Infinite Consortium - Wee Hours of the Morning, Sunday

[single_man_tear]

It had been a long time since Dean and Bobby had done research together. It had also been a long time since they've had a sleepless night. But ever since the events late Saturday night, both of them either had their noses in books or their eyes on a computer screen searching for some sort of antidote/cure for Arden.

A coffee pot was brewing as both of them yawned and did their best to stay awake.

"Find anything?"

[Open. Dean and Bobby being at the consortium is okay to broadcast. Reason for research and any conversations are NFB.]

Comments

[idjitsandballs]

"I've got nothing," Bobby grumbled as he snapped close another book. "And you're sure it's not a hex bag?"

[single_man_tear]

"Yes, because there were literal nails in the girl's arm, Bobby," Dean said not even looking up from his current book.

[idjitsandballs]

"And you can't take them out yourself because why exactly?" Bobby grunted as he picked up another book.

[single_man_tear]

"Because it's a whole bunch of damn Fey crap," Dean muttered, clearly tired of going over it again. "I told you, Bobby. Whoever put those nails in has got to be the one to pull 'em out. Fey rules, man. If we yank 'em, they’ll just put 'em back in, and she’ll have to go through it all over again. I don’t think she’ll survive that."

[idjitsandballs]

"And we're not just killing them because..."

Look, it was a valid point from Bobby's point of view.

[single_man_tear]

Dean let out a sigh and pulled away from the table to get another cup of coffee. "Because I'm worried that if we kill them before the nails are removed we'll have more of their kind showing up here. And I don't want that."

He briefly considered drinking directly from the coffee pot but then went ahead and just poured it into the mug. That was a Clint schtick. Dean can't be stealing that from him.

"I will however hunt those a-holes down after this is all over and make them pay."

[idjitsandballs]

"Now that sounds like the Dean Winchester I used to know," Bobby said with a snort of amusement.

[single_man_tear]

Now that gave Dean a little pause. "What do you mean 'used to know'?"

[idjitsandballs]

Bobby slid his coffee mug toward Dean and leaned back, giving him a gruff look. "Well, the Dean I knew would've shot first and then kept shooting just to make sure the damn thing was dead," he said, smirking. "I don't know if you’ve noticed, kid, but you ain’t the same guy anymore. You got a girlfriend now. People you care about who ain’t hunters. You ain't running off half-cocked on some revenge mission every time somebody gets hurt. Hell, you're thinking about hanging it up."

He paused, eyeing Dean like he was trying to put it all together. "You’ve changed. You found yourself a home, son."

Then, because the moment was getting a little too mushy, Bobby grabbed another book off the pile and started flipping through it. "Damn proud of you, too."

[single_man_tear]

Dean huffed out a breath, rolling his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Yeah, well, don't get all weepy on me, Bobby," he muttered, as he leaned forward and topped off Bobby's mug, avoiding eye contact.

"I guess I’m settling down or something." He shook his head, half in disbelief. "Still feels weird, you know? But maybe... maybe you're right." He sat back, eyes narrowing like he was weighing it all in his head. "Not sure I’m cut out for the whole white picket fence crap, but I guess slowing down ain’t the worst idea."

Dean glanced back at Bobby, smirking. "Just don’t expect me to start wearing a damn apron or anything."

[idjitsandballs]

"Does that mean you liked the pedicure you got yesterday?" Bobby teased as he flipped a page of the book.

[single_man_tear]

"Shut up," Dean said with a snort of derision.

[idjitsandballs]

"You know you can make recurring appointments every couple of weeks," Bobby continued. "Maybe next time you can pick out a pretty shade of nail polish."

[deathsmajesty]

When the ghost from the haunted armor came winging into the mansion to tell her that Dean was in the Infinite Consortium at oh god thirty in the morning, Liliana didn't particularly care. By this time, it had kicked over from being late to being early and Liliana was ready to go to bed and get some cuddles in before Ignis got up for the day.

(Had she lost track of time in her workroom again? Look, nobody asked you.)

Then the ghost said Dean was there with a stranger and Liliana remembered the cursed items he'd given to hold and that's admitted that having a key to the lockers would be a temptation...and that Dean was an accomplished lockpick. With a mental order to her steward to inform Ignis that she was looking into a possible Dean-shaped bout of idiocy at the store, she headed out to the Consortium.

"What a paragon of an employee," she said in the doorway, looking over Dean and his guest. "To come in on the weekend. Who are you and what have you done with Dean?"

...Was there a hint of genuine suspicion under the arch drawl? Yes. You couldn't be too careful.

[single_man_tear]

For once Dean wasn't being totally idiotic! Dean and Bobby had been in the process of cleaning up after their research session when Lili had appeared and their reactions were quite different.

