There were a few things that excited Alice without fail.
Cheesecake.
Finishing a hunt.
Knives.
Live Aerosmith concerts.
And Dean Winchester.
Dean Winchester and knives overlapped a lot. He kept almost as many knives on his person as did she, and could fight with one like nobody's business. Alice was used to seeing Dean with a knife in his hand. Over time, the sight became routine, and lost some of its flavor.
Until the first time Alice saw Dean sharpening a knife.
It was in the aftermath of an especially brutal vampire hunt. The fang, as Sam and Dean referred to it, was a loner, but the path of destruction it carved through Ashley Falls Massachusetts was impressive for a single vampire. Apparently, the thing had lost its mate, and decided life wasn't worth living anymore. Unwilling to just pay some druggie to saw his head off, he decided to go out with more of a bang. By the time he was finished, half the town and two other hunters were dead.
Dean had been the one to finally put the bastard down, by hacking its head off with a hunting knife. It was one of the most savage displays Alice had ever witnessed, and she had seen a lot of gory shit in her time.
"That was brutal, and a little sickening," Alice commented afterwards.
Dean, covered with blood, and still holding the fang's head in one hand, and the knife in the other, gave her the oddest look.
"Huh," he said, letting the head drop to the ground with a heavy, wet thud. "I never thought I'd see you cringe at any amount of blood, Alice."
"What? No, the blood doesn't bother me," Alice said quickly, rolling her eyes. She snatched the knife from him, examining the blade. It had struck the pavement several times with incredible force, and she winced as she surveyed the damage.
"I just never thought I would see anyone mistreat a knife like that," she sighed.
Dean chuckled, breathless from his struggle with the vampire.
"I should have known," he snorted, taking the knife back from her.
The next day, they were still in Ashley Falls. The vampire had done nothing to hide its true nature during its rampage, which meant that the surviving citizens knew exactly what had been hunting among them, and who had killed it. As such, Alice and the Winchesters were inclined to stick around for a while. Especially since the mayor offered to let them stay in her own house, which was little short of mansionhood.
"You know she's talking about giving us a key to the city," Sam said. He was reclined on the mayor's couch with a book. To his left, Alice was inspecting her knives, honing and cleaning them. Across from them, Dean was toying with the knife he had used to hack the vampire's head off. He eyed Alice's knife bag for a long moment, and she caught his gaze.
"Do you want something?" she asked.
"Yeah, can I have that stone?" he asked, leaning forward and pulling it out of the open bag.
Alice raised her eyebrows, but shrugged.
"Yeah, sure. What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine... or however it goes," she said.
"Thanks."
Dean stood, and carried the sharpening stone off in the direction of the kitchen. Alice watched him go, her interest piqued. Sam was still talking, but she tuned him out, listening to the water running in the kitchen. After a moment, a slow, steady scraping began.
Alice stood, and made for the kitchen, leaving Sam alone. He watched her go, sighing.
"I'm so glad you two are interested in the key to the city," he muttered under his breath, going back to his book.
Alice peeked around the corner into the kitchen, to see Dean sitting at the table. Before him, was a towel, upon which the sharpening stone sat. Off to the side, Dean had a bowl of water. He was methodically drawing the dulled blade across the water stone, maintaining a ten degree angle as it traveled away from him. Every now and then, he stopped to wipe the metal flakes and dust off the stone, or moisten it by dipping his fingers in the water bowl and flicking droplets onto its surface.
Alice watched, mesmerized as he continued. He didn't notice her until he stopped to test the edge he was working on with his thumbnail.
"Hey," he greeted her, sparing her no more than a glance before resuming his ministrations to the knife.
Alice left the doorway, and pulled up a chair across from Dean. Her eyes followed his hands as he worked with the blade, slowly bringing it back from ruin, it's jagged, worn edge growing keener and straighter with every pass. He paid special attention to the tip, curving the knife just so as he reached the end of the stone to create a wicked point.
Alice rested her chin on the table, and hummed quietly in satisfaction as she watched him work. A moment later, he stopped, regarding her oddly.
"You okay over there?" he asked, leaning toward her slightly with concern written all over his features. "It, uh... kinda sounds like you're hyperventilating a bit."
"Dean, lemme see that knife," Alice requested, holding her hand out.
"Uh... okay," Dean conceded, flipping it to hand it to her handle first. She examined the blade. It still needed work, but he was doing a damn good job so far.
"So..." Dean trailed off, watching her. "Can I have that back?"
"Maybe later," Alice said, putting it down on the table. "Let's go have sex. Right now."
She was dead serious and absolutely unapologetic. What could she say? There was nothing sexier than a guy who knew his way around a knife.
Dean looked surprised at the sudden request, but he wasn't about to turn her down.
"Wow, okay," he said, a slow grin spreading across his features.
