Dinner for Three 1/1 (John, Dean, Sam, pre-seeries)

[marlowe78]

Title: Dinner for Three
Author:marlowe78
Rating: PG 13 (language)
Characters: Dean (eleven), Sam(seven), John (thirty-six. Wow, he's so young...)
Word count: ~4.700

Spoilers: none
Warnings: Language, fire, hurt Dean.

Summary: Dean sagged in his arms and John had a second’s terror of ‘he’s dead, he’s dead!’ before he realized that his boy was just obeying

Comments

[soncnica]

"It sounded more like a badly oiled door squeaking on its hinges in the storm

[marlowe78]

Geeee, thanks for the long comment.

I dunno. I have this picture of tough John in my head when I think about their childhood, but whenever I write, what comes out is a pretty ok dad. Strange.

Maybe he punished Sam later, but I think... I think the terror in Sammy, his misery and the fact that he really, really wanted to do something awesome and it failed so dramatically, not to mention the lecture that if he did stuff like that, Dean gets hurt might be the best punishment.

What could be worse for the little guy than seeing his brother in so much pain, for so long? Because burns... well. I researched them, and man, second-degree is already pretty bad, when you have third degree, there's nothing left really. So I think Dean'll be sweating in pain for quite a long time, and Sam - with his soul still intact - would have to see it and KNOW he did that because he didn't watch out.

Quite a lesson, I'll think.

[borgmama1of5]

Awesome story!

I really agree with the characterization you gave John in this. I think because the boys were still so young he would not have been as 'drill sergeant' yet, and Sammy was still innocent.

What I really think you got well was the realization on John's part of just how much he needed his boys to be okay. I think that part took over when they got older, and that's when he got tougher because he couldn't always be there to protect them.

And a particularly effective story because there was nothing supernatural involved. Just an accident.

[marlowe78]

Thank you so much

[marlowe78]

"Knock-down fight", of course.

[borgmama1of5]

A parent learns which type of rebuke works best with each child. The danger is in using that knowledge to manipulate behavior that isn't necessary to rebuke, just to keep the parent's life easier.

Part of the reason I got so deeply involved with your story is that I just finished my own John story, and I think the characterizations could mesh, given the 4 years in between them.

In case you want to take a look:
http://borgmama1of5.livejournal.com/48905.html

[darth_firefly]

Once again, you have done amazing work. This was a wonderful read! +adds to memories+

[marlowe78]

Thank you. And dude, your icon is all kinds of cute... Awwwwwww....

[embroiderama]

I love all three of them so much here, and I'm so glad you had John be a good dad because they all really needed that connection.

[marlowe78]

I'm strange. I think John made a lot of mistakes in the way he treated his kids, but whenever I write him, he comes across as rather... ok.
I think he tried. He did his best in the situation he was in, and well... it wasn't really enough. But he tried and I think when he was there, he wasn't the worst dad. A bit gruff, a bit helpless maybe with two boys so different as Dean and Sam.

Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you liked my bit

[cece_away]

“No. I…I ne-nearly burnt him. I ne-nearly burnt him up.” And whispering, he added “Like Mom.”

That jolted my heart probably as much as it did John's. You've captured exactly what would be going on in Sam's head and it's just sad and poignant.

This is really well written.

[marlowe78]

Thank you for saying that. I'm sure John would have felt a punch in the chest with that - and poor Sam. I really made him suffer :-D