Work Text:
"What do you think of this one?"
The werewolf looked up from the magazine he had been flipping through, eyebrows raised as he glanced at the rough sketch in front of him
"I think it looks great,"
"Really!?"
"Yeah, but you know, Lydia did one just like that last year,"
His freind looked crushed - ... or maybe just VERY annoyed- and quickly lowered the sketchpad
"Seriously? Scott what the hell am I gonna do!? This is my one and only chance to get out of here! I mean not that there's anything wrong with being a guard but I want to get out of this hellhole and do something I actually ENJOY!"
Scott stared at him for a long moment, looking... well, not "offended" but he didn't look especially pleased either
"You know Stiles, you're the first person I've ever met who actually describes the North Pole as a 'hellhole'," he said blandly
"It isn't the North Pole I have a problem with Scott, it's this freaking guard position! I never wanted to be a guard, it shouldn't be fair that JUST because I'm a yeti that automatically makes me a guard,"
"No, but-"
"SO this competition is the one and only chance I have to get out of here and do something else, something I actually LIKE, I have two options and I'm going to enter both of them, the baking part will be easy, but I need you to actually help me with this ornament thing!"
Scott just looked ... kind of constipated, actually
"Stiles... I've already told you, I have no idea how to design Christmas ornaments, I'm not going to be any help...."
"You don't have to know how to design Christmas ornaments Scott, I just need... ideas! Stuff that you'd want on YOUR Christmas tree every year, something I can USE," Stiles huffed in frustration, crumpling up the papper he had been sketching on moments earlier and tossing it across the floor of the guard tower
Or, as Stiles called it, "The Watch Box", since it was really less of a tower and really more of a box, like those security booths he had seen once in a parkinglot in the human realm
It was small and cramped and Stiles did not appreciate being in it all day every day
He wanted out of this place- out of this JOB- and to do something .... something good
Something he liked
Scott may not mind being shoved into a security position just because he was a werewolf, but Stiles sure as hell minded being in the same spot for being a yeti
The thing is, most people who worked at the North Pole were ... not as physically gifted as he and Scott were
They had alot of elves, a bunch of pixies, several faeries...
Plenty of talented brains, not so much on the beefy brawns
That was why people like werewolves, yetis, and other physically gifted folks- mostly shapeshifters- ended up working things like security, they were the only ones available
Scott didn't seem to care- he had been bitten a few years ago and tossed into the security business, but he had never had any desire for the creative arts either
His mother was a faery who specialized in healing, Scott had always just sort of assumed he'd follow in her footsteps, but when he had gotten bitten he didn't mind switching
Stiles though....
Stiles had been born a yeti, taking after his father's side of the family
He had always known he'd be pushed into the security business but he never wanted to
His mother had been an elf, a baking elf, and he had always wanted to take after her instead
He had hoped that maybe with puberty he'd present his mixed blood a little bit more, be a smaller yeti with more elvish gifts, but no- ofcourse not, because this was Stiles' freaking life and he was the biggest, burliest yeti at the Pole just under his father- head of the security force, the "Sheriff" so to speak
To say he had been disappointed was putting it mildly
It wasn't that the North Pole always regulated things by species, more that they regulated by talent
It was to keep certain positions from getting overcrowded and certain others understaffed, and it also served to keep the best quality in every department
No crooked fire trucks or glitchy gameboys were coming out of their toy department
If any kid had a complaint with their Christmas toy that would be solely on the human manufacturers
All of this meant that whatever you were talented at- that was where you were stationed
Wanted to be a baker but were talented at toy making? Toy maker
Wanted to be a toy maker but were talented at ornament design? Ornament designer
Wanted to be literally anything else but had what was needed to be in security?
Well...
Here Stiles was
But there was a way out of it- one way, wich was exactly what he was trying to accomplish now
Everytime departments got low in staff, an open competition was put out to everyone in the Pole who was of age to participate that would allow the winners to fill the newly open spots
However many spots were needed, that would be the amount of winners
It was lucky that this year alot of people had taken their retirement, so there were several spots open spread out across the two feilds
Stiles needed to win one of them, he HAD to, he couldn't keep working in security, it just wasn't his place....
"There goes a deer,"
Stiles perked up, looking away from his sketchpad and watching with startled surprise as a reindeer galloped across the snow
"I'll call it in, you wanna do the herding?" Stiles asked quickly as he reached for his walkie talkie
"Actually, I think someone is already on it,"
Upon looking up and over the edge of the wall, he realized that- unbelievably enough- Scott was absolutely right
There was already a huge black wolf racing towards the reindeer
It didn't even take a full minute before the wolf had cornered the deer between some trees and started chasing it back to the barn
Obviously he didn't need their help
"Unreal," Scott said slowly
"Well that's Derek Hale for you, un-freaking-believable," the yeti sighed back
He may or may not be kind of in love with Derek Hale, and may or may not be definitely a little bit jealous
"You know.... sooner or later, you should probably ask him out, instead of pining away at a distance," Scott suggested casually, leaning over the ledge a little and resting his elbows on the wood
"Oh yeah? I'll remember that advice next time we see Kira," Stiles shot back, not even bothering to glance at Scott- or the utterly offended expression on his face
"That's different!"
"How?"
"I- ... it just is!"
It wasn't and they both knew it, but Stiles didn't have time for semantics if he was going to get a winning design in on time
"Whatever you say Scott," he said with a simple shrug, turning back to the sketchpad he had been working on
"Whatever you say,"
~+~
"You're right Derek, that IS weird,"
Derek only nodded in agreement, taking a sip of his hot chocolate before glancing over his shoulder at the waitress
"Cora is on the fence, she thinks they're just getting antsy about Christmas being only a week away, it's crunch time and they know it,"
"Well... it's possible, but so is your theory, and it's better to be safe than sorry right?"
"Exactly," Derek agreed quickly, his fork poking aimlessly at the apple pie in front of him
The problem was getting everyone else to believe the same thing
But Christmas was a week away, it was crunch time, everyone knew that- even the reindeer- and that didn't exactly make for the best time for people to spend any time, energy, or resources that they might consider "unnecessary"
And unfortunately, speculation about something that may or may not be causing the reindeer to get a little more antsy than usual really didn't clock high on the priority list when Christmas Eve was down to being single-digit nights away
"You'll figure things out, I know you will," the waitress said with a positive smile, stepping closer to refill his hot chocolate
"Thanks Kira, atleast someone believes me,"
He'd probably have much better luck once Christmas was over, but he wasn't sure if the reindeer could wait that long
"Oh it's no problem, I know you wouldn't be worried over nothing," Kira said with a small shrug, heading back to the counter and setting the hot chocolate pitcher down
It was times like these that Derek was most glad the diner wasn't busy at this time of night, it left him the opportunity for solitude and quiet conversations with Kira
Although, as much as he liked it, he had to admit, there was one crucial component he had been missing...
