with my head on the ledge, that's what you get out on the edge.
Dean is not having a good day. In addition to dealing with some of the stupidest customers the Luna Bar has ever seen, he woke up this morning to find himself surrounded with a small entourage of paper cranes. They're multi-colored and terribly crafted, and despite Dean's numerous attempts, they won't go away. He's done everything short of taking a
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Getting something to drink isn't the reason why he's in the bar.
He's in the bar because he can feel Dean there, and he feels compelled to check up on him in person. He sees all the CLF dramatics over the journal, and it doesn't make him feel comfortable, by any stretch of the imagination. He had been giving Dean his space because he knows that the bond they have isn't there, but the compulsion to check on his charge was still there, whether Dean is familiar with him or not. He makes his way into the bar -- actually using the door this time -- and moves to sit at the bar.
"Hello, Dean."
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He sets the drink down in front of the guy and gives up all hope of a decent tip, then turns to Castiel with a friendly, if strained, smile. "Hey," he says. "Didn't figure you for the drinking type."
Then again, Chicago can bring out the drinker in anyone. It's part of why Dean makes pretty good money here.
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It doesn't slip past him that Dean seems stressed, and he doesn't want to be any trouble. He's achieved his goal of making sure that Dean is himself and in one piece, so he doesn't have to stay.
"You seem stressed." Which is Castiel's way of saying that he wouldn't take it personally if you told him to leave.
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Dean shrugs, making a gesture to the parade of paper cranes still doing their best just to annoy the shit out of him. "Just Chicago keepin' me on my toes, I guess."
"Can I get you anything else, then?" he asks. "On me." He's not sure his kind of angel has to do any of that, but it's polite. Either way, he's pretty sure Castiel doesn't have any money - most wanderers don't.
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She's here to bug the life out of Dean and it seems the paper cranes are already doing the work for her. Her shift at the bar she works in has ended and what do you know? She decided to stop by for a visit.
She is very, very glad she made this decision.
At the moment, she can't even find the words to greet him. She is just sitting on a stool at the counter, being very amused at Dean's expense. Scowl away, Dean. Jo will probably only...smile brighter.
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Before Dean can say anything, one of the paper cranes circling his ear - purple, and more than a little battered because Dean keeps swiping at it - stops its rotation to go flutter toward Jo like it's saying hello.
Dean hates everything, but maybe with Jo here, he won't have to kill anyone else.
Somehow, this is a bonus. "Hey," he says, sarcastic smile in place. "Best night ever."
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Besides, unless he's shifting into a dog against his will occasionally, she's not going to feel particularly sympathetic.
Okay, that's not necessarily true. Jo's kind of sympathetic about the whole involuntary vegetarianism. The paper crane flutters toward her and she laughs, swiping it back toward him. "It's you they want," she says, unable to hide the grin.
"I can see that," she says, drumming her fingernails against the counter. "How long have they been followin' you?"
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"Yeah," Dean says flatly, scowling at the crane as it flutters back into place. "I'm irresistible."
He shrugs, which temporarily displaces at brightly colored pink crane that had been pecking at his shoulder. "Woke up this mornin', got dressed, went outside and they showed up outta nowhere. Been tryin' to shake 'em off ever since."
Seriously. He shook. He threatened. He possibly broke out some dusty books in the trunk of the Impala just in case there was something about... misshapen paper cranes following you everywhere.
For the record, there wasn't.
"Didn't even bother tryin' to drive here. Woulda been a disaster."
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He reckons they didn't.
He scratches the back of his head, already aware this won't be pretty and it most likely won't end well. Far be it for him to leave a Wanderer to their own devices, though.
"Well hell." Wes clears his throat. "Can I help you, ma'am?"
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Deb jumps at the voice; she's been looking in every pocket she has for her cell phone, but it's suddenly gone missing - and so has everything else she keeps on her, except her gun.
If someone kidnapped her, they picked a really fucking odd way of doing it.
"Yeah," she says, and then looks up - and up, of course - at Wes. She steps over to him, pinning him with a fierce look. "You can tell me where the fuck I am, and how the fuck I got here, and probably while we're at it, who the fuck you are."
She doesn't reach for her gun, because even if this isn't her city there's no probable cause - yet - but it's still very clearly there in its holster, in case Wes tries anything.
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She's kind of scary, for all the height that he's got. He was once pelted repeatedly with a really heavy purse for his efforts. He sees that gun, and while it doesn't intimidate him, he knows a woman that doesn't mess around when he sees one.
