#it was a PR nightmare and stiles was an assistant at the time

[marnz]

ballet au lol 🩰

YES THANK YOU ANON WOW

Derek is a dancer coming back from rehabbing a horrible injury (lower back?? fucked up his knee??) and has a chip on his shoulder because a) he totally has stage fright! b) has a reputation for being surly and overly intense. Pre-injury he was a rising star in the ballet company and had a lot more confidence but now he is a man humbled, quiet, relieved not to be in charge, but he also feels like he has a ton to prove! Especially since his mom and his older sister are famous dancers.

The ballet troupe is smallish and Stiles is in charge of logistics and MARKETING! Because he is a noted uncoordinated klutz. He's all about strategy and reviewing data and making things happen, and he is the absolutely bane of Derek's existence. He wants Derek in photoshoots, he sometimes coordinates with the artistic director (Lydia) on people's roles, Derek finds the way he talks about engaging customers manipulative, and tbh Stiles can be abrasive and annoying! So smart but so mean!

Derek has a recognizable everything face so once he has returned Stiles wants him to do an ad photoshoot so they can slap his picture on the side of a bus and this just makes Derek feels even more pressure. Resents Stiles for this and also because it's compromising Derek's anonymity. His only respite is teaching children's ballet classes, which is something he started doing while rehabbing his injury and also because the pay to be a ballet dancer isn't great at this small troupe!

Derek thinks once his career is over he would like to teach

But sometimes, when Derek is teaching these first graders, who do not care if he is weird and quiet, he notices Stiles watching. He thinks at first Stiles is going to want to use this for marketing but Stiles never says anything about it, just stays to watch Derek and the kids.

Then at some sort of holiday dance event Derek runs into his horrible ex, Kate Argent, who is a principal at a much larger and more prestigious company, and panics...only for Stiles to appear, wrap an arm around Derek like they're dating, and say "hey babe, who's this?"

#answered #ask meme #i do not know how ballet companies or marketing works. sorry to everyone who is like 'you are so wrong' sorry omg #teen wolf #sterek #LOOK i just think in this instance fake dating would be perfect #derek is so tongue tied and so grateful that he can't help himself melting into the arm hold and is like 'she was just leaving' #even though stiles surely knows about derek and kate's infamous and very public break up #it was a PR nightmare and stiles was an assistant at the time #so he can only be snubbing kate. and kate probably knows this. and derek does not know why stiles is rescuing him #and that night he goes home and he can't stop thinking about it. and that's when stiles goes from annoying to intriguing #meanwhile stiles had a hate attraction thing for derek since day 1 and then HORRIBLY he saw derek teaching first graders and CAUGHT FEELING #this is like a 40k fic i do not have time to write i already have 2 teen wolf wips help #also shout out to the les mis ballet/opera au that i think about daily #edit scott is also a rising ballet star and he and derek hate each other #the argents do run their own company maybe? the prestigious one? huge scandal when allison leaves it to join derek's troupe #the artistic director is thinking about making their nutcracker balanchine and derek supports this bc #he likes balanchine and he finds it classic and traditional #and stiles is like you're a fucking idiot. it's tired. it's boring. we need to do what PNWB did #we aren't a carbon copy of new york city ballet. #derek doesn't speak to him for weeks