"By the way, where's Mrs. Gutierrez? I haven't seen her around lately,"
"Oh I meant to tell you about that, she's going to retire the first week of Januarary,"
That really took Derek by surprise
Mrs. Gutierrez was the owner of the diner, if she was stepping down then...
"Are there any plans of a replacement?" he asked worriedly
"Oh yeah definitely! But... it's been kind of hard finding someone, most people who are good with a kitchen are entering the contest for the open baking positions at HQ, so no one is really applying here... and I'm not skilled enough to run the kitchen myself, I'm not sure what we'll do if she retires before we find an adequate replacement..."
Understandable, Kira was only waitressing at the diner temporarily anyway
Her REAL skills were in toy making, but she wouldn't be eligible for that until next year, so she was waitressing in the mean time
"I see.... so, you guys just need someone with cooking skills and the ability to lead to take over, right?" Derek asked
"Yeah, wich are harder qualities to find than you'd think, especially since so many people are only interested in working at HQ, and not just an average diner,"
Derek nodded slowly, sipping at his hot chocolate and letting the gears turn in his head
"You know..... I might know of someone, where are your application forms?"
~+~
"Alright Scotty, today is the day, this is it, I'm officially going to submit my application for the baking position, I made my famous chocolate chip cookies for the submission, now all I need you to do is taste test one to make sure that I'm not just exaggerating the goodness from exhaustion,"
Scott seemed to have absolutely no problem with that, reaching into the small plastic container and grabbing a cookie immediately
"Definitely not crazy," he moaned upon his first bite, leaning against the wall of the security box
"I swear, it'll be a CRIME if you don't get a spot in the baking division,"
Stiles felt a wave of pride wash over him at that
He had always been proud of his baking skills, in all honesty, it was one of the few things he WAS proud of, but this was on an entirely different level than just trying to impress his freinds for their birthdays
He was trying to get in with the best of the best here
He needed to be better than just good- he needed to be OUTSTANDING, and hopefully his late mother's recipe would serve that purpose....
"I was hoping you'd say that," he grinned, breathing a sigh of releif
He didn't get any time to further discuss the subject though, his attention perking at the sound of someone approaching
That was odd....
No one ever bothered to come out here unscheduled
He and Scott had the lovely honor of working right at the edge of the Pole, just outside of the actual town, so it was too much of a pain for anyone to bother coming out here unless it had been previously discussed
And if it was an emergency it was usually alot more fruitfull to just use the walkie talkies, but in all fairness the person approaching didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry
When he finally got a glance at who it was, however, the mystery only deepened
Derek?
What the hell was Derek doing out here- and non-shifted for that matter?
The wolf only ever came out this far when he was tracking down loose reindeer- and he was always in his full wolf shift when he did that
But Stiles didn't see any deer, and he didn't see any wolf fur either
"Derek!! Hey! You're just in time!!"
He decided that it didn't matter though, he was getting a gift here so there was no need to kick the delivery deer in the mouth (or however that saying went)
"In time for what?" the wolf asked innocently, clearly in no hurry as he stopped right in front of their little security box, looking as casual as ever
"In time to make sure that Scott is telling the truth about my cookies," Stiles smirked back, handing one of the chocolate-chipped delights over to him
The application technically only required one cookie, but Stiles brought the entire batch with him, what the hell else was he going to do with it?
Derek took it gladly, biting into it and looking surprisingly pleased
Either he hadn't expected the cookies to be good at all, or he had only expected them to be moderately good and they were amazing, either way Stiles was taking it as a compliment
"Like it?"
"I do, actually... could I get a couple to take with me? For my sister?"
That took Stiles by surprise, he had never had anyone request taking his food for the road, but he supposed it sorta made sense if they were for Cora...
"Yeah, I guess so, but I don't have an extra container fo-"
"That's ok, I have my own,"
And surely enough, barely seconds later, he had produced a small plastic box of his own from ... somewhere in the ether
Had Stiles really not noticed it this entire time...?
Sure enough, he took two cookies, put them in the container, and sealed it up, as if that was what he had come here for in the first place or something...
"Um-"
"I'm surprised you aren't part of the baking division," Derek said suddenly, drawing attention away from... all of... this...
"Yeah everyone is, I WANT to be but ya' know... yeti... security... I'm entering in the contest for both that and the ornament design division though, anything to get out of the security crap really but those are definitely my favorite choices,"
"So you aren't especially attached to the baking division then?"
"No, I mean ... I'd love to be able to bake or cook full time but the division it's self I don't care about, I'm just sick of playing security guard,"
He wondered why Derek was asking him about all of this
He had never seemed all that interested before so why now?
"What about the ornament design division? You said you were submitting something for that too?"
"Yeah but... so far the only thing I've designed that's even somewhat appealing is a birthday cake," he said with a frustrated snort
"That's good though, not alot of people who are born in December- especially around Christmas time- get acknowledgements about their birthdays, so a birthday cake ornament would be really unique and .. probably very appreciated,"
It took Stiles a moment to understand what Derek was referring to, before things clicked into place and he started trying to correct what he meant
"Oooh no no, I didn't mean a birthday cake ornament, I meant that I designed my freind Kira's birthday cake, her birthday is in Januarary and I went ahead and started designing it now so it wouldn't sneak up on me you know?"
Derek looked.... weirdly more than a little disappointed by that, as if he had had some kind of personal stakes in the matter of Stiles' ornament design
"That... makes sense," the werewolf finally said, clearing his throat a little
"I need to get going, but thank you for the cookies, I'll see you both later,"
"Wait-!"
But it was too late, Derek was already out of ear-shot before Stiles could stop him
"That was really weird..." he said slowly
"Maybe he just wanted some cookies," Scott offered with a shrug, reaching into the box and grabbing another cookie
"I don't think so, and what's with that quick exit? He started acting really weird when that thing about the birthday cake came up,"
"He was acting weird to begin with," Scott pointed out
And... ok, he wasn't wrong
"Yeah but he got especially weird around the birthday cake thing, it makes me wonder.... have we even ever celebrated Derek's birthday?"
Now that he thought about it, he didn't remember ever celebrating it, much less knowing when it was, and judging by the look on Scott's face, he clearly wasn't the only one
"So.... we've spent the last two years just totally passing by Derek's birthday and not even noticing, is that what you're saying?"
"I didn't say anything," Scott frowned defensively
"But that's what's happening," he said with an irritated huff, rubbing his temples in irritation
He was starting to get a bad feeling about this...
"Cover for me Scott, I'll be back in a little bit,"
"What- Stiles wait a second!" the werewolf shouted
But it was too late, the yeti had already jumped down into the snow beneath him and took off running
There was only one person he knew who could help him get the information he needed, he just hoped that he'd be able to convince her to have a little good clean fun...
~+~
"And why exactly would I leave during the busiest time of year for a wild goose chase?"
"Beeeeeecause you know it isn't a wild goose chase at all and you're really curious too? And it's a great opportunity to see Boyd? Aaaand let's be totally honest here, you may like toy making but you hate the December rush, c'mon Erica... what do I have to do to get you to help me out?"
