How You Doin'?

Who: Dean and Oz
Where: Osbourne residence
When: Afternoon

Oz walked out into the little area that they'd actually sort of half designated as the practice area for he and Dean. Today, it had been a toss up of things to work on. Really, Oz was pretty glad to get out of the house. He'd finished reflection-proofing the house as much as possible (and talking to Billy to make sure they were doing it as well, and he was of course informed they were already doing that thank you very much from Maddie), and Sophie had helped as well, Lullaby after she'd risen. So the house was pretty well proofed--but there was still that itching, distantly creeped out feeling lingering. He couldn't tell if it was just because he knew it was there, or if even covered, something was watching from the other side there. But, creepy weirdness that wasn't necessarily harmful or not, he still had things to teach the kid, so he was doing that. He'd tried to decide that morning what they were going to work on next. Really, Dean had picked up the firearms thing stupidly well, including the shotgun (though really--shotgun. It wasn't like they required precision). After that, he looked through the trunk and tried to figure out which would be slightly less twitch-inducing for him. Amanda's spikes, or the bow.

In the end he'd opted for the bow. So he'd walked into town, where he bought new bows, a shit load of practice arrows, everything needed for care and transport of said things, and he put in a special order for wooden ones at the sports shop. It never hurt to be prepared. He got a weird look, but ignored it, mostly because he was standing there being reflected by a bunch of sharp hunting knives and that wasn't sitting terribly well. The guy didn't say shit, because Oz paid in advance, however. Which really, tended to shut people up in general.

He had a few targets set up on the poor tree they'd so far been consistently abusing, and was waiting for Dean to arrive, knowing it was sometime around when the kid would get back from school and wander down.

The whispering had started towards the end of school and Dean figured he had his answer - Janice had followed through with her threats. But, really, in the scheme of things, it was nothing. Not when the rest of his house was sleeping in the damn basement because they were so creeped out by their own reflections. So, he'd ignored everything and headed home, getting changed before heading out to meet Oz for their daily lesson.

Oz looked over and watched Dean get closer. "Hey." he greeted. "How was school?" He generally asked that, though generally also expected terribly non-committal answers. He remembered high school, it was same shit different day, unless you signed up for the school play... But that was neither here nor there, now was it. Nope. Plus, Dean didn't seem the actor type. Either way, he usually asked for the hell of it.

Dean shrugged. "Could have been worse," he offered, without much enthusiasm. "Broke up with that girl," he added, describing her that way since he wasn't sure whether Oz ever got her name. Though, it was still weird to use the term 'broke up' when they'd only been on one date. Fucking insane, it's all fucking insane.

Oz arched an eyebrow, but couldn't say he was surprised, really. He crouched down by where he had the bows laying in the grass. "Any specific reason?" he asked, making sure he didn't put much inflection in there. Really, he'd kinda sorta thought the girl didn't have all of her marbles. He'd heard some of the shit she'd said--couldn't not with that voice--and hadn't quite approved. But then again, it wasn't his business, so he hadn't said anything about it. But hey! Now he could.

"She was a mistake," Dean shrugged again. On so many levels - he still didn't know what he'd been thinking, or how he could ever have thought that that was a good idea. It hadn't been - it had been so totally the opposite of a good idea it wasn't even funny. "Archery?" Dean asked, watching Oz move. He'd known it was on the list, but then again, he figured there was enough on that list to keep them busy for years yet. Somehow, he didn't think that this would be as easy to learn as the shotgun had been.

"Well spotted!" Oz said with a grin. He nodded to both of them. "Pick one. You can play around with both of them til you figure out which one you like better." he informed him. "Just work with pulling the string and weight and balance and shit for a few minutes." he suggested, standing back up, and he stretched a bit. "So. You were real unhappy about going back upstairs last night." he put in conversationally. If he wasn't going to talk about the crazy weeping wonder ex girlfriend, he'd bring up something else. And being it vaguely had to do with Thia...he might be more likely to get a response.

Dean picked up one of the bows, standing in what he figured was the right kind of position - which, admittedly, was garnered from watching TV and movies - and tried to pull back on the string. Which was a damn sight harder than he'd imagined that it was going to be - those TV shows and movies always made it look so easy. He paused for a moment, relaxing and glanced over at Oz. "I was worried about you all. You know, you were all creeped out and it's like - I'm not getting any of that." He shrugged. "Felt kind of useless, actually," he admitted.

