On the Agenda: Dealing with People

Who: Dean and Thia
Where: Their house
When: First thing

When Dean woke that morning, he felt surrounded. Not in a bad way, it was just something he hadn't quite expected. It was the pressure on his feet, in addition to the Thia draped over one side of him that was the new part - she was so small that generally his feet stayed free, and it took him a minute to realise that the pressure was BB, curled up asleep on the end of the bed.

At least, the kitten had been asleep until Dean moved, but the slightest movement from the teen and the little ball o fluff went from fast asleep to awake and pouncing in less than a moment. 'Hunt the feet' was always a fun game and BB seemed to have a lasting love of it. Dean just wasn't used to being woken up like this in the morning. Usually if BB slept with anyone, it was with Thia. Only last night, Thia slept with him - and was currently pinning down his left side, in actual fact. He didn't particularly want to disturb her, but even through the blankets, the kitten's little claws were sharp. He tried shucking him off with a flip of his foot, which only severed to give the kitten proof that Dean was joining in the game, which was just encouragement!

Thia felt the movement, which roused her fast, and she immediately drew in a sharp breath and looked up and around, orienting on the movement at the end of the bed, blinking slowlike down at BB attacking Dean's feet, then at Dean. She smiled, heart threading along fast but it'd calm back down in a second. She looked back down at BB who was viciously attacking Dean's foot, and she moved hers, to capture his attention. "BB, you need to learn to cuddle in the morning, not go for blood first thing." she said to him, voice all hoarse from sleep. There was affection in there though, even as she reached up to rub one of her eyes. "Nooo attacking Dean. No nono, mine." she added in there in a cute little very sleepy manner, one eye squeezing shut as he dug a claw in through a blanket.

Then she settled her eyes on Dean, and she smiled at him. It was barely awake, but happy. She’d woken up in his room! Which was a nice feeling--if one ignored the claws to the ankle. "Good morning." she said, looking down at him.

Dean had looked over as he felt her stir, then watched the little interaction, through the admonishment to suddenly being relieved of being viciously attackaled. "Morning - how'd you sleep?" he asked her, sitting up and slipping his arm from around her so that he could reach down and pluck the kitten up, bringing him up the bed to lay between them in the hope that maybe BB would settle down some there.

She settled back down on her side, curling up and she reached out to pet her kitten, which she'd missed terribly. "Well, actually. Better than I thought I was going to. We even planned to be up at weird times, and weren't. Unless you were and you were just really, really still." she said, thinking about it. As she usually was when she woke up with him, she was smiley at him. In a sweet, sleepy sort of manner. "How did you sleep?" she asked, glad BB appeared to be accepting of this whole being petted thing, and he started purring, and settled down.

Dean lay back down, turning onto his side, facing her, curled round a little to make room for the kitten, propping his head on his hand, resting up on his elbow above the pillows as he looked down at them, leaving the actual petting to Thia, since BB seemed to be taking that very well. "Yeah, not bad - actually, pretty damn good. I think I was tireder than I realised." He hadn't had a proper night's sleep all the time they were in England, not really. Maybe that one night they'd spent out in the country, but definitely not when they'd been at his parent's house. The traffic there had woken him up predawn every day and lack of sleep had told much of the time.

"Well, you haven't slept well in like...two weeksish." she said, smiling up at him. "You needed good sleep. So I'm glad you had it." she said, feeling better about that. She reached up with one hand to thread her fingers through his hair just a little, before going back to kitten petting. "Think I was too. Or maybe I was just feeling more relaxed here." Which she knew was true. She just didn't know if it played in to managing to sleep late. She kept her eyes up on him for a long few moments, then just smiled again. "This is a good view." she told him.

Dean eyed her for a second, then twisted to look behind him, out of the large bedroom windows. He hadn't closed the curtains before they'd gone to bed last night and the world was a sparkly white outside the window - though, from this angle, the view was mostly treetops and cloudy skies. He turned back to her, managing a smirk a little better now his lip was on its way to healing. "I always liked the view from here. Though it looks different in the snow," he said, as though he didn't actually have a clue what she'd been talking about. He did, but he didn't take compliments either. And anyway, given his current bruises, he doubted that the view actually was all that great.

She giggled, and reached out to poke his shoulder, before she gripped it, and pulled him a little closer, giving him a little brush of a kiss, careful of his lip. "Silly boy." she accused. "You know I meant you. I like waking up with you. It's a thing. I can't help it." Then she looked past him to the window. "But this does mean that soon we're going to have to go out and build snowmen and forts and such. And have a snowball fight." she added, grinning at him. Settling back down, she went back to petting BB, who wasn't at all cool with her mini break to kiss Dean.

Suddenly, having put the cat between them didn't seem like such a great idea, but he'd done that now and he had to live with the consequences - which was not being able to get up close and personal with her right now. Squashed kitten would really put a dampener on their relationship. So, instead, he answered her question. "Yeah, I think that was definitely on the agenda. You were pretty definite about that. And I'd hate to disappoint. But I'm going to insist that we wait until I don't hurt so much when I get smacked in the side by a snowball, okay?"

"Don't worry, I wouldn't clear you for any fights, snowball or otherwise until you are all better." Lullaby told him firmly. Then she gave him an impish grin. "And you know, I'll have to thoroughly examine you before this clearing of it, just to be sure you don't have any more bruises left, or hidden injuries, and that you can take more vigorous activities." she said playfully. "You will need a clean bill of health as signed by Nurse Thia." She scritched BB's head, feeling him purring as he burrowed in closer to her chest, even as she kept her eyes up on Dean's expression.

Dean's eyebrows twitched, a light flashing for a moment behind his eyes, though aside from that, his expression remained serious, almost grave. "Oh, I'd say that was necessary. Definitely - sounds like a good idea. Plan even. I know how protective you are of me, and I'd hate to think you weren't entirely satisfied..." he teased, his eyes not leaving hers. He was definitely looking forward to being all healed up. There might have to be a few test runs first though.

She was still smiling at him in that impish sort of manner. "Well we're agreed then." she said. "No fights of any kind until I can do my examinations, and make sure you're all good for it. And after the snowball fight, I might have to check you over again, in the interest of your continued health, because you know how worried I can get." she said, tone matching his. Too serious for her expression. And hey. Around here? She actually thought they'd have privacy. Or....they could always go out to the other house. Hm. Now she had too many ideas in her head. But that wasn't a bad thing.

Dean played his tongue over the bump in his lip where the split had scabbed over as he gave her a small smile. "Well, I don't know about damage. Possibly it'd be more important to get warm. Which... kinda makes me think of that bathtub," he admitted, wondering if she'd think he had a one track mind. Which was stupid, he didn't - they had lots of conversations which didn't revolve around what they'd like to do to each other, but he had to admit there was just something about the mornings. And waking up with her. And her being all like this - and there was a reason he'd always dragged himself out of bed before she woke when they'd spent the night together and made himself take a long, very cold shower. But, that had been then. This was now, and cold showers were no longer on the agenda.

Thia drew in a deep breath and let it out in a dreamy sounding sigh. "God that bathtub." she agreed, grinning up at him again. "One day, we're just going to have to make use of it. Seriously. We'll have to. I don't know how we're going to go about it? But you, me, that bathtub, at some point. Ooh with lots of candles. And bubbles! Good smelling bubbles, but we'll be sure not to get anything girly. Still. Candles...really hot water...I'm a fan of this idea." she told him, as if he couldn't have picked that out from her statements alone. "We will need to warm up." she agreed. "Which, by the way? You might want to resign yourself to needing to do often. We have really cold winters and everything and I know you aren't used to them, so we're going to have to keep very close eye on you and making sure that you're properly warmed up whenever you're feeling too cold." she told him seriously with a nod for emphasis.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Bubbles?" he asked, doubtfully, then shook his head. "Candles I can do - candles, in fact, might be a necessity, all things considered - which, by the way, up at the other house? Apparently Sophie's bought me a lifetime supply. I'm going to go up and get a box at some time, might be good to have. Anyway, no - I draw the line at bubbles, smelly or not. I just - bubbles?" he asked, again, though he knew who would win this one if she insisted.