Erica's eyes glinted wickedly, a cat-like smirk on her face as she set down the hammer she had been working with
"Stiles, you had me at 'because', now what do you need me to do?"
~+~
"Boyd! How's my favorite Mountain Giant today?"
The man looked up slowly from the stack of pappers he had been flipping through, a mostly unamused look on his face
Anyone who didn't know Boyd would think he looked completely bored, but Erica could see the promising glint in his eyes
"I'd be better if you ever remembered that I'm only half Mountain Giant,"
"So picky," he snorted teasingly, a small grin on Erica's face as she leaned in a little closer
"I was hoping you could do me a favor, I ... may have lost my order sheet for the Barbie Safari dolls, do you think you scratch up a copy for me somewhere?"
"You lost an order list less than a week before Christmas Eve?" Boyd asked skeptically
"You know how scattered I can get, really, they should never have given me papperwork to begin with,"
"That I can agree with," Boyd mused with a snort, staring up at Erica's pleading face for a few moments before giving a long, loud sigh and standing up from the desk he was at, grabbing a key out of the desk drawer and heading towards the door behind him
"I swear Erica... I don't know why I don't report you for this crap,"
"Because you like me too much, obviously," she smirked back, moving to lean against the door frame and glancing over her shoulder as she watched Stiles sneak into the office, nodding for him to start sifting through the desk
Luckily Boyd was meticulous about organization, each key was in a perfectly labelled slot and it wasn't THAT hard to figure out wich label stood for what
"Alright Erica, I have it-"
"Wait!" Erica shouted suddenly, causing Stiles to freeze as he ducked under the desk- just in case Boyd didn't heed her command
"I uh... need one other favor, I promised Caitlin I'd check one of the files for the Naughty Or Nice department, some kid named... Zelda.... Zillow,"
Boyd paused, a look of clear and utter disbeleif on his face as he poked his head around the corner
"Zelda Zillow?"
"Hey, I don't name these kids! I just report," Erica shrugged back
Boyd could almost certainly see through her lie, but because he happened to be taken with her, he indulged anyway
"Right.... whatever you say," he said slowly, stepping out of the room and handing the sheet of papper to Erica before disappearing behind another door
Stiles breathed a sigh of releif, hurrying through to the last remaining door and hurrying to go towards the file cabinet marked with an "H"
The records room kept detailed files on everyone who believed in Santa, that included not only the kids in the human realm that believed in him at any given time, but also those in the North Pole
That meant that, as a resident of the North Pole, it would have Derek's file neatly listed away under "H" for Hale
He should be able to find it.....
Aha!
Hurrying, he flipped the file open and started skimming the page, searching for the much needed date of birth, and when he found it-
"I don't see any files with that name Erica, are you sure you heard that right?"
"Ah... well, now that you mention it maybe you're right, try Zelda Willow instead?"
Stiles hurried to put the file back, now that he had his answer, and race out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him, setting the key back in place, and giving a thumb's up to Erica before high-tailing it out of the office
He felt like an idiot for being so blind to it all this time, but now that he had the information, he was going to make good use of it
Derek Hale was getting a real birthday celebration this year weather he liked it or not
~+~
"December 25th? Are you sure?"
"Ofcourse I'm sure! Think about it Scott, it all fits! This is why he never tells anyone when his birthday is, this is why he never celebrates it, not because he hates it, but because no one is around for it, Christmas Eve is the biggest night of the year and then on Christmas day everyone wants to spend time with their loved ones and celebrate for the one off day we have all year, the 26th everybody's exhausted and resting wile Santa gets his plans together for next year and the 27th we're back at it again, first day of work for the work year and everybody is miserable, the first day that would actually be somewhat convenient- or atleast not terribly inconvenient- for it to be his birthday is the 28th and by that time three days have passed and you have to wonder what's the point anymore? Man, poor Derek, literally the worst day of the year for it to be your birthday... except maybe Christmas Eve but that isn't the point anymore,"
Scott had to admit, Stiles made a pretty convincing argument...
"So what do we do? I mean, we can't really celebrate on Christmas can we? It'll be awfully hard to organize a birthday party for him on Christmas..."
He knew that was what Stiles wanted to do, he knew Stiles well enough to know that he never did celebrations half-mast, but Christmas would be a hard to wrangle...
"We'll celebrate Christmas Eve, at midnight, the end of year party will be finishing up by then but people will probably still be awake enough for it, that way Derek gets to celebrate on his birthday without having to worry about anyone being put out- and he will worry, because ofcourse he does,"
Scott nodded slowly, leaning against the wall of the security box in consideration
"I have to admit, it doesn't sound like a bad idea,"
"See!?"
"BUT, how are you going to organize a party on the busiest night of the year, during the busiest WEEK of the year, in only a few days?"
Stiles smirked, reaching into the messenger bag he had brought with him and grabbing a box of homemade cookies- something he had swung by his house to get on his way back from the records office
"Bribe the cavalry,"
~+~
"A birthday party for Derek? That sounds fun!"
"I was hoping you'd say that," Stiles grinned, craning his neck to stare up at the girl above him
"I was also hoping you'd consider helping, we could really use some lights, gotta make the diner sparkle for a celebration like this,"
The brunette turned her head, reaching out to silently ask Stiles to hand her another lightbulb
"Have you talked to Kira about this?"
"Yes Allison, I've talked to Kira, she's more than happy to have a birthday party for her favorite customer- although I have to admit I might be a little jealous that he's her favorite but that's not the point,"
She hummed quietly, taking the lightbulb from him
"I'm sure I can scrape together some extra lights, do you need anything else?"
Stiles gave a quiet snort, rubbing the back of his neck
"Oh Allison, I need everything else..."
~+~
"You've got to be kidding me Stiles,"
"Oh come on Lydia, it's just one little ornament!"
The red-head stared- no, glared at him from her station
"You want me to steal materials for you, during the BUSIEST week of the year," she replied slowly, as if that would automatically make him understand exactly what he was asking for
He already knew exactly what he was asking for
He was asking for a favor
"It's one favor!"
"It's stealing,"
Stiles rolled his eyes, as exaggeratedly as he could
"I'm hoping to be part of the ornament division next year, it isn't STEALING-"
"It's stealing even for ME, and besides, the contest only accepts sketches, making a prototype isn't going to buy you any extra points,"
"It isn't a prototype, I'm making a gift,"
She paused, her paintbrush going still as she stared at him
"A gift?" she repeated skeptically
"For Derek? Allison told you about the party right?"
"And you want to make him an ornament for his birthday?"
"Yeah! Something special- something really really special,"
She was still skeptical, but finally gave a loud, long sigh and pushed away from her desk, setting her paintbrush down in the cup of water and standing up
"You'd better appreciate this,"
"I do, I really really do, just one more thing,"
Lydia paused, her eyes narrowing as she glared at him
"What now? My first born child?"
