The day of the company picnic, Stiles rushed home right after work (which had ended early for everyone), thinking he'd run a quick shower and steal a nice button up shirt from Scott, before getting to the park before anyone else, knowing Derek would be there earlier as well.
He hadn't seen much of the CEO the last few days, not since it had been made clear the picnic was to be their third attempt at a successful date. As CEO, Derek had obviously been busy with running the company. When he had been spotted at work, which had always been in passing, Stiles had thought the man seemed on the slightly tired side, either speaking professionally to one of the department heads or quietly and seriously speaking into his cell phone. T
he lack of actual connection hadn't been too bothersome, though, what with the free lattes waiting for Stiles with their short, cute messages, and the way that Derek's brooding, business face immediately shifted to a brilliant smile whatever Stiles came into view.
It was only that with the days of not interacting with Derek had left Stiles eager for the time they'd be able to interact again. The bad dates were in the past, Derek had given Stiles a cheesy hope for the future, and there was an energy in the air that had Stiles vibrating in excitement.
But his excitement was abruptly interrupted when he opened Scott's bedroom door - thinking his friend was at work still - and had to immediately shut it along with his eyes. "Stiles!" Scott shouted in surprise as the door slammed, followed by rushed movements of two frantic bodies. A moment later the door opened to reveal a blushing Kira, who murmured a hello to Stiles and then took off out of the loft. "We weren't having sex!" Scotted yelled from inside his bedroom once Kira was gone.
Stiles was still standing in shock, his eyes closed tightly, hands pressed into his face as if to push the image he had just witnessed. His words were muffled by his palms.
Scott appeared in the doorway, sweating and out of breath. "We were dancing."
"That did not look like dancing," came the mortified, muffled response.
"It's ballet."
Finally, Stiles removed his hands to give his friend an incredulous glare, only to be stopped speechless by the fact that Scott was wearing tan tights. It took him a while to speak. "So...ballet?"
Scott blushed profusely, but having been caught in the act, he explained the secret he'd been trying to keep for the past few weeks. Local, small businesses were apparently having a dance fundraiser, something to raise money for the non-corporate side of things, and him and Kira had decided on ballet since the vet hospital only had them (plus Deaton who wouldn't be caught dead dancing for anything). At the end of his unnecessarily long explanation, Stiles just stared before asking, "Why didn't you just tell me what you were doing before?"
This time, it was Scott who buried his head into his hands. The back of his neck burned red. "I was just embarrassed. Plus, I'm not really good at it. Thought I might lose my nerve completely if I said anything or got laughed at."
"What? Oh, come on. Ballet isn't embarrassing. Especially not compared to all the other embarrassing things I've witnessed you do over the years, and definitely not as embarrassing as some of the things you've caught me doing."
Which seemed to be the right thing to say because Scott raised his head up and the vibrant color of his skin began to fade. "That's true." Then, seeming to get over that situation entirely, asked, "What were you doing opening my door in the first place?"
Stiles shrugged, unashamed. "Thought you were at work. I needed a nice shirt."
Dutifully, his friend went to retrieve a dark blue blazer from the closet to hand over. As Stiles put it on over his white shirt, Scott inquired, "Why are you getting all dressed up for?"
"Wolf Security family picnic."
Scott's brow furrowed, looking his friend up and down. "I've never known you to dress up this much for the company picnic. I thought you hated the whole thing. Actually, why are you going anyways? What with Malia not forcing you and everything?"
"Oh, uh, I thought I mentioned it before. Uh, Derek really wanted me to go, like a third date, and, uh yea, so that's why I'm going, and why I look like this."
Scott shook his head in quiet laughter. "Dude, we really need to sit down and catch up. I think we've really been missing out on each other's lives recently."
After the heart to heart with Scott and then some minor delays in traffic, Stiles actually ended up being late to the picnic. He awkwardly walked to where the group was gathered, nodding slightly at those that stared at his late entrance, seemingly insulted by his tardiness. In the gathered crowd, he heard Erika cat calling after him. "Look who finally showed up."
Ignoring her and the murmured insults that followed from her lips, Stiles tried to catch sight of Derek, but the CEO was surprisingly hard to find. What he did catch sight of though was Malia, hanging on the arm of some guy as she chatted up the head of her department. The moment he saw her, she happened to turn and their eyes met. Even though he quickly moved his gaze elsewhere, the momentarily eye contact was enough to compel her into action. With a predatory smile in place, she excused herself from her current conversation, and dragged her newest drone towards Stiles. He internally cringed at her approaching form, not looking forward to the scene she would create, but then he had to do a double take at who she was hanging off of. Freakin' Isaac.
"Stiles," Malia smiled with a cruel glint in her eyes and her sharp nails digging more deeply into Isaac's arm. "I'm surprised to see you here. You always put up such a fuss whenever I wanted you to come with me." She said the words simply, but the accusation was clear. There was also a hint of hurt if one paid enough attention to the subtleties, and Stiles felt a brief pang of guilt for putting that hurt there. Her eyes looked him up and down critically, her smile shifting to a sneer. "You certainly look nicer than usual."
