Be it ever so humble..

[roadhouse_mama]

Who : Ellen Harvelle and others (open to anyone who'd like to come through)
What : Celebrating the Roadhouse (version II)
When : The evening of March 20th
Rating : pg-ish, probably some language
Status : Ongoing

Comments

[to_rebel]

It did not take Castiel long to find the new Roadhouse; in fact, it took him longer to walk across the Marketplace than it did to find where Ellen had set up her bar. It had only been a couple days since he'd returned, but if there was one thing that trumped rest, it was restlessness. As did the promise of spending time with people he liked and trusted.

His hand was still wrapped, if healing well. (Slower than he was used to, but well enough. The bandaging could be removed, most likely, but it was something of a two-handed job.) If nothing else, the wrapping reminded him not to really use the hand.

He pushed the door open and let himself in, taking in the interior before letting his gaze settle on Ellen. Granted, he had never seen the first Roadhouse, but this second one seemed fitting somehow. He nodded toward her in greeting and made his way to the bar.

[roadhouse_mama]

And speaking of good friends.. Ellen came out from behind the bar to greet the first arrival with a smile. His hand was still wrapped, but he was looking better than he had since his return. "Hey Cas. Good to see you up and about."

Before the angel could protest and before the bar filled with people, she wrapped Castiel up in a powerful embrace. “You’re looking good.” Ellen pulled back and grasped his shoulder with a grin. She didn’t want to embarrass him too much. “Come on, let me get you a drink.”

[to_rebel]

That was unexpected. Castiel stilled, tensed out of sheer surprise, and didn't exactly return the hug. That was somewhat of a first. It wasn't... bad. Not at all, and he appreciated the gesture.

"I am... up, yes." Looking good, he wasn't quite sure about. At least the bruises had faded. He couldn't quite muster a half-smile at the offer of the drink, but he did nod. "I'll take a drink."

[roadhouse_mama]

Ellen moved back towards the bar and poured a pair of shots, sliding one across to him. She didn't begrudge his somewhat stilted reaction; it was commonplace among most hunters she knew, even the non-angelic variety. A relieved hug was either welcome, or they didn’t know what to do with it.

“Up is always a fair start, Cas. So what do you think?” she asked, gesturing vaguely around the place before leaning back and resting her elbows against the bar.

[geekboy_sam]

Sam was pleased to see something familiar from home. He always liked going to the Roadhouse and to be honest, he was devastated when the first one was burned down. There was also the fact that he needed to have a break after what happened recently; hell, they all could use a break at this point. He walked straight up to the bar and smiled at Ellen.

"Hey. The place looks good."

[roadhouse_mama]

"Sam!" Ellen met him at the door with a hug. They had been separated during the attacks and only managed to see each other in passing afterwards as Ellen worked to patch up the wounded. "Damn good to see you, kid."

"Thanks. It's not quite like the old place, but I think it'll do just fine. C'mon, there's food in the back and plenty of beer. You'd best hurry up and grab some, Dean heard there's pie."

[geekboy_sam]

He hugged Ellen tightly in return before pulling back to look at her. "It's really good to see you too, Ellen." Sam had mostly lost track of Ellen whilst the place was under attack and he was relieved to see that she was alright.

"Food and beer? Now you're spoiling me." He laughed and started to walk towards the back.

[roadhouse_mama]

She echoed his laugh, "Hell Sam, someone's got to. Now hurry up, Dean's on his way and you know how your brother is when it comes to pie."

It was damned good having the boys around, Cas and Bobby too. The Roadhouse was starting to feel more like home with them talking and laughing in the bar. And if she didn't think about it too much, she could almost put Carthage out of her mind.

Almost.

[i_shot_a_dick]

Dean ran, kind of like a kid on christmas morning towards that road house after he spoke to Ellen over the network. All he could think was a good burger and plate of fries with a beer, topped off by a whole pie, forget a slice.

The hunter hadn't had a slice of pie since he got here and he damn well was wanting some. As he came through the door noisy as always there was a large grin on his face "Ellen! Tell me you have pie."

He walked over to the bar and hitched self up on a stool with a grin "And can I get a job?" Yes, the things that this place liked to play kept him busy, but a paying job in between might not be such a bad idea and Ellen was a boss who could keep him in line, so he figured it was worth a shot.

[roadhouse_mama]

Ellen looked up from behind the bar and smiled. It was already starting to feel like home as more of her family kept pouring through that door. The voices, the laughter, it was comfortable and nice and she didn't realize just how much she had missed all of it.

"I got four of 'em Dean, just promise to save a little for everyone else," she said with a grin, sliding a beer over to him.

Her eyebrows shot up at the offer and she chuckled. "A job? Hm. Never had a Winchester workin for me, but so long as you think you can take orders." Well, if he didn't, she could always threaten to shoot him in the ass with a shotgun loaded with rocksalt. It worked on his father well enough.

[i_shot_a_dick]

Dean gave a snort of amusement "They can have one." He caught the beer and lifted it up taking a long drink, when he sat it down it was easy to watch some of that tension the hunter carried in his shoulders fade from them. "Ah, that's good."

