"Ha! Nice try." Dean brushed his brother's hand and comment off and continued towards the bar to shoot his shot.

Sam watched, now completely prepared for Dean to get what he fully expected was coming to him. To an extent of course. He wouldn't let him drown. Get dunked...yes. Drowned. Nah.

He watched from afar, easily able to eye the usual moves. He couldn't help but notice they were...a bit different. He wasn't sure how, figured if he was in hearing it might make more sense. But he sensed his brother wasn't really - how could he put it - turning it all the way on. It was casual, like actually casual. Almost as if Dean was...really trying? Nah. That couldn't be it.

Nell was, for her part, not laughing at him. Sam could tell she was amused. She probably got a lot, if Sam's hunch was right. Wasn't that part of the myth? She was politely listening, though, even giving responses that seemed just as casual and relaxed as Dean. There were folks that walked past, catching her eye to wave and pass along comments on her performance, and she acknowledged each of them even as she kept up with her chat with Dean. Sam waved down Isaac to wrap up their bill, figuring he was going to be headed back to the motel alone. But when he looked up, Nell was walking away and out the door, chatting with Meg. Dean was stood there for a moment, before he turned back and returned to the table.

"Meeting up later...?" Sam hesitantly queried. His brother's good mood, however, was obviously out the door with Nell.

"No. Said she was tired. And then Meg had asked her to walk her to her car." He didn't look disappointed, per se. More...confused.

Isaac returned and Sam quickly dropped some bills down, told him to keep the change, and stood. Dean took a moment, not seeming to have noticed Sam had stood until Isaac wished them a good night and walked off. Then he looked up and shrugged to himself, before joining Sam on the walk out.

They walked down the street, joining the last few folks who had left the bar after the show. It was cool, as only the PNW could be. They were in checked shirts and tshirts, and that was just enough. The late night sky had a few clouds, but nothing that said the rain from last night would repeat itself. Sam knew it wasn't possible, but he couldn't help but think the good mood that Nell had projected was following them all the way back to the motel.

Well...he thought that. Dean, not so much. He wasn't frowning or looked upset. But Sam could tell he wasn't quite as relaxed as he had been.

The brothers continued towards their destination in silence. Sam was curious what thoughts were going through his brother's mind, even as the idea of Nell as a siren continued to roll through his own. The stories he had read about sirens were varied, the mythology having gone through a variety of changes over the centuries. It was somewhat hard to pinpoint any obvious signs that he should be looking for. They were near the water, sure. But they weren't in it. Songs were involved, but aside from the vampires last night they hadn't led to any deaths. That they knew. And they had already chatted with local police about weird instances. No unexplained drownings. And she definitely had legs...unless it was, what? Magic?

"Hey." Sam nearly ran into his brother, who had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. When he looked up, Dean continued, "you thought she was a siren, right?"

Sam looked in the direction Dean pointed. Sure enough, there was Nell standing on a slight overlook and looking out at the water. Sam looked back to Dean, who was just staring. He decided that was good enough, and he walked towards her.

"Nell, right?" he asked as he reached her. He knew his brother hadn't followed him, and a look over his shoulder confirmed it. He was still standing on the sidewalk, just watching.

She didn't turn around. "I figured it was probably easier to have this conversation away from prying eyes. I would prefer not to have to move."

That shocked him. Did she just...? "So..." he started, stepping closer so they were side by side. He turned towards her, basically forcing himself into her immediate view. "What conversation, exactly, are we having?"

"I made the mistake of falling for that trick before," she stated, motioning with her head towards Dean on the that.

"What trick is that?"

She just glared at him at that one.

"Ok, cutting straight to it then," Sam shrugged. "You're a siren and we're hunters."

"Easy peasy. What's next?"

"I..." he started, but stopped. "What do you think is next?"

She turned completely to face him this time. "Hunters kill monsters, no? Just like you did last night with the vampires."

"You were in the woods last night!" Sam exclaimed. "How did you...? That was you, right? You had them frozen or whatever. How? Why?!"

She laughed. "Why? They're vampires. They were attacking folks in the town. The police couldn't deal with it. Nor would I want them too. But we don't actually have any local hunters..." She looked curiously at Sam at that. "Why are you guys here?"

"We keep track of stuff like that. Come in when no one else is nearby." He shook his head. "You forgot the how..."

She laughed again. "You know how. That part is always the same, isn't it? Siren's sing men to their doom."

"You weren't singing anyone to doom at the bar earlier."

