Stiles dad didn't believe him when he told him about the new job he'd just got. It takes twenty minutes of him repeating 'I swear, Dad. It's not a joke,' during their weekly skype call to get the Sheriff to even stop laughing. When Stiles stands in front of the webcam in full costume the laughing starts up again louder and seemingly never ending. Once he manages to calm down fifteen minutes later, (seriously, dad?) his dad congratulates him on finally finding job. It only takes Stiles standing in full costume, wig, tights and all, to make him believe him. But Stiles doesn't blame him because at first, even he couldn't believe that he got a job as Peter Pan at Disney Land.
His dad's final demand is that pictures be sent to his phone just so he has something to show the girls at work.
Stiles has been in line for what feels like forever to get into this interview. He hadn't expected it to be such an big thing, by the looks of it the employer had just put out an open call for anyone and everyone, and they all showed. The line hasn't budged in over an hour and Stiles is this close to just giving in and heading home. There are only so many games of Temple Run he can play on his phone before he's ready to throw it against the wall.
Waiting wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't missed breakfast in the rush to get here, the steady rumbling of his stomach is distracting and he's sure that its starting to gain the attention of the others waiting around Stiles. The hunger is made worse by the McDonald's across the street taunting him, he's seriously considering running over for a BLT and a coffee but the line finally starts moving. He along with about a hundred other people are herded into a waiting room which results in even more waiting. (Thankfully there's a chairs and a vending machine.)
It's only a fifteen minute wait, which feels like nothing after being outside for so long. Everyone waiting is sorted into smaller groups with then sent periodically through the one door on the far side of the room.
Stiles is pretty sure he's at the wrong place considering how the majority of people are dressed as if they're about to break out into a choreographed dance at any moment. Clearly he missed the memo stating all applicants must come in their fanciest tights.
Then he notices the guy doing the splits in one of the corners of the room he definitely knows he doesn't fit in.
He dodges looks from the other people waiting, maybe it's all of them who stood in the wrong line up this morning and he'll get hired by default, who wants to hire a ride operator in leopard tights?
The energy in the room shifts when someone enters the room and tells them to all line up, everyone starts standing a bit straighter with forced smiles on their faces. All Stiles' doubts about this interview are doubled when his group is finally sent through the door and into the room.
A lady down the line applicants, appraising them all with just a quick sweep of her eyes. She's followed by a young girl with a clip board scribbling down notes. Stiles can hear the ladies mumbling from his spot near the end of the line. She pauses only twice before she gets to him and by this point he's ready for any rude remark she might say before he's sent on his way.
Clammy fingers press under Stiles' chin forcing his head up from staring at his shoes. Stiles and the hiring lady locked eyes. He has to bite hard at the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face. Her hair is such a bright shade of red it almost hurts his eyes and her blue eye shadow didn't help tame his laughter. The Mickey Mouse earrings dangling from her ears are large and much too sparkly for his tastes, but she's able to pull them off.
She drops her hold on him and clicks her tongue a few times while staring at him.
"Peter," the lady says to her assistant trailing behind her, then starts to continue down the line.
"No, I'm Stiles." Stiles says slowly after clearing his throat. His name is written on the resume he handed in as he entered the room, the same one he can see on the assistant's clipboard. The lady stops from where she's moved onto the next person and turns back to look at him. She raises one thinly drawn on eye brow at him.
"You're here for the character auditions, are you not?" She asks, Stiles can just see how her assistant is gaping at him from the corner of his eye. He ignores the feeling of the rest of the room's eyes on him and nods quickly.
It suddenly makes so much sense, he's never seen so many people in leotards in one place. Save for the one time his mom had wanted him to try something new and suggested ballet.
It would be so easy for him to high tail it out of there. But he holds his ground and nods, he's not about to pass this opportunity up. He really needs this job, he can only survive on ramen noodles for so long. He's never so firmly believed in the statement "desperate times call for desperate measures," until now.
"Good," the lady hums, giving him the once over again before moving down the line. "Did you see his nose?" She whispers to her assistant, Stiles thinks, he could be hearing things.
It ends up being just Stiles and five other people from his group that make it through. How he made it, Stiles will never know. Showing up an interview for a job you hadn't originally known you were applying for doesn't usually work out this well.
"Next time come more prepared." The hiring managers assistant calls to him as he passes her on his way out. He back tracks to where she is standing and the two of them end up leaning against the side of the building while everyone else clears out. She side eyes his tights and he doesn't blame her despite how uncomfortable he feels. They're indecently tight but he's grateful one of the other guys was willing to lend them to him. Stiles wouldn't have been able to do half the things he needed to if the guy hadn't.
Her name's Stacey or Sarah- he couldn't be bothered to remember when she introduced herself right before they started the acting portion of auditions.
"This was not what I was expecting." Stiles tells her honestly. It really wasn't, he shouldn't be tugging at a borrowed pair of tights that are just a tad too tight around his thighs. He also shouldn't getting hopeful about a job he didn't even know he was applying for.
"You got the job." Stacey/Sarah tells him after a minute, a smile coming across her face when she notices how his shoulders visibly sag and relax. "It was your nose."
Stiles won't admit to half the things he had to do to get his job. They had him jumping through hoops, literally. He will stand by the fact that he was desperate and it was either this or working at a 7-11 on some street corner. He's all for a simpler job, but thanks to his nose, his nose, he got one which pays much better. And by much better he means way better.
They must have been desperate to find someone to fill the opening, or the lady working for Disney who hired must have been a bit deranged because he's now standing in a dressing room being fitted for his Peter Pan outfit not even a week later.
The tights are too- well, tight and the tunic is itchy. But, Stiles holds his tongue, he just got the job and isn't about to start complaining and end up fired before even having a shift. The wig has to be the best part of the costume, he can tell it's expensive and new (he's pretty sure the hair is human and he's not sure how he feels about that.) It's the only part of the outfit that actually seems to fit him right.
His first day of actually going into the park is tomorrow and he has no idea what to expect. The anticipation is killing him; it's sitting heavy in the pit of his stomach.
Stiles is sure that he's more then prepared for the role as Peter now. Usually, they say it takes about a month or more of training before a new employee is completely qualified. He was hired on such a whim because of the demand for a new Peter Pan, the previous one quitting suddenly, that all his training was put on overdrive. They had him watching training videos for his first four training shifts. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't all they have him do. By the end of his fifth shift Stiles was pretty sure he could give that Spieling Peter Pan guy a run for his money.
But actually going into the park is going to be a whole different thing. He's been studying the thick manual he was given during his first training shift constantly. Reading it turned out to be harder than he expected, it was filled with rules, expectations and different facts about the park and his character specifically.
The hours of scenario training were tedious but extreme necessary ; teaching Stiles how to handle practically every kind of person or situation he may run into while working.
He only has one more test consisting of a written portion followed by him acting out scenarios in the morning of his first in-park shift that decides if he's truly ready of not.
Apparently cramming the night before does help because Stiles passes the test with a near perfect score.