Thia giggled a she protested the bubbles. "I like bubbles!" she said. "Though, I suppose they kind of take away from the artistic imagery of the clear water and us being in there together thing." she said. "So does this mean if I ever, say, have the idea that you need a good, hot, relaxing bath, and draw one for you, and maybe just kinda maybe wait for you in said bath--because I'd need to make sure the temperature was good--that I should make sure not to use any? Should I get mineral salts and stuff instead for your hypothetical bath time pleasure?" she asked him, since the idea had already crossed her mind at some point. It involved the house out on 550, an evening to kill, candles, a hot bath, and her collar. She just planned to save that for a special occasion.

Dean did happen to think that his 'bath time pleasure' wasn't really going to be centred around something dissolved into the water, but he wouldn't be so crude as to actually say that. "Well, I'm not entirely certain what bath salts are..." he admitted, which was the other thing. "Mostly, I've always been a shower bloke, not really into all that kind of thing. But - I think you could change my mind on that one..."

She laughed. "You know, I think I could. I'll have to give it a try, anyhow. And with that bath, I'm sure I could have ample opportunity to turn you around on it." she said. BB decided he'd had enough snuggling for the moment, and went to go explore more of Dean's room, or at the very least, more of Dean's bed, as he went to poke around by his shoulder and his pillows. "So...while I love this subject and think it deserves a lot more exploration...I've kind of been waiting to talk to you about something." she said, watching his eyes.

Dean paused in his reply to wait as BB used his t-shirt as a ladder to claw his way up to Dean's shoulder. The kitten took a moment to perch there before padding up the side of his head and jumping down onto the pillows. Dean wore a look of patient amusement, though he wince a little as BB put a paw down on the edge of his black eye. He moved as the kitten got back off him, snuggling closer to his girlfriend now that he could. "Waiting? Why didn't you bring it up last night?" he asked. Normally they didn't wait to talk about things - but then again, there'd been a lot to talk about already yesterday.

"There was already a lot to talk about, plus there were headaches, and everything else..." she started, snuggling closer as well, and she nuzzled lightly at where BB had trod on his bruises, giving it a brush of a kiss to make it better. "Plus I've been trying to figure out how I even feel about it?" she suggested. "Though, I haven't figured that out. So, I'm just going to talk to you about it and maybe we can figure things out together. The other night, Alexis called, and we went for a walk. She needed help with some things, wasn't having the best night, and when we got to talking, she told me about this ghost at her house." she started.

It took some self control for Dean to stop himself jumping straight on the protective about the fact that she'd gone out without him. It made him twitch, and twitch quite badly, but he knew that he needed to be able to deal with that. He wasn't her keeper and just because the last two times when she'd been without him it had gone badly didn't mean that she always needed him to be right there. He couldn't let himself demand that, it would just cause badness. So, he swallowed it down and hoped that he wasn't spiking too much. "A ghost?" he asked, keeping his tone light.

He was spiking, but she had expected that. "Oz followed me." she told him. She hadn't known Oz had followed her, at least, not until she was on her way home, when he fell into step with her, so she assumed he'd had her tailed the entire time. Which...just didn't surprise her anymore. She either had an armed escort, or a fanged one. "But yeah, a ghost. Shot in the head, and she was really scared, so I asked her if she'd tried talking to him. Which she hadn't, so I offered to go back there and talk to him and see what was up. And we went inside, and talked to him for a little while. Or, I did most of the talking. I guess...he was one of the people who got attacked in town, before the full moon? And on the night of the full moon, a hunter got him." she explained, drawing in a deep breath before she let it out slowly. "He just didn't understand what had happened to him."

Dean nodded at that first bit, filing away to thank Oz. The guy understood, whether it was for Dean's sake or his own, he understood. And Dean actually reckoned that Thia would take to being tailed by Oz a lot more readily than if Dean tried the same thing. He listened to her story about the ghost, smiling slightly. She hadn't panicked, or been afraid, but then they both knew rather more about ghosts than the average person. Even if it wasn't a whole lot, it was enough to mean they weren't automatically afraid. Maddie had seen to that. "Did letting him know what had happened help?" Dean asked her.

She nodded. "He sort of put it together when we said what had happened. And then he just sort of...faded out." she said, that being the part that she didn't know how to feel about. "Alexis said she thought I'd helped him cross over or something. Maybe I did? I'm not sure." she said. "But...that's what happened. I'm still trying to figure it out, it was a sensation I can't describe. Maybe I'd feel better if I knew where he went, or if he was okay. Like did that make it better? He seemed to just want the confusion over why he'd died cleared up, and we were able to do that." she said, shifting in a little closer to him, laying where she could partially hug a pillow beneath her, and be laying there curled up in his shadow. "What do you think?" she asked.

Dean shrugged a shoulder. "If he wanted something, and you could give that to him, and that's what happened - maybe that was what was meant to happen. It wasn't like you forced him, or did some kind of exorcism or whatever. He wanted something and you did that and that was the result, so I'm calling that good," he told her, thinking it through as he spoke.

She nodded, thinking about it some more, quiet for a time. "I suppose. Still. It was just...I have no idea. It was strange to deal with at all, and I'm still a little unsteady over it." Which had been why she'd waited, or part of it. It was so up in the air for her, and she didn't know how to react to it. Then, there was the last bit. "I have something else to tell you, too. The reason the ghost was there," she said, ticking her gaze up to Dean's. "Is because it was her dad who killed him. Her dad's a hunter."

Dean stilled, pausing even in taking a breath as her words hit him. He didn't look away from her eyes as he fought for control over that. He knew about hunters. hell, he'd considered hiring one, but that would have been different, that would have been controlled, that would have been someone who knew nothing at all about Thia, who wouldn't get within a mile of her, who wouldn't even know she fucking existed. Not someone who might be there if she popped round to her friend's house for tea.

"She's asked me not to say anything, but she knows I was going to tell you." Lullaby told him, drawing in a breath again and letting it out slowly. She shifted closer to him, a kind of unconscious gesture. "It makes me nervous, and she said she was going to talk to him about things. I guess it makes her nervous too. Especially around here, where some of her friends and such are...other. She doesn't know about me though." she added, just so he'd keep that in mind. "And I never said anything about you of that nature." Then she gave a faint smile. "Not that I didn't talk about you, because I did. A lot."

Dean listened, but outwardly he was unresponsive. "Well, let's keep it that way. With her not knowing about you," he said, eventually. He didn't need her massively overreacting, finding out Thia had died and then running to daddy about things before she'd had a chance to think. "What does she look like?" he asked her. He knew this girl went to school with them, and he figured that possibly it would be a good idea to get to know her. Or, at least, know who she was so he could quietly keep an eye on her.

"Blonde hair, kind of darker blonde." she said, watching him and knowing the gears were turning. "About down to here." she marked on her arm. "A little tan, I don't remember what color eyes she's got. She's new. And on the dance team." she said, figuring there couldn't be a ton of those, so he should be able to find her pretty easily. "And I don't plan on letting anyone know about me who doesn't have to, so...don't worry." The she sighed. "Don't worry too much." Because she recognized that her first statement wasn't going to be possible.

"Blonde, dance team. Right," Dean said. It shouldn't be too hard to find the dance team. And he doubted it'd be the first time they had a guy watching them practice, so he shouldn't stand out too much. "Anything else I should know? Her dad's a hunter - she seem like she's the type to go into the family business?" he asked. He knew that what he disliked most about this was the lack of knowledge. He'd feel better once he'd checked the girl out. Or, possibly, insanely worse, but at least then he could get onto figuring out what to do, if it came to that.

"Definitely not." Lullaby said. "For one, she was terrified of the ghost. It hadn't even occurred to her to try talking to him in the first place, she'd been kind of hiding. And second, I'm under then impression she's concerned about her dad. Like, just on her own, she's worried about it, so she's going to talk to him about things. I don't think she'd ever go that route. I just...you know some people you could feel something like that with?" she suggested. Then paused. "Like Caleb." she said. "Him I wouldn't have much problem seeing do something like that. Alexis, though...definitely not."

"But she's scared of her dad," Dean put in, stepping up Thia's description of 'worried' to something rather more sinister. But then, Dean was liable to overreaction a lot of the time, and never more so than when Thia was involved. "And you know Caleb would never hurt you," he added, thinking to their conversation of last night and feeling a little mental stumble, but only a small one. He trusted his friend. He did, he really did. It was just horrible that that thought was accompanied by: and anyway, he'd never try anything. He knows the consequences of that. Trust and fear - they weren't meant to be things that went hand in hand, not in Dean's world. But it was there.

