Who: Sean and Joshua then Sean Joshua and Lullaby with a guest mini-appearance by Dean
Where: Dean, Sophie and Oz's house
When: Night

Sean hadn't heard much about what was going on in town. Scratch that, he hadn't heard anything about what was going on in town - he'd been watching a movie when he'd felt that unmistakable 'oh shit' feeling that told him that Joshua was in some kind of trouble. Once he was out of the door and on his way, though, that changed pretty damn quick - a bird's eye view of a city would do that for a guy and flying was the quickest way of getting to wherever the guy was - quickest and shortest, being he could go in a straight line.

On the ground below him, fires burned. Two big ones, one with smoke belching up into the atmosphere, but there were smaller ones springing up here and there. Emergency vehicles seemed to be everywhere, stopped at scenes and haring either to or from them. It was chaos and Joshua was out there, somewhere, pushing Sean on faster and faster, flying solely on instinct, trusting on his abilities as Joshua's guardian to guide him unerringly to his side.

His panic and concern lessened slightly as he was directed towards the lake, flying out of town, the ground below becoming quieter, darker, the houses more spaced out. There were no emergency vehicles here, no crashed cars, the screams sounded a long way off. It was as good as he could hope for as the angel touched down in the driveway of a house. Of course, the first thing he saw was the battered old truck, the way the hood was crumpled and the blood smeared across it. Now that? Wasn't good. At all. And Sean reached the house door in a matter of moments, banging hard on it. Joshua was inside, there was blood out here and if he had to break down the door to get to him, that was what would be happening. He'd give them ten seconds. Maybe less. Five was seeming too long right now. Four, three...

Joshua had been pacing next to the front door. He'd been able to warn the people who lived here (Oz and ... Sophia? He couldn't remember the brief round of names that had been stated) that someone extra was coming. His guardian angel, he went ahead and was upfront about that. It seemed like a ridiculous time to try and keep things secret, so fuck it. Which was exactly what he was nervous about. Sean was coming and he would want to either take Joshua elsewhere, or stay with him. Both of which were entirely unmanageable -- besides the fact that he wasn't going anywhere without Lullaby -- if he didn't know about the dead girl upstairs. So he had to, and Joshua had to be the one to tell him in a way that wouldn't get anybody hurt. Which had him feeling like he was really about to throw up. There were guns here, 'edgy' was not even the word for these people, and aggression from Sean wasn't going to be a good thing any way you looked at it.

He lunged for the knob when the bang came, pulling it open. He knew the angel could handle himself out there with ... whatever those were, but he sure as hell didn't want to give any much chance to get in the house. So he motioned Sean inside quickly and shut the door again as soon as he could.

Sean only stopped banging when the door opened and it was probably a damn good job that it was Joshua who'd opened the door, or else there would have been hell to pay. Or at least some changing in shouting the boy's name. "You okay - you're okay aren't you, you're not hurt and what the holy hell happened - have you seen the town, but you're okay, right?" he said, all in one breath, bundling them both inside and closing the door firmly behind him, feeling Joshua up and down for obvious injuries. Never mind that this was someone else's house - he was Joshua's guardian angel, wherever Joshua was, he belonged there and he'd do whatever he deemed necessary to keep him safe.

"Yes, I'm okay and yes I've seen the town, we drove through it, and the guy hit one of the things and ran over it but it got back up a second later, I'm not hurt, it's fine," he was saying in a rush, since hey, there were angel hands on him. He grabbed one of Sean's wrists and started to pull him off to one side, to the closest room that wasn't the front hallway. His heart was beating sick-fast and he wanted at least one door between Sean and the stairs. The closest room happened to be a bathroom, it looked like, but he accepted that. "I need to talk to you," he said, hoping to encourage the 'come with me' of it all.

"One of the things? What things are they? Okay - if you know what's going on, Joshua, you tell me right now so we can work out what we're doing," Sean told him, not moving. He was beginning to realise that there was a reason he had a car and didn't just fly everywhere - and that had everything to do with the fact that it was fine when it was just him, but he couldn't carry Joshua, now, could he. So leaving here was going to be a lot harder than coming. Wherever 'here' was. And Sean was starting to clue into the fact that Joshua had just referred to someone as 'the guy' - which didn't inspire confidence, especially not when taken with the fact that on the phone earlier he hadn't known where he was. "Who are these people and what are you doing here?" he asked.

Joshua tried tugging a bit more, then gave it up for bad. He was resolutely not looking at the stairs. She'd stay up there, and stay safe, he didn't have to check for her, and he knew Sean would pick up on that once the truth was out. It just felt too exposed out here. But. Situation first, then ... the news. He took a breath. "I don't know what they are, I don't know what's going on, it looked like a man, but it was running stupid-fast after somebody. The guy -- Oz -- hit it with the truck. We looked back, it got up. So demons, vampires, something else, fucked if I know. They're Dean's family." He thought, anyway. Maybe. He didn't go into what he was doing there, because it all revolved around her and that was still coming. He just had to wait until Sean was ready to listen to it.

Dean's family. Sean visibly relaxed at that - because Joshua had told him that he was going to be spending time with his friend Dean today, so that made sense. And why he'd not known the other guy's name - because you didn't always know your friend's parents names. And obviously they'd been out in town or something and Dean's father had come to get them. Away from the vampires. Or demons. Or... Sean turned to check the locks on the doors. Better safe than sorry, after all.

