FIC: "Iceberg Anatomy" (6/7)
Iceberg Anatomy
By Simarillion
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: PG-13
Beta: asm_z
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki (one-sided), Jared Padalecki/Sandra McCoy (mentioned), others
Warnings: slash, M/M
Word Count: 3,022 (19,657 total)
Summary: Movie meets reality. At the end of the world a fateful meeting takes place.
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.
Author’s Note: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn’t really work otherwise.
This is part 2 of the Glaciology! ‘verse. Jensen is a scientist in the field of glaciology and he spends most of his time surrounded by ice, whereas Jared is a Hollywood movie star. Prequel to this story is Invisible Glaciers.
[ Masterpost]
Part Six
The last week Jensen spent mostly in his room and his office. After his two-day bed rest, Jim had handed him a pair of crutches and told him to go wild. Ever since he’s been haunting the compound, bored out of his scull.
He misses the time he spent with the dogs, but it’s impossible for to go out, he wouldn’t make it on his own. He and Jared have a deal which enables him to at least see the huskies once a day. Every morning, while Jared takes Dean for a walk, he lets the dogs lose, and Jensen who’s sitting next to the entrance, can play with and pet the team.
It’s difficult to work in the lab, because his hobbling around with the crutches makes it hard to manoeuvre around. In the end he mostly spends his time doing office work, he’s taken over some administrative stuff Jeff usually does, and teaching more classes than intended.
Today is the last day before the actors, and with them Jared, are heading back to LA. Most of them are eager to get back to their high society life. Chad has been talking non-stop about some bar he wants to go to, and even Jared has been all excited about returning somewhere without tons of snow. Once they are back home, the shooting of the movie will start.
Jensen has realised that he will miss hanging out with his new friend. Ever since their talk about what happened with Sandy, he had felt as if they had been better friends, for the lack of a better word. The teasing and the banter has been there just like it was before, but there has been the added layer of serious conversation as well.
The actors are on their last snow shoe trek, they took the dogs with them, and Dean insisted on going with Jared and the other huskies. So, Jensen finds himself alone and bored. He’s been entering data the last two hours, but after the last week, where practically all he did was entering data into sheets, and organising them, he just wants to stick a fork into his eyes. Really, he’s slowly but surely going insane here.
After he entered the wrong numbers in the wrong cell the sixth time in a row, he minimizes the window, and opens the task menu, looking through the list, he picks ‘Extras’ and clicks on ‘Games’. A good old game of Solitaire should take care of the state of mind he’s currently in. He wins the first game, loses the next two and is well in winning this one, when Danneel shows up.
“I see that you are very busy right now.” She teases. Her cheeks are flushed, most probably she was outside, and she’s smiling happily.
“Never too busy for you.” He grins cheekily at her. “What brings you to my humble office?”
“I thought I might keep you some company. Alona and Sam are having a ‘friendly’ discussion in the lab about the proper storage of the samples, and I really don’t to be around when the phials start flying. You starting to get cabin fever yet?”
“Like you won’t believe. If I have to fill out another datasheet, I’ll flip out and attack someone, bludgeoning them to death with my crutches.” The sad thing is that he means it.
“That I want to see, you toppling over, ‘cause honestly without them you aren’t much of a threat.” She winks at him and slinks into the room, leaning against his desk. “So, what are we gonna do?”
“How about we go and bother Jim, he’s on kitchen duty today.” There’s nothing more entertaining than Jim cooking. Most of all, because Brock is on kitchen duty as well. Brock’s a menace.
“You bet.” She hands him his crutches and off they go. More like crawl though, because even though Jensen got the hang of walking with his aides, after a day or two, but he’s still walking at a pace that makes a snail look like the roadrunner.
As they pass the entrance to the lab they can hear shouting inside, and something that suspiciously sound like glass breaking. “There go the phials.” Jensen agrees with her. And it’s going to be him who’s filling out the request forms for new ones. Well, at least it’s something to do besides data entry.
They try their best to make no sound, because neither of them wants to be involved in the quarrel. Nothing good ever comes out of it.
Luck is with them and they make to the kitchen without being made. Danneel holds the door open and in they go. It takes some shuffling but he’s finally inside, Danneel following right behind him.
