Who: Dean Winchester dean & Elaine Mallory ssadabsiannataz What: Impromptu wet t-shirt contest. When: Wednesday, June 24 Where: Greenhouse where Dean regularly frequents Rating: Audience Discretion is Advised Warnings: Inappropriate conversation is always a possibility with Dean whereas Elaine brings her own warnings. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
~*~
Slackers were the type who didn't go to college, drank too much beer, and played darts or pool in bars for money. The stereotype was alive and well in the world for a reason. Dean Winchester represented everything which could be called a slacker without being one at all. He'd work himself into the ground to do a job right. Death before dishonor. Sempre Fi. John Winchester had been the Marine in the family, but Dean had joined his army as a boy without ever finding out a way to time out.
There was no revoking that enlistment once it'd been made.
It was a lifetime sentence, being a Winchester.
Dean was at his favorite place for shrubs in the rainforest house where they kept some of their more exotic options. He was browsing more than anything else. Nothing in the rainhouse would work for an outdoors installation. Dean didn't need a staffer to tell him so seeing as he'd put more things in the ground than the city mortician. It was his job to look for new ideas though. There was inspiration to be found even in the most dive of dive bars. Dean liked to take the chance for a little more upscale inspiration all the same.
He wasn't prepared when the sprinklers went off as he was leaning in to observe a particularly brilliant bloom.
Straightening with a snap of his spine, Dean looked around at all the people running for the exit before asking loudly, "Did someone sign me up for a wet t-shirt contest without telling me again? Not cool, folks. Not cool."
~*~
Elaine had been shopping for both plants for inside and outside. She’d made it through the entire trip without blowing anyone's circuits out, or causing problems. She’d been lucky so far. But then she’d let her mind wander while looking at an exotic shrub and thought back to the dreams and Aurora, the Summer lady, and next thing she knew sparks popped and the sprinklers went off as things like the lights fizzled out and the registers stopped working.
Lower lip caught between her teeth as she tried very hard to get control back enough so that she wouldn’t break anything else. She sighed angrily at herself and adjusted a ring on her right hand. Trying to pull in the excess energy to help calm the place back down. She was half way to setting her things aside and leaving when she heard someone ask if they’d been signed up for a wet tshirt contest before she shook her head, laughing.
“Pretty sure you’re the wrong gender for those events.” she called out, not minding the water sprinkling down on her head. She did give it a cross look more angry at herself than it, though. Elaine had been so careful lately. This was a minor set back and not the end of the world.
~*~
Dean smiled wide at the response. He didn't mind getting called out, especially by annoyed ladies who had no problem sticking around for waterworks. The place had turned into a jungle on them. He saw the workers heading to shut off the sprinklers as fast as they could go, scampering almost. Ridiculous really, afraid of a little water? Why? There were a lot worse things than sprinklers to be afraid of in the world.
"You have no idea how well I do in wet t-shirt contests. I'll have you know I have been praised on many an occasion for my surprisingly perky nipples."
He rubbed his hand back over his head to brush the water out of his hair as the sprinklers finally stopped pouring down on them. Some shopper was clapping. It was all pretty funny in the grand scheme of things. Adults didn't get to have as much fun as kids always imagined they would when they got older. Dean liked to enjoy life however it came to him. It was the simple pleasures which made it all worth it.
Why not laugh at getting caught in the rain indoors? What was the point of getting upset about it? Hell, with their heat, they could all use a little refreshment.
"It's nice to see I'm not the only one brave enough to stick around for my complimentary shower. You browsing or looking for something in particular today?"
~*~
Elaine didn’t mind. It wasn’t the first time this happened. Usually it was a lot worse. She just rolled her shoulders and was silently thankful she hadn’t been wearing white today. She pushed her now soggy curls off her shoulder and peeled one off her cheek and smiled at him. “That so?” she was laughing as she said it. Amused to no end about it all. She gave him a once over, Elaine wasn’t necessarily a flirt, but she could appreciate someone too. “I suppose I can see that.”