Oz nodded, actually feeling for Dean on that score. "Yeah, I know how that feels. I don't do so well when there's nothing I can do either. Like with the mine bullshit, all I could do was play watch dog." He paused. "Literally." Since he'd gone there in wolf form to watch out for everyone. "And that always sucks. Though I'd hardly count you as useless. Just because you're not experiencing what we are doesn't mean we've come up with any brilliant ways to do anything about it either. Sophie went into town to get some books, I think she and Lullaby were going through some of them." He shrugged. "And we've tried to de-reflection the house but that's more just going around a problem than facing it. Be glad you aren't crawling out of your skin just walking through the kitchen." he added. "Still though. You were twitchy. So was she." he didn't figure he'd have to say outright who 'she' was.

Dean shrugged again and went back to practising drawing the bow, managing it, but not finding it anywhere near as natural as the gun had felt. "Yeah, well, think everyone's paranoid and shit right now," he offered.

"Uh huh." Oz said, nonchalant as he looked over the practice arrows he had, and he handed one to Dean. "That must be why she got up a few times last night then." he threw in there. "Just paranoia." Yep, must be it, totally. Which he knew was bullshit. Total bullshit. And if he hadn't been in wolf form, he probably would have told the girl if she really couldn't sleep and had to go back upstairs, she could, but could she please try not to wake Dean while she was at it.

That got his attention. He dipped the bow slightly as he looked across, for the first time not appearing like he wasn't really connecting with the conversation. "She did?" he asked, his tone unreadable. He wasn't sure what to think of that - what he did wonder was what Oz thought of that. And whether he'd be reading more into that than he should.

There it was. Oz didn't figure that he'd be able to hold out that long on things like that. "She did." he confirmed with a nod. "Three times, at least, and I think she was thinking about a fourth. Sat up and everything, but then she laid back down." he informed Dean. "So...like I said! Twitchy." he concluded, paying attention to Dean and wondering how the kid would react.

Dean didn't say anything for the longest time, trying to figure that through. He knew he hadn't wanted to leave last night, that he would have slept better in the basement - he'd been awake half the night staring at the ceiling, actually, but... "Must have been weird, sleeping in the basement," he concluded in the end. "And not that comfortable - we should get mattresses or something down there for you tonight," he added - a sensible conclusion to come to, one that he could quite happily live with and wasn't suggesting at all that he was possibly maybe definitely reading in to anything. That was important, because he knew he would, given half the chance, and that wasn't fair.

"Sure." Oz said, grinning and shaking his head. "...okay you know that I know you two sleep together, right?" he asked, since Dean seemed to be playing the 'couldn't possibly be she wanted to stay with me' card. He'd seen how they were when they'd walked in, and that was just the latest evidence in how inseparable they could get.

"No we don't!" Was Dean's gut response, then he looked down and shrugged. "Or, well - not much. And not like that!" he added quickly, looking back up again. "It's just... that is... The other night and..." And we were lying down together and she was playing with my hair and... Somehow, Dean knew that those words would just sound completely wrong if he said them outloud. "We were talking and just... I fell asleep, that's all. And there was that one time when she left and then she came back and... She just wanted to let me know she was back, that's all. So... Not often," he averred.

"Calm down, I know you're not intimate. I did say sleep." Oz pointed out, probably far too amused, but he was attempting to hide it. He didn't do a perfect job though. Possibly due to the chuckle. "I think she wanted to go back upstairs and stick with you, personally." Because that was his two cents, and he was putting them in. "So how are you doing with everything?" he asked. "All the shit we discussed before her moving in..." he tossed in at the end for clarity.

"Yeah, but you could have meant..." Dean said, before he realised that Oz was agreeing with him here and giving him an out. But not far, given his other question. He shrugged again. "We're doing okay," he suggested.

"...funny wording considering you were the one with the crush and all." Oz said. "Also, I didn't asking how you were doing together, I asked how you were doing. C'mon. Honestly. How're things going for you with all of that?" He didn't add on there that he worried. There was concern there, after all. On a few different levels, he didn't figure saying it in so many words would help though. In fact, it would probably just make Dean defensive.

