'Hey man, you all right?' Sam asked Dean as he walked in to the motel room.
'Yeah, just a little tired' Dean answered, lying down again, on his stomach this time. As he rearranged the pillow so he could breathe, Sam noticed the bracelets on Dean's wrists again. He hadn't seen them in years, and had hoped he never would again. It wasn't something they'd ever talked about, but Sam thought Dean probably knew that he knew. Living together on the road it was hard to keep some things hidden.
Not impossible though, thought Sam, as he placed his laptop on the small table, and shoved the bag of beer and groceries onto the floor. He wasn't tired yet. He wasn't often tired. Not tired enough to sleep, anyway. Making sure Dean was asleep-he was, he really must have been exhausted-Sam quickly changed into slacks and trainers and headed out for a run. Running was good. Running cleared his head, helped him sleep. Usually.
'I smell blood,' Dean almost jumped out of his skin. Cas had materialised right next to him, and was staring intently at his face, 'Are you hurt?'
'Jesus Christ, Cas! Do you always have to do that? And where the hell have you been, anyway?'
'Around. You haven't answered my question: Are you hurt?'
'No, no I'm fine,' Dean resisted the urge to pull his sleeve all the way down. The bracelets covered up the cuts just fine, it was just paranoia, 'Just scraped my knee earlier on a wall, nothing serious' He was used to lying about injuries. People tended to worry if you told them you got this bruise from a vengeful spirit, and that cut from a fight with a vampire.
'Oh,' Cas sat on the edge of the bed. He looked tired, and worn.
'Seriously man, it's been weeks and I-we- haven't heard a damn thing, how would we know if you were okay, what the hell have you been doing?' Dean was angry at Cas now. Angry that he hadn't been there, that he had never answered.
'It's okay, Dean,' Castiel tried to show a sign of comfort, but Dean wouldn't take it, 'I've had other things on my mind. Angel politics, nothing you need to worry about. Yet.'
'Right, sure, well I'm gonna get some sleep,' Dean lay back down on the bed, as Castiel stood up.
'I'll watch over you.'