red alert: idiot genius

[sciencesaggressively]

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.

Comments

[triskehale]

"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.

[sciencesaggressively]

"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.

[triskehale]

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."

[sciencesaggressively]

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!"

[triskehale]

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?"

[sciencesaggressively]

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?"

[triskehale]

"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."

[sciencesaggressively]

"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."

[triskehale]

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."

[sciencesaggressively]

"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!"

[triskehale]

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."

[sciencesaggressively]

"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."

[triskehale]

"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?"

[sciencesaggressively]

"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."

[triskehale]

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."