He didn't say anything, but he didn't look like he was about to go bust heads or whatever it was he did. Joshua waited another beat, looking at him, and really hoping this wasn't going to be the first time he got to see Sean go all Insane Wrath. No thanks, please. "I need to talk to you," he said again, eyes dark and more than a little fearful. This could very easily explode into the worst kind of badness, and it rested on him to prevent it. It was unspeakably nerve-wracking, he'd never been very good at responsibility.

The doors were locked - there were voices coming from another room, but they were muted and sounded very much like people who were trying to keep out of the way. Sean looked around, ignoring Joshua for a moment as he got his bearings. Stairs up to one side, a bathroom off to the other - door open where Joshua had tried to drag him in there earlier. Another door in front of him - the voices were coming from somewhere beyond that one. The only obvious exit behind them, now definitely locked. He turned back to Joshua. "So, talk," he suggested.

Please don't kill anyone, please god, you can feel I'm not in danger right now, right? So please just ... take that and know it because it's true ... Fuck, he didn't know how to do this. Not at all. Blurting was probably a bad idea, he needed some sort of forewarning ... but making him promise not to freak out would only make things worse. "Okay, I'm gonna tell you this, but I really need you to listen to all of it before you react," he said, then didn't even wait for any confirmation yes or no on that, because it probably wouldn't matter anyway, and he had to get this out before his chest exploded. "There's someone else here too and you've got to know about her now. Lullaby. It's Lullaby, Sean, she's back and she's been back for a little while, but she's not evil, okay? I've been around her a lot in the past couple of days and you would've been able to feel it, you know? If she was a threat? Apparently her dad was into black magic or something and did a spell on her when she was a baby and she didn't know, but she doesn't stay dead. It's called a Fade, we've got a book on them and everything, but she's not bad, she's just her and she's been hiding because to everybody else she's dead and I didn't tell you because she made me promise not to and she's terrified that you're going to kill the shit out of her on sight, but she's not evil, okay?" And then he had to breathe, unfortunately. He was watching Sean like a hawk, fully prepared to throw himself between angel and stairs, for what little good it might do.

'Verbal diarrhoea' was the term that first came to mind as Sean struggled to keep up with all of that. He managed to get out of it 'don't react', 'Lullaby', 'back', 'not evil', 'threat', 'black magic', 'doesn't stay dead', 'kill her on sight' and 'not evil' - again, apparently. Which, under the circumstances, he considered pretty good going. "Huh?" Sean asked, dumbly - actually not able to immediately process those words altogether. There were just too many conflicting pieces of information in there.

Okay, well, that was good, right? It was an immediate storming upstairs to tear her to bits and probably having to kill some of these people in the process. Joshua wet his lips and took another breath. "Lullaby's back from the dead," he said quietly, still staring in that not-blinking sort of way. "She's a Fade. It's a real thing, there's a book. Her dad did a spell when she was a baby, to ... keep her alive, I guess. But she's not evil, and she's not a threat at all, so don't ... don't hurt her. Please." There, that was easier to process, wasn't it? God, he hoped so. A half-formed plan cropped up that if Sean did go for the stairs, he'd book out the door and put himself in distracting danger. It'd be worth it.

Back from the dead? Back from the dead was not good in Sean's book. Back from the dead suggested zombies and vampires and other things that may or may not exists - well, vampires he knew, zombies? Not so sure. There was voodoo magic, but it got kinda vague on... Not the point. The point was Lullaby. Who was shot last week. Was apparently upstairs.

Sean's gaze moved inexorably towards the stairs that led up, then towards the door to what he assumed was the rest of the house. Since he realised that there was something going on, he'd felt exposed here - the doors leading outside were paned with glass, they were vulnerable. And now there was something back from the dead. He grasped Joshua by the arm and started to move - upstairs, or further into the house, it was a toss up. He chose further into the house and he knew he was strong enough to drag Joshua if necessary. He headed through the door in the back wall, coming across a corridor with another door on the other side. That would do, that would do fine, as he headed through it, pushing Joshua in before him and closing the door behind them.

He half-resisted at first, heart squeezing tight and hard, but then they were moving away from the stairs. That was a relief, even if it was a small one, and Joshua went along with him easily enough. He looked around as they went into some other room. Looked like a dining room. He turned to look at Sean again, trying to remind himself that just because there were now more doors and more house between his guardian angel and his undead girlfriend, that wasn't reason for him to relax at all. A small bit of his mind mused kind of sadly that he'd never thought he would have reason to be afraid of one of his guardians. But he was. He definitely was. He didn't say anything, because it was kind of Sean's turn to do that.

Sean stood back, leaning firmly against the door. Sure, his pose was a fairly relaxed-appearing one, but there was tension in his frame and he was resting his entire weight on that damn door. Nothing was getting through that. And his eyes ticked between Joshua and the sole window in the room, as though he expected something to come crashing through at any minute. "Talk to me about coming back from the dead, Joshua. Cos... Nothing I've ever heard of says that's a good plan."