He ends up starting the same day as another guy who finishes the test about a half an hour after him. Stiles can tell exactly who he's supposed to be before he even asks. The guy introduces himself as Scott; he's got a big goofy grin as they exchange horror stories about their interviews. Scott's resemblance to Aladdin is pretty bang on with the mop of brown hair and his big brown eyes.
Stiles would have hated anyone else who did it but when Scott lifts his shirt and runs an appreciative hand over his abs he just laughs.
"They're the reason I got the job." Scott claims, but Stiles could beg to differ. It could have also been his infectious smile and his carefree attitude that got him hired. The two of them click instantly, sticking together for the whole day as they're given the run down about the job.
The manager introduces himself as Boyd, he had a no nonsense attitude about him, so when Stiles ask him why he's not smiling because "this is the happiest place in earth," he gives him the once over and continues on reciting the rules as if Stiles hadn't said anything.
"There's a certain reputation we need to uphold," Boyd says in conclusion. "You've been hired because you have the look that the company wants and they believe you will be able to represent Disney positively. Don't prove them wrong."
He gives the small group of them, maybe ten people, a hard look. Boyd manages to stare into the soul into each person with just sweep of his eyes. Pushing the fact that there won't be any funny business while working here.
"I'm going to assign you to work with someone who has experience with the character you've been hired for." Boyd tells he group, then starts matching the newbie's schedules with the people's on his clip board.
Boyd clears his throat when he gets to the end of the line, standing in front of Stiles until he gets his attention.
"The last Peter Pan came down with mono, that's why you were hired so quickly. Ideally, you would have been paired with him for the day." Boyd sounds unimpressed as his eyes drifted over the names on his clipboard. "There's only one other guy on staff right now who has been Peter. Briefly."
Boyd waves his clipboard in the direction of a guy sitting the back corner of the room, his head buried in a book. He only looks up when Boyd calls his name a few times and motions him over.
"Stiles, this is Isaac." Boyd introduces him shortly, then leaves the two of them staring at each other. Neither of them say anything, Stiles keeps the smile plastered on his face as Isaac watches him expectantly. Stiles clears his throat, the guy isn't giving him anything.
"So, any advice? What should I expect?" Stiles asks, and Isaac's expression instantly changes. A grin breaks across his face and he motions for Stiles to follow him back the corner where he was seated before.
Then comes the flood of information from Isaac. Once he gets started he doesn't seem to stop.
"I think the most important thing is to watch out for the moms. I find they're very likely to cop a feel." Isaac says in all seriousness, a laugh escapes before Stiles can help it.
"I'm not kidding." Isaac adds, the smile gone from his face. His eyes are wide and he stares at Stiles, waiting for it to sink in. "Just watch out for the single moms."
It takes a while but eventually Isaac ends up talking his ear off. He admits that he doesn't actually have a lot of experience as Peter.
"I lasted maybe three shifts. Peter is seriously hard, you're going to be in high demand." Isaac warns him. They've outlasted a lot of the other pairings, most have which have left to wander around the park together.
Stiles and Isaac hang back instead as Isaac goes over his seemingly infinite mental list of tips that Stiles ends up being extremely grateful for. He gives Stiles pointers on how to manage crowds when it gets too overwhelming, the best places to hide out for a while and how to manage those handsy moms.
"Oh, watch out for the guy who plays Hook, he can be a bit standoffish sometimes." Is Isaac's final tip before he has to get ready for his shift as Sleeping Beauty's Prince Phillip.
Stiles talk with Isaac gets him really pumped for his first day in the park, so excited that he ends up wearing his tights under his jeans on his first day as Peter, but he wouldn't say he's over excited. Just moderately so.
Boyd tells him they usually send Peter out with Captain Hook but the regular guy who plays him is off for the day. Instead, Stiles is sent out with Tinker Bell, she ends up being perfectly in character from the moment they meet.
It's a rush of tiny little children surrounding them as soon as their spotted walking from the hidden cast area. He suddenly knows that it must be like to be famous with all of them screaming his name, well Peter, over and over. It would be daunting if any of them actually reached his shoulders.
Erica, his Tinker Bell, handles it like a pro. It's her second summer working at Disneyland so the idea of little kids pulling at her costume doesn't even faze her anymore. The character works perfectly for her, within meeting her he can already tell that she projects the same attitude as the fairy.
Whenever Erica notices him getting tired, and really who can blame him the job his hard even though it's just the first day, she pinches his bum or grabs his waist to break him from his reverie. Personal boundaries forgotten, Erica doesn't hold back at all.
They pose for pictures together, he never realized the popularity of Peter Pan. The number of people who stand in line to see them seems infinite. The line is finally cut off by a by a cast so they can take a much needed break. With the sun beating down on the them and the constant standing, Stiles is more than grateful for the house comfy couches in the cast room. He collapses in one immediately and sucks back the contents of the water bottle Erica passes him.
She sits across from him with her legs propped up on the table while she files her nails.
"So, how do you like it so far?" She asks. Stiles just shrugs, after only a day he hadn't made any definite conclusions yet. It was a bit overwhelming, all the people looking to get your attention, but he doesn't want to tell her that. It's just something he has to get used to. "And is everyone being nice to you?"
"Yeah, mostly. Though, the guy in the Winnie the Pooh costume gave me some attitude this morning." Erica nods.
"Yeah, that's Matt. He can be a dick." She stands up and readjusts her tiny and incredibly sparkly dress. "Have you met Derek yet?" Erica practically purrs as she cocks an eyebrow at him.
"No, who is-" Stiles asks, but Boyd comes into the room, beckoning for Erica to follow him.
"We need you for the parade now." Boyd calls to her and shuts the door behind him. Erica passes Stiles and ran her fingers through his perfectly styled red wig, successfully messing it up.
"Well that's my cue. See ya."
All the changing rooms are full when Stiles gets in to work, but considering how much of his coworkers bodies he's already seen on the few days he's been working, they seem to have no sense of modesty, he figures changing in the main room while all the changing rooms are occupied is no big deal.
He's come to the conclusion that he should be eternally grateful he was hired as a face character and not stuck in suit for whole shifts. He's glad to have the ability to actually talk tot guest and smile in pictures. Also the whole not being in a hot stinky suit is a definite plus.
You'd think that getting into a costume would be easy but at this point Stiles is sure he'd have better luck getting himself into the Tigger suit. There are three holes in the damn tunic yet he can't mange to get his head through one. He's flailing about, pushing his head and arms in different directions in a desperate attempt to get it on but the tops is just so constricting.
"Fuck it," Stiles mutters as he rips it off leaving him standing in just his tights and the ridiculous brown moccasin shoes they make him wear. It's cold in the room so sooner he gets this thing on the better. Plus, having someone walk in on you changing when you're the new guy could be very damaging to one's reputation. He finds the head hole and is almost in the clear until the door swings open.
Stiles flails back pulling the tunic over his chest and crosses his arms. Captain Hook stands in the door way with one hand still holding it open as he stands unmoving.
