justprompts: Shock
Cooking!Dean with Ben for mini_dean. For this set of prompts. Future/AU, set in the Lawns and Carpets 'verse. First part following this.
At home.
It had been, to put it mildly, a day of major revelations, the day before.
Ben's surprise to finding Dean with a woman was... one thing. Finding out about the toddler... well. Hunting up the man who might be your father's one thing. Finding out you have a might-be brother...
And Dean and Cassie's surprise? Dean suspected that it would be one of the things that they'd be working out when they were ninety.
But exhausting as the day had been? It had been over. And with all due precautions, they'd all crashed. It had taken Ben, tired as he'd been after a three-day travel, a long time to manage to fall asleep - and so he ended up being the last to rise. Which, of course, was accompanied by a not-too-brief bout of disorientation which didn't get resolved until he rose enough to see the circular drawing before the window.
Oh.
He rubbed his eyes, dressed up in whatever he reached - Cassie had been adamant of his traveling clause being washed immediately, but he did have a change in his backpack. How providential.
The house was quiet as he stumbled his way down the stairs, his nose ears guiding him unerringly towards the kitchen. Which was occupied by Dean alone.
"Hey, kid."
"Hey."
"Managed to rest up somewhat? Grab a seat."
Ben blinked up blearily at him, then complied. "Yeah, I guess."
"Cassie took Johnny out for a walk, too good a weather after being cooped up for a bit."
"But--"
"Oh don't worry, she can stand her own ground. They'll be back in a bit, safe enough." He stirred the pan, then tilted his chin towards the plate before Ben. "Hungry?"
The boy craned his neck towards the pan and answered warily, "yeah..."
Dean grinned slightly, then served up a plate of scrambled eggs, with a side of toast and jam. "There goes. If you want, there's cereal too, I'll have the eggs."
"I'll give 'em a try, I guess." Ben watched him settle to his side on the table, a cup of coffee before him, bulked up shoulders slightly hunched as he sipped from it occasionally. He was... very suspicious of anybody looking like that's cooking skills. So he took a small scoop with his fork. Then a bigger one. After a few moments, he blinked up. "Wow. This is good!"
He was answered with a lopsided grin. "Well, what can I say. I'm full of surprises."
For all the situation and how messed up things were... it made Ben feel a tiny little bit better. Somehow.
***
Away. LATER.
The trip had turned out unexpectedly eventful. Dean was driving Ben home, again, and they'd taken a detour so Ben could finally meet Bobby, after the two had heard about each other a lot. And they'd run into something that was damn close to a case that Sam and Dean had dealt with years ago, a haunted stretch of road.
Except this time it was his son with him, and much as the boy had learned in the months since he first showed up, he was a kid. After they'd managed to burn the bones and the car had finally started again, Ben was hyperventilating, curling in on himself, and shuddering - yes, it had been close enough to fully justify such reaction too; demons were one thing, but being caught out in the open, in the woods, by a full-fledged infuriated ghost with an axe? Totally scary - and while he was far from decisive, moving away even in the car seemed the slightly less favorable option for him. So for once Dean decided to not just drive off and gun for it.
Instead, he gathered some firewood, used the gasoline and lighter to start a fire, and bundled the boy up, to warm and calm down. Made tea, then talked Ben into lying down, and then kept on talking until he closed his eyes and his breathing evened out.
The boy - teenager, really - blinked awake, then struggled briefly with the unexpected closeness of the sleeping bag before sitting up.
"What're doing?"
"Breakfast. Hungry?"
"How can you... after last night? How can you think of food?" Ben's nose wrinkled, thinking of the stench of the bones going up in flames. Admittedly, that was waaaay back in the woods, and currently, his nose was suggesting different stuff. Like beans.
"Sure I can. One must eat, and this - not that exceptional for what Sam and I've done all our lives. Demons tend to be an unwelcome exception."
Ben shook his head and fully rolled out, stretching a bit, walking away very little, and then coming back to the fire, the sunlight from among the branches highlighting his hair; after a bout of wind, shining into his eyes until he sat back down on the roll. "'s there any water?"
"Yup. Here goes. Water. Beans, though you will have to risk the sausage, cannot give guarantees about it. Don't have marshmallows."
He got a blank look for a moment, then finally a flicker of amusement. "Marshmallows?"
"Yup, like, almost like a camping thing, y'know."
Ben blinked another moment, then laughed a little and took the bowl of food and the spork. "Are you... always like that? Don't you ever get scared?"
"Oh I get scared. One's got to be a complete idiot not to. But, you know. We're alive. The ghost's wasted. It's gonna be all right."
"Sometimes, I even believe you when you say that."
"Good. You'd better. Eat up, and then back to home. Don't want you to miss out on school tomorrow or something. Lisa'll kill me."
Ben's eyes widened. "We were supposed to be home already, and you on your way back!"
"No worries. Called everybody as soon as it was reasonable. They know we're fine."
The boy sighed, then finally started to eat. A few bites in, he couldn't stop. "Huh. I guess... I was hungry."