"No no, I'd rather have my own first born thanks, I just need to ask you a question,"
"What?"
"How do you make an ornament?"
If Lydia had groaned any louder, the entire building would have collapsed
~+~
"Is that your Christmas list?"
Derek turned bright red, instinctively shoving a hand over the papper to cover it as he stared up at Kira
"Um... yeah..."
"Don't most people mail those in November?" she asked curiously
"Y-Yeah... I just... have been busy I guess,"
Kira smiled sweetly, setting a small to-go bag in front of him
"Don't worry, it just means you had more time than anyone to be sure about your list, I put an extra mug of soup in there for you by the way,"
"Thanks Kira," he smiled back, grabbing the pack next to him to start putting the food in just as the bell over the door jingled
"Hey Stiles, I've almost got your order ready,"
"Thanks Kira!"
Derek sank a little lower in the booth, hoping that the yeti wouldn't see him
It was bad enough that Kira knew he hadn't finished his Christmas list yet, but Stiles-
"Hey Derek! Is that your Christmas list?"
Hell...
"Yeah..." he muttered back, watching as Stiles moved to sit in the other side of the booth and tried to peer over at the list
Derek made sure to put his arms completely over the papper
"Huh, don't most people mail those in in like... November...?"
"I've been busy," he frowned tensely
"I'm sure," Stiles smirked back, as if he knew something that Derek didn't
It was unsettling, to say the least
"SO workin' the night shift tonight?"
"Yeah, I picked up an extra shift, gave Hayden the night off,"
"Really? What'd you do that for?" Stiles asked curiously
"I want to investigate this thing a little bit further, something is going on with these deer and I want to know what it is," Derek explained, staring down into his hot chocolate- or atleast what was left of it- and taking another sip
"It's really under your skin huh?"
"It is, I just... I know these deer, they're spooked, I just don't know why,"
Stiles gave a slow, considerate nod, smirking as Kira came by with his food in a to-go bag as well
"Well lucky for you I'll be there to help out,"
"You're on the night-shift too? I thought you always took afternoons with Scott?"
"I do, but Parrish wanted a night off so he could take Lydia out on a date and I traded him for it,"
"Traded," Derek said slowly, watching as Stiles started to stuff the food into his messenger bag
"And what exactly did you trade for?"
All the help Parrish could offer for Derek's birthday, but then, Stiles couldn't really SAY that.....
"A favor," he shrugged back blandly, hoping that would be the end of it
And luck seemed to be on his side for once, considering that Derek stopped asking for details
"Right..."
"So in other words, I'll be there with you all night Big Guy," the yeti said with a playfull wink
"Oh joy, just what a proper steak-out needs: Company,"
Stiles rolled his eyes, not paying any attention to the wolf
His company would be well worth the effort it would take Derek to maintain it- he knew that for 100% fact, and he was determined that sooner or later, Derek would know it too
~+~
"Soooo.... are you gonna tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"What's on your Christmas list?"
Generally speaking, people didn't just go around telling eachother what was on their Christmas list
Christmas lists were alot more private than that, but Derek supposed he could understand
Him still working on his Christmas list though practically begged people to get snoopy about it though...
"Christmas lists are private," he said easily, settling in a little better in the snow-covered woods and leaning back against a tree behind him
He already knew his project for next year: Get an actual security place out in the middle of the woods so they wouldn't have to make due with snow and tree roots...
"I know but ... c'mon, just one little thing? I'll tell you mine if you tell me your's, just ONE HINT?"
Derek sighed loudly, staring at the overly eager yeti for a moment before grabbing his mug of hot chocolate and taking a long, contemplative sip
"Please?" Stiles asked hopefully, practically batting his eyes at the wolf
"... Fine, one thing, you first,"
Stiles looked absolutely elated, immediately shifting closer as if to keep his wishlist safe from any potential eavesdroppers who would be out in the middle of the woods late at night just waiting on him to drop a hint about his Christmas list
"Halloween shaped cookie cutters,"
Derek paused, thermos edge at his lips, as he stared down at his companion in confusion and concern
"... Seriously?"
"Well, actually, a RANGE of non-Christmas shaped cookie cutters, I mean I don't have anything AGAINST Christmas cookies- obviously- but eventually, at some point, I want to be able to venture outside of that you know? Something other than Christmas trees and little Santa hats?"
"That's reasonable," Derek considered
"What would you choose other than Halloween, if you could have more options?"
"Ohhh now you're just inviting this long conversation on yourself," Stiles smirked, eyes glinting with amusement
"Well, the entire CALENDAR of holidays, superheros, animals, hell even flowers, I don't care, just... whatever is fun you know?"
"It makes sense," Derek nodded slowly, deciding to store that information away for later
He hadn't bought Stiles a Christmas present yet so it was good information to have, even if he didn't want to admit it
"Come on, now it's your turn, name one thing on your Christmas list,"
This, ofcourse, was the hard part
He glanced down at the ground, not sure how to reply at first as he traced his fingertip over the rim of the thermos, taking his time in screwing the cap back on
"Just a blanket, or a quilt, something like that," he said with a small shrug, causing Stiles' eyebrows to raise
He wasn't sure if Derek was being serious at first- it just seemed so... simple, so plain, he could always be low-balling it ofcourse, leaving his bigger wishes to Santa and the general pipeline of gift giving- (working at the North Pole did provide certain access to gift buying tips)- and honestly, that had been what Stiles was doing, but on the other hand...
"Anything specific?"
Derek stared at him in confusion, as if he hadn't thought he would actually get that far, and turned a little pinker, shrugging absently as he unscrewed the cap from his thermos again
"Not really," he muttered back, taking a long drink of the chocolate concoction, as if to somehow divert attention or something
Stiles nodded slowly, deciding not to torture the poor guy any further and instead pull his bag closer, reaching in and pulling out a small box of brownies that he had made earlier that day
"Brownie?"
Maybe it would help ease the tension a little- he hoped...
Derek smiled slightly, clearly relieved by the change of pace, and grabbed a brownie from the box
"You really like baking huh?"
"Yeah, I love it, definitely my favorite activity,"
His mother had been part of the baking division, he had inherited not only the talent from her, but the passion as well
It just sucked that it hadn't been enough to get him into the baking business in the beginning
"You're good at it too, I'm actually pretty surprised that you aren't already in the baking division, did you just... prefer security or-"
"Oh, no no, unfortunately there was a slew of baking elves born in my generation so of-freaking-course my skills didn't qualify me for a spot on the team because they were already over-filled, but! I'm entering the competition to get one of the empty slots on the team this year, for that and for the ornament division, I'm hoping to get in because seriously- seriously- I will take almost anything that isn't security, not that there's anything WRONG with security ofcourse, it's just... you know, not really my thing, I'm more of a creative sort I guess,"
"It's understandable why you would want something that isn't security then, it's probably the least creative career in the entire North Pole," Derek agreed with a slow nod, munching on another brownie as he leaned against the tree behind him
"Is it specifically a division job you're after, or would you accept anything outside of security?"
