[MWR] Dead Poets Society quote
[Set back while Sam was at Stanford. Backstory with two NPCs of mine, because Dean decided he wanted to have it.]
“We're not laughing at you - we're laughing near you.”
“Dean. Don’t move.”
Twenty-three year-old Dean did as he was told and froze. This was originally supposed to have been his first solo hunt, but once he got there, Noah and Gina seemed to be the experts on the subject, so he was going to let it go. They were willing to have him tag along and learn, however, which as far as he was concerned wasn’t a bad thing. He had never heard of a kappa before now, and if he had to come up against one again, now he would know what he was doing.
…He still didn’t know what he was doing.
A lot of the things they said didn’t make any sense, but then again, kappas didn’t make a whole lot of sense either. Mischievous troublemakers with an appetite for small children and cucumbers (Dean didn’t ask, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know). But he’d seen the damage the thing had done, and he was just as up for stopping it as the other two were-so when the two of them cornered him in the diner a few weeks earlier.
***
Dean had strode in to the place like he was the king of the world, all early twenties swagger. He didn’t know what this thing was that was screwing around with the members of the town, but his dad had trusted him with the job, so he was going to do it. He followed orders after all. His first big hunt. He was ready to dive right in.
After he had coffee and pancakes.
He didn’t know how they figured him out, but he was sort of glad they did. He had walked into the diner thinking that it might have been a poltergeist. He left New Orleans knowing that he should have known better than to think poltergeist in a town like this. All he knows for sure was that he was eating his pancakes, the two of them slid into the booth across from him without so much as an invitation. He looked up at them for a moment-the chick was kind of hot, but he had a feeling she wasn’t there to hit on him-before frowning and speaking.
“Can I help you?”
“We know why you’re here,” the guy said in a slight New Orleans accent, leaning on the table slightly. “And you don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
“Excuse me?” Dean didn’t like the sound of that comment at all. He could tell the guy was some kind of local, but he didn’t know if that comment was a threat or a helpful word of advice.
The guy glanced over his shoulder for a moment, before leaning in closer and dropping his voice. “You’re thinking poltergeist, right? But you’re forgetting the fact that poltergeists generally tend to stick to one place and go nuts, rather than wander all over the place. This thing has hit five different houses in the past week alone.”
At that, Dean was somewhat taken aback. Then he looked at them for a minute, taking in the appearance. They couldn’t have been much older than him-a few years, maybe, tops and he recognized the symbols on their jewelry, especially the one that the guy had tattooed on the inside of his wrist. “You’re hunters.”
“Told ya he was a smart one,” the girl smirked, before leaning back against the booth.
“Look, kid-”
“Dean, actually,” he interrupted, mildly annoyed that someone who was barely older than him was about to call him kid. “Dean Winchester.” Emphasis on the last name, just in case they’d heard of his father.
Apparently they hadn’t.
“Right, Dean-Noah Walker, Gina Ranghetti.” The introduction was rushed as Noah went back to his point. “Anyway-I don’t doubt that you know what you’re doin’ when it comes to hunting, but I really doubt you know how to deal with a kappa-”
“A what-a?” Dean frowned, blinking at the two of them like they were crazy. Noah just smirked.
“Japanese water demon. Most people have never heard of ‘em before, obviously, because they mostly hang out in Japan, but they do love the swampy areas. So the few that manage to skip over here they come on down to the Bayou and the Everglades.”
“Huh,” Dean said with a nod. “So how’d ya kill ‘em?”
“How much time have ya got?” Gina smirked, and Dean tilted his head to the side slightly.
“Seriously?”
“They’re slippery sons of bitches,” Gina replied, a bit of the New York in her accent coming out. “Still want in on this, or not?”
Dean paused for a moment. Granted, this was an opportunity to learn. It was supposed to be his hunt, but he didn’t mind sharing a gig, so long as they didn’t. Most hunters had issues with that, so he wasn’t going to pass up a chance to learn about something new if someone was willing to teach.
“If you guys don’t mind having me. Sure-why not?”
***
Two days later, Gina’s shouting at him to freeze and he’s staying frozen, just like she said. He can feel the weight on his back, the claws digging in to the fabric of his shirt, and he doesn’t move, not wanting to startle it in any way that would prompt it to eat him. Because yeah-these things ate big people too. Not just small children.
“Relax, Dean, he’s just a baby,” Gina sighed. He could hear the smirk in her voice from where he was standing. “But still-don’t move.”
“Not moving, Gina. Don’t worry.”
If he had a mirror, he would probably be able to see the Cheshire cat grin that this thing was flashing the two hunters behind him. “Although,” Noah said with a sigh. “This does make things a bit more complicated. Because they don’t exactly have the same respect for-decorum.”
