before sneak attack jumping onto his back. "Ride, wolfy, ride!"

Derek becomes aware of what's happening about a second before Newt lands on his back and he lets out a little snarl before he can help it at being pounced on like that. Then he freezes, still as stone as Newt clings to him. "You've got about three seconds before you're eviscerated."

"You wouldn't dare," he whispers into Derek's ear but he hops off anyway because hell, what does he know, maybe Derek would dare. "Don't act like you don't kind of sort of wanna do it." He grins, jogging backwards a few steps ahead in case Derek decides to get swat-happy with his hands. "I wouldn't kick off too hard, I promise."

"You're right, excuse me. I totally want to run around the woods while someone rides me like a horse. What was I thinking?" He rolls his eyes in exasperation and looks over at him, eyes flashing when something rustles in the bushes near them. A fox, maybe.

The trees are thinning out now, and Derek can see streetlights through the fan of them up ahead. "Is this going to be a habit of yours?"

"I thought you might want that, see, I'm only doing you a favor." He hears the rustling but ignores it, it's the goddamn woods, and he's seen a shitton of squirrels running around. But it's so awesome when Derek does the eye thing.

"What, the jumping on your back thing?" He grins at Derek's frowny face and really wants to tell him the answer is yes, but he finds it in himself to hold back. "Oh, the woods thing. Probably, not gonna lie. I'm gonna poke around that perimeter and see if there's any weak spots, y'know?" He parkours off a tree trunk and falls on his ass, but it's cool, it's cool. He brushes himself off as he gets up and keeps walking. "If you ever get bored you can come like be like, my sidekick."

Derek stops to stare blankly as Newt does whatever the hell he's doing, barely reacting as he falls on his ass (as expected). "The ultimate honor," Derek says flatly as they reach the edge of the park. He grabs Newt by his collar and hauls him out onto the grass. "I went around the entire perimeter when I got here, and I didn't find anything."

But he knows Newt won't take his word for it, and it wouldn't hurt to have someone else confirm it. He huffs a sigh and looks over at him. "If you're checking the barrier in the woods, call me. It's like a mile out and I don't want you to get mauled."

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