Dean just smirked and held up one of the books from his own collection that he had been using. "Nothing shop related. Just needed a place to do little research," he explained. "This old fart over here is Bobby Singer. He's a friend of the family. Bobby? This is Liliana Vess. She could kill you with a blink of her eye."

Bobby shot a look at Dean and then appraised Liliana from a different perspective. "Appreciate the workspace even with-"

Bobby glared at a certain chair. "The furniture that tried to kill me."

[deathsmajesty]

Okay, that introduction brought a smile to her face, one wickedly pleased enough to possibly nudge the appraisal back in the other direction for a moment.

"Why thank you, darling," Liliana said to Dean, sweeping inside. "I appreciate you introducing me via my best features." She was being utterly serious, yes.

She extended an elegant hand, far colder than a living person had any right to be. "Charmed, darling. And did Dean not warn you beforehand? A pity, they're such good friends. Dean likes to take it on walks."

'Likes' was doing some heavy lifting there.

She turned to Dean, her smile sharp enough to cut. "Research, hmm? Now what were you researching that you needed Mr. Singer's help with?"

Considering Bobby had been the person all those curse boxes had come from, Dean.

[idjitsandballs]

"Just call me Bobby," he said still appraising Liliana with some wariness. "One of Dean's friends from the place he lives in had some visitors this weekend who apparently like harming others."

"Arden," Dean explained. "She's been poisoned. We were trying to figure out something that might help her out. Which we did. And hey, what are you doing up this early? Do you ever get up this early?"

[deathsmajesty]

Wariness while interacting with Liliana Vess was a sign of a good survival inst--whoops.

"Dean, did you just switch topics from one of the students being poisoned to my sleeping habits?" Liliana asked, arching a brow at him. "For your information, I'm up late not up early and what?"

[single_man_tear]

"Hey, it's not like I've ever seen you up before ten unless a driving lesson was involved," Dean shot back.

Bobby was now giving Dean a skeptical look. "Diving lessons?" he mouthed.

Dean shook off the question with a gesture. Later.

"Someone from Arden's past showed up. Apparently they felt the need to punish her and poisoned her for some weird law bullcrap she has from their reality," Dean explained. "Everyone back at the Manor is looking out for her while Bobby and I looked for something that would help cure some of the poisoning."

[deathsmajesty]

"Darling, I am absolutely self-absorbed enough to agree that I should be at the center of almost every conversation, but a student getting poisoned is one of those very few times where that isn't true."

And don't get it twisted, okay? It wasn't that Liliana particularly cared about the little radio girl. She just believed to a depth that few people would suspect her of even having that schools should be safe places for their students and finding out that a student had been harmed here offended her. That was all.

"Nothing to do with your curse boxes? Or anything else from those lockers?" she asked, walking over to some of the shelves and poking through some of the bottles.

[idjitsandballs]

And that's when Bobby's stern look was pointed at Dean. "Curse boxes?"

Dean grimaced. "Well, you had this storage locker that-"

And now that look had blown up into a full blown glare. "My curse boxes? They're here. With her and her killer furniture?

"To be fair," Dean said trying to maintain Bobby's temper. "The chair would probably eat anyone before they got to the curse box."

"Idjit!"

Dean sighed. "It's completely safe here. Okay? I know better than that."

Bobby was now sputtering and just making angry noises now.

[deathsmajesty]

"What in the Abyss does my furniture have to do with the integrity of your curse boxes?" Liliana asked.

Herself, obviously. It was only wise to be concerned about what she might do. But an entirely normal armchair?

[single_man_tear]

"Well, it is a natural deterrent to anyone trying to break in to this place," Dean pointed out.

"The damned thing tried to take a bite out of my ass!" Bobby said shooting a glare at Dean.

Dean utterly failed trying not to smile. "It was kind of hilarious."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana offered Dean a curling smile. "Now you understand."

See? You just had to be not the butt (pun intended) of the joke to realize it was hilarious!

"He's right, though, Bobby. They're safe here unless for plot reasons they aren't. I'm very good at what I do." She turned her smile towards Bobby and then really looked at him. Remembered the name he'd been introduced with.

Look, Dean, Liliana didn't always pay attention when you talked.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be dead?" she asked, in the same tone someone would use to ask if they'd been sneaking cookies. "That's why Dean brought all those boxes to my store. My, you're looking impressively corporeal for someone who's supposed to be a spirit. Rumors of your death greatly exaggerated?"

[idjitsandballs]

"I got a weekend pass from the afterlife for the weekend," Bobby said warily...

And now Bobby was making connections as well. "Wait. Are you the one who kicked the doors open for Kevin?"

"Yeah, Bobby," Dean said in a warning tone. "she's the one who got Kevin in and I'm grateful for it. You know he deserved to be there."

Bobby bit back on a response as Dean had a point. But clearly he didn't like the method.