"A little privacy here," he snaps at the person wearing the Hook costume. The suit is actually pretty creepy up close with the smile and the crazy eyes. He doesn't know if it's a guy or a girl in there but after a moment of them both just staring at each other, (the thinks they're staring at each other, Stiles is definitely staring but for all he knows the person in the costume could be looking anywhere but him) Hook seems to lose interest and moves into the room and finally shuts the door behind him.
Stiles doesn't say anything to him as he hastily tugs the rest of the costume over his head and settles into the awkward silence. Hooks moves towards the huge wardrobe closet without a word, he walks on the other side of the room giving Stiles a wide berth.
"So, I'm Stiles." He shuffles across the room until he's standing right in from the guy who just stands there in full costume.
Stiles huffs in annoyance when he doesn't get a response, he's about to walk away. Clearly if this guy was interested in talking to him he would have the decency to take of the huge fake head covering his own.
He gets a tingly feeling of excitement in his stomach when the guy reaches to pull of the mask. He tries to imagine what's underneath the mask, probably some pimply teenager with slicked hair, who was so desperate for a job that they agreed to wear that stuffy costume for long periods of time.
When the guy takes off his mask and it's almost like he does it in slow motion. Stiles' mouth could be hanging open right now but he does care because he's too busy etching every bit of this guys face into his memory. He would need more than the few seconds he gets of staring at him to actually figure out the color his eyes are, but right now he's stuck somewhere between a blend of hazel and green.
Stiles can get over how the guy's thick eyebrows haven't moved from being pinched together since the mask came off, he's more focused on the sharp cut of his jaw line and the dark stubble covering it.
He almost does a double take because why would they waste such a good face under a mask. Stiles wants to burn that costume. Or throw it off of the steam boat and hope it sinks to the bottom of River of America.
"Derek," is all the guy says while thrusting a hand out.
Stiles takes his hand which is much softer than he expects, it's warm and his shake is firm. And then he's pulling away and turning his back on Stiles to put away his costume. Stiles forces himself to tear his eyes away from the broad span of his shoulders, as Derek pulls off the top half of the Hook costume revealing a tight white undershirt.
Stiles lingers, searching for something to say to fill the silence but comes up short. Before he gets the chance to say something to Derek, that he'd most likely definitely regret, he's collected by as Cast Member for the beginning of his meet and greet session.
When Stiles leaves the room he's left with a weird feeling in his stomach. He gives in to the urge to turn around to catch one more glance as Derek as he leaves the room and is gets a great view of Derek slipping into a pair of fresh jeans, clearly he's above using changing rooms like the majority of their coworkers. Stiles isn't complaining.
And now all Stiles needs to know is why someone who looks like that agreed to work full shifts in the Hook costume.
Stiles rushes into work and starts throwing on his costume in a rush. He's got a few minutes before-
Derek strolls in, he's holding a half eaten chocolate covered frozen banana in one hand and his eyes glued to the phone in the other.
"Derek, hey." Stiles says coolly, he's spayed himself over a chair with his legs propped up on the table in front of him, looking like the ultimate image of calm, cool and collected.
Derek nods in his direction before throwing away the remains of his snack.
He wouldn't say their friends, not by a long shot but Stiles and Derek fall into bit of a routine. Stiles is one to show to his shift a good half an hour early, he still hasn't gotten the hang of getting himself successfully into his costume, Derek likes to cut it close, showing up with only as long as it takes him to get dressed.
"Stiles." Scott yells his name across the crowded cast room, it's not normal for the room to be so full that Scott has to actually push past people to get to Stiles. He grabs Stiles arm the a vice grip.
"You will not believe-" Scott's face lighting up like a child waking up on Christmas morning. He's constantly looking over his shoulder to where Scott's Snow White is sitting alone with head phones in and her nose buried in text book.
Stiles tries in vain to pull his arm away but Scott is relentless with dragging Stiles further from his opportunity to chat up Derek.
"I- she was so-" Scott is breathless, his eyes glazed over as he struggles to string together a coherent thought.
Scott is definitely getting a lot better. Stiles will never forget the moment Scott first saw the girl who's Snow White. He was sporting a bruise from where Scott gripped his arm for about a week after.
They entered the Cast room together having an in depth discussion over who had made a better Peter Parker in the Spiderman movies when Scott stopped dead in his tracks. The conversation lost as he spotted her sitting with Lydia at the far end of the room getting their makeup done
Stiles knew Lydia already; she'd stepped on his foot in her heels while rushing from the cast room after a shift and blamed his swollen and bruised toes on him.
Scott had turned into a blubbery mess, refusing- despite all of Stiles efforts- go over there and just talk to her. He'd even offered to go first, but Scott wasn't having it.
A lot like last time, Scott wouldn't budge as Stiles tries inching him towards where Snow White is sitting.
"No, no, no." Scott chants under his breath and pulls Stiles back until they are a safe distance away. Stiles raises an eyebrow at him, his inability to talk to Snow White is getting bad.
"What," Scott shrugs, when Stiles huffs in annoyance. "I'm not ready yet."
"Stiles." Derek calls out, he's in the Hook suit sans head. He gestures to his wrist then nods towards the door in hinting to Stiles that it's about time to get his ass in gear and start getting ready to go out.
Derek secures his head on and leaves for the beginning of his shift without Stiles. And there goes Stiles chance at talking to Derek today.
Stiles leaves the cast room in a rush, he's juggling his bag in one hand pushing the door open with the other when he walks into a body. In a rush his back is pressed against the wall of the cast room, he hadn't gotten far so he and his ambusher are still hidden from sight.
It's Erica, this time in dressed as Alice, from Alice in Wonderland. Stiles cant help but think that she suits Tinker Bell much more, her personality nothing like the naive Alice.
"I know that look," She all but purrs and with one hand she successfully holds him against the wall. "You met Derek."
"I-uh," Stiles sputters and Erica's hold on him tightens. "Yeah." He admits finally. Is this how she treats all the new people, Scott hadn't mentioned being manhandled by Erica yet.
She releases him quickly and straightens his collar before taking a step away from him. The smile on his face is almost lethal as she stares him down.
"And?" She drags the 'd' out until he cuts her off by answering.
"He was-" Stiles struggles to find what he wants to say about the guy he's barely said more than a sentence to. "Nice?"
"Have a good night, Stiles." She calls to him in a sing song voice, as she saunters to the cast room. Erica doesn't look impressed with his answer, but she accepts it.
"Peter!" the name is called over and over again. Stiles keeps walking, but the Cast Member walking around with taps him on the shoulder and he turns to see a group of girls following a bit behind him calling for him. Boyd told him based upon Peters popularity with the children (and the teenage girls) it's likely that he will always have someone accompany him incase the crowd becomes too much.
It takes him a moment to figure out that they're calling after him, getting used to responding to a new name is proving to be hard. So when he looks up at them surprised the group of girls laugh because they think it's all part of the act.
He plays it up, pointing to himself and looking around while the girls continue to laugh at his antics. He's the only idiot dressed in bright green tights. They giggle and beckon him over. And he goes. Gladly.
A few of the girls are really cute, and seem to be close to his age, but one of the rules Boyd had gone over with explicit detail was no flirting with the guests. There's a big difference between being friendly and in character and out right flirting.