"It wasn't her fault," he was quick to say. Talking was good. Talking was much better than taking violent action. "Her dad did it. He hasn't ever ... he and her mom split up when she was a baby, and she didn't know until this happened that he was into black magic. He was here, but he's gone now, she stabbed him with a fork I think. But he did a spell, a long time ago, to turn her into this ... a Fade. She's a Fade, there's a book." And he was repeating himself. "And she came back when she died like the next day, and she's been hiding at Journey's, scared of everything and everybody, you know? She came to me ... two, three nights ago. When I was out all night. And I've been with her, not with Dean, and I'm sorry about lying to you but I had no choice, and you would've known if she was a threat to me, right? She's not, she's Lullaby and she's ... she's back." Not that romantic pleas were really going to help his case, but Joshua couldn't help the feeling that was in that last bit.

"Where is she?" Sean asked, his face blank. He was trying desperately to work out what to do here. How to react, so many different angles, possibilities. The most important thing - the only important thing for him here was keeping Joshua safe. How Lullaby factored into that now was up for argument.

"No," Joshua said, his pulse doubling up again. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. "Not until you swear not to hurt her. Sean -- ... Sean there are guns here. Dean's got one, he's with her. Do you really want a firefight with me around? Everybody's kind of ... with everything ... Just ... wait. Please."

So, she's here. Which Sean had actually figured - though he'd seen the size of this house from the outside. "Joshua - if I locked you in this room, I wouldn't have to worry about you," he pointed out. "Now: where is she and everyone's kind of what?" See him not overreacting. He was just being sensible. And cautious. Honestly.

"Everyone's kind of edgy," he filled in, which was the massive understatement of the century. He bristled a little bit, but he was now officially fucking scared. "If you lock me in here, I'm going out the fucking window," he said, meaning every syllable of it. He'd take his chances out there if it meant keeping Sean away from her, if he was determined to do something to her.

That had his attention. Especially after what he'd seen. "You wouldn't," he challenged.

"Try me," he snapped. Sure, some of it was bravado, but he would walk out into traffic for her, so not much. He was just trying to cover up how terrified he was at the moment. "You go up there now with intent to harm, and there's going to be a bloodbath. Just ... everything's all fucked up right now, but she's not dangerous. She's scared, she's confused, she's still trying to figure out what the fuck's going on with her, and she's fucking scared shitless of you, so please just ... just wait. I spent the night with her, the last thing she's gonna do is hurt me, Sean! For fuck's sake!" Belatedly, he realized he'd said 'up there' and more or less given her away even more. Fuck.

Sean was less concerned with the 'up there' of it and more concerned with the likelihood of Joshua diving out of the window. Which had him grabbing him by the arm again and manhandling him into a corner - he'd probably leave bruises, but in the scheme of things, what did that matter. He stood before him, sure that he could stop the guy either escaping out of the room, or making a break out of the house. "Dead things should stay dead - give me one actually good reason why I shouldn't go by that, Joshua," he challenged.

His grip hurt, but Joshua was pretty used to pain by this point in his life and didn't let it show. Resisting was pretty useless, so he didn't even bother. "Because she's still a fucking person, Sean," he said through his teeth, matching the angel's tone. "This isn't her fault, and she's not evil. She doesn't deserve any more fucking punishment for this, she didn't do anything. And these people here don't deserve the fallout if you lose your shit right now. And even if you killed her? She won't fucking stay dead, and I'll make you pay somehow, I swear to fucking god I will."

Sean stared him down, not blinking or looking away for a moment. "Remember who you're talking to, Joshua. Remember what I am and remember what I'm here for. Then try and make threats against me. You are what's important to me and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, so don't. fucking. push me. Or threaten me. So, she's dead. But not. You know that's unnatural - right? Tell me you have some kind of brain and can appreciate that, right? Like a vampire - dead, but not dead. And will rip your throat out to get to your blood, but I've met with vampires and they can be as charming as anything. Just because you're still alive, doesn't mean there's a lack of danger." Fades, fades - what did he know about fades? Nothing - he'd never even heard of them before. What judgement could he make on something he'd never fucking heard of? He was over a century old, there shouldn't be allowed to be things he'd never heard of! He should know it all by now, surely??? And instead he was playing stand off as he tried to work out what to do.

Though he knew full well that Sean was probably fifteen or twenty times stronger than him, and probably wouldn't hesitate to smack him around a little, Joshua found himself rather unintimidated by the first part. He knew that if Sean did anything to Lullaby, he would find something to do back, that was just how it was. He'd take an ass beating for it, he didn't care. "Yes, I know that's unnatural, but she's not a vampire --" even if she was, a part of his brain assured him that he wouldn't care about that either, "-- she's a Fade and we're still figuring out what that means, but nothing we read today said that she was evil or really dangerous or anything. You would've felt it, charming or not, you know that. Fuck, I was just in a badly-driven truck and it set all your alarm bells off, didn't it? I've been with her for hours at a time, if she meant me harm, you'd know." And that was really the strongest argument he had.

There was no disputing that, though Sean still felt uneasy about the whole thing. But he couldn't deny that nothing had kicked him into gear over the last few days. Nothing. He didn't look happy though as he backed off slightly. "Okay.... tell me what's the fuck is going on," he suggested, still remaining between Joshua and the door. And the window.

