Word: Balmy

Warning: pure fluff and sweetness. You may need a dentist after this.

...

The season is finally changing from winter to spring, and it's actually balmy outside. Compared to the last few weeks with winter struggling to make itself known with a cold snap and freezing the ground, the day almost feels like it's already the middle of spring. Stiles can't wait to actually go outside in a t-shirt, and not need a billion sweaters to feel warm. He's got the Jeep packed for the day, and now he's just waiting for Derek to be ready.

"Derek, if you're not out here in the next ten seconds, I'm going to..."

"What?" Derek asks from the doorway, pulling on his short-slleve Henley and tugging the hem down over his jeans.

"No idea; you never let me finish my threats," Stiles admits, shrugging.

"I can go back into the bedroom if you need a minute?" Derek offers with a grin.

"Oh, shut up. And hurry up, it's almost midday and we haven't done anything!"

"Oh, really? So that blow job I gave you earlier is us not doing anything?" Derek asks, eyebrow raised.

"You know what I mean! We haven't done anything outside. Come on, I need sunshine," Stiles groans, grabbing Derek's hand and tugging him across the doorway.

Stiles barely lets Derek lock up the loft before he tugs him over to the elevator and, after a fifteen second delay as they go down to the ground floor, out of the building altogether.

It seems as though the spring weather has brought out Stiles' ability to talk even more because he spends the whole car trip talking about everything and anything. Derek relaxes and just listens to Stiles, letting the words wash over him and answering when he needs to. The cold weather made Stiles quieter than usual, and it's nice to see him so animated and talkative again. Derek holds back a grin when he sees that Stiles wants to talk with his hands, but they're stuck at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, an enforced habit from his father.

"You get the things out of the trunk, I'll find a good spot!" Stiles says as soon as the ignition is off, gracelessly clambering out of the Jeep to run to the park.

Derek watches after him fondly before getting out to grab the bag, picnic basket, and blanket that Stiles packed for their day out. He can smell a mix of food in the basket, including his favourite: chicken, cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise sandwiches, and Derek grins as he tugs the bag onto his shoulder, closing the Jeep before going to look for Stiles. It doesn't take long to find him, he's got a shady spot under a tree, and is waving to Derek like an idiot.

"It's the best spot in the park; away from the noisy playground, and not directly in the sun so I don't turn into a human lobster, and it's on the side without the ants," Stiles says proudly, opening up the blanket on the ground.

"Your spot-choosing skills are amazing, Stiles. I don't know what I would've done without you," Derek deadpans, and Stiles just laughs in response.

"You'd probably still be in the loft, you hermit!" Stiles says, taking the bag and basket from Derek and setting them down on top of the blanket. "You didn't smell our lunch, did you?"

"Not a thing," Derek lies.

Stiles doesn't look like he believes him. He opens the bag and pulls out a mess of string and plastic, and Derek raises his eyebrows because, seriously, a kite?!

"Don't look at me like that, Der-bear; the weather and wind's perfect for kite flying," Stiles says, handing the kite to Derek to untangle.

Derek sighs and sits on the blanket, working carefully to untangle the string as Stiles does the same thing with the second kite. By the time the kites are untangled and ready to fly, the wind's died down and Stiles mutters about Murphy's law with a pout.

"Why don't we eat while we're waiting for the wind to pick up again?" Derek suggests.

Stiles perks up and makes a show of pulling out the sandwiches before he presents them to Derek, grinning broadly. Derek thanks him earnestly, then kisses him to add to the thanks, and promptly scoffs down two sandwiches before Stiles can even finish his first.

"You're gonna get a stomach ache if you don't slow down, Der-bear," Stiles says around a mouthful of food.

"Mmm-hmm, you going to finish that?" Derek asks, nodding to the rest of the sandwich in his hands.

Stiles glares and holds his sandwich close. "My sammich."

Derek snorts and shakes his head, leaning back against the tree to eat his third sandwich, waiting for Stiles to finish.

"Wind's picked up, Derek! Come on, grab the kites!" Stiles calls, shoving the uneaten half of his sandwich back into the container before running out into the sun.

Derek puts the container away in the basket before he grabs the kites and follows Stiles. The shape of the kites don't show up properly when they're flat, and it's only when the kites are up in the air that Derek realises Stiles has bought him a kite with a wolf's face, and Stiles' own kite is a full on fox, arms and legs flapping in the wind.

"Aren't they awesome?" Stiles asks, laughing when he sees Derek's expression.

