for izzy

[triskehale]

It's that time where it's a little too late for dinner but a little too early to start drinking, so Semele's is relatively quiet for the time being. Derek doesn't really need to there, but he also doesn't have anything better to do for the time being. Barry is off being a superhero and Derek's own suit isn't ready yet so he can't go help. It's better to stay busy than go home and worry.

He's wiping down the bar while thinking about that, about the fact that soon he may don a leather suit and go help his superhero boyfriend fight crime. It's really not the path he expected his life to take, but he's ready for it. He thinks.

The door opens and Derek doesn't look up until the familiar scent hits his nose. Izzy makes her way through the bar like she owns the place, red lips curved into a smirk, and Derek smiles as he leans against the bar and waits for her to approach. "Hey stranger. Stop by to break some hearts?"

Comments

[seveninches]

Isabelle has made progress with a job and a maybe sort of boyfriend and there is officially no secret on her back anymore, so she's decided it's time to celebrate. The options are many in Darrow, especially when all it really takes is a wink at a bouncer or a bartender and Izzy can go anywhere she wants, but tonight she's picked Semele's. She hasn't seen Derek in a while and she plans to talk to him, but she knows that if he's not there there's a high chance that she can annoy Cliff or Baz instead.

When she walks in though Derek is the one behind the bar, wiping it down. Isabelle knows he's not interested anymore and she has her own romantic life happening, but she can't help watching his arms move for a moment, muscles shifting under his shirt.

"I'm celebrating," she tells him, her heels clicking along the floor until she reaches the bar and hops up onto a stool. "But there's no reason I can't do both."

[triskehale]

"Celebrating, huh?" Derek asks, tossing the rag aside to rest his palms against the bar. He may be very happily taken, but he isn't blind. No one else in the bar seems to be either, not with the way heads turn in her direction.

"Sounds like that calls for a drink," he says with an easy smile. "What are we celebrating, and what are we toasting with?"

[seveninches]

She ignores the people watching her, focusing her attention on Derek. It's something she's gotten good at, over time, and it comes naturally to her now. Sometimes she misses the glamour runes, being able to walk around unseen, but they don't work in Darrow, and she's been here long enough to get used to it.

"I got a job," she tells him triumphantly. It's a mundane job and she knows Jace wouldn't get it, she knows Alec barely does, but she's oddly proud of herself anyway. "And maybe a boyfriend." That part she's a little less confident about, but she's pretty sure it's going well, and she's pretty sure he wouldn't mind being called her boyfriend. At least, she hopes not. "You're the guy who owns a bar, you tell me."

[triskehale]

"Wow, look at you," Derek says with a grin. "I'm starting to feel like a trendsetter."

He winks and pulls a small bottle of champagne out of the fridge under the bar. He pops the cork and fills two flutes to the top before sliding one over to Izzy. "So, what's the job?"

[seveninches]

"What trend are you setting today?" Isabelle asks, leaning her elbows on the bar while he gets out the champagne. It's suitably toast-worthy, so she takes the flute happily. She knows Derek knows that she's not eighteen but she's glad that he's apparently decided to overlook it.

"Stylist," she tells him, running a hand through her hair. "At The Dressing Room. Do you know Kate Gregson?"

[triskehale]

"Getting a boyfriend. It was a joke," Derek says with a self-conscious laugh, but he quickly moves past it when she mentions Kate. Derek lights up and nods, reaching out to clink their glasses together.

"She's like a sister to me," Derek tells her, and then his eyes widen a bit and he takes a sip of his champagne. "The two of you together is going to be a bit of a powder keg."

He laughs and sets down his glass, smiling warmly at her. "Kate's great. You'll love it there."

[seveninches]

"Who got lucky, then?" she asks, toasting him with her glass and taking a sip. She didn't know that Derek was seeing someone, but maybe it explains the way he's been more distant lately. She hasn't seen as much of him, but then, she's been busy too. Busy doing things like kissing Billy at prom, which is still hilariously mundane.

"I think I like her," Isabelle muses. It takes her a little while to decide usually. She's used to putting up walls and very few people get through them all the way, but Kate had seemed nice. More than that, she'd seemed like Isabelle's kind of person. Derek's comment only solidifies that feeling.

"I hope so. I was going stir crazy."

