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Stiles loved his job no matter what anyone said about it. Okay, so it was usually hot and he had to listen to a bunch of whining kids all day. But he still loved it. He loved seeing all the little kids come through those gates with huge wonderment in their eyes as they first caught sight of Mickey Mouse’s face made out of flowers and all of their favorite characters walking around, dressed up in costume.
The only reason he got the job or even took it was because his father pulled a few strings with an old friend of his and Stiles couldn’t really say no after his dad had gone through the trouble. Stiles had been looking for a job just for the summer that would make him good enough money that he didn’t have to take out as many student loans but also would have a little left over to splurge on a pizza with Scott every now and then. It worked out well enough and he got to carry a taser which was pretty cool.
He was making his rounds by the Town Square Theater in Main Street, U.S.A. when he spotted a little girl with her hair done up wearing a Belle costume with her tiara perched crookedly on her head. Stiles patted his pocket to make sure he had his little book and he pulled it out along with a pen before smiling hugely.
She had stopped at a nearby bench to tie her shoe - she was wearing bright red converse with her dress, Stiles already loved her - and Stiles approached her from the side. She looked up when she saw Stiles and Stiles automatically dipped into a bow.
“Your majesty, you look beautiful today,” he told her with a crooked smile and he looked up when she giggled. “You’re Princess Belle right? I was wondering if I could have your autograph.”
The little girls’ eyes got enormous like saucers and she looked around before pointing to herself. “Me?” she asked incredulously and Stiles nodded vigorously.
“Of course. You’re a princess!” he responded and held out her book for her, already opened onto an empty page, and his purple glitter pen - he knew how to woo the ladies.
The little girl grinned and took the pen - she was maybe four or five years old and tiny as could be with the biggest blue (or maybe green?) eyes. She scribbled her name in it messily and all Stiles could tell was that it started with an E-L because it was mostly scribbles. She gave it back and Stiles bowed to her again politely.
“It was an honor to meet you, Princess,” he said and she grinned, wiggling her fingers at him before running off.
Stiles chuckled and watched her go, shouting “Papa! Papa! He thought I was really a princess!”
++
Derek didn’t know who the security guard was who had asked for Eleanor’s autograph but it was practically all she could talk about the entire rest of the day and she told everyone she met including other kids waiting in line for rides. Derek had looked over at the security guard but he’d already been walking away, hands in his pockets so Derek didn’t give it much thought.
They spent the first part of the morning at Adventureland because that’s where Eleanor wanted to go first. They visited Tinkerbell and rode on Aladdin’s magic carpet. Eleanor was too impatient for the line at Pirates so they took the Jungle Cruise instead and Eleanor ate up everything that the tour guide said, absorbing the knowledge like a sponge.
They moved onto Frontierland and had only gotten through the Country Bear Jamboree when Eleanor decided she was hungry. She wanted to go to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe though even though Derek told her it was on the other side of the park but she didn’t want to eat at any of the places they passed by since they were gonna eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table for dinner. So they made the long journey across the park - having to stop and take a picture of Eleanor in front of the castle and then they battled the crowds the rest of the way.
Somehow they lucked out and it wasn’t very crowded so they stood in line to order their food and then stepped aside to wait. Eleanor was hanging onto Derek’s hand and swinging around like a little monkey and then she stood up and stilled as she spotted the security guard from earlier sitting at a table by the window.
“Papa, it’s him!” she said as she yanked on Derek’s arm and pointed. Derek followed her focus across the restaurant to a young looking man with messy chestnut hair eating curly fries and looking at a book. “Can we go say hi?”
Derek hesitated but figured since the man didn’t look very busy and he’d already said hello to Eleanor, it couldn’t say hurt to say hello back. He grabbed their tray from the counter when their number was called and let Eleanor lead him through the tables until they reached the right one. Eleanor got shy but pushed forward bravely and leaned her elbows on the edge of the table, grinning at the security guard.
“Hi!” she chirped happily and Derek watched almost mesmerized as whiskey eyes moved from the book to Eleanor’s face then was surprised when there was recognition there. Derek hadn’t expected the man to remember Eleanor since he probably saw hundreds of children dressed up every day.
“Hello, Your Majesty,” he said with a polite bow of his head as he wiped at his mouth and then grinned at Eleanor. “Having a fun day at Disneyland?”
“Uh huh!” Eleanor replied with a wiggle of her hips and then looked at the rest of the table. “You eatin’ alone?” she asked with a sad look at the man like he was a puppy dog she wanted to take home.
“Yea, my friends were gonna come for lunch but they were busy. My friend Scott works here too but he couldn’t take time off for lunch yet,” he explained to her kindly, not even seeming to mind that she’d interrupted his lunch.
“I’ll sit with you,” Eleanor offered and she was already crawling into the booth across from the man before Derek could stop her.
“Eleanor, sweetheart, I’m sure this nice security guard has other things to do,” Derek protested and glanced from his now pouting daughter to the amber eyes of said security guard looking up at him.
“O-oh no, I mean, it’s cool. I was just studying. You guys could totally sit here if you want,” he offered, moving to condense all his scattered things to one area of the table so there was room.
“Are you sure? We don’t want to bother you,” Derek checked, raising his brows but the man nodded quickly and waved Derek forward so he slid in next to Eleanor.