"I said she was worried, not scared." Lullaby said, frowning slightly and she shifted back, to look at him. "She said that they didn't talk about things a whole lot, and most of the time she kind of pulled an ostrich on the entire deal. Her mom was killed when she was little by vampires or something, and that was when her dad started it. So it's just them, and she said it was high time they had a conversation about what kind of a hunter he was. So, worried, not scared." Even if Thia did think that she might have been a little scared. That was more her reading lines than anything, and that could have been in reaction to being scared to talk to her dad about something so huge too.

Dean nodded, once, at her correction. It still sat as 'scared' in his head though. He refused to downplay risk, not when he hadn't had a chance to check it out himself. he just had to promise himself that he'd deal with this is a less confrontational and destructive way. he'd learned from what had happened with Gabe. That would never happen again, he'd get a leash on his temper - but just because he knew he got defensive and overreacted didn't mean he shouldn't deal with things, it just mean he needed to have better self-control. And he could do that, he just had to put the rules in place. He'd done it before, he could do it again. "Fine. She's worried. Let's hope he's the kind who won't hurt his daughter's friends," he said, tightly. Okay - so right now wasn't conducive to not overreacting. He should probably work at dealing a little harder, maybe learn to relax some.

And this would be the other reason why I didn't tell you last night. Lullaby thought. She sighed, and sat up, looking at him a long moment. "Dean." she said, wanting to get this dealt with right now. "We know someone's a hunter. We knew they were here before. This is not anything new, beyond we have a name. He's got nothing to do with us, he's got no connection besides a very loose one, where the girl doesn't even know my real name, let alone anything else. Can you please not turn this into..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words. "...whatever it is you're doing here? It doesn't require you to get all up in arms, and spin your wheels on it. And if it turns out that he's dangerous, we'll still be sitting here with the same situation, and there isn't anything I'd be willing to do about it."

"I know," Dean said, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. The two words could have addressed any and all of what she said, and, largely, they did. But the accompanying thought of the same two words was specifically addressed to the point that she wouldn't be willing to do anything about it. And was followed by the fact that she wouldn't have to. He'd see to that. he had no idea how, but he knew he would. Which just made him think of the key on her charm bracelet, and about how he really didn't want it back. And how he knew that whether he wanted it or not, getting it back was inevitable. Sooner or later, he knew it would be. He'd always known that.

She watched as the negativity came off of him, and she gave it a few moments, eyes tracking the drifts. She drew some of it in, reaching out to slide her fingertips against his side, beneath his shirt so she could touch his skin, and she started to clear the negativity out of his system. She traced back and forth a little, a very light petting. "Talk to me." she said, voice soft. Light. Quiet. Something was going through his head, and she would really rather know what it was. She didn't like him brooding in silence over things, it generally only made him worse.

Dean closed his eyes and focused on her touch. He rolled his head towards her as he started speaking, because he didn't know if his voice would come out loud enough for her to properly hear. "Just thinking about things. And the way things are going. Sophie and Oz have kitted that place out for the end of the world, you know? And I... I told you yesterday that you were different because of what you'd been through. Well, so am I - I'm just having to get used to that again. It's not like things are going to get any better," he added in there. He opened his eyes and looked at her, shifting over onto his side and reaching out to cup her face. "I promise I won't turn this into anything. I just would prefer to be prepared. I just don't want to assume everything's going to be fine, when maybe it'd not. But I promise I won't do anything stupid. And maybe things were exactly like this before, but we can't just ignore things we find out on the basis that they already existed. We've been there, done that, and I won't go down that road again. So, just let me do this and then maybe we won't have to worry, okay?" He paused and gave her a little smile. "And I promise that I will try my very best to make sure that you're not suddenly going to get a text from your friend telling you that your boyfriend's a wanker, okay?"

She smiled faintly at that, and leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. She stayed there where she was as she drew in a breath, the scent of him, and then she rested her cheek there as she thought over what he said. "The thing that concerns me," she started. "Is that you just asked me to let you do this. And I don't want things to become you doing things. Or you taking care of things. I want it to be us. Together. Right now, with this...I'm in a better position to get information than you are. Alexis is supposed to talk to me after she talks to her dad. So, I can tell you whatever she tells me. I'm not telling you you can't do anything, just..." she pulled back a little so she could see his eyes. "We're in this together, okay? Don't start shutting me out now. We know things aren't going to get better, and I don't want us starting things out from the ground up where you think it's all on you. Because it isn't."

He frowned a little , stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb, feeling the tiny scars there. "I'm not shutting you out. And I agree, you're in a good position to get information. I just want to see as well, meet the girl, on my own. Get a second opinion, if you like. I go to school with her - I can do that. I just - I want to see, that's all. I don't know if I'd even talk to her, but I want to... I won't even mention her father unless she does first, I promise. But - you said you didn't want me to leave you out of this, well, I don't want you to leave me out of this either. We're in this together, yes - so let's be in this together." He didn't add the but - which was he didn't want a hunter anywhere near her.

She nodded. "Alright. Yes, you can meet her, and everything, I just...I don't want you stressing yourself out before we even know if we have to. Her dad might just be a guy who dealt with a horrible tragedy, and is trying to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. With the ghost we talked to, he didn't kill him before the change. It was after he'd turned, and had made it out of the hospital. So we know he wasn't the kind that was inside the hospital, taking people down before they'd even done anything. Which still doesn't mean I'm going to be telling her about me, or anyone else we know, but still. I don't want to start automatically assuming the worst about people straight out of the gate. I think if we lose sight of that...things will slip fast." she admitted. "So, let's not do that. Let's be cautious, and we can both check it out, and we'll figure out what we think when we have all of our information."

Dean nodded again, thinking to himself that possibly the guy hadn't known it was werewolves before the full moon. He'd heard about the deaths in the hospital, but that had been after the full moon. And this kid had been dead by then. Maybe they were all this guy - maybe he realised he was dealing with werewolves and went to finish what he'd started, get next month's targets early, whilst they were helpless. But he didn't say that - that probably classified as 'automatically assuming the worst', which was clearly not allowed. "Okay, we can check things out, then see," he agreed, firming that in his mind as a rule for how things would work in the future, tucking away his instincts like he had since he was a kid, almost second nature to him now.

"Thank you." she said, giving him light, small brushes of kisses here and there on his face. On the cut on his cheek, the edge of the bruises around his eye...that at least the swelling was down on. The good side of his mouth so she could avoid the split there. She'd told him that she missed giving him proper kisses, and that was true. But she curbed the impulse to give him one then regardless. She made herself draw back a touch as well, so she wouldn't continue having those urges. Or, that was what she told herself, anyways. She wasn't sure it would work out for her.

She may have been curbing impulses, but Dean wasn't - at least, not those impulses. He followed her as she drew away, capturing her lips in a deeper kiss. He hadn't got to kiss her enough lately, and he could ignore the sting in his lip for that. It was a trade-off he was willing to give right now, and anyway, he figured they needed it at the moment, needed to be able to put the stress and tension of their conversation aside, if only for a moment, now they'd reached some kind of an agreement.

That she could handle. She made a soft little sound, one that was part appreciative, part relief. She kissed him back, arms drawing up around his neck. She pulled him in closer, even if she still kept in mind that she couldn't put that much pressure behind the kiss. That didn't mean that she couldn't put feeling behind it. So it was slow, but there was a fire behind it. Passion without it being urgent passion. It would be a while before she'd be allowed to nip at his lip again. Still, it felt nice, especially after their conversation.

He wrapped his arms around her and rolled them so that she was lying underneath him before pulling back enough to look down on her. "I love you, and I just worry about you. I don't mean to cut you out, and I don't want to," he told her, holding her eyes.

She smiled up at him, reaching up to tug her fingers through his hair, both hands. "I know." she said. "I love you too. I just want us to do things together. If there's anything to be done, I want it to be on both of us. If you stopped worrying, I'd probably really, really wonder about things. I just...don't want you putting too much pressure on yourself, and forgetting that I'm here with you." she said. Because he tended to drop everything onto his own shoulders. She didn't want him to keep that up, if she could help it, and with the break they'd had from Marquette in general, and what had happened with her father...she wanted to be sure she was part of everything from here out. And she was going to be keeping very careful watch of what he decided was something he needed to be taking care of.

"Yeah - the day I stop worrying will be the day you turn round to me and ask 'who are you and what've you done with my boyfriend', right?" he teased. "I'm not going to forget you're here, I just... Okay, no assuming that everything's going to be badness all from the start, but no assuming it'll be sweetness and light and all okay either? Deal?" he suggested.