[triskehale]

"I did," Derek says easily, smiling softly as he twists the stem of the glass in his fingers. "His name's Barry. And what guy won the lottery by managing to get you to go with him, huh?"

Whoever it is really is lucky. Isabelle is a catch, smart and funny and sharp, not to mention gorgeous. Derek knows that they danced around something for awhile, but he has no regrets. Everything worked out as it should, he's pretty sure.

"Yeah, she's amazing. One of the first people I ever met here," Derek tells her. "You guys will have a lot of fun together."

[seveninches]

It's corny but Isabelle lets is slide because Derek is so obviously happy. It's sweet, and she doesn't know Barry at all, but she's glad Derek has found someone to make him smile like that. "Billy," she tells him in turn, her own lips curving into a smile. "We've been hanging out a lot lately and I guess one thing led to another."

It hasn't gotten all that serious yet, but Isabelle is having fun, and that's all she really cares about. She never feels like she has to do anything to impress Billy, which is nice. She'd spent too much time back home worrying about how to please Meliorn, how to keep him interested. But everything with Billy is so easy she doesn't even need to think about it.

"Peter works there, too, so I think it'll be fun," she says. She doesn't know Peter all that well but he's a nice guy and she knows he's friends with Alec, and that's always been good enough for her.

[triskehale]

"Oh, I know Billy. Sort of," Derek replies. "He's cute. And he seems like a good guy."

Billy has always been sort of sweet and awkward around Derek, which he assumed had to do with the vague attraction that he always smelled. If he got like that around Derek, he can only imagine what he's like around Izzy. He leans against the bar and smirks at her. "I'd make some sort of threat about what I'll do if he hurts you, but I assume that you'd have that handled."

He really does that that Kate and Izzy will have a lot of fun together, so he's happy for the both of them. "Does this mean that you're going to try and dress me now too?"

[seveninches]

"He is," Isabelle agrees firmly. Billy is a literal superhero and Isabelle's pretty sure that being a good guy comes with the territory, but she knows that's a secret only a few people know. She's also pretty sure that even without Shazam, Billy would be the type of guy to help old ladies cross the street. It's just the kind of person he is, and that's what Isabelle is so fond of.

"Alec said the same thing," she laughs. She knows that there's a host of men who would rise up to defend her if need be - Alec, Magnus, Derek, Luke, even Reid - but she's glad that they all know she can take care of herself. Isabelle's heels are more dangerous than any of their fists, but she appreciates the gesture.

Isabelle looks Derek over. He's always had that ruggedly handsome thing going for him, and even if he doesn't pay too much attention to his clothes, he always scrubs up well. "I think you do okay on your own," she says, shrugging. "But I wouldn't say no, if you're offering yourself as a guinea pig."

[triskehale]

"I'm glad to have your approval," Derek tells her, and he's only half joking. He's always put a certain level of care into his appearance, making sure that he's clean and well-groomed and that his clothes match and fit snugly, even if they are usually a henley and jeans. The weather is getting warmer so his henleys are getting switched out for tight v-necks, and his boots for Converse. That's about as far as his summer wardrobe goes. "Next big event, I'll come to you guys for sure."

[seveninches]

If Isabelle got her way, she'd dress Derek in nothing, but she's pretty sure he wouldn't approve. Besides, she thinks, that's the kind of thing she's supposed to be reigning in now. She thinks she'd probably enjoy watching his face redden even more than she'd enjoy the view. The clothes he picks for himself are always well-fitted enough that Isabelle can guess at what's underneath, but she'll have to let that slide, now.

"Yes, do," she says, nodding. She has an inkling that her and Kate are going to make a good team, and if they get people like Derek to dress, then even better. Kate was right when she said dressing attractive people is the best job ever, and Isabelle is glad that she's found the one job in Darrow that she thinks she'll be good at.

"This city hardly has a shortage of events, so we'll see you soon."

[triskehale]

Isabelle looks at him in a way that makes it pretty easy to guess what she's thinking, and Derek huffs out a laugh. Derek won't deny that he's thought about her in much the same way, but now he just gives her a look that's knowing just as much as it is playful.

"Well, it's summer. Historically, I don't wear that much," he says, just to tease her. "Maybe both of us will have to hit the beach soon. Turn some heads."