InsaneJournal

"Gandalf! As I live an' breath, I never expected t'run into yeh in this place. 'ow are yeh?!"
Who: Gandalf, Dean, and Romany
What: Gandy and Dean do a transaction, then Romany applies for a job. And thanks him with Nature's Credit Card(tm) Paying The Golden Girls royalties for that one
Where: Dean's shop
When: Monday Morning
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13 for drugs, and Romany being Romany




An old man, in a bright yellow flower shirt, wandered around the shop. Only he really wasn't wandering. He was waiting for certain folks to leave.

Dean had given him a little nod when he'd come in, and then proceeded to work on assisting some of the others in the shop. Right now, he was going over the finer points of smudging. "And you need to do it in all directions. Sounds crazy at first, and it's gonna feel a little weird, but it works." If nothing else, it did change the atmosphere of a place, and sometimes that was wht people needed most. For some others, well, that was where the other customer came in.

Gandalf chuckled to himself, picking up some sort of doll and turning it over in his hands.

Oh yeah, the poppets. Dean had explained to several people, over and over, that they weren't voodoo dolls. He hadn't exactly put up the sign with information that he'd threatened to at one point, but he at least knew Gandalf wasn't one to do that, so he got a little smile when Dean glanced in that direction while the current customers picked out lavender smudge bundles and paid. Then, when they were done with that, he glanced around, making sure that no one was in earshot, and went for the envelope he kept burried under the tray of the register.

The old hippy was just amused by them, for the most part. He liked to watch people freak out about them. It was one of his jollies when he came into the store. Casually, he walked over to the register, "And how are you today, Dean?"

"Not bad." Dean said, giving him a little nod and then an actual grin. "Not bad at all. And you? Business going well?"

"Business is booming! I've some new customers. And with the fourth coming up, my day job has been entertaining, to say the least." He leaned in, and whispered, "If you want the good fireworks, ask." Because, hey, why not?

"I'll have to do that once I know exactly what's going on that weekend." Dean eyedarted. Because it was probably going to be something. Something involving lots of beer and madness and such. He just didn't know who was hosting anything this year yet. So he'd wait before picking up host gifts. "New customers always help."

"They do. The mushrooms have been very good this year. Even better than the grass."

"Have they?" Dean eyedarted a little. "Probably be pushing it to have those here, but it's tempting I admit."

"They'll bring your dreams into this world," Gandalf assured him.

"Dreams..." Dean said, frowning a little. "Like the ones they're talking about online or awesome ones? Because I don't know about having alternate reality dreams. When I tried the past life regression Mom wanted to do, nothing happened."

"Both." Gandalf waggled his eyebrows, "Do you still have stocks of Peyote?"

"Still do. It was kind of a bitch to keep the liscence for that too." Dean said.,"Had to go through a bunch of legal stuff to prove we're only gonna sell it to actual Natives with a valid religious reason for use. Which gets a little...problematic when it comes down to marriages and people who adopted the beliefs and all. There's probably a good demand for the shrooms, considering the people who try to buy it."

"Something you can offer on the side." Gandalf gave him a small smile, "I can trade some." He made a humm hmm type sound, and leaned on the counter, looking like he should be leaning on a staff, and that his beard should be longer and there should be a pointy hat upon his head, "Have you dreamt, my boy?"

"I"d be into trying that. See how the demand actually goes and all for a small amount at first. No dreams, no." Dean did sort of think of Gandalf in a Merlin type way. Weird but...yeah. He thought about it sometimes when he saw him here. Atmostphere lent itself to the image or something. "I"m getting the idea that's probably a good thing. Most of it...seems to be disturbing people." he said, thinking of Castiel.

"Dreams are like doorways. The shrooms and peyote simply allow one to cross over while still awake. These people, myself include, get glimpses."

"Has it worked then? Exploring the dreams that way? I mean, any new insights?"

Gandalf pursed his lips thoughtfully. His eyes gained a mysterious gleam, "If any unusual rings come through, will you let me know?"

"Rings?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "Like the jewlery kind and not me witnessing faery dancing or something?"

"Well I'm certainly interested in the latter," The old man replied, giving Dean a merry chuckle. "But primarily the former. In my dreams they are very powerful items, indeed."

"Interesting." Dean made a mental note to check that out. "There's something about them in mythology too. The whole Ring Cycle Deal...there was this kingdom somewhere in Italy that threw one in the sea every year to please the gods...anyway, I'll keep an eye out. "

"Thank you. It's important, but it isn't. That will make sense in time, I am sure." There were other rings of power, and in a shop like this, it was likely that one or more might come through. Gandalf simply wanted to keep an eye out. That, and talking to Dean was always fun.

"Important but it isn't. Doesn't make a lick of sense right now but..." Dean knew that things like that unfolded in time. "When it makes sense, I'll know it."

"Precisely. These things come exactly when they need to. No sooner, no later. A lot like sex."

"Sex..." Dean sighed dramatically. "There's something I need to work on." He glanced toward the fertility aides section of the shop. "You'd think I've got the products, I could be doing something about it." Kind of hard when the person he found most attractive lately was in the nut ward.

