potosi | we're bigger than we've ever dreamed

Thanks, it was an honor to be nominated. [ Stiles winks when he gets the coffee, immediately picking off his gloves and grabbing the coffee cup in his bare hands, curling over the cup like it's everything warm and holy in the world. It's a fresh cup instead of one that's been simmering all day, and a part of Stiles wants to comment on that, but maybe that sort of mutual sort-of-like is the kind of thing he should be keeping between them, quietly enjoyed in cups of dark coffee instead. It's probably just because he's a regular--between himself and Scott, they probably keep Laura driving that nice Camaro of hers.

Well, them and the teenage girls. Derek is popular, and Isaac is a close second.

Stiles gets to see him a lot, probably more than any giggling girls do. It feels like every time he visits, someone makes sure Derek comes out of the back room. Stiles chooses not to think that one over too much--they're just goading Derek, probably. For what reason, though? That he's not sure of. He slides into one of the seats at the counter by the coffee machines, hoisting up his too heavy bag and dropping it on the counter. But when Derek comes back with the cookies, he blinks, looks down at them, and his cheeks color in what is definitely not from the cold outside.

...well that was really nice. He gets the hint, the "on the house" that Derek's eyebrows seem to be conveying this morning, and Stiles takes one of the warm cookies from him, offering a sincere, if lopsided, smile. ] Thanks.

[ And then he takes a bite into one and drops his head back and groans. ] Oh my goddd, that's amazing.

[ The first cookie is gone in approximately 2 seconds, because holy shit. Chocolate and gooey marshmallows and--yes. Sign him up. ]

Try not to let it go to your head. [ Derek ignores the wink in favor of trying to brush some of the flour out of his beard, knowing it's there like he knows he's breathing in air and coffee. By the time he gets home to his apartment he's usually covered head to toe in it, in varying degrees. It's just sort of something he's come to accept, and apparently it's part of his charm. He's caught teenage girls and college kids alike tittering over it, or sighing like he's some dreamboat.

Stiles might find him attractive but he sure as hell treats him like more than the hot baker who sidelines as a barista sometimes. Their banter and sarcastic exchanges tell him as much, and it's refreshing from someone on the other side of the counter.

Which is part of why he gives him things on the house, feeds him assorted baked goods and gives him the shots of syrup without charging him for it. The other part is that there's that mutual sort-of-like there, and for as much as Laura and Cora (and Isaac and Erica and Boyd) say that his flirting is obvious, in his bantering, this is... a little different. He prefers the more subtle approach, here, because he's fairly certain Stiles can do a lot better than damaged goods with a side of cookies.

He inclines his head in a slight nod at Stiles' thanks, pretending that his neck and ears aren't warm with it. It's something of a silent "any time," because honestly making Stiles his guinea pig is worth the embarrassment that comes from his coffee shop family poking fun at him.

With Stiles' reaction to the cookie, though, he chokes a little on a combination of a laugh and mild horror. He should not be allowed to do that. He very pointedly works on organizing the case so that he's not looking at the stretch of his neck. ]

Hot chocolate in cookie form. Those're homemade marshmallows.

I had my speech ready and everything. [ With a dramatic sigh, he blows the steam from his coffee, lifting the lid off of the cup slowly and fanning it with his fingers. The brew here is ridiculously good, the kind of thing that warms you up from your very soul, and Stiles is ridiculously, stupidly fondly of it, but refuses to take the bags of coffee that Laura offered to give him.

That would be a reason not to show up at the shop.

So, yeah. He pays for his overpriced coffee because he gets to see Derek every day, argue with him about whatever is in the news, write inappropriate messages on his comment cards ("how is your barista doing: he could stand to smile more. :)))") and eats Derek's stupidly delicious bakery food, because he might be a tiny bit obsessed with the grumpy baker who pretty much found his way to Stiles' heart through his stomach. And his brain.

And his arms and his face and his stupidly colorful eyes. Okay, maybe this is bad.

