[ The way his expression tugs into surprise probably betrays that he didn't figure he was going to get the chance to have a beer with Spider-Man. Screw looking cool. He's ecstatic and already gesturing for Peter to follow.
Basement bar's a no-go. It's not that he doesn't trust Sam with other people. It's that he doesn't trust other people with Sam. And the idea of bringing a stranger - Spider-Man or not - into his brother's space right now feels wrong. So instead of that Dean leads the spandex-clad dude to his favorite room in the house: the kitchen.
Flicking the lights on, he makes a beeline for the fridge pulling out one of the barstools out on the way past. ]
Park it, Parker.
[ Snorting at his own joke - look, this is probably the most fun he's had since he got here with no epic history of betrayal attached - he grabs a couple of beers, twists the caps off both and places one of the bottles on the edge of the counter as far away from that stool as possible. ]
Eh?
[ Sorry, Peter, but he really does want to see you pull your bottle of beer over to yourself with a web shot. Make his day. ...make his day some more. ]
[Nawwwww, he's just goofin! He does a fancy little thwip with one flicked wrist — and snatches up the bottle right out of Dean's hand instead of the one at the far end of the table, catching it and spilling nary a drop as he rolls up his mask completely, revealing mischievous hazel eyes and a friendly grin that implies he's very much used to teasing and poking fun at his company.
Moving to sip on his beer, he wags a gloved finger at him.]
I hope I'm getting paid in cash for the magic show, too.
... And for being a self-made tow truck. My newest calling.
[ Well goddamn that's cool. Outrageously cool. The delight scrawled all over Dean's face is unmissable. You're making a 35-year old fully grown man's dreams come true, Pete.
Swiping the bottle he's already set down on the counter up again, he tips it in toast and takes a healthy swig. There's not enough beer in this town for what happens here, but whatever. Right now? He's going to enjoy this beer with Spider-Man. ]
Cas told me you got Baby back.
[ Snorting at his own damn humor, he takes another swig and puts the bottle down with a clink. There is something he got to say thank you. It's not cash, but maybe it's better. ]
Hang here.
[ Yeah, he's making a hanging joke at Spider-Man. Will his standup routine ever end? Probably not. But he disappears from the kitchen back upstairs, returning less than a minute later with a joint he'd procured from Eddie. ]
This is my version of a fruit basket.
[ And it's all for Peter. No need to share with anybody this time, though Dean wouldn't say no if he was offered some. He got Cas a joint too. He hasn't decided yet whether it's a thank you or a curse for his... he guesses they're friends again. Maybe. He's not sure yet.
Offering that joint to Peter is at least the easier way to share drugs. ]
I really do appreciate it, man. That car's... she means a lot. To me.
[ He'd let her fall to waste and ruin back in his world and now he has the chance to fix her up again? He's not going to pass that by. ]
Oh, I know you love that car to death, buddy. Spider-Man notices these things — lots of swinging around, lots of noticing things while I'm reading the newspaper on top of the college. [A pause.] Also, you know. The fact that you gave her pronouns and everything.
[SHE SOUNDS LIKE A LOVELY LADY.
But he's gonna do him a favor and not dump the fact that he knows Dean Winchester in his lap; it's weird having someone recognize you when you've never met before, but that's the joy of a million worlds and universes, huh?
He takes the joint and can't help but laugh.]
Am I just Joint-Man now? I feel like you guys are totally putting me in a box here.
[ Honestly, if Dean knew that Peter was holding back on him about that, he'd be grateful. There's enough weird here to last a lifetime already. At least, a Deerington lifetime. So instead of looking conflicted, Dean looks proud as punch. Puffs his chest out and everything because he gets a second chance to treat that car right, just like he has a second chance with both Sam and Cas. ]
I got one for Cas too. Thought you might enjoy one of your own without having to share.
[ Look this is the most thoughtful gift he's given in a long time. Like over five years kind of long time, and he didn't even get it from a gas station. ]
Please tell me you can smoke that hanging upside down somewhere.
[He snorts, turning the joint in a gloved hand. This kind of thing never fails to remind him of Wade. What would he be saying right about now, knowing that he's been dropping a coupla f-bombs and smoking weed on more than one occasion? Probably something like 'wow, baby boy, I can't believe you'd go and leave me out of it' or 'I always knew you had it in you, Bambi', or something extra cheesy.
Man, he misses Wade.
He gives Dean a smirking glance.]
I have a very distinct feeling that you're a Spider-Man fan.
What's your poison? Comics? Movies? Or are you actually from a New York where he's swinging around?