"She's my friend, and she doesn't really have anyone else right now. It's not funny wording at all," Dean told him, springing right to that defensive thing. He glanced away for a moment, then back, looking unsure and reluctant in a sullen kind of way. There was another shrug. "I'm doing okay. It's... I'm dealing with it," he admitted, not quite meeting Oz' eyes.

Oz didn't bother commenting to the outburst, but was glad that Dean had added in the other bit. "It's what?" he asked, wanting to know what hadn't been said there. He at the very least had dropped any indication he was amused with the subject matter. Now he was focused in differently--which included things like paying attention with all of his senses, just on principal.

"Nothing, it's nothing," he told the werewolf, turning and starting to practice with the bow again, trying to keep it level as he drew it, his arms wobbling a little with the effort and coordination required.

"Not really buying that." Oz said. "C'mon, it's just between you and I anyways. I just want to know what's up. Honestly." he offered. He didn't figure that Dean had anyone else to talk to about it. He didn't really remember Dean mentioning many other friends, only Caleb and then only in passing. The only other person that had been buy was that Janice girl, and he was kind of concerned that Dean didn't have many friends. Yeah...there was concern there on a few levels.

Dean seemed to ignore Oz for a while, though really he was just considering. He could deny that there was anything again, or he could talk. Really, he'd almost prefer that the guy just drop the damn subject of Thia altogether and they could just get on with the lesson. That'd be nice, simple. Easy. Except that he knew that Oz wouldn't be asking if he didn't actually care and it didn't feel right to seriously give the guy the brush off. So, after a few minutes, he lowered the bow again and turned to the guy. "It's... The lines are hard," he admitted. "And she notices - when I back off. And she thinks - she thinks she's done something wrong sometimes. If I'm not careful. And, that, like it's her fault or something."

Oh good. He'd been giving Dean a few minutes there, and was glad when he started talking. Oz listened, nodding a bare bit as he took the information on board. "And you don't want to tell her what's going on?" he asked. He didn't figure so. Dean seemed pretty anti-confessions. "Things sort of bleeding together? I know they have to be on some levels...honestly sometimes I almost get more of her scent on you than yours." He didn't say it in a way that would suggested that was a bad thing, it just illustrated that he knew just how close they got. And you didn't pick up that much of a scent from someone unless there was prolonged exposure going on. Her giving him a hug wouldn't have resulted in what he sensed. And of course there was the sleeping together thing.

"Honestly? I don't think she needs that kind of pressure right now," Dean admitted. "Not that I'm... If I told her, it wouldn't be in a 'hey, I really like you, we should get together' way. But still, I don't think that she needs it right now. As far as she's concerned, I know she doesn't think that I think about her like that at all and that's good. I'd prefer to just... deal with my issues myself and she can not have to second guess things every time that she needs a hug, or needs someone to talk to. She's lost enough already without me taking that away from her as well. But, yeah, it's hard sometimes for me because... Sometimes it's too much and it's like - I just need some space. But I don't.. I don't always know how to back off without it seeming like she'd just stepped wrong. Because, really, it's nothing she's doing wrong. She's just being herself. It's me that has the problems here and she shouldn't have to not be herself just because I have some stupid issue or something. So, yeah."

Oz listened to him speaking, and wondered how Dean would react if he heard it coming from someone else. "You shouldn't have to be eternally frustrated, either." he said. "I know you have this tendency to put her first. But you should try looking into not being quite so self sacrificing. It's noble, and all, but there are limits. How often do you need space?" he asked, mind working over things. One of the things he was thinking about was getting Lullaby out of the house for a while. Something. Maybe. Might be good for Dean if she wasn't underfoot all the time.

"I'm not eternally frustrated," Dean told him, defensively. "And I'm - I'm dealing with it, okay? I'm just... It's not a time thing. It's not like I can say 'hey, Tuesdays between four and five I could really do with some 'lone time, y'know? It doesn't work like that. It's more..." he trailed off, not sure that he wanted to go into what it was more like. "Nevermind," he muttered.

"Dean--you don't have to get defensive, I'm not saying anything against anything." he said patiently. He was so goddamn twitchy when it came to anything to do with Thia. "And no, not nevermind. Go on." he encouraged. "I'd like to understand." Oz added, just to put in there that he might not understand, which he was thinking might make Dean more apt to continue. Since he didn't like those misinterpretations, after all.

