[Sterek] Cupboard Love (boyxboy) (complete)

Chapter 3

Stiles is up to his wrists in smoked turkey thigh on Saturday when his computer pings with the sound of an incoming skype call. He elbows on the taps, washes his hands and calls Lydia back as soon as they're dry. "Hey! I'm cooking. Are you okay with skyping while I do this? Might get a bit noisy."

Lydia tilts her head and smiles with a raised eyebrow. "Got a hot date you need to impress?"

"Got a job," Stiles corrects. "Sort of. Someone actually answered my ad! I think it's like a trial run, see if he likes my food." It's still amazing to him that he and Lydia ever actually became friends, especially since Stiles had been chasing after her for most of high school, but in senior year Lydia had told him straightforwardly that they were never going to happen but she could use a friend who actually had a brain and did he want to study with her so she'd have some actual competition for valedictorian?

"I'm sure you'll make someone an excellent housewife one day while I'm out changing the face of mathematics, Stiles," she says, rolling her eyes. "What are you making, anyway?"

Stiles holds up some of the meat he's slicing. "Smoked turkey, cucumber, and brie sandwiches on sourdough rolls for lunch. Then I'll get started on dinner for the week. I'm making mom's beef borscht."

"Ugh, you jerk, you're going to make that right in front of me, knowing I'm on the other side of the country?" Lydia sighed. "When we're both back home for Thanksgiving I'm coming over to eat all your food."

"I'll make your favorites," Stiles promised. "Tell me about destroying math as I know it - have you taken over teaching the classes you're in? Are you already ruling the department with an iron fist? Has the Dean bowed to your superior intellect?"

"Hardly. I'm ingratiating myself so I can become indispensable to them and then I'll build a network. It's like you didn't even go to the same high school as me, Stiles."

While Lydia waxes poetic about wrapping MIT's math department around her pinky finger, Stiles layers on the soft brie and cucumber slices, then he carefully arranges the smoked turkey (thigh meat from the more expensive butcher counter he can't afford himself) and spreads the top halves with crème fraiche before wrapping the sandwiches tightly to put in the fridge overnight. If he leaves them like that the gentle flavours will all combine and bleed into each other for a salty-sweet, well-rounded taste.

When he pulls the beef out to start cubing it, Lydia changes topics. "Pulling out all the stops? You used to use chuck that was already cut up."

"He paid half up front, okay? And I could really use the money!" He could, but even then this is better beef than he might normally use if he were splurging on himself.

"What do you know about this guy anyway?"

"Uh, his name, his credit card information, his phone number... where he lives and that he doesn't like spicy food." Stiles pushes the beef to one side and starts chopping up an onion and a few cloves of garlic.

"Uh huh. What's the name?" Lydia asks, clearly pulling up google.

"Derek Hale. Sounds like a real sourpuss on the phone. He didn't say hello or goodbye. Super rude."

Lydia makes a thoughtful sound and then obviously switches back to the skype window as Stiles starts sweating the onion and garlic in oil. "Well, nothing major about him online. I'll call you back later - lots of reading to finish. Bye!"

"That was weird." Stiles browns the beef on all sides with the onions and garlic next, inhaling the sharp sizzle from the pan before tipping in the stock and water and leaving it to simmer covered for an hour. He still has to make his own food for the week or he'll starve, buried under a pile of computer science textbooks.