For:
"I dare you..."challenge (DeanLuna, frostbitten)
Alpha and Omega Challenge (steady)
Scattergories Challenge (scarred, selfish)
frostbite: the medical condition where localized damage is caused to tissue due to freezing
i.
The war is over, and he should feel something. Happiness. Relief. Excitement. Hope.
Instead, Dean just feels cold. Something inside him is broken, and he can't bring himself to smile, even as Seamus grabs him in a hug and attempts to lift him off his feet. "We did it, mate! We did it!"
"Yeah," Dean agrees, wondering if his friend can hear how hollow his words sound.
ii.
He shuts himself off, refusing to join the others in their celebrations, in relishing the simple fact that they're still alive. He doesn't feel alive anymore. Only cold, empty.
iii.
"Dean!"
His eyes open, and he finds his sister, Maya, staring at him with wide eyes, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
"A dream," he sighs, wiping sweat from his brow and sinking back into the mattress.
"You were screaming your bloody head off!"
"I'm fine," he lies.
"I wish you would tell us what happened while you were gone."
"I know."
iv.
He doesn't like walking around with his invisible scars and forced smile. Each day, he seems to grow colder, and he's afraid he'll never thaw, never heal.
Dean puts the bottle to his lips, tilting it back and draining half its contents in one. The liquor should warm him, but it has no effect.
He's too far gone.
v.
"Did you know that frostnip doesn't permanently damage the body?"
Dean turns, brows raised as he looks at Luna in confusion. "Okay...?" he says, uncertain how to respond.
She smiles, moving closer and taking his hand as she had done at Shell Cottage and just before the final battle. "You seem a bit cold," she explains. "And I thought you should know you're probably not frostbitten, so don't worry."
Dean can't help but to laugh. "Has anyone ever told you it's sort of creepy when you say how they're feeling outright?"
"Once or twice. But it's true, you know."
Dean doesn't know, really. He can't bring himself to believe her.
But she's so steady, so calm. He pulls her into him, kissing her gently, desperation heavy on his tongue.
Maybe he's selfish. Maybe he only holds her because she is everything that he is not, and it's the first time in months that he's really felt anything.
But she doesn't protest, and he holds her more tightly, wondering if maybe, just maybe, she could help him thaw.