She shook her hair out and wrung out the end of her shirt. It was just water. Not the end of the world. And she didn’t really mind in the least about getting wet. “It’s just water, why worry about it?” she laughed a bit and smiled. Besides, it was her fault, not that she was ready to admit that to a stranger who probably didn’t believe in magic.
“Browsing for things to put in my new garden. I have herbs and flowers, now am filling out the borders and what not, I have plenty of room.” she smiled warmly. She was in flip flops and shorts, and didn’t seem phased to step into a puddle. It was just water.
“What about you?”
~*~
"Work, work, work," Dean chuckled, "I wish I was here to decorate my own place. Someday maybe. For now? I'm working at landscaping. I wanted to look at some more exotic options to see if I could get some inspiration going. Nothing in here is suitable for outside, but they work for inside gardens, some people like plants in their sunrooms, I've got a client who actually had me build them an indoor garden. They wanted all night-blooming flowers. Things which worked in moonlight rather than sunlight. It was fun. A great project."
He looked around with a relaxed smile. There were some people starting to trickle back in, some picking their way around the puddles in the floor as if they were lava instead of water while others slogged on through. Dean could tell who was a looky-loo and who was there to buy based on their reaction to the sprinklers. No one who was interested in real planting cared about a little water.
Gardening was a messy business. Dirt got everywhere if someone worked it right. They had it under their nails, embedded into the tiny grooves which made up their fingerprints, even in their hair sometimes. Soil was the organs of a plant's body while water was its blood. Dean had learned to love working with plants early in his life. He knew more about herbs and gardening than he'd a right to given how much education he had under his belt.
"I really need to start looking at hedges and shrubs. Dawdling around in here dreaming doesn't get me paid, you know?"
~*~
Elaine smiled a bit. “I do hope you get time to do your own place sometime then.” she smiled warmly at him and looked out over the plants before back to him. “All night blooming flowers? How pretty sounding. I bet that was a fun project. It sounds like it must have been.” she agreed as she shifted her weight onto her other hip.
She watched the people come back in. Elaine didn’t mind getting dirty. She found planting the garden relaxing, and fun, it was something she could do that wasn’t terribly affected by her magic. She had a green thumb, which she attributed to the dreams, and things seemed to be coming along well for her.
“No, not it doesn’t. Good luck finding what you need, though. It was nice to meet you, by the by. I’m Elaine.” she tilted her head at him. “I won’t keep you, though, don’t want to affect your business.” she smiled warmly, tucking a wet curl behind her ear and let her eyes drift back towards the plants she’d been looking for, before glancing up at him. She hoped she didn’t ruin too many people's’ days with this. She’d have to get out soon or else she’d blow some other circuit.
~&~
Introductions. Right. Dean was usually better about those. Social interactions were easy for him seeing as he liked people. Working them was as much a part of his work as tuning an engine or planning an indoor garden. He had to be good to his customers or they wouldn't come back. What kind of moron didn't even introduce himself? It was a good thing he didn't blush easy or he'd have been fifty shades of humiliated.
"Dean Winchester," he said, offering his hand, "Sorry about the lack of introduction. I got caught up in the moment."
He remembered most of the night garden project being a pain in his ass seeing as his client could only meet him after dark, indoors. She had been a weird one, too. Dean was almost positive she thought she was a vampire, but that sounded crazy which was why he didn't comment on it. There were some lines a guy knew he wasn't supposed to cross if he expected to get paid. Which he did. And well since he deserved it. Dean might be a cheap, easy lay, but he wasn't a cheap, easy worker.
People paid for the quality of service they got from him.
"Not often my life is like one of those beach songs about piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Nice to meet you too, Elaine. Hope this hasn't ruined your shopping trip."
~*~
She took the offered hand and smiled. “A pleasure, Dean. No, this hasn’t ruined my shopping trip, unfortunately I am followed by such luck, so I don’t mind anymore.” Elaine, despite her rocky past with people, she was pretty easy going. People weren’t there to get her. And she’d mostly recovered, mentally, from her time overseas. But the hand that took his hand old scars, and wasn’t generally a soft woman’s hand, it was well used and clean, but not soft.