[ Is it that obvious? Dean might be the walking definition of emotionally repressed, but given the chance to express his inner nerd? He's all for it.
It's been a long time since he had the mental space to remember that side of him actually survived back in his world. He grins in return though, leans as casually as he can up against the counter and tries his best to look cool. ]
Whatever I could get my hands on. Wasn't exactly top priority for my dad when me and my brother were kids, but I caught the cartoons on TV whenever I could. Stole The amazing Spider-Man volume numero uno annual when I was 8.
Dean Winchester, are you admitting to stealing in front of Spider-Man?
[He leans back, grinning.]
... Not too shabby for eight-years-old. When I was that age, I was kind of busy being a big ol' nerd dealing with asthma and shortsightedness. I couldn't have broken a law if I wanted to; sounds like you were a lot cooler on the playground.
[ Not that he's a law-abiding citizen now but that's not the point. Hustling, credit card fraud. All of it had been necessary to keep them on the road, hunting things. Saving people.
There's a moment where his expression turns a little less jubilant and more serious. He doesn't remember ever being allowed to be a kid when he was a kid. What childhood? ]
Me and my brother Sam had to grow up fast. Just how things were.
[ Whatever his thoughts on his dad are, and how he'd brought up his kids, it doesn't matter now. They are what they are. Best they've got is trying to right by each other now. And one day Dean might even be able to break out of the 'daddy's blunt instrument' mold he's been cast in his whole life. Then again, probably not. ]
This place is crazy. Here I am having a beer with Spider-Man. Best trippy moment I've had since I got here.
[Peter shakes his head, smiling. But the serious expression doesn't slip passed him. His smile relaxes a fraction, and he leans back, nodding.]
I was lucky to have May and Ben, after my parents died. Otherwise maybe I would've grown up a lot sooner than 15. [Dean might know the gist of that, anyway. People know way too much about Spider-Man.] Friends go to prom while you fistfight some villain on a rooftop, and all that jazz.
Sounds like you had it a lot rougher, though.
[The real one-two punches in Pete's life came when he was an adult. Those years before graduation were so carefree in contrast... Yeah. Being an adult sucks. Being an adult as a kid sucks even more, he's sure. After a moment, he tips his beer forward with a little nod.]
It's an honor, pal. I'd bet my favorite flannel shirt you're way cooler than me, anyway.
[ Thing is, Dean doesn't think they had it rough because he's got no real frame of reference for how it could have been any different. He's got no plans to have kids himself and Sam... he doesn't know what Sam wants now but he doubts his brother would let himself bring kids into the world. Not when their world is as fucked as it is. Not when he's still Lucifer's meatsuit back there.
Not like here, where Sam's got a better handle on things.
Frowning briefly, he rolls his bottom lip into his mouth and then forces a smile. Tipping his beer bottle forward to clink against Peter's, he takes a long, continuous drag from it to fill the silence. ]
It's been a long time since cool was anything past not getting chewed up by Croats. How long you been here, anyway?
[ Time. Yeah it flies but Dean hasn't been having all that much fun. The sarcasm is noted all the same and he nods with a look in his eyes that probably explains a lot about how much he gets that. ]
Two years? So you're a Deerington vet. I've been here five months and sometimes I still feel like I have no idea what's goin' on.
[ It probably should have been harder to confess that he feels so far out of his depth sometimes it's terrifying. It's been a long time since he hasn't felt like he's been both in charge and in control of what's his. The camp. The mission. Hell, just his life in general. ]
People keep showin' up from my world. ...and an alternative world to mine. Honestly, it's trippy as hell. There's another me running around here.
[ Considering Dean's slowly coming around to the ideas of multiples, it hits a little less than it might have when he first arrived. Still, that sounds wild in ways that aren't all that fun.
But he is curious. It's been something that's been playing on his mind ever since he ran into the younger version of himself in those spider-infested caverns. ]
How did you deal with it? It's you but it's not you.
[ And then something else rolls to the front of his thoughts and he chews on his lip, rolling it between his teeth before forcing himself onward. ]
You ever talk to any of them and try to steer them away from mistakes you made?
[Peter sighs softly through his nose, fingers rapping along the table top.]
... Yeah. Yeah, there's a teenaged one here, actually. Fresh on the job, even with all the crazy stuff he's got under his belt. I tried to warn him about one of the villains from home — he was pretending to be a hero, anyway, and the kid didn't have any clue. How could he?
There are so many differences, it's hard to tell what the right choice is... And it's not like I had a lot of room to talk; I trusted someone who ended up a villain, too. Didn't start as one, but...