Jim is nowhere to be seen, but Brock is standing at the cutting board and dicing vegetables. His back is turned to them, and he squeaks surprised as Danneel sneaks up to him and snips is ear. Fortunately he isn’t holding the knife right now, or else he might have chopped off a finger.
Jensen laughs out loud.
“Assholes, both of you!” Brock turns around and shoves her.
“Aw, Brock, the rock in my life, don’t say things like that. You’re breaking my heart.” Danneel bats her eyes at him and clings to is side.
Jensen makes his way over to the chair in the corner and plops down on it. If he keeps standing he’ll only be in their way. Settled down he watches his friends goof around. They are flinging vegetables at each other, chasing around the kitchen. At times like this it becomes obvious how young Brock really is.
Being Jeff’s adoptive son, he went everywhere his father does. Brock refuses to stay in one place, go to school, and visit during the holidays. He’s been all over Alaska so far, and with Jeff moving around constantly, in the past even to military stations all over the world, Brock can look back on an education, that is in some areas rather spotty, but that enables him to be of great help at the compound and with the research.
In their chase around the kitchen, they don’t notice Jim entering, and Danneel careens into him at full speed, almost knocking him over. “What the hell is going on in here?”
Jensen laughs at the contrite look on the faces of his friends. They are flushed with the exercise, and even their mortification about the accident can’t hide the happiness and the excitement. It’s not too often that they get to let go and just have fun after all.
“Sorry, Jim.” Danneel tries using her charm on him as well, but Jim just raises his eyebrow and pins the two rowdies in place with a strict look.
“Since the two bozos of you are so full of energy, you can direct your excess energy on something productive for a change. Brock, finish cutting the vegetables for the soup, and Danneel, you can clean the cantina. Since it’s the last evening with our guests, we’ll treat them to a little farewell party.” Jensen can’t help chuckle at the reprimands his friends get. “And you, chuckles, you can help as well.”
“Hey, I didn’t bowl you over.” He tries to sway Jim by using his puppy eyes. Working with dogs he’s learned that there’s nothing more effective, than the look a dog gives you when he wants you to do something. Unfortunately, Jim is apparently the one person it does not work on.
“Look at me all you want, I don’t care. Get up, and go to the cantina, I’ll bring you the potatoes. You have the honourable job of cutting and seasoning them for wedges.” And with that Jensen’s ushered out of the kitchen. He hobbles to the cantina, Danneel following behind him.
There are still some dishes, clean, from breakfast and first of all she collects them and puts them away. Jensen sits down at a table and waits for Jim to bring the potatoes. Usually he hates kitchen duty, and most of all he hates cutting and preparing vegetables. Grilling burgers, or broiling a steak, that’s not a problem, but peeling, and cutting, dicing, carve stupid sculptures out of vegetables, that’s something he really hates. After his mind numbing week though, he even welcomes the task that he’s been given.
Jim and Danneel join him at the table. Danneel’s carrying a tray with cutlery and paper napkins, Jim carries a bucket of potatoes and two huge bowls.
“I washed the potatoes already, so just cut them. Fill up those two bowls.” Jim sets everything down and leaves Jensen to his work.
There’s the clatter of plates and cutlery, and the clinking of glasses. He ignores it and starts on the potatoes. It’s actually calming to do this repetitive menial task. Like slipping into a zone out. One after another the tubers wander from the bucket to the bowls. And once the second is full, Jensen sets the knife aside.
He noticed Danneel moving around, covering the tables with actual table cloths, folding napkins, and even decorating the buffet. Looking up he can see that she’s transformed the whole room. It looks like the setting for a gala banquet and not like their humble cantina.
There are pictures on the walls, blown up photos of the actors in their classes. There’s Hayden working in the lab, assisting Sam. Another picture shows Adrian and Jim as they inspect a gauging station together with Jeff. There’s one of Chad and Brock, who snow shoe towards the compound. On the wall right next to him, there’s photo of Jensen and Jared. They are playing with the dogs, Jared wrestling with Dean, and Jensen standing aside and laughing.
The decorations are nothing special, but Danneel had used what little resources she had, and it gives the room a welcoming and comfortable aura. When she sees him looking around, she takes the tray in front of her and carries it over.
“Since you seem to be finished, I could use your help.” The cutlery and the glasses are on the tray, which is put right in front of him. “I’ll get the potatoes to Jim. You can polish the glasses, the knives and spoons and forks. Make them look nice and shiny.”
