preparing for diwali [dated to 11/12/2015]

[puckandpie]

Things have been back to normal for a couple days now. Or as normal as things ever get in Darrow, I suppose. There's sunshine now and blue skies (sometimes) and no monsters lurking behind corners or running through the streets, no horrid sirens at sundown.

For all of that, I still feel uneasy, constantly jumping at every sound and barely sleeping a wink. Derek's been nice enough to let me sleep on his couch once I discovered that I couldn't sleep in my own apartment alone. I should be embarrassed, I know, and I am, but it's an embarrassment I can handle if it means actually getting a few hours of sleep every night.

I've been baking a lot. Stress baking. Not everything has turned out great, but it's been something.

Right now, I'm on the hunt for a new hockey stick though. It's the first time I've really ventured out for longer than an hour or two at a time, but it feels important, a necessary step to returning to normal. Like I need to take back something I lost during those two weeks of terrible nightmares so I can move on.

There's a store in the mall I remember seeing a few months ago so I try there first. It's a little overwhelming being around so many people after two weeks spent in a nightmare followed by several days of basically hiding in Derek's apartment, but I force myself through the crowds, knowing that it'll all be worth it in the end. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can make it out onto the ice again and I'll definitely want to have a stick by then.

I don't quite make it to the store I came for though, distracted by the sight of Derek inside a clothing store with a girl I've never seen before. He has that sort of grumpy, unamused look on his face that I can recognize now as being not entirely genuine as she holds up a shirt against his chest and then shakes her head.

Curious, I step into the store, sliding past a rack of equally colorful shirts. "Well, fancy seeing you here," I say as I approach, giving a friendly smile to the girl. It's only then I remember exactly why Derek might be looking to buy something uncharacteristically colorful. "Oh, is this for Diwali?"

Comments

[triskehale]

"I'll just stick with the colors," Derek says with a smirk, looking down at Bitty and then over at Kate just in time to see her brows shoot up. He quirks a brow in return, and then catches the shirt and looks down at it. "Joke's on you. I like purple."

He laughs softly at what she says next and shakes his head in fond exasperation. "Yes, big brown doe eyes."

Both shirts look nice, and he hands them to Kate so that he can take off his leather jacket. He has a fitted black v-neck on underneath, so he takes the purple shirt back and pulls it on, not bothering with the dressing room. "What are you guys wearing?"

[puckandpie]

"Your eyes are beautiful," I assure her with a nod of complete sincerity before watching Derek inspect the newest shirt Kate's picked out. It really is a beautiful purple and I have not a single doubt it's going to look amazing on Derek.

He slips out of his leather jacket and I let my gaze drag down the stretch of black fabric across his chest before forcing myself to turn my attention back to the racks, bypassing a few of the more glaringly bright selections for something I think Derek might actually consider.

"I haven't decided yet," I say. "I have a really nice red cardigan, but nothing quite bright enough to wear underneath it. Ooh, how about this?" I ask, pulling out a light teal sweater.

[everyonetakes]

She likes this kid more and more with every word he says and she smiles prettily at him before watching the way he can't quite look at Derek now that he's taken off his jacket. There's such a thing here and Kate grins in amusement, though she doesn't make any such effort not to look at Derek.

She might be married and totally in love, and Derek might be one of her best friends, but she's going to take the opportunity to admire a nice chest in a tight t-shirt when it's presented.

"Ooh, my outfit is amazing," she tells them. "I have lime green heels with red soles, a red skirt and a mint crop top with mint nail polish and a lime green purse. I'm gonna look super hot."

[triskehale]

"Taking this colorful theme real seriously, huh?" Derek asks with a smirk. The shirt fits him like a glove, and he buttons it up to the center of his chest and rolls his sleeves up, flexing a bit to test the give. "I don't doubt that you'll look hot, though."

He turns to face them and spreads his arms out, showing them the shirt. "Well?"

They're both going to go all out, he's sure, but this one pop of color should be enough for him.

[puckandpie]

"That sounds incredible!" I tell Kate as she describes her outfit, picturing it in my mind with every detail. "I can't wait to see it all in person. Did you get it all at at your store?"

Derek gets my attention a second later though and I glance back at him, noting how the shirt clings to his arms and sides. I swallow.

"That's a really good color on you," I agree, quietly putting the teal sweater back on the rack before crossing my arms over my chest with a grin. "It's gonna be like wrangling a blind horse into a doghouse to get you into more color than that, isn't it?"