"Deal." Thia said, smiling at that. "I can more than happily accept those terms, Mr. Conway." she told him, pushing herself up a little so she could give him another brush of a kiss. They'd meet somewhere in the middle. Sounded like a plan to her. They evened each other out in a ton of other ways, they could with this too. She had confidence they could manage it, that they'd work together properly on it.

"You make me sound like my father when you call me that," Dean told her, but he sounded amused all the same. "Or one of my teachers at school, giving me a telling off." It was just oddly formal - he wasn't used to being a 'Mr' anything, not under normal circumstances.

She giggled. "I just call you Bond when I call you that. So I can't start calling you Mr. Bond. And maybe I was just thinking about my collar. which has your last name on it." She'd been sure to have his name. First and last, plus his phone number. So that there was absolutely no room for confusion. She would have asked him if he often got told off by teachers at school, but his school days and likely the trouble he did or did not get into was intimately connected with Andy (except for the part where he'd gotten himself expelled, but that was another story). And she flat out didn't want to talk about that guy. And she didn't want Dean to have to either, not right now. Not when they were safely away from him, he still hadn't healed from the hits he'd even taken from the guy, and what Andy had done was still fresh in their minds.

Dean stayed where he was, above her as he looked down, quirking an eyebrow at that. She'd been thinking about that, had she? he hadn't wanted to say anything about it - it was all too connected in with that night, with Andy, with everything that had happened. He hadn't wanted to bring it up, in case it upset her, treading carefully around anything which had to do with that, not entirely knowing how to deal with it. "Yeah?" he asked, after a moment or two, letting her lead with where that was going, if it was going anywhere at all.

"Yeah." she said, nodding. Lullaby was a girl who could separate things out. Like, even though she'd lost her family, and friends and life, that didn't mean she couldn't talk about it with happiness. And even though the night had ended horribly, about as horribly as it could have ended, she still had had fun up until that point the night of the masquerade. And Andy couldn't touch the associations she had with her collar. That was all about she and Dean, nothing else. "I like my collar. And we got interrupted that night from all sorts of things that I'd wanted to be able to do. I was just thinking that I fully plan on catching up with some of those things eventually here, when we have opportunities to. But mostly I just liked it. And, I think you liked it too." she said.

He quirked a little smile and nodded. "Yeah - I liked it," he admitted to her. "I... We almost didn't go out that night. I... Next time we're not going out. I'm learning that - like, from both sides. Definitely. If you, I mean - that's.. If you don't mind... for me.. with..." he tried to add, not actually managing to get out 'if you don't mind dressing up for me'. It sounded just fine in his head, and given their position, he knew he shouldn't be being bashful about things and it wasn't like she'd turned him down for anything, or not gone with anything, but still, his mouth didn't always want to work.

She bit at her lip, grinning up at him with an amused expression. "I know we almost didn't go. We definitely have good instincts when it comes to that. Apparently, we should listen to our hormones instead. It'll work out better for us." she said. "And go on...if I don't mind...for you..." she prompted, wanting him to say it. She reached up to trace her fingertips along the side of his neck before she drifted her fingers into the hair at the back of his head.

Dean gave her a slightly pained-but-amused look. She knew he had trouble with asking for things, or suggesting things. She knew exactly what he meant, he was convinced of that, but she was just being a tease right now. Well, fine - if she was going to be like that, two could play at that game. He took a moment, looking down at her as he moved to support himself, one hand at either side of her head. And then he lowered himself down bending his arms until he was lying against her, though he was taking all of his weight on his arms and legs, rather than squashing her. He dropped his head, aligning his mouth with her ear, again, slowly, preparing his words enough that when he spoke, he could be confident he'd get them out. And when he spoke, it was in a dark whisper, loud enough for her to hear, but clearly only for her. "That's if," he said, stretching it out. "You don't mind dressing up, just for me." he leaned in and kissed her earlobe, not trying for anything more descriptive, not hedging his bets as he pulled back again to look down at her once more.

She'd tilted her head to the side a touch when he'd leaned in to speak in her ear, and she had to smile. Especially when he managed to say it and everything. She kind of wished that he wasn't keeping his weight off of her, but she slid her fingertips up along his sides, under his shirt to compensate. "I don't mind." she whispered back, tilting her face slightly to nuzzle at his cheek. "I want to." she told him. Which was the truth. She did. And that was probably massively strange of her, or them, or something, but she just could not be bothered to care. She was fairly sure other people didn't sit down and tell stories like they had either, and they'd both enjoyed the hell out of that too. She was perfectly happy with having their own personal brand of intimacy. They did everything else their own damn way, that shouldn't be subject to having to stay within the set 'normalcy' patterns.

He bit the scabbed part of his lip in between his teeth, feeling it there - something that was fast becoming a habit for him, actually - as he held her eyes. "I want you too, to," he told her, wondering if it would ever go the other way. Whether she'd want him to, whether he would. He always felt so self-conscious about everything, but he hadn't with her. not always, not when he'd thought he would. Like their stories, that had just all been so easy, so natural, he hadn't felt self-conscious at all. So, he wasn't going to say no to anything, not for her, not until he'd tried it if they wanted to try it. They'd just have to see where things went.

She kept her eyes on his as well, and couldn't help but smile up at him. A kind of wicked, sensual expression. "Then I will." she told him. And she'd definitely have to come up with things. Creative little bits and pieces...she'd have to surprise him from time to time, just because she'd love to see how he reacted. Like she'd need to do the nurse thing. Definitely the nurse thing. And there were other princesses...he'd seemed to like the princess idea. she already had the collar, which she thought she was always going to be partial to. She might have to find herself a cheerleader's uniform, just because of their story. "Have any suggestions, off the top of your head?" she asked, letting her fingertips tick back down his ribs and drift in towards his stomach. "For what you might want to see me dressed up as, or in." she clarified, just in case he needed it. Which she knew he didn't.

Dean swallowed, wondering whether he was allowed to say, or whether he'd get himself in trouble for it. He was always so careful about things, so worried he was going to put a foot wrong somewhere, ruin everything. After a few moments, he nodded, slightly. "I... I enjoyed our story the other day. I... That's, well... we could..."

Thia pushed herself up so she could brush kisses along the underside of his jaw. In that, she smiled. "I really enjoyed our story." she agreed, since she had. She'd enjoyed every bit of that. Up to and including what she'd done to him. Which she fully planned on trying again at some point. "So, if you happened to want to do something with that...I'd be more than happy to." she told him. "Course, I was also thinking about that when I was wondering about a cheerleader thing..."

"When we were, y'know, telling that, I... Kinda - it would have been... to get - more involved, y'know?" he suggested. I mean, I know that then I couldn't, but - it... I think I'd like that. Like the other night, but... y'know. More." they danced around the whole acting things out, but Dean knew he liked the idea of it. He just wondered if that made him a complete and utter freak. He definitely wouldn't be telling anyone else about this, that was for sure.

Lullaby smiled, lips against his neck before she brushed another kiss there then pulled back to look up at him properly again. "You mean like...take the walk down the path...go down into the water...come back out, get in that first kiss...the first touches?" she asked, thinking that she was pretty enamoured with that idea as well. That sounded like a great idea, even. The story itself had been amazingly fun. Fun, far more erotic than she'd ever considered before, and she knew she'd liked getting to add in reality with the story. So...getting to add in a whole lot more? She was more than fine with that.

Dean coloured slightly. His brain hadn't quite taken it that far, not consciously, but it did the moment she started speaking and he had to admit that he really, really liked it. Yeah, he was a freak. "Well, erm - it's... winter. So, y'know... But..." he took a breath and nodded. "But, I mean, that is - there's, like, Sophie and Oz around anyway and, well... We could, kinda..." Work up to that, we could kind of work up to that. This is not a hard concept to get out, Conway. That you're not shelving that completely, but you're not ready to dive right in the deep end, that you want more, but you want to work up to it. Idiot. He took another breath. "...You know. Work up to it?" he suggested, getting it out eventually, hoping that she didn't take his stumbling as a sign that he was just humouring her and wasn't really into this at all or something - which couldn't be further from the truth.

She loved the little blush. Loved it. Adored it. He looked so damn adorable like that... And he was also right on the money there. She loved the idea of things, but working up to it, that sounded like a good idea. Fun, too. And they would have all winter before they came back around to their first story... "I like that idea." she told him sincerely. "We can...play." Play around, do what they were comfortable with. Which apparently happened to be things that didn't show up in romance movies, or novels. And she wasn't thinking about the fact that it probably showed up in Other kinds of movies. Besides...she and Dean were at least probably better actors than were rumored to be in those. She was willing to bet they'd play their roles a whole lot more convincingly.

