Dean woke up quite a bit later, he still felt tired even though he had had more than a decent nap. It was probably because of that kid's stupid Healing, there had to be some side effect. He decided that was the case anyway.

He sat up and stretched his back, making his spine do all these popping sounds but it didn't hurt or anything. Things probably just adjusted into place then.

He looked towards the window, it was starting to get darker outside. Should be dinner time.

What to pick… fish or casserole? His thoughts weren't that long lived though as the door was opened and his big brother returned.

"I'm back", he said.

"Duh", Dean said, sticking his tongue out. He could see that.

"I got a talk with Triple H", Roman informed him.

"So did you talk about your precious Sethie?" Not that he cared, he was just saying stuff.

"I mentioned our dust snail battle and that we rescued this young mage, just barely mentioning his unapproved issue. Just voicing some general concern. As I said I would. I don't know if Triple H can and will do anything about it though. He didn't seem that interested but he's a hard man to read.
But now I've done something."

"How noble of you", Dean said sarcastically.

"Mock all you want, my conscience is clear anyway. Oh, and we got a new mission, too. It's the behrn population again; they want us to take care of them."

"Any limits?"

"No. I guess the more the better. And don't go complaining about it 'just being behrns' now."

"What do you think of me anyway? Do I ever complain about missions?"

"Constantly."

Dean just gave him a very innocent look. But Roman didn't buy it. Seriously, had he lost his touch?

But really, he wasn't that bad, he really enjoyed fighting missions, especially when it came to the no-limit kind. He usually just complained about the weaklings though. But behrns were okay, because they were a bear beast type that was really tough and strong. Good opponents.

"We're taking care of them tomorrow", Roman continued. "They have been spotted in the neighbouring county, so I think we can get quite many of them there. There are more Hunters getting this mission too, so I think it may be good to travel a little further."

"I don't mind. Any time limit?"

"He didn't say, but it's not like we should dawdle."

"I know."

"We should prepare, getting some new remedies and other utilities."

Roman always knew these things better so Dean was just going to let him take command.

"Can we eat before that?" he just said as he felt, and heard, his stomach growl.

"Better do that so we're assured our meal for today."

Today's choices weren't the most appealing for Dean though, but it was still free food, so it would be a shame to not eat.

"Fish or casserole?" he said.

"Fish, definitely."

"Really? It's this very bony kind." Dean hated those bones in his food. Fish was usually good though. Just not bones…

"Just pick 'em out."

"That takes too much time. So I guess I just gonna have to go with the casserole. Though I really hope they don't have any olives in there."

"It's nothing wrong with olives. They give the dish an oomph."

"They taste weird, and they ruin it with the texture."

"Good then they don't use them that often. Only in a couple of dishes. Otherwise, just poke them aside."

Dean got off the bed and noticed Roman was giving him a funny look.

"Seriously, Dean, you're such a child sometimes still", Roman revealed, smiling.

"I'm not. I'm not even a teen anymore."

"You're picky as one", another smile.

"Shut up, old man."

"Dude, I'm one year older than you."

Dean just stuck his tongue out in a playful manner. Roman just laughed it off and patted his brother's shoulder.

"Besides, why should I eat those when I have you who can eat them for me", Dean said, trying one of his innocent looks again.

Roman just made a half-laugh, shaking his head. "Maybe I just have more developed taste buds than you."

"Have you had the thought that it may be me that have very sensitive taste buds, not being able to cope with some flavours?"

Roman just gave him a smile that told him to keep believe that even though they both knew what was more probable.

They arrived at the cafeteria where a few other Hunters still lingered. It was late in the meal serving and most had eaten and left already. Roman had his fish; it looked kinda nice though, with the golden crust and a side of well seasoned potatoes. Those red spices were just delicious. But he knew from the shape of the fish that a lot of bones were hidden underneath that crust. So he just had his casserole, he didn't detect any olives floating around anyway. He could always steal some potatoes from Roman as a dessert. Sounded like a solid plan.

They sat down at a table by themselves, nodding their acknowledgements to Cena and Swagger as they passed and then Roman nodded towards Barrett and Sheamus before sitting down with Dean. There were others there as well but not everyone needed to be greeted every time. That was what Dean figured, anyway.

John Cena and Jack Swagger were very honourable Hunters, bordering on being "righteous" about their job protecting people.