"Well, I said almost anything, so some things are DEFINITELY out, like, I'm not cleaning up after the reindeer, but it doesn't have to be a division job either, I mean, as long as it's something where I can do what I'm passionate about, cooking, baking, ornament making- oh hey that rhymes,"
Ok, sure, in TOTAL honesty, he actually didn't really have a passion for ornament making it's self but it was artistic and he had a passion for the arts
"Wich reminds me, did you ever get that sketch done for the ornament prototype you want to enter the contest with? Isn't the due date-"
"Christmas Eve? Yep, and ah.. I'm working on it, I have a solid idea now- that's the good thing, but I'm not done... actually drawing it yet..."
In all honesty, Stiles really wasn't the best artist, he knew that and that was like... 99.9% of the reason he wasn't already in the ornament division, but he had GREAT ideas and that's the most important part of ANYTHING creative
"You'll get there, I just hope it's before Christmas Eve," Derek teased
"Yeah you and I both, if I have to spend one more year in this I think I'll scream," he added with a huff, pausing suddenly to correct himself
"I mean, security it's self is fine but most of the time I'm just standing around doing nothing, not that that's bad ofcourse, if you like that sorta thing,"
"It's fine, I know most security work is boring, admittedly working with the deer is alot more entertaining than most of the other things I've done,"
"But you enjoy it? The security work?"
"Yeah," Derek said with a slow nod
"I do,"
"Ever consider doing anything else?"
"Not really, I'm not a creative person, though my sister seemed convinced that I would be a nanny,"
His sister... his older sister
Stiles knew Cora, he knew that she wasn't the one who thought of Derek as a nannying type, and although Stiles himself really hadn't known Laura, he knew from how people spoke of her that she seemed to be a much more likely candidate
"I bet you'd be an AWESOME nanny,"
Derek was great with kids
Sure he was broody and scowly and not the most social person on Earth... or at the North Pole... or even on the security team.... but all of that vanished when he was around kids
"You think so?" he asked with a teasing smirk
"Are you kidding? I KNOW so," Stiles snorted back
"Well thanks for your vote of confidence, I'll be sure to remember that if I ever get kicked off the security team," the wolf snorted
"If that happens I'll COMPLETELY lose faith in everything good, do you know how much it takes for a yeti who works at the North Pole to lose faith in something?"
Derek snorted, an amused look on his face
"I would gues-"
The werewolf stopped suddenly, rising to his feet and narrowing his eyes
"Did you hear that?"
Actually, he hadn't, yeti hearing wasn't nearly as good as werewolf hearing, but as soon as he started to focus on listening-
*SNAP*
"That I heard,"
The two of them exchanged looks, silently agreeing on what they needed to do as they raced towards the noise, both high on alert and ready for just about anything
However, that doesn't mean that what they stumbled upon made any actual sense....
"Is that... a Mountain Ogre?" Stiles asked slowly, staring up at the hideous, drooling giant in front of him
"Yeah...." Derek replied slowly, his mouth tense and eyebrows pinched
"And don't they .. eat reindeer...?"
"Yep..."
"Then what the hell is it doing here!?"
"That"s what I was wondering..." Derek frowned back deeply
The North Pole had high, heavy fences to keep creatures like Mountain Ogres out, at one point they had even spelled the fences to make sure some particular species couldn't get in but... that had to be changed some time ago, and now the spells around the fences could be more easily tampered with....
Regardless, there was no way that a Mountain Ogre could have just broken in all on it's own, someone had to have let it in...
"We can't afford to think about how or why right now, we need to focus on getting it out of here,"
That was something that Stiles could easily agree with, and it looked like, for once, his yeti DNA was really going to come in handy
"Right, I've got the front line on this one, you just focus on keeping The Green Giant here away from the stables,"
He didn't give Derek any time to respond to that before quickly shedding his shirt, then his pants and underwear, taking a long, deep breath as he felt a sensation of warmth spread through his body
His eyes turned icey blue, he could feel his bones beginning to shift and grow, his skin prickling with the sensation of a long coat of white fur growing in over it, his teeth aching as they turned from small, blunt, and human-like, to the signature longer, larger jaws of a yeti
It felt good to be in his true form again
He didn't bother looking back at Derek, he just ran forward, letting out a deep, gutteral roar as he attracted the Mountain Ogre's attention
The beast was easily as tall as he was, possibly more so, and just as thick too, but the big difference was that where Stiles was thick with muscle mass and large, thick bones, the ogre was outlined more with fat and thick, hard-to-peirce flesh
Even for a yeti it wouldn't be easy to make more than a minor scratch on the thing, he'd have to go about battle a different way
Where Stiles was agile and knew how to fight, the ogre mostly threw his weight around and focused on being somewhat larger than the yeti
If it came down to brute strength, the ogre might just have won by size alone, but skill?
That was where Stiles had the upperhand
He nocked the ogre off of his feet without too much difficulty, and once he was down, Stiles could wrap his arms around the beast's neck, squeeze, and twist...-
*SNAP*
When he slowly let go and turned around, he could see Derek- in full wolf form- standing behind him, hackles raised and ready to charge if Stiles hadn't been able to do he job himself
Once they locked eyes though, they both relaxed, solemn looks falling over their faces as they stared down at the freshly dead corpse on the ground
Now that the immediate threat was gone, the reality sunk in
This creature could have destroyed everything, could have taken the lives of their precious deer- probably among others- and someone, somewhere, had let it into their home
~+~
"Did you really have to kill it...?"
If he heard that question one more freaking time.....
"Yes Scott, I HAD to kill it, I couldn't just leave it wounded and pitch it back over the fence, it would go back to it's cave and gather reinforcements, that's something we don't need considering we still don't know how it got in here in the first place,"
Scott still seemed pretty put-off by the entire thing, but atleast now he was quiet
"Well... you two did well, good intuition, and even better, you acted on it, if you two hadn't decided to go the extra mile things may have gotten alot uglier," the sheriff said with a quiet sigh
"Thanks Dad," Stiles said quietly, taking a sip of his hot chocolate and leaning back a little more in the diner booth
"Do we know how it got in yet?" Derek asked a beat later, vocalizing the same thing that Stiles had been thinking
"Unfortunately no, none of the gates seem to be tampered with and the fence is in tact, no holes, no splits, hell even the magic is still as it's supposed to be, all we can do at this point is assume that someone accidentally left a gate open earlier and by the time they remembered and shut it the ogre had already gotten in, we're in the middle of questioning the day guards now but it'll be a miracle if anyone fesses up to it,"
Stiles and Derek exchanged looks, concern and disbeleif written all over their faces
"So.... that's it? We're just going to assume it was an accident and be done with it?" Stiles frowned
"Pretty much Kiddo, there isn't much else we can do, everything seems to be in tact after all,"
There was a moment of silence, just for a second, before Stiles abruptly slid out of the booth
"I'm gonna refill my hot chocolate, anyone want anything else?"
