to the sound

    Baby took a breath, fingers drumming against the wood panelling on the bar. He felt a bit like a babysitter, his eyes scanning the crowd lazily, lingering on a patron or two who looked back. Tall, dark haired and wearing a stained pink hoodie, feet shoulder-width apart and one hand close to a beer he’d barely touched – well. He wasn’t surprised. It was difficult to be inconspicuous  (and sober)  with a demon in tow.

   “Cas,”  he said, rolling his eyes toward him lifting the beer and sipping at it. He rested against the bar and his spine ached uncomfortably, but it wasn’t of consequence.  The annoyance was hitting baby in small waves, reminding him each time Cas’ knuckles wrapped the wood, acutely aware of his stare. “Be quiet. At least pretend not to have the mental agility of a toddler,” he spoke out of the corner of his mouth, sipping the beer again to disguise a grin.

   Setting back down the glass, and wiping the condensation off on his pants, he sighed and turned to face Cas, only for a moment.  “Yes, I’m sure, or I would be getting a good night’s sleep in silence,”  he hissed. There was a part of him that enjoyed this more than what he remembered of similar stakeouts growing up, tense and uncomfortable and difficult to focus on. How things changed, he supposed.  “There’s only one bar in town. Drunk people are easy prey for a young, hungry vampire. There were two bodies found within a three block radius, so yes. I’m sure, and you know because I’ve told you this twice.”  

Cas’ willingness to go along with Baby’s plans had come about quite by accident, and while he still couldn’t be particularly lenient when it came to his expectations, he was at least more able to wait for them. The slightest edge of alcohol was making him more petulant than usual, however, and so he made a noise of frustration in response, a long whine while he followed Baby’s lead to lean against the bar. “Alright, so then why is everyone here old and drunk and human? You don’t know if they’re gonna show up tonight at all.”

Though the space presently lacked any awaited vampires, it was at least populated by something of a crowd, muted as it might have been. They’d been able to salvage the evening of a failed hunt more than once with some other chaos at a bar, some ill-placed flirting or a drunken brawl or just few glasses smashed, and he hoped that even if the plan went sour, they’d at least have something interesting to fall back on. His impatience hadn’t completely broken yet, however, so he just leaned in closer to ensure he was noticed and heard over a haze of conversation and tinny music.

“This is boring.” He finally started, not a whisper but his voice still low enough that it was clearly only meant for Baby to notice. They’d tracked targets into what had now started to feel like a dead end, and Cas’ hope for a conclusion with a fight was starting to wane with each uninterrupted minute that dragged by. Drumming his knuckles on the countertop, he watched Baby’s profile curiously, looking for a hint of similar frustration in his features. The staring was perhaps more unashamed than he was used to, but there was little else around of interest for him to pay attention to, which he would decide to be a clear enough excuse.