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Derek has never seen the purpose of giving someone cut flowers as a present.
They’re only alive for a few days, smell way too strong in the meantime, and seem completely useless for anything other than some sort of aesthetic decoration.
Utterly and profoundly ridiculous.
He’s a little surprised to find that Stiles does not share that sentiment.
Stiles seems to see flowers as a catch-all kind of gift, and one that can be used for all sorts of reasons. For example:
He gives Melissa baby’s breath whenever she has a truly grueling shift, and on certain holidays that celebrate mothers, a pained but caring look in his eyes whenever her own go soft and sad as she pulls him close.
He gives Allison orchids whenever the anniversary of her mother’s death and the night the Nogitsune tried to kill her comes around. He winces with the delivery and they always talk a bit before Stiles needs to leave, still not really able to stand being near the girl despite protests to the contrary.
Stiles has given Lydia astrids whenever the ‘strawberry blond’ has felt low, or whenever Jackson has been particularly dickish. It makes her smile, no matter how she might deny it, and there is still a part of Stiles that preens at that.
So, when Derek sees Stiles standing outside his door with a hesitant smile and a yellow rose, he knows exactly what the man means.
And he finds that there is one occasion when flowers aren’t such a dumb gift after all.