In the light of day.

[followstheorders]

Dean woke slowly the next morning, his mind sluggish and disoriented. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone. He laid on his side with another person's arms around him and a warm body pressed up against his back. It wasn't his room at the motel, either. The bed was too comfortable and the sheets smelled clean, not musty.

Without opening his eyes, Dean laid there and tried to think back over the night before. There was no hangover, so he couldn't have been drunk, but his memory was hazy anyway. He remembered checking out a club that was said to be suspicious...

Couldn't really remember going inside, although his mind kept producing hazy images of him on his knees and the smell of sex. Which, really, wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it would be nice to remember it. Some worrisome thought was niggling at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite make it come forward.

Slowly, Dean opened his eyes and looked back over his shoulder at the man laying behind him.

Comments

[rockandscotch]

"What kind of stories do you do anyway?" He turned his attention to Dean, looking him over.

[followstheorders]

"Strange crimes; news of the weird kind of stuff." He shrugged and gave a self-deprecating smile. "It's not award winning journalism, but it pays okay and it's never boring."

He hated lying to people he was actually fond of. Hopefully, someday, he'd get a chance to come clean. That day was a long way off, though. He was still smarting from how Cassie took the news.

[rockandscotch]

"Sounds interesting anyway." It really did -- getting to travel around and research strange crimes? Sounded appealing. "Think you'll be doing it for awhile or is there something else you'd like to do?"

[followstheorders]

"Probably for a while longer, yet. There's nothing much else I'm good at." Sad but true. Mechanics, maybe, but that was considerably less interesting than what he did.

"What about you? Anything you'd want to be doing if you weren't running your own bar?"

[rockandscotch]

He arched a brow at that. "Gotta be something else... anything else interest you?"

He shifted a bit, tossing an arm along the back of the bench as he considered the question. "Well, maybe still on the road, myself. Used to play in a couple bands... gave it up awhile ago though."

[followstheorders]

"Dunno. Do they pay people to be sarcastic and eat pies?" Dean flashed him a small smile. There were plenty of things he could be interested in if he had the time and opportunity, but that wasn't in the cards right now.

Nathaniel's answer makes him smile for real. Playing in a band. What guy doesn't dream of that? It was kind of cool to meet someone who'd actually done it. "No kidding? That sounds like a lot of fun. I always thought it would be cool to play in a band."

[rockandscotch]

He laughed a bit at that. "Maybe not eating them... now if you could bake them--" Well, Dean would be one weird, leather jacket-wearing baker really. But hey, it'd be unique anyway!

He grinned a little wider at Dean's interest. "It was, yeah. I mean, I bet it would've been more fun if we'd landed a big record deal, but..." He didn't really regret it.

"You play anything, Dean?"

[followstheorders]

"I've... actually never tried to bake one." That would definitely be unique. Maybe someday he'd give it a shot, just for fun.

He shook his head, a little embarrassed. "I can play a few guitar chords, but I never had the time or the resources to really learn. Seemed like fun, though."

"I'm sorry the band thing didn't work out for you." His smile softened a little. "Well, maybe not completely sorry since I probably wouldn't have met you if you were a big record star."

[rockandscotch]

"Nah, don't be. I like the bar a lot. Nice to have a steady home to come back too as well." He nudged at the other.

"Besides, you're right. Got to meet you out of it and it's been fun so far. Hey, maybe if you keep playing all your cards right, I'll even let you play around with my guitar." He flashed a playful look.

"See how good you'd have been."

[followstheorders]

Dean smiled at the confirmation. It was a good feeling to hear someone say they were glad of him being around. And since Nathaniel's arm was along the back of the bench, Dean shifted a little closer. "I've been playing all my cards right? Wanna tell me what you like best so I can keep doing it?"

The guitar comment made him blush a little. "Dude, I'd probably make your guitar cry."

[rockandscotch]

"Let me see more of them all and I'll let you know tonight," he teased lightly, not minding it when Dean decided to shift closer to him. Felt good to have this, however long it lasted.

His grin lengthened a bit at the blush and he leaned in a little closer. "Guess it's good you got me for some tips, huh? Promise I won't laugh too much. Maybe a little though."