Joshua rolled his shoulder and resisted the urge to reach up and rub his arm. He'd thought he had been over what the fuck was going on, but he'd do it again, if it kept Sean down here and calm. "She showed up outside my window a couple of nights ago. Texted me and told me to look outside. So I did, and ... it was her. We went back to Journey's house, where she'd been hiding out, and she told me that she'd just ... woken up again, the day after she died. Or appeared again, or something. Her dad was there, and he told her that he'd done a spell when she was a baby, just in case anything ever happened to her. A little early, I guess, but yeah. He wanted them to leave and start over somewhere, she stabbed him with a fork and told him to get the fuck out." He left out the part for the time being that the spell had claimed five lives. That seemed like a bad idea to say right now. Also, he'd avoid the whole feeding-off-of-negative-energy thing for now. "So he did, and she just ... hid. Dean found her first, and then she came to me. She um ... she disappears in the dark, without direct light on her. She's a little cold, but she's still got a heartbeat and everything, Sean. Her dad told her that she wouldn't stay dead. She'll just ... come back twenty-four hours later." He was kind of rambling now, not sure where to go from there. "Then everything sort of exploded. Dean and ... fuck, Oz, I think? But they called and showed up to get her and me ... here. Then you called."

Sean looked at him for a moment more, then took a step back and gestured to the dining room table. "Sit," he told Joshua, waiting for him to do that before he would take a seat himself. There was a lot here, he knew, and having it parroted at him continually in one long breath really wasn't helping Sean to get his head around it.

He eyed the angel warily for a beat, but sat down. He was still tense and ready to try and break in one direction or another -- which would probably just end up in him hurting himself and/or the dining room furniture -- but he sat.

Sean waited and then sat down as well, making sure he was closer to the door, trying to battle between the conflicting worries of either someone he didn't know coming through it to get at Joshua, or Joshua doing something insanely stupid - which would probably turn into something even worse considering the damn curse, though Sean had been grateful and pleasantly surprised to see that Joshua didn't seem to be getting into as many scrapes with that as he'd been warned about before he left Ireland. "Right, I want you to slow down," he said, talking slowly. "And you're going to have to break this down for me-" because I know fuck all about magic and I'm trying really hard not to be unreasonable right about now. "-Lullaby died. Last week. And now you're saying that her father did a spell when she was a baby to mean that, what? She can't die? But... I saw the body - at the funeral. We saw it buried in her grave."

One of Joshua's legs started to bounce as Sean talked. He tried not to think about how nervous she must be, waiting up there through all this. It had to be done, though he wished he could just ... skip it and have Sean understand intuitively and just move on. He nodded, looking at him. "I guess so she can't die, yeah. If there was another reason, we don't know what it is. But I know, I dunno if that body ... wasn't really real or if she just kind of got another one, or if it disappeared or something from the coffin when she came back, but ... she looks exactly the same. Except ... except she's got a huge scar, here," he said, putting a hand to his stomach. He tried not to think too hard about what that scar was from, because it always conjured up her screaming in his head. "Like it healed," he added in a lower mutter.

"Where she was shot," Sean supplied, not realising that Joshua had avoided saying just that for a reason. "You realise this sounds crazy, right?" he added in another stunning display of lack of tact.

Goddamn right, where she was shot, and where I tried to stop the gushing blood from with my bare hands and jesuschrist how she screamed -- Joshua dropped his head for a second to run his hands roughly over his buzzed head. "Yes, I realize it sounds crazy," he said, voice a bit muffled. Then he stopped and sat back, picking some middle distance to look at that wasn't Sean. "I thought for a minute that I'd really lost it, y'know? But ... it is. This is what it is, and I can't just ... I dunno what you want me to do, but I can't abandon her."

Sean sat for a while, eyes on Joshua, but not looking at his face as he thought. He didn't know what to do here. His gut instinct was to take the boy and get the fuck out of here. Away from these people with their guns and their edginess and away from a girl who'd risen from the dead and who hinted at things that Sean couldn't even begin to claim he knew anything about. The guns, sure, he could deal with that - give him physical protection any day. Magic though, that was something else. That wasn't his forte. But they were miles from anywhere, but he didn't have transport for Joshua, but it was night and there was hell out there. He was twitchy and on edge himself and he didn't know what to do. Eventually, though, he raised his eyes to Joshua's. "You said there was a book. Is it here?"

"Yeah, it's in the bag," he said, making a vague gesture toward the closed door. It was progress maybe, but he still felt miserable and stomach-sick. If Sean got his hands on the book, Sean would know that it took five people dying to make Lullaby what she was. And though he of course had mixed feelings about that, it would probably result in her being stuck straight into the Bad category in Sean's mind. But he couldn't not give it to him; he'd never been a very good liar.

Sean cast his eyes towards the door, then back to Joshua. Again, he thought for a while, taking his time, trying not to do anything he'd regret later because he made a snap decision, trying to think it through, consider the angles, what could go wrong, what he could and couldn't trust Joshua to do right now. He'd wanted to trust Joshua, ever since he'd got here, but obviously the boy had been lying to him and now... There was the threat that he would run. Why the hell had Sean ever thought that he could come here? That he could handle this? Why the fuck was he here and not someone better equipped to deal with this? Sean knew it would be quicker for Joshua to get the book, but he didn't want to let the boy out of his sight right now. Instead he rose with a smooth and graceful movement and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway, closing it firmly behind him - at least if he had to let the boy out of his sight, it would be behind a solid door.