They surround him and all take single pictures with him . Every one of the seven girls. Stiles doesn't know how much longer he can keep smiling before he gets a twitch in his cheek.
"We've been looking for you everywhere, Peter." One of the girl screams, and really? I'm right beside you, he wants to snap at her.
"Why would you do that?" He asks, with his hands on his hips. They all tell him how he is their favourite character and are struggling to talk over each other to hold his attention.
"Because you're cute," one of the girls at the ends adds.
"Well, have you seen Hook," He pulls his sword form his belt and points it towards where Derek stands a few meters away with his own forming crowd, pretending to scare a little girl. "He's a real looker." And as they turn in Hook's direction he takes his chance to skip away.
He can hear them calling after him but he doesn't like spending more than a couple of minutes with groups, gotta spread the Peter lovin' around.
Derek is on a half shift, which leaves Stiles alone to finish of the remained of his own. It's an off time so for once he's not immediately swarmed by people. He takes the time to wander as far as he's allowed to go in the Magic Kingdom.
He finds a spot on the bridge leading into Sleeping Beauty's castle. People pause and take pictures with him from his spot perched on the bridge. The crowd clears slowly until it's just him sitting alone. He spots Derek walking towards him, he doesn't as much as acknowledge Stiles as he passes except for a quick nod of his head.
He was sure if Derek didn't like him he would have pushed him right into the water below, so Stiles counts that as a win.
Stiles loves being Peter. Loves it. They pretty much give him free reign to do anything. So when he stands on a lamp post to wave at people as they pass no one bats an eyelash. And when he gets tired of being poked and prodded by little kids he hides in different spots that keep him out of view from guest of the park, even if it's just momentarily. He feels bad about hiding from people, this is his job and it's what he's getting paid for, but it gets overwhelming being constantly surrounded by people who are all vying for his attention even if it's only for a short time.
Stiles has taken refuge in the gap between large hedges lining the walk way from the Magic Kingdom to Frontier Land, just for a minute to give him time to catch his breath.
"Hello?" A quiet voice breaks Stiles out of his daydream. He just barely hears the voice from where's he's half hidden in the bushes. He's managed to stay out of sight from the majority of people but a small boy of maybe six manages to find him. "What are you doing in there?"
Stiles looks around, pretending to miss the boy until he waves at him and calls his "name". The little boy has such a big mop of hair on his head, Stiles is surprised he even managed to see him through it, is looking up at him.
"I'm hiding from Captain Hook. Have you seen him?" Stiles whispers and crouches down to his level. He scoots of the bushes, the little boy points not too far off where Hook is taking pictures and signing autographs.
"Thanks, I'm safe for now." Stiles says and stands up, usually by now there would be parents asking for pictures but from what Stiles can see the boy in unaccompanied. He does a quick scan of the area and doesn't see any frantic parents.
Stiles is clutches a pouch behind his back, bring it out isn't something he really likes to do but in this case he makes an exception. The way the kid is staring at him tugs at his heart and he flashes him a play full smile. He motions for the boy to sit next to him on a bench, Stiles crosses his legs under him and leans forward with his elbows on his knees.
"Can you keep a secret?" He whispers, the boy nods eagerly and inches closer.
Stiles can just see Derek in the Hook costume from the cornier of his eye, by now he's had to notices that Stiles isn't really doing what he should be doing and greeting the masses.
He brings his pouch from behind his back and clutches it to his chest.
"Can I trust you?" He beckons the boy closer, they're both leaning over the pouch being held in Stiles cupped palms. When he nods Stiles asks him his name.
"I'm Steven." His eyes a wide and darting everywhere, from the tip of Stiles hat to the pouch sitting in his lap. He can see how he's practically shaking to know what he's hiding.
"Steven, hold out your hand." Stiles sprinkle a handful of sparkles into his palm from the pouch. "I think this might be fairy dust. What do you think?"
Steven clenches his fist and looks down at the sparkles between his fingers before throwing it up in the air. It coats both of them but mostly covering Stiles, and thank god for the hat he wears because glitter is bitch to wash off.
Stiles brings his legs up to his chest and rest his elbows on his knees, leaning closer to the boy.
"Are you a lost boy?" He asks, and gets his answer when the boy eyes start to fill with tears and he nods.
Stiles does a quick scan for his parents but doesn't see anyone who seems to be looking for a kid. In a place this big thry might not have even noticed he's gone yet.
He jumps up from his seat and kneels next to the boy. They have procedures for this kind of thing; you wait with the kid for ten minutes in the same spot, if no one comes for him in that time you're to take them to a Cast Member who will accompany them to customer service at the front of the park.
They wait, Stiles distracts him by telling him an intricate story of Peter and the lost boys and is really pleased with himself at how enthralled Steven gets with his tale.
"Then Tink sprinkled some of her fairy dust on us." He ends the story by throwing for fairy dust over the both of them, they're already covered so what's the harm in a bit more.
"Then we thought of our favourite happy thought and away we went." Stiles jumps onto the back of the bench, walking along the backing of it before jumping of the end with his arms stretched out in mock flight. Steven's eyes track his movements, totally enthralled with the story Stiles makes up on the spot. He finished the story with his arms stretched out to his sides feigning flight, Steven copies him enthusiastically.
"I think it's time we find your parents." He purposely steers them past Derek on their way.
"What's your happy thought?" Stiles asks, taking the boys hand in his. It would be much easier to hand the kid off to someone else but it's a nice change to just get to listen to Steven ramble off about getting a bunny for his birthday.
"I've got a lost boy here, Hook." Stiles says in passing but turns around when he doesn't get any acknowledgment from Derek that he will be leaving his area.
Stiles leads them through the park swiftly with Steven clutching his hand like a life line in the crowd.
"Momma!" The boy yells when they're in sight of the information desk at the entrance of the park, he's laughing like he hasn't just been lost in a park of a thousand people. The couple standing there turn the second he screams, both his parents rush to him and he's scooped up into his father's arms.
"Thank you, thank you." The mom repeats over and over, she hugs Stiles tightly and the family insists they all take a photo together.
Before Stiles can leave back to his area there's a had tugging at his tunic, the lost boy is looking up with him and he gets a pair of little arms hugging his legs before he's allowed to go back.
After his shift Boyd hands him a report with a review raving about his actions dealing with the little boy today. Apparently the family couldn't stop talking about how Peter Pan had found their lost boy.
Despite not following the proper protocol of having a Cast Member escort the lost boy to the information desk Boyd still clasp a hand on his shoulder, but then warns him to follow the rules from now on.
Stiles is rushing out the door, he has plans to skype with his dad tonight, he's blown off the last few ones and cant miss another. A hand gripping his arm stops him before he can leave. Derek's standing there holding him in place. Stiles barely opens his mouth before Derek cuts him off.
"I saw how you helped that little kid out today." Derek says, his voice is rough from hours of not speaking during the day. He has to clear it at then end for it to go back to his normal tone.