“Dani.” His protesting falls on deaf ears though. She picks up the two bowls of wedges and dashes off. Jensen’s well aware of the unfairness of her action; because there’s no way he can run after her and tell her that he wants to do something else. Handicapped he has to stay and polish.
It takes a couple of tries before he’s found the right technique to polish the cutlery without leaving fingerprints all over it. He remembers his mother talking about warm vinegar water, but here a cloth will have to make do. By the time he’s polishing the glasses, he’s brought his technique to perfection.
Danneel comes and goes, sets plates, knifes and forks, and positions glasses. In between this, she’s carried the bucket with the rest of the potatoes back to the kitchen, cleaned and decorated Jensen table, and brought him blank sheets of paper and a pen.
“Once you’re done with the polishing, please be so kind and write a couple of menu cards for today. Here’s a list of what we’ll have.” A handwritten paper is placed on top of the blank pages. “We’ll need two cards per table.”
And off she’s again. Almost like an apparition.
Two more glasses and he’s done. The cloth goes on the chair beside him, the glasses are put out of reach and he takes the list, the pen and the blank sheets of paper. Carefully he writes out the food in his best handwriting. Copying item per item, making sure he forgot nothing, and he doesn’t smudge the ink.
After he’s finished writing the first card, Jensen takes a look at the sheet. Spontaneously he decides to draw a small sketch of a husky on it for decoration. Then he repeats this, until he’s made menus for all tables and two more to put on the buffet as well.
Danneel takes the finished cards, and says something about laminating them. She leaves him, and Jensen thinks about asking Jim for some more work, when the door to the cantina opens and an exhausted but happy Jared peers inside.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to see this until later!” Playful indignation in his tone.
“Dude, this looks awesome!” Jared stomps inside, leaving snow on the floor which will melt into unseemly puddles soon enough. He turns round and round, taking everything in, and when he sees the photo if him and Jensen, he smiles brightly. “That picture is amazing. I love it.”
“Yeah, Danneel took it and Jim helped her with the developing.” The picture is awesome. Jensen asked her for a copy, and his friend promised to make one tomorrow.
“D’you think I can have that one?” Suddenly Jensen is awarded with the very puppy look he tried on Jim earlier. Unlike him, Jensen can’t fight it.
“I’m sure that every one of you will get to take theirs with them.” It was kind of a farewell and good luck gift. Jensen likes the idea of it, and even if they never look at it again, he wants to believe that Jared will hang his photo at his home.
“Awesome.” There’s only the wagging tail missing to make Jared’s puppy impersonation complete. The image has Jensen grin content, and he gathers his crutches to get up.
When Jared sees him making to stand up, he walk over, ready to help. “Dude, I’ll help you.”
“Don’t worry, I might look like I’m totally uncoordinated with these things, but I can do that without injuring me, or anyone else.” He manoeuvres around a bit, and then he’s standing. “See?”
“Your incredible skills are amazing. You ought to go to Cirque du Soleil.” Jared teases.
“Shut up bitch.” He tries to dash off in a huff, but only manages to hobble away from Jared at a slow pace.
“Jerk.” The respond is chortled out. “You look really pitiful, you know?” More laughter follows.
“Asshole, making fun of the invalid. I’ll sue you.” Jensen arrives at the door, and has to admit defeat. It opens to the inside, and with him being such a spazz with the crutches he’ll not be able to open it on his own.
“Sure.” Jared just holds the door open and lets Jensen pass through.
“My very own hero.” Jensen says in a breathy and high voice. He bats his eyes at Jared for more effect.
This has Jared puff out his jest, and giving Jensen a bow. “Milady.”
“I hate you.” His grumbled comment only results in Jared breaking out in laughter. “I’m not a woman.”
“You sure about that?” The teasing question has Jensen scowl some more.
“You’re lucky I’m handicapped right now.” But his threat is said with too much amusement to be intimidating.
“I’m quaking with fear.” The gigantic legs look like their only shuffling around, as he matches Jensen’s pace. “Please, don’t hurt me.”
Jensen huffs and turns around the corner to his quarter. There is a happy yip, and Dean bounds towards him. Only seconds before impact, the husky stops and twists himself around his owner. “Missed me, you turncoat?”