He found the bag easily, by the stairs and picked it up, pausing as the sound of faint but raised voices filtered down from up above. Someone here was having problems, but as long as they didn't come near Joshua, they weren't his concern. Instead, he walked back into the room and set the bag on the table.

Joshua had immediately gotten his feet under him as soon as the door shut, and went to press his ear to it, heart hammering. He didn't know if he'd be able to hear if Sean was climbing the stairs, but he hoped to God that he would. It was a near heart-attack for a minute or so, but then footsteps were coming back and he backed off. He was still standing when Sean opened the door again, most of the color drained out of his face. He really hoped things got better, because he wasn't sure if he could live paranoid that if Sean got within twelve feet of her, she would die again. He let out a breath. Because the bag had her stuff in it too, he pulled it by the strap toward himself and unzipped it, taking out the Fade book and putting it on the table.

Sean sat and pulled the book towards himself, not sure what exactly he thought he could accomplish here. It was a damn thick book for starters, far too much information to read and assimilate in one night and somehow he doubted that the subtitle of it was going to be 'by the way: definitely no kind of threat'.

Of course, that would be really nice if it did...

Sean opened the book at a random page, his eyes scanning down the text. Something about mirror travel and the inbetween. It didn't really make any sense to him and he flipped to another page. The word 'resurrection' caught his attention and he began to read in silence, apparently completely ignoring Joshua for now.

Joshua fidgeted. He and Lu had skimmed and read certain parts of that book just earlier that day, and he still wanted to know what Sean was reading. Or if he could go upstairs. He really wanted to go upstairs. But instead of asking, he shut his mouth and sat down again, toying with the strap on the bag. That leg took to bouncing again. Today? Really fucking sucked.

Sean got enough from that page to cotton onto the fact that killing the girl wouldn't work anyway. Even if she was evil, you killed one of these things and they just came back. Again and again and again. That? Really didn't make Sean feel any better, but it did take some of the options away. He flipped a page again, this time turning to the front, before closing the book again without reading any more and sitting staring at the front cover, trying to make up his mind what to do again.

He wanted to say something. Wanted to make another plea on her behalf, promise on the name of everything that she wasn't going to hurt him. That she wasn't evil, he knew that like he knew his own name. But he'd already said that a dozen times, and Joshua was learning that in some situations, his mouth got him in more trouble than it was worth. So he just sat and stared at the duffel back like he could burn a hole in it. While he waited, to work off some nervous energy, he tried moving some of the stuff in it around with his mind.

The silence stretched out between them as Sean weighed up the possibilities, the options. It seemed like an eternity until he spoke again, turning his head to look at Joshua. "I want to see her," he said, quietly.

Even though it was quiet, his voice was almost startling, and Joshua looked over with a slightly surprised expression. The covers of two of the books that Dean had brought her to read whispered softly as they settled back down together in the bag. He'd kind of known that was coming at some point, though he really didn't want it to go that way tonight. He was silent for a moment, trying to read the angel's expression. It was damn near impossible. "Promise you won't hurt her," he said weakly, it coming out almost as a plea.

"If you're right and she's no threat to you, I won't have to, will I?" Sean said, side-stepping that promise. It was one he'd never make about anyone. He'd hurt anyone or anything that threatened Joshua without a second thought and they both knew it. It was, after all, his very reason for being. The only reason he was having second thoughts at the moment was because he wasn't clear on whether or not the girl was a threat - the jury was still out on that one.

Well, there was that. And Joshua did know that she wasn't a threat, so ... if Sean kept his word on that and didn't try to destroy her on principle or something ... "Can I talk to her first?" he asked, sitting back a bit. He knew she was up there, probably scared out of her mind, and he didn't think that both of them tromping up together -- or Sean on his own, god forbid -- was any kind of good idea. "Please."

Sean raised an eyebrow. "You really think I'm going to let you alone with her?" he asked in a tone that the answer may as well have been a flat 'no'. "I need to judge for myself, Joshua. And until I've done that, I'm not going to let you out of my sight. Especially not here, especially not now."

"Oh for fuck's sake!" he burst out before he could stop himself. "I was alone with her all day today, and nothing happened. You didn't get a tickle of anything, did you? And now she's sitting up there, after all this fucking chaos, she's exposed to other people for the first time, scared out of her mind, and probably just waiting for you to come storming up with a flaming sword or some shit and hack her to pieces! Fine, come up with me, but can't you wait outside the door for five goddamn minutes? Please? As a favor to me? You'll be right there if something happens or you feel fucked up about it, just please let me warn her first. Then you can see her all you want. I love the girl, Sean, just ... give me this."

"Just because nothing has happened yet doesn't mean shit, Joshua," Sean retorted, hotly. "And you love her? Well, sorry if I don't see that as being less reason to trust your ability to objectively judge the situation. All I want to do is talk to the girl. Flaming-sword-free. Just talk. You can even be there. Under the circumstances, I don't think that's at all unreasonable - but, fine. Two minutes. And you leave the door open. That's my final offer," he gave.

