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“I’m gonna talk to him.”
Kira almost choked on the Sprite she was drinking, turning to give Stiles an incredulous look. He could understand, because she knew him well, and while he was eccentric and kind of out there most of the time, he tended to chicken out whenever he was faced with the prospect of getting laid.
Not that he thought he was going to get laid, per se. Stiles had absolutely no delusions of getting laid with the gorgeous man across the large room, but he wanted to at least know his name and hear his voice so he could have wet dreams about him later, not to mention it was good fodder for his spank bank.
“Yeah right,” Kira said, clearly not believing him, as he’d suspected she wouldn’t.
Stiles was going to do it, though. He had to. He had no idea whose date the gorgeous man was, but he’d never seen him before so he was obviously someone’s plus one. That was the shitty thing about these office Christmas parties. Stiles hated meeting people’s spouses or partners and having to pretend he gave a shit about them.
The only reason he cared about Kira’s was because it was Scott, aka his best friend since birth. So really, he didn’t need to talk to Scott. Not that he could, the guy had gone to get food like, an hour ago, and still hadn’t come back. Stiles suspected he was over by the dessert table trying to clean them out. He’d been stress eating ever since Kira got pregnant.
“I’m gonna do it,” Stiles insisted. Because, really, when was he ever going to see this guy again? Never. He was a plus one, he was never going to see him again. So even if he made an ass of himself, it would be worth it. He’d literally kill someone to have the guy just look at him.
Kira gave another hum of disbelief, and Stiles was going to make her eat her words! Or... swallow her hum? Whatever, he was going to make her regret it!
Squaring his shoulders, he downed the rest of his wine before setting it on the nearest table, then began to move forward across the room, weaving between various tables and people. He nodded and smiled when someone recognized him, but he didn’t stop. He grabbed another glass of wine from a passing waiter just for a little bit of extra courage, drinking down half of it and then walking purposefully up to the gorgeous, bearded man.
The guy looked uncomfortable, and like he’d rather be anywhere else, playing with the lip of his glass nervously. It looked like scotch, as far as Stiles could tell. The gorgeous man was staring off across the room, evidently keeping an eye on his date, and even though Stiles knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with him, he still moved up right beside him and spoke.
“Hi there!”
The guy jumped, evidently not having noticed him, and turned to look at him. He seemed surprised, as if not understanding why anyone was speaking to him. Stiles could imagine it would be boring being someone’s date to a work thing, not knowing anyone. He probably just wanted to go home and pound his partner into the mattress.
God, what Stiles wouldn’t give for a nice, solid pounding from this guy.
“Hi,” he said somewhat uncomfortably, but he managed a small, tight smile and angled himself a bit towards Stiles.
“You looked a little lonely, so I thought I’d come keep you company,” Stiles informed him, taking another large sip of wine. Liquid courage. All liquid courage.
“Thanks. There’s a lot of people, it’s kind of intimidating.”
“Yeah, for sure,” Stiles agreed, looking back out into the crowd and sipping his wine again. “Nice venue, though.”
“Food’s good,” the guy offered.
“Mm.” Stiles hummed his agreement, though he hadn’t eaten anything yet and couldn’t actually confirm that. But, it was conversation. “I’m Stiles, by the way.”
“Derek.”
Hot bearded man was named Derek, Stiles could die happy. What a great name. What a nice, solid name. It suited him. He looked like a Derek. Stiles would love to be screaming that name all night, but alas, he knew it was not to be.
“Do you know how long the party is supposed to be?” Derek asked.
“Not sure, actually,” Stiles admitted. “A couple more hours, I’m guessing.”
“Great.” Derek took a large swallow of his own drink, letting out a slow breath before glancing at Stiles once more. “How’s your company?”
“Oh, I can make an hour feel like five,” Stiles informed him with a grin.
Derek laughed a little. Actually laughed. God, Stiles was killing this! Setting himself up for inevitable failure and heartbreak, but at least he’d made him laugh.
“Maybe I don’t want to keep you around, then.” Derek gave him a brief once over, sipping at his drink once more, and Stiles wished he could look into the comment more than he knew he could.
“You’d be missing out,” Stiles teased, finishing off his glass of wine and setting it aside on one of the closest tables. “I like your tie, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Derek tugged on it lightly. It was blue with a bunch of black and white wolves on it. Somehow, it looked really good on him. Not at all cheesy. “I didn’t know how formal this was, and it’s the only tie I own.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure, either. I’ve never had to come to one of these before.” Stiles’ boss had ordered he make an appearance. Him and Kira both, which was why they’d bothered to show up. Usually they skipped the office party. It was always full of higher ups and pompous, overpaid pricks who introduced themselves and then went, “Oh, you’re Stiles.” before giving him a look and walking away.
