Dean hurried through the corridors of the academy. He knew he shouldn't have come. Why did he come? He just wanted to- The kid was serious about this, and he was- He happened to be there. He couldn't even lie to himself like he believed it. He had been there because he had wanted to give him support. But he shouldn't have. This couldn't be... He couldn't have Fire... She was- No... no... He couldn't have any element, he didn't have any Runes. How was it even possible? He held Fire...

He gave it to Seth...? What did it do to him? Maybe he shouldn't ever Re-Set him again... it messed up his Runes... his Wind... He didn't want that... But he liked his Re-Sets. No... No...! He didn't, Re-Sets were bad. But Seth needed it... But not from him. Roman had to do it from here on. Dean had to protect Seth and he can't be transferring some alien element to him. Fuck...

It was all so much... He didn't want this... He would have rather not known anything about this. If he hadn't tagged along...

He reached the outside, not sure where to go. He just needed to escape this, it was all too much. It hurt him. Not physically, but... It hurt... He couldn't even voice it.

He wanted to cry, but it wouldn't help. It was like when Seth had been Exhausted for the second time. It had been his fault... Dean had gone against what Seth said and Re-Set him; put him in the unstable state and... since he didn't know his levels... he got Exhausted... He felt so bad... and just had wanted him to wake up so badly... And now this... Dean gave him Fire... poisoning his Magic... Maybe that caused the Exhaustion too. What if it drained his Magic because it wanted to get rid of the wrong element?

He just fucking wanted to fucking protect him!

He hit the stone pillar as hard as he could and he heard a small crack. The pillar had been damaged. If it was like that after the attack or if he did it now, he didn't know or didn't care to know. He just panted as he became aware of the throbbing in his hand. It was red and the knuckles already had some swelling as well as cuts from the rough surface. At least his inner pain died down some. But his thoughts were still there. He cradled his injury with his other hand as he started to head back to their room.

Thankfully it was empty when he got back. Roman was probably out doing his volunteer work to help as many as he could and Seth... wasn't there.

He got up to his equipment and found some bands to support his hand with. He didn't deserve it, he needed the pain to be able to keep out the pain from his mind and chest. But the small sensible voice he still had in his head told him he needed to take care of his hand if he wanted to be able to swing his sword.

He sat down on the bed. He was just so tired... Everything was just too much shit for him to deal with... He looked at the bandages on his hand. Why did it come to this...? Maybe it would have been better had he never met Seth at all... It would have been simpler... He'd been doing his thing without having all this crap. Seth was the reason why he had been going through all this shit. But... for as much as he wanted to just lash out at him, put all the blame and anger on him. He couldn't. Seth had opened his heart. Even if just a little. He had barged in and from the first moment they met, he had... changed his life forever. For now, was it good or bad...? If he hadn't met Seth... this wouldn't have happened... So... maybe it was better to continue without each other... Maybe that was best for... Seth...? Him...? He didn't like Seth but... he didn't dislike him... He liked messing with him because he made... interesting reactions. Seth was... important... He didn't know how and why but he just was. He had even told him... Thinking of leaving him made his chest ache. Like he didn't want to but he didn't feel like there was any other way.

What should he do...? It was probably better if he just-

He was interrupted by the door that opened and the kid returned. Dean didn't know how to react so he just looked away. He was bad for Seth... Maybe he should just leave...? Before he even-

"Hey", Seth said carefully, closing the door behind him. Dean didn't respond, he still kept his gaze elsewhere.

"How are you...?"

Good, fine, okay, surviving, not good, bad, terrible... He just shrugged.

"... Are you okay? It must have been hard for you..."

That was the understatement of the year, and he'd been through a lot of them this past week or so. He still didn't know what to say. Seth was too nice to him.

The kid went up to him and placed himself on the bed beside him. He noticed his hand. "You're hurt, when did that-? And I'm out of Magic... Re-Set me and I can-"

"No...! No..." How could he even consider that, he was toxic. He can't Re-Set him. "I... I can't..."

