"Hey, Dean, look at this."
Sam twisted the laptop around on the small motel table. Dean turned away from the T.V. and squinted at the screen.
"What am I looking at?"
Sam shrugged slightly, a small frown on his face.
"Name meanings. Baby names…"
The older hunter raised an interested eyebrow at his younger brother over the top of the screen.
"You got something you wanna tell me, Sammy?"
Sam huffed and rolled his eyes. "Dude, I was bored. But that's not my point. Check it out."
Dean tore interested eyes off his brother to glance at the screen. Three lines at the top of the page and it made sense.
Name: Jessica
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Protected by God
He stared at the words, not sure what to make of them - or, more importantly, not sure what Sam was making of them. He glanced up at Sam, who was sitting there looking awfully melancholy.
"That's nice, Sammy," he finally decided, turning the laptop back around.
Sam stopped him and nodded at the laptop. "Keep reading."
Dean frowned himself and looked back at the screen.
Name: Mary
Origin: Latin
Meaning: Star of the sea
Name: Johnathan
Origin: English
Meaning: God is forgiving
Dean fingered the top of the screen, not entirely sure if he was smiling or frowning now, figuring he was probably doing a strange approximation of both.
He cleared his throat slightly and turned the laptop back to Sam, this time without resistance. Sam sat staring at the screen as if it were speaking to him.
"Tigers die and leave their skins; people die and leave their names," he said softly, smiling sadly again. When Dean looked at him questioningly, he shrugged slightly. "Japanese proverb."
Dean nodded thoughtfully, and then was pretty sure he frowned as he asked, "Hey, what about my name?"
Sam's smile widened, still staring at the screen. "Ah, you sure you wanna know?"
Dean continued to frown. "Why? It's nothing bad, is it?"
Sam shrugged and glanced up at him, still smiling. "Nah, not bad, just…." He sighed, shook his head, and typed something on the keyboard, before once again handing the laptop to Dean.
Dean stared at Sam suspiciously before reading the screen.
Name: Dean
Origin: Old English
Meaning: Valley
"What? That's it? What the hell does that mean?"
Sam shrugged, obviously amused. "That's it. But what's in a name, right?"
Dean glared at him. Then he had a thought. He typed something into the little box at the top of the page and hit enter.
Name: Samuel
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Heard by God
Dean grinned up at Sam and exited the page, turning back to the T.V. as Sam took back the laptop.
"Yeah. What's in a name?"