Hey guys! Just time to ask again that you leave reviews and kudos, and thank all of you for the amount of response that this story has gotten so far! I'm trying to update it as fast as humanly possible for you guys, so enjoy chapter 3~. Just a little warning; I haven't actually written the next chapter yet, but there will be some suggestive themes in the next couple of them. Nothing too inappropriate.
Note from present day me: NOPE I lied, there is lots of inappropriate in chapter 5. Just to warn you.
When Dean finally got home from work the next day, he gave a frustrated sigh. He walked forward and into the kitchen, dropping to his hands and knees in front of the sink. He rummaged through the cabinet directly underneath it, finally finding his garbage bags there. Once he had them there, he took one out and put the rest back, turning around and beginning his journey.
He put beer bottles, tissues, anything that he found to be cluttering up his house, he threw into the bag. When he was done with the kitchen and the living room he moved to the bedroom, making a face at the piles and piles of clothes and blankets and towels that were laying haphazardly in the floor. Once he was done with the trash, he marched back into his room with a hamper, grabbing handfuls of clothes and shoving them to the bottom of the hamper, finding that it was already full before he was halfway done with the room. He set the hamper in the corner and moved on to folding the blankets and putting everything back where it went. His alarm clock back on the dresser, condoms that had somehow fallen out of the drawer replaced...
When he was done, it looked halfway decent. So, he decided that the rest of it could be handled later. He picked up his laundry and swooped out the door, headed towards the bottom floor laundry room. He still had some change in his pocket left over from getting a Soda at work today, so he'd be able to was his clothes.
He put his hand against the closing elevator doors just as they started to shut, stopping the descent. They slowly reopened to reveal an almost empty elevator, only occupied by one other person. Dean quickly stepped in, carrying his laundry in his large hamper, which he had both hands wrapped around.
"Basement, please." He told the other. The man pushed the button and stepped back into the corner, but Dean didn't miss his eyes curiously flicker up. He had dark black, messy hair and bright blue eyes, with worry lines and bags under them, as if he hadn't gotten enough sleep recently. He had a trench coat slung around his shoulders, which were broad and defined. He looked like he needed to get a hold of his razor, but Dean wasn't one to criticize that. He self consciously raised a hand up to his own scruff.
"Bye." He said dumbly, as he went out of the elevator. He felt stupid for how lame and generic it was, but the other simply nodded his head in acknowledgment, pressing the first floor button.
Dean had seen the man around a couple of times; carrying in groceries or politely chatting with the old woman that ran the place. She wasn't technically the landlord, but she had a lot of say in who stayed, and Dean liked her a lot. She was sweet; Dean was happy to see somebody talking with her.
He slung his laundry in, depositing the coin. He almost dropped it as he put it in, but quickly recovered, earning a small scoff from the person putting in their own laundry, across the isle. There were only four washers and four dryers, so there wasn't a lot of room between them Dean recognized her, of course; Lisa was her name. He had had a brief fling with her a little while ago, but it hadn't worked out. She wanted somebody in a more professional business, and Dean could understand that. After all, she was trying to get out of these apartments; meeting somebody here wouldn't do her any good.
Then again, now, Dean would be getting out sometime. Eventually. When he finally saved up enough money to make the down payment on a new place.
He checked the time once his clothes were in, satisfied to see that it was only five o'clock. He had gotten home early that day, so if he headed upstairs now, he would have time to get on and see his Guild.
"Hey, Dean?" Asked Lisa as he turned away. He froze on the spot, flinching at her tone of voice. If this took too long, he would lose his opportunity to meet with his friends. He knew that if it wasn't important, though, she wouldn't have asked. So, instead of pretending like he hadn't heard her or telling her he was busy, he turned back towards her and leaned on the washing machine.
"Do you think you could watch Ben tonight? My work called in and my partner got super sick. You can just turn on a movie and let him watch that, I don't expect you to entertain him, but... It's an emergency, and if I go I'll get paid double." Lisa explained. Dean nodded his head enthusiastically.