"Well, no one was being rude." She winked. "The songs we have are pretty literal. The one most of the stories are concerned with is the one that makes sailors drown. That's true. But...vampires can't drown." She shrugged. "They get close and then the brain sort of kicks in and reminds the body that that isn't a real threat. But the impulse is still there as long as the song continues. So they freeze. Making it very easy to chop off their heads." She finished with a wave and a nod towards him. "I was working out how I was going to manage to do it myself when you guys walked up. It was very convenient."

"Happy to help," Sam laughed. He paused, hesitating to ask more. The song was the easy query...

She must have suspected what he was thinking, because she giggled behind her hand. "The rest of the stories are...weird. Part bird. Part fish. A little of both? Confused with mermaids and nymphs and selkies. Then Christianity came in the mix and we were just evil evil women." Another shrug. "We're just people. Who love the sea. Like practically every fisherman in this town. We just have the ability to live a bit closer to it."

Sam took it all in, as usual talking in the knowledge and filing it away while being astonished that there was still more in this world he didn't know. After all the years they had been in this business, there were still surprises.

"Selkies, huh?" he asked curiously.

"Well...my mother used to tell us we had a selkie or two in the family tree."

Sam nodded with a laugh. He turned and found Dean was still standing right where he'd stopped on the other side of the sidewalk. He turned back to say something, but Nell beat him to it.

"This...is a curious situation."

That took him aback as well. "He had that song you were singing in the woods last night stuck in his head. Couldn't get it out. Actually had him lose out on sleep..." He drifted off, starting to get concerned at the worried look on her face.

"It's not there any more." She started walking across the road towards him and Sam quickly followed. "I could tell, when he came to talk to me at the bar. I wanted to check at least one of you, just in case."

"What...why?"

"It wasn't meant for you guys. I only intended the vampires to hear it. But when I saw...your brother..."

"Dean," he provided the info at her pause. "I'm Sam."

"Nell. Nice to meet you. Anyway, when I saw Dean here practically run into Arthur - the big vamp - I thought maybe you both had got caught in it as well. I didn't know you were there. But if you were close enough, it might still have hit."

Dean just gave her a shy smile when she turned to him with a wave. But then he kind of lost it, brushing off embarrassment at the awkward action. "Hey."

Sam watched and he couldn't help but be embarrassed for his brother. "Are you sure he's not...whammied or whatever?"

"No. Nothing. I mean," she turned to wave at the water. "Beach is right there." She turned to Dean. "You have any desire to go for a swim?"

"What? No." He shook his head. Then, thought about it again. "I mean...unless you want to..."

"Dean!" Sam admonished.

"What?"

Nell laughed. "Like I said. Not whammied."

"Well...maybe not from last night... But what about tonight?" Sam was still worried. His brother seemed fine, and yet...there was something...off.

"Tonight?"

He looked at her questioningly. "Yeah. When you were singing at the bar."

She shrugged. "I was just singing."

"Yeah...but..." Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he hadn't felt what he thought he felt... But it was so evident. The whole crowd...

"They were just regular songs. They make me happy." She shrugged. "Maybe it just comes through naturally... But no, there wasn't any...intended whammy. If that's what you mean."

"But then..." he started, motioning towards Dean.

"What?" Dean asked. He looked between the two of them and was suddenly just regular ole Dean. "What the hell man? You thought I was all tranced out just because I tried to pick up a girl?" He slapped his brother's arm. "Seriously?!"

Nell laughed at the brothers' exchange. "If it makes you feel better, Sam, distance does not make the heart feel fonder, so to speak, when it comes to siren song."

He laughed as well, the worry fading with each laugh. "Well, we were planning on heading out. We just wanted to be sure we got all the vampires."

"Oh..." She glanced awkwardly at them. "You did...actually miss one. Lance. Arthur's little brother. He wasn't there in the wood last night, so technically you didn't miss him last night... But yeah, there's one more."

Dean groaned, but then perked up. "Is he as big as his brother?"

Sam could tell Dean thought he'd finally get his fight. The look on Nell's face, however, said otherwise.

"Sorry... Scrawny thing. And new. To the vampire life that is. Arthur had him on lockdown, because he'd caused so much trouble up north. They'd come here to chill and hide."

Sam tried hard not to giggle at his brother's disappointment. "Any chance he ducked out of town, now that big brother isn't around to hold the leash?"

Nell shrugged. "That's possible. But...they were pretty close. Think that's the main reason Arthur turned him. Add that to a vampire's usual urge for revenge when you wipe out their whole nest... Something tells me he'll stick close to you guys."

The brothers gave her a look seemingly impressed, if also not a little shocked, at her impressive knowledge.

"And how does a siren know so much about vampires?" Dean asked incredulously.

She reached up and patted his cheek. "One of the things you weren't thinking about when you tried to pick me up - my age."