If the hunter who had breezed into town a while back had any open connections with the case that he had been raving about, it definitely hadn't fallen into the media's radar. Sam had found the case. He couldn't pinpoint the Monster of the Week through shoddy news details without investigating the scene (the details were too vague, even for him), but one thing had been for certain: whatever had happened out there had left behind a nasty body count. Sam knew he'd had nothing to do with it - the timeline didn't match up; the dates on the news reports were planted long before he'd gotten out of the Cage - but that hunter had been so sure. To make matters even more disconcerting: after he had fired off the accusations with promises of a return, Sam never found any trace of him afterward. Hunters who came storming in like that didn't go quietly. Sam had expected a few red-faced men and women to come barging into Lawrence blowing a battle horn, screaming for blood. Instead, he had been left on the receiving end of nothing.
He should have been relieved. If there weren't hunters starting a war here, it was possible that whoever the man had been had realized that he'd made a mistake.
Possible, but not likely.
Fingers scratching at the dark shadow along his chin (ever since he'd gotten back, Sam had been far more negligent with his shaving routine), Sam frowned at the article display on his screen. He considered digging into another tedious, dead-end of a search (he'd been through this process several times already over the past few days), but decided to drop it.
The timing wasn't terrible. He'd clicked out of the article, leaving a desktop view to greet Ruby as she whisked her way into the room.
"It's not that bad," Sam countered, ruffling the length of hair that was, admittedly, an impressive way down the back of his neck. Okay, so maybe it was, sort of. His hair had taken a backseat priority along with the shaving. Sam grimaced. "I'll get it trimmed. Soon." Possibly. It seemed more realistic to expect for Ruby to tackle him with a pair of scissors at this point.
Dean. Emily. Beauty products. It was hard to fend off the look of confusion that followed. "I'm kind of afraid to myself," Sam contributed, shaking his head. It was good, at least, that Dean had found something to do. His brother had been balancing his own worries lately and, even with the support that he had here, Sam was concerned that it wasn't enough. But that was something to focus on when Dean was back. Right now, as Ruby had suggested, they were due for some couple time. A night in. And the best part? Was that Lucifer wasn't weighing on either of them anymore. Sam couldn't remember a time when he and Ruby weren't stuck with that immeasurable guilt of what they had done, nor could he recall ever not really being terrified that, at any moment, Lucifer would tear his way into their lives and take everything that he had sworn to his name.
But that was over.
And it still felt kinda weird.
There was a trace of a smile before Sam put his arm around Ruby's waist and tipped his head to look at her. "Takeout. Guess this means we're forgoing your, uh -" Calling it food would have been a lie. "- one of your...meals." Smooth. "Sounds like a good start."