The second cookie disappears in another two seconds, straight down his gullet--he's got marshmallows in his teeth but it was literally like Christmas in his mouth. ] Seriously, dude, you make your own marshmallows? Are you even real?

Alas, alack. [ Part of him is glad that Stiles doesn't accept the bags that Laura tries to foist off on him every time she talks to him, and another part would like for him to actually accept it so that he has one less reason to show up and be Derek's personal life ruiner. That's basically what he is, although it's not in the same way that either of his exes were. Life would just be so much easier if Stiles weren't here to distract him and drag him out of hiding in the back.

The fact that Stiles stuffs his mouth with the cookies shouldn't be charming, but neither should Stiles' inability to keep things out of his mouth in general. It's obvious he's got an oral fixation, and it goes both ways because he winds up staring every time he chews on a stirring stick, or a straw, or his pen, or a hoodie string. It's really, really distracting. (Stiles has a distracting mouth in general, and gigantic bambi eyes and it's awful. Stiles is awful.)

Corner of his mouth quirking downwards a little in sincere amusement, he reaches around the coffee machines to calmly steal the comment cards and relocate them out of Stiles' reach. He's got a small collection of them going, all in Stiles' messy scrawl, but he's not going to encourage his behavior or distractions when he's got work to do on his laptop. ]

It's not that difficult. Takes maybe half an hour to make them, though I'd recommend letting them sit overnight so that they're actually marshmallows and not a marshmallow whip. [ He shrugs it off, like it's nothing to make everything from scratch. ]

[ Well, Stiles' life would be easier if Derek wasn't here to distract him, either. Let's be real, he doesn't come to the coffee shop to get work done. He comes here to spend time with Derek or Erica, or to hang out with Scott while he performs at the poetry nights Laura hosts once a month. Nothing ever gets done from the minute Stiles makes eye contact with Hot Barista himself.

He makes an offended face as Derek takes the comment cards--rude--but opens up his laptop on the counter, covered in stickers, taking a long sip of the dark coffee and smacking his lips. He should honestly, probably work. He just really doesn't want to. Derek's not always here, and he likes to enjoy the chances he gets with him. ]

Yeah, okay. Dude, when I find time to make marshmallows at home, I will totally try that. [ Between TA-ing and his schoolwork, Stiles pretty much has time to get coffee and that's it--the entire extent of his social life right there. He's weirdly kind of okay with that. ] My diet is 90% Stouffers, so.

[ They're mutual distractions and Derek should probably excuse himself into the back to make sure he's not burning anything, because otherwise he'll be stuck out here talking to Stiles the whole time and trying to get someone else to take care of the other customers. The regulars he's a little more okay with helping, most times, but there are just some moments where he'd much rather duck away and get as far from them as possible.

The quirk turns into a smirk at Stiles' offended face, but it doesn't stay for long because he's distracted seeing if there's any new stickers on the laptop before he catches what he says. An almost appalled look crosses his expression, and he can't help but outright stare at him. ]

How are you alive. Those things shouldn't be considered food. [ Well, to be fair, that would be Laura's diet too if he didn't feed his sister. And Isaac, probably, if he didn't feed him and then take the time to teach him how to make things. Holding a hand up to signal hang on, he turns around and disappears into the back. A minute later, he comes out with a ziploc bag of marshmallows, dusted in powdered sugar still from the whole destickying process, and drops them on top of the keys of his laptop. ]

They're fine! Dude, Stouffer's macaroni when you're drunk? Freakin heaven. [ stiles yells that after him when he disappears into the back, but his eyeroll and scoff to the heavens is literally the most affectionate thing on the planet. seriously, derek is such a food nerd. it'd be annoying if it wasn't absolutely ridiculously charming.

by the time he comes back, stiles is starting to actually read an article for his paper--his brown eyes dart back and forth across the screen and he taps a red pen to his mouth, curiously trying to take in all the information he can, and he starts a little when there is suddenly a bag of fluffy goodness on his keyboard. stiles blinks twice at it, looks down, then back up at derek. ] Dude--seriously? Oh my god.

