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“May I help you, sir?”, Derek heard an overly sweetened chirp behind him. He turned around to see the assistant smiling at him.
“I’m looking for a gift for Valentine’s Day,” he said calmly.
The girl looked like she forgot she had a tongue in her mouth, or like she’d just found new uses for it. She opened her mouth and stared into Derek’s eyes until he got seriously irritated. He cleared his throat and the girl blinked several times.
“Yes, of course!”, she squeaked, blushing uncontrollably. “May I interest you in our fine choice of necklaces? We have silver, gold, platinum, with diamonds, cubic zirconias, sapphires--”
“I think I’ll stay with silver, thank you.”
“Alright, of course!”, she repeated, probably programmed in some kind of a factory to say the same thing over and over again. Before he realised, she took several boards full of jewelry, from rings through bracelets to pendants and necklaces. She spread them all across the counter and stood beside it, ready to help, or maybe to chirp some more trained nonsense.
He was then forced to look at tons of jewelry that sparkled, created “wonderful glares”, and that had this “stunning brilliance” quality to them. Derek seriously doubted if giving Stiles something that looked like he bought it at WeAllLoveRhinestones.BatheUsInThem.com would get his assets higher. He foresaw it would earn him a pretty bruise when Stiles would chuck that blinding piece of shining sparkles back at him.
He saw literally nothing he thought would be appropriate.
“Do you see anything you like, sir?”, the girl asked, as if reading his mind. She kept batting her lashes and leaning forward, maybe there got something in her eye?
“No.”
Her face had that dumb look of sadness and disappointment. She rushed back to the cabinets and dug through the remaining accessories to look for something else.
Derek was surprised, because she hadn’t asked him what he would actually like to have shown. Still, he let her do what she thought would be best.
“Oh, sir, how about this one?”, she said softly, picking up a heart-shaped necklace and putting it on her neck, while touching his hand with her other palm.
Derek actually thought that was a nice one, although perhaps a little too flashy for his taste.
“I can also find a longer chain,” she said, even more softly, lowering the pendant. After a couple of seconds she held it so low Derek could barely see it, as it apparently was trying to hide in between her breasts.
“That’s not quite it,” he said indifferently. “I’m looking for something much less... obvious, so to speak.”
The assistant quickly turned away and buttoned her shirt.
“How about bracelets, then?”, she suggested, smiling even despite her face being all red, like splashed with boiling water, Derek thought.
“Yeah, why not.”
Bracelets seemed... flashy, too. Tacky, even. Derek was wondering whether the whole store did actually have anything without shiny stones on it.
“Do you have anything without the stones? And maybe something a bit more... rough, than faint and girly?”
The assistant seemed baffled.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand, sir.”
Derek rolled his eyes.
“I doubt the person I’m trying to find the gift for would appreciate all that sparkling things.”
“Why?”
“He’s not much into that kind of stuff.”
“We-- we don’t have a selection of men’s jewelry, sir,” the girl said quietly, so Derek turned, thanked her and went out of the store. He left the assistant standing behind the counter, not moving at all.
And he could swear he heard sobbing when he was outside the store.
Why would she sob?
*
After that, Derek went to a shop to check on another solution for his turmoil the internet suggested.
2. Sexy underwear
He hoped that at least this idea would pay off, since the first one, jewelry, went down the crapper. He looked around trying to find his way in the vast sea of underwear, lacy bras and corsets. He finally spotted male section (considerably smaller than the female one, go figure) and started looking around.
“Seriously?”, he muttered to himself as he turned over a price tag. “Is that a price, or a phone number?”
“May I help you, sir?”, he heard chirping behind him and for a second, he thought the girl from the jewelry store came here following him. That girl looked different, though, and she had a different-colored uniform.
Derek looked around himself again and a pair of black, lacy strings caught his eye, and the guy modelling with those on on the label left very little to imagination.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, barging out of the store.
*
“I need your help.”
“Yeah? And I need to get my nails done.”
“I need your help fast.”
“Why? Did you somehow manage to destroy something very delicate? Did you get to the conclusion that your bad boy look is not working for you anymore? For the record, it is working, trust you me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I have no idea. Just as I have no idea what you were talking about. You needed my help?”
“I do. Come to the mall as soon as you can. I’ll wait outside.”
“Fine.”
*
Lydia got out of her car, locked it and flipped her hair. Just to make a statement. As usual, even the parking lot seemed to have fallen to her feet as soon as she arrived. It took her less than ten seconds to locate Derek in front of the mall. First she noticed his gloom, grumpy figure, then the cape of darkness and anger behind him. The storm cloud over his head helped, too. She strutted to him and shot him a questioning glance.
“What did you need me for?”
“I need a gift.”
“Was I supposed to bring you one?”
“I would’ve asked Scott, but the fact that he hates me kind of stands in the way.”
“Also, Scott would probably blab to Stiles. Furthermore - never rely on Scott when it comes to original, creative ideas.”
“Why? And how do you know I’m looking for original and creative?”, Derek asked, again wondering whether or not Lydia has superpowers and whether or not she might be willing to unleash them to take control over the world soon.
“Because you’re shopping for Stiles, dumbass. And Scott bought Allison a teddy bear holding a giant heart, a heart-shaped necklace and chocolates. The trifecta of cheesy.”
“How do you know all that stuff?”, Derek asked, starting to walk towards the mall.
“I know many thing. You’d be surprised.”
They walked into the store and stopped. Lydia mentally scanned the plan of the building to find the best places to go into.
“I need to narrow the choices, Grumpy,” she said. “Have you tried anything yet? Any ideas?”