It was hard to let the insinuation go that he was some lovesick silly twit that didn't know his head from his ass. Part of him wanted to argue that just because he was in love didn't make him fucking stupid. But with such a recent threat to head out the window into hell to keep Sean away from her, he didn't think that'd go over. He'd gotten a concession, so he was going to take it. "Done," Joshua said, standing up and heading for the door. Two minutes, he could maybe get her calm in two minutes. Maybe.

Sean didn't particularly like the concession, but it was better than the boy taking a running jump out of the window, so he stood and followed Joshua out of the door, heading back across to the hallway before they headed up the stairs.

Dean was sat half way up, just where the stairs curved, gun cradled lightly in his hands. He'd been staring at it ever since he'd left Thia, not even trying to go and get some rest. Instead he'd just been sitting, waiting for... He didn't know what, waiting to see who came upstairs, maybe. Waiting to make sure that no harm could get to her. He looked up as he heard the footsteps across the hallway, footfalls on the treads. Joshua and some stranger - the guardian, he presumed. The one Thia had seemed so nervous about. The one Dean had scared himself with the thought that he'd shoot him if he threatened Thia. Dean's eyes went to Joshua, the question there clear, his grip tightening on the gun without thought.

Joshua wasn't at all surprised to see Dean on the stairs, with a gun. A little disheartened, maybe, but not surprised. But he'd never really thought for a second that this was going to be easy. He just didn't want anyone to get hurt. They were both trying to protect Lullaby with everything they had, and he had the gut feeling that Dean would try to shoot Sean if he felt he had to. And there wouldn't be any coming back from that. He may have had stupid insecurity issues, but Joshua didn't want the guy dead, by any means. Which was very inspiring when it came to covering up his own nerves. "Dean, this is Sean. Sean, Dean," he said, the calm in his voice surprising even him. He tried to project 'it's okay' out of his eyes. "He wants to talk to her, it's cool."

Dean, as always, was looking at Joshua's face, his gaze darting between his eyes and his mouth. He caught the tone, he caught the look and he nodded, standing and moving to one side to let them passed. He trusted Joshua - especially now. He trusted him not to let any harm come to her. Joshua's word was good enough for him, though he kept his eyes on Sean as they headed past, noting that the older guy said nothing and looked very much like he was definitely refraining from saying anything.

That was a huge relief. Now if only the rest of it went any kind of smoothly. Joshua mounted the rest of the stairs and glanced down the hallway. He realized belatedly that he had no idea which room she was in. He turned back to look around Sean. "Um ... which one is she in?" he asked Dean, feeling a little stupid for it. But there were other people in the house, he didn't want to go knocking.

Dean blinked and then caught on. Right, yeah. "Erm, go down to the left, last door on the right," he supplied, forgetting that Joshua would have no idea. His eyes returned to Sean, who levelly returned his gaze for a moment, which Dean actually found a little daunting - the guy seemed to look right into him, as if he could assess him completely just by doing that. It made Dean really wish that he wasn't carrying a gun right now, made him really not want to be seen as a threat. The gaze held for a moment, then Sean turned away, walking over to Joshua and indicating they should go now, down towards the bedroom.

He did just that, largely unaware of any intimidation that had gone on. He was terribly used to all the guardian angels, after all, he'd grown up with them. And being their protected was different. But that wasn't in his mind at all, he was just glad that hadn't exploded into anything bad. Joshua headed down the hall to the door Dean had said, put his hand on the knob, then looked back at Sean. "Two minutes," he reminded, voice low. She wouldn't be able to hear them.

"And you leave the door open," Sean reminded him, not willing to give an inch on that. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms across his chest, tension running through his frame. "Go on now, two minutes," he added.

Joshua nodded, took a breath, and opened the door, walking inside. He tried very hard not to feel like this would be their last two minutes, but it was hard, with his guardian angel standing like a sentinel in the hallway. It was important that he didn't think about that, that he focused on her and not scaring the shit out of her. Because it would be okay, right? She wasn't a threat, so it would be okay. He just had two minutes to make sure she knew that. And hopefully he wouldn't fuck it up.

Lullaby looked over when she saw the door moving open, and she tensed up completely. She'd been curled up on the bed sideways, so she could watch the door. Her nerves weren't getting any better. In fact, the longer she had to wait, the more she kind of felt like things were getting worse. So, she kept waiting. For gunshots or Joshua to come in. When she saw Joshua, she was a little relieved, though she was immediately looking to judge his mood on the blackness that came off of him. It wasn't as bad as it could be. Though...god, out in the hall someone was putting it out like they were on fire. She snapped her attention back to Joshua, however, sitting up to prop herself on her arm as she tried to keep her focus on him. "Is everything okay?" she asked in a small voice. Because she didn't know if it was or would be, and god, she was hit with a sudden sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Like if she even remotely had anything in her stomach it wouldn't be there long.

He left the door open as promised, and tried not to feel the pressure of Sean's presence on the back of his neck. Joshua nodded to her question, coming forward to sit down on the edge of the bed she was on. He reached for her hand and squeezed it, catching and hopefully holding her eyes. He had two full minutes, and he was going to use them. "He wants to see you," he told her, voice barely audible at all. But she could read his lips, and that was what mattered. This was their time. "But it'll be okay, all right? He'll see that you're not a threat to me, and it'll be okay. I talked to him, and he just wants to talk." Even though he hadn't promised directly not to hurt her. But he wasn't going to mention that.

