#sterekfunday

Stiles shrugs. “It’s a cute theme, not gender specific, and absolutely the right message we want to be passing down to our child, right?”

Derek hums in thought, but Stiles can tell he’s already itching to haul all of the stuffed animal Tiggers into their cart. 

“And I saw this adorable set of bottles with different Mickey Mouse characters on them, oh! Here they are! We have to get them.” Not even looking at Derek, knowing the man would protest, he places them into the cart immediately. “And there was this really adorable mobile I ordered-- sorry, babe, but it was too cute to pass up-- with a bunch of flying Dumbos!”

“Stiles, our kid is going to be drowned in Disney,” Derek finally is able to speak, and he gives Stiles an odd look. 

Stiles grins. “Exactly! Just imagine our baby’s first trip to Disneyland for their first birthday. It’ll be like the day we got engaged, but only better.”

“Our child will be too young to remember that, Stiles,” Derek tries to protest weakly.

Stiles waves him off and starts trotting down the aisle. “Semantics. We’ll take a billion pictures. And it’s not like we wouldn’t enjoy it, your Mickey Ears collection is missing some key ones. Do you think they sell baby-sized ones?! Derek, we need to buy our kid baby-sized ears.”

“Of course they sell them, Stiles--”

“Aha!” Stiles turns on Derek with the exclamation. “You knew that! Previously! Which means you have looked it up! Or knew! You want out baby to be a Disney loving baby!”

Derek almost looks cowed by the accusation, and Stiles drops his offending pointed finger and trades the victorious grin for a fond smile, a little cowed himself for being so caught up in his excitement. “I--” Derek begins to protest.

“Derek, seriously. You’re terrible at hiding things from me. Besides, this isn’t something you should hide. Why do you think I chose to propose at Disneyland of all places? You hate crowds, but it doesn’t matter to you there. Granted we stuck to the sidelines and I didn’t propose until it got dark so as to not cause a scene, but the point still stands. Disney is your thing, and I think it would be amazing if you shared that thing with our kid.”

Derek cheeks are flushed and a couple shoppers are giving them looks for standing in the middle of the aisle for so long, so Stiles drags his slack-jawed husband down the baby food aisle. 

“So,” Stiles huffs a breath after Derek stays silent for too long of a moment.

Derek’s shock has seemed to have worn off and he’s sporting a small smile, and Stiles knows that look. That’s the look Derek gives when he’s so happy, but he doesn’t want to show how happy he is. 

“I really want to buy that Eeyore toy,” Derek breathes out like a confession, and Stiles’ grin splits his face.

“Yes! Alright, our baby is going to be so Disney. You’ll cover the classics, I’ll get all the rest.”

Derek quirks an eyebrow. “All the rest?”

Stiles bumps hips with his husband. “Yeah. Star Wars and Marvel are Disney too, you know. We’re just a couple of Disney boys in love.”  

He just barely starts walking, Chaucer obediently following at his side, when a tall muscular man skids to a halt in front of the aisle, looking frantic and then immediately relieved when he sees Stiles and the dog by him.

“You found him!” the man breathes out, before slowly approaching Stiles.

“I take it you belong to this little guy?” Stiles asks with a grin. Now that the man is closer, Stiles can see how attractive he is, how tight his T-shirt fits across his chest and shoulders. Stiles tries to contain himself; he’s at work, and this man is a customer.

“Yes. I’m sorry. He just took off, and I didn’t have a good grip on the leash, and—“

Stiles holds up his hand. “It’s okay. I understand. No harm done.” Stiles smiles and hands over the leash to the man, who accepts it before wrapping it around his wrist.

“I’m Derek,” the man says, extended his other hand out for Stiles.

He shakes it and replies, “Stiles.”

Derek smiles and looks down at his puppy. “And you’ve already met—“

“Chaucer,” Stiles finishes. “I did. We had a nice conversation about the Wife of Bath.”

Derek’s eyes widen and his grin grows. “She is his favorite. I’m not surprised.”