“Dude, he was constantly searching for you, and when he couldn’t find you, he’d start whining. It was very pitiful.” The dog gives Jared a look that seems to accuse the human of lying.
“He’s just making that up, right?” Jensen scratches Dean behind the ears. “A macho dog like you.”
The three of them make it to Jensen’s door and Jared lets them inside. While Jensen sits down on the chair, both, Dean and Jared, pile onto his bed. The dog huffs, and Jared sighs, and soon they are sprawled all over the surface, making it hard to distinguish where the dog ends and the human starts.
“Gonna miss your snow shoe treks?” This warrants only a snort. Jared is always wiped out after having spent a couple of hours walking trough the snow. Taking care of the dogs at the same time, took everything out of him.
Jensen watches the two on his bed for some time. After a couple of minutes there’s the sound of soft snoring, and he’s not sure if it’s Dean or Jared who’s sleeping. He gets up, and goes to the bathroom. There’s a stool right next to the shower. Leaning against the wall he wedges it into the cubicle, and then he disrobes and climbs into the shower as well.
The first time he took a shower like this he almost fell on his face, getting out of the stall, but now he’s to get in and out without any help from someone else.
When the hot water sluices down his body he closes his eyes, and lets the spray carry away the day’s sweat and dirt. He makes sure to get everything done in five minutes. Then he climbs out of the shower, and gets the stool, putting it next to the cubicle. He sits down on it and starts with towelling himself dry.
Things like this take longer now than they used to, but only for a couple of minutes. As soon as he’s finished, he grabs the sweats and the shirt hanging next to the door, and pulls them on. Now he’s good and ready to go.
In the bedroom there are two snores now, and Jensen grins amused at the free concerto he’s getting. Careful not to disturb them, he returns to his chair, and sits down at the desk. He reaches for the book he’s currently reading and opens it at the page he stopped. After another look at the heap on his bed, he turns away from the display and continues to read the thriller Jared had given him two days ago, when Jensen had complained about boredom.
He’s quickly immersed in the world of forensic anthropology and serial killers. Travelling from snow covered Alaska to the British Norfolk Village.
continue: Part Seven
By Simarillion
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: PG-13
Beta: asm_z
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki (one-sided), Jared Padalecki/Sandra McCoy (mentioned), others
Warnings: slash, M/M
Word Count: 3,022 (19,657 total)
Summary: Movie meets reality. At the end of the world a fateful meeting takes place.
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.
Author’s Note: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn’t really work otherwise.
This is part 2 of the Glaciology! ‘verse. Jensen is a scientist in the field of glaciology and he spends most of his time surrounded by ice, whereas Jared is a Hollywood movie star. Prequel to this story is Invisible Glaciers.
[ Masterpost]
Part Six
The last week Jensen spent mostly in his room and his office. After his two-day bed rest, Jim had handed him a pair of crutches and told him to go wild. Ever since he’s been haunting the compound, bored out of his scull.
He misses the time he spent with the dogs, but it’s impossible for to go out, he wouldn’t make it on his own. He and Jared have a deal which enables him to at least see the huskies once a day. Every morning, while Jared takes Dean for a walk, he lets the dogs lose, and Jensen who’s sitting next to the entrance, can play with and pet the team.
It’s difficult to work in the lab, because his hobbling around with the crutches makes it hard to manoeuvre around. In the end he mostly spends his time doing office work, he’s taken over some administrative stuff Jeff usually does, and teaching more classes than intended.
Today is the last day before the actors, and with them Jared, are heading back to LA. Most of them are eager to get back to their high society life. Chad has been talking non-stop about some bar he wants to go to, and even Jared has been all excited about returning somewhere without tons of snow. Once they are back home, the shooting of the movie will start.
Jensen has realised that he will miss hanging out with his new friend. Ever since their talk about what happened with Sandy, he had felt as if they had been better friends, for the lack of a better word. The teasing and the banter has been there just like it was before, but there has been the added layer of serious conversation as well.
The actors are on their last snow shoe trek, they took the dogs with them, and Dean insisted on going with Jared and the other huskies. So, Jensen finds himself alone and bored. He’s been entering data the last two hours, but after the last week, where practically all he did was entering data into sheets, and organising them, he just wants to stick a fork into his eyes. Really, he’s slowly but surely going insane here.
