Virgo Campfire, late Friday evening

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

After hanging out at the luau for a while, Dean made his way back to his cabin and started a fire in its firepit. He lounged beside it, occasionally poking it with a stick, watching the flames crackle and burn, inbetween watching the starry sky above.

All in all, he was feeling rather mellow and just generally content with his life and being in this moment.

[open!]

Comments

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

Alec dropped down near Dean with a sigh, rolling his shoulders and looking quite happy to curl up by the fire for a bit. "Nice night."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Dean said, glancing sideways at his double. "So how's the first week back been?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Pretty good. Classes are a freaking breath of fresh air," he said. "Crafts, the sex one, and Galactic Vacationing. It's nice."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that sex class is going to be a riot. My other two are looking good too." Another sideways glance. "Speaking of crafts, I got you something. I met to give it to you last weekend, but what with the wedding and moving to the cabins, it kinda slipped through the cracks."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Seriously?" Alec grinned. "Hey, belated birthday gifts are better than no gifts at all. What'd you get me?"

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean grinned. "Wait here." He got up and slipped inside, coming back with a gift wrapped package (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-0738791-0210249?asin=B000C24EGW&AFID=Gifts.com&LNM=B000C24EGW%7CWood_and_Acrylic_58pc._Studio_Set&ref=tgt_adv_XPND0030) he handed over. "Happy belated birthday/welcome home present."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

He took the package with unrestrained glee, tearing open the packaging, and immediately was pawing through the box to look at every piece within. "Dude, you know me too well. I mean, not like I'm any kind of artist," he said, half shrugging even as he was still looking over his new shinies. "But if I get the urge, I might as well have the tools."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"'s what I was thinking," Dean said, grinning at Alec's obvious glee in his present. "And dude, you're not that bad with the arty stuff."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it's fun, but I'm good at anything I do," Alec said. "It's just something I mess around with though, mostly."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Like me and photography," Dean said, nodding. "I still like the results."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Right!" Alec settled back again, closing the art box with a satisfied look. "Nice to have something to do that my life doesn't depend on me doing it perfectly."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean understood that sentiment better than most. But still... He nudged Alec's shoulder with his own. "That's why you need someone to watch your back. Gives a little more leeway for perfectly normal human imperfection."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Yeah yeah yeah," Alec said, his tone only somewhat grudging. "It's not like I go running off because I like to." Mostly, anyway.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"It's not so much the running off that's the problem so much as the running off alone," Dean pointed out. "Okay, granted when you left in January, I wasn't in any shape, but I was back in the fall."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

Alec shook his head. "Some things I don't need back-up for," he said.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"I dunno," Dean said, tilting his head. "I think anything that involves the M word would benefit from some backup."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice hadn't gone to the luau, perhaps she should have. She didn't seem to have any clothes that seemed appropriate for it. She stopped by the campfire, smiling at her big brother ... and then doing a slight double-take, between him and the nearly identical boy he was speaking to.

"I didn't realize you were twins," she said, smiling back and forth at them both.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"We're not," Dean said, giving Alice a welcoming smile. "It's a fandom thing. Sometimes people just look alike here. It's possible that Alec here may have some Winchester DNA in his makeup somewhere, but we're not related in the conventional sense. Just best friends."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I wonder if I've a non-related twin, then," she said, laughing a little. "Do you play tricks with it? There's someone here who can make copies of himself, I thought perhaps he was twins, as well, but of a rather strange variety."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Nah," Dean said. "The double thing happens enough that everyone's kinda used to it. And most people can tell us apart after the initial few meetings."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

She looked between them a few times. "I think I can see it," she nodded. "Even with twins, there are usually a few characteristics you can determine. Slightly wider nose or ears just a smidge lower. And one's personality changes the face rather a lot, as well."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"And I have better hair," Dean pointed out.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

She looked between the two of them again, considering, and laughed. "Is this a point of contention between you?" she teased. "I should hate to enter a war unknowingly."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"He's slightly delusional about it, yeah," Dean said, giving a fond look in Alec's direction.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"We should let him keep his delusions, then," she nodded with fake solemnity. "It doesn't do to have such things ripped from one abruptly."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Dean said, grinning at her. "So how are things going for you now that you've been here a week?"

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice had to consider that; a week in Fandom, five days in Rutledge, eight years in a limbo state inbetween. Still adjusting to all of it.

"I think ... I could like it here very much," she said, a hesitant smile flickering on her lips. "I've found a job at a music store, and all of my classes seem useful and enjoyable. People here ... don't seem to find me unusual, the way they do at home. Or if they do, they're less inclined to stare, which makes it less intimidating, I suppose."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much everyone here is unusal in one way or another," Dean said. "You'd only stand out if you were perfectly normal."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"That's a reassuring thought," she laughed. "For I am never in danger of being perfectly normal."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Me neither," Dean agreed cheerfully.

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Nah, he's just lucky enough to have a face similar to mine," Alec said, grinning.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice grinned. "Depends which of you is older. Possibly you've got a face similar to his, and not the other way 'round."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Technically I'm older, but I'm from the future." Alec waved a hand lazily. "So I guess it depends on how you want to count it."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"That does make it difficult, doesn't it?" she mused. "By that system, I far outrank you both. I'm halfway through my second century, and looking rather well for it, I think. Though I confess, I'd trade my youthful appearance for some semblance of what anyone is talking about."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"You look amazing," Alec agreed, grinning again. "And I'm guessing you're new? Things probably won't make a lot of sense here until the second month or so. It helps if you just kind of go along with it, though, and don't try to fight it too much."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I've been here a week, yes," she laughed, fussing slightly with the hem of her pinafore. "I've yet to see if all of us newcomers have the same dazed expression, or if everyone knows one another well enough that we stand out, somewhat. The strange and unusual bits I'm all right with, they make me feel rather at home. It's the technology that confounds me. It seems to have been a rather busy century and a half that I missed, filled with gadgets and gizmos that everyone knows how to work with a few button-presses. It makes one feel like wearing a dunce cap at times."