Spencer Hastings makes shockingly bad choices. (ctrl_a) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-10-30 19:52:00
Who: Spencer Hastings ctrl_a and Dean Winchester dean What: Random Encounter Where: Cafe When: Mid September Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Though she’d finished most of the reading she’d wanted to do for the summer, now that she had a little extra time before UCI’s quarter started, Spencer was finishing up a second book that she’d added to her list. She was curled up in a comfortable chair in a cafe, finding herself feeling more and more sleepy in the sunshine as she read on her Kindle. Her eyelids slowly fluttered closed and her head lolled forward just a little.
~*~
"Woah there," Dean bumped the girl's shoulder with the back of his hand, "You do get that the point of being in a coffee shop is getting something which keeps you awake, right? Sleeping in public is not a good idea. Don't you have a friend to keep an eye on you or something? Pretty girls usually travel in packs."
He thought of the baby he and Claire were having. Would she be a pretty girl? Claire was beautiful; Dean wasn't bad-looking in his own right. They weren't likely to have an ugly kid, but there was a lot more to being part of the Pretties than being pretty. It was the same thing as boys and being sports players and being jocks. If they had a boy, Dean wouldn't be as worried. It was the idea of having a girl which had him scared and excited all at once.
~*~
A voice sounded and something touched Spencer’s shoulder and she jumped. Well, not jumped, exactly, but startled awake and sat up a bit straighter, suddenly, eyes wide. There was a handsome guy talking to her. It took Spencer a moment to realize where she was and what was going on. Had she really just nodded off? She blinked a few times, feeling sleep still hanging on at the corners of her mind.
“You think I’m pretty?” Was the first thing out of her mouth. Then her eyes went wide as she realized what she’d just said, and she cleared her throat before quickly adding, “No, I’m on my own today. Maybe I should… head home.” If she was falling asleep? Maybe she should. “That or order another cappuccino.”
~*~
Dean quirked a brow at the surprise in her voice. Who wouldn't think she was pretty? Sometimes women surprised him even after all he'd seen, experienced, done in this life and the other. There were too many reasons to walk away and only one to stay.
Naturally.
Dean chose to stay.
"Mind if I sit down? I'll try to be stimulating enough company to keep you awake until they bring you another cup of java. I'm Dean and you are either incredibly modest or you've got bad friends if you're not used to being called pretty. Which is your particular poison?"
Most would say Dean's was having bad friends. It wasn't necessarily his fault. He just---tended to meet mostly demons, witches, and vampires. Part and parcel of The Winchester Way was knowing what went bump in the night was really going bump in the night.
~*~
“No, please,” Spencer motioned for the guy to take a seat. She gave him a smile as he slipped into the chair, then sat up a little and lifted a hand to flag down the barista. She’d come here when she was still in high school in the area, and most of the waitstaff knew her. One hand raised by Spencer Hastings meant one thing; wet cap, big tip.
“Um… Maybe a bit of both? I’m back in the area after having been gone for a while, and a lot of my friends have left in the interim. So I’m working on amassing a new friend set.” She explained. That felt a little sad to say, but Spencer knew it was true.
~*~
"Nothing wrong with that."
Dean knew what it was like to be a man with no home. In his Dreams, he had traveled from place to place wherever the hunt had taken them. John never considered whether his kids needed stability; all he could care about was revenge. These days were different for Dean. His life was different and his kid? His kid would have stability. Their friends would be a part of their life until their friends chose to move or his kid got old enough to want to go out on their own.
Getting comfortable, he asked, "Any type of new friend you're in the market for? I might know one or two who fit the mold. I know I'm not exactly everyone's favorite flavor, but I happen to like all the flavors myself so it leads to me being able to offer up more than just chocolate or vanilla."
~*~
“What, are you a friend pimp or something?” Spencer asked, a hint of a tease in her voice. If she was truly being honest with herself, she would admit that she was a little desperate for some new friends. She loved Hanna and Emily, but it was time for her to start branching out a bit -- get to know some new people. And hey, this guy seemed nice enough. He was watching out for a stranger in a cafe, and that was admirable.
~*~
Dean grinned wide at the question. He couldn't help it. She was charming in a way-too-young-bad-idea-man kind of way.
"I have been called a lot of things in my life, but never a pimp. I'm just a guy who's trying to make amends any way he can in life. I figure I can use all the good karma I can get."
Considering all the things Dean had done in his Dreams? There wasn't too big a chance he was going up instead of down when his ticket got punched. Actually. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to go up instead of down considering all the things he'd seen in his Dreams. Heaven didn't really seem all that much different from Hell. Both places were big, eternal holding pens run by immortal bags of dicks as far as he could tell.
~*~
“Well, consider today a plus in the good Karma column,” Spencer said, motioning toward their interaction vaguely with her hand. It was nice to have someone watching out for her, nice to have someone who cared. “Thanks for keeping me awake, I mean. Not letting me crash out on the sofa in the cafe.”