"Of course. I never mind hanging out with Ben." He said. He knew that Ben had an account on the gaming site he had been using, so he could just get him to bring his laptop and they could hang out together. He'd never told Ben who he actually was on the game before, but he didn't think it would really matter. Ben would be happy to (temporarily) join their guild, and he knew the others would be happy to have him.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" She announced. She surged forward and hugged Dean, her breasts pushing up against his chest. He pretended not to notice, hugging her back. He was pretty sure that Lisa still had a thing for him, but he had decided that he didn't want to get involved with her. He thought of her more as a friend than as a permanent relationship. He wasn't quite sure why; it was just a vague feeling that he had, like she just wasn't right.
She pulled away, and he nodded. "So, would you like to just send him over to my place? Tell him to bring his laptop, we're probably gonna play a game together."
She nodded her head eagerly, breathing out a sigh of relief again. Dean could tell she had been stressed out lately, and he was glad to help her. She and him had been close at one point.
"Okay, he'll be there in ten minutes. Just don't give him any alcohol and send him back around midnight, that's when I'll be home. Thanks again, Dean, you're a life saver." She praised. Dean nodded to himself as she sprinted up the stairs. He never understood what was up with her and never using the elevator, but he supposed it had something to do with how in-shape she had to keep for her job.
One thing to be said for Lisa was that she had the best body of any of the girls Dean had been with, so far. She was absolutely amazing in bed. She could practically put her entire leg behind her head; her entire leg. Dean missed the sex; it had been awhile since he'd gotten laid. He shook his head to dismiss the thought.
If he was thinking about partners he'd had a year ago, he probably needed to get laid soon. Dean made a small mental note to take care of himself later.
He got in the elevator again, pressing his floor and waiting for the doors to shut. Once he was upstairs and back in his room he started to set up. His laptop was set on the table, his charger at the ready, (he didn't want to keep it plugged in all the time, because it would make the battery even worse than it already was) and he grabbed a couple of sodas to set on the table.
His computer was just starting up when there was a knock at the door. Dean rose, putting on a smile as he pulled it open. Ben stood on the other side, hair disheveled, looking happy and bright as ever. Dean was happy as hell to get to see him again; he always missed the little guy. Ben reminded him of himself when he was that younger.
"Hey dude. Are we gonna listen to some ACDC?" Ben questioned, leaning around the door and looking at Dean's ever-growing pile of CDs sitting in the corner. They were the only part of his house that was always immaculately organized; they were sitting in piles by band, and those piles had everything sorted alphabetically. On top of the small nightstand Dean had put in the corner of the room sat a lamp (broken; he never knew how it happened, but lamps just didn't agree with him) and a large stereo, which he had been warned several times annoyed his neighbors if it was up too loud.
"Not tonight, kid. We're gonna Guild together." Dean said. Ben's eyes immediately lit up in curiosity, and Dean stepped to the side, letting him in. He quickly walked past the other, flopping down onto the couch and taking out his computer.
Dean laughed a little and sat down on the couch next to him, grabbing his own lap top. He logged on and started Google Chrome (because internet explorer was probably invented just to piss people off), tapping his keys impatiently as the screen loaded.
He clicked his book marks and went into the game, finding Ben's screen name. He clicked the "tied together" option; it would tie their characters together for the next twenty four hours, meaning Ben could tag along with the Guild. Luckily, Ben wasn't paying attention to the screen name, and just clicked the 'accept' button.
Luckily, because his reaction was priceless.
"You guys ready to cause some mischief?" Charlie announced. "By the way, it appears TheHunter has brought a tag along. Would you like to introduce him?"
"Well, CharlieTheWiz, this is Ben. He's the son of a friend of mine and I'm watching him tonight. Do you think you'd mind him tagging along?" Dean asked. He glanced over at Ben to see that he was staring at him with wide eyes, jaw slack in surprise. Dean just smiled.
"You're... Uh... Wow." Ben said. He straightened up, wiping the surprise away, leaving his expression just slightly impresssed. "That's kinda awesome, dude."