He wondered if he'd ever get out of this cycle of being quasi-embarrassed and nervous about things with her, only to get them out and for her to be absolutely fine and even enthusiastic about them. If he'd ever learn. He knew it always, in his head, but convincing the rest of him seemed pretty bloody hard. He felt like a child sometimes. "We can," he agreed, after a few minutes, another hesitation as he wondered that she probably deserved someone who was better at this. More certain and confident at these things. But he knew she didn't want anyone else. That much he definitely knew. For some bizarre reason he'd never fully understand but wasn't for a moment going to question, she wanted him.

She looked at him for a moment, reaching up to touch his cheek, cupping it as she turned his face slightly, so she could give him more light little kisses, nuzzle at his skin, give him all those little light, soft touches. "Does it make you nervous?" she asked, in a soft little whisper. Because it wasn't as if she didn't catch all the hesitations. So she just needed the clarification. So she could know that it was all good for her to just take the lead on things with him, that he'd willingly follow into whatever they got themselves into.

"No," Dean told her, then laughed a little at himself. "A little. Kinda. I'm just... Waiting for you to look at me like I'm a little odd, I guess. And... part of me knows you won't, but... I mean, it's - I'm fairly sure this isn't... usual," Dean said, avoiding the word 'normal' there. There'd been disagreements based on that word before. "-and, don't get me wrong, I mean, I... this. Great. Really. I... really. Just, sometimes it takes me a moment to remember it's not just me. I mean... I couldn't imagine ever feeling like I could do this with anyone else. Not that i want anyone else! But - do you know what I mean? I mean... You and I, it's... Yeah, I just... Yeah." He decided to shut up there - either she knew what he meant, or he was making it worse.

She kissed him. She kept it light because of his lip, but it was a little deeper than she had been allowing herself. Then she gave him a second, soft brush of one before she answered him. "I know exactly what you mean." she agreed, blushing a touch herself. "I...this kind of thing wouldn't ever have even occurred to me before, but with you...I don't know, it just kind of...feels natural?" she suggested. "And I know it's not usual, and I'm pretty sure we're the only people who've really told a story like that before, and...I just...I enjoy it. And with you and I...we already do things our own way. We have from the very start, and how we got together, and everything else...I really think it's been trying to adhere to what we think other people think or second guessing things is what ever caused any trip ups. So I just...if something between us feels right, and we enjoy it? I don't want to curb it. Even if it's...unique. Because we are. Other people don't explode light bulbs during earth shattering sex either, so I think we're clear on the us doing things our way thing...."

That comment produced another blush and a mumbled comment about how he didn't do it on purpose - along with a slightly more upbeat thought about the fact that, yes, it had been earth-shattering, all things considered. He'd definitely thought so, and clearly she did too, which was all for the good. "So... we're good with being... not exactly run of the mill. Okay, I can... I'm happier. With you. Not just... this, but.. generally. Which isn't completely relevant, right now - but, yeah. You're right - it's when we try and fit in that things get fucked up. or - it's when I try. You've learnt by now. I'm - I'm getting there." Which meant he didn't try any more, but he still felt that drive to conform, he still had to give himself permission to not do so.

"I think it's relevant." Thia said immediately. She pulled him down with her and rolled them onto their sides, though she made sure he was on his non-bruised one. "I'm happier too. And I just..." she rested her forehead against his and smiled. "I'm happy with you, period. And I've always felt like I can be me with you. No matter what, just unapologetically me. And...that extends to this, because apparently there are things about you and I that are a little odd, but I don't feel weird about it at all." She gave him another light kiss. "You'll get there. I have faith in you. And until then? I'm just going to enjoy it when you blush because you're the cutest thing ever when you do." she told him in a cute little whisper.

He didn't mind being called 'cute' so much by her these days. It was probably something to do with the sex, he'd decided. It was hard to maintain a belief that being 'cute' made you undesirable when you had a girlfriend who would quite happily jump you, or - as at current - grumble about the fact that your injuries meant she couldn't jump you. Dean had never willed himself better so much as he had in the past few days. Though, he didn't think he ached as much today as he had yesterday. And possibly some of that ache was just travel-fatigue. So, instead of a protest, she just got a soft kiss, not overly long, just deeper than a brush before he pulled back and laid his head down on the pillow, just looking at her with a small smile, saying nothing.

She made a soft, pleased sound at that, then mirrored his position, curled up with him. She smiled at him, watching his eyes for a moment. The color was fading on his black eye, so that was good. It would still be a while, but he was looking slightly healthier. She just took a few long moments to appreciate being exactly where she was. Then she grinned. "I love you." she told him. "And I'm happy. I'm here, I'm in your bed with you, we're comfortable, it's quiet, we're warm..." she trailed off, nodding to herself to confirm it. "I'm happy." Which, really, said a lot, considering what they'd been through. What fucked up things had happened to both of them. Her death. His killing her dad. Everything in between. shadow monsters, vampire gangs, spirits running rampant, everything that happened with Andy...things could be awful. Everything could have piled up and crushed them both, but...it hadn't. And she was grateful.

Dean picked at his lip with his teeth again, giving her that moment before he moved them along to the subject that had been itching at the back of his mind since that night in the park, but which had been mostly ignorable until they'd got home. "I love you too. And I'm happy. And, well, warm, but... Thi - we need to talk about Joshua. About what we're going to tell him," he said, hesitantly, nervously.

She sighed, that definitely bringing her mood back down, even if she knew he was right. They did, and she just...didn't know what to tell him. The worst part about it was that Joshua was going to see this in the wrong way. They'd tell him, and he'd probably go on assuming that Dean had been angling for it from the very start, which wasn't the case. Or that she had. Either assumption was going to suck. And be pretty insulting, but Joshua had gone into Jealous Mode straight out the gate, so... Which, that thought got her into a defensive frame of mind, because Joshua sure as hell hadn't waited to get himself some other girl to spend his time with, even if he didn't want to own up to her being his girlfriend, which she still kind of felt bad for the girl over. Unless that had changed. Or maybe Joshua had just told her that it was only a kind-of girlfriend. So he didn't have a right to be upset about her and Dean having gotten together when he'd moved on well before she had. And then she realized that she hadn't said any of that out loud, and she'd just been letting her mind run away with her. So she focused in on Dean again, and tried to clear her head. "Sorry...was just...thinking. I know we have to tell him something." she agreed. She didn't like it, since she also kind of thought it wasn't any of his business, but regardless of that, no. It was just the right thing to do, so...that was that.

Dean moved forward against her and pushed her round and over, flipping her onto her other side so he could spoon around her back, slipping his arms around her. "Penny for them then - what you thinking about?" he asked her, speaking into her ear as he slipped a hand under her top and just rested his palm against her belly, not a sexual move, just to be comforting, reassuring. He could guess at some of what she was thinking, but they didn't do guesses - they talked, so, he was asking.

She drew in a breath, and let it out slowly when he did that, some of the tension bleeding from her frame with the position, his hand on her stomach, his voice in her ear. She let her gaze settle over on the closet door, even if she wasn't really seeing it. "I just...figure he's going to take it wrong. And possibly hate one or both of us, which won't be fair. But I don't not want to tell him. I don't--" she stopped for a moment, biting at her lower lip. Figuring out how to word things was a little difficult at the moment, but she pushed forward, trying to get her thought out. "I'm not hiding this. Nothing could ever make me want to. I'm not ashamed of us being together, and I don't want to be made to feel that way, either. Even if it's really roundabout, with just not saying something to people. We're together, I choose to be with you because I love you, and that's the way it is. I'm not going to apologize for that. Even if I think he's...not going to behave very well over it, regardless of the fact that he moved on way quicker than I did."

"Yeah, I don't figure that he'll be over the moon about it. I mean - did I ever tell you that that night we got drunk together, he gave me his blessing with you?" Dean asked her. "But - the guy was drunk. I figure that he didn't really mean it. I'm not expecting him to hold to that."

That had her blinking, and she turned her face a little more towards him. "What? No--you never told me that." she said. "How did that even happen?" she asked, completely bewildered with that. She also tried to pin down the timing of that in her mind. If it had happened before Joshua had asked her out again, which was apparently right before he'd asked some other girl out and...weren't women supposed to be the overly complicated, confusing ones?