Stiles can’t help but laugh. “So, big fan of British literature?”

Derek shrugs like it’s no big deal, but Stiles notices a slight tinge of pink along his cheeks and tops of his ears. “I, uh, am studying it; planning on writing my thesis on The Canterbury Tales actually.”

What an adorable nerd, Stiles thinks to himself, thankful he doesn’t say it out loud. “That’s awesome.”

Derek gives him a half-smile before clearing his throat and backing away. “Well, I, uh don’t want to keep you from what you were doing,” Derek says waving back to the shelf behind Stiles. Right… work.

“Of course. If you need help finding anything, or something else, just let me know?” Stiles says, suppressing the disappointment he feels over the fact he has to go back to work and not stay and talk with Derek.

Derek nods. “Thanks again,” he says, holding up the leash before walking back out of the aisle.

Chaucer, though, doesn’t follow, and Derek has to tug on the leash to get him away from Stiles to come with him. Stiles bites down on a smile as he turns back to the food he was stacking while he listens to Derek try to coax Chaucer to come with him. Chaucer seems keen on staying with Stiles though and barks and pulls on his leash to go back to where Stiles is standing.

At least the dog likes him enough to be with him a little more. Finally, Derek gives up on the leash, and Stiles can see Derek pick him up and carry him in his arms out of the aisle, the sounds of Chaucer’s protesting barks getting quieter as they move further away.

Stiles does his best to get back to work. He finishes his previous task and moves on to the next aisle where he has to see what there needs to be replenished. He’s in the zone, scanning bar codes and making notes, when he feels a familiar tug on his pants again. Just as he looks down to find Chaucer lovingly chewing on his shoelaces, he hears Derek calling his name a few aisles over.

This time, Stiles, picks Chaucer up and carries him to where he heard Derek, who huffs out a sigh when he sees Stiles. There’s a large bag of dog food on the ground near Derek’s feet as well as a few chew toys, a bag of rawhide bones, and a dog bed.

Stiles can guess what Derek was trying to do this time that made him lose his hold on Chaucer’s leash.

“How about I carry Chaucer here, and you carry those?” Stiles suggests, pointing to the assortment of dog supplies at Derek’s feet.

“That sounds great,” Derek says, sounding relieved. He gathers up his items, and Stiles follows him to the front of the store where the cash registers are.

Derek ducks down a couple more aisles in apology to grab a few things, but Stiles doesn’t mind and tells Derek as much. Chaucer seems content on nibbling on Stiles’s forearm or fingers, and Stiles makes jokes to Derek about how much Chaucer likes him and if only his English professors could see him now.

“He does like you,” Derek remarks quietly as they wait in line. Stiles had been busy staring down at the furry puppy in his arms to pay attention much to Derek, so when he looks up to find Derek staring over at him with a soft smile, his heart flutters.

“I like him, too,” Stiles says, voice as soft and fond as Derek’s had been. He’s mostly talking about the puppy, but a part of him isn’t talking about the dog at all.

“Maybe you could come see him—us, sometime? So he doesn’t miss you, of course.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want you to put up with his whining…”

“Right.”

Before Stiles can answer Derek’s invite, the cashier is greeting Derek and scanning his items. When Derek’s paid for everything, Stiles feigns helping him still and follows him silently out to his car with Chaucer napping in his arms.

He watches as Derek opens his trunk and puts all of his things inside, and once it’s shut, he hands Chaucer over to Derek’s waiting arms.

“I’d love to, by the way,” Stiles finally says.

“Huh?” Derek asks, brow furrowed a bit in confusion.

“I’d love to come visit you guys, sometime. If the invitation still stands?”

Derek smiles. “Yes. I… uh…” Derek shifts the puppy so he’s holding him with one arm so he can reach into his pocket for his phone with his free hand. He hands his phone to Stiles. “Here, will you put your phone number in, and I can give you a call so we can work something out?”