"I'll take a danish if you can find one," the sheriff smirked back
"The closest you'll get to a danish is an apple Dad," Stiles snorted, lips twitching up into a smirk as Derek slid out of the booth right behind him
"I'll come with you, you never put enough wipped cream in mine,"
Stiles only nodded, eyes lighting up just slightly as the two of them made their way behind the counter
It was lucky that Kira hadn't minded letting them in even after the diner had closed, it made for a much better meeting spot than anything else in the area
"Wipped cream? Really?" Stiles huffed playfully
"Had to think of something, besides, Cora always cheats me on the cream so I figured why not?" Derek shrugged back, setting his mug down on the back counter next to Stiles' as the yeti grabbed the pot of hot chocolate that had been brewing
"So... to be clear, you're not buying this, right?"
"Not even close,"
"Good, then we can agree, something else is going on here,"
"I think so, the part that's troubling me most is why no one else seems suspicious..."
Stiles shrugged, pouring the mugs full before setting the pot back down
"Don't trouble yourself with that too much, Christmas Eve is in four days- .. well, three really, considering it's past midnight now... everybody's preoccupied with that, my dad has alot to go through every freaking year to make sure there's no interference with the sleigh, and Scott.... Scott's alright in a fight but he's not the most observant, and he has the same level of suspicion as an elephant, nothing ever ticks his box as being weird unless it's hitting like... a one hundred on my suspicion meter,"
"Oh yeah? And where is this hitting?"
"On a scale of one to ten? It's a ten,"
"Me too,"
Good, atleast they were in agreement
"So what do we do?"
Derek hummed quietly, grabbing the can of wipped cream next to him and giving it a shake
"The same thing we did tonight, investigate on our own,"
Stiles smirked, watching as the cream spiraled out of the tip of the can in big fluffy streaks
"Sounds like a plan," he hummed, yanking the can away from Derek as soon as he had taken his finger off of the tip
"I'll see you tommorrow morning?"
Derek nodded, licking the bit of cream from his finger and watching in amusement as Stiles piled the sugary treat just as high in his own mug
"Works for me,"
~+~
"Well, I can atleast confirm that there doesn't seem to be any tampering with the fence, and the magic DOES seem to be in tact,"
"Did you really think that your dad was wrong?" Derek asked in confusion, peering over Stiles' shoulder as the yeti ran his fingertips over the thick concrete fence- really more like a wall, if he was being totally honest, but he supposed they just called it a fence from all the openings
"Well no, but there's no harm in double-checking, question is, what do we do now?"
"I don't know... there has to be something we're missing," Derek sighed
"Or the answer is staring right in front of us but we don't want to acknowledge it," Stiles suggested, earning a puzzled look from the werewolf
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... come on Derek, put on your thinking hat, the fence is fine, the magic is fine, the gate is fine, the only explanation is that someone let that thing in, and all things considered... it pretty much had to be someone from our side, don't you think?"
"You're suggesting that someone at the North Pole let a reindeer-eating ogre in... on purpose?" Derek asked skeptically
"Do you have any other explanations?"
"What reason would anyone have for trying to kill reindeer though?"
"Destroy Christmas?" Stiles shrugged back
After all, just because someone lived and worked in the North Pole didn't necessarily or explicitly mean they enjoyed Christmas, and people had their reasons to be against it
Stiles didn't personally understand those reasons, but he heard that people had them
"Destroy Christmas..." Derek repeated quietly, narrowing his eyes as he suddenly started to take several steps backwards
"Um.... Der-?"
He didn't even get the chance to finish asking, as Derek suddenly jumped onto the ledge of the wall, slipping easily over it
Stiles cursed under his breath, knowing that he didn't have nearly the skill that the werewolf did to get over the fence
Werewolves had some pretty incredible jumping power, yetis.... not so much
"What the hell are you doing!?" he shouted, pressing himself up against the fence as if that would somehow help him communicate with Derek better
He didn't get an answer, wich at first was just annoying but... after a few minutes of hearing nothing, he was actually starting to get kind of worried....
"Hey.... Derek?"
Another few seconds ticked by, before Derek suddenly jumped back over the wall, startling the yeti and causing him to nearly fall over as he stumbled back
"For God's sake dude, WHAT is your problem!?"
"I found something,"
Well that.... that was unexpected
"What did you find?" he asked, completely sobered and concerned now as he took a step closer to the wolf
Derek was silent, but slowly uncurled his fist, revealing a few tiny green hairs in his palm
"Green hair?" Stiles asked in confusion
Derek gave a single, tense nod, staring at the other pensively
"You know what that means don't you?"
"Yeah," he promised, and then, simultaneously-
"Grinches,"
~+~
"Well, we know how the ogre got past the magic,"
Admittedly, when Stiles walked into the security headquarters, that was the last thing he expected to hear
"Funny you should say that, we have a theory of our own,"
"But we have proof," the hellhound across from him corrected, prompting the wolf and the yeti to raise their eyebrows in curiosity
"And how's that Parrish?"
"Your father had the foresight of requesting an autopsy of the ogre, just in case, they determined that he's only half Mountain Ogre,"
"'Only half?" Derek asked in surprise
"Yep, the other half is Valley Ogre,"
"But they're both ogres so why would they be able to get through the magic barrier?" Derek asked in confusion
"Because of the way the barrier is set," Stiles sighed back in frustration- not frustration at Derek, but frustration at himself for not seeing it sooner
"When the barrier was changed to allow for half-bloods to be allowed in, it started allowing any half-blood, no matter what their other half was,"
"So it doesn't differentiate between two species that are being blocked against, it just notes that they aren't 100% of either one so..."
"Right, it's a loophole," Stiles confirmed with a sigh
"Is there any way to fix that?"
"Yeah, maybe, but it'll take months at the VERY least, probably closer to a year or even more than that... either way it's a longterm solution, and not our first priority, what we have to concentrate on here and now is figuring out how the ogre got past the physical barrier, and not just the magical one,"
"Luckily, we have a starting place for that," Derek said, handing over the small plastic baggie of green hair that he had found on the other side of the fence
"Is this-?"
"Grinch hair," Derek confirmed quickly
"But how did a grinch get this close to the gate?" Parrish asked with a small frown
"That's what we're going to have to figure out, luckily I know where to start,"
Stiles just hoped his hunch was right...
~+~
"You found grinch hair near the gate?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if you might know anything about how a grinch could get this close to the gate, close enough to open it, in fact,"
The man looked up from his pappers, sighing quietly and staring at Stiles with a tired expression
"I hope you're only asking because I had mated with one, not because you think I'm involved,"
Stiles shook his head slowly, pulling up a chair and sitting down
"Nah, it's been years since I've suspected you of anything Argent, you're cool in my book now,"
"Good to know," the older man said dryly
Though, in all fairness, he wouldn't have really blamed Stiles much if he had been suspicious
His one affair with a grinch had changed and destroyed so many things about the North Pole....