[He sinks back into his chair, and suddenly — he looks older, exhaustion casting sudden and discomforting shadows across his face. One of those looks a hunter'd get thinking back to a particularly heinous case, one where there weren't really any winners. It's easy to forget that Spider-Man's an urban soldier in a colorful costume.]
[... But then he looks resolved, leaning forward and posture straightening.]
I'll always try to steer them away from my mistakes, though. Because they're not me. Not exactly. They could be a better me. I'd love nothing more, honestly.
... And If I can make them better, it means I'll be better for doing it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ The way his expression tugs into surprise probably betrays that he didn't figure he was going to get the chance to have a beer with Spider-Man. Screw looking cool. He's ecstatic and already gesturing for Peter to follow.
Basement bar's a no-go. It's not that he doesn't trust Sam with other people. It's that he doesn't trust other people with Sam. And the idea of bringing a stranger - Spider-Man or not - into his brother's space right now feels wrong. So instead of that Dean leads the spandex-clad dude to his favorite room in the house: the kitchen.
Flicking the lights on, he makes a beeline for the fridge pulling out one of the barstools out on the way past. ]
Park it, Parker.
[ Snorting at his own joke - look, this is probably the most fun he's had since he got here with no epic history of betrayal attached - he grabs a couple of beers, twists the caps off both and places one of the bottles on the edge of the counter as far away from that stool as possible. ]
Eh?
[ Sorry, Peter, but he really does want to see you pull your bottle of beer over to yourself with a web shot. Make his day. ...make his day some more. ]
1/2
For a moment, it seems you've quietly outraged this Spidery Man, Mr. Winchester-]
no subject
Moving to sip on his beer, he wags a gloved finger at him.]
I hope I'm getting paid in cash for the magic show, too.
... And for being a self-made tow truck. My newest calling.
no subject
Swiping the bottle he's already set down on the counter up again, he tips it in toast and takes a healthy swig. There's not enough beer in this town for what happens here, but whatever. Right now? He's going to enjoy this beer with Spider-Man. ]
Cas told me you got Baby back.
[ Snorting at his own damn humor, he takes another swig and puts the bottle down with a clink. There is something he got to say thank you. It's not cash, but maybe it's better. ]
Hang here.
[ Yeah, he's making a hanging joke at Spider-Man. Will his standup routine ever end? Probably not. But he disappears from the kitchen back upstairs, returning less than a minute later with a joint he'd procured from Eddie. ]
This is my version of a fruit basket.
[ And it's all for Peter. No need to share with anybody this time, though Dean wouldn't say no if he was offered some. He got Cas a joint too. He hasn't decided yet whether it's a thank you or a curse for his... he guesses they're friends again. Maybe. He's not sure yet.
Offering that joint to Peter is at least the easier way to share drugs. ]
I really do appreciate it, man. That car's... she means a lot. To me.
[ He'd let her fall to waste and ruin back in his world and now he has the chance to fix her up again? He's not going to pass that by. ]
no subject
Oh, I know you love that car to death, buddy. Spider-Man notices these things — lots of swinging around, lots of noticing things while I'm reading the newspaper on top of the college. [A pause.] Also, you know. The fact that you gave her pronouns and everything.
[SHE SOUNDS LIKE A LOVELY LADY.
But he's gonna do him a favor and not dump the fact that he knows Dean Winchester in his lap; it's weird having someone recognize you when you've never met before, but that's the joy of a million worlds and universes, huh?
He takes the joint and can't help but laugh.]
Am I just Joint-Man now? I feel like you guys are totally putting me in a box here.
no subject
I got one for Cas too. Thought you might enjoy one of your own without having to share.
[ Look this is the most thoughtful gift he's given in a long time. Like over five years kind of long time, and he didn't even get it from a gas station. ]
Please tell me you can smoke that hanging upside down somewhere.
no subject
[He snorts, turning the joint in a gloved hand. This kind of thing never fails to remind him of Wade. What would he be saying right about now, knowing that he's been dropping a coupla f-bombs and smoking weed on more than one occasion? Probably something like 'wow, baby boy, I can't believe you'd go and leave me out of it' or 'I always knew you had it in you, Bambi', or something extra cheesy.
Man, he misses Wade.
He gives Dean a smirking glance.]
I have a very distinct feeling that you're a Spider-Man fan.