But, they had a new boss in their department this year, and attendance was compulsory. So here he was. He kept trying to keep an eye on his boss so he could leave when he did, but that had been before he’d spotted Mr. Tall, Dark and Awkward but also Gorgeous. Now, his boss might be home, and he wouldn’t even notice.
He just thought office parties were so stupid. Nobody really spoke to people outside their own area that they didn’t already know, and his work always had them on Thursdays in an attempt to discourage people from over-imbibing. It never worked, most of the time people called in sick the following day and the various departments suffered for it. Thursday parties were dumb.
But at least he had an interesting reason to stick around, now.
Stiles had just opened his mouth to say something else, when he heard someone call his name. He turned and saw Kira motioning towards the food, likely telling him she was going to hunt down Scott. Stiles smiled endearingly at her, because she was rubbing at her baby bump with her other hand. He just nodded in understanding before turning back to Derek.
His eyes snapped back to Stiles, having been looking across the way at Kira. A little furrow formed in the middle of his forehead, but he didn’t say anything.
Stiles didn’t really know what to talk about with Derek, mostly because all he ever talked about in his personal life was work. He needed to find new things to talk about, apparently.
Deciding movies was the safest bet, he asked Derek what he’d been watching lately, or if he had any desire to watch any of the new movies out. He didn’t seem like much of a talker, but he watched Stiles so intently whenever Stiles was speaking that it kept giving him chills.
The good kind of chills. The kind that made him feel like he was going to be devoured and enjoy every second of it. God, this guy was attractive, and while that was the real reason he’d wandered over to begin with, he actually found he enjoyed his company a lot. He looked kind of grumpy, but he was actually really nice.
They migrated a little closer to the wall when other people began to sit at the tables near them, wanting to keep speaking without being interrupted or having to make friendly with people. Stiles figured Derek wouldn’t have to worry about that, since he didn’t know anyone, but Stiles didn’t want to get cornered by any of the assholes he worked with.
After movies, they moved on to books, and had a rather heated debate about which Harry Potter book was the best one. Stiles was adamant it was the third, because Harry had family and a link to his father, and just so many feel good things like the Marauder’s Map, and Hagrid becoming a professor, and Lupin, and all that good stuff.
Derek insisted the seventh book was the best, because it was the climax, and explained so many things about characters we thought we knew but didn’t. Like Draco actually being a decent human being for not ratting Harry out, and Narcissa lying to Voldemort, and the final battle.
Stiles insisted that book was the worst because of who’d died, and while Derek had agreed his soul had been crushed at some of them, he still maintained it was the best book of the series.
They decided to agree to disagree and moved on to favourite food, for some reason. Stiles suspected it was because he was hungry, and he noticed there weren’t very many people by the food anymore.
“Did you wanna grab some food?” he asked Derek, motioning the table. “Looks like it’s pretty empty now.”
Derek turned to look at where he was pointing and shrugged. “Sure, I could eat. I was mostly eating the finger food going around earlier. Just don’t abandon me.”
“Only if you steal the last cheesecake,” Stiles winked.
Derek smiled, moving to walk alongside him while they headed for the food. Stiles was actually really enjoying their conversation, and even though he was bummed he wasn’t going to go home with this guy, he actually wanted to get his number in a purely platonic way before the end of the night. They had a lot in common—barring favourite Harry Potter book—and Derek was interesting.
When he spoke, anyway.
Stiles picked up a plate, handing it back to Derek, and then grabbed his own, beginning to move down the buffet-style line and taking a few things here and there. He let out a small whoop of joy when he saw pulled pork sliders and grabbed three of them, along with some spaghetti, a white-cream sauce pasta, a few chicken wings, some cornbread, and a spoonful of peas so he could insist he’d actually eaten some vegetables today when his dad asked him tomorrow.
They moved to the side, but stayed by the food, mostly because a majority of the people had migrated across the large area to the tables.
Stiles stuffed one of the pulled pork sliders into his mouth, eying Derek’s plate to see what he’d gotten. He had a little bit of everything on his, but seemed amused by what Stiles had.
“I take it you like pulled pork?”
“Pulled pork is amazing,” Stiles agreed with a grin, feeling juices dribbling down his chin. He hastily wiped at it with the back of his hand, a little embarrassed, but Derek just laughed.
When he’d just opened his mouth to say something else, he paused and shifted his gaze to the side. Stiles followed it and jumped when he found Kira right in his space, one hand on his shoulder while leaning into him.
“I’m really tired, so I’m heading home, okay?” She kissed his cheek, as she’d been doing for years, because she was cute that way. “I’ll see you later.”