Stiles runs a hand through his hair while looking down sheepishly. Sure, he'd known Derek was near by while he was helping the boy, but he would have never figured Derek would be aware of him and what he was during when they weren't visiting with guests of the park together.
"Yeah, I'm sure anyone would've done the same." He shrugs and looks up from the floor. He meets Derek's eye and fights the urge to look away immediately. Derek clears his throat again, looking as if he's about to walk away so Stiles nods once quickly and turns for the door.
Derek's hand gripping his arms stops him and he turns back to face Derek.
"You have-" He presses his index finger against Stiles' cheek picking up a fleck of glitter. He holds his finger out for Stiles to see it.
Stiles smiles and shakes his head trying to get any remaining glitter off him, clearly throwing multiple handfuls over himself wasn't his best idea.
Both their eyes trail to where Derek is still holding his arm, he drops it after a moment and leaves to the lockers.
Stiles can't help his hand drifting to the spot where Derek's hand had gripped his arm, the spot feeling warm through his sweater.
"Dude, you can't keep staring at Snow White like that, it's borderline creepy." Stiles reminds Scott, just like every other time they see her. They're just about to pass through the Magic Kingdom heading to the cast area when Scott spots her sitting on a bench speaking with a little girl in a matching princess dress.
Her gentle laugh carries over to them and Scott stops in his tracks to lean over a railing to get a better look at her.
"But, look at her, she's just so-" He props his head on his intertwined fingers and lets out a loud sigh.
"Why don't you talk to her?" Stiles asks for what feels like the millionth time, this is how all of their conversations go when Snow White is brought up. Despite all of Stiles pushing Scott won't even let Stiles ask Lydia what her name is in fear that it could some how disrupt the course of their (currently non-existent) relationship.
But, the whole staring from a distance thing is starting to get weird. It's almost been a month since they've been working here and Scott hasn't gotten any closer to actually introducing himself to her.
Scott shakes his head without tearing his eyes away from Snow.
"You get paid to be shirtless, with a flash of your abs she could be yours." Stiles tells a distracted Scott.
"She's different." Scott whines, he's convinced his abs are useless against her.
Ever since the whole returning of the lost boy situation Boyd had been amazing about giving Stiles the good shifts. And in most cases Stiles and Derek get the same shifts, they've been on the same rotation for the last couple of weeks so it's no surprise to him to find Derek lounging in the cast room after a short shift they shared. He has arm thrown over his eyes as he sleeps on the couch.
Stiles jumps on the end whispering his name quietly over and over then louder until he wakes with a groan. The sleepy glare Stiles gets for waking him up is worth it when Derek stretches his arms high over his head revealing a stretch of flat stomach under his shirt.
"Don't look at me like that, you can't have been asleep for more than five minutes." Stiles snaps playfully, he pushes Derek's feet so he can seat himself at the end of the couch.
"I've been up since five this morning, excuse me for being tired." Derek responds; his voice rough and deep from just a short time a sleep. He rolls away from Stiles and covers his eyes with his arm again.
"Want to know something weird?" Stiles ask, he's talking more to himself but knows Derek isn't sleeping. He doesn't say anything so Stiles takes it as a sign to go on. "I've never been to Disney Land before, well, other than working here."
Stiles feels Derek tense and his arms falls slowly from his face. Stiles laughs at the shocked expression on Derek's face but it flatters when Derek's look doesn't waver.
"That's not right." Derek actually sounds offended as if someone who has never been to Disneyland is unimaginable, Stiles laughs more at his tone. "Do you have plans?"
"Other than catching up with How I Met Your Mother? Nope."
"Good. Let's go." Derek stands quickly, shrugging on his leather jacket that was being used as a pillow. Stiles can't help it if his brain short-circuits for a minute, he's permanently etching the image into his memory because Derek in a tight white shirt and leather jacket is spank bank material. It's uncharacteristically cold enough today that Derek walking around in a leather jacket doesn't earn him any weird looks.
Derek grabs Stiles by the arm and pulls him from the Cast room. He buys a them turkey leg each from the first vendor he sees, despite all of Stiles protests, and they hop on the train to ride it around the park.
Derek tells him about coming to the park more times than he could count when he was younger. Coming here had become a constant in his life as his family. As he and his siblings got older they stopped coming as frequently together, except Derek and his older sister. They clung to the memories and never stopped buying annual passes for each others birthdays.
"I just don't understand how you've never been." Derek says quietly, still failing at grasping the idea of a Disneyland free childhood.
"Not all of us are as spoiled as you." Stiles bumps his shoulder playfully as they stroll through the Magic Kingdom.
His parents had plans of visiting for Stiles' birthday. But his mom had passed before they had gotten the chance too.
Of course he and his dad still went on trips but nothing compared to what Disneyland would have been. Camping a couple towns over doesn't even rate.
Derek lets Stiles choose the first ride they go on. Stiles has been studying a park map and knows exactly where he wants to go.
Derek almost says no when they're standing at the beginning of the line for Splash Mountain.
"You said I got to choose." Stiles reminds him and drags him to line up. He considers not going on Splash Mountain, or at least returning to it later, but they're the next to ride and watching Derek squirm is way too much fun.
Stiles decides to spare him and sit in the front of the ride. He can feels Derek's thighs tense around him and he settles into the spot behind him.
"Don't be so scared. To die would be an awfully big adventure." He grips Derek's thigh and squeezes it once before the ride lurches forward they're off.
They get off the ride and for Derek it's not soon enough. Stiles suggests riding it a second time but it earns him a hard glare from Derek.
Stiles can't stop laughing. A miserable, dripping wet Derek isn't something he's likely to forget anytime soon. He leaves Derek sitting alone on a bench and runs back to the photo booth. He cringes when he returns with the horrid picture that will haunt him forever.
Stiles' mouth is open and his eyes are closed in laughter his arms thrown up almost block out Derek's face but of course doesn't. Derek mouth is open too, but not in excitement. He can practically still hear Derek screaming in his ear during the big drop when he looks at the picture.
He looks up from the picture to Derek instead, they're sitting beside each other with their thighs almost pressed side by side. He can't help but stare at his profile; the gentle slope of his nose, the slight curve to his lips. His eye lashes are clumped together from the water and Stiles can't look away from a single drop hanging just barely of his bottom lashes.
"Do I have something on my face?" He's wiping off the water then shake his head like a dog, spraying Stiles with little drops.
"No, you're-" Stiles' can feel is cheeks reddening even more from when he was laughing, when their eyes met he licks his lips unintentionally, "fine."
He has to force the words out, too distracted by everything about him.
The sounds of the park seem to drown out and they are both so focused on each other. It would be so easy for one of them to lean forward and just-
Stiles stands, shaking his head once, and holds a hand out to Derek. He didn't realize how close they had been leaning into each other.
"You can take me to your favourite ride now."
He's expecting Indian Jones, or the Pirates of the Caribbean. Not the Tea Cups of all things. Derek holds the gate open for him and chooses the blue cup. It's not a very busy time so that it's only their cup and three others that are occupied.