"But you're hurt and-"

"I can't Re-Set you. I have some freak additional element that gets transferred to you! You just have to wait for Roman or find someone else. I won't do it anymore."

"What...?" Seth just looked stupefied, shocked, and something else, like something broke in him. "You... you won't Re-Set me...? But Dean... I... I like your Re-Sets and I thought you..."

"If I did it doesn't matter. I can't do it. Don't you see? I transferred that shit to you and caused you to get Exhausted."

"It wasn't your fault. If you hadn't Re-Set me I wouldn't have had enough Magic for that massive tornado to happen and if you didn't transfer that Fire then I wouldn't have made it into Fire. And it was that, that killed it. It was thanks to you, Dean."

No... It couldn't be... "We don't even know what this is, I mean you realize how freaky it is, I have Fire without any Runes? And you're a Rune Bearer and you have your element and then getting this other shit?"

"I haven't been feeling anything strange, and you have Re-Set me several times. I'm just as freaky as you are. I have these sensitive Runes that can pick up Magic from other people. I get you're afraid but... I'm... curious about this additional element and... I really like your Re-Sets... I want you to keep sharing them with me... I don't know... they just makes me feel... good."

Dean just took in what he said. It was just so... He didn't know anything about it, but Seth wasn't afraid. Or maybe he was but not in a bad way. He wasn't blaming him, instead saying it was... thanks to Dean they could get rid of the Night Dweller? Thanks to...? But he had some freak element... It was all so much and he didn't know what to do with it. Seth sounded so calm and reassuring though. Like he really had nothing to fear.

"It just feels like I have a contagious disease that can be transferred to other people..." he finally said.

"Well... I'm like one of the few that can catch it..."

"Guess you missed the vaccination..." It wasn't supposed to be funny but Seth made a short giggle and that made Dean's insides do that small backflip. Maybe it wasn't that bad anyway. Or he didn't know, but maybe... just maybe he might have overreacted about it... But it was just so overwhelming with everything, but with how Seth reasoned and his vibes... It just felt like... soothing...

"Maybe... maybe you should see that Punk dude about that... "

"The vaccination?"

"No, stupid...! This element crap okay? Your freaking Magic is important to you... Like, what if you got Exhausted because it was drained when it wanted to get rid of the invading element?"

"Well... that, I don't know, Punk said I used the Fire last because I can't access it normally so it just was used together with everything else because I didn't sense anything." Seth smiled a little, making a pause. "But I kinda want to visit Punk and I want to do it with you. I want to know more about this additional element but I won't do it without you."

"You mean you can't do it without me." He didn't want to see it as Seth only needed him for that but that accusation slipped anyway.

"No. I mean I won't. You're part of this too and I won't do anything you don't want to do. But I do need your help to find out if it is dangerous or not. And I'm not saying it to make you feel like you have to do it. I just know that I want you to keep Re-Setting me but if you don't want to... I can't force you but... I like them and... they make me feel... I know it sounds weird but... they make me feel safe... I will miss them..."

He was really cool with them... It was just Dean who felt like it was bad... But he... he did like them too for some freaking reason, because they weren't the usual Re-Sets...

"It just freaked me out... All of this... I'm not a mage but I have Fire... that can be picked up by you. I just couldn't... I was even prepared to leave because of that..." Just admitting that out loud made him feel that ache again. He didn't want that.

Another shock from Seth. "You would leave...?" His big eyes held a painful mix of emotions. Fuck, he shouldn't have said- "I wouldn't want you to leave... Like... you're... I mean I... "

"I wouldn't want that either but... I just felt like I had no choice and that it would just had been better", Dean quickly tried to explain.

"Better how? You would just... leave...?"

"I don't know okay, I freaked out and when I thought I was bad for you I just figured it would be better for you without me."

A single tear fell down Seth's cheek as he stared at him. "You're not bad for me. I wouldn't wanna be without you..." he whispered, looking down. "I wouldn't know what to do... you're just too..."

Seeing Seth like that made his insides ache a little again, but not like before, more like... he could relate... Even if he, they both, had trouble wording it... he really wouldn't want to be without him either. It didn't even make sense.