Wade Barrett and Sheamus were more brutal, the major fighting types. Sometimes even having a bullying attitude. It all depended on their mood of the day if they were worthy of greeting. Roman, the genuine good guy, always greeted them though. Barrett was a Rune Bearer, but he had been sealed due to some incident he never spoke of, so he couldn't use Magic, but he had become a fierce warrior instead.

Those teams were more or less picked by themselves, compared to Dean and Roman that had been put together by Triple H. Well, all teams were approved by Triple H though, but sometimes people wanted to partner up by themselves. Like Swagger, he had been with Cesaro before but then they hadn't seem to click as good lately and him and Cena teamed up instead because Cena's partner had decided to retire.

Cesaro then had found his partner in Dolph Ziggler and they seemed to be working well together. Dean thought they were a good team though, mostly because both of them were decent guys. He didn't consider them like friends or anything, but they were good co-workers. Some teams only had one decent guy, some none. Like the team of Daniel Bryan and Kane. Bryan was decent. Kane was… ruthless and a little scary, all big and silent.

And then there was the so called Wyatt Family. Those were all creepy. A perfect example of a group where no one was decent. All big and bearded, just looking greasy. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper were the brawlers and Bray Wyatt was their leader. He was a Rune Bearer and that didn't help, but even without them he was a really freaking scary dude. He tended to talk in riddles and saying monsters were sacrifices or something. Dean wasn't sure about Wyatt's Magic, but he definitely was of the attacking type. The worst kind.

The Wyatt's were infamous for their brutality. They were the kind of Hunters that seemed to specialize on certain monster types.

Dean didn't like them, and it was no secret.

He looked at his food. Casserole; meats, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, leeks and onions in a creamy sauce. Normal grub, nothing bad about it really. They seemed to have found the salt and pepper this time as well. Always a plus.

"Hey, man."

Dean looked up. He recognized that voice anywhere. Ziggler. He gave him a wave as he continued his meal.

"How are things going?" Ziggler asked as he sat himself down next to Roman.

"Pretty good", Roman said. "Just reported a mission."

"What was it this time?"

"Lizoids."

"Skin collecting or general hunting?"

"The skins."

"Heh, must have been hard for you, right, Dean?" Ziggler laughed.

Dean had his mouth full of casserole so he couldn't reply to such a rude comment.

"Don't tease him, Dolph", Cesaro said as he joined them, sitting on Dean's side, giving him a greeting fist bump on his shoulder. "Dean's just an efficient fighter."

Dean gave him a mouthful smile. Good to have someone on his side.

"Hamster~" Ziggler beamed.

Dean raised his eyebrows, giving him a surprised look, chewing slowly.

Cesaro leaned forward and looked at him. "Yeah, now that you mention it. He does look a little like a hamster."

Well, he was on Dean's side for a while…

"Yeah, they carry their food in their mouths, making their cheeks pop", Roman said.

Dean just made a pouting face, just making the men around the table laugh. Good he could be their entertainment then. At least they didn't laugh to be mean though. But he did feel insecure about his cheeks, how they kinda tended to be chubby sometimes. But not always. He didn't completely dislike it, it was just that… yeah… he worried they looked too chubby sometimes.

"How about you?" Roman then asked their table company.

"We've had it calm lately, been doing some training and stuff", Ziggler said. "We got this behrn mission now."

"Same here."

Ziggler got a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Wanna make a bet?"

"Dolph…" Cesaro said, having something apologetic in his expression as he looked at The Shield.

Dean was interested though.

"What are we betting?" he asked, giving Ziggler a sly look.

"The Hunter taking down most monsters gets half the pay from the other Hunter."

"What, you're low on pocket money again?" Dean said, grinning.

"None of your business", Ziggler gave him a just as sly, but mysterious smirk. "You're on, or are you a chicken?"

"I'm not interested in your money… gimme your hen sticks and you're on~"

Roman gave Cesaro a look, one that was mirrored by the foreign hailed Hunter. Dean and Ziggler had been doing this since day one. The bets were a little different each time, sometimes it was this cash reward or food, other times it could be more juvenile-like dares. One time, Dean had forced Ziggler to do a kiss-my-ass challenge with Sheamus. Dean had been laughing for hours as Ziggler had to do that challenge with the light-reflecting warrior.