Stiles nods and takes Derek’s phone to put his number into the contacts. He even sends himself a text, so that he can save Derek’s number in his phone later, too. When he’s through, he gives Derek back his phone and steps up to pet Chaucer.

“Bye, puppy. Take good care of Derek here,” he says grinning up at Derek and giving him a wink. He steps back and softens his smile. “I guess I’ll talk to you later?”

Derek bobs his head. “Thanks for your help with him,” he says lifting his arm slightly to indicate Chaucer.

“My pleasure,” Stiles says. He waves Derek off and returns to work, grinning to himself the rest of his shift.

When he finally gets off work and can check his phone, he has two new text messages from an unknown number.

The first is the one he sent himself from Derek’s phone. The second is from Derek:

Hey, this is Derek. I was wondering when you got off work and if you had plans for this evening? Chaucer already misses you, I can tell. And… I’d love to see you, too.

Stiles cheeks hurt from the smile that grows on his face at Derek’s text. He texts back:

I just got off work. I can be ready to do something in about thirty minutes? Also, I’m starved. Want to do dinner?

How do you feel about doing takeout and coming over here? Is that too forward for a first date?

Well, at least Stiles won’t have to wonder what this is between him and Derek.

Nope. Text me your address and I’ll be over in a bit.

As Stiles rushes home to change and shower (so he didn’t smell like he’d been in a pet store all day), his excitement about being with Derek on a date distracts him from his nervousness about being on a date with Derek. He hopes it goes well because not only is Derek incredibly attractive, he’s also smart and owns an adorably fluffy puppy to boot. He’s kind of perfect, and Stiles wants him all to himself.

~

Of course, Stiles has nothing to worry about because Derek (and Chaucer) like Stiles just as much as he likes them, and the date goes swimmingly. It even ends with a kiss (from both Derek and Chaucer, although Chaucer’s is decidedly more sloppy and slobbery) and plans for a second date.

*

"We would always try to make the most accurate costumes possible, trying to make even our scents as much like the creature that we were dressing up as. Once Peter actually bought the clothes off of a vampire's back so that he could smell just like the man. Then he hid in the forest and jumped out at us or would chase us- it was terrifying at the time, but afterwards we laughed about it for years."

*

"Dad usually worked late nights on Halloween- busiest night of the year at the Sheriff's station, after all, so mom and I would usually go trick or treating. We always went as late as possible, it was kind of a tossup- some houses were out of candy and felt bad, so they would literally just find something in the house to give me. Usually a full chocolate bar, or a bag of microwavable popcorn or something like that. Other houses assumed that there were no other kids coming out after us, so they would just dump all of the remaining candy into my bag."

*

               Derek was almost done, he was carefully scraping one of the last sections of his Jack-O-Lantern, carefully shading the area, but not cutting it out altogether. There was a loud splat as a disgusting, moist, mushy spoonful of pumpkin guts hit him in the side of the face. He froze.

There was a solid moment of stillness before Derek's gaze snapped to Stiles. The human was smiling innocently with an empty spoon in hand as he shrugged and said, "Oops."

               Derek responded by showing his teeth in a much less innocent smile and without removing the pumpkin from his face, he reached a hand into the bowl of pumpkin guts between them. Stiles obviously knew where this was going because he was slowly backing away, hands and spoon held up between them as if to placate him. Derek was a mature, responsible, adult, he wasn't going to throw pumpkin at the college kid across the kitchen from him.

No. Derek was going to smear it across Stiles' face directly- that would be much more satisfying.

               He darted to the right, trying to get Stiles before the human had a chance to escape. Stiles' spoon clattered to the ground immediately, and he ran around the opposite side of the island; he made sure to keep it between them. They had switched places. Derek knew that he was smiling, and Stiles grinned right back at him, "Come on Sourwolf, I said 'oops' that means that it was an accident."

"Accident, my ass." Derek growled and launched himself over the island, being careful to avoid the pumpkins, of course.