"Hey! I can take an order." Just how well he followed it was another thing, truth be told Dean was good at grunt work so to speak and being on hand at the road house served another purpose, he could keep an eye on Ellen and the people coming and going, be there if there was trouble.

[roadhouse_mama]

She smiled easily, "Leave more than one, I can always make more."

"I'm sure I'll find somethin to keep you occupied and out of trouble around here, Dean. Think you can manage to pour a decent drink? I don't expect much trouble, so I don't see much cause for a bouncer around here." It was better to give Dean a job and at least let him feel useful rather than having him lurk around the bar looking fidgety.

Besides, she could never deny the boys, not really. They were family.

Just sneaking in to make a delivery...

[grace_optional]

Anna slipped quietly inside, keeping unobtrusively near the door and declining to interrupt any of the conversations in progress. She gave Ellen a subdued smile, liking the looks of this new place, though she'd never seen the old Roadhouse either; she would pay her respects properly soon, but there was a minor bit of unfinished business she wanted to get out of the way first

[to_rebel]

Castiel had a glass in front of him, still half-full, and he idly ran his fingers over the rim, picking up and turning the glass now and again, as he listened to what was going on around him. Like Ellen, he was content to simply relax in the company of friends, without conversation

[grace_optional]

She nodded. "That's good. You look better." Whether boozing it up was necessarily going to help matters was debatable, but she'd had enough over the past few days of talking to a brick wall, and Ellen would presumably cut him off before he overdid it too much. Not why she was here, anyway.

"I figured you'd probably be wanting this back," she said, reaching inside her jacket and drawing out his silver blade, thoroughly cleaned and polished to a mirror finish. She laid it carefully on the bar between them. "I found it where..." She glanced away. "Well. Where I didn't find you."She also figured she owed him a chance to say anything he might have on his mind about that. She still hadn't figured out how something as big and awkwardly put together as the 'sharktopus' kidnappers could have disappeared so quickly, but that was really beside the point. What mattered was that it had been faster than she was, and Castiel had paid a heavy price. Anna hoped he would believe that she had tried, but she labored under no illusions that

[to_rebel]

The alcohol was not really helping matters, but it seemed that everywhere Castiel went, someone was offering it. He didn't have it in himself to turn it down, not when he could focus on drinking with friends rather than speaking with friends. At any rate, he'd been nursing this particular drink for a good long time now, without a refill. He knew better than to overdo it. (Maybe

[grace_optional]

Leaving Castiel to his drink and his thoughts, Anna walked to the other end of the bar, where Ellen had discreetly removed herself while they were talking. She appreciated the courtesy, especially considering she'd put off coming over to say hello when she came in.

"Hi, Ellen," she said with a subdued smile. "The place is really nice. I'm sure it'll do great." She liked it better than any of the other bars she'd seen in town. Cleaner, quieter and less rowdy, among other things, though some of that was probably owing to the place's newness.

[roadhouse_mama]

Ellen kept herself at a distance while Cas and Anna spoke. She still didn't know much about anna, and given the fact that she arrived in the Underworld in the middle of a monster invasion, she hadn't had time to ask either. The boys and Bobby seemed to trust her well enough, and that went a long way in Ellen's book.

"Hey Anna," she said, clearing a few empty glasses away from the bar so she could sit if she liked. "Thanks. It's a nice place. Not exactly like the original, but still," Ellen glanced towards the pool table and the Winchesters, "it's starting to feel like it. Can I get you something to drink?"

[grace_optional]

Trust her? Well, maybe provisonally. She'd been working hard to earn back the trust she had forfeited when she tried to kill Sam, and she felt as if she'd made some real progress. Still, one wrong move and she didn't doubt for a moment she would find herself at the bottom of a four-way pileup with about fifteen weapons trained on her.

"A beer, thanks," Anna said, sliding onto a stool. "I'm sorry I never got to see the original." She hadn't heard what happened to the first Roadhouse, but given the company Ellen kept, she was guessing it wasn't a happy story. "And sorry you got dragged to this place. Though I gotta say, it was really a lucky break for the guys." If Ellen hadn't shown up, she suspected she'd have brought Cas home to find the others held together with duct tape and super glue.

[roadhouse_mama]

“You got it,” Ellen pulled another beer from the tap and slid it across to her. “Thanks. It’s a pretty good take on the original. Not exactly the same, but the feel’s right and that’s what matters. Demons took out the last one,” she said by way of explanation.

Ellen sketched a shrug. She wasn’t sorry. “It beats being dead,” she glanced over to the pool table and the Winchesters, with a slanted, but affectionate smile, “and getting to spend time with family makes up for the monster attacks and general weirdness. Even if I did spend the first two days doing nothing but patching them all up.”

“Here’s hoping they get enough time to heal before I have to do it again,” she said, inclining her glass in Anna’s direction. The toast was a tradition after a hunt and she saw fit to keep it alive, even in the Underworld.