Less Talk More Rokk
The diner was nearly empty. Those few people finishing up their breakfast were quiet, glancing over at the two figures in the corner every now and again. Wondering if maybe they should call the police. The two men weren't arguing…at least not loudly enough to know what the topic of dispute was to the others in the diner, but it was obvious that they were in dispute about something. The sat facing each other, glaring while they ate their own breakfast.
Dean sat finishing off his toast and eggs, trying to eat slowly. It was hard because the food was less the stellar and he wanted to be done and on the road. But that meant that he and Sam would have to reach some kind of understanding before they could go and Dean wanted to put it off a little longer. So he ate soggy toast and over cooked eggs and sipped his weak coffee. Sam had finished his food 10 minutes before and was sitting impatiently, leg jumping under the table. His brother always got fidgety when Dean was giving him the silent treatment over something Sam thought was trivial.
But it wasn't trivial to Dean. This was a matter great importance and personal pride. If he let Sam have his way then who knew what else Sam would want to do to his baby. It was bad enough that Dean had twisted his ankle of his right foot while chasing a '' through the woods and couldn't drive. But now Sam was throwing his own rule back into his face. Driver picks the music and the passenger shuts his cake hole. But this was Dean's car…so ownership should over rule all else right? Sam didn't see it that way.
Finally Dean finished his food, even going so far as to wipe his plate clean with his final piece of toast in an effort to put off the inevitable. As he washed it all down with the last of his coffee Sam said, "So are you going to let me or not?"
"Not"
"Dean"
"Sam"
"It's only fair and it's not like its permanent."
"No."
Sam sighed and Dean took that to mean that he was gathering his thoughts to try from a new angle. "If you let me then I promise to let you have your turn."
Ignoring Sam's latest track Dean said, "Why are you so adamant about this anyway? Normally you don't even care."
"I care, but usually you're driving. Why do you care so much?"
Why did he care so much? Dean reached up to rub his eyes. He hadn't slept well last night. Hell nightmares. And aside from being about things he wished he could forever erase from his memory, the nightmares also reminded him of Sam's four months alone. Of what Sam had done to his car because he thought it was his. Because Dean was dead. The last thing Dean wanted was a visual reminder of what they had both gone through while he was down under.
After a few minutes of Dean's silence Sam said irritably, "You know what? Just forget it. If you're scared of a little iPod then I won't bring it up again."
"I'm not scared of an iPod," Dean said quickly only realizing after the fact that he'd left himself open.
"Then what are you scared of" Sam said, his voice changing instantly to concerned.
"Nothing," Dean said trying for casual and unconcerned.
"Then why wont you let me plug in the iPod jack? We've still got 700 miles and you said yourself you're tired of the same 5 cassettes over and over again. The iPod has over a 1000 songs on it. Out of all your cassettes you've got about 50."
"1000?!" Dean said amazed. "Where the hell did you get 1000 songs?"
Sam ducked his head the looked around the diner and said in a low voice, "Well, I got them from hear or there. Some are from ripped CD's from friends back at Stanford or the library. Others I, ah…, found online."
"Huh," was all Dean could say. He knew how to use the computer for research and…other pursuits. And he could download ringtones for his phone and text message. But where did you 'find' music that you didn't have to pay for? "And for the record, I'm not tired of those 5 albums and you cant use what I said while I had ghost fever against me."
"Right, your not tired of them. Ok Dean, then why have we listening to the radio more often then not?"
Sometimes he really hated how well his brother understood him. Sam had even been playing the radio for the last 200 miles. However, every time a commercial came on or they lost reception Dean would fiddle with it till he found something. Usually something that was to his tastes, not Sam's. But he still wasn't giving in. It was the principle of the thing.
"You know, your tapes aren't going to last forever and I have every single one of your albums on the iPod including some you don't have."
"Really?" Dean had to admit to himself that he was now intrigued. The only reason he didn't have more tapes was because they simply took up too much room. Room that was needed for weapons and clothes.
"Yeah…I've got all of the albums for Zeppelin, Metallica, Black Sabbath, most of your favorites. I'll put it on shuffle and we can both get what we want. It will be like the radio only without commercials and no static."
It was tempting but Dean wasn't ready to give in, "I don't know."
"Dean, you know the rules…" Sam said as he signed. "No going back on the rules once they've been declared."
That one was Sam's rule. He'd come up with it when he was 16 and officially got his license. They had been driving non-stop to Alabama to meet up with Dad and Dean had been asleep in the passenger's seat after having driven all night. He'd awoken to the sound of some boy band on the radio. He'd turned it off after calling his brother a girl for listening to that crap only to have Sammy blow up at him for it. They'd then argued over the rules of the car, most of which had been set down by Dad before he'd given it to Dean. Rule number one was the driver was in charge. Rule two was don't mess with the driver. A lot of other rules consisted of what was and wasn't allowed into the car or what Dean and Sam couldn't get away with. It hadn't matted too much to Dad when Dean drove as they liked many of the same bands. However, like in everything else, Sam had to be different. Dean often wondered if Dad getting the truck and giving the Impala to Dean was Dad's way of escaping his two sons and namely Sam. Who had seemed to do whatever he could to annoy his father without openly breaking the rules. So that trip they had re-established the rules. The first two stayed and rule three was changed to no going back on the rules unless a unanimous vote was declared.
"But this doesn't fall under that rule. This falls under the 'don't modify the car without my consent' rule."
"That's for permanent modification. This isn't permanent." Dean had only realized after the fact that Sam had made sure to word the rule like that so he could prank Dean by using his car against him. There wasn't much he could do, but he'd been creative enough to think up a few things.
"Look I'll keep it on a rock playlist. There are more rock bands out there then just mullet rock."
"There are bands out there that may be classified as rock…doesn't make them worth listening to."
"Dean"
"Alright, alright!" Dean finally conceded. They could go round and round all day and not reach a consensus and they needed to be on the road. There was a possible werewolf near Broken Bow, Nebraska that they needed to take a look at. "But I reserve the right to skip songs."
"You only get 5 an hour."
"Deal"
"And I get to go first," Sam said, over his shoulder, as he quickly left the dinner leaving Dean to deal with the check.
The older Winchester left enough cash to cover the bill and tip and followed Sam out. Maybe, he thought to himself with a secret smile, it was time for a change.