"They're definitely something," Derek replies, shaking his head.

Stiles tugs on the kite string, sending his fox at the wolf sharply.

"If you tangle the strings, you're untangling them!" Derek warns him.

"You're just saying that 'cause you're scared of my kite flying skills," Stiles says, smirking.

Derek narrows his eyes at Stiles, then wraps the string around one arm before tugging sharply, the wolf hitting against the fox. Stiles cries out, holding onto his string more firmly so his kite won't fly away. Derek laughs as Stiles tries to get his flailing wolf to fight back, and Stiles is cursing at him under his breath, but he's grinning broadly too.

The wind drops away eventually, and they go back to the blanket, Stiles pulling out a container of homemade peanut butter cups. Derek eats a few, but lets Stiles hog the container, Stiles seated between his legs as he talks about the leftover choc-chip peanut butter balls he's got waiting at home. Derek smiles and presses a kiss to Stiles' neck; he loves it when Stiles calls their loft home. Stiles turns his head to kiss Derek in return, tasting of peanut butter and chocolate. They pull away, breathing heavily, and the day suddenly feels a lot warmer than it did a few minutes ago.

"Want to go home yet, pip?" Derek asks, grinning.

"No, we only just got outside, Der-bear," Stiles whines with a pout.

"All right, but you'd better stop rubbing your ass against me like that, or else we'll traumatise people."

Stiles flushes red, realising that he was doing that motion without even realising it, and stills his hips quickly. Derek frowns a bit when he sees that Stiles is a bit red even after his blush fades.

"You forgot to put sunscreen on, didn't you, pip?" he mutters, reaching over for the bag to get the tube of sunscreen out.

Derek tugs Stiles' shirt off, setting it aside carefully before squirting a generous amount of sunscreen onto his palm and rubbing it into Stiles' shoulders and chest. Stiles relaxes into his warm touch, eyes closing as Derek makes sure to cover every inch of his exposed skin. Derek presses a kiss to Stiles' neck before rubbing the sunscreen on, then moves Stiles around until they're facing each other so he can apply the cream to his face gently.

"You're not going to fall asleep on me, are you, pipsqueak?" Derek asks in a soft murmur, his fingers sweeping across Stiles' jaw.

"Might," Stiles admits, turning his face into Derek's caress. "And don't call me pipsqueak."

"All right, pip. Come on, stand up and I'll do your back."

Stiles gets up with flailing and slippery limbs, but manages to do so without hurting either one of them. He turns so Derek can rub the sunscreen onto his back, shivering even though the breeze is warm. Derek turns Stiles and presses a soft kiss to his lips.

"Want to play Frisbee or soccer?" Stiles asks, settling back down on the blanket to wait for the sunscreen to start working.

"Soccer; I'd prefer not to have you throwing things at my head and knocking me out again."

"It was one time, and it was either knock you out of the way or let that damn Wendigo take a chunk out of your arm," Stiles grouses.

"I know, I was just teasing, pip," Derek murmurs, pressing a kiss to the palm of Stiles' hand.

Stiles pulls his shirt on and grabs the soccer ball from the bag, tugging Derek out into the sun with him. They kick the ball back and forth for a while, Stiles commentating and trying to run around Derek, laughing when Derek pulls him into a hug instead of trying to get the ball away from him, breathing out something about yellow and red cards before Derek kisses him, then darts past Stiles to get the ball again.

They end up back on the blanket, sweating, laughing, and breathless from their exertion, and Stiles collapses against Derek, dozing off while Derek stays awake and reads his book, arm wrapped around Stiles loosely. They stay there for the rest of the afternoon, Stiles' sleeping soundly and only waking when he hears a container being opened, and wakes up to see Derek eating the remaining half of his sandwich. Derek offers him the last of the sandwich, even as Stiles tackles him down to the blanket to steal his food back from Derek.

"You're lucky I made extras and left them at home for dinner," Stiles mutters, licking the mayonnaise from his thumb.

Derek brightens up at that and puts his book away immediately, standing to pack up the rest of their things as well. Stiles shakes his head, but helps Derek, not even protesting as Derek grabs his hand and tugs him back over to the Jeep, reminiscent of the way Stiles had pulled Derek to the car earlier that morning.

Stiles thinks it might just be the best start to spring he's had in years, and with Derek by his side, he's pretty sure it'll get even better still, no matter what comes their way.

...

End of word challenge.

Thanks for reading!