Ziggler had let Dean do some stuff as well, for example putting mustard into Kane's mask, or drawing the outline of a hand on Swagger's shirt. Kane had been furious of course, but he never knew it was Dean who did it. It had led to a major dispute between the Hunter partners. Oops.

The drawing had kind of backfired though, because Swagger had liked that idea, making the concept more cool-looking (according to him), meaning; keeping Dean's prank as his shirt decoration.

"So… if you win, then you get half of my paid money. But when I win, I get your hen sticks on Friday", Dean summed it up.

"If you win, Deano", Ziggler said in a challenging and correcting way. How he now managed that.

"It has to be fair between you, though", Cesaro pointed out. "How about our teams head out tomorrow and you have tomorrow to take down as many as possible."

"Make it until Friday", Dean said. Knowing him and Roman were going a little farther to hunt theirs. Not that he would tell Cesaro and Ziggler about their hunting grounds though.

"Yeah, that makes it more exciting", Ziggler nodded.

"Okay, Friday", Cesaro said, taking on the role as some judge. Maybe it was because how competitive Dean and Ziggler were. And bad losers if something wasn't clear enough. "Just to be fair; we let the both of you report to the Guild at the same time, getting the results at the same time."

Dean didn't mind. It was good they were having it on Friday though, close to his precious hen sticks.

They bumped fists on that agreement and turned to their respective food. Except for Dean who liberated a couple of potato wedges from Roman. And from Cesaro when he was busy talking about… something. Dean didn't pay too much attention.

He was soon done with his own food though, him having the habit of being a fast eater; a side effect of him practically raising himself and had to eat fast to make sure he got to eat whatever he acquired. So he just sat there, waiting for the lazy eaters to finish.

"So what are your plans for the evening?" Cesaro asked.

"Getting supplies", Roman said.

"Good thing", the other nodded. "You never know what a mission has in store. Can't be too prepared."

"My thoughts exactly", his brother looked at Dean. Was it because Dean happened to think it was boring to do those supply runs?

Their chit chat continued. Ziggler and Cesaro would be doing some training before going out on their mission in the morning. And then Ziggler had to reveal the latest gossip about one of the Guild agency girls. He was certain she was single and interested in him. Dean didn't care, he had heard that at least once each week since February.

After the finished meal, they parted and left their plates to the kitchen aides before leaving the cafeteria.

Dean followed Roman to the utility store, or medical store, or whatever you wanted to call it. They sold everything from healing herbs, potions and ointments for several most common poisons or other ailments, to some equipment.

Roman decided they needed some of each of those herbs; they could have some stashed in their room for the future. Mostly because they had a good price on it right now, so him being the more economical of the two, Dean just let him. Roman picked out the utilities and Dean just helped pay for it. It was a very good deal.

Dean thought Roman liked it like that, he knew his way around herbs and knew some stuff most Hunters didn't; about the mixtures you could make from the most basic herbs, meaning they didn't have to spend their money on pricey shop made mixtures. Sure those mixtures worked the same as Roman's, but because of the big stock on single herbs, probably thanks to some good flower picking reports, they saved quite some money on Roman's herbal knowledge.

Dean went over to look at some equipment they had in a corner of the store. It was mostly pouches and stuff for carrying medications and yeah, the stuff they sold. Not that he needed any; he just liked to look at them. The craft was actually kinda nice, with well made seams. He wasn't an expert but he knew good stuff when he saw it.

"Dean?"

He looked around, facing Roman. His brother seemed to be done so he just went up to him, finding out the sum for their purchase. They quickly split the cost between the two of them, paying in full. It hadn't been that bad. He still had plenty of his savings left.

They got their goods and returned back to their room.

Roman took care of the herbs, mixing some of them together beforehand to prepare for their next mission. Dean went over their equipment, making sure they were fit for fight.

He wouldn't lose to Ziggler, not a chance. Though he had the backup in the scales, winning a bet would be more fun, he figured. Berserk mode tomorrow, it was. He already looked forward to it.


Author's Note: Thank you for reading. And reviewing. As for those that have had... issues with some my spelling and/or grammar, I do apologize for that. I really try my hardest to find the errors by re-reading and re-re-reading. I'm not sure if that's the issue (since people haven't been too specific about which words were bugging them) but I still want to mention that I do have a mix of British and American spellings (we learn British English in school and then as I've continued to build up the vocabulary, I guess there are a mix there after), as well as some Swenglish way of building sentences...

Thank you though.