They circle around once the ride starts neither of them move or say anything. They're just watching each other waiting for some kind of reaction. Stiles can see instantly when Derek's excitement falters; the expectant smile on his face wanes slowly as he looks way from Stiles and clenches the middle part of the teacup tightly.
"You don't like it." He says through clenched teeth. Stiles almost jumps across the middle to him but stops at just grabbing his hands from the edge and pulling them to the top. He shakes his head and tells Derek 'how it's lovely'.
His hands are warm and Derek doesn't want to let go but he needs to show Stiles why this is his favourite ride. Why he and Laura would line up over and over to ride.
He pulls his hands away and starts to turn the middle piece as hard as he can, until he can feel the muscles in his arms straining but he wants it go faster.
"Lean back and close your eyes." Derek instructs, and Stiles does, no questions asked. He leaning back with his arms spread out of the edge of the tea cup. Lights dance behind his eye lids as they start spinning faster, faster. He starts smiling, a just a bit, he's starting to realize why Derek likes this ride.
When Stiles leans back all he can feel is the hard press of teacup digging into the back of his neck. All he can think about his the look on Derek's face when he thought he didn't like his favourite ride, so when he tells him to lay back he does without a second thought because he wants to show Derek that he likes the ride, he will even say he loves it if it gets the smile from earlier back on his face.
It's actually quite nice like this, with the lights overheard flashing behind his eyelids and the sounds of the other visitors of the park being drowned out by music playing overhead. He expected the spinning to make him nauseas but instead it's extremely relaxing.
He beams at Derek when the rides over. He doesn't want to say anything but he can tell that Derek's pleased even without the smile back on his face.
They wander from the teacups, mostly Derek following Stiles as he discovers new parts of the park he's never seen. Derek expects him to lead them to Tomorrow Land. Space Mountain will be an instant favourite for sure, but instead the end up standing in front of the ride most people seem to dread the most.
If Derek was smart he would have heard the music earlier and steered Stiles in the opposite direction.
"There's no way I'm going on that with you." Derek promises, but then Stiles is wrapping an arm around his shoulders and he leans into him willingly.
They end up riding It's A Small World. Twice.
"Erica started -" The rest of Scott's words are mumbled by him coughing loudly into his elbow.
"Erica, what?" Stiles asks, reaching around the counter to grab the candy apple he had his eye on. He puts down a five dollar bill, waving Scott off when he tries to hand him his change back.
"Betting pool." Scott says, he's moved so he's standing behind the case of candy apples and starts rearranging them.
"On what? I want in." Stiles asks between a bite of his apple. He'd barely had them as a kid, the whole argument of the healthiness of the apple offsetting the candy coating had never worked on his parents.
Scott's answer is mumbled from behind the counter before he shoos Stiles away for a moment so he can help the customers waiting behind him. Stiles wanders off while he waits, sitting on the benches before the line up into the Haunted Mansion.
"On you and Derek; how long it's going to take for the two of you to get together." Erica says proudly, she smiles wickedly down at him. She has a knack for appearing out of nowhere and Stiles has become immune to her just showing up when least expected.
Stiles chokes on a chunk of his apple, which is a totally normal reaction when someone tells you that your coworkers are all betting on the likeliness of you getting with your super hot/intimidating co-worker.
"You-what, no, Erica." Stiles sputters, when he finally manages to dislodge the piece of apple with no help from her.
"I think it going to be in 2 weeks from now." She informs him, her hand grips his shoulder tightly. "Don't let me down."
"Nothing is happening, Erica." Stiles admits. He'd already accepted it, but having to say it out loud was harder than he imagined.
"It better. Isaac has money on you two continuously skirting around each other until either one of you quits." Her hand squeezes tighter, on the brink of painful. "We can't have him winning, now can we?"
With the added pressure of the bet on his shoulders Stiles slinks back to the cast room when his break is over.
When Derek nods his head in Stiles direction as greeting at the beginning of their shift, nothing seems amiss and he's able to breath easier. Nothing's changed between the two of them and Stiles is determined to keep it that way. He's not about to let a stupid betting pool ruin the kind of friendship they've established.
Stiles waits with his feet propped up on a table, an unread newspaper discarded on his lap as he watches Boyd hand Derek a fresh razor at the beginning of his shift.
It's silent between Boyd and Derek, Stiles watches the exchange with bated breath. It looks as if Derek is about to shove the razor back at him but Boyd just raises and eyebrow at him and points to the bathroom.
"What was that about?" Stiles grabs Boyd by the sleeve as he passes.
"He was hired as a Prince Eric understudy. We need him today and Prince Eric doesn't have a beard." Boyd explains shortly.
Stiles waits and waits. Freshly shaven Derek is something he's not willing to miss.
Cleary Derek had never expected that he'd actually have to play the part of Prince Eric, something he'd agreed to without thinking anything of it. His face is pinched when he finally emerges from the bathroom. Stiles can't tear his eyes away as Derek stalks over to him. He also can't help his hands from reaching out to stroke the now smooth face of Derek, he almost coos at the feeling of the soft skin under his fingers but manages to have enough self control to refrain.
Despite the whole 'I can maim you with just my teeth' vibe Derek has going on Stiles doesn't remove his hands from Derek's cheeks.
"Like a baby's bottom." Stiles whispers to himself, his eyes glazed over as he soaks in every second of the first and mostly likely last time he'll be able to get this close to Derek. He's waiting for the moment that he slaps his hand away but it doesn't come.
That is until Erica comes barrelling into the room, she shrieks at the sight of the them. Stiles has Derek's cheeks pushed together giving him the cutest fish lips Stiles has ever seen. Derek slaps his hands away before she can get her cell phone to take a picture.
Stiles keeps staring at him, even after Derek dislodges Stiles, his eyes wide and lips parted slightly even as Derek leaves to go find his new costume. He didn't know clean shaven Derek was something he wanted, but he does, he wants it bad.
Boyd only wants Derek to be Prince Erica for a few shows until the regular guy is back so Stiles doesn't miss his chance at seeing Derek parade around in tights and goes to see the first show he can.
Derek wouldn't tell him what time the show starts but it isn't hard to find a schedule. He's skips the line up and slips in through one of the side door to find a spot leaning against the back wall of the lower seating section. He's close enough that he won't miss a second of the show but behind the kids. He knows Derek won't miss him in the center of the crowd, he's the only adult in a sea of children.
Lydia is an amazing Ariel, she carries the show with ease, but Stiles is thoroughly distracted by Derek. He really appreciates what the costume is doing for Derek's body. He looks so good up there as he moves around stage with obvious confidence, performing as if he'd been putting on the show for the last few weeks rather than just being a stand in.
Stiles looks down to check a text on his phone, he'd ignored the vibrating for the majority of the show but it going off in his pocket was becoming a distraction
Allison said hi to me today
She already knew my name
It was great
She's great
Stiles tears his eyes away from Scott's increasingly excited texts when the noise in the crowd gets louder, all the little girls surrounding him are giggling uncontrollably. Derek has Lydia dipped, their lips pressed together in a quick kiss, the curtains close on the two of them as the applauds continue. The kiss is short and their lips could have barely touched but Stiles still feels something build in the pit of his stomach. He's clutching is phone so hard that he ends up replying to Scott's with just a bunch a random letters jumbled together.
