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Tweak says, "Rhythm nation!"

Dean Winchester (

rambledon) wrote in

thedoorway,
@ 2014-01-14 12:48:00

Who: Dean Winchester & Jo Harvelle
When: Around December 22, 2013, afternoon
Where: Central Park
What: A walk in the park. Romantic discussions. Rated S for saccharine.
Status: Complete log

It was warm for December. While the rest of the east coast seemed to be under the threat of winter storm Gemini, or whatever the national weather service was calling it now, the most that Manhattan had seen were a few cloudy skies and rain. In spite of this, there was a thin layer of snow throughout Central Park, leftover from the last winter storm (also probably named after a Pokemon or Zodiac sign, not that Dean watched the weather, but okay, storm stories was pretty awesome).

The park was a welcome respite from the city. As they walked along the paths, they passed other New Yorkers out enjoying the nice weather. There were a lot of things going well for Dean, enough that he wasn't filled with his usual anxiety about the future or their TV lives. He was looking forward to the Christmas holidays, and even more so, the idea of spending them with Jo and Sam. It was strange having this extended family network, but not anymore strange than spending Christmas hunting vampires, which, honestly, he'd done enough to last a lifetime.

"I hope it snows again," he said, reaching out to take her hand in his. "It'd be nice to have a white Christmas."

She curled her fingers around his and smiled softly. The weather had been typical winter weather. Snow one day. Rain the next. Something coming from the midwest she was sorta used to. Things never really went the way you wanted them for Christmas. Snow would come, she was sure of it. Jo was happy. Mostly. The city still grated on her, but she was dealing with it. She missed life on the road sometimes.

A soft smile settled on her lips at the faint snow on the ground and the quiet peace that the park radiated. Even with people around, it wasn’t loud or crowded. It was the perfect escape in this vast city. She was excited. Christmas was always a rush job holiday in her family. And after her dad died, it felt empty and hollow and her and Ellen spent most of the time at the Roadhouse, giving every other Hunter a Christmas, ignoring their own needs. Now? She could enjoy it with Sam and Dean and not feel guilty about it.

“I have a feeling it will. I would love a white Christmas.” she smiled. “This place is pretty either way, almost like the dirt and grime this city produces doesn’t touch here..”

He had to agree with her on that. The park seemed miles away from the city, even though, in truth, it was surrounded on all sides. There was a peace here that could not be found in the city's gridlock, especially now that so many were obsessed with holiday shopping, holiday parties, and worst of all, holiday sight-seeing. The droves of people who seemed to flock to the city just to see the tree at Rockefeller Center had been overwhelming, the one time that he had made the mistake of wandering in that direction.

"I suspect we could make it happen, if we wanted," he said. "We have the likes of Dumbledore on our side."

There were other witches in the tower, too, and magic users. He suspected the refugees of Potts Tower could do anything, if given the chance, but he suspected, too, that such a bizarre phenomenon would not be greeted lightly by the native New Yorkers. Kicking ass in Asgard? Okay. Making it snow? Probably not. There was a grudgery to snow in the city, where the white flakes became more of a nuisance than a pleasure.

"Have you thought about what we should do for New Year's?"

“I would think so, but no need to bother them either.” she smiled and brushed her hair out of her eyes, wishing she’d brought a hair tie tonight. She was happy to be walking the park with Dean, hand in hand. It was lovely and felt good. Normal. It was nice, although he was probably right - the people of this City would probably not take kindly to it snowing all over their world. Oops.

“Something fun, and not in the heart of the City.” she said honestly, smirking a bit. “I think NYC at New Year’s is a scary, scary thing. I’m not sure I want to endure that many people crammed into a small place like Times Square.” she said honestly, looking at him sideways. “You?”

A long time ago, maybe, when he was still a kid and his dad disappeared on one of his trips, he had stayed up long enough to watch the ball drop in Times Square. There had been a lot of people crammed into that tiny TV frame, stretching from one end of the screen to the other. He didn't need to see it in person to know that there would be just as many now, probably more. He didn't need fancy parties, either, which were likely to fill the Tower as the day grew nearer.

"We could go to the bunker," he said. "For a couple of days… If you didn't mind missing the fireworks, and the parties…"

“I have no problem missing the fireworks and the parties… the Tower is full of them as it is, I really can do without.” she smiled at him and nodded. Jo had come to hate the cramped feeling of the Tower. She was so used to running around helter skelter that now being stuck in one place, settled down felt wrong. Sam was acclimating pretty well, but not Jo. Jo figured she’d forever be that girl who wandered, maybe had a nice place to settle down away from people but have that ability to wander.

Wandering felt normal. Almost like Hunting. So the idea of ditching the cramped tower was great - they could get away, hang out just them unless Sam and Veronica and Charlie came (which would be okay, too), but she was looking forward to Dean time, without the eyes of the rest of their crew smirking in the shadows. She was glad things were going so well, she didn’t want to lose it.

He was glad that she had agreed to be away from the Tower for New Year's. As much as he liked having a free space to live and get to know other's like them, he missed the road and the solitude that it provided. Maybe it was crazy, but Dean seemed to be born for open spaces, for distance, for the wandering that felt so normal to the both of them. He figured he'd never be able to settle down like his brother, but maybe that didn't mean never settling down. Maybe it just meant settling down differently.

"Awesome," he said. "I know Sam and Veronica want to stay here, so it'd be just us… But we can make our own fun, right? Build a fire? Resurrect demons?"