“Yea, of course. Beats eating alone, you know? I’m Stiles by the way,” the man- Stiles, introduced himself, reaching across the table to shake Derek’s hand then smiling at Eleanor. “So you must be Princess Eleanor, huh? And this must be your dad, the King?”
Eleanor giggled and Derek quirked a smile because Stiles seemed to be really good with kids. It was no wonder he worked here. “Yup! King of Doctors,” Eleanor announced as she shifted to sit on her legs and reached onto their tray to take one of Derek’s french fries.
“Doctors huh?” Stiles asked and Derek glanced up with a little smile and a shrug as he finished unwrapping Eleanor’s chicken salad sandwich.
“I’m a pediatric attending at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. I work in oncology usually,” Derek explained with a little shrug and picked up his burger to take a bite, defending his daughter’s reasoning.
“Wow, that’s seriously awesome,” Stiles praised with a wide grin as he reached for his cup of soda and then looked at Eleanor. “And what about you, Princess? Are you a doctor too?”
Eleanor giggled and shook her head, swallowing her bite of food. “No, I’m in kindergarten,” she said as she pushed back soft brown curls from her face.
Stiles gasped softly. “Kindergarten? You’re so old!” he told her, aghast.
“I’m gonna be five next week!” Eleanor informed him eagerly..
“Wow, happy early birthday!” Stiles grinned at them both and Derek cleared his throat a little.
“So what are you studying for? It’s the middle of July,” he asked curiously and watched a faint blush rise on the man’s cheeks. He was unfairly attractive.
“Oh, uhm, I’m gonna start my final year of grad school this August so I can finally get my PhD. It feels like it’s been forever,” Stiles answered and Derek was a little bit shocked at that. Stiles must’ve been able to tell because he grinned wryly. “I know, I don’t look that old but I actually just turned twenty five in June. I graduated college at twenty one.”
“That’s impressive,” Derek allowed honestly. He hadn’t really expected that at all. Not that the guy looked stupid or unintelligent but just...he was a security guard at Disneyland. “What’s your field of study?”
“Biomolecular engineering,” Stiles answered with a bob of his head as he popped a curly fry in his mouth. Derek needed to stop being distracted by all of those moles.
“What’s that?” Eleanor asked curiously as she munched on a carrot stick, blinking up at them.
“Uh…” Stiles didn’t really know how to explain biomolecular engineering to a four year old. “It’s a scientist,” he told her, settling for the easiest answer and she nodded so Stiles changed the subject. “So where’s your Queen Mama?”
Derek tensed but Eleanor just shrugged and shook her head, unbothered. “I don’t have a mama,” she told him and Derek was afraid that the usual awkward silence was going to come up but it never did.
Stiles didn’t miss a beat. “That’s okay, I don’t have a mama either. She died when I was a kid but then my dad got married again so I have a stepmom, does that count?”
Eleanor gasped and shook her head. “Evil Stepmom!” she exclaimed and Stiles chuckled, the noise drawing Derek’s attention immediately.
“Not all stepmoms are evil. Cuz you know what? The woman my dad married was my best friend’s mom! So then me and my best friend became brothers just like we always wished for. Melissa’s really nice, too, she makes the best oatmeal pecan cookies. Those are my favorite,” Stiles told her and Derek smiled a little, taking a bite of his hamburger.
They spent a little while talking and eating. Stiles seemed to have forgotten about studying in favor of getting to know Derek and Eleanor a little better and Derek wondered about the blush forming in his cheeks when Derek admitted subtly to not being exactly straight. It was Derek’s turn to blush when Stiles admitted the same thing. By the time it was time for Stiles to go back to work, Derek was thoroughly entranced.
“Listen,” Stiles said nervously as they gathered their trash from the table and Derek looked up at him curiously. “Would, uh, would it be too forward of me to ask you out? It’s totally cool if you wanna say no, like I get that you’re probably super busy with your daughter and saving kids’ lives and stuff. But, if you ever had some free time or something, we could grab dinner?”
Derek grinned widely and he nodded as Eleanor spun in circles beside him. “Yea, that sounds really- that sounds good,” he answered easily and slid his phone from his pocket to offer Stiles. “Here, you can put in your number.”
He looked between Stiles and Eleanor as Stiles punched in his name and number to the phone and Derek took it when it was handed back. Derek fiddled around with it as he opened up a new text and shot one off to Stiles.
“There, that way you’ve got mine too,” he said and Stiles grinned dopily, all dimples and straight white teeth and shining eyes.
“Awesome. I’ll call you later then or text you or something,” he replied and Derek nodded easily.
“You do that. Have a good afternoon, Stiles,” Derek bid him and Eleanor wrapped her arms around Stiles’ legs in a tight hug.
“You too, Derek,” Stiles said and then crouched down to hug Eleanor back. “Behave for your dad okay? And have lots of fun for me.”
“Okay!” Eleanor agreed easily with a happy smile.
She waved goodbye as she and Derek left the cafe and Stiles waved back easily. Derek couldn’t help but think that maybe there was something magical about this place, be it the fairytales or Mr. Walt Disney himself. But Derek was definitely looking forward to calling Stiles later just as his phone buzzed with a new message.
Can’t wait to see you again. -Stiles