Lullaby nodded, though she kept looking back out into the hallway, and there was that blackness there, and it was scary. It made her want to shrink back, to go hide in the corner and make herself small. It was such a full instinct that she even did drift back a little, even if her grip on Joshua's hand was too tight. "What does he want to say? ...or ask?" she asked, trying to make herself look back at Joshua again, but it was difficult.

Joshua scooted forward, trying to put his body between her and the door. It was, technically, he just didn't feel near big enough. He put one hand on the side of her face, attempting to hold her attention better. "I don't know, I think he more wants to see you with me. He knows when I'm in danger, and he'll see that I'm not with you. Okay? Lullaby, look at me. I'm not gonna let him hurt you, okay? He'll have to hurt me first, and he won't do that. He won't even want to once he gets in here, I'm sure of it. It'll be okay."

That got her attention better, and she focused on his eyes, trying to block out the blackness in the hallway. She made an attempt to speak, but in the end she merely nodded. Yes. Okay. She didn't know if she believed that Sean wouldn't try to hurt her, or only wanted to 'talk'. Or even see them together. She still felt sick to her stomach in a huge way, something she flat out wasn't really able to help just now, and she wished she could swallow it back down again. She also didn't think anyone could really get in Sean's way. It wasn't that hard to knock someone aside, and she had a feeling he could have her killed in little to no time, if he really wanted to. She didn't want to die again. She especially didn't want to in front of Joshua again. She didn't want Dean to have to see it this time, and she knew that if he heard anything happening, he'd be in in a second, and then there would be badness. She could just imagine the aftermath of her death, and it was full of a lot of horrible things she didn't want to happen. Please let him be okay. Please let him not just come in to snap my neck. Please please please...

She still looked terrified, and he really couldn't blame her for it. Though it did spark up the urge to get up, go back to the hall, and tell Sean he could go to hell. Send him back to Ireland or something, tell his family he could fucking take care of himself. Which was all pure fantasy, but he really felt like he wanted to for a few seconds there. He bit into his bottom lip for a moment and wondered how much time they had left. Joshua let go of her hand so he could have both of those, and started to sign to her in that choppy unpracticed way he had. So it definitely wouldn't be overheard. I know it's a bad time, but I'm sorry about earlier and putting you in this situation. I love you and I'd do anything for you. I know you're scared, but it'll be okay and I'll do whatever I can. He stopped, hoping at least some of that made sense.

She gave him a little half smile that died almost immediately, but it was there for him for a moment, and she signed in return. You don't have anything to be sorry about, and you didn't put me in this situation. It just happened it's no one's fault. She leaned over to give him a short kiss on the lips, then pulled back and looked towards the door again. Guess it's time to stop putting it off. she signed as well. God she hated this. She still wanted to hide.

Right. Joshua took a breath and let his gaze linger on her for a moment. He hoped to God or whatever was really out there that this would go okay. Really, they deserved a break, didn't they? He took her hand again and leaned in to kiss her softly once more before he sat back and adjusted his position so he could see the door. "Sean," he said in a normal tone of voice so as to be heard. Here went nothing. The only definite thing was that he wasn't letting go of her hand.

Sean had maintained his position leaning on the wall by the door, listening for noises from the other room and aware that the Dean guy with the gun was probably hovering just round the corner by the stairs, out of sight. Well, as long as he stayed out of sight and away, Sean wasn't going to worry about him. If it came down to it, he'd deal with the boy later. He still wasn't completely sure what he was going to do here. Whatever it was, he wasn't happy - wasn't happy about the situation, about Joshua, he'd not been happy about Lullaby for a while now. He'd liked the girl when they'd met, she'd seemed sweet. She'd seemed good for Joshua. And then she'd died. And now she wasn't dead. But that didn't mean Sean had to be happy about maybe having to kill the girl. He was broken out of his thoughts by hearing his name called and he took a breath before walking slowly into the room, his face carefully blank, but drawn immediately to the girl sitting on the bed. He shut the door behind him, but didn't walk any further into the room.

She couldn't help it. When Sean came in and shut the door, and she could see all the blackness coming off of him, she scrambled back. It was automatic, and she moved until her back slammed into the headboard and soon after she nearly toppled off the side of the bed. In the end it was less of a fall and more of an active climb down and she was in the corner like she'd had the urge to be, only it didn't make her feel any better. All it did was make her feel trapped. Would she die if she dropped out of a second story window? Her eyes didn't leave Sean, and she tried to get her heart to calm down, but couldn't. He was Unhappy, and she figured he had every right to be, and it was all because of her. That was bad.

Joshua tried to hold on to her. He really did, but her hand got away from his. Her scramble was almost scarier than anything that had passed between him and Sean, and for a second he didn't know what the fuck to do. Get between them? Go sit with her? Stay where he was? Jesus. In the end, he just stood up, glancing between the two of them, but mostly focused on Sean for the moment. Please don't kill her. Please don't. I really don't think any of us can take that again ...