“Okay, drive safe.” He knew she would be the one driving, considering Scott had been drinking.
Kira smiled at him, then nodded to Derek before walking off towards the exit. Scott was standing by the door, wearing his coat and holding Kira’s. He raised one hand in farewell and Stiles waved back before focussing on Derek once more, who hadn’t moved an inch. He was scowling down into his plate, playing with the edge of his cornbread until a piece broke off and he popped it into his mouth.
Stiles took a bite of his pasta, trying to remember what they’d been talking about when Derek spoke again.
“So, is it a boy, or a girl?”
“It’s gonna be a surprise,” Stiles informed him with a small smile. He was actually really excited, because he’d already been asked to be the kid’s Godparent, and he’d legitimately teared up when he’d been asked, which had made Scott tear up, and they both ended up freaking out at each other because Scott was going to be a dad.
“Any names picked out?”
“Alexa if it’s a girl, and Bradley if it’s a boy.” Stiles shrugged. “I had way better names picked out, but my vote was vetoed.”
Really, Milosz was not a bad name. And much easier to pronounce than Mieczyslaw.
And spell.
“Those are nice names,” Derek said, but he was speaking into his plate and looked like he was a little upset. Or maybe annoyed? It was hard to tell.
“Eh, they’re okay,” Stiles said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. He’d just opened his mouth to ask Derek a question when he almost dropped his plate and let out a strangled sound at someone slapping his ass hard, likely leaving a fucking bruise. He whipped around to see a grinning Erica, and scowled slightly. “What the fuck, dude, I could’ve dropped my food.”
“Oh, cry me a river.” Erica rolled her eyes and leaned into him, resting one arm against his shoulder and nodding to Derek. “Hey Derek.”
“Hey Erica,” Derek said, frowning a little and glancing between her and Stiles.
For a second, Stiles thought maybe Derek was Erica’s date, but she was married to a guy named Vernon, so it couldn’t be him. But maybe her husband couldn’t make it? Or maybe she knew Derek because she knew whoever his date was?
“Stiles make you want to buy earplugs yet?”
“Hey, rude.” Stiles shrugged her arm off his shoulder. “I am a delight, I’ll have you know.”
“Mmhm. I see you haven’t raided the dessert table yet. Better hurry up before Greenburg gets there.”
That was true, actually, and Stiles turned to crane his neck towards the dessert table to make sure the little cheesecakes he’d seen earlier were still there. They were, thank God. He’d have to move quickly, but he wanted to finish his plate first.
“You two know each other?” Derek asked slowly, making Stiles face him again.
“Oh yeah, Stiles and I chat all the time.” Erica pinched his cheek and he elbowed her, trying to get her off him. “Hey, did you ever resolve that issue with Whittemore’s registration in North Carolina?”
“No,” Stiles insisted, annoyed. “Ugh, that guy drives me insane. I’ve told him so many times it’s a model three state, and the registration requirements are extensive, and he just keeps ignoring my requests for him to complete the paperwork. I figure I’m gonna talk to his boss next, because we’re offside with legislation right now since he’s servicing someone in a state he’s not licensed in.”
Stiles immediately felt bad, realizing he was talking about work in front of someone who had no idea what they were even saying. He turned to apologize to Derek, but the words stuck in his throat at the expression on his face.
He was just staring at Stiles like he’d never seen him before.
“Wait, what?” Derek asked.
“What?” Stiles repeated.
“You work here?”
“Oh, yeah.” Stiles laughed a little, realizing Derek probably thought he was also a date, given he’d spent the evening speaking to him. “I work in Registrations on the second floor. It’s kind of a boring job, to be honest, but at least I get to bug Erica all the time to get her team to send me emails when there are changes.”
“Yes, I so look forward to your emails,” she said sarcastically.
Derek was still staring at him like he was speaking another language. It was kind of making Stiles feel like he’d done something wrong.
“You okay there, Derek?” Erica poked him in the cheek. “Why do you look like a deer in headlights right now?”
“I just—I had no idea you worked here,” Derek said, answering Erica’s question, but speaking to Stiles.
“Well, I do.” He offered a smile. “I just thought you looked a little lonely, what with not knowing anyone and all that.”
Erica snorted. “What are you talking about? Derek probably knows more people in this room than you do. You deal with them once a year, he deals with them every day.”
Stiles turned to stare at her, positive he’d misheard. “What?”
“Derek works in Settlements,” Erica insisted, motioning him. “How did you not know this? I’m literally harassing him at least once a day because people ride my ass so I ride his.” She frowned, looking between them. “Huh. Actually, how do you guys know each other? I mean, I’m New Accounts, I literally talk to every department, but Registrations and Settlements never overlap.”