The cheering in the crowd dies down, but the chatter pickups. Stiles blocks out the noise as he stands up with his hands fisted at his sides, stepping over all the children and leaves the arena.
He uses the walk from the theatre where the performance happened back to the cast room to clear his head. He's over reacting and he knows it. It's stupid to be have a sudden bout of jealousy over some guy he's pretty sure doesn't really like him. If it weren't for the job Derek would never have a reason to talk to him, would never want too, and he knows it.
Fingers crossed Derek hadn't noticed him there because having to explain his early departure would be a bit embarrassing.
Hey, yeah, sorry I stormed out, just watching you do your job of kissing someone totally set me off, my not-boyfriend kinda-friend person.
He takes a deep breath before enter the room. Of course Derek is already there, he's shirtless from the waist up, his discarded shirt laying over the back of his chair.
"Where'd you run off too?" Derek is sitting at one of the makeup stations wiping off all the shit they make him put on his face for performances.
"I, uh-" Their eyes meet in the mirror. He holds up his phone lamely, "urgent." He turns to head right back out the door, this doesn't need to get any more awkward that it already is.
Derek just nods and looks away.
"Bye." Derek says with his back turned.
"Never say goodbye," the words come tumbling out before he can even help it, "because goodbye means going away and-"
"Stiles," Derek sounds exasperated as he turns to look at him.
"Going away means forgetting." He finishes, his Peter impression is so good now he almost doesn't recognize his own voice. He has watching the Peter Pan movie on repeat for two days to thank for that. He can quote that movie word for word by now.
Derek rolls his eyes and Stiles takes that as his cue to slink from the room.
It's another day of Derek eating vendor food. How he managed to keep up his physique Stiles would never understand considering how he packed away so many turkey legs.
Stiles feels like he's in kindergarten again, clutching his lunch bag while standing over Derek. He made an extra sandwich because watching him consume those empty calorie meals every shift was starting to effect his own health. Eating healthy on a student's budget wasn't easy but after forcing it on his father it just kind of stuck. He ate well when he could, even though he knew his dad was probably taking this time to scarf down as many cheeseburgers as he could stomach.
Derek clears his throat, snapping Stiles back into focus.
"Do you want to sit down?" He asks without looking up. Churro in one hand while he flips through the newspaper with the other.
Stiles sits opposite him and placed the lunch bag between them on the table. He rifles through it and produces two sandwiches, about to hand one to Derek. "I made an ex-"
"Hold that thought," Derek cuts him off , his attention focused over Stiles' shoulder. Derek stands up to hug someone behind. Stiles almost wished he didn't turn around because the girl Derek was currently talking to was gorgeous and of course Derek would have a girlfriend.
"And who's this?" The girl asks, he can hear the smile in her voice. He cringed, she could at least have an unpleasant voice or an ugly laugh. Anything to make him feel a bit better about this.
Derek's warm hand squeezes his shoulder and he turns to look at them both.
"Stiles, this is my-" Derek starts, pulling him up to join them.
"I didn't know we were allowed friends back here." Stiles grumbles, putting a bit too much emphasize on the word friends. It comes out just as rude as he expected too but he still flinches at how hard it sounds. Derek's smile drops but the girl remains unfazed.
"No," she laughs with an arm wrapped around Derek's waist, she practically plastered to his side. "I'm Laura. I used to sell pickles. Like you know the big ones they have down in Frontier land." She explains. "So sometimes they let me come back her and hangout for a bit." That makes him dislike her a bit less because he's grown fond of those pickles since working here. Especially when he gets to watch Derek eat them.
Stiles clutches his lunch bag to his chest and feels like an utter idiot. He's sure he just looks like the over eager kid who will get left behind in the dirt as the beautiful couple runs off together in to the sun set.
How is it the one day he goes out a limb and decides, hey, I'll try and stop my cute co-worker from dying of death by over processed turkey legs, his girlfriend swoops in and overshadows him.
"Boyd." Stiles catches him as he attempts to squeeze past them. He pushes one of the sandwiches against his chest. "This is for-" he looks at Boyd, who is looking down at the sandwich pressed against his chest like its offending him.
Boyd tries to walk away but Stiles keeps him in place with a hand gripping the back of his shirt and the sandwich pressed against his front. He tries to give Boyd his best 'please take this sandwich so I avoid looking like an overeager loser' look but Boyd's unfazed or just doesn't care.
The four of them stand there in silence, it's awkward and Stiles can feel how forced his smile is. Laura is seemingly oblivious to Stiles sizing her up and Boyd his practically twitching to get away from them all.
"So." Boyd says, dragging the word out. He breaks from Stiles' grasp but not without the sandwich.
Stiles is only mildly offended when Boyd places the sandwich in front of Scott. But Scott looks at it like Christmas has come early and scarfs it down. At least someone appreciates his hard work.
Stiles can see the two of them in line for the Matterhorn from where he's perched on the back of a bench. The spot gives him limited visibility from people in the park but he can see where they are perfectly.
And apparently they can see him if the way Laura is pointing at him is any indication.
He blows it off because really she could be pointing past him and telling Derek how much she wants to go on the It's a Small World ride that's behind him afterwards.
Then Derek's looking up at him and they definitely aren't talking about a ride. He's closer to them than he thought because he can see the flush rising up Derek's neck before he ducks he head and looks away.
Someone coughing gets his attention, he has to tear his eyes away from his book. Derek's standing in front of him.
"May I help you?" he asks with fake annoyance. He can see just the tips of Derek's ears are red and he can't meet his eyes.
"My sister said I had to tell you your butt looks good in your tights." He says in a rush, Stiles just barely makes out what he says.
"Laura," Derek adds. And then it clicks for Stiles.
His sister, huh. Well that explains a lot and makes him seem like an idiot for thinking they were together.
Stiles puts down his book and stands, he turns from him and lifts the back of his tunic so he can look down at his butt.
"Really?" He looks back at Derek. "I think it's a bit flat, what do you think?"
He doesn't know when he got so ballsy; he would have never said anything like this a few months ago. It's totally worth seeing the flush that creeps up his neck to his cheeks.
The response he gets is a hitch in Derek's breathing as he tears his eyes away from blatantly staring. Win.
While Scott can't manage to speak a word to Snow White and is taking the passive approach to things, the girl he works with who's playing Jasmine doesn't seem to do anything un aggressively.
"I don't know what to do, Jasmine is all over me." Scott wails, "she grabbed my but during a picture yesterday."
That's a big step for psycho-Jasmine, she had been sticking to just rubbing his arms and leaning in a bit too close at times. The boys had been thinking of ways to deal with her over that last month but Stiles' idea of just ignoring it was clearly failing.
"Why don't you give her a change, she's obviously interested." Stiles provides, he's only half into the conversation. He's a bit distracted looking for Derek among everyone in the cast room.
"Because Snow White," Scott sounds offended, he gets the dreamy look on his face Stiles has come to associate with her, he knows that Scott is checked out of the conversation when it starts. He's yet to say one word to her but still follows after her like the lost puppy he is.