Gandalf chuckled again, "When is it ever right to force these matters? Things will happen, in due time."

"That's true." Dean admitted, "How is it you know everything? It can't be age alone."

"I, my friend, am a Wizard."

"In the dreams then?" Dean looked impressed with that. "I can see it. You had a sort of...vibe when you came in. Merlin vibe."

"Close enough." He gave Dean a wide smirk, and tapped the table, "Quickly, before someone walks in."

Dean reached into the drawer and fished out Gandalf's envelope with receipts and payments with a documentation for the cut Dean took for the shop selling some of his product. "There we are. Everything should be in order for the last week."

"Wonderful." Gandalf slid a baggie across the table, "A sampler."

"That? Is absolutely amazing." Dean already had some plans for the baggie, which he made sure to store well out of sight. He knew what most of his family would be doing tonight.

The bell on the door rang as someone entered, and Gandalf turned to go. He paused for a moment, and regarded the newcomer.

Romany gave him a smile and immediately closed the distance to give him a great big hug, "Gandalf! As I live an' breath, I never expected t'run into yeh in this place. 'ow are yeh?!"

He gave the exhuberant woman a bear hug, while laughing, "Romany Wisdom, one of the few people I know who truely lives up to their names."

"I don't mean t'keep yeh, but it's jus' been so long."

Gandalf winked at her, and handed her a card, "Why don't you meet me there tomorrow evening, and we can catch up on old times."

Romany grinned wickedly, "Goin' on a trip, are we?"

"Indeed." With another laugh, Gandalf shuffled off, and Romany turned to inspect the store.

She gave it a critical eye. An expert one. She snorted, "Yeh got t'many tourist shite."

"Yeah, yeah we've got a lot of it." Dean agreed, shaking his head a little at the stuff she was eying. "Gotta draw them in and all." At least that was what his mom had said about that aisle. "Thankfully we haven't sunk to keeping anything by Silver Ravenwolf in stock."

"I'd 'ave to shoot you, duck." Romany sounded one-hundred percent serious. Silver Ravenwolf were the only books she condoned burning. Not even Stephanie Meyer deserved that fate.

"If I hadn't set myself on fire in the middle of circle first." Dean supplied, giving the woman a smirk. "Might be hard to resist doing that. Well, unless I was posessed enough to think that was good to sell. Harmless charms though? Not so bad a moneymaker."

"They can do harm if someone thinks it'll really 'elp," Romany replied. She folded her arms as she looked around, nodding thoughtfully at some of the stock.

This stuff was better. Much better, "I 'aven't seen any place this good since I was in New Orleans."

"Well thanks for that." Dean came around from behind the counter now, interested. "That's why we keep the charms down to, well the positive thinking type of things. Stress reduction, weight loss, things like that that get a person's mind going in the right direction too. As to the real stuff...we do our best."

"Pretty good, for a yank." She flashed him a smile, looking him up and down. A handsome yank.

"Don't suppose you're 'iring?"

Why so he was. On both of those counts. "Considering the shop's manned mostly by me these days, we could use the help." he told her. "What sorts of things can you do? We've got a yoga teacher coming in soon for lessons, and anything else you can put on the table's welcome."

"Occult history," Romany replied, grinning. "Tarot. I know 'ow to find rare an' unusual ingrediants. I've done consultin' with the bobbies for cults an' satanist cases. That sort o'thing."

Dean took a second to translate that into American. Still gave him a hilarious mental image of HIS Bobby, well, his dad's Bobby really, dressed up in the whole Brit cop thing, to the tune of the Gilbert and Sulivan crap he'd learned about in middle school. But then it passed. "I think we could use that. We'd have to draw up an actual contract to keep things legal but it'd definitely be a help."

"Good, coz I 'ave a work permit so I really should be working." She flashed him a flirtatious grin, "Your shop has a good vibe. So do yeh."

"Just doing what my mom would want." Dean flashed her a grin very like that in turn. "And me working with a lady with talent and skill who's pretty easy on the eyes...she'll like that I'm sure."

"'ope she likes other things." She waggled her eyebrows at him, leaning forward a bit.

"Don't know if those are things I should be sharing." Dean's lip quirked a little and he returned the eyebrows. "Some stuff's just inapprpriate to mention."

"Well you could keep it to yourself," The british witch replied, innocently.

"If I kept it ALL to myself, I wouldn't have any fun." Dean told her, "Now, between the TWO of us...I could see that working."

Romany grinned at him, "Got time for a fifteen minute lunch break, duck?"

"Fifteen huh?" Dean reached for the sign that he'd be right back to hang on the door. "If that's all you think we'll need, but maybe we should say a little longer.' He added, toying with the arms on the sign's clock.

Romany slipped her arm into his, "Lets go for an 'our. But only if yeh think yeh can 'andle that."

"Hour huh?" Dean rested his chin on top of her head for a second. "Why don't we find out what I can handle?"

Oh. Romany liked this man