"But I didn't, I'm still here..." he tried.

"Yeah, but you're always like escaping when it gets like difficult, you've been prepared to leave even then...?"

That's... He was aware of that habit of his, but it was just easier trying to figure stuff out being somewhere else. Yeah, it was escaping but what should he do...? He just needed space...

"I want you to stay..."

There was that small jolt in his stomach again. It was a big deal to Seth... it was a big deal for him too. Maybe, somewhere. With all this stuff... not just from earlier today but with everything that had happened between them... It was just such a weird freaking roller coaster... He had been so overwhelmed he hurt himself to get rid of it... and now seeing Seth upset, it just switched everything around. He didn't want Seth to be upset...

"I'm not going anywhere..." he said, trying to make him feel better. "Sometimes I just need space but I'm not leaving..."

Seth was silent for a while. "It's just... it's been so much and with what you said..."

That, Dean knew everything about.

"But I'm glad you're still here..." Seth said with a shy smile. He fidgeted with his hands some before he put his hand over Dean's. It was his bandaged one so he was very careful. "It's overwhelming and scary. For both of us. But I want to figure it out... together with you..."

Together... He wanted to do it together... Seth needed the Re-Sets to function. He didn't know how his element worked... but it got transferred to Seth. Maybe it would be a good idea to return with him to ask that Punk dude. To know more about this crap and... well... see if there was any danger for Seth and his Magic. Because Magic was his thing and it would be bad if it didn't work for him, alright?

"C'mere..." he mumbled and just hugged the kid. With all this stuff and that he had made Seth shed a tear... At first he just felt like Seth needed a hug. Maybe Dean needed a hug. Maybe they both needed it. From each other. Evidence was in their embrace as they just kinda melted into each other. At first he thought that would be it, but then he thought back on the conversation again. Without wanting to think more about it, he found his naked back and put his good hand on it.

"Dean, you-" Seth gasped at the contact. He hugged him impossibly closer and Dean just secured him there, taking in the tingling running through his body. If it was any danger to this... he sure would miss this too. Yes, he admitted that. He liked the sparks in these Re-Sets.

They just kept holding on to each other, even if Dean figured it was already over but he didn't mind. Seth was warm and smelled good to hold close.

"Thank you..." Seth whispered into his shoulder. Dean didn't reply, didn't know or care if it needed any. He was a selfish bastard who just held the kid for his own selfish needs. No... he held him like this because he liked having Seth close.

Dean was the one to pull apart first. All this just made him feel like... he wanted to share something else.

"You know..." He started to feel like uncertain and nervous but he still continued. "My mom was Fire... I never knew my dad but I've been told he was a Rune Bearer too, so if he was Fire too then... maybe I got the Fire from them. Or at least from my mom. Even if I didn't get any Runes but... He said it was inherited so... I guess it makes sense.

She's... the reason I don't like mages and Magic. Maybe my dad too since he kinda walked out on us but... Mom had her Rune on her shoulder blade and she couldn't reach it properly. Couldn't Re-Set herself... So... I did that for her... I hated it... she got high on the unstableness. And I was the one that put her there." He had expected Seth to have said something but he just let Dean speak. "She... she hurt me with her Fire once. Accidentally of course but yeah... Still have the scars on my right arm and shoulder. "He noticed Seth's eyes travelling back, even though he wouldn't be able to see the scars because of his clothes. "She used her Magic for bad stuff... and I hated her for it. She used it for her highs and... other stuff. She wasn't a bad person... the Magic made her bad... and I helped her by Re-Setting..."

"You were just a kid..." Seth's eyes were tear-filled again and Dean had to look away to not be affected by it.

"It was better if it was at home and that I did it, than it being outside somewhere, with some 'boyfriends'. At least that was what I told myself... so yeah that's why I don't like mages and shit... and the Re-Sets..."

"I'm sorry..." Seth reached out his hand and put it over Dean's, the uninjured one this time. A small jolt of electricity rushed through his body at the contact.