“Now if there was only a pina colada to join the tropical shower.” she laughed softly and shook her head a bit. “No, this just was another day, another weird thing.” she shrugged a bit.
Elaine looked around at the people finally milling back around as if nothing had happened. She was constantly amazed at humanity’s ability to adjust to the weird and move on faster than anything. She never understood how they didn’t question so much.
It didn’t matter much, in the end, Elaine knew this area of the world was full of weirdness and that? was perfectly okay with her. She didn’t mind so much when it kept her on her toes and entertained, AND occupied. “And don’t apologize, it’s been a weird day, manners tend to fall by the wayside and you weren’t rude about it.”
~*~
Manners weren't high on Dean's list of priorities. He had learned them growing up. Before everything, John had been a Marine as well as Southern. Hospitality was taken seriously in both societies. Dean had simply never had a reason to follow through well on either. He wasn't a naturally rude guy so much as he was a man who only cared what other people thought or considered when it came to how he earned his living. Everything else was more incidental, less important, nowhere near as valuable to him as to some others who had family names to protect.
He imagined the Winchesters had lost their credibility a long time before he came along.
She had a good grip, Dean was surprised only to brush the feeling away. He didn't know her from Adam. She could have been a landscaper by day herself. For all he knew, she was a professional maid. The greenhouse didn't exactly make a good place for classism. It was more a melting pot the way California had been whispered to be before they'd moved all the way West to appreciate it. Turned out? There might have been a lot of different types in California, but they all clumped together exactly the same as in other parts of the world from what Dean could say.
"Weird is the definition of my life. Rude? I try to avoid that one. If it would make your luck feel a little better, I'd be glad to get you a drink after you're done shopping or some other time? No strings attached. No expectations either. I realize I come on strong. Doesn't mean I'm That Guy."
~*~
Elaine smiled. “Mine too, mine too.” she laughed softly and shook her head gently. “well a drink would be fine with me.” she smiled at him as she tilted her head. “After this would be fine unless you’re busy?” she shrugged a bit. “I don’t have much to do today besides this.”
She pushed her hair out of her eyes and tilted her head down shyly, she wasn’t used to people even asking her for a drink anymore. Elaine was used to being the weird one, the stranger, the lost girl who no one understood. She was unapproachable except perhaps by Zee who never cared about her past. She just liked Elaine for Elaine.
“I haven’t had a drink in a very long time, it’s probably high time that I did.” she laughed softly. “Well I hadn’t expected strings, but thank you for putting me at ease.” she grinned at him and settled her hands into her pockets. She’d been wandering around without a cart, she figured she’d tell them what she wanted and get help. “You’re just friendly and outgoing. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
~*~
"You can let me tell you some horror stories about women who think there's plenty wrong with that while we wait on our drinks. In the meantime, how about we finish up your shopping here? I might be able to help out seeing how often I'm here. These guys should start to pay me commission or something."
He was only half-way joking about the commission. Dean could use the extra income. Lately, he'd managed a few new clients, but it was all hit or miss with landscaping. His business partner was no help and Haymitch was working some kind of miracle on his side, but he couldn't just magic Dean some new customers. Time would tell if he could make a living wage as his own boss. The best he could do for now would be to live through it.
Some guys gave up after the first bad month of business.
Dean had lived on ramen noodles and coffee.
People who dreamed big? They had to give up sometimes. Not everyone could be an astronaut no matter how big space was supposed to be; not everyone got to be the prima ballerina on the stage. Dean didn't dream big. His dreams were exactly the right size for him which was why he knew if he kept at it, he'd get a chance to live the way he wanted to live. On his own terms. On his own dime. Owing nothing to no one.
Dean ushered Elaine toward the area they kept a cart stand at to start getting her settled for the day. The least he could do would be buy her a drink for putting up with him while he was daydreaming in an indoor rain shower.