77th Hunt [Video | Action for those in the house]

[dude_imbatman]

[The device is nudged and turns on accidentally. There's a sleepy yawn coming from the bundle of blankets on the bed. After a moment a head emerges, the spiky hair and freckled face of a little boy. If one looks closely though, it's clear that this is still Dean. He's simply eight years old today rather than thirty two. He looks a bit confused as

Comments

[action forever]

[iwatchtjhooker]

[When Sam comes downstairs, he hasn't checked the network. He's just hungry, damp from the shower, and already getting a little too used to having Mom around to make breakfast.

What he's not used to is a kid sitting at the table, eating waffles, and it takes him a minute to realize who it is. He stops short in the doorway, his expression struggling between disbelief and tenderness for the kid Dean never got to be.]

[action forever] So glad you tagged :D

[dude_imbatman]

[Dean looks up at Sam utterly confused. He has no idea who this giant is because his Sam is still little.]

Uh...Mom know you're here? She's married you know and Dad'll kick your ass.

omg I wasn't gonna miss it!

[iwatchtjhooker]

[Sam's brow furrows. Shit. Okay, is there any way this kid is going to believe him, or should he just be some long-lost uncle or something? For good measure--he remembers Dean at this age--he keeps back.]

Yeah, she knows I'm here. Where is... your mom? She around?

[dude_imbatman]

[Dean narrows his eyes at him, tilting his head one way and then the other.]

She'll be back in a little while.

[More considering and staring at the giant in front of him. Mary warned him that Sam might be older than him.]

Are you Sam? You got ginormous.

[iwatchtjhooker]

[Sam's expression eases into relief. She'd been here. She'd explained.]

Yeah, I'm Sam. And... yeah. I did. [He grins.] Bigger than you, finally. Can I sit?

[dude_imbatman]

Yeah. [Dean can't help grinning at him.]

I'm still your older brother. [Let's just get that straight right away.] Mom left waffles for you in the oven.

[iwatchtjhooker]

[Sam laughs. Oh, that's Dean all right.]

Sure. And I beet you can still take me. [He goes over to the oven and finds the waffles. Mom's awesome.]

So you got to talk to Mom. How was that?

Next time I do this, Dean will have a ton of little!Dean icons I swear

[dude_imbatman]

[It's very clear by the grin on his face that talking to Mom was awesome. Amazing even.]

She's sooooooo cool, Sam. [He can't hide that little kid giddiness. He's just not that good yet or that broken.]

awww

[iwatchtjhooker]

[And it almost makes Sam want to cry. In a totally manly way, whatever Dean might say.]

Yeah, she is. It's nice, right? To get to hang out with her like this.

[He digs into his waffles with satisfaction.]

Hey, Dean. I'm probably too young to know it, but... you're doing a really good job. You know. Taking care of me.

gdi Sam way to make me teary!

[dude_imbatman]

[Dean is quiet for a minute, jaw tightening a little. At this age it's still something he believes and it's something he feels guilty about. He's an eight year old and already grown up taking care of a four year old at least half the time. There's no way around him thinking he's failing at it. He knows he can't say that though. What he does do is sort of mumble a thanks around a mouthful of waffles because whether Sam realizes it or not, that means a lot to him.]

So you grow up into a giant girl. Dr Spock doesn't have crap on me.

[iwatchtjhooker]

No, he doesn't.

[Seeing him like this reminds Sam just how amazing Dean is. And no matter how annoying his hovering may have been, no matter how often he forgets it, and wants to tell him he's not a kid anymore... this kid deserves to know it.]

But you know, aside from the girl thing, I turn out okay. And obviously [He gestures to himself] I got fed pretty well.

[dude_imbatman]

[That gets a big, toothy grin from Dean. Whether Sam realizes it or not, he's always going to be a kid to Dean and there's no way around that. It's entirely too ingrained in him, Take care of Sam. Hell it's one of his first really clear memories.]

I keep telling people that Funyuns are a vegetable. [Honestly, it's a small miracle they both survived.]

[iwatchtjhooker]

They totally are. [Sam is not helping, he realizes. And then he has bizarre circular notions that it was he himself who set up the whole Funyuns cycle, just now. Not that he really thinks Dean is from that time. This is... Dean here, reduced. It's confusing.]

So what are you gonna do today? You've got Mom and you don't have Sammy to take care of.

[dude_imbatman]

[Dean considers this while eating his waffles. After a moment he answers.]

Build forts with legos. You wanna play war with me? [He realizes Sam is technically too old to do this but figures he might anyway.]

[iwatchtjhooker]

[Sam grins, losing some of his anxiety that he would be too uncool for little Dean, either because he was his uncool younger brother or because he was old. He's not even sure they have any legos.]

Yeah, that'd be fun. [He can't get over how young and trusting Dean is. How innocent, in a way, only it reminds him how he never really got to be.]

[dude_imbatman]

[Yeah, Dean not having time for Sam, like that's ever gonna happen. He just gives him a harder time when he's older.]

Then maybe Mom will make sugar cookies.