Dean shrugged again and glaced across, then lowered his eyes to the ground a little. "It's like... I can see those moments, y'know? Like we'll be talking and everything's fine and I'm dealing and I can cope with the closeness and the hugs and - it's just fine. And then there'll be a moment, where, like, I dunno... I realise that I'm enjoying this a bit too much. Or, maybe, like - sometimes I get that 'and I could kiss her now' moment. And, yeah, just... Time to back away. Before I ruin everything. But I can't - I don't know when those are going to hit. And some days? They don't hit at all. Really it depends on what else is going on. Circumstances, y'know?"

Is every moment you spend with her you 'dealing'? Oz wanted to know, but he wasn't entirely sure he could get away with asking. It was kind of an important detail, though, really. In that whole 'just how difficult is this on Dean' sort of way. The rest of it he could see. After all, before he'd been in the play and everything, he'd definitely been around girls he had crushes on, and those moments were easy to pick out. And the enjoying things too much moments, though he had a feeling Dean was a little better about being a gentleman than Oz had been. He personally didn't see anything wrong with enjoying himself a while, just so long as the major lines didn't get crossed. "Yeah, I get the circumstantial thing." he said. "...you said that you're talking and you're dealing. Is that how it is all the time? Like...whenever you're with her you're just dealing?" Apparently he was going to ask. It was important.

Dean frowned "No - no, not like that at all," he said, his tone rather complaining at being misunderstood. "No, just... By 'dealing' I meant that it's okay and I don't have to think about it. It's fine when I don't think about it. And then suddenly that thought will kick in. That whole 'wow, I'm lying here holding her' thought? And... yeah. See. That's hard."

Nodding, Oz took that in. "So how often does that happen?" he asked. His tone was still light, like he wasn't reading in, he was just trying to get the right information going. Which, really, he was, he just didn't know what he might do about it. He didn't think Maddie would kill him if he asked her to do a new sanctuary spell at a different location. Someplace she could go. Of course, even thinking about that, he knew just how unpopular an idea that was going to be with Dean. ...Dean, who wasn't happy about the girl sleeping two floors down, let alone someplace entirely else.

Dean shrugged again. "I dunno? Every now and then?" Every time we're together? At least once? "But, seriously, I'm dealing," he assured the guy. "It's really no big deal. It happens all the time - people have crushes, they don't get together. Life goes on. It's cool, really."

Yeah, but those other people aren't exactly sharing living space with the objects of their desire, now are they? Oz thought. And that was a huge difference. Or sleeping with them. Right. "If you say so." he said eventually, but he was going to be thinking about things for a while. Keeping an eye on the situation, maybe trying to figure out if there was someplace else the girl could go for a while. Someplace close, because Oz had his own protective issues, and Lullaby did qualify as pack. So he didn't really want her going far. Dean was just a larger priority than she was, at least currently. He'd ask Billy to put her up for a bit, if he didn't figure Billy was amazingly overdue with having a house all to himself and his wife-to-be. So, he wouldn't do that. ...even if weirdly, it seemed like Billy and Lullaby seemed to get along well, being she'd texted him the other night when they'd all been talking...yeah. His life just never did stop being weird. "Just checking." he added belatedly.

"It's fine," Dean repeated, feeling like he hadn't been able to convince Oz of that. See, this is why you should just keep your big mouth shut, Dean reminded himself. "We're working it out. Things are getting better - I kinda half explained some stuff to her. Like 'hey, I'm a bloke, remember?' stuff to her and... she's been better about stuff over the last couple of days." He didn't think there'd been time enough yet to know whether that was going to last long term, and it hadn't stopped his need to back away, but it had helped.

Oz nodded again, noting the 'we' part of that. He wasn't sure how he justified him calling it a 'we' thing when she didn't know about the most major point of the entire situation. Of course, he wasn't sure how she was still managing not to know, but that was hardly the issue. He felt slightly better that he seemed to have at least somewhat addressed the issue, but wasn't quite a fix, either. Maybe he'd talk to Sophie about it. Or maybe he'd send Thia on some sort of shopping trip or something, to sort of force a few days of separation and see how Dean dealt. He didn't know. He just knew he was concerned, and lately, it seemed to be a situation that might get more volatile. Sometimes the two of them reminded him a little too much of he and Sophie, and as much as he loved her and couldn't live without her--they'd spent a lot of time in their lives miserable. He didn't especially want Dean to fall into the same thing. "Well, hopefully it helps then."

