20.

[voluntaryapnea]

[A short while after his conversation with Bucky, Stiles takes stock of all the coats, hats, gloves and scarves that are all over his floor thanks to The Admiral. It takes him an hour and a half to sort everything by size, then color, draping some of the piles on his bed, some on his desk, and some that have no other place to go but the floor. There's not much of a walkway, but it's big enough that kids can come in and get what they need.

After that's done, he drops down in his desk chair and turns on the camera, arching his eyebrows.]

[Public Video]

I've got coats, gloves, scarves and hats for everyone under sixteen that's found themselves wanting to play on the deck in the snow and doesn't have them. I'm in 712 if you need something.

Comments

[voluntaryapnea]

[Stiles moves over and opens the door seconds later, smiling softly at the way too big sweater that's as big as a dress on her, and steps aside to let her in. He glances curiously at her notebook.]

Hey, come on in.

[princessariel]

Hi!

[She grins up at him, then makes her way inside, pulling up the sleeves on her sweater and then pausing when she see all the clothes.]

Woah. Where did you get all this?

[She turns to look at him again and cocks her head.]

Can we go shopping in here?

[voluntaryapnea]

[Stiles can't help but chuckle softly at her reaction as he closes the door.]

Well, there's a lot of kids around here who don't have coats and gloves and stuff, so we should probably just stick to one per person. That way no one's cold when they're on the deck.

[princessariel]

[She purses her lips together, a little disappointed but shrugs. It's short-lived, though, when she sees the clothes he set aside for her.]

I wanna try it! [After neatly setting her notebook down on his desk, she reaches out for the pink coat to pull it on.]

[voluntaryapnea]

[He watches as she latches onto the coat he'd picked out for her, eyes straying momentarily to the notebook she'd set down. There were a lot of doodles on the page, along with a list. He smiles when he realizes it's the makings of a Christmas list. 1. Be Ariel. 2. Get a puppy. 3. Live with Grandma all the time. His gaze trails down over the list. A lot of them are random things -- books, dolls, other normal kid things. And then toward the bottom of the list a couple of other things that catch his interest. Allison and Duchess to go to school with me. Stiles to be my best friend and boyfriend when I'm older.

Stiles blinks a couple of times and his eyebrows shoot up. He shakes his head a little. She's a little kid with a crush. It's not like it's symbolic of some innate wish that Lydia normally has.]

What do you think? Does it fit okay?

[princessariel]

[Lydia slides her hat on and then her gloves, not having the slightly issue in dressing herself.

Then she smiles brightly at Stiles and poses with her hands on her hips.]

Does it look good?

[voluntaryapnea]

[Even at eight, she's full of attitude and sass. He grins.]

You look very pretty.

[princessariel]

[Without warning, she walks over to him and wraps her arms around him, grinning.]

Thanks, Stiles!

[voluntaryapnea]

[He hugs her back.]

You're welcome.