"But... doing it with you hasn't been like them... but then again I probably didn't transfer my disease... Not that I know if she had sensitive Runes, but we would have had the same element anyway."

"It's not a disease, Dean. You like enhanced my Magic, you made me stronger."

Dean still wasn't sure where he stood, but he didn't have the same low feeling about it. Just knew that his hand still hurt like hell.

"I'm sorry to have bugged you about it... I appreciate you wanted to tell me though..."

Dean wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had been bugging him about it. "You just came barging in here... turned everything upside down... I just wanted to dislike you like everyone else but... I just couldn't. You... really aren't as everyone else. And it scared the shit outta me... and you're just a tenacious little shit that kept pressing on..."

"Dean", the kid didn't know what to say at first. "Well... you didn't make it easy for me either..."

"Can't have some freaking mage finding his way into my hea-" He cursed inwardly. He really didn't mean for that to slip. He could see a small colour change on Seth's cheeks when he said it though as he shyly looked away. It was no way he couldn't finish that sentence himself.

"Dean... I..." the kid was really out of words.

"It's not like that... I-I mean..." Dean didn't know what he meant.

"It's okay..." Seth squeezed his hand some as he faced him again. "I think I know where you're coming from, you just wanna protect yourself. But... I'm glad you're letting me in some... Thank you..."

Dean took his hand more in his, lacing their fingers together. He was glad he had told him what he had. It was far from everything but still a lot. Even if he kinda got a little too unfiltered and shit... But Seth was a really understanding dude, when he didn't press it. But it just felt good being able to tell him stuff in his own pace and not being forced forward.

Seth was the reason he had started to get a slightly different view on Magic. Even if he still didn't like it, he could still acknowledge that it was also needed. The fight with the Night Dweller was proof enough. He had wanted a mission like that... That had just been crazy... But then again, they would probably have had more info on the target if it was a mission and they would have been chosen specifically for it. This had been an unprovoked attack by some kind of monster he'd never met before.

Thing was, there were just some monsters out there that Hunters wouldn't be able to take care of without the mages. So he could tolerate that Magic existed too. And Seth wasn't like the other ones. He really did his stuff for other people, never doing anything for himself like he'd only seen in the past.

He could not dislike a mage. Seth was important and he was needed. So he wanted him to be safe. He sure gave him a lot of complicated emotions and thoughts but... he felt... less bitter. He felt good around Seth. Talking... touching him... He liked the excitement of it. He felt... lighter.

Being able to talk...

Seth sat there next to him... Shy blush, just looking at their hands.

Dean was... thankful for having him to share stuff with. He had Roman too, but that just wasn't the same.

Seth looked up. Dean caught his eye. He just wanted to... thank him. But he didn't do that... Instead he just leaned forward and quickly pressed their lips together.

The kid just froze, looking confused. "What was that for...?"

"I dunno..." Dean said, truthfully. He felt his cheeks burn slightly though. "Just felt like it."

"... I'm cool with that." And he smiled.

Dean smiled back. He felt lighter again, a little because he had received such a positive reaction from him. He had liked that small kiss. So much that he kinda wanted to do that again. But he didn't want to ruin the moment. He still leaned in again, testing the waters. Seth let him. Dean closed the gap and kissed him again, holding it for a couple of seconds. He smiled as the sat back up again, Seth also smiling, though shyly.


"I can feel my Magic."

Dean just looked at Seth. It can only have been like half an hour since the Re-Set. "Already?"

"Yes, so I can Heal you now."

"But how can you already have been Recovered? That's like..."

"I've been having my suspicions but... that's something that has to do with you too, I believe. When you Re-Set me, I only have 23 minutes of Recovery."

"23 minutes? That's like... People with 45 minutes are considered fast."

"You're knowledgeable. But I know. I've noticed I have a faster Recover after your Re-Sets but... I've always thought it had to do with adrenaline or stress or something. But... it has happened too many times for that. And right now... I just feel fine... So... it must be you..."

"You sneaky bastard, that's why you want me to Re-Set you, because you Recover faster."