"Of course we don't mind. Right, guys?" Charlie asked. There was a general murmur of agreement from the other two players. "Alrighty then, what's he want to be called?"
"Well, as long as he doesn't insist on being called his screen name," Dean glanced towards Ben to find him very enthusiastically shaking his head no, still a little star struck. "His name is Ben. I think we can go ahead and call each other first names around him too, I don't think he's going to tell anyone what they are." Another glance, just to make sure he was still shaking his head. He was.
"Great. What we have planned for today is fairly simple; we're going to go to the treasure caves. I'm assuming he'd be good to take on some treasure-guarding trolls?" Charlie asked.
Finally, Ben seemed to unfreeze. He leaned forward towards his computer's microphone and said, "Of course I'd be okay. Treasure Caves are one of my favourite places to go."
With that, Ash used his wizard powers to teleport them all there. Technically most of them could teleport themselves, but it was just more convenient to go in a group. They all stood, battle ready, moist air surrounding the mossy caves. Their characters were still on the screen, awaiting instruction. For a couple of seconds, nobody moved.
Then, Ash's character tentatively takes a step forward. "Fuck it." He says, starting to run towards the looming mouth of the cave.
Suddenly, the ground begins to rumble. They all rush up behind Ash, facing the mouth as it quakes. There's silence over the speakers as they wait, pausing. Most of the time, the trolls come. But sometimes, you get lucky. Of course, this time couldn't be one of those.
The nasty thing runs out of the cave, barreling towards Jo. Dean runs forward and knocks her out of the way, taking most of the damage for himself. He knows it's smarter to defend her than to look out for himself; she's their healer, and if she dies, everyone else has nothing left to get their HP up, until she's back. Technically they can bring her back with a re-spawn orb, but the regeneration timer is ten minutes. It's easier to just take the hit.
Dean is rewarded when Jo uses the first of her magic to heal him. He immediately goes after the troll, whos back was turned, having changed direction to go after Charlie. She hit him hard with her most powerful spell- he swayed, but stayed standing. Charlie rushed forward with her sword, managing to get in a hit before it came back to sentience. (Well, as close to sentience as a troll gets).
"Die, scum!" Jo yelled, hitting it with magic from behind. Usually, this is where Dean comes in to save the day, but he can see that Ben is sneaking his own character up behind the thing. Dean sits back and watches as he hits it over the head with a club, victoriously pumping his fists in the air. With the XP he got from a monster so many levels ahead of his own, (monsters when playing in Guild Mode were based upon the power of the entire company) he went up three. Dean glanced over at the smile stretched across his face, and he was happy that he'd let Ben have his one.
"Good job, Buddy!" He enthused, leaning over and offering a knuckle. Ben bumped it enthusiastically, nodding his head towards Dean. He was still beaming with pride.
"Nice going!" Jo said. "If I were there, I'd totally give you a chest bump." She said.
"Yeah, and that's saying something, because she has an awesome rack." Ash put in.
"Alright guys, stop, he's thirteen. He doesn't need to hear that stuff from you." Dean interrupted. Lisa would kill him if he came home spewing filth from his house. "That's what public school is for."
Charlie chuckled a bit. "Dean's right. Let's keep it PG-13, okay? Ben, great job. I can tell you're going to get along with the group fine." She said. Dean could see Ben's eyes light up even more than they were already; the kid was practically glowing with happiness and praise. He wished, just a little bit, he'd gotten to have some of that growing up.
His dad wasn't the worst dad ever; pretty far from it, if you asked him. However, he was a bit less... Affectionate, than other parents. Mary had died when they were younger, and it had torn his soul to pieces. There was nothing left for his kids; only a fierce protectiveness over their lives. Most of the time, Dean felt like even that was just because Mary had loved them so much. So, as a result, Dean Winchester wasn't as coddled as the other kids. His dad didn't like something he did, or thought he had done something wrong, he was brutally honest with Dean about it. No questions, no sympathy.
Dean had apparently been constantly doing things wrong.