[everyonetakes]

"Dude, have you ever seen a Diwali celebration?" Kate asks Derek. "I'm going to be the one who looks like I'm blending in if this is the extent you go to." Not that she's really ever seen a Diwali party either, not beyond what she's looked up online, but that won't stop her from pretending she's an expert.

Then he's flexing and Eric's eyes are practically bugging out -- okay, not really, but Kate is good at reading people -- and she almost laughs. It's just so cute and she wonders if they're both totally blind or just pretending they don't notice.

"Yeah, you look good. I'm going to attack you on the day off and give you like, a sparkly flower crown or something, but this is a pretty great start."

[triskehale]

"Were weird sayings invented in the south?" Derek asks, laughing a little and shaking his head. He looks over at Kate and quirks a brow, totally ready to call her on her shit. "Have you? Google doesn't count."

He looks down at the shirt and then looks around, eyes landing on a blue cardigan. Maybe more color wouldn't hurt him.

"That seems like something you'd do," Derek says with a roll of his eyes. "Just leave off the sparkles."

Derek continues to look around the store, and then does up the top button of his shirt, wrinkling his nose a bit at the snugness around his throat. "Should I get a tie?"

[puckandpie]

The shirt looks a little strange buttoned all the way to the top and I shake my head before reaching up to fix it, undoing the top two and smoothing the fabric across his shoulders briefly before stepping back and cocking my head to inspect.

"No tie," I tell him. "At least not with this. Do you want one though? We could find you a nice shirt and cardigan. Also, for the record," I say, glancing back at Kate with a grin, "I am absolutely in favor of the sparkly flower crown."

[everyonetakes]

Now they're undressing each other. Kate's about fifteen seconds from shoving them both into a closet and locking the door and refusing to let them out until they kiss or something.

"Mindy showed me pictures of a real one," she lies, giving Derek a look. "I think that counts. It's totally legit, even if I wasn't there."

She appraises the shirt situation, then nods her agreement. "If you want a tie, it needs to be a different shirt. But a bright tie with a bright cardigan could look really good."

[triskehale]

"You realize that you literally cannot lie to me," Derek tells her, eyes shining with amusement. "But sure, I'll let you be the expert."

Bitty's fingers are warm and smooth when they brush his throat, and Derek swallows hard. It's difficult for him to let anywhere near a spot so vulnerable, but with Bitty it isn't so bad.

"A cardigan," Derek says flatly, letting out a put upon huff. "I don't think I've ever worn a cardigan in my life."

[puckandpie]

Glancing between Derek and Kate, I can't help but grin. The comfort between them is obvious and I wonder for a second if there's ever been anything more than friendship between them. (In truth, I wonder that about a lot of Derek's friends now that I know about him and Neil even if I know I shouldn't. It's not any of my business.)

"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" I reply, wandering over to the rack again and flipping through until I find a bright blue knit one and bring it over. "So how long have y'all been friends anyway?"

[everyonetakes]

"Forever," Kate answers, even though that's not the truth. It sort of feels like it is, though. "I've known him longer than I've known my husband." Which maybe isn't the best way to judge, because Kate and Newt had only known each other for a year before getting married, but she's still absolutely certain that this whole schedule had worked for them.

"We met... shit, I don't know, a few years ago," she says, looking at Derek for confirmation. "On the beach. My dog was like, all heart eyed over him, I think she fell in love that day."

[triskehale]

"She thought I was hot," Derek says, a little distracted as he takes the sweater. The material is soft, and he rubs it between his fingers before looking up with a smirk. "Kate, not the dog."

He grins and lays the cardigan over his arm as a possible option, nodding at approval at Bitty. "Or maybe Jeff did too, who knows."

It feels good to joke around a little after all they've been through. All the things that he saw still make him lie awake at night, still make him shift and run through the woods until his paws ache, but there are still things that make him smile.

[puckandpie]

"Goodness, that is a long time," I reply, squashing the stupid ache inside me that's feeling a little too sympathetic to a dog I've never met. "For Darrow anyway."

It takes me a second or two to realize Jeff is the dog in question and I smile again, desperately hoping my face isn't as red as it feels. Just in case, I turn to start rifling through the rack again in search of another option.

"Also, this entire town thinks you're hot," I tell him over my shoulder. "I'm sure Kate and Jeff are hardly the first to see that. Do you have a preference on tie color? We can start there and work outward."