"No, you suspicious bastard, I like them because they... feel good. Having fast Recovery is just a nice bonus..." He turned to Dean and started to remove the bandages around his hand. Dean wanted to hinder him, because he caused this to himself and he didn't deserve his Healing. But... he liked his touch so he let him.

"Why did you do this...?" he asked, his voice having a sad undertone when he carefully moved his hand over his in a feather light caress as he examined it. "I mean I can Heal you and all... but..."

Dean knew Seth would have known he caused it himself. "It's... I... Physical pain, I can deal with", was his short answer.

"But... hurting yourself...?" He looked up, meeting his eyes.

"I don't know, okay. It's not like I wanted to. It was more like... an easier pain to deal with than the emotional and shit. Some impulse action because... with what he said and everything else around it... The stuff we talked about before..."

Seth looked down again, his thumb grazing over his swollen fingers.

"It just happened, but this pain, I could relate to and it took away from the pain on the inside..."

He was silent for a moment before he actually said something. "I know it's overwhelming and scary but for it to be so much, you..." he just let his sentence fade. "I'm sorry..." It wasn't like it was his fault and Dean wasn't sure why he apologized. He just did. "I'm here for you... just don't want you to hurt yourself..." He whispered but the sentence still went straight to Dean's chest, creating a small ache, like he didn't deserve his caring but still apprecia- It was a welcome distraction when Seth held his hand over his, working his Magic and he just kept looking at his wounds visibly Heal away in the calming light. It was kinda intimate in a way, them just sharing the space and, yeah, the touching. But to see how Seth reacted to him admitting he'd done this himself... He wasn't feeling good about it as it was but seeing it on someone else...

"There, good as new", Seth said as he finished up his Healing. He held a small smile. Even though he hadn't needed to help him since this was self-inflicted, he still did... For just that reason and the conversation they just had... Dean leaned in and kissed the side of his mouth. Maybe it was a thank you... an apology... maybe he just needed it. He finished it by quickly pecking him fully on the lips, having Seth smile a little more, shyly looking away. Dean smiled at the reaction.

"You're welcome", Seth said. Sneaky bastard, he'd already figured him out?

He liked that despite the seriousness it still turned into something kinda light-hearted. It had been a lot lately, an extreme emotional roller coaster back and forth for both of them. With him almost being prepared to leave... but... he would have missed this. The two of them just... sharing these moments. And he didn't want to have been without them. He still didn't know what it was, and maybe it didn't even need to be defined. They just shared... something. He had a feeling that they could get this to work. Whatever "this" was.


"Did something happen between the two of you while I was away?" Roman asked during the evening after they had their take out dinner. He had been watching them for a while as they sat next to each other.

The kid tensed up some at the question. He immediately searched for Dean's eyes. "Wh-what...? No... we-"

"No. What are you on about, Reigns?" Dean said over Seth's awkward try to say something.

"Nothing, it just seems to be something... different about you. Like another vibe."

"Well, we did visit that Punk Master so, duh, of course it's a little 'different'. The kid made that freak Magic himself and well I put it there, so. Yeah, excuse us for being a little different."

"You did? Like how, what did the Rune Master have to say?" He obviously hadn't been prepared for that.

The kid visibly relaxed at his question, he had clearly been more on about the kisses they had been sharing. Come on, not even Roman could sniff that one out. Seth was the one to take charge in telling him what they knew about their new situation. Dean still felt a little awkward about the hidden affinity aspect of it and what it could mean for both of them, but the way Seth talked about it was calming and reassuring. Roman seemed both surprised and not with some of the stuff he heard. But then again he was more into both worlds than Dean was. At least more willingly.

"Wow..." Roman just said afterwards. "Runeless people with hidden affinity and sensitive Runes being able to hold an additional element..."

"Yeah, it's kinda unreal to be honest", Seth said, glancing at Dean, though the swordsman wasn't sure what his reason was this time.

One of those obnoxious big bro smiles crept up on Roman's face. "No wonder you two seemed calm-tense."

Calm-tense? What kind of expression was that anyway? "What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked suspiciously, thankfully hindering the kid from saying something, just judging from his still almost-flustered state.