He hadn't thought he had - he definitely hadn't been going to tell her at the time, when he was playing the 'not interested' card. And they hadn't really talked about Joshua since they got together. "We were talking about you. We were drunk. It's all kinda hazy." Given that he'd ended that night with his head down a toilet bowl. He was such a fucking lightweight. He'd only had, what, three beers? "He apologised for being a dick, and said that if I could make you happy then he'd be okay with that. Or something. I didn't take him seriously - we'd been drinking. I don't expect him to hold with that sober." Which probably said something about Dean's impression of Joshua, fair or not.

Lullaby sighed at that. "It'd be nice if he was serious." she said softly. But, she didn't know if she believed it either. She believed in the sentiment. That Joshua would have wanted her to be happy, but she wasn't sure he'd deal so gracefully if the reality of it settled in. Especially with the fact that it was what he'd been twitching about in the first place, even if it hadn't been relevant at the time. She just...didn't know. Plus, Joshua's behavior on a lot of levels left her feeling like she hadn't really known him. Not for who he really was. More like...she'd been under the impression that was idealized, and that had been stripped away over time.

"Do you want me to handle this?" Dean offered. He knew whichever of them did it, it wasn't going to be easy. And, as always, he was willing to step up. In fact, the only reason it had been phrased as a question was because time and again she shot him down for assuming that he would be the one doing things. She didn't like that, so it was a question. There was just no suggestion that they handle this together. In Dean's mind, that would just be cruel.

The idea of them doing it together also wasn't one that Thia was willing to entertain. It would be just insult to injury, salt in the wound. So, she nixed that idea before it even formed. Instead, she was really trying to figure out which would work best. So, finally, she asked a question. "How good of terms are you on with him right now?" she asked. Because she knew between she and Joshua, 'not the best' could be used to describe it. Not after everything that had happened, and how he'd kept that secret knowing she was terrified of the very thing he knew had happened. Yeah, that stuck with her.

Dean thought about that before answering. "Not sure. We kinda had a set to over the Gabe thing before we left. I texted him a couple of times while we were gone, told him we were coming back. Not enough to really judge. So... I dunno." It didn't make a difference to him though, he'd still do it, if it needed to be done.

"We haven't been on the best terms." she admitted to him. "I...had trouble with him after the whole...him knowing things, and not saying, and I just...it hurt. A lot. When I found out he knew, and he didn't say anything, when I was directly telling him I was scared. And what I was scared of, and--" she broke off, since really, she was going in circles, and Dean probably understood anyways. "I texted him since then, twice, but they were kind of short conversations. I'm still..." she made a vague sort of gesture. 'Not okay with it' was the basic gist.

"Then I'll go," Dean told her, pulling her a little closer. "Let me handle it. He can take his frustrations out on me, if he needs to. If there's going to be any of that, it's going to be targeted at me anyway, he always had that jealous thing going on, so he can get it out of his system." Dean would completely understand if there was a comeback from this - in fact, he expected it. He and Joshua might have only just vaguely touched on the 'are we aren't we' friends point, but there were rules between friends, and Dean had broken them. He didn't regret it, but he was willing to stand up and take the consequences of that.

Silent for a few long moments, she let her eyes slip shut, and she slid her hand over his. "I don't know. It depends on what perspective you have on it. He was jealous, and he said he trusted me, but if he really did? He wouldn't have behaved like that. And I assured him that there wasn't any reason to worry, and I'm sure he'll look at it and go 'hey look, I was right'. And he could just lay all that at my feet, which...whatever, if that's what he wants to do, he can. And if it's the other way...you know, I just...no matter what here, I'm not going to be happy. Because if he does get pissed at you, then I feel like he saw me as property. Like I was his or something and even if we weren't together anymore, you weren't allowed to have me, or something. I'm sorry. This...sucks, basically. It shouldn't be an issue and it is. I don't like it."

"You're not property," Dean said, jumping straight in with that. "But... I could see him thinking I wasn't allowed to have you. It's... that's just the way it works. And, really. It's nothing to do with you. It's a bloke thing. Every bloke knows you don't go after a girl that your friend went out with. Only - I don't know whether Joshua and I could really be classed as 'friends'. Maybe, maybe not, but - yeah. I wouldn't blame him if he decided I crossed that line. And - that line being there, it's not to do with you, it's about friendship and a guy's feelings. Blokes don't talk about feelings with each other - at all, really. But there's that unwritten code of behaviour that's there so we don't have to talk about feelings," he explained to her.

She tried to grasp what he was saying. It just...didn't really make much sense to her. She kind of got it, but at the same time, didn't. "That's still disregarding any feelings any girls might have going on. What if you did adhere to that? We wouldn't be allowed to be together, just because of that? My feelings don't count?" she asked. "And all just because I happened to have dated someone else before, and it didn't even work out? That..." she sighed again, starting to feel frustrated and headachey. "Doesn't seem fair." she said. "Definitely not to any girls involved."

He'd known he'd have to explain this. "So, if you had a girlfriend who broke up with her boyfriend, you'd consider that guy fair game? Regardless of the feelings of your girlfriend?" Dean posed to her. That also seemed massively unfair to him. Even with everything which had happened between he and Thia, Dean still held to the general rule that you didn't chase a mate's ex-girlfriend.

"You didn't say that it required bad feelings on the part of the friend. You said if anyone dated anyone, it was out of the question." Lullaby pointed out. "And it would depend. And recall that I don't actually have a lot of girl friends. I had guy friends. And I'm not into girls, so this kind of situation didn't exactly come up a whole lot. But, taking an example of Alexis and her deadbeat boyfriend, which we talked about, I would say it wouldn't happen, but it would be because I think he's a dick, not because of other reasons. But I also believe that people are going to like who they're going to like, and it's ridiculous to completely ignore that just because of someone's unfortunate dating past. Like I picked the wrong boyfriend. That shouldn't be held against me by an entire..." she stopped herself. She was tense, making herself upset, and she just quit right there. Though also because while she'd had a group of friends, Joshua really hadn't. He'd been involved with the mine things, but through her, and as far as she knew, he hadn't kept up with anyone he'd met there. Joshua had had her, and that was kinda...itish. Unless you counted Dean, who had come into things via her. So in her case, it wasn't even an 'entire group of people' like she'd been going to say.

Dean left it for a moment, because he could feel that it was getting to her. He just held her, leaned forward a little and planted a kiss on her shoulder. "I didn't say it required bad feelings, because that would mean that we'd have to talk feelings," he said, in the end. "And I'd said that the whole point was avoiding talking about feelings. So, we put gross generalisations in place instead. And, yeah, people are going to like who they like. But then they have to make a choice - who's more important? Your friend, or the girl you like? Because if you go after the girl, then you do it with the knowledge that you could lose the friend. You broke the rule that justifies your friend being pissed with you, and everyone will know that. And you put it in the hands of your friend to decide how that's going to go. Either he's fine with it, or he's not. If he's not, all the rest of your friends will side with him. And if he is, probably some of your friends at least will grumble about the fact that you broke the rules. That's just the way it is. It's a universal guy thing," he told her, trying again, keeping his voice soft, reasonable, slow and steady. he didn't want to upset her, but he wanted to explain, since not understanding clearly was upsetting her. It just made sense in his head - and she needed to see it had nothing to do with the girl at all. It was to do with friendship.

She still wasn't sure she got it. Most of the time she understood boys better than she did girls, but this was clearly something she didn't get at all. the way he was handling her helped, though. Not fully, but enough that she was less apt to get up and go take a shower or something to make herself less tense. Especially over something that was irrational in the first place. She guessed that she still just felt sore about what role that placed the entire female gender into. And, she supposed, she could say that so at least he'd get what was bothering her about it. "Maybe that's how it works for you guys, or what makes sense to you. But the entire thing makes me feel like none of you even stops to consider girls as thinking beings with free will. Makes me feel a lot more like an object, like 'hey, don't borrow my cd's without checking first'. Like if someone dates a girl, that suddenly makes that girl his property, and everyone else just...goes with that."

He moved away and rolled her onto her back, wanting to be able to look into her eyes, propping himself up a little to do that as he looked down at her. "It's just about priorities, and friendship. And deciding what's more important. And you, kitten, are so miles above more important it's not funny. It's not about seeing someone as an object - it's about having to make the decision between a relationship that might be good, or an established friendship you already know is. Which is why... Me and Joshua? Not really an established friendship. And what you and I had? Have? There's no 'might' in there at all." He wondered if things would have been different ever, if he and Joshua had actually gone on to be friends. But he decided that wasn't a 'what if' he cared to imagine.