After he entered the wrong numbers in the wrong cell the sixth time in a row, he minimizes the window, and opens the task menu, looking through the list, he picks ‘Extras’ and clicks on ‘Games’. A good old game of Solitaire should take care of the state of mind he’s currently in. He wins the first game, loses the next two and is well in winning this one, when Danneel shows up.
“I see that you are very busy right now.” She teases. Her cheeks are flushed, most probably she was outside, and she’s smiling happily.
“Never too busy for you.” He grins cheekily at her. “What brings you to my humble office?”
“I thought I might keep you some company. Alona and Sam are having a ‘friendly’ discussion in the lab about the proper storage of the samples, and I really don’t to be around when the phials start flying. You starting to get cabin fever yet?”
“Like you won’t believe. If I have to fill out another datasheet, I’ll flip out and attack someone, bludgeoning them to death with my crutches.” The sad thing is that he means it.
“That I want to see, you toppling over, ‘cause honestly without them you aren’t much of a threat.” She winks at him and slinks into the room, leaning against his desk. “So, what are we gonna do?”
“How about we go and bother Jim, he’s on kitchen duty today.” There’s nothing more entertaining than Jim cooking. Most of all, because Brock is on kitchen duty as well. Brock’s a menace.
“You bet.” She hands him his crutches and off they go. More like crawl though, because even though Jensen got the hang of walking with his aides, after a day or two, but he’s still walking at a pace that makes a snail look like the roadrunner.
As they pass the entrance to the lab they can hear shouting inside, and something that suspiciously sound like glass breaking. “There go the phials.” Jensen agrees with her. And it’s going to be him who’s filling out the request forms for new ones. Well, at least it’s something to do besides data entry.
They try their best to make no sound, because neither of them wants to be involved in the quarrel. Nothing good ever comes out of it.
Luck is with them and they make to the kitchen without being made. Danneel holds the door open and in they go. It takes some shuffling but he’s finally inside, Danneel following right behind him.
Jim is nowhere to be seen, but Brock is standing at the cutting board and dicing vegetables. His back is turned to them, and he squeaks surprised as Danneel sneaks up to him and snips is ear. Fortunately he isn’t holding the knife right now, or else he might have chopped off a finger.
Jensen laughs out loud.
“Assholes, both of you!” Brock turns around and shoves her.
“Aw, Brock, the rock in my life, don’t say things like that. You’re breaking my heart.” Danneel bats her eyes at him and clings to is side.
Jensen makes his way over to the chair in the corner and plops down on it. If he keeps standing he’ll only be in their way. Settled down he watches his friends goof around. They are flinging vegetables at each other, chasing around the kitchen. At times like this it becomes obvious how young Brock really is.
Being Jeff’s adoptive son, he went everywhere his father does. Brock refuses to stay in one place, go to school, and visit during the holidays. He’s been all over Alaska so far, and with Jeff moving around constantly, in the past even to military stations all over the world, Brock can look back on an education, that is in some areas rather spotty, but that enables him to be of great help at the compound and with the research.
In their chase around the kitchen, they don’t notice Jim entering, and Danneel careens into him at full speed, almost knocking him over. “What the hell is going on in here?”
Jensen laughs at the contrite look on the faces of his friends. They are flushed with the exercise, and even their mortification about the accident can’t hide the happiness and the excitement. It’s not too often that they get to let go and just have fun after all.
“Sorry, Jim.” Danneel tries using her charm on him as well, but Jim just raises his eyebrow and pins the two rowdies in place with a strict look.
“Since the two bozos of you are so full of energy, you can direct your excess energy on something productive for a change. Brock, finish cutting the vegetables for the soup, and Danneel, you can clean the cantina. Since it’s the last evening with our guests, we’ll treat them to a little farewell party.” Jensen can’t help chuckle at the reprimands his friends get. “And you, chuckles, you can help as well.”
“Hey, I didn’t bowl you over.” He tries to sway Jim by using his puppy eyes. Working with dogs he’s learned that there’s nothing more effective, than the look a dog gives you when he wants you to do something. Unfortunately, Jim is apparently the one person it does not work on.
