Charlene holds her hand out for Castiel to shake . . . only for him to stare at it. And stare at it . . . and stare at it. Her hand retracts just a bit, slightly disconcerted.
She smiles awkwardly, and casts a glance to Dean who merely shrugs. He mouths 'give him a minute,' and she sighs internally before just lowering her arm.
"So, uh, anyway, you're Castiel! I've heard quite a bit-"
"You're Charlene Rosen?" She stops mid-sentence, but nods at his badly-timed question none the less.
"Yeah, that's me." She puts her hands in her pockets. The way the angel watches her every move doesn't go unnoticed, but she chooses to ignore it for the time being even though it's slightly unnerving.
"The Charlene Rosen?" Again, she nods.
"Well, I don't think the 'the' is really necessary. I'm just Charlene Rosen." He continues to stare at her, so Dean clears his throat to break the silence.
"So, Cas, why don't we talk about our plan for tomorrow?" He grasps onto Castiel's trenchcoat and slightly awkwardly drags him into the other room, while the angel's gaze remains fixed on Carly the entire time.
Well okay, she thinks. That was rather . . . odd, for one.
Sam clears his throat behind her, causing her to jump. She spins around, her hair fanning out in front of her face, and when her eyes land on Sam she glares at him, crossing her arms and attempting to pretend that never happened, although the smirk on his face clearly states that he won't let her forget.
"Is this a hobby of yours? Scaring people?" He laughs.
"Nope, only seems to work on you." Carly grimaces, but he simply smirks even more. Rolling her eyes, she lets her arms fall down the her sides, and Sam starts speaking again.
"So, your first time meeting an angel. I know that my first time wasn't that great either," he says, recalling for a moment how the first time he met Cas, he called him 'The Boy with the Demon Blood.' However, he pushes that memory out of his mind and forces himself to come back to the present.
"Yeah . . . Bobby said that they're all like that, but- are they really? Are they seriously all that . . ." Carly struggles momentarily to find a word to describe Castiel. ". . . gruff, and, I guess . . . overall awkward?" She asks, looking at Sam.
"Well the gruff part you got right, but the awkward part seems to only apply to Cas." She nods, a smile coming across her lips. Another question sits on the tip of her tongue, but she hesitates to ask it. Sam notices the hesitation, and as he leans against the door frame, he asks her:
"What is it?" She glances up at him, then back down to the floor.
"This . . . this isn't about Cas, or angels, but- I swear I don't mean to sound offensive or anything when I say this, but I was wondering . . . what are other hunters like?" Carly glances up at Sam before continuing.
"I mean, I know I'm gonna meet some other hunters tonight- that is, if I manage to work up the nerve to put aside my slightly-introverted personality and actually socialize - but other than that, I just want to know if I- how much I can tell them. I just figured that I shouldn't go up to someone who hunts the paranormal and just say 'hey guess what, I'm here because I can levitate stuff!' I've got a feeling that wouldn't end well." She looks back up to Sam, and he pauses slightly before answering.
"Well, yeah, you can't just say that, because even Dean and I have seen quite a bit, and that was rather surprising, so to tell it to someone who doesn't know who you are would clearly be a bad idea." She nods, so he keeps speaking while she takes it in. "But you should know that the hunters that will be here- Ellen and Jo - they're very open, easy-going hunters . . . just don't get on their bad sides." Carly laughs.
"Not planning on it." In fact, almost as soon as she finishes her sentence, there's the sound of a car pulling up outside of the house, and Charlene and Sam both walk to the front door, Carly trailing behind slightly.
"Wait, Sam, real quick- what can I tell them?" He pauses, then looks down at her.
"Just tell them that . . . that you're a hunter-in-training, 'cause you know, you kind of are since you can't stay here without learning a thing or two." Carly nods timidly.
"Okay, hunter-in-training," she mumbles to herself.
Footsteps walk up to the to the other side of the door, and despite her best efforts, Carly finds herself shrinking away from the door. What are they like? How are they going to react to me? These thoughts swirl around in her head, making her more anxious by the second, but Sam casts a reassuring look her way just before he opens the door, and she takes a deep breath as he opens it.
Two women stand there, an older-looking woman, (Carly figures she's Ellen), and a young woman with wavy blonde hair (clearly Joanna- er, Jo).
Their faces light up as they see Sam there, and Dean walks up behind Carly, along with Castiel. As soon as Cas sees Carly, his gaze latches on to her and she shifts uncomfortably. However, this small exchange goes unnoticed by everyone else, since they're all busy with their reunion.
As soon as they're done, Jo is the first one to notice the unknown auburn-haired girl standing slightly awkwardly behind the rest of the group. She casts a glance at Dean, who then pulls Carly further into the line of sight. Ellen and Jo look at her, then to Sam and Dean.
"Ellen, Jo, this is Charlene/Carly Rosen, hunter-in-training. Carly, this is Ellen and Jo." He points to each person respectively, and she nods timidly at them.
"Erm- hi." Ellen and Jo nods to her, Ellen's smile looking a little bit more welcoming than Jo's.
"Hi," "Nice to meet you," they say at the same time. Charlene looks a little bit more sure of herself from their warm welcomes, so she manages a smile.
"Nice t-to meet you too." They smile at her one last time before looking back to Sam and Dean, and after they leave the room so Dean can show them where they'll stay for the night, Carly lets out a breath she hasn't realized she's been holding. As Sam closes the door, he casts a glance at her before saying
"They're really nice, just give them a little time." She nods, a little unsure, but manages a fake-smile.
"Thanks, Sam." She nods in thanks before heading off upstairs, in an attempt to find her room and return her introverted self to salvation. After all, Carly knows that she has a very long night ahead of her.