"No," Stiles was quick to deny to avoid seeing any further hurt or anger because of him, but the damage had already been done by the fact that he had taken such care with his appearance. A care he had never really managed for Malia, always just going through the motion of whatever she decided. "I just, uh, I just…"
Isaac scoffed at Stiles's stammering, the same smirk he always wore whenever he thought the other was being too awkward, which was most often. Though roommates, Isaac and Stiles had never really been friends, which was more evidence now than ever before as the hipster commented snidely, "Didn't you always say you thought the family picnic was stupid? That it was just for ass kissers?"
Stiles flailed, partly because Malia's galre had just become murderous and he didn't want to be hit, but mostly because he had just caught sight of Derek, walking up from the right. His expression was stoic, but it was obvious that he had heard at least the end of the conversation. In that moment, Stiles really hated Isaac.
"Mr. Hale," Malia took a sudden turn to her more professionally persona, one that attempted to be more pleasant, but still ended up being quite scary. "Great picnic. This is the biggest turn out I've ever seen."
Derek nodded kindly to her with a small smile that may have fooled Malia and others, but Stiles could see that it didn't reach his eyes. "Thank you Malia. I've been pleased with how things have gone so far. I was thinking of starting up the grill soon. Stiles, do you mind helping?"
Malia and Isaac stared after them as they walked away, their glares burning into Stiles's back. Once they were out of earshot, Stiles was quick to mumble his apology about past sentiments concerning the picnic, but Derek just shook his head. With a slight chuck in his voice, barely discernible by how quiet he spoke, Derek told him, "You have nothing to apologize for. It's not like you tried hiding what you thought of it before. At least, not to any real extent." Then his voice became sombre as he continued, "Not like how everyone else keeps acting, putting on a farce, thinking it'll impress me." He sighed, leading Stiles further away from the crowd and towards a truck. "And it's not like your sentiment is far from the truth. No one here seems interested in introducing their families to one another and just enjoying themselves. It's all about…"
He trailed off, leaving Stiles to fill in the blanks, "Kissing ass?"
Derek huffed in a semblance of laughter, "Yea."
They each grabbed an ice cooler from the bed of the truck and made their way to the grill, Derek purposefully maintaining a slow pace so they could continue talking without coworkers eavesdropping in on them.
"It wasn't like this before," Derek shared quietly. "Before, everyone in the company was like family, so the picnic was readily used as an excuse to leave work early and have some fun. But that was back when the company was a lot smaller, just an independent contractor for security and everything was more personal."
Stiles nodded in understanding, though there wasn't much that could be said. It was well known that Wolf Security had originally provided services for individual homes, the ones that couldn't pay for the more corporate security systems. But then, the departments at Wolf had started growing and they had started creating security tech meant to be mass produced, and after that they too found themselves a part of the corporate world. Most of their business now was with other businesses, stores, and banks, and selling their technology to more nationwide security companies. They worked to sell and there just wasn't much room left to care for individuals, whether they be clients or coworkers.
It was sad to think of the declining humanity in the company meant to protect human life. And it was especially sad to think of how much that fact obviously depressed Derek.
Not much time could be given to such thoughts, though, as they reached the grill and Derek started the flame, asking simply, "So, no family members to bring?"
Others were slowly starting to move closer, waiting for their chance to interject themselves into a conversation with the CEO.
At Derek's motion, Stiles began slapping the meat on the grill. "My family just consists of my dad and me, and he lives in Beacon Hills. It's a really small town…"
"I know Beacon Hills."
Stiles didn't have a chance to question that, with others now upon them, taking away Derek's attention for the time being. Which wasn't actually as bad as it sounded. Every time someone came up to attempt an engaging conversation, Derek listened and would frequently shift his gaze his Stiles with exasperation in his eyes until Stiles would roll his eyes or pull a dramatic face and the corner of Derek's lips would twitch slightly in amusement. In between ass kissing coworkers, the two men grilled and held short, simple chit-chats. Nothing that would be considered odd by anyone that overheard them, but it was pleasant all the same and Stiles appreciated the constant company. It was certainly more relaxing than any of the times Malia had forced his companionship, pretty much ignoring him except for the nails she'd press into his skin when dragging him from person to person.
Later, when the sun was going down and people were leaving, Derek joked that since Stiles had arrived late, it only made sense that he stay behind afterwards to help clean up. Of course, Stiles readily agreed.
Which had been the completely right choice because without the eager stuckups surrounding them, Derek visibly relaxed and Stiles was truly able to enjoy their time together, though the picnic itself had been pleasant anyways. They stuck together while they cleaned, trading smiles, bumping shoulders, and, near the end, playfully chasing each other around the tables to the trash cans.
It wasn't the type of date Stiles would have planned, or imagined, for a good time, but it was the best date he'd ever been on; easy and fun and being 100% himself and feeling that the other person just might be 100% themselves too. Honestly, Stiles was giddy, and he had no desire for the evening to end.
Derek didn't seem to want the evening to end either. When everything was cleared and there was no reason for them to stay any longer, Derek turned to Stiles shyly, momentarily biting the bottom of his lip. It was freakin' adorable. But what he ended up asking...that was just hot. "You want to come over to my place?"
And how was Stiles supposed to respond to that except with a "Hell yea!"