"You tell me. I'm just saying what I'm observing and you have some calm-tense vibe about you. Like you're more cool around each other but at the same time a little unsure or tense. I don't know. But I guess it must be weird to learn all that stuff about yourselves. Confusing to say the least."

"Well...We are still trying to figure this all out..." Seth said silently.

"Can imagine... But with all this... how do you feel about it?"

The kid sneaked another glance towards Dean. "I... I think it's cool, like... unreal but... I think it can be really advantageous to have this ability. When we know more about it." He obviously held back. Dean wasn't sure himself about all this. With all the stuff he, they, still didn't know about.

Roman nodded to Seth's answer and turned to Dean. "And you...?" he asked, concern and uncertainty very evident in his tone.

Dean just shrugged. What should he say? "I dunno... Guess there's nothing I can do about it anyway so... Even if I still don't get how I can have it without Runes... But otherwise... I just feel like... it is as it is..."

"Maybe Punk has some additional theory?" Seth suggested.

The swordsman just shrugged again. Maybe.

"We'll figure it out, okay? It's gonna be fine and we're gonna make sure there isn't any risk for any of us." Seth put his hand on his forearm. It was warm and it was a nice distraction or consolation or whatever. He probably needed it, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Roman just nodded, seeming to appreciate what was shared with him. Dean was just glad he didn't press it further. Dean would probably tell him more about it at some other point but right now... he was just so tired...

"How was your day?" Seth asked Roman after a few moments of all of them just sharing the silence.

"Well, you know, a lot of heavy lifting and stuff. But I'm just glad to help. With everyone's help, Authority will be restored in no time."

They kept talking more about that and Dean just let them. He decided to get to bed, it was a little on the early side but with everything that had happened lately, he couldn't care less. He was dead tired and just wanted to sleep. After doing what he needed in the bathroom he got up to his bed and just threw himself on it, flipping the blanket over himself. God, it had been so much today...

The other two stayed up talking some more but Dean unexpectedly drifted off quickly. Sometime later he did notice Seth crawl over him to get to the wall side of the bed.


Dean and Seth left after breakfast. Not like super early but decent. Well, Seth figured it was late. Because he was like an early bird... But to Dean 10 was decent. On the verge on early still.

Seth led them directly to the room, not taking the detour of asking at the information place. Dean didn't care. He just tagged along... and secretly hoped the worst reveals had already been made.

He knocked on the door and waited for a response from the inside. That Punk dude sure wasn't quick though. When they finally got some kind of "come in" they entered.

"You two again? Already?" Punk said, very surprised by his visitors.

"Yeah", Seth said. "There were some... things we kinda wanted to know after yesterday... About what we learned. Um..."

"I Re-Set him again yesterday. Is there any danger to his Runes by having this additional element?" Dean just spoke in his stead. It still bugged him, even if he wanted it to sound more matter-of-factly.

"Not that I've heard of. May I?" Punk asked Seth and the kid offered his back. The Rune Master put his hand on his Rune and did his reading mumbo-jumbo. Dean chewed some on his thumbnail as he was waiting.

"It's incredible", Punk said, a little too excitedly for Dean's taste. "This is the first time I've sensed this. You have your Wind Magic and then you have like a small additional stash with Fire. It's like 5% of your capacity that is Fire, so it's not much."

"I can't sense it at all, to me everything is just... Magic." Seth said.

"It's like in a hidden stash so to you it's all the same. But I'm trained and I can sense the differences."

"But is it dangerous?" Dean pressed on.

"I can't sense anything like that. It's just Magic sharing places."

"You sure? So his Exhaustion before wasn't because his body wanted to reject his invading element?"

"Dean..." It was Seth. But he was serious about this. It wasn't like he wanted to be the one to ruin what made Seth useful.

"Exhaustion is the result of using up all Magic, it's not something the Magic nor body does by itself. Seth was the one to decide to use the Magic but accidentally used all because he couldn't regulate it. You don't need to worry, it was not because of this."

