potosi | crayola doesn't make a color for your eyes.

[ It's March, and after a cold winter, Stiles' kids are super antsy. Honestly, they're antsy most of the time, but they behave for Stiles, enough that by storytime, snack time and the bus route, most of them are happy and willing to go out to the carpool lot in a neat, single file order. Some days, he has to chase the kids around.

Today is one of the latter.

So cue one frazzled kindergarten teacher, who scoops up Greenberg's kid (seriously, always) under his arm and deposits him safely in the lap of his father before he can run off and pick dandelions again. Stiles returns to his little outpost with one of his stragglers, who'd told him that her mom was gonna be late today, so he's sitting with Talia and playing Miss Mary Mack with her until her parent rolls up.

And when a FJ Cruiser pulls into the lot and Talia perks up, he definitely lets her win the clapping game and looks over his shoulder. The car's not the usual sleek Camaro belonging to his mom, so he looks at Talia, making sure. ] Is that one for you, kiddo?

[ Derek puts the car into park and cuts the engine as Talia scrambles to get her things after oh-so victoriously defeating Mr. Stiles in their game. Almost bouncing like an excited puppy, even, and her uncle just snorts a little from where he's getting out of the driver's side. He hasn't actually seen the teacher yet, which is probably for the best. ]

Yeah, s'kay! [ The little girl continues bouncing, until the mysterious chauffeur comes around the Cruiser. And then she's launching herself at him without any warning, save for a sudden "uncle Der!", though by this point he's incredibly used to her excitement. Without missing a beat, Derek slips his hands under her outstretched arms and scoops her up as he comes forward to where her teacher is still standing. ] Hey, Tallulah. Your mom sent me today.

[ Straightening up as the guy comes around the edge of the cruiser, Stiles brushes chalk dust off his khakis and stands up fully, letting go of Talia's hand so she can run at him, and that's when he catches an eyeful of the driver. He looks sort of-- ]

Oh my god.

[ Stiles blurts that out before he can even think about it, in what is very much an unprofessional move as every five alarm warning can go off in the back of his head because holy shit that's Derek Hale. And he probably should've put the clues together sooner--Hale, Hale of a Chef--considering Derek had even mentioned he'd had a niece and oh god.

He wants to slap himself upside the head for being such an idiot, and to maybe gape at the fact that Derek Hale lives here. In Beacon Hills.

Eventually it hits Stiles he needs to say something, and he just--settles for a wave and tries to pretend his ears aren't burning, mentally mapping out the quickest escape routes to his Jeep.

The problem here is he's not sure if he wants to run to him or away. Derek Hale lives in Beacon Hills. ]

Edited 2013-12-03 08:25 (UTC)

[ Talia chatters about a mile a minute at him, excited to see her uncle and bursting with information about her day. Derek takes it all in stride, his attention largely on her until she suddenly comes to a stop. He's about to ask what the matter is, but then she's looking at her teacher. ] Mr. Stiles, are you okay?

[ He blinks, once, slowly, before looking away from her and following her confusedly concerned gaze to Mister-- ] Stiles?

[ Laura was serious. His recipe buddy is actually Talia's kindergarten teacher. She'd actually taken a picture of her daughter and her teacher, and she wasn't just bullshitting him to give him a hard time. They are currently standing in the pickup area of his niece's elementary school, not five feet from each other, and the picture she took did not do him justice.

Shit.

Honestly, Derek can't stop staring. It's probably worrying Talia a little, if her silence is anything to go on, but he's completely distracted by the fact that he's looking one "Stiles" Stilinski in the face. There's glitter in his hair and clothes, chalk powder still on his khakis, he has possibly the biggest brown eyes he's ever seen, and his mouth-- ]

Stiles. [ Maybe he should be concerned that he actually sounds a little pleased to be saying his name out loud and to his face instead of typing it and hitting send. ]

[ Oh, shit. Well. He knows now.

Stiles stares at him for a minute in the picture of wide eyed "oh my god", his mouth falling open a little stupidly at the fact that Derek Hale actually just said his name. It's weird--they've been texting for months, since Thanksgiving. The first thing he does in the morning is roll over and text him, when he's making his coffee (or beforehand, when the text is usually just "arrghhgkjtghthghh" or something similar), and the last thing he does at night is text him until he passes out. Usually they're arguing about something--customizing recipes versus going traditional, or what the best food to eat when you're wasted is, or if diner food tastes better at two in the morning (it does). Scott rags on him for it constantly, asking him how his boyfriend's doing, and it's embarrassing and absolutely not something Stiles definitely thinks about like all the time.

It's Talia who snaps him out of his staring, the concerned look on her face, and he snaps his jaw shut with an audible click, wiping his chalky hands off on his pants and ruining any work he did on them earlier and offering up his right hand to be polite. ] ...Derek.

