spark

Chapter 26: Christmas Spirit

December had fallen swiftly and smoothly. And although there wasn't any snow this year, the biting cold still lead to many complaints from Buck and Alex. With Eddie finally finished healing and out of the Buckley-Stilinski household, Stiles was able to increase his work hours back to their regular amount. Due to Bradford working towards a promotion to Sergeant, Lucy was unable to be partnered with her old TO, and so Sergeant Grey assigned Stiles and Lucy to partner up for the foreseeable future. If there was a silver lining to the situation, it was that he and Lucy were able to laugh at Nolan's expense as the middle-aged rookie was partnered with the slacker of the Mid-Wilshire, Smitty.

"You know, just because you and I are partners at work, doesn't mean you need to hang out with me so much out of uniform." Stiles says, Lucy cocking an eyebrow at the man as she handed him more length of Christmas lights. Since they had gotten off work, Stiles figured he would get the Christmas decorations set up, even though it was less than a week away from the holiday. It didn't help that it was nearly pitch black outside, save for the amount of light shining from the work lights Stiles set up so that Lucy wouldn't trip on anything.

"Face it, Stilinski, you're stuck with me." Lucy teased, crossing her arms as Stiles rolled his eyes. "Plus, I was bored, and everything gets interesting whenever I hang with your family."

"If interesting, do you mean 'traumatizing' and 'dangerous'?" Stiles countered, the other officer huffing out a laugh at that.

"Speaking of trauma, I heard you've been having sessions with Frank on a weekly basis. Wanna talk to your psychologist bestie about things?" Lucy asks, Stiles narrowing his eyes at the woman as he unscrewed one of the minuscule bulbs and flicked it at Lucy. The Chen woman yelped, holding her forehead as a small red mark started to present itself on her skin. "You prick!"

"Sticks and stones, Chen, sticks and stones." Stiles mused, stapling the last few expanses of lights in place before jumping off the roof, landing on his feet as he braced his legs for the impact. "If you're going to hang out with me, you're gonna help me. I promised Alex I would have these decorations set up before he woke up in the morning." To prove his point, Stiles dug into a red tote and held out a red inflatable and its air pump, shoving them into the woman's arms as she looked between it and Stiles with apprehension.

Lucy muttered a stream of curses in Mandarin, though when Stiles responded in the same language fluently, she instantly stopped. While Lucy was working on blowing up inflatables, Stiles focused on getting lights wrapped around the porch railing before going behind it with a silver garland. Lucy was walking onto the porch to retrieve another inflatable when Roscoe came barreling into the driveway, coming to a stop as Liam hopped out of the Jeep, carrying a paper bag from the hardware store. "I had to go to three different stores to find any Christmas lights whatsoever. I still don't get why you sent me out for more when you have a shitload." Liam complained, walking over and handing the bag to Stiles. The phoenix looked between the bag and Liam, before handing it back to him. The Beta looked at Stiles in sheer confusion, silently asking what he wanted him to do with them.

"There's a cardboard cutout of a kid in figure skates in the basement, stab holes in the border and stick the lights through them. There's also a Santa hat to put on it. Have fun." Stiles instructed, Liam's face twisting in confusion. Shaking his head in defeat at the situation, Liam retreated into the house. Lucy was still staring at where Liam had disappeared, an intrigued expression on her face. "Want his number?"

"Wh-what?! N-no, I don't want his number! Why would I want his number?" Lucy stammered, a chuckle leaving Stiles as he took out his phone, quickly sending Liam's contact to Lucy. The Chen woman looked at her phone in confusion before glaring at Stiles.

"I didn't think you were into younger men, Chen." Stiles teased, the two walking into the house as the phoenix carried the empty tote inside.

"How do you even know this kid? And why is he at your place?" Lucy inquired, following after Stiles as they descended into the basement.