Chris Argent was an elf- nothing special really, just an average elf... who, around two decades ago, had fallen in love with a grinch
Grinches were even worse in reality than humans wrote them out to be in books, going to any length to stop any happy occasion or steal joy, even if it meant murder
There was a reason they weren't allowed anywhere near the North Pole
But at the time Chris had been younger and more naive, when he had fallen for his at-the-time-mate it hadn't really bothered him that she was a grinch, atleast... not at first
But as time went on and his daughter started to grow up, he began seeing how awfull some of their practices were, and how quick they were to harm and even kill people to get what they wanted
The final straw had been when his wife's sister had snuck into the North Pole and murdered the security guards on duty in an attempt to get to Santa
And those guards just happened to be Derek's family, leaving he and Cora orphans
If it hadn't been for his father managing to rally the rest of the security team in time, Stiles feared to think what may have become of the North Pole...
But since then things had been different
Chris had brought his daughter Allison to live in the North Pole, returning to the life he had lived years prior and forcing the Pole to change their security in regards to grinches and other banned species, lifting the spell to allow for half-bloods like Allison past the gate
Although Chris himself hadn't actively participated in any Grinching, he had lived in the home of several grinches for years and knew some of their standard practices, he might know something about this
"Allison isn't the only grinch who isn't full-blooded, most likely another half-blooded or even quarter-blooded grinch found out about the loophole somehow and opened the gate, then invited the ogre to wreak havoc,"
Stiles nodded slowly, rolling it over in his head
"I guess so... god this is all just so..." he paused, shaking his head in frustration
"I feel like we aren't tackling the problem here, just the symptoms, you know? And with Christmas and Derek's birthday just a few days from now..."
"Wait... Derek's birthday?" the elf asked in surprise and confusion, eyebrows raising
"When is Derek's birthday?"
"Oh, right, the 25th, that reminds me, you are hereby invited to a party on Chris-"
"Derek was born on Christmas?" Chris interrupted quickly
"W-Well... I mean, yeah, that's sorta the thi-"
"Why didn't you tell me this any sooner?"
That was. ... an odd response....
"Well I only found out like... the day before yesterday, I didn't know you and Derek were so close,"
"It isn't about that," Chris said quickly
"There's something special about people who are born on Christmas, they can ward off grinches- for good,"
Wait.... what?
"Wait... what?"
"Christmas babies are very special, they're always filled to the brim with the Christmas spirit, that kind of unbridled goodness and holiday joy is so pure that it's actually toxic to grinches, and even a few drops of blood from a person who was born on Christmas can be lethal to grinches,"
Honestly the thought of Derek being filled with unbridled anything was a little hard to picture, but especially Christmas Spirit, but ofcourse that really wasn't the issue at hand right now
"What!? Why the hell didn't you ever say anything!?"
"Because I didn't know that we even had a Christmas baby back then, until you told me just a minute ago I thought that ... I've been looking, WAITING, for one to pop up for years, I figured I would hear about it sooner or later if we had one but I didn't count on someone who was hiding or keeping the birthday to themselves..."
"But.. but you're sure about this? Absolutely positive? This will work?"
"Positive, if there's one thing I learned during my time with the Argents, it's how badly toxic that blood is to them, now it's just a matter of luring the grinch in and infecting it..."
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that part," Stiles smirked confidently
"I've already got it covered,"
~+~
"So you're throwing Derek a fake birthday party as a ploy to lure in the grinch? Doesn't that seem kind of... needlessly elaborate...? And what makes you think this will even work?"
"Grinches are attracted to large occasions of joy, like Christmas, parties, and any other kind of celebration, if there's a grinch that already has the ability to get in here, then all they need is a good excuse to get their ears wet and come in to try to ruin Christmas, they were probably getting ready to do it any time now anyway, since Christmas Eve is tommorrow, they only have another day... day and a half if you get technical, if they want to destroy the holiday before it's even here,"
Scott seemed to understand that, atleast, given that he heaved a sigh and went back to hanging streamers obediently
"I don't know... I just mean... grinches are smart right? Would they really be stupid enough to fall for this?"
"Maybe, maybe not, maybe the desire to stop the itch they get when they see happiness is too great and it overrides any logic they may usually put forward, but we have to do something so unless you have a better idea..."
Scott shook his head, grabbing a small bundle of balloons to put out
"No, no better ideas," the werewolf muttered back, looking rather annoyed
"But won't this all kind of ruin Derek's real birthday party?"
"Oh I don't know, he doesn't know we're throwing a real party for him and he certainly doesn't know when,"
Scott supposed that was true, brushing his hands off and taking a step back
"So... now that we're almost done setting this up, how do we know when the grinch is coming? How do we know when to invite Derek?"
Stiles smirked, already having figured that out
"Ohhh I suspect we'll be hearing from Derek pretty soon,"
Scott paused, tilting his head in confusion
"Hearing from him? What do you-"
He didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence, the sound of reindeer fussing and barking in the distance drawing his attention
They were usually such quiet animals... this couldn't be good
Hurriedly, the two of them rushed away from the fake party they had been preparing and towards the stables, Scott looking terrified, wile Stiles seemed significantly more calm
Luckily they weren't far from the stables, and it didn't take them very long to round in, Scott already half-shifted and Stiles shedding his jacket, preparing to shift as well
But it didn't seem like Derek would need any help, he had already released his fangs and claws, his eyes blazing blue as he and the grinch- a rather tall man with light brown hair and the signature grinchy black eyes- snapped and fought with eachother
Grinch weren't quite like the way they were portrayed in human media, they only had tufts of green fur spread out over their body, blended into their hair, around their ears and in some facial and body hair, they looked more human than anything, except for the little details- the fur, the black eyes, the jaws of sharp teeth and razor sharp claws...
They were beings of wickedness and evil, that thrived on hatred and negativity
The very concept of joy was cause for them to be enraged, to have an itch that only destruction could scratch, and very rarely did their hearts ever grow any bigger than they started out...
Scott took an instinctive step forward, but Stiles forced him to pause, holding an arm out to keep him from stepping any closer and smirking as he watched the grinch slash Derek's arm
Perfect
The wolf's blood dripped onto the creature and he began to scream and howl in agony as little swirls of smoke spun up from where the blood had touched, like acid burning through the skin
Derek didn't waste any more time, throwing the grinch to the ground and letting his blood drip into the creature's mouth
People at the North Pole were- in general- kind and gentle, but the security force was different
They had to be
Their lives, their operation, everything was so fragile in this place, and threats- grinch, ogres, even humans- were not to be taken lightly
If it was a matter of them, or those who would destroy them and everything they stood for, those on the security force didn't even have to question it
The blood seemed to work like a charm too, the creature convulsing and shriveling up like a dried up leaf beneath the werewolf
"Derek...? You ok?" Stiles asked slowly, taking a step closer and drawing the wolf's attention towards him
"Yeah... I'm fine, this'll heal up soon," he replied, glancing at the scratches on his arm
Stiles had no doubt, he knew how fast werewolf healing could be and the slashes to Derek's arm were truly rather shallow, it wouldn't take long at all for the scratches to heal
"And the grinch, is he... one of them?"