[ ..wait. ] --I mean, you must be Talia's...uncle, right? [ Holy jesus how could he have been so stupid. Shaking his head minutely, he looks at Talia, leaning down a little to meet her level and flashing her a smile. ] He's gotta be, I think you have his beard! I can see it riiiiight...

[ And then he reaches out and tweaks her nose with his free hand and very pointedly ignores that his super hot online friend in fact lived in the same town as his.

(Did dating her uncle seem creepy?) ] There.

[ Stiles isn't alone in this. It's gotten to the point that his current family members ask how he's doing, what recipe he's giving now, when are they going to actually talk on the phone, due to the frequency with which Derek texts the kindergarten teacher. They both have errant sleep schedules, and even when they know the other isn't going to answer texts for a bit-- cooking or teaching or actually sleeping-- they shoot one another texts to come back to. Laura is maybe a little jealous, because he never leaves her random messages. His texts with her are short and sweet.

Stiles has actually gotten him to write novels before, or leave him enough texts that combined they might as well be novels. When he goes shopping, Stiles gets a text about ingredients or the people that he sees in the store or market.

And now he has a voice, a face, to put to the text messages. And it's killing him a little. ]

Mr. Stiiiiiiiles! [ Talia whines when he tweaks her nose, batting at his hand with both of hers as her uncle holds her steady on his hip with one arm. The other hand not snug around her waist is currently wrapped around Stiles' before he can even think about it, and he tries not to think about it after he realizes it. ]

Guess that means we're behind on her shaving. [ It comes out in a dry drawl, but it's easy considering his mouth suddenly went dry. ]

[ When their hands touch--it's the right thing to do, proper--it makes a flush start on his ears, a mix of embarrassment and about five other emotions all at once, and the fact that they linger...

Well, it's a lot to think about. He pulls his hand away from Derek's slowly, intense brown eyes almost never leaving his face, at least until Talia gets his attention again. It gives him an excuse to pretend he wasn't completely staring at her uncle, you know, the chef he's been talking to since October.

It's March. It's March and he lives less than--maybe he lives out of town? Maybe he's just visiting? What if this is Stiles' only opportunity?

Yeah, he's just gonna cut that thought right off at the pass before Stiles gets even more embarrassed at himself. He runs a hand through his bird's nest of a hairdo, flicking his eyes between Talia and Derek, even when the way she bats at his nose makes him smile. ] Gotta work on that. She, uh--Talia, you'll have to show them your project for this week when you get home, okay? It got a big gold star, didn't it.

[ Derek knows that Talia is staring at the two of them, confused and trying to figure out what's going on with them. But Stiles is all that he really notices for a long time, crisp green on bright brown, and he doesn't really want to look away from him. Like this is somehow a figment of his imagination.

But then he draws his hand away, looks at Talia, and it seems like it's broken. Yet Stiles remains, and he's not just imagining this meeting right now. Talia, oblivious to her uncle's turmoil, kicks her feet a little excitedly.

She draws Derek's attention back to her, where he looks down and away from her teacher. It's easier to focus on her than it is Stiles, because his mind is trying to wrap itself around the idea that they don't live hundreds of thousands of miles away from one another. Teachers don't tend to live too ludicrously far from their schools, so-- ] It did! You think mom'll put it on the fridge?

[ He smiles at her easily. ] If she doesn't, I call dibs.

[ honest to god, the first thought in his head is just oh no he's hot. not only is derek absurdly, ridiculously gorgeous, and it's ten times worse when he's right here, larger in life in front of him. the subject of his fantasies, daydreams and every long text message in his phone is not only a real person, but a real person who lives in beacon hills.

he smiles at talia and stiles is so fucking screwed.

he manages a half quirked smile and senses his chance to escape, lifting a hand in a wave (god, his fingertips are still tingling) ] Good, well, uh--we're having show and tell next week, so make sure she brings something really cool! I mean, I know she will.

[ stiles turns his attention back to talia and offers his fist for a brofist, beaming at her and trying to pretend that he is not 100% infatuated with her uncle. ] I'll see you on Monday, Tali!

[ If he can just focus solely on Talia, maybe Derek will get out of this alive. Maybe he can head home and escape back to the kitchen where everything is so much less complicated. His niece starts giggling delightedly at the idea of him putting more of her work up in his kitchen, where her things are often the backdrop of his episodes.

But then Stiles is retreating and a very large part of him is disappointed by the fact that he's going, that he needs to take Talia home and make sure that the episode is uploading without problems to youtube. He pauses and turns his attention to the teacher, cocking his head the slightest bit. ]

New episode should be up by the time you get home. [ Some sort of amusement slips into his expression, and he jostles Talia a little on his hip to adjust her. ] Make sure you watch it and let me know what you think.

crayola doesn't make a color for your eyes.

YEAH finally

LAUGHS

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