The latter was definitely a joke. He'd be happy to have just a few nights away from the city, even more so knowing that the city wasn't about to burned down or be infested by the forces of Lucifer.

Jo had always had a home base to go back to. Until it blew up of course. But she really did love the idea of being able to wander. Travel. Just go. It was life on the road and it was addicting. The moment she’d first done it, she’d been hooked. The idea of spending just her and him time was a great one. And it’d give in to their wandering a little bit. Get them out of the City.

“That’s perfect. I’d love that.” she grinned a bit. “Build a fire. Toast some marshmallows. Banish some spirits. The usual, right?” she teased back. She was happy to get out of the busy city, with the crazy people and all that jazz. She shook her head, and smiled. “I love this plan more and more.”

"The usual," he agreed. He liked that they could share this together: a mutual disdain for the hustle and bustle of the city, a shared love of wanderlust. It made the relationship easier, easier than he had expected a committed relationship to be. Neither of them seemed to expect anything that the other couldn't give, a rarity, really, in his long history of broken relationships (both romantic and not).

He surveyed the park, hesitant for once to voice his thoughts. "I'll give you credit for the plan," he said, teasing. "All I wanted was to sit home and watch Dick Clark drop the ball. Do they even have that anymore?"

She grinned at him. “The usual is just how we like it.” she said with a cocky little smirk that was all Jo. She pushed hair out of her eyes and grinned wickedly. Their shared disdain of normalcy was something that brought them closer. It was something she enjoyed sharing with him. After all who else would understand their way of life here? Daryl had, which was nice. She’d given up hope of relationships here when previous!Dean had told her he didn’t want anything like that. No one wanted to deal with the damaged girl who still had nightmares (albeit they were coming less frequently once she shared a bed with someone who had lived through the same shit).
Jo tilted her head and looked at him as he studied the park. “Ooh thanks” she grinned and teased back. “I think Dick Clark’s dead, and from what I see it’s turned into some kind of circus. Nothing as simple as that anymore.” she said sadly.

What he missed about Dick Clark was more the nostalgia of the event than the actual man. He had been too young, when they'd still had time to pay attention to those sorts of things, to really form any sort of attachment to the man himself. It wasn't even really the "good old days" that he missed. It was just a habit, a ritual, a thing that had been and would never be again.

"So," he said, rather more seriously, "do you think it's possible to have a - permanent life here?" He wasn't aware that he had had the thought, until he had thought of Dick Clark and death and his dad and Sam. But all of those together seemed to remind him that maybe there wasn't permanence anywhere. And if there was, what did permanence mean to him when his idea of a good time was living on the road, out of a suitcase, moving every couple of days to find the next big fight?

"You know, like Sam and Veronica, do you think they're going to get married and have kids?"

She squeezed his hand gently and smiled. “I think so. I mean in January I’ll have been here for longer than I’ve ever been in one place on a regular basis. What else can we do but make a life for ourselves?” she asked gently as she took a deep breath and a sigh following suit. “Of course who says we have to play by the rules?” she knew him well enough to know settling in one place was not a fun idea. Not really. Not when they were used to traveling the country.

“No one said we have to play by the rules, no one is making us be normal.” she smiled at him. Grinning wickedly. “We can always play it our way.” then a serious smile, and a shrug. “I can see them getting married, I really can. I never thought I’d say that again, about Sam. But I do. I think she’s good for him. And this is what he likes… “ she didn’t agree. She wanted to be free, travel, live the fun life.

"She is good for him," he agreed. But it wasn't Sam and Veronica's life that he wanted to do discuss. He was happy for his brother, and in fact, happier than he had been in a long time. Not just for Sam, but for himself. He seemed to have finally found a way to fit here that satisfied him, and that was, naturally, a serious milestone for him. "And they're good for each other."

"And I've been thinking… maybe just because we're broken, and a little bent on the rims, doesn't mean we can't be good for each other, too. In our own way?"

It was a question that didn't need to be asked, necessarily. And maybe if they'd been back home, he'd never have asked it. Here, though, things were always on the brink of changing, and maybe that's why he found himself anchored to Jo. She reminded him of everything that he missed about home, everything thing that needed to be fixed and saved and resurrected piece by piece.

Jo smiled at him - this place was doing them both good. She’d had all the same thoughts at some point in her time here. Between the nightmares, the panic attacks, the phobia slash anger towards big dogs that she was working on still, she wondered what was here for Her? She had her answer of course, and it might just work.

“Damaged. Broken. That we are but I think because of the fact it’s from things we both know, from experiences we’ve shared in, I think… I think we can be good for each other.” she offered him a wistful smile. The mere idea that they were good for each other made her happy and warm. It validated the fact that her dreams weren’t throw aways. That they were real.

"Okay," he said, squeezing her hand. "Awesome." It'd have been the perfect movie magic if it had started to snow at that moment, but it didn't, and it was still too warm for December. And there weren't any musical choirs of birds in the trees. But Dean smiled anyway, happy to have at last found something that made him, well, happy, and happier to accept, too, that permanence didn't necessarily mean forever. Not here, not anywhere.

"I think… this is the best I've felt in a long time. Snow be damned."

Jo kissed his cheek softly and smiled. They were on the same page, which was always weird sometimes for her. But she liked it and wanted nothing more than it to be perfect. Well their kind of perfect - the one that came with salted windowsills and knives under pillows and random road trips. She grinned and cozied up a bit to his side. “Me too.” she echoed softly before falling silent, a happy kind of silent. The sun was setting in the distance and she was content to finish their walk through the park in the dying light. She felt no need to ruin such a perfect moment.

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