"It will," Dean said with confidence. Though, if it didn't, Dean would carry on regardless, though he couldn't be blind to the issues it was beginning to cause. Another thing that was playing on his mind. He shifted a little, pucking the strong on the bow absently, more for something to play with than for any other reason. "Sometimes," he said, sounding a lot less sure now. "I... I feel like she's not going to forgive me if she ever finds out now," he admitted. "Like... Like I've been lying to her, or tricking her or she won't understand and think that... Like that I've been taking advantage or something. It worries me."

Oz arched a brow at Dean, and actually tipped his sunglasses down to peer over them at the kid. "...okay help me out here, Dean." he said. "You spend your time not doing anything with the girl. In fact, you specifically make sure that she doesn't even know you have a thing for her. You back off whenever you're having issues with it and everything. How is that taking advantage?" he asked. That logic mystified him. "And you're not lying. You're just not advertising something." he added. Though he still wasn't sure just how Lullaby missed it. Because it came through loud and clear all the time, she just didn't happen to pick it up for what it was. At least, he didn't think she did.

Dean didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but... She doesn't know that, does she? I mean, I do do all that. The backing off and the not saying and everything, but... If she ever found out - would she see that part? Or would she see the part where, y'know, the whole lots of hugs and physical contact stuff and think that I was just doing that because - y'know. For the wrong reasons? And, like, I do things for her, but... I do those because she's my friend. And, I worry that she might think that I'd only been doing that stuff to get into her good books or something - that she'd see my motivations wrong. Or something. I guess," he tried to explain.

This whole ramble left Oz staring at Dean and blinking a moment. "You think waay, way too much." he informed the teenager. "Okay, first of all, you're probably about as monk-like as you can get with a girl like her without being a eunuch. For another, if you had ulterior motives? Then you'd be doing a hell of a lot more than you do. See that's where when you have those impulses you don't act on? You would, if you were doing shit for the wrong reasons. You back off--she knows that, you've apparently talked about it--so that right there proves if you had shady intentions..." he shook his head. "And you two were golden in each other's books ages ago, it's not like you have to keep trying. You would have gone to get her yourself if I hadn't gone with you when everything went to hell, and that has nothing to do with trying to get anywhere with her. I really think you have nothing to worry about on any of that, in total, blatant honesty. I think you're doing a hell of a lot better than anyone else would be in your shoes." Then he paused. "You're doing a hell of a lot better than I would be doing."

"Really?" Dean asked, his tone betraying that he remained unsure, but that he really wanted to be convinced on this one. It'd be a load off his mind if he was, most definitely.

"Yeah, really." Oz said, nodding. "I really can't see it going any other way--especially considering the girl in question." he said very firmly. "Look at it from the other side for a second, and just take her personality into account. Do you really think she'd throw you to the wolves on things?" and he recognized the irony in that statement, considering what he was, but it was a figure of speech.

"No...." Dean admitted. "Not.. Not on purpose or anything. I just worry that she'd misunderstand." he shrugged and looked away. "Doesn't matter - it's just me being stupid," he said, which was his reaction to taking on board what Oz was saying.

"No, it's you over thinking too much." Oz corrected. "It'll be fine, whatever happens on that." he assured Dean. Of course he was still thinking about ways of kind of separating them for a bit. Like having his wife take her out of town for a weekend or something. That might work. Who knew, maybe all the girls could go far out of state to look for a wedding dress or some shit. It could happen. Girls did that, right? Sure. It was a working theory.

"Right," Dean agreed, though without enthusiasm, and he leaned down to pluck up an arrow, fiddling with setting it up - like he had any clue how to do that. "So - you going to teach me how to shoot this thing?" he asked, glancing over again.

"I am." Oz said, grabbing the other one and heading over. That was the close to the conversation, after all. Though, at least he'd gotten Dean to talk about it for a bit. That was something. He'd still have to figure out what to do with the situation, but he'd figure something out. Now he just had to teach Dean how to silently drop something from a good long distance away. Good time family fun, that.