[ thereās some kind of fire burning in his headā hellfire, he realizes after a moment⦠walls upon walls of it, trapping him in. he thinks maybe he recognizes where he is, but itās faded, locked behind a glass door, like if he peers through it hard enough heāll be able to see what it is he canāt remember. ]
[ turns out he doesnāt have to. when he turns around, lucifer is standing right behind him, hands outstretched, as if asking sam to embrace him. samās throat feels dry, his body thrumming with the need to escape, with barely-concealed panic. when the devil speaks, he speaks with castielās voiceā YOU COULDNāT SAVE MEāā this is your fault, sam, because you didnāt say yesā¦. say yesā¦ā¦ ]
[ something wet hits his cheek, and all at once the fires are extinguished. both him and castiel look up, and rain begins to fall. their eyes meet again, but castiel is fading away. he calls out, telling him to wait, that he can fix it, but heās already gone. ]
[ sam opens his eyes slowly, already forgetting the fires of his dream, but he can feel the heat of castielās gaze heavy on his face. that, too, fades after a moment, and deanās familiar features fill in the empty spaces. he sits up, not yet noticing the dog in his brotherās lap. ]
Itās almost twelve, man. Figured weād let ya sleep in a lilā, but thereās pie waitinā to be eaten. And some of that weirdass healthy stuff they sell at the corner shop.Ā
[ He doesnāt say anything about the pup, doesnāt have to either. Full of enthusiasm, the floppy-eared golden-brown ball of fur leaps up to peck at the sleepy face before him, and Dean leans back to accommodate the action. If youād asked him years ago about taking in a dog, especially a larger breed, he wouldāve laughed, maybe even responded with aĀ āhell noā, but definitely not considered the idea. Things have changed since then, though, and so have the two brothers. Thereās hardly anything left for them to hold onto but each other, and Dean realizes heās not always the best at protecting his giant of a brother, nor comforting him when he needs it. Heās not good at emotions and he doesnāt know what to say when Sam wakes up after a night filled with terrors and memories of things that should never have happened in the first place.Ā
Maybe itās still a stupid-ass idea, but itās a pretty damn heartfelt stupid-ass idea, and aside from that: what do you give someone during times when theyāre at their witās end, when dad joke and porn mags arenāt even going to draw out a smile because those are old jokes? Well---hopefully, this. Not just because the pup is cute, not for replacement of Deanās care for his younger brother, because heāll damn well still be there for him, but because it might be a welcome change in their lives. And on top of that, because somewhere deep down, Dean is still none too fond of dogs. Traumatized, maybe even, by his encounter with the hellhounds. This pup, however, seems harmless as anything. And loving something from the start is far easier, his devotion to Sam being the prime example of that. There will be changes in their routine, their behavior, in their mood because of this. Dean just hopes itāll all be for the better, and that theyāll finally have something---someone to care for other than just the two of them. A welcome addition into a close-knit family bond.Ā
After the no doubt unexpected puppy face wash, Dean extends the hand with which heās holding the pup towards Sam so his clumsy pup paws can leap onto him, ears flopping side to side with the sheer amount of enthusiasm with which the dog pounces onto his new owner. Dean watches more face-licking commence while displaying an ear-to-ear grin, before finally speaking up again. ]Ā
Oh, sorry if heās got morning breath, fed him some shapeshifter skin this morninā.Ā
[ No, he didnāt. But itās still funny to watch Samās reaction to the thought of the pup eating slimey, gooey shed skin. ]