She looked up at him, watching his eyes as he spoke. She drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, her mind kind of going to the same place. What if it had been different? Would she really have lost out to some stupid rule? It felt especially unfair considering her specific situation, where hey, it wasn't like she knew a lot of people anymore. But the second she thought that, she didn't like it. Because she wasn't with Dean because of lack of options, either. Not even remotely. It hadn't worked like that. She bit at her lower lip, and tried to force herself to relax here. It was something that she couldn't do anything about, didn't even really affect her right now, and was just one of those things. Frustrating, certainly, but nothing that should be derailing her like this. Which made her wonder if there were deeper reasons why it was gouging in deep. "I'm sorry, I..." she started, gaze ticking off over his shoulder for a moment. "I just really hate the idea that if you and Joshua had gotten to be better friends, that you and I might not have happened, just because...because I happened to have met him first." she said.

"But we didn't," Dean reminded her. "And anyway - I said there was a choice. And if it came down to a choice between you, and him? I'd choose you every time. I'd choose you over anyone," he added, his voice dropping slightly. He'd shown that, hadn't he? Not in this way, but generally. He had the bruises to back that up. And sure, he'd had his reasons for taking Thia's side that night, for believing her story over and above what Andy had been trying to feed him, but he knew that that would have held true for any of his friends. But, he also knew that what he'd said there wasn't necessarily entirely true. That the test would be in regards to his family, as he thought back over how he'd considered sending her away that night, when he'd thought that the shadows were coming for her. He brushed that off though - that wasn't this conversation, she'd know what he meant. And his family were never going to come between them. They were an ocean away.

There was a mixture of emotions that went along with that. Ones that ranged from sad to better, and it was a muddy, dark swirl inside her head. It left her not knowing how to feel. She knew that she felt the same, that if she had to make a choice between him and anyone else, she'd choose him, but she didn't like the idea of there needing to be choices like that period. It left her feeling confused and unsettled, with an off feeling in the pit of her stomach. And, she really needed to sort it out and get past it, because she really didn't want it keeping her down right now. In the end she wound up not saying anything, and she shifted, tugging him down a little so she could bury her face in against his shoulder.

Dean went in, pulling her against him, letting her cling like that. "It's okay, it doesn't mean anything for us anyway. It's just some stupid rule and it doesn't have any effect. And I'll go and talk to him sometime during the week and then that'll be over and it'll all be fine," he reassured her - one of the few times when there'd actually been something that they were facing that he could be reassuring about. It was strangely nice, in the middle of it all.

Right then, she'd take it. Being reassured, and he sounded like he meant it and believed it. It didn't really quiet down all the weird emotions the whole thing had kicked up, but it would at least take care of the root of it to begin with. The other stuff...she could get over. Possibly sit around and think about it when she had time to, or, maybe, bury down where she wouldn't have to think about it too much, but she could get over it. "Okay." she said, realizing that she really needed to answer him there. She should probably stop clinging, too, but she didn't just yet. She'd make herself in a minute. "I'm sorry I'm being..." she trailed off, not sure how to word it.

"It's okay," Dean simply repeated. He thought she was overreacting to something which made simple and perfect sense to him, but then again, lots of things made simple and perfect sense to him and everyone else around him looked at him like he was crazy, so he'd stopped counting on himself as a good judge of something like that. "It'll get sorted." At least he didn't care as much about the outcome, unlike his other girl-related problem, which was the thing that had come up with Caleb yesterday. That was a bigger problem, simply because he didn't want to lose the guy as a friend. "I need to call Caleb today," he said, after a long, long pause.

"You going to suggest to him the group thing?" she asked, shifting slightly, relaxing her hold on him a little, because the subject change gave her a new focus. Something she could not be upset about, and possibly be helpful with. Or, that was her running theory, anyhow. Already it had helped some. She turned her face in towards his neck, and nuzzled there a tiny bit, breathing in the scent of his skin.

"Yeah, that was the plan," Dean agreed, stretching his neck slightly to encourage the nuzzling. "I mean, it won't be straight away or anything. or, well - if it's a group thing... She's been in the area for a while, apparently," Dean said, not coming right out and blatantly saying 'she knows of you. She knows you died'.

She kept up the nuzzling, hesitating for a moment when she got what he didn't say there, but then she started it again. "How would you feel about things then?" she asked, wanting to know first what he thought. If he would even be comfortable with the idea, if he hated it all to hell and wanted to have nothing to do with it, if he would still do the group thing but wanted her no where near it... She would rather be there. But then again, she didn't want to put herself and by proxy others at risk either. She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "I really hate this sometimes." she mumbled softly.

"I think I want to meet her before I decide anything about how I may and may not feel about things. But... Even the idea... It's something to offer Caleb and I think we need that right now. And maybe - there's so much in the way of that anyhow. I mean, he's still got to talk to her about him as well. And this would definitely come after that. but, I was thinking that if I swung it with you in mind, then maybe by the time we get there - if we get there, then he'd feel more secure about her, or whatever he needs to do, or things would be sorted more anyhow and this would all be about nothing," he added, putting in a few extras there, because he really didn't want to get back onto her whole 'women as possessions' thing.

She thought about it as he spoke. "The idea could still go through, and if I was the problem there, I could just not go." she said. She didn't like that option, but she presented it, because it was the easiest fix. It meant the idea was still intact, it just removed one element. And the environment would still be different enough that she didn't think any crushes would be happening. Of if they did, they would have to be pretty well nurtured. Which Dean wouldn't be doing. "Which kind of scenario would you be happiest with?" she asked, honestly wanting to know.

"One where Caleb got his head on straight and wasn't permanently looking over his shoulder?" Dean suggested, straight away. "Honestly, I'd prefer this just not to be an issue. I don't like feeling like I have to act defensively at all. And I've got to meet this girl and I know that no matter what, that's going to be on my mind," he sighed. "As for the group thing, I don't know. I don't want to have to arrange something without you. Especially when it would mostly involve people we both know. But I don't want to rush things with deciding whether to bring this girl in or not either. Mostly, I think we just put the suggestion out there, and then see. Leave it with Caleb for now. Maybe it'll... put his mind at rest or something."

Part of her felt a little better that he didn't really want to plan something without her. She didn't know why it made her feel better, since really it just complicated matters, but it did. It was there, in the back of her mind. "Don't let Caleb's insecurities hamper you too much, okay? You can just meet her, and make your own decisions. Caleb can deal. You won't be able to make clear decisions if you're seeing it all through that. So try not to. And yeah, I know, easier said than done, but still. If he wants you to meet her in the first place, then it says something about how he feels about your friendship in the first place. The best thing you can do is meet her then be honest, however that goes." She just knew he had a tendency to spin his wheels, and she wished Caleb would have kept his insecurities to himself at least until after Dean had met the girl.
Yeah, either that or it was because I asked him if I could meet her, Dean thought, rather uncharitably. He just didn't like this situation and he knew it'd make him twitch, no matter what. "Hopefully," he said, in the end.

She sighed slightly and reached up to tug her fingers through his hair lightly. "You know if you build it up too much in your head, you're just going to be uncomfortable the entire time, and when you get uncomfortable, you get quiet, and you're hard to read when you're quiet." she told him gently. "Don't over think it." she advised. "And if you can possibly meet her someplace you'd be more comfortable? That'd be best." Not that she would know where that would be? But she figured she'd put it out there, anyhow.

Dean shrugged. "Dunno where that'd be. And do people really need to be reading me anyway?" he asked her. He knew she was right about him getting quiet when he was uncomfortable though. 'Quiet' was really his default position. If in doubt, be as unobtrusive as possible. It was either that or massively overreact, but he really needed to be emotionally invested in a situation to do that.

"If a girl's being brought to meet the friend of the guy who she might or might not be dating in the future? There's a certain level of anxiety attached, and the desire to at least be approved of in some fashion. So if you're too quiet, and she can't read you, then it's probably going to come off as disapproval, or possibly disinterest? Which might just kinda...make her nervous, or something...see where I'm going here?" Lullaby said, hoping he got it. "No, I don't necessarily think people need to be able to read you." Other than herself. "But in that case, being totally unreadable...that might just make people twitchy. I wanted to be approved by your friends." she said. "And I was nervous about it."