Holy shit! All this time, Stiles thought Derek was someone’s date and Derek thought Stiles was someone’s date. He actually burst out laughing because it was so ridiculous. They could’ve cleared all of this up just by asking each other where they worked, but neither had touched the employment topic.
“Wait, you guys didn’t know you both worked here?!” Erica demanded before joining Stiles in his hyena impression.
“It’s not that funny,” Derek insisted, though he was chuckling a little himself.
“I thought you were someone’s date!” Stiles said, still laughing and wiping at his left eye with one hand, feeling moisture threatening to spill over. “Oh God, we’re so dumb. Shit. Well, nice to meet you, Derek from Settlements.”
“You too, Stiles from Registrations.”
“Oh!” Erica turned and slapped at Stiles. “Oh, oh! Is Kira here? She was going to introduce me to her husband!”
“She was, but she was tired so they left a few minutes ago.”
“Shoot.” Erica pouted, then cocked an eyebrow at Derek. Stiles turned back to him and saw him gaping at Stiles.
“Wait, that wasn’t your wife?” Derek demanded.
“Who, Kira?” God, like Stiles could be that lucky, really. People like Kira and Derek were way out of his league. Even Erica was out of his league. “Nah, she’s my best friend’s wife. I’ve known him since like, grade one and her since grade nine. We’re all super close. I’m the baby’s Godparent.” He puffed his chest out proudly.
“So, you’re not here with a date, and she’s not your wife,” Derek said slowly. “Are you single?”
“Of course he is, look at his haircut,” Erica teased.
“Hey!” Stiles shoved her, pretending to glare. “My hair is fine, thank you very much. And yes, sadly, I’m very single. Why?”
The wide-eyed look he got from Derek was a little confusing, but the one that followed made him stiffen with realization. Derek’s expression turned predatory and his eyes did another slow rake down his body and then back up and holy. Fucking. Shit.
“Wait. Wait, are you single?!” Stiles demanded.
“I swear, this is the most entertaining conversation I’ve witnessed all night, and I was stuck with a drunk Finstock earlier,” Erica said from beside him, grabbing his plate from his numb fingers and beginning to eat one of his remaining pulled pork sliders, looking back and forth between them.
“Do you want to have coffee?” Derek blurted out in response. “Right now? You can grab a cheesecake to go, I won’t judge, but uh, coffee?”
“Yes!” Stiles almost shouted it, but managed to refrain, patting his pockets urgently in search of his coat tag. “Yes, coffee. Coffee is delicious, I love coffee.”
“I make great coffee. At my apartment. Which is down the street.”
“I love apartments,” Stiles informed him, moving forward so that Derek turned and led the way towards the coat check.
“Things were just getting entertaining, don’t leave me here!” Erica called from behind them, but neither slowed in their hasty retreat to the exit.
They both gave their coat tags to the woman at the same time, staring intently at one another while waiting impatiently for her to come back with their coats. Stiles almost said ‘fuck it’ but he really liked his coat.
When they finally got them back, Stiles sped-walked to the elevator, Derek keeping up with him, and stabbed incessantly at the down button. They entered the lift when it arrived, and the second the doors closed, Stiles grabbed Derek’s lapels and yanked him down, crushing their lips together. Derek didn’t seem to mind, one hand sliding into his hair and the other around his waist. He was a very enthusiastic kisser, and Stiles loved it.
“I was watching you all night,” Derek admitted when they broke apart, kissing along Stiles’ neck and then back up. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, I was trying so hard to walk over and talk to you.”
“Fuck,” Stiles moaned, eyes sliding shut. “I was watching you all night! I can’t believe you thought I was with Kira!”
“I was positive you were just being friendly when you came over to chat.” Derek kissed him again, tongue in his mouth. Stiles didn’t have any complaints, tugging Derek closer with the material in his hands.
The ding of the elevator forced them to pull apart, and Stiles felt a little embarrassed when one of the VPs on his floor was on the other side of the elevator doors, arm looped with his wife’s.
“Stiles,” the man said, amused.
“Deaton,” Stiles said awkwardly. “We were just leaving.”
“Have a good night.”
The amused look in his eye suggested he knew they were going to have a great night.
Stiles hurried out after Derek, the two of them exiting the hotel quickly. It was cold out, but Derek reached out and took Stiles’ hand, offering him a small smile that had Stiles beaming.
It was a terrible, terrible idea for their office to have their Christmas party on a Thursday.
Stiles didn’t think he or Derek would be at work tomorrow.
Thank God his boss had forced him to come to this stupid party.
END.