Fic: Shhh!
Title: Shhh!
Fandom: Supernatural
Words: 872
Prompt: Originally posted as a fill to a prompt on tarotgal's commentfic meme -- His sneezes are always kind of loud... which is even more obvious in a library, where it's supposed to be quiet.
Dean had long ago stopped counting the number of libraries he’d visited in his life. Just like he’d stopped counting the number of schools, the number of motels, the number of fake IDs stashed in the Impala’s glove compartment.
Out of all the uncountable libraries, though, he had to admit that this one was pretty nice. It was a big university library, so it had plenty of space, several floors of books and study areas ringed around an open atrium. The sun streamed down through the skylights in the roof, providing plenty of light. It was a hell of a lot nicer than some of the dinky little small-town libraries he and Sam had visited over the years. For one thing, it had a nicely-sized section dedicated to local legends and folklore, which was helping him narrow down exactly what they might be hunting. There were no rowdy toddlers running around without their moms, no teenagers making out in the corners where they thought no one could see them. At his table near the railing, where he could gaze out at the atrium and the people down in the lobby, Dean had a pretty good quiet spot to spend the afternoon researching.
Except for the sneezes.
He didn’t notice them at first, because they were so infrequent, but over the past thirty minutes or so they’d started to disturb his concentration. They came from somewhere on the floor below him, the sound carrying up through the open part of the building, and in an otherwise quiet space, they were becoming much more noticeable than they normally would have been.
Dean tried to go back to his book, reading through a legend of a ghost that haunted a patch of farmland outside of town.
“HA-iSHHH!” came another sneeze. Dean automatically looked up, but the sound came from too far away, and there was nobody around him. Leaning forward over the table, he tried to focus on the book again, but only another few minutes went by before another sneeze broke his concentration.
“HHH’ESSCHHHHH!”
Sighing, Dean closed his book and gathered up his stuff. There was just no way he was going to be able to read if he kept getting distracted like this. He headed for the stairs, taking them down to the first floor. He continued through the periodicals section, walking through aisles of carefully organized newspapers and magazines.
And there he was.
Seated at a table, surrounded by what had to be the last five years’ worth of the local paper, was Sam. Sniffling softly, and clutching a travel pack of tissues that was looking dangerously low, he was so focused on the paper in front of him that he didn’t even notice his brother’s presence until Dean spoke up.
“Cold’s getting worse, huh?” he said.
Sam’s head snapped up, startled. He quickly shoved the pack of tissues into his pocket, hiding the evidence. “What? No,” he responded, entirely unconvincingly.
“Yeah,” Dean replied, rolling his eyes. “And you haven’t been sneezing every couple of minutes for the past half hour either, have you?”
“No, I haven’t,” Sam insisted, but the guilty look in his eyes said otherwise.
“Dude, I’m your brother. I know what your sneezes sound like. And the sneezes I was hearing from upstairs sounded like-“
“heh! HA’ESHHHHHuh!”
“-like that.”
Sniffling into the sleeve of his jacket, Sam glared up at his brother with a muffled, “Shuddup.”
Dean moved forward, taking the newspaper that Sam had been looking at and carefully folding it back up.
“Hey, what-“
“Come on, I think you’re done, Sam. Have you actually found anything yet, or have you been busy trying not to sneeze too much?” Dean laid the paper on top of the neat stack to Sam’s left and gestured for his brother to get up.
“I found… stuff,” Sam answered pathetically. “There’s no clear pattern yet, but I was figuring it out.”
“Uh-huh,” Dean deadpanned. “As far as I’m concerned, the only thing you need to figure out is what kind of tissues you want when we stop at Wal-Mart on the way back to the motel.”
Sam sighed, but finally acquiesced, pushing his chair back and standing up. “Fine,” he mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and following Dean toward the exit.
They’d almost made it to the door when Sam let out another strong, “HEH’ISHHH!” and stumbled forward with the force of the sneeze. Dean reached out a hand to keep Sam balanced, at the same time shielding him from the annoyed glance of the librarian at the front desk.
“C’mon, Sammy,” Dean said softly, guiding his brother out the front door.
“Dean,” Sam grumbled as they walked down the front steps of the library and started across campus to the parking garage. “Stop it. It’s just a cold, and I’m not a baby.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Dean responded, instinctively reaching out again to steady his brother when Sam tried and failed to stifle another loud “Heh’NGSHHH!” into his sleeve.
“Dude. Get off.”
“You’re sick,” Dean responded. “Humor me, okay?”
Sam still looked mildly annoyed when he came up for air, but answered with a shrug
and a nod and a quiet, “Mmkay.”