He spots Derek and takes his chance to get away from Scott. Muttering a quick apology he darts away from Scott and he's constant moping.
Subtlety may work for some people but not Stiles. The whole running circles around each other thing may work for Derek but it's not for him anymore. He would just needs to pull up his tights and make a move.
Derek is sitting alone in at one of the tables in a corner of the room. Stiles slides into the seat across from him and coughs loudly when Derek doesn't look up at him immediately.
Derek already has his full costume on, head and all, on. That's dedication.
He leans in close across the table with his head being propped up by his hand.
He can never really tell if the person in the suit is actually looking at him when he's talking to them. He had an embarrassing experience with the person in the Winnie the Pooh suit once.
"If I was Peter Pan you'd be my happy thought..." He leans across the table his head resting on his hands. "Oh wait, I am." He winks over dramatically at him and leans a bit more forward.
No response. He's about to reach forward and pull the Hook mask off him, he knows that pickup line would have at least earned him a half-smile from Derek, but Boyd comes through the door before he cans and tells them it's time for them to get out into the park.
He spends his shift skipping around Hook and making jabs at him, they even have an impromptu sword fight at one point, which is totally out of character for Derek. When ever he tries to initiate anything with him all he gets is Derek waving the Hook at him in warning.
The kids love it when they put on a little show that ends with Stiles walking along a fence to get away from Hook. They do eventually go back to taking pictures and signing autographs (to Stiles disappointment.)
"I used to really want kids. But now, I just don't know. I've had more than enough grubby little hands grabbing at me than any one man should have in their life time." Stiles tells Hook, he watches him go through the normal motions I getting out of his costume. Instead of Derek's usual dark locks came blond curls and that was not Derek.
"And you're not Derek." Stiles dead pans because no, this was quickly turning into one of the moments where Stiles would look back always cringe about. He had a hard enough time having lengthy conversations with Derek. And now he just wasted all that on someone who wasn't Derek. "But, you're so fun." He whines. He should've known something was off, Derek was never as laid back as Isaac just was when he's working in costume.
"Yeah, Derek's in the Beast costume today." Isaac runs a hand through his hair messing up his already mused locks. "Sometimes they switch us around. But I'm not allowed to be Hook a lot, Boyd doesn't like me having a sword." He shrugs and walks away after giving Stiles' shoulder a squeeze.
Scott takes up Isaacs' abandoned seat as soon as he leaves. He's practically shaking, the smile on his face so big it looks painful.
"Allison," Scott's leaning over the table to whisper in Stiles' ear, but his whisper doesn't come out any quieter.
"No, I'm Stiles."
"Her name is Allison." His eyes drift over to where she's sitting and applying her makeup. "And we have a date on Saturday."
It only took two moths for Scott to finally pluck up the courage to talk to her. Stiles bites his tongue and doesn't say I told you so. He smiles and high fives Scott.
After what feels like the longest shift ever, Stiles is literally dragging his feet to get to the jeep. He'd signed up for a private birthday thinking it would be easy, he was wrong, it ended up being way more work than he anticipated and wiped him out.
Derek's leaning against his jeep when Stiles walks up. He hasn't noticed him yet, eyes fixed at the car keys in his hands.
"Derek, hey." Stiles calls to him when he's still a few meters away. Derek suddenly stands up straighter and forgoes any greetings.
"I know this really good Thai place and-" He's shuffling his feet and twirling his key around his index finger. Stiles doesn't like the nervous look on Derek, almost reaching out to grab his hand and still his fidgeting.
"Wait, you know of restaurants not in the park?" Stiles jokes, gripping his chest in mock surprise earning himself a playful glare from Derek and light shove.
"Maybe, we could go together?" Derek asked, his eyes glued to the ground in front of him. "Friday?"
Stiles nods once, before stepping closer to Derek crowding him back into the jeep.
A loud cough startles them both, Stiles taking quick step back from Derek.
"Stiles," Scott all but whines. "Think you could give me a lift?" Scott successfully manages to break up what could have been a super awesome make out session against his jeep with one cough and his signature puppy dog eyes. With everything in Scott's love life going seemingly well he seems to over look everyone else's and doesn't know when to not interrupt.
Stiles unlocks the jeep for Scott, waiting for him to climb in a shut the door before speaking. He rubs at the back of his head, a nervous habit he picked up from his dad.
"So, Friday?" He's hopefully, if Scott's interruption some how got him out of a date with Derek he was going to make Scott find his own way home.
Derek nods, taking a step closer to Stiles.
"Night, Stiles." He smiles at Stiles, and he swears his heart flutters for second. He barley mutters his own goodbye before Derek's gone.
Their date ends up being totally awesome. Like, substantial amounts of greatness. Despite everything he thought of Derek before he ends up talking Stiles' ear off once he got going.
He kept a warm hand on Stiles' thigh while they ate during the majority of the date, making it a bit hard for him to focus on eating his pad Thai.
Chances would have it that they somehow don't have any shifts together for the next week. Every time Stiles is coming onto start Derek is already out the door or isn't in at all.
If they hadn't exchanged number Stiles might have gone crazy, texting is the only contact they have all week. When they do finally see each other it's like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He tries to act nonchalant when Derek starts walks towards him but is sure the way his leg is vibrating under the table is obvious.
Derek is still in costume, sans-head, having headed for Stiles right when his shift ended.
"You're off now?" Derek asks, he has a hand pressed against the table leaning towards him.
He nods, not trusting himself to form a coherent sentence. Derek's hand moves to cover his and pulls him up from the table.
He leads him from the cast area to a part that's out of sight from anyone passing by. The air feels thick, it could have been the humidity or it could be the way Derek's eyes haven't left his.
"I was thinking we cou-" Stiles says but he's cut off. And those are lips. Definitely Derek's lips pressing against his. He blinks a few times before closing his eyes and leaning into him. Their noses are pressed against each other's and it's nothing like the romanticized kisses you see in Disney movies. Derek has a hand gripping the back of his neck, keeping him close. Stiles wouldn't say he's comfortable with the way the Hook costumes belt buckle is pressed into his stomach but it feels right.
When Derek's tongue sweeps across his lips and he deepens the kiss, he knows this was so worth the wait. Months of skirting around each other were worth the way Derek's fingers press into his back and drag him closer until they're flush against each other. He doesn't know when how happened but he's got Derek backed into a wall and he can't help but lean his full weight against him.
Stiles refuses to be the one to break the kiss first. Who needs to breathe anyways.
"Did I miss the part where Hook and Peter end up together in the movie?" Neither of them noticed her but when they pull way Erica is leaning against the door with an amused smirk on her face.
It's hard to take her seriously in her Tinkerbell dress, especially with the ridiculous bun on her head.
Stiles flips her off before wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and pulling him in.
Boyd is not amused. Actually Stiles can't really tell what he's thinking when he sees Stiles grab Derek's butt in the break room.
All he does it warn them, no sex in the park. And especially not in the costumes. They're expensive.
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