What's your poison? Comics? Movies? Or are you actually from a New York where he's swinging around?
no subject
It's been a long time since he had the mental space to remember that side of him actually survived back in his world. He grins in return though, leans as casually as he can up against the counter and tries his best to look cool. ]
Whatever I could get my hands on. Wasn't exactly top priority for my dad when me and my brother were kids, but I caught the cartoons on TV whenever I could. Stole The amazing Spider-Man volume numero uno annual when I was 8.
no subject
Dean Winchester, are you admitting to stealing in front of Spider-Man?
[He leans back, grinning.]
... Not too shabby for eight-years-old. When I was that age, I was kind of busy being a big ol' nerd dealing with asthma and shortsightedness. I couldn't have broken a law if I wanted to; sounds like you were a lot cooler on the playground.
no subject
[ Not that he's a law-abiding citizen now but that's not the point. Hustling, credit card fraud. All of it had been necessary to keep them on the road, hunting things. Saving people.
There's a moment where his expression turns a little less jubilant and more serious. He doesn't remember ever being allowed to be a kid when he was a kid. What childhood? ]
Me and my brother Sam had to grow up fast. Just how things were.
[ Whatever his thoughts on his dad are, and how he'd brought up his kids, it doesn't matter now. They are what they are. Best they've got is trying to right by each other now. And one day Dean might even be able to break out of the 'daddy's blunt instrument' mold he's been cast in his whole life. Then again, probably not. ]
This place is crazy. Here I am having a beer with Spider-Man. Best trippy moment I've had since I got here.
no subject
I was lucky to have May and Ben, after my parents died. Otherwise maybe I would've grown up a lot sooner than 15. [Dean might know the gist of that, anyway. People know way too much about Spider-Man.] Friends go to prom while you fistfight some villain on a rooftop, and all that jazz.
Sounds like you had it a lot rougher, though.
[The real one-two punches in Pete's life came when he was an adult. Those years before graduation were so carefree in contrast... Yeah. Being an adult sucks. Being an adult as a kid sucks even more, he's sure. After a moment, he tips his beer forward with a little nod.]
It's an honor, pal. I'd bet my favorite flannel shirt you're way cooler than me, anyway.
no subject
Not like here, where Sam's got a better handle on things.
Frowning briefly, he rolls his bottom lip into his mouth and then forces a smile. Tipping his beer bottle forward to clink against Peter's, he takes a long, continuous drag from it to fill the silence. ]
It's been a long time since cool was anything past not getting chewed up by Croats. How long you been here, anyway?
no subject
Pete drinks, and then winces around the gulp through his teeth.]
Ah, well, you know... It's been over two years now.
... Time flies when you're having fun?
no subject
Two years? So you're a Deerington vet. I've been here five months and sometimes I still feel like I have no idea what's goin' on.
[ It probably should have been harder to confess that he feels so far out of his depth sometimes it's terrifying. It's been a long time since he hasn't felt like he's been both in charge and in control of what's his. The camp. The mission. Hell, just his life in general. ]
People keep showin' up from my world. ...and an alternative world to mine. Honestly, it's trippy as hell. There's another me running around here.
no subject
[He leans forward, and whispers with raises eyebrows:]
I had to live around three other Peter Parkers at once, a while back.
A teenager, a thirty-something-year-old, and one with a gut.
That's not even counting all the Spider-Mans who weren't Peter Parker.
This crap is bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Not to mention, I ran into two versions of my ex.
no subject
But he is curious. It's been something that's been playing on his mind ever since he ran into the younger version of himself in those spider-infested caverns. ]
How did you deal with it? It's you but it's not you.
[ And then something else rolls to the front of his thoughts and he chews on his lip, rolling it between his teeth before forcing himself onward. ]
You ever talk to any of them and try to steer them away from mistakes you made?
1/2
... Yeah. Yeah, there's a teenaged one here, actually. Fresh on the job, even with all the crazy stuff he's got under his belt. I tried to warn him about one of the villains from home — he was pretending to be a hero, anyway, and the kid didn't have any clue. How could he?
There are so many differences, it's hard to tell what the right choice is... And it's not like I had a lot of room to talk; I trusted someone who ended up a villain, too. Didn't start as one, but...
[He sinks back into his chair, and suddenly — he looks older, exhaustion casting sudden and discomforting shadows across his face. One of those looks a hunter'd get thinking back to a particularly heinous case, one where there weren't really any winners. It's easy to forget that Spider-Man's an urban soldier in a colorful costume.]
no subject
I'll always try to steer them away from my mistakes, though. Because they're not me. Not exactly. They could be a better me. I'd love nothing more, honestly.
... And If I can make them better, it means I'll be better for doing it.
It's a bonus.