Because who knows what might have happened to her if she’d fallen asleep like that.
“I’m Spencer.”
~*~
"Don't worry about it. I've---"
Dean stopped himself from telling this stranger about how he wouldn't want anyone to let his future daughter sleep in public. There was no reason to get into his family business. It was odd to think about 'family business' without meaning 'hunting.' Dean felt his smile relax a little as he realized he would have to get used to that. His life was changing for the better. Dreams only went so far in the face of the reality he and Claire had looming before them.
"I would've wanted someone to do the same for me. Good to meet you, Spencer. You staying awake too late for any particular reason? Dreams? Parties? Studying?"
~*~
Dreams? Spencer didn’t know what that meant, really. She raised an eyebrow at the comment. Definitely not parties. So studying was the most likely culprit. And would definitely clue in her new friend to her age and occupation. She decided to be honest. The best friendships were built on a foundation of honesty, anyway.
“Studying mostly. I’m pretty far advanced in my classes this quarter,” she explained. “I just transferred to UCI from Stanford.” There was more to that story than meets the eye, but not that she wanted to get into with a stranger. She went on. “It’s interesting coming home to go to a local school, and try to get back in touch with people I left before.”
~*~
Stanford.
Dean couldn't help a fond smile at the school's mention. It had been Sammy's dream. He was the successful one in their family, the good son, the smart one. Most people would think Dean had plenty of reasons to be jealous of his brother. They'd be wrong. Dean couldn't be more proud if he tried. Their relationship had never been the normal one which was forged between siblings raised together. Theirs was more a parent-child situation than that of brothers.
Life had a funny way of working this out to the beat of its own drummer.
"That's good. My brother was a Stanford guy. Law. I went the other route. GED. I'm a mechanic. I run Rainbow Motor Repair. I've been trying to start up a landscaping business. It's what I like doing best, but cars? They love me so you know the old saying. 'You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find you get what you need.' I figure I'm a lucky guy to be making good. Any of your friends still in town?"
~*~
“Oh. Yeah.” Spencer nodded. That was the department her parents wanted her to get into, but Spencer still wasn’t convinced. She wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to do, though her options weren’t exactly limited. Spencer was pretty brilliant, she could be or do just about anything she wanted to. She was just trying to figure out what that was.
She’d just lifted her coffee cup to her lips when Dean mentioned Rainbow Motor Repair. Then eyes went a little wide for a second before she inhaled some milk foam and started to cough/splutter. Rainbow Motor Repair?? Seriously?
Shaking her head, she reached for a napkin to dab at her lips. “Yes. I have a couple of really good friends in town. Did you say Rainbow Motor Repair? Funny, I just brought my car in there. Joe took care of me.” ...there was a slight burning sensation in her cheekbones at that.
~*~
"Joe's good people," Dean chuckled a little, trying to hold back saying for an eternal teenager, "I like having him around for help. I've got a few others who work with me. We do what we can. I'm glad you like our services."
He wasn't surprised she might have brought her car into the shop. There weren't a lot of shops in the area with the reputation they had; most shops required the car be purchased from a particular dealer or the owner had to have a reference. Some places wouldn't service a car which was out of warrantee. There were plenty of reasons Rainbow Motor did good. Dean knew a lot of them were the result of his old man laying the groundwork for a good shop.
John Winchester had been a great mechanic in his day.
Before the drinking and the Dreams had done him in.
"It'd be a different story if you weren't satisfied. I'd have to call him out on treating clients better. You seem to recall the experience pretty fondly. Maybe I should mention it anyway---"
Dean knew he was fishing for trouble. He figured why not? It was fun to mess with the singles a little since he'd been one of them himself until Claire.
~*~
Spencer may have been a little more pink around the cheeks after the cough/sputter, and that had nothing to do with the mention of the mechanic who’d helped her. Then made out with her in a cafe nearby. ...okay, it had everything to do with said mechanic. This was so weird to bump into his boss in a different cafe, on a different day. Spencer grinned, but it didn’t hide the pink in her cheeks.
“Oh, you don’t need to mention it to him. It’s fine. Or if you do…” she paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to ask the older man to say. Because Spencer hadn’t exactly hit up Joe’s phone after the incident.
“Just let him know I remember my experience at Rainbow Motor fondly.”
~*~
"I'll do that. You seem awake enough to take care of yourself from here. I got a pregnant lady at home expecting me to bring her whatever it is she's texted me needing."
Dean got up with a grin. He was glad he'd talked to the girl instead of letting her fall asleep in public where anyone could have done anything to her. People took advantage all the time. It didn't matter how nice a coffee shop looked or they were in California. There was always something bad lurking somewhere. Evil was a certainty Dean hadn't needed his Dreams to know about.
"Come by the shop again anytime you need help with your car. Regular oil changes, tire rotation, and balancing? These are the things that keep you from walking everywhere. Stay safe, Spencer."