"I told you I was fine, Dean."

Well... someone had to ask it anyway. He let out some nervous energies by moving from side to side.

"Your Runes are perfectly normal. There isn't anything to worry about." Punk said as he finished his reading.

"Thank you", Seth said, adjusting his coat some.

Punk turned to Dean. "Can I try something? I'm still curious about your affinity." Dean immediately got a very wary look instead. "I would like to try to see if I could sense something about your affinity. Would you mind if I tried? Just to try sense something from your body."

Dean wasn't all that happy to have someone touching him but he guessed he had no choice if he wanted to try to understand this shit better. "Whatever..."

Punk walked up to him and put a hand on his arm. It lingered there for a while, moving up and stayed... down and stayed... "Do you mind pulling your shirt up?"

Dean should have known it would have come to that. As long as he wouldn't have to strip down completely. Not that he was insecure about his body, it was just not that nice being looked over and poked at or whatever. He decided to do as asked and pulled his shirt up, having Punk's hand on his chest, over his heart. He tried looking at something more interesting. While looking around, he noticed Seth taking a look at him. When he saw that Dean saw him, he quickly found something else to look at. He found himself kinda liking the appreciative blush on the kid's cheeks.

"I can't sense anything." Punk reported.

"Then what is it?"

"Just because I can't sense it doesn't mean it's not there. I mean I can sense most things from Runes but since you don't have any... well you can say that in this matter I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for since I haven't sensed an affinity before. But I appreciate it that you let me try anyway."

By all means... he just wanted to feel him up... He pulled his shirt back down though as he seemed finished.

"You still have something, as you said that you Re-Set Seth and he for sure has a small stash with Fire. It's not like he could have gotten it otherwise."

"I still don't get how I can have it to begin with... Like you said it was like a preparation, but without Runes, I still don't get where it is, if it's not there. I... I couldn't have any Runes I don't know about...?" He didn't like the last part of the question. It still nagged in the back of his head and he needed to know. As much as he feared the answer.

"I can't know for sure either... But what I do know is that you don't have any Runes. You would have developed it during puberty and it would have sent out the Magic vibe. If you had one, we would have known it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's my job. I sense whenever new Runes are surfacing and I'm the one that breaks the connection that sends out the Magic vibe. New vibes are so strong I just can't not sense them. Trust me, I would have known."

That did sound reassuring though. At least there were no new nasty surprises.

"But where is this affinity shit then?" he still didn't get that part.

"Maybe the affinity is stored in your energies as the Re-Set transfers your body's energies and make it into Magic. We all have these body energies."

"That's so vague..."

"Could make sense though", Seth chimed in. "I mean there are some theories that temperaments are associated with energies, so maybe it's not that farfetched that people can have elements in their body energies."

If Seth was happy with that explanation, then so be it... it could make sense though, at least it was a plausible "storage" for it. Whatever.

"Can one do anything about it?" Dean asked. He may have asked the previous day but with his state... well he wasn't sure. But hearing about it this way, he had a feeling beforehand, he was stuck with this.

"Doubt it, since I can't even sense it. And if it is in your body's energies then... well I would say it's just... there." He made a pause and asked, maybe a little too eagerly: "Have you thought about my offer? I would really want to be part of it and know more about all this too."

Dean looked at Seth. He knew Seth wanted to know more about this. And... he didn't want to deny him that... as part of the protect and support thingy he had going. Seth returned his look for a long while. It was like he wanted to make sure he... they did the right thing.

It was Dean who finally said something. "We're in this together."


Author's Note:

Thank you for your patience and I'm sorry it's taken so long in between updates.

This is the last chapter I have prepared so far and I wanted to take the opportunity to tell beforehand that there will be a planned, longer pause to this story. Foremost that I need time to plan and write the continuation but also because I've had it busy for quite some time and will probably have it busy for a while longer.
Even if I feel bad for leaving it hanging, I feel like it's most fair to announce the pause instead of updates just being dragged out without you knowing...

I'm sorry that it will be a wait, but thank you for your understanding, and thank you for bearing with me this far.