Dean... actually smirked. "Oh yeah."
At home.
It had been, to put it mildly, a day of major revelations, the day before.
Ben's surprise to finding Dean with a woman was... one thing. Finding out about the toddler... well. Hunting up the man who might be your father's one thing. Finding out you have a might-be brother...
And Dean and Cassie's surprise? Dean suspected that it would be one of the things that they'd be working out when they were ninety.
But exhausting as the day had been? It had been over. And with all due precautions, they'd all crashed. It had taken Ben, tired as he'd been after a three-day travel, a long time to manage to fall asleep - and so he ended up being the last to rise. Which, of course, was accompanied by a not-too-brief bout of disorientation which didn't get resolved until he rose enough to see the circular drawing before the window.
Oh.
He rubbed his eyes, dressed up in whatever he reached - Cassie had been adamant of his traveling clause being washed immediately, but he did have a change in his backpack. How providential.
The house was quiet as he stumbled his way down the stairs, his nose ears guiding him unerringly towards the kitchen. Which was occupied by Dean alone.
"Hey, kid."
"Hey."
"Managed to rest up somewhat? Grab a seat."
Ben blinked up blearily at him, then complied. "Yeah, I guess."
"Cassie took Johnny out for a walk, too good a weather after being cooped up for a bit."
"But--"
"Oh don't worry, she can stand her own ground. They'll be back in a bit, safe enough." He stirred the pan, then tilted his chin towards the plate before Ben. "Hungry?"
The boy craned his neck towards the pan and answered warily, "yeah..."
Dean grinned slightly, then served up a plate of scrambled eggs, with a side of toast and jam. "There goes. If you want, there's cereal too, I'll have the eggs."
"I'll give 'em a try, I guess." Ben watched him settle to his side on the table, a cup of coffee before him, bulked up shoulders slightly hunched as he sipped from it occasionally. He was... very suspicious of anybody looking like that's cooking skills. So he took a small scoop with his fork. Then a bigger one. After a few moments, he blinked up. "Wow. This is good!"
He was answered with a lopsided grin. "Well, what can I say. I'm full of surprises."
For all the situation and how messed up things were... it made Ben feel a tiny little bit better. Somehow.
***
Away. LATER.
The trip had turned out unexpectedly eventful. Dean was driving Ben home, again, and they'd taken a detour so Ben could finally meet Bobby, after the two had heard about each other a lot. And they'd run into something that was damn close to a case that Sam and Dean had dealt with years ago, a haunted stretch of road.
Except this time it was his son with him, and much as the boy had learned in the months since he first showed up, he was a kid. After they'd managed to burn the bones and the car had finally started again, Ben was hyperventilating, curling in on himself, and shuddering - yes, it had been close enough to fully justify such reaction too; demons were one thing, but being caught out in the open, in the woods, by a full-fledged infuriated ghost with an axe? Totally scary - and while he was far from decisive, moving away even in the car seemed the slightly less favorable option for him. So for once Dean decided to not just drive off and gun for it.
Instead, he gathered some firewood, used the gasoline and lighter to start a fire, and bundled the boy up, to warm and calm down. Made tea, then talked Ben into lying down, and then kept on talking until he closed his eyes and his breathing evened out.
The boy - teenager, really - blinked awake, then struggled briefly with the unexpected closeness of the sleeping bag before sitting up.
"What're doing?"
"Breakfast. Hungry?"
"How can you... after last night? How can you think of food?" Ben's nose wrinkled, thinking of the stench of the bones going up in flames. Admittedly, that was waaaay back in the woods, and currently, his nose was suggesting different stuff. Like beans.
"Sure I can. One must eat, and this - not that exceptional for what Sam and I've done all our lives. Demons tend to be an unwelcome exception."
Ben shook his head and fully rolled out, stretching a bit, walking away very little, and then coming back to the fire, the sunlight from among the branches highlighting his hair; after a bout of wind, shining into his eyes until he sat back down on the roll. "'s there any water?"
"Yup. Here goes. Water. Beans, though you will have to risk the sausage, cannot give guarantees about it. Don't have marshmallows."
He got a blank look for a moment, then finally a flicker of amusement. "Marshmallows?"
"Yup, like, almost like a camping thing, y'know."
Ben blinked another moment, then laughed a little and took the bowl of food and the spork. "Are you... always like that? Don't you ever get scared?"
"Oh I get scared. One's got to be a complete idiot not to. But, you know. We're alive. The ghost's wasted. It's gonna be all right."
"Sometimes, I even believe you when you say that."
"Good. You'd better. Eat up, and then back to home. Don't want you to miss out on school tomorrow or something. Lisa'll kill me."
Ben's eyes widened. "We were supposed to be home already, and you on your way back!"
"No worries. Called everybody as soon as it was reasonable. They know we're fine."
The boy sighed, then finally started to eat. A few bites in, he couldn't stop. "Huh. I guess... I was hungry."
Dean... actually smirked. "Oh yeah."