[ his pleased smile is undeniable, and he shakes the bag, once. ] Thanks, man, forreal. I am going to have the biggest hot cocoa ever tonight and I'm not sharing with anybody.

Have you even read the back of the boxes for what's in those? [ Derek shouts back at him before he comes out, probably drawing attention to the front of the shop, but he doesn't even care because really. The preservatives and salt content could probably take down a bull rhino if they ate one. A college student wouldn't stand a chance of a constant diet of those damn things.

He almost, almost doesn't want to disrupt Stiles in his reading. At this point he should know better, because once Stiles has been distracted it'll take him ages to get back to work. (Besides, he's a little distracted by him tapping his pen against his mouth-- oral fixation goes both ways, here, and he mentally slaps himself.) ]

Honestly, I should just send you home with a bag of actual food so that you and Scott don't wind up dying because of college malnourishment. [ But he sighs, waving him off with a faint twist of fond amusement on his face as he goes to cross his arms. ]

What part of drunk did you not get? [ he yells that right back, absolutely shamelessly, because stiles doesn't really care who hears him and he likes to win arguments. stiles likes to argue, and he likes to argue with derek. also, he's in college, and drinking is pretty much part of the status quo.

but he tucks his pen behind his ear and picks up the marshmallows, opening the bag. he's eaten them out of derek's basically sex cookies (he's not going to admit that he calls them that out loud--or, well, his diarrhea of the mouth'll get to him eventually, but he will at least not admit to thinking about a laundry list of extremely dirty things every time he uses the words "sex" and "derek" in the same sentence.) but stiles has never just had one out of the bag before.

so, of course, stiles puts like four in his mouth at once. ] Ith noth malnourshhhhmnt. Lucky charmth are great. And ramen? Dude, tho mushhh ramen.

[ Leveling him an exasperated look, Derek shakes his head at him. Of course he was in college once, even spent some time in grad school before his life blew up in his face and he found himself recovering here, so he knows the whole gamut of college activities. Including drinking. But he remains horrified by Stiles' choice in drunk food.

Slowly, his eyebrows raise as he watches Stiles open the bag and start pulling marshmallows. They raise even higher as he basically plays a game of chubby bunny, stuffing the extra large marshmallows into his mouth.

He opens his own for a second, then closes it, obviously debating on how to go about this. Stiles, some days, seems like he'd lost his mind somewhere along the way. ] That's it, I'm making you a bag to take home.

[ god these marshmallows are awesome. seriously. no one would have seen derek hale the baker when they looked at him, but stiles was so, so pleasantly surprised. once he got over being terrified, but, eh, not the point. ]

Theriouthly?! [ he lights up like a kid at the candy store, grinning hugely at derek--and, yes, there are still threads of marshmallow in his teeth. this is him, derek. this is the guy you've got a crush on. he swallows before he continues again, at least. ] Dude, you're like, my hero. I'm gonna make hella hot chocolate. And rice krispie treats, hell yes.

[ Ah yes, this is where he has placed his affections. Bringing up a hand, Derek rubs the heel of his palm against his temple. It's mostly to avoid possibly getting more flour all over him - habit, even if there isn't actually any flour sticking to his fingers - but the gesture serves to ground him rather than wonder what his life has become. ]

At least they're a little bit healthier than store bought, even if they are still a lot of sugar. Do you have any flavor preferences? [ Because he can do flavored marshmallows. He really can. But then he pauses, squinting at him. ] And other food. You need actual food.

we're bigger than we've ever dreamed

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lol drunk tags

This'll be fun.

This is why I just got up to make cookies, btw.

I'm really sad because I found the last two cookies earlier this week and now they're gone

Hopefully random sterek tags make it better.

Random stereks make everything better but now I want cookies.

(belated)

This was the most random sterek tag ever but do u here me complainin