Dean quirked an eyebrow and perked up a little at that. "Did I fall into the category of someone you might or might not be dating in the future then?" he asked her, teasing. Sure, she'd meant to have actually been his girlfriend when she first met his friends, but they both knew she hadn't been really.

She laughed a little bit, and blushed just a touch. "Youuuu fell into the category of someone I desperately, all encompassingly wanted with every fiber of my being to be dating. I didn't think it would happen, but I still wanted the seal of approval from your friends. It's a thing. Maybe it's just a girl thing, I dunno. If I had friends to introduce you to, would you want their approval?" she asked curiously.

"If you had friends to introduce me to, would it be important to you for them to approve of me?" Dean asked her in return. He'd never particularly strived for the approval of any of her friends in the past, after all. But he'd want their approval if she wanted them to give it. And he supposed it would make things easier.

She had to think about her answer to that for a moment, and she gazed at him thoughtfully. "I would want them to like you." she said eventually. "Mostly because I would want to kind of...not necessarily share you, or anything, just...I would want other people to get to know the awesome that is you. I know you know I love you and everything, but at the base line of everything, I like you. I like who you are as a person, I think you're a great person in general, and I'd like for other people to have some small piece of that in their lives too. I would want other people to meet you and get to know you and they could say they knew someone like you. Because you're unique, you know. Or, I think you are. You're someone who's got very strong beliefs, and you stand up for them. You're all about doing the right thing, pretty much all of the time, and that's rare. You have a mind that just...works in a very unique way, and I really appreciate that about you. I think more people should know someone like you." she told him. "But their approval would not be required. You have mine, and that's the opinion that counts in the end. It wouldn't really matter what anyone else would think."
"Well, I've already promised that I'll watch my step with Alexis and do nothing to make her want to come round, or text you to tell you what a nob your boyfriend is," Dean reminded her. "Talking of - what story have you told her anyway? Just so I don't put my foot in it," Dean said, suddenly realising they hadn't discussed that. And Thia had known Alexis since before they'd come up with their tale last night, obviously.

There was a part of Lullaby that felt a little blown off, there. Granted, she knew about Dean's tendency to ignore anything resembling praise, but...she'd meant that. She'd meant all of that, and she felt a bit disregarded. Her eyes ticked away from him, and she drew in a breath, and let it out slowly. Shifting slightly, she laid out on her stomach, resting her head on her arms. "That I was out of school already. I think I said I was from here, only hadn't gone to public school." she said, trying to think back, to remember. "We didn't get into that a whole lot, honestly." Plus she wasn't sure Alexis would even remember much about the background story she'd been told. They hadn't gotten very close or anything, she'd just stepped up when needed most recently.

"Okay, well - if I end up talking to her, I'll try and be vague about things," Dean promised, missing entirely her change there, not catching onto the fact he'd hurt her. As far as he was concerned, he was just doing what he always did, and he didn't think twice about it. "Does she know who I am? And - you mentioned a dead-beat boyfriend?" he added, wondering about that also.

She nodded. "She knows who you are. She knows your name is Dean, she knows you were my best friend before who I was completely in love with but didn't think I'd ever get together with, and she knows we got together now." she told him, trying to work past that raw little hurt feeling, but it wasn't that easy. "I've...talked a lot about you. And yes, she's got a boyfriend who even when she called him, to say she was terrified of a spirit in her house, blew her off, didn't believe her, and...yeah." she said, frowning. "When she was telling me, I couldn't imagine you just...not believing me, or not being there when I needed you." she admitted. "It made me think about when I saw the shadow in the water, and you didn't really have any call to believe what I was saying, but you did."
Dean frowned at that, looking slightly confused. "Why didn't he believe her?" he asked. Dean never actually expected his friends, relatives, anyone he cared about to actually lie to him. Which had been one of the root causes of the problems with Andy. Once he trusted someone, Dean was ridiculously easy to play.

That made her smile faintly. Like she'd imagined. "That's what I thought you'd say." she said. "I asked myself what you would say in that situation, if I asked you if you were in that same situation, if you would believe me, and that's what I came up with. That it would be weird for you not to believe me." she admitted. "And that's how it should be. I told her she deserved better, that even if he didn't believe in ghosts, or whatever, he should have understood that she was going through something, and supported her at least that much. But he didn't. So...she's probably going to be breaking up with him."

Dean blinked and mentally reaffirmed the fact that no matter what, in the future he would always believe her. No matter what. Of course, he knew he would anyway, but that was shored up by the way she'd put that. By the almost casual way she'd linked that to a break up. Yup, absolutely - he was 100% behind her in everything.

She looked mildly confused at just the blink and all, and she frowned slightly. "What?" she asked, thinking she was missing something. She shifted a little, pushing herself up slightly, propping herself on one arm.

Dean shook his head. "Not anything that's going to affect us at all. You know you'll always have my support, right?" Dean told her, reaching up to stroke the frown off her face before leaning in to kiss her softly, just a little brush, trying not to make a big thing of things at all. After all, there was nothing new there, it wasn't like he'd just made a life-altering decision based upon something she'd said in passing.

She was watching, to see if he had anything like lines kicked up from his usual aura of negative energy, but she didn't see any. So, she just nodded, expression clearing some. "And I know. That's what was just...it was strange to think about. And made me appreciate you all the more, because no matter what was going on with me, I know I could count on you to at least be there for me." she said. He'd more than proven that to her in their time together. He'd been there for fairly insane things. He'd helped her through her own death, he'd been there for her with everything else, and ultimately, with her dad...he'd pretty much made the ultimate sacrifice. Which had her pulling him to her to hug him tightly.

Dean returned the hug, dropping his face down into her hair a little, inhaling the smell of Thia and shampoo. "Of course you can," he told her, raising his head so that his voice wasn't muffled. "Always." he disentangled himself from her, knowing that he'd be more than happy to stay in bed all day, but they shouldn't really get into that habit. Still, the idea of getting up didn't have a great deal of charm right now.

She let go, but was a little reluctant to do that. She was kind of having an emotionally weird day already. And she was still a little hurt beneath the surface over things, but felt like if she brought it up now, it would be well out of context. So, she set to work trying to bury it again. She glanced around the room for a clock, to see what time it was, and he'd already said he needed to call Caleb today. Which meant he had things to do, anyways.

He got as far as the edge of the bed, before he turned and looked back at her. Then leaned back, lying across the distance between them to kiss her once more. "God, it is so bloody tempting to stay here all day," he told her, resting his forehead against hers, his tone one of someone who wanted something, but had already decided to do something else. Resigned, a touch regretful.

That made her smile a little bit, and she hugged him loosely there, reaching up to drag her fingers through his hair, and then she rubbed lightly at his back. Just a little. "I'd like to." she agreed, tone matching his. "I like getting to be lazy with you. And it's your bed. Did I mention that means something to me?" she asked, almost rhetorical, but not fully. "Your bed, your room, your space." she counted off. She gave him another little brush of a kiss, holding back the deeper one she wanted to give him. As much as she wanted to keep him there, she wasn't going to be that girl, the one who just made things more difficult. "But there are things to do. Things! I'm sure important things! Important Dean-things!" she said, cheering slightly. She smiled for him. And kissed him again. "And later, after important dean-things, maybe there can be some time for important dean-and-thia things." she said, giving him a more impish smile.

He sat up, pulling her with him and up onto his lap, so they were both sat on the edge of the bed. "I'd like that," he told her, kissing her again. "I'll try and get everything done quickly - so we can do us things. Whatever that might end up being," he promised.

She smiled as he pulled her into his lap, and she kissed him back. She nuzzled at his nose a little, letting the good feelings of waking up with him, being home, everything else wash over her and start to wipe out the other feelings she'd had kicked up that morning. It was not at all that difficult to do in her current position. Maybe despite not having bodily functions that would prompt it, she could still suffer from little bouts of pms. Or maybe, they'd just had a pretty rough time of things in the past few weeks, and she still had little lingering twitches. Or, most likely...it was just life, and things weren't perfect one hundred percent of the time. "Take your time. You know I'll be around, at your beck and call." she said, teasing him just a little. He'd used to say that to her, right after she'd died. And he'd meant it. That she'd definitely found out.

He gave her another little kiss, then reluctantly slid her off his lap again, before standing. He looked back at her over his shoulder and gave her a small smile, before heading off to grab a shower.