“Look at me all you want, I don’t care. Get up, and go to the cantina, I’ll bring you the potatoes. You have the honourable job of cutting and seasoning them for wedges.” And with that Jensen’s ushered out of the kitchen. He hobbles to the cantina, Danneel following behind him.
There are still some dishes, clean, from breakfast and first of all she collects them and puts them away. Jensen sits down at a table and waits for Jim to bring the potatoes. Usually he hates kitchen duty, and most of all he hates cutting and preparing vegetables. Grilling burgers, or broiling a steak, that’s not a problem, but peeling, and cutting, dicing, carve stupid sculptures out of vegetables, that’s something he really hates. After his mind numbing week though, he even welcomes the task that he’s been given.
Jim and Danneel join him at the table. Danneel’s carrying a tray with cutlery and paper napkins, Jim carries a bucket of potatoes and two huge bowls.
“I washed the potatoes already, so just cut them. Fill up those two bowls.” Jim sets everything down and leaves Jensen to his work.
There’s the clatter of plates and cutlery, and the clinking of glasses. He ignores it and starts on the potatoes. It’s actually calming to do this repetitive menial task. Like slipping into a zone out. One after another the tubers wander from the bucket to the bowls. And once the second is full, Jensen sets the knife aside.
He noticed Danneel moving around, covering the tables with actual table cloths, folding napkins, and even decorating the buffet. Looking up he can see that she’s transformed the whole room. It looks like the setting for a gala banquet and not like their humble cantina.
There are pictures on the walls, blown up photos of the actors in their classes. There’s Hayden working in the lab, assisting Sam. Another picture shows Adrian and Jim as they inspect a gauging station together with Jeff. There’s one of Chad and Brock, who snow shoe towards the compound. On the wall right next to him, there’s photo of Jensen and Jared. They are playing with the dogs, Jared wrestling with Dean, and Jensen standing aside and laughing.
The decorations are nothing special, but Danneel had used what little resources she had, and it gives the room a welcoming and comfortable aura. When she sees him looking around, she takes the tray in front of her and carries it over.
“Since you seem to be finished, I could use your help.” The cutlery and the glasses are on the tray, which is put right in front of him. “I’ll get the potatoes to Jim. You can polish the glasses, the knives and spoons and forks. Make them look nice and shiny.”
“Dani.” His protesting falls on deaf ears though. She picks up the two bowls of wedges and dashes off. Jensen’s well aware of the unfairness of her action; because there’s no way he can run after her and tell her that he wants to do something else. Handicapped he has to stay and polish.
It takes a couple of tries before he’s found the right technique to polish the cutlery without leaving fingerprints all over it. He remembers his mother talking about warm vinegar water, but here a cloth will have to make do. By the time he’s polishing the glasses, he’s brought his technique to perfection.
Danneel comes and goes, sets plates, knifes and forks, and positions glasses. In between this, she’s carried the bucket with the rest of the potatoes back to the kitchen, cleaned and decorated Jensen table, and brought him blank sheets of paper and a pen.
“Once you’re done with the polishing, please be so kind and write a couple of menu cards for today. Here’s a list of what we’ll have.” A handwritten paper is placed on top of the blank pages. “We’ll need two cards per table.”
And off she’s again. Almost like an apparition.
Two more glasses and he’s done. The cloth goes on the chair beside him, the glasses are put out of reach and he takes the list, the pen and the blank sheets of paper. Carefully he writes out the food in his best handwriting. Copying item per item, making sure he forgot nothing, and he doesn’t smudge the ink.
After he’s finished writing the first card, Jensen takes a look at the sheet. Spontaneously he decides to draw a small sketch of a husky on it for decoration. Then he repeats this, until he’s made menus for all tables and two more to put on the buffet as well.
Danneel takes the finished cards, and says something about laminating them. She leaves him, and Jensen thinks about asking Jim for some more work, when the door to the cantina opens and an exhausted but happy Jared peers inside.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to see this until later!” Playful indignation in his tone.
“Dude, this looks awesome!” Jared stomps inside, leaving snow on the floor which will melt into unseemly puddles soon enough. He turns round and round, taking everything in, and when he sees the photo if him and Jensen, he smiles brightly. “That picture is amazing. I love it.”
“Yeah, Danneel took it and Jim helped her with the developing.” The picture is awesome. Jensen asked her for a copy, and his friend promised to make one tomorrow.
