The Park, Wednesday Afternoon

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

After spending yesterday engaged in some truly pitiful staring at the slip of paper with Sam's phone number, followed by some even more pitiful staring at his phone, followed by some Lifetime level lurking on a college campus, Dean was back at start. Not a single freakin' clue what to do next came to mind. You know, things were so much easier when you could solve life's problems with a machete.

Bloodier, but so much easier.

Dean pocketed his phone one last time, sitting back against the park bench. He tilted his head up slightly, eyes fixed on a random cloud. "You know, if this is supposed to be a reward, it blows."

Thus sayeth the Righteous Man.

[[Open park!]]

Comments

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

He was perfectly fine! Just, you know, soulful eyes.

Also? Giving Sam a gruff, tight hug for being alive and painfully young.

[likethegun]

Sam made a soft, surprised noise, but he definitely didn't mind hugging. "It's, uh, it's good to see you."

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

This Sam had a soul, he deserved hugs. "Christ you're scrawny," Dean muttered rather than coherently express his emotional state.

[likethegun]

"Hey, I'm gonna tower over you soon enough," he said. "Is the, er, other me big?"

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

"Like a freakin' yeti," Dean replied, but his voice was rough. Which might not have made much of a difference. He pulled back to swipe a hand over Sam's head. "How old are you?"

[likethegun]

"20?" He shouldn't have sounded uncertain, but the way Dean was acting was throwing him off. "I'm going to be 21 in a month. How old are you?"

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

"Thirty-one." So, a good six year difference in the timeline to explain at least some of the things. "Columbia, huh? Couldn't get into Stanford?"

When in doubt, mock Sam.

[likethegun]

"I wanted to go to a real Ivy League school," Sam said, making a face. "And I wanted to be in New York."

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

"That so?" Dean asked, looking away. "Pre-law? Or did you pick some other bleeding heart major?"

[likethegun]

"I'm still deciding right now," Sam said, making a face. "Have you gotten your GED yet?"

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

Dean rolled his eyes at that. "You're still the same bitch I remember."

And now to ask the sort of questions he didn't want to.

"You got a girlfriend I should know about?"

[likethegun]

"Um. Not quite."

Maybe he wouldn't dig too deeply, if he was a different Dean with nothing in common with the overbearing brother he knew?

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

Well, he'd really rather not know, but between this and Sam losing his girlfriend to a demon... uncomfortable conversation sadly won out.

"Not quite? You takin' after me more than you thought?"

[likethegun]

"No!" Sam said quickly, before realizing Dean probably meant "sleeping around with lots of women" and not "sleeping with my identical twin." "I have a fiance actually. His name is Peter."

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

"A fiance." Who was named Peter. Right. This was... not the same at all as he'd expected.

"Aren't you a little young for that?"

[likethegun]

"I only have a year of college left, and we're not getting married until after that," Sam said with a shrug. "We met here, actually, while I was at school. What are you doing here? I mean, what are you planning on doing?"

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

Right. And hopefully things wouldn't be following the same pattern in that respect.

"Planning?" Dean made a point not to look at him, shrugging one shoulder. "I just drove until I ended up here."

[likethegun]

"Oh. Well, here is a good place," Sam said. "But I'm betting people already told you that. Am I..." He trailed off, wondering how many questions he could get away with asking. "Is this really weird for you, because it's weird for me, and I really know weird, so..."

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

"Trust me, it's way weirder for me," Dean replied dryly. "I keep expecting the next person to pop up out of nowhere here. Already saw Jo and some guy who looks like me."

[likethegun]

"Priestly? With the mohawk?" Sam asked. "He's a good guy. I mean, not that that makes it any less weird, but at least you don't have a jerk running around with your face, you know?"

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

No, just him.

"Face this pretty? Not gonna happen," Dean shot back.

[likethegun]

Sam snickered. "It's good to know all Deans are fairly alike, no matter how old and decrepit you get."

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

It was distressingly good to hear Sam have a genuine laugh at that moment. And Dean was sure as hell not going to think on that anymore than he absolutely had to.

"This Peter guy. He know about the family business?"

[likethegun]

"Yeah, he knows about it," Sam said after a moment. "People don't keep many secrets around here, so the family business kind of became everyone's business. Or, at least, it wasn't something we hid, because we didn't have to. People here have seen weirder stuff than we have. Hell, a lot of them are weirder." Present company included, but that was a conversation for later.

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Dean wasn't so sure with the whole vessel bullshit.

"Keep an eye out at school then. Any changes in behavior with your friends, anything at all."