Forgetting to feed Sam, (because while his father ran off doing lord knows what for days at a time, he had to take care of Sam. So, why should when he was home be any different?) not cleaning up after himself, or just flat out screwing things up. The only comfort in all of it was Sam himself, who would often tell Dean he liked something that Dean had done. Dean drew a picture? It was beautiful to Sam. Dean burnt the macaroni? He said he liked it better that way. Sam was an angel sent from heaven above during his childhood years, and still could be, at times.
Dean's attention was pulled back to the game as they continued on, smashing their way through trolls, which were getting more and more frequent as they went deeper and deeper into the cave. He lost himself in his character, soaking up the glorious rays of the computer screen.
Which is how he ended up losing track of time.
At 6:10, his email gave off a small blip. He looked up at it in confusion.
"Guys, I gotta go check something. I'll be back, okay?" He said, exiting full screen. He clicked on the small mailbox in the right hand corner of the screen, waiting impatiently for it to load.
"Actually, I sorta have something to ask, anyways." Charlie said, giving out a nervous laugh. "I've been thinking; we all live in New York, right? We've established that freaky coincidence?" She questions. There is a general murmur of agreement, and Dean isn't paying attention to the email anymore as he listens to Charlie. "Well, I'm actually the leader of a small LARP group. I'm technically their 'princess', so I need to bring a royal court. It'll be a renaissance fair and there will be food and games and jousting, because a lot of other groups are coming." She announces.
"You're suggesting that we really meet up?" Jo asked. "Do you think that's a good idea? I mean, what if one of us is ugly?" Jo teased.
"Don't be so self conscious, honey." She shot back. Dean smiled a little bit; he found how they bickered to be quite entertaining at times. His honest opinion was that they just needed to fuck already and get it over with.
"I know it's a stretch, but it's important to me. It's next weekend, if you guys want to come." She offers. There's a pause as each of them mulls it over.
"I'm game." Ash said. Jo and Dean quickly agreed. Ben put in that his mom would never let him go to meet people from the internet, and Charlie laughed.
"That's smart of her, kiddo. After Dean's met us, though, he'll be able to vouch. So maybe some other time?" She offers. Ben looks satisfied with the answer. "Anyway, I'll send you all the address through private message." She announced.
Suddenly, Dean's attention was brought back to his email. The screen had gone black and he'd moved the mouse, only to find it loaded. He clicked on the last received, ignoring Charlie's backround chatter, and waited again as his computer struggled to bring up the words. Finally, the screen came into view, and he tilted his head in confusion as he read what the email said.
'You're late.'.
Late for what? He tried to scan his memory of what he could possibly be late for, looking back at the last few days. When he finally realized that he was supposed to be logging on to 'Angel/Demon Alliance', it was already 6:20. Before he got the chance to ex off of the page, another ding brought up a new email.
'My patience is wearing thin, Hunter.'
"Guys, I can't play any more tonight. I forgot that I was supposed to meet a friend on this new angel and demon game, and I'm already twenty minutes late. You think Ben could fill in for me?" He offered.
"Okay then. Later." Ash said. Nobody in the group said anything in protest, so Dean figured he was good to go. He went up to the website URL holder and typed in the angel and demon game's information, waiting for it to bring it up. Once it was, he went to log in immediately. He signed into his account, turning towards Ben as he did.
"Hey, would you happen to have headphones you could use? This game requires sound, so I wouldn't want you to have to put up with me talking and you trying to talk at the same time. That might get a little difficult." Dean announced, scanning the room for his own pair. He knew they were in there because he had come across them while he was cleaning his room earlier...
Finally, he found them. He dove after them, grabbing them and bringing them up to his ears. He plugged them in, glancing over to see Ben doing the same. He noticed his battery was running low and grabbed the charger, hooking it up as fast as he could. Really, it was a miracle he had managed to play on it for as long as he had without it dying on him.
He stayed silent as he heard the small sound of the microphone being turned on, and the option to continue up on the board. He pressed it, joining in on the game.
"Why hello there, Hunter. You're a little late."