“I went to the jewelry store on the first floor--”
“You will probably die without me. On the first floor you can find jewelry for women. You could’ve gotten him a tiara there. Something for men might be downstairs. Okay, more”
“Clothes?”
“No. Definitely no.”
“Why not? A nice t-shirt, or maybe a hoodie? He likes hoodies.”
“He has a gazillion of hoodies. Trust me.”
“Easier said than done. Sweets?”
“Re-think that.”
“Oh, right. Hyperactivity and sugar don’t mix well. Then what? Should I make him a mixtape?”
“You know, the idea kind of grows on you,” Lydia said, half joking. “Let’s get back to that jewelry thing. More ideas?”
“A ring?”
“Are you proposing?”, Lydia gasped.
“What? No!”
“Then no ring.”
“A bracelet,” Derek said, sure that this answer would be right.
“Honestly, nothing metal, unless it says ‘allergic to penicillin’. Maybe something made of leather?”
“Leather smells funny,” Derek said, frowning.
“That coming from the guy who’s basically grown into one with his leather jacket.”
“It’s old. It doesn’t smell funny anymore.”
“It’s like talking to a big baby, big baby with teeth and claws,” Lydia whispered to herself, well aware that Derek could hear her. “Then, maybe a necklace, or a pendant of some sort?”
“I like that,” Derek answered lighting up. “Nothing collar-like, though, he already has one of those...”, he added, eyes getting hazy for a second.
“Ow come on, did I really need to know that? Move, we have some shops to visit.”
*
The next two hours they’d spent doing mostly the same. Lydia would show something to Derek, and he’d be sceptical at best. Then, Derek would point to something he thought might work, and Lydia shot him down with no mercy.
Until they got to a little stand.
“What do you think?”
“It’s a great idea, actually,” Lydia said proudly. It was like she raised that wild guy into a man who really knows his way around gifts.
“You think so?”
“Sure. Get two and you’re golden. And please, don’t provide me with details of whatever this gift may bring.”
*
“That’s a fancy restaurant, you know. I seriously hope you’re paying,” Stiles laughed.
It was the V-day already, and Derek felt like he was sitting on pins and needles literally. He kept patting his back pocket, checking if the gift was there.
Stiles, on the other hand, was perfectly comfortable. They both agreed that they won’t be giving each other gifts for Valentine’s, so all he had to worry was to pick something light to eat so he could-- do stuff tonight. He went with a risotto, just to be safe (he wouldn’t want to get hungry in the middle of the night, after all).
Derek kept wiggling and squirming on his chair. All through the meal, which kind of made Stiles uncomfortable and distracted him like hell.
“Okay, look,” he finally broke over dessert. “If you want, we can get this bagged, get out and eat it at your place. We don’t have to sit here.”
“It’s not that,” Derek answered, blushing a little. “It’s just-- Eat your pie, I’ll tell you later,” he finished, smiling.
“Oh no, you’ll tell me now or you’ll shut up forever.”
“I can’t-- I don’t want to, can we please wait?”
“No. You brought it up, you finish it.”
“Okay, fine,” Derek sighed, reaching into his back pocket. “I got you something.”
“Derek!”, Stiles gasped, eyes widening. “We said, no gifts! I have nothing for you!”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ve already given me something very special, and I have a little something for you, now, give me your hand.”
Stiles obeyed, and Derek took his palm in his own and laid a fist on top of it. He took a deep breath, and for a second Stiles thought he was going to put a bug or a slime on his hand. Instead, he felt something thin and warm slide onto his skin, followed by two thin and flat things. Derek took his hands away and Stiles could see it.
On a coil of ball chain laid two dog tags, thicker than the real ones. Amazed, Stiles lifted them up and took a closer look on the upper one. On one side it had engraved an outline of a wolf’s head, on the other - a triskelion identical to that which Derek had on his back. Stiles got suddenly hit by the power of that gesture - it was like Derek asking him to share his deepest, personal stuff with him. Like Stiles was allowed to fully become a part of his life, his vendetta.
The lower one, on an additional piece of chain, had only one letter engraved on one side.
D
Stiles looked up on alpha with a puzzled look on his face, too dazzled to actually think straight. Instead of answering, the werewolf just pulled an identical set from under his shirt. The only thing that was different was the second tag. The one that Derek had on had a different letter on it.
S
Stiles realized. Tears came to his eyes and, to mask it, he immediately put the dog tags on.
“Is something wrong?”, Derek asked, noticing his emotions, after all, he could read Stiles like an open book.
“On the contrary,” Stiles whispered, trying to become the master to his own voice. He breathed deeply once or twice and waved on a waiter. “Yeah, hi, we’d like that to go, and a check, please,” he said, when the waiter came to their table. He nodded and walked away. “And you just bought yourself a ticket for a really crazy ride this evening,” Stiles said, words almost voiceless, knowing Derek, and only Derek, would hear him.
Three minutes later they were in Derek’s Camaro, ready to go back to the loft.
*
“Hi, I have to know, did you give it to him?”
“Yeah, uhm, I-- I did, uhm--”
“Good, did he like it?”
“He-- uh, he did--”
“Is everything alright?”
“Even-- mh, even better, I gotta go-- uh, thanks!”
Lydia heard the click of the call being dropped and looked at her phone. Was Derek running? Why was he panting so heavily? And what the hell did he mean by saying things were even better than alright? And why hasn’t Stiles said anything?
The realization snuck on her. She threw the phone on her bed and decided not to meet Derek’s, nor Stiles’, for that matter, eyes for the next couple of days.