“D’you think I can have that one?” Suddenly Jensen is awarded with the very puppy look he tried on Jim earlier. Unlike him, Jensen can’t fight it.
“I’m sure that every one of you will get to take theirs with them.” It was kind of a farewell and good luck gift. Jensen likes the idea of it, and even if they never look at it again, he wants to believe that Jared will hang his photo at his home.
“Awesome.” There’s only the wagging tail missing to make Jared’s puppy impersonation complete. The image has Jensen grin content, and he gathers his crutches to get up.
When Jared sees him making to stand up, he walk over, ready to help. “Dude, I’ll help you.”
“Don’t worry, I might look like I’m totally uncoordinated with these things, but I can do that without injuring me, or anyone else.” He manoeuvres around a bit, and then he’s standing. “See?”
“Your incredible skills are amazing. You ought to go to Cirque du Soleil.” Jared teases.
“Shut up bitch.” He tries to dash off in a huff, but only manages to hobble away from Jared at a slow pace.
“Jerk.” The respond is chortled out. “You look really pitiful, you know?” More laughter follows.
“Asshole, making fun of the invalid. I’ll sue you.” Jensen arrives at the door, and has to admit defeat. It opens to the inside, and with him being such a spazz with the crutches he’ll not be able to open it on his own.
“Sure.” Jared just holds the door open and lets Jensen pass through.
“My very own hero.” Jensen says in a breathy and high voice. He bats his eyes at Jared for more effect.
This has Jared puff out his jest, and giving Jensen a bow. “Milady.”
“I hate you.” His grumbled comment only results in Jared breaking out in laughter. “I’m not a woman.”
“You sure about that?” The teasing question has Jensen scowl some more.
“You’re lucky I’m handicapped right now.” But his threat is said with too much amusement to be intimidating.
“I’m quaking with fear.” The gigantic legs look like their only shuffling around, as he matches Jensen’s pace. “Please, don’t hurt me.”
Jensen huffs and turns around the corner to his quarter. There is a happy yip, and Dean bounds towards him. Only seconds before impact, the husky stops and twists himself around his owner. “Missed me, you turncoat?”
“Dude, he was constantly searching for you, and when he couldn’t find you, he’d start whining. It was very pitiful.” The dog gives Jared a look that seems to accuse the human of lying.
“He’s just making that up, right?” Jensen scratches Dean behind the ears. “A macho dog like you.”
The three of them make it to Jensen’s door and Jared lets them inside. While Jensen sits down on the chair, both, Dean and Jared, pile onto his bed. The dog huffs, and Jared sighs, and soon they are sprawled all over the surface, making it hard to distinguish where the dog ends and the human starts.
“Gonna miss your snow shoe treks?” This warrants only a snort. Jared is always wiped out after having spent a couple of hours walking trough the snow. Taking care of the dogs at the same time, took everything out of him.
Jensen watches the two on his bed for some time. After a couple of minutes there’s the sound of soft snoring, and he’s not sure if it’s Dean or Jared who’s sleeping. He gets up, and goes to the bathroom. There’s a stool right next to the shower. Leaning against the wall he wedges it into the cubicle, and then he disrobes and climbs into the shower as well.
The first time he took a shower like this he almost fell on his face, getting out of the stall, but now he’s to get in and out without any help from someone else.
When the hot water sluices down his body he closes his eyes, and lets the spray carry away the day’s sweat and dirt. He makes sure to get everything done in five minutes. Then he climbs out of the shower, and gets the stool, putting it next to the cubicle. He sits down on it and starts with towelling himself dry.
Things like this take longer now than they used to, but only for a couple of minutes. As soon as he’s finished, he grabs the sweats and the shirt hanging next to the door, and pulls them on. Now he’s good and ready to go.
In the bedroom there are two snores now, and Jensen grins amused at the free concerto he’s getting. Careful not to disturb them, he returns to his chair, and sits down at the desk. He reaches for the book he’s currently reading and opens it at the page he stopped. After another look at the heap on his bed, he turns away from the display and continues to read the thriller Jared had given him two days ago, when Jensen had complained about boredom.
He’s quickly immersed in the world of forensic anthropology and serial killers. Travelling from snow covered Alaska to the British Norfolk Village.
continue: Part Seven