Dean raised an eyebrow slightly at that, before he felt the claws start to dig into his back, climbing up, and his head bent back slightly as the thing flopped itself on top of his head, letting out a somewhat contented gurgle.
“The thing is on my head,” Dean said with a slow sigh. “Guys, the thing is on my friggin’ head.”
“Yeah, yeah, we can tell, smartass,” Noah smirked. “Just stay put, and we’re gonna try and figure out.”
“There might be somethin’ in that book you had,” Gina said as she started to back towards the truck.
“Yeah, probably-Dean? We’ll be right back.”
“What?!?!”
“Hey, hey-relax,” Gina said with a sigh. “We’re not gonna let it kill ya. Just relax and stay put.”
Dean muttered slightly under his breath, looking around as he went. Once his head moved too quickly, and he felt the nails dig into his forehead lightly, and he winced. The kappa sitting on his head only giggled. Dean, on the other hand was sulking.
At least until Mom showed up.
The older kappa was much bigger, much more menacing, and much more pissed at seeing Dean wearing it’s kid as a hat. He was getting ready to explain to the thing that this really wasn’t what it looked like, and then the damn kid started crying. Crying, for Christ’s sake. He wondered if fear was one of the emotions that the kappas seemed to understand so clearly, but apparently that wasn’t helping his case. He had to think fast.
The things he knew about kappas started cycling through his head. Water demons. Likes to snack on cucumbers and small children. Mischief makers, truth tellers-high sense of decorum. The Japanese taught their children to bow when they encountered them because it spilled the bowl of water-
Dean moved slowly at first, starting to tilt his upper body forward in the direction of the bigger kappa. He let his eyes fall to the ground as soon as necessary and he prayed that the kappa was actually following him. He had felt the nails of the baby dig in as he moved, and he hopped off, running towards his mother as soon as he couldn’t keep his head level anymore, but the next thing Dean heard was soft crying.
He lifted his eyes, and was shocked when the idea had actually worked. The mother kappa was frozen in a bent over position, the water spilled out onto the ground. “Huh,” Dean said with a nod, looking over at the kid.
The kid was cowering behind grown-up when Gina and Noah returned, and they blinked at Dean in surprise, before looking back at them. “Good job, Winchester,” Gina nodded.
“Thanks,” Dean nodded, before glancing back at her again. “So how do we kill ‘em?”
1455 words
“We're not laughing at you - we're laughing near you.”
“Dean. Don’t move.”
Twenty-three year-old Dean did as he was told and froze. This was originally supposed to have been his first solo hunt, but once he got there, Noah and Gina seemed to be the experts on the subject, so he was going to let it go. They were willing to have him tag along and learn, however, which as far as he was concerned wasn’t a bad thing. He had never heard of a kappa before now, and if he had to come up against one again, now he would know what he was doing.
…He still didn’t know what he was doing.
A lot of the things they said didn’t make any sense, but then again, kappas didn’t make a whole lot of sense either. Mischievous troublemakers with an appetite for small children and cucumbers (Dean didn’t ask, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know). But he’d seen the damage the thing had done, and he was just as up for stopping it as the other two were-so when the two of them cornered him in the diner a few weeks earlier.
***
Dean had strode in to the place like he was the king of the world, all early twenties swagger. He didn’t know what this thing was that was screwing around with the members of the town, but his dad had trusted him with the job, so he was going to do it. He followed orders after all. His first big hunt. He was ready to dive right in.
After he had coffee and pancakes.
He didn’t know how they figured him out, but he was sort of glad they did. He had walked into the diner thinking that it might have been a poltergeist. He left New Orleans knowing that he should have known better than to think poltergeist in a town like this. All he knows for sure was that he was eating his pancakes, the two of them slid into the booth across from him without so much as an invitation. He looked up at them for a moment-the chick was kind of hot, but he had a feeling she wasn’t there to hit on him-before frowning and speaking.
“Can I help you?”
“We know why you’re here,” the guy said in a slight New Orleans accent, leaning on the table slightly. “And you don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
“Excuse me?” Dean didn’t like the sound of that comment at all. He could tell the guy was some kind of local, but he didn’t know if that comment was a threat or a helpful word of advice.
The guy glanced over his shoulder for a moment, before leaning in closer and dropping his voice. “You’re thinking poltergeist, right? But you’re forgetting the fact that poltergeists generally tend to stick to one place and go nuts, rather than wander all over the place. This thing has hit five different houses in the past week alone.”
At that, Dean was somewhat taken aback. Then he looked at them for a minute, taking in the appearance. They couldn’t have been much older than him-a few years, maybe, tops and he recognized the symbols on their jewelry, especially the one that the guy had tattooed on the inside of his wrist. “You’re hunters.”