Judging by the look on Derek's face when Stiles asked that, he had a feeling the wolf knew exactly what he meant
"No," he replied slowly, moving closer to the yeti and stepping over the body of the shriveled creature beneath him
"He isn't even of the same family, just... some random genius who figured out the loophole first,"
"Wait a second, I'm confused," Scott interrupted suddenly
"If we set up the party outside... then why did the grinch come here? Shouldn't he have been outside where we were?"
"Yeah, that was on purpose," Stiles smirked back
"I figured the same thing you did about the grinch being able to sniff out our ploy, so Derek and I set up a second lure, left a gate open near the stables and planned a tiny 'party' for two here, Cora is outside as we speak hanging a 'happy birthday' streamer in front of the exit of the stables, and if you'll look over Derek's shoulder there....."
Scott, indeed, glanced over Derek's shoulder, eyebrows raising in confusion as he spied a little cupcake with a candle in the center set on a fold-out table in the center of the stable
"So.... you plotted two fake birthday parties, assuming that the grinch would assume the bigger one was fake and basically herded him right to Derek?"
"Pretty much, I even made sure Derek was stationed near the reindeer so it would be extra tempting," Stiles mused proudly
"How the HELL did you know this would work?" Scott frowned
"I didn't, but it was a pretty good guess, don't you think?"
The werewolf seemed considerably less impressed by that than Stiles had hoped he would
"All of that... for a risk that you didn't even know would pay off?"
"Life is a risk that you don't know will pay off Scotty,"
"What- ... that doesn't even make any sense!"
"It makes plenty of sense," Derek shrugged easily
Scott looked shocked and appalled by that statement
"It doesn't really matter right now anyway, the point is that, for now, we've put an end to this, it isn't a long term solution but... we're working on a longterm solution, Christmas Eve is tommorrow, I say we put this all behind us and enjoy it,"
For once, Scott actually seemed to be in agreement with that, and when Stiles glanced over his shoulder, caught a glimpse at Derek's smiling face, he determined that the other werewolf was too
~+~
Watching Santa fly off on Christmas Eve was always magical, no matter how old you were or how many times you had seen it, it never stopped being one of the finest moments of your life
Atleast, that was Derek's opinion
He was lucky that he was on a team that got to be up close and personal with that moment every year
"Derek! There you are!"
He was not too proud to admit that the sudden sound of Stiles' voice made him jump, his heart hammering as he turned around to greet the yeti
"Stiles, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the end-of-year party?"
Sure that thing had already been going for several hours and Derek was just out here star-gazing, replaying the take off in his head, letting his mind wander...
But he still didn't expect Stiles to be out and missing the party, even just the end of it
"I came to get you," the yeti replied brightly, holding his hand out for Derek
"O-Oh... I'm... really not much of a party perso-"
"We aren't going to the end-of-year party, just... c'mon,"
Even though part of him hated to admit it, he had come to really trust Stiles and his spontaneity, so with only minor reluctance, he obeyed, climbing to his feet and letting the yeti take him by the hand and lead him off to...
The cafe'?
Admittedly, Derek hadn't been expecting that
"Come on," Stiles encouraged yet again, taking Derek by the hand this time and leading him inside
At first Derek wasn't sure why he was making such a big deal of this year when he hadn't in years previous, but then they actually stepped into the cafe' and-
"Surprise!!!!"
He wipped his attention over to Stiles, who looked incredibly smug about the entire thing
"You..."
"Happy birthday Derek!!"
He could feel himself getting more and more emotional by the moment
He hadn't celebrated his birthday- really, really celebrated it- since his family died...
And now....
"Here, open mine first,"
He blinked in surprise when Stiles suddenly shoved a small, nicely wrapped box towards him, not even giving him the chance to really look around at the party that was waiting for him
"That's just your birthday gift, you don't get your Christmas gift until tommorrow," he winked playfully, wich just made Derek all the more curious about it
But he restrained himself, focusing only on the birthday gift as he carefully tore open the wrapping papper and took the lid off of the box
What stared back at him took his breath away
It was a little Christmas ornament, of a black wolf with blue eyes wearing a party hat and sitting in front of a birthday cake
It was... kind of ridiculous looking actually, but that was what made it so endearing
"I uh... I'm probably not gonna end up on the ornament team, so that's probably the only one that'll ever exist but-"
Derek was so overwelmed with happiness, with gratitude, that he didn't even let Stiles finish speaking, he just tugged him closer and kissed him as hard and passionately as he could
It definitely took Stiles a moment to actually catch up, but once he did he was just as eager as Derek, kissing back, holding the wolf, making him feel treasured and wanted in ways he never had before
The only thing that finally made Derek tear away was the fear that he might drop the ornament
"Thank you Stiles,"
"Don't mention it, I should be the one thanking you after what you did for me with the diner,"
Frowning, Derek immediately shot Kira a disappointed glance, and she responded by ducking her head and wincing
"Sorry... I couldn't help it! He was stressing so much over this contest thing it just... spilled out!"
"But," Stiles said suddenly, luring Derek's attention back towards him
"I'm glad she told me, now I can politely decline if the baking division accepts,"
That.... was definitely not what Derek had been expecting
"What? But you-"
"Want to bake, and cook, and not spend all day standing in a box on a hill waiting on someone to do something, this way I actually get some control over what I make, when I work, and what I delegate to who... plus I get to see you during work wich is AWESOME, and if you need my skills for anything security or detectivey related- and you definitely will- I can just hand the reins to Kira for the day and help you out,"
"You've thought of everything haven't you?" Derek smirked teasingly
"Yeah, that's one thing you're gonna find out about me REAL fast, I'm a preplanner, I'm already working on next year's birthday party,"
"Are you serious?" the werewolf asked in ... some tragic mix of shock and disbeleif, turning to Scott and deciding to ask him to confirm
"Is he serious?"
"Unfortunately....." the younger wolf sighed
"It'll be WAY better than this one," Stiles said with assurance
"I don't know about that," Derek smirked back, turning his attention back to the yeti and leaning in closer
"I'm pretty fond of this one as it is,"
"Yeah? You deserve to be, it's your birthday Derek, a celebration of the day you were born, that deserves to be celebrated in the highest regard,"
Derek didn't quite agree with that, he didn't see any reason to celebrate his birth any more than anyone else's, or any other day of the year even, but he had to admit, it certainly was nice
And he had a feeling he'd start to really enjoy it with Stiles at the helm of party construction
"Still.. thank you,"
Stiles only shook his head, his expression warm and soft as he pressed a loving, chaste kiss on the wolf's lips
"Happy birthday Derek,"