62: What Women Want

Dean had no idea what to do. Before, in his life pre-Jane and her stepping back into it, his downtime usually consisted of drinking and womanizing. Maybe he'd catch a concert or something. Downtime was not something that occurred very often, and not in extended lengths of time. His "days off" now were usually spent at Bobby's, with not only Jane but Bobby and Sam, and they tended to find new cases. On top of everything going on with the seals, angels… looming apocalypse… they were always busy.

He had, sometimes, thought of life with Jane outside the hunting business, about what it would be like, if they would even still be together. He had never overly worried about that prospect because normal life wasn't in the cards for them. They would always be hunting, and they would always have Sam and Bobby lurking in the background, unless those two got out of their bachelor ruts and began dating. So his issue was: he had never prepared for a scenario where it would be just him and Jane, without the supernatural bullshit haunting them.

Of course, they could have just spent the downtime sexing it up, they both really, really enjoyed that but Dean, much to his eternal shame, wanted more. He wanted to spend time with his wife, learn more about her; he wanted to do chick things. Thank God Sam wasn't here…

"What do you want to do today?" Jane asked, interrupting his musings as she sipped her coffee.

He reached across the small table set in the corner of their room and snitched what was left of her breakfast, tilting the contents of her plate onto his. He had remembered her eating the spicy sausage and potatoes dish from way back when and sure enough, she was doing it again. He was a little pleased at his ability to remember something so small and trivial. Though when he had woken her up with the table laid out and her current favorite dish, she had beamed at him. So maybe it wasn't so small and trivial. "We could do the tourist thing." He offered, knowing outside of the beach and market, there probably wasn't all that much sightseeing to do. Not unless she wanted to drive elsewhere.

"We could browse the market, looks like it's bigger than before."

He nodded, eyeballing her tank top and denim shorts. He could remember her pulling on a blouse and skirt… white blouse, low sleeves that hung off her shoulders… the skirt had wound up on fire and buried out in the cemetery but she had looked… "Yeah, market it is."


"If there's another wedding, we're leaving."

"I don't know," Jane teased, not bothering to glance up from the shawls she was eyeballing, a basket over her arm. "The last one didn't turn out to bad."

"True…" He looked down, eyes roving the silks she was contemplating. "I like the green one."

"Since when do you have an opinion on what I wear?"

"Green one."

Shrugging, she gestured for the green shawl, arching a brow when Dean held out money. "Uh… I can-"

"Jane… take the money and shut up. I'm trying to be nice."

He was acting so weird but she didn't say anything, just took the offered cash. Once the transaction was finished and her shawl was tucked away in the basket, they walked towards a new stall. "What's up with you? You're acting… funny."

He was and he knew it, though he had no idea how to tell her why. "I'm trying… I want us to… can't we just be normal? Don't husbands buy their wives nice things?" That came out a bit more defensively than he would have liked, he just didn't enjoy feeling on the spot. "All you've known with me is hunting, that's all we do. I just thought… forget it." He raked a hand through his hair, wondering why he had bothered. He wasn't cut out for this.

Jane was quiet, processing what he had said and piecing together what he hadn't said. She realized, belatedly, that he was trying to give her the normalcy he seemed to think she was missing. And… she smiled slightly, watching as he tried to look nonchalant and not so put out, he probably was trying to get the whole 'regular guy, regular wife' experience for himself. She could do that. "Does this mean if I eyeball some jewelry, you're going to pony up for it?" She figured he had tried doing the emotional thing enough for the moment and would go with playful and joking.

Dean went with it, relieved she wasn't calling him out or wanting to have a heart to heart, not right now. He loved this woman, she just got him so well. "Depends on the jewelry."

"Mmm…" She considered that, not really all that big on wearing earrings, they could be ripped out. Necklaces got snatched and broken, and bracelets interfered with stuff too much. The only thing she wore on a regular basis was the silver ring he had given her, Mary's ring. Jane looked down at it, suddenly regretting not taking better care of it. Granted, it hadn't been in the best shape when she had received it but… "Could we maybe find a jeweler instead? Have this cleaned up, maybe reshaped?" It was a little on the banged up side.

"You don't want a new one?" Dean couldn't help but be surprised. She had never voiced a complaint with the ring but he knew women liked pretty jewelry, not too big hand me downs.

"Course not, I like this one. I was just thinking I should be taking better care of it though."

He had no idea what to say to that. "You really are perfect, you know."

Jane blushed, waving a hand at him. "Stop it. You know I'm not."

"For me, you're perfect for me, Jane."

She was mildly concerned, wondering if he was about to make another trip to hell or something because this was very un-Dean-like. "Are you feeling okay?"

Dean shrugged, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Just trying to let you know… you know, that sentimental crap women like."

"Uh huh."


"Can you dance?"

"If I have too." Dean looked at Jane warily over the rim of his beer. He had learnt his lesson the last time, there would be no tequila for him in this town. Who the hell knew what would happen? He followed his gaze out towards what had been the market square. The stalls had been closed down and cleared back to make room for some festival. The music was… interesting, the people were amusing, and the food was great. He hadn't minded watching the dancing but now he had a feeling Jane was about to ask him to participate. "You want to dance, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do." Jane grinned at him and stood up, twirling in a circle. She was wearing an outfit very similar to the one he had bought her years ago, a blouse that hung off her shoulders and a very lovely skirt. "Please?"

"Twirl again for me first, baby."

She did.

He would admit that he enjoyed the way the skirt flared out, revealing just a peek of her legs and he stood up, reaching out for her hand. He could do a slow song, but anything else would probably be asking for embarrassment. He let her guide him out to where others were dancing before taking the lead, positioning her against him. "Not going to step on my feet, are you?" He teased, having no idea what the song was but it was slow enough for him.

"Only if you get clumsy." Jane nestled into him, smiling into his shirt as he began leading her around the square. "This was a good idea, Dean, getting away like this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Even with his spaz attacks, he'd eventually learn that she didn't want the normal thing, or anything else he assumed women desired. She just wanted him.