“Thank you.”
Fandom: Supernatural
Words: 872
Prompt: Originally posted as a fill to a prompt on tarotgal's commentfic meme -- His sneezes are always kind of loud... which is even more obvious in a library, where it's supposed to be quiet.
Dean had long ago stopped counting the number of libraries he’d visited in his life. Just like he’d stopped counting the number of schools, the number of motels, the number of fake IDs stashed in the Impala’s glove compartment.
Out of all the uncountable libraries, though, he had to admit that this one was pretty nice. It was a big university library, so it had plenty of space, several floors of books and study areas ringed around an open atrium. The sun streamed down through the skylights in the roof, providing plenty of light. It was a hell of a lot nicer than some of the dinky little small-town libraries he and Sam had visited over the years. For one thing, it had a nicely-sized section dedicated to local legends and folklore, which was helping him narrow down exactly what they might be hunting. There were no rowdy toddlers running around without their moms, no teenagers making out in the corners where they thought no one could see them. At his table near the railing, where he could gaze out at the atrium and the people down in the lobby, Dean had a pretty good quiet spot to spend the afternoon researching.
Except for the sneezes.
He didn’t notice them at first, because they were so infrequent, but over the past thirty minutes or so they’d started to disturb his concentration. They came from somewhere on the floor below him, the sound carrying up through the open part of the building, and in an otherwise quiet space, they were becoming much more noticeable than they normally would have been.
Dean tried to go back to his book, reading through a legend of a ghost that haunted a patch of farmland outside of town.
“HA-iSHHH!” came another sneeze. Dean automatically looked up, but the sound came from too far away, and there was nobody around him. Leaning forward over the table, he tried to focus on the book again, but only another few minutes went by before another sneeze broke his concentration.
“HHH’ESSCHHHHH!”
Sighing, Dean closed his book and gathered up his stuff. There was just no way he was going to be able to read if he kept getting distracted like this. He headed for the stairs, taking them down to the first floor. He continued through the periodicals section, walking through aisles of carefully organized newspapers and magazines.
And there he was.
Seated at a table, surrounded by what had to be the last five years’ worth of the local paper, was Sam. Sniffling softly, and clutching a travel pack of tissues that was looking dangerously low, he was so focused on the paper in front of him that he didn’t even notice his brother’s presence until Dean spoke up.
“Cold’s getting worse, huh?” he said.
Sam’s head snapped up, startled. He quickly shoved the pack of tissues into his pocket, hiding the evidence. “What? No,” he responded, entirely unconvincingly.
“Yeah,” Dean replied, rolling his eyes. “And you haven’t been sneezing every couple of minutes for the past half hour either, have you?”
“No, I haven’t,” Sam insisted, but the guilty look in his eyes said otherwise.
“Dude, I’m your brother. I know what your sneezes sound like. And the sneezes I was hearing from upstairs sounded like-“
“heh! HA’ESHHHHHuh!”
“-like that.”
Sniffling into the sleeve of his jacket, Sam glared up at his brother with a muffled, “Shuddup.”
Dean moved forward, taking the newspaper that Sam had been looking at and carefully folding it back up.
“Hey, what-“
“Come on, I think you’re done, Sam. Have you actually found anything yet, or have you been busy trying not to sneeze too much?” Dean laid the paper on top of the neat stack to Sam’s left and gestured for his brother to get up.
“I found… stuff,” Sam answered pathetically. “There’s no clear pattern yet, but I was figuring it out.”
“Uh-huh,” Dean deadpanned. “As far as I’m concerned, the only thing you need to figure out is what kind of tissues you want when we stop at Wal-Mart on the way back to the motel.”
Sam sighed, but finally acquiesced, pushing his chair back and standing up. “Fine,” he mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and following Dean toward the exit.
They’d almost made it to the door when Sam let out another strong, “HEH’ISHHH!” and stumbled forward with the force of the sneeze. Dean reached out a hand to keep Sam balanced, at the same time shielding him from the annoyed glance of the librarian at the front desk.
“C’mon, Sammy,” Dean said softly, guiding his brother out the front door.
“Dean,” Sam grumbled as they walked down the front steps of the library and started across campus to the parking garage. “Stop it. It’s just a cold, and I’m not a baby.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Dean responded, instinctively reaching out again to steady his brother when Sam tried and failed to stifle another loud “Heh’NGSHHH!” into his sleeve.
“Dude. Get off.”
“You’re sick,” Dean responded. “Humor me, okay?”
Sam still looked mildly annoyed when he came up for air, but answered with a shrug
and a nod and a quiet, “Mmkay.”
“Thank you.”