“Told ya he was a smart one,” the girl smirked, before leaning back against the booth.
“Look, kid-”
“Dean, actually,” he interrupted, mildly annoyed that someone who was barely older than him was about to call him kid. “Dean Winchester.” Emphasis on the last name, just in case they’d heard of his father.
Apparently they hadn’t.
“Right, Dean-Noah Walker, Gina Ranghetti.” The introduction was rushed as Noah went back to his point. “Anyway-I don’t doubt that you know what you’re doin’ when it comes to hunting, but I really doubt you know how to deal with a kappa-”
“A what-a?” Dean frowned, blinking at the two of them like they were crazy. Noah just smirked.
“Japanese water demon. Most people have never heard of ‘em before, obviously, because they mostly hang out in Japan, but they do love the swampy areas. So the few that manage to skip over here they come on down to the Bayou and the Everglades.”
“Huh,” Dean said with a nod. “So how’d ya kill ‘em?”
“How much time have ya got?” Gina smirked, and Dean tilted his head to the side slightly.
“Seriously?”
“They’re slippery sons of bitches,” Gina replied, a bit of the New York in her accent coming out. “Still want in on this, or not?”
Dean paused for a moment. Granted, this was an opportunity to learn. It was supposed to be his hunt, but he didn’t mind sharing a gig, so long as they didn’t. Most hunters had issues with that, so he wasn’t going to pass up a chance to learn about something new if someone was willing to teach.
“If you guys don’t mind having me. Sure-why not?”
***
Two days later, Gina’s shouting at him to freeze and he’s staying frozen, just like she said. He can feel the weight on his back, the claws digging in to the fabric of his shirt, and he doesn’t move, not wanting to startle it in any way that would prompt it to eat him. Because yeah-these things ate big people too. Not just small children.
“Relax, Dean, he’s just a baby,” Gina sighed. He could hear the smirk in her voice from where he was standing. “But still-don’t move.”
“Not moving, Gina. Don’t worry.”
If he had a mirror, he would probably be able to see the Cheshire cat grin that this thing was flashing the two hunters behind him. “Although,” Noah said with a sigh. “This does make things a bit more complicated. Because they don’t exactly have the same respect for-decorum.”
Dean raised an eyebrow slightly at that, before he felt the claws start to dig into his back, climbing up, and his head bent back slightly as the thing flopped itself on top of his head, letting out a somewhat contented gurgle.
“The thing is on my head,” Dean said with a slow sigh. “Guys, the thing is on my friggin’ head.”
“Yeah, yeah, we can tell, smartass,” Noah smirked. “Just stay put, and we’re gonna try and figure out.”
“There might be somethin’ in that book you had,” Gina said as she started to back towards the truck.
“Yeah, probably-Dean? We’ll be right back.”
“What?!?!”
“Hey, hey-relax,” Gina said with a sigh. “We’re not gonna let it kill ya. Just relax and stay put.”
Dean muttered slightly under his breath, looking around as he went. Once his head moved too quickly, and he felt the nails dig into his forehead lightly, and he winced. The kappa sitting on his head only giggled. Dean, on the other hand was sulking.
At least until Mom showed up.
The older kappa was much bigger, much more menacing, and much more pissed at seeing Dean wearing it’s kid as a hat. He was getting ready to explain to the thing that this really wasn’t what it looked like, and then the damn kid started crying. Crying, for Christ’s sake. He wondered if fear was one of the emotions that the kappas seemed to understand so clearly, but apparently that wasn’t helping his case. He had to think fast.
The things he knew about kappas started cycling through his head. Water demons. Likes to snack on cucumbers and small children. Mischief makers, truth tellers-high sense of decorum. The Japanese taught their children to bow when they encountered them because it spilled the bowl of water-
Dean moved slowly at first, starting to tilt his upper body forward in the direction of the bigger kappa. He let his eyes fall to the ground as soon as necessary and he prayed that the kappa was actually following him. He had felt the nails of the baby dig in as he moved, and he hopped off, running towards his mother as soon as he couldn’t keep his head level anymore, but the next thing Dean heard was soft crying.
He lifted his eyes, and was shocked when the idea had actually worked. The mother kappa was frozen in a bent over position, the water spilled out onto the ground. “Huh,” Dean said with a nod, looking over at the kid.
The kid was cowering behind grown-up when Gina and Noah returned, and they blinked at Dean in surprise, before looking back at them. “Good job, Winchester,” Gina nodded.
“Thanks,” Dean nodded, before glancing back at her again. “So how do we kill ‘em?”
1455 words