Sterek Library (a03 Edition)

(Less Than) Pratical Magic

By: MizEmily on a03

Stiles knows the guy at the back of the picket line of bored parents that surrounds his young audience. His name is Derek Hale. He’s 6 feet, 180 pounds of classic masculine beauty, and his bank account number is 8752943.

Stiles is his regular bank teller, not a stalker.

He does these kiddie magic shows on the weekend for extra cash.

Don’t judge him. 

Anyway, Stiles knows Derek, and Derek obviously recognizes Stiles, if the little nod and smile he just sent his way is any indication. Stiles thinks this is maybe the first time in his adult life he’s ever wished a person as brain-meltingly hot as Derek would ignore him.

“For, uh, for my next trick,” he manages to rasp out, once he’s terminated eye contact with the most beautiful man to ever acknowledge his existence, “I’m going to make this awesome birthday cake disappear.”

All of the kids gasp and wail out a collective ‘no!’. A few make grabby hands at the Toy Story themed monstrosity that sits on the table between them and the magician. Stiles grins at the anxious little boys and girls in the audience, finally drawn back into the moment. His eyes briefly flick over to the small shed at the very far corner of the Mahealanis’ large, well-manicured backyard, and he sees that the door is slightly ajar. If someone moved his talisman, this cake is going to end up inside some unsuspecting parent or child’s pocket. But Danny just gives him a thumbs up when Stiles shoots him a questioning glance.

Stiles shrugs, then turns his attention back to the cake. “Ready, kids?”

“No!”

He takes the tablecloth Danny loaned him for this very purpose, and settles it over the cake.

“On three. One, two…”

Stiles mutters the incantation under his breath as quickly as he can, and yanks the tablecloth away.

“Three!”

The cake is gone. All of kids, and several of the adults, throw their hands over their mouths, or gape in incredulity. Except Derek Hale, who is staring at him, all traces of the smile he’d been wearing when he’d first spotted Stiles wiped clean off his face. He actually looks kind of… angry?

“Hey, hey, guys, don’t be upset!” Stiles says, after one little girl starts sniffling. “The cake is coming back. I just need the birthday boy to help me.”

Danny’s husband, Mark, leads their son up in front of the little crowd and behind the table. Makaio is shy. It took some convincing earlier from Stiles to assure him the cake would reappear and he wouldn’t look silly in front of his friends to get him to help. Kai still looks unconvinced, but he takes a corner of the tablecloth from Stiles, and together they drape it back over the table.

“Okay, Kai. I want you to count to three, and then you guys,” he says, pointing to the small crowd of children, "are going to scream ‘cake!’ as loud as you can. Everybody got it?”

There’s a chorus of varyingly enthusiastic yeses from the kids. Stiles nods at Kai, and as Kai counts down, Stiles whispers another incantation. On three, all the kids scream ‘cake!’, and Stiles and Kai pull back the cloth to reveal the multi-tiered Toy Story cake, right back where it started.

The kids lose their collective shit, clamber up from theirs seats on the ground to tell Stiles and Kai how cool they are, and beg Mark to cut the cake so they can finally eat it. This is why Stiles loves doing kids shows. Sure, it puts a few hundred extra bucks in his pocket, but watching kids get excited about things, putting huge smiles on their faces, that’s the part he likes the most.