"My name's Wes Gannon. You're in Chicago," he says, lifting his hands up in a gesture that's meant to convey he's harmless. Or as harmless as he can look. "The year's 2010. You fell through a Rift. Rifts are breaks in space and time. They pull people from their own world, deposit them here. I know it sounds hard to believe but that's...the truth."
He's an angel, and he can't lie, but Wes figures he's not going to break it down to her all at once.
It's strange, too. He's delivered this explanation countless of times. It never does get easier.
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She's seen a lot of insane shit as a cop - been direct witness to a lot of insane shit, since her ex-fiance ended up being a frigging serial killer. But this is definitely a new high, or low, or whatever the fuck the scale is ( ... )
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However, it does take a certain amount of talent to notice the fluffy bunny as one is walking down the hallway, and trip over one's own feet in the attempt to not trip over the bunny.
Elizabeth happens to be that talented, and she falls on to the floor beside the bunny with a loud Oofwaaaaahhhgh. It doesn't even take her a moment to recover. She looks sideways at the fluffy animal. Her hands are holding her up so she's not lying on the floor, and her wings are actually out behind her for once, yellow and long.
"I didn't know the Tower had bunnies," she says and then she wrinkles her nose, pushing herself back up as if she didn't just fall flat n her face. "Oh! You're probably a shapeshifter, huh? Sorry for almost tripping on you!"
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Despite being a bunny and not a cat (which is unfortunate beyond the telling, if you ask Anya), the grey ball of fluff makes its way carefully over to Elizabeth, small little hops across the floor. It tilts its head up as far as it can and tries to convey yes, I am a shapeshifter with its little bunny eyes.
Possibly said little bunny eyes are also trying to convey do you have any carrots?, but we won't get into that.
There's no suitable way that Anya can figure out to say that she accepts Elizabeth's apology about the tripping thing. The bunny scritches sadly at the floor.
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She smiles wide, and she... has no idea what the bunny is trying to convey. Elizabeth fails at reading cues around human beings, and it's especially hard with an animal... that should not be able to convey anything without words.
"Oh, right. You're a bunny. You can't answer my question. Um." Elizabeth presses her lips together thoughtfully. She puts two fingers up, one on either side of her face as she demonstrates the following. "Wag one ear for yes... and the other ear for no. Wait, can bunnies even wag their ears? I think that might be a... I don't even think dogs can. Hmm ( ... )
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If Anya were not a bunny, she would consider being called adorable a compliment. And if she were more herself, she would question Elizabeth's sanity in calling such a terrifying creature cute.
Still, she's grateful that Elizabeth hasn't run off in fright, because this means that she'll maybe get somewhere a little less public before she shifts back. Anya isn't terribly modest as far as these things go, but even she has limits. And she likes her clothes. They're good clothes. She just can't find them again, because the bunny wants to hop.
And it does hop a few times. It also demonstrates that while bunnies can't exactly wag their ears, they can twitch them impressively.
No, this really isn't helping anyone.
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"You've fallen through a Rift, I'm afraid," she says, and it's a speech that she knows well. "There's no way back to wherever you've come from, but there is somewhere to go."
It's strange how she's gotten through so much so fast, and she pauses to await the questions, the accusations, the anger, and the confusion. It's all what she's used to dealing with. None of it would take her by surprise.
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There are so many things she wants to ask, but the only thing that gets out immediately is, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Not stellar detective work, exactly, but things are a little rough right now.
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"There are Rifts. Rifts are breaks in time and space. They lead from one universe to another, and you fell through one," she says, and she understands if this woman can't really believe her. Most people don't believe it at first, as real as it feels. "You're in Chicago. It's 2010. I'm afraid that there's no way back to... wherever you're from, even if you could take a plane to Chicago in your own world. This... isn't your world."
She pauses, and she's still calm, but it's hard to be anything but when one has done this so many times.
"I know it's going to be hard to believe me."
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As far as Deb can tell, there's nothing - except for the words coming out of her mouth, and even they're said in such a calm, easy tone, that Deb is having trouble, despite the situation, dismissing them outright.
"You're damn right it is," she says, and she's still furious, still frustrated, but she feels like there isn't enough air to start cursing and spitting the way she has been.
"Who are you? How do you -" know all this, she almost says, but she cuts herself off. Deb almost had all of her limbs cut off by her own fiance once, but this is getting pretty high up there on list of insane shit she's dealt wtih.
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