               Stiles' eyes widened comically and it took him an extra beat before he made a strange squeak and started running. Derek landed and pivoted, running after him. They ran around and around, occasionally changing directions, and despite Derek's superior strength and speed, the dexterity needed to get around the small island kept him from catching Stiles as easily as he expected.

               The next time that they came to a stop, Stiles was breathing heavily but his eyes were lit up with amusement and he was grinning mischievously like he usually did around Derek. This time, Derek faked left and lunged right, and Stiles fell for it and took two steps before he realized his mistake. He squeaked out a small, "Oh crap!"

Stiles tried to pivot and throw himself the opposite direction quickly enough, but Derek was already on him, and the human's back his the floor hard as he left out a small , 'oof'.

               Derek didn't bother withholding the grin that broke free on his face, instead he immediately began to swipe lines of pumpkin across Stiles' face like war paint. Across his forehead, down his cheeks, a small little boop on his nose, and then Derek laughed as he wrapped his pumpkin covered hand around the back of Stiles' neck, coating it with the stringy orange mush and large white seeds as well.

               Stiles struggled and complained loudly about how he'd be smelling like pumpkin for weeks, but when Derek's hand settled on the back of his neck he fell into a comfortable stillness. The silly smile on his face softened into something that Derek had never seen Stiles give directly to him. No, this was the smile that he would catch from the corner of his eyes when Stiles didn't think that he was looking. This was something significant.

               They stared at each other like that for a moment. Stiles had always been like the sun. Bright, warm, and dependable, and Derek was just another planet caught up in his gravitational pull. A pull that drew him closer and closer until the pumpkin smeared across both of their faces was forgotten, and all that he could focus on was Stiles' hot breath and half-hooded eyes.

Stiles was the one to close the gap between them, his lips soft and hesitant. It felt like a gentle question: okay?

Derek met his kiss with just enough pressure that Stiles could lean the back of his head against the floor again without breaking the kiss: Okay.

               They stayed like that for awhile, just gently getting to know each other's likes and dislikes in that silent, calming way. Eventually Derek withdrew and they just stared at each other for a long moment, and then Stiles smiled at him and pushed lightly against his chest. Derek took the hint, taking his hands in his own and helping the human to his feet, and Stiles gave him another moment of that soft look before he grinned and turned to the pumpkins, "Let's see what you carved!"

               They turned the pumpkins so that they were side by side, set candles inside of them, and lit them before standing back with one another and staring at their artwork. Derek was the first to break the silence as he said incredulously, "You did not make a Jack-O-Lantern of a Jack-O-Lantern."

Stiles scoffed before waving his arms a bit, "Of course I did, and it's awesome. It's Jack-O-Ception, Derek!"

"What?" Derek scrunched his nose and tilted his head as he looked down at Stiles. The human was shaking his head as he grumbled, "You seriously haven't seen Inception? We're watching that."

               The wolf just shrugged and turned back to their Jack-O-Lantern, he would happily watch anything with Stiles, but he didn't tell the human that- Stiles would probably use that information for evil and make him watch some lame old werewolf movies.

               Stiles reached down to lace his fingers together with Derek's as his smile relaxed and he looked up to look at Derek. The wolf didn't meet his gaze, but he could see it from the corner of his eye as Stiles asked, "Is that the pack?"

               Derek stared at the Jack-O-Lantern, he had always put a lot of effort into Jack-O-Lanterns, Halloween was his favourite holiday, so there were years when he made five or six Jack-O-Lanterns, just for practice. The soft glow of his carving lit up nicely, but he probably would've liked to have finished it up a bit. It was a rough carving, but clear enough to see what it was, obviously. There was one boy with two girls beside him, one holding a bow, and one in heels, a fox was sitting at their feet, and surrounding them were nine wolves. One for each werewolf in the pack.

               Derek nodded slowly and turned down to look at Stiles. The human stared at him for another couple seconds before leaning up to kiss him again, and Derek kissed back for a moment before scrunching up his face and breaking the kiss to suggest, "Let's wash all of this pumpkin off, and then watch A Nightmare Before Christmas."