Sean was honestly surprised when the girl scrambled away from him like that. He'd been trying to make as non-scary an entrance as possible into the room, but obviously he'd failed completely with that. He held his hands up and out to his sides, at waist height, palms facing forward in a 'look, totally unarmed and staying over here' pose. His eyes darted over to Joshua and he saw how he was standing, but then he looked back at Lullaby, a questioning look on his face.

She was having trouble breathing. Which could have been because of the hyperventilating she was doing, which she tried to calm down. Her heart was absolutely racing. She swallowed hard and couldn't rip her eyes off of Sean if she wanted to, and she stayed where she was. "...y-you..." she started, and realized that coherency wasn't her friend, that word hadn't come out even remotely understandable, and she needed to calm down.

This fucking sucked. Once it was clear that Sean wasn't moving, he went to drop down on his kneels next to her, shoulder to the wall. So it wasn't blocking her in, but he was there. He was definitely there. He shot the angel a shaken look that had I Told You So written all over it, then turned his attention to Lullaby completely. He didn't try to talk to her, because it was pretty clear who she was focused on, but he put a hand on her shoulder.

Well, she was definitely Lullaby and she was definitely alive and she really didn't look like a threat - except maybe to Joshua's mental state if she dropped dead of fear. Sean took a step backwards, putting his back up against the wall, before he slid down to sit. "I'm going to stay over here," he said, keeping his voice calm. "I just want to talk."

She knew Joshua was right there, but it didn't really help her state at all. She was keeping her eyes on Sean, and trying to calm down but she still felt sick with unease. She managed a nod though, hoping he started so she could try and calm herself more before she had to try and talk again. She knew she might wind up signing and Joshua could interpret for her if she couldn't get herself under control, but it was really hard to speak coherently when you couldn't hear yourself well enough and your being was flooded with blind terror.

He wanted to ask if this could wait until morning. If Sean could just go away and things would look better in daylight maybe, and she wouldn't be so scared and shaken up and it would just be better. She obviously wasn't dealing with this well at all, and it made him feel sick to his stomach. He couldn't exactly help having a guardian angel, but he really hadn't wanted it to be like this. Joshua scooted in a little closer, hand slipping to the back of her neck. He wanted to cling to her so bad, but that would probably get in the way of communication. "You start," he told Sean quietly, unknowingly echoing her wish. Maybe it would calm her down if he was solidly just ... over there and talking.

He had to start? He wasn't sure there was that much he had to say. He was, after all, the one that had been kept in the dark about all of this. But, okay - he had to start. And, he started with Joshua. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, again trying to keep his voice even. "The town's a fucking mess - I saw it all on my flight over here. There's fires and emergency vehicles everywhere. This place is probably one of the better places to be. It's out of the way, quieter around about. Properly dark out there. Good choice." He turned his attention to Lullaby a little. "All I care about is threats to Joshua," he told her. "That's who I am, it's what I do. And I guess from your reaction, you more than know that. He's told me you're not a threat and if you're not a threat, you have no reason to be scared of me." Of course, if she was a threat, she had every reason to be scared. And she was scared. And she knew that she should be scared if she was a threat, so did that mean she was a threat? Somehow, he knew that probably wasn't something to pose outloud. Instead, he waited.

She felt like she was going to burst into tears, and they even welled up. God, she couldn't be doing this right now. Her main problem? Was that inner idea that she might not be something good. That there was something inherently wrong with her, just because of what she'd been turned into. Because she wasn't ever going to forget how it had worked. About the five people. Nothing good could ever really come of that. "I-I know." she said, and her voice was very muddled, and she signed with shaking hands while she did. If she was too incoherent, she knew Joshua could interpret for her but she was trying very very hard. "I would not hurt him, I am...still learning what happened to me. I don't know everything yet." she said. Her speech was a lot more formal and choppier than usual, but she was going for the coherency, trying her hardest to be heard and understandable, and with as upset as she was, she knew she couldn't cut corners with her words. "I do not think I am a threat." And as much as she wanted to live, she didn't think she should take up lying right now. She wasn't any good at it, and she had the feeling that if she tried he'd see right through her.

"She said she doesn't know everything yet, but she doesn't think so," Joshua filled in the parts that might have been hard to understand for Sean. He knew what she was saying, but he was used to listening to her, and the angel wasn't. He had an idea of what Sean might be thinking, judging by how terrified she was -- something he'd really really hoped wouldn't last so long -- and he turned his head to talk directly to him. Not that it would help anything, probably. "All this came from black magic. You said it was unnatural, she knows it unnatural, she's terrified that just that'll be enough for you. Of course she's scared. Come on man, you know when I'm in danger right? Do you feel it now? She's right here, closer to me than you are." He made himself shut his mouth, and bite his tongue. He'd probably said far too much tonight already.

Sean thunked his head back against the wall and looked at them both. "It doesn't work like that," he said, really not wanting to spell it out in front of the terrified girl. "All that says is that she's not a threat now. That right now you're not in danger. I can't tell when someone's going to be a threat in the future. It's all... potential and... Look, if that was going to be enough for me, I wouldn't be all the way over here, now, would I?"

Lullaby was looking and reading Sean as he spoke. This time, when she tried, it was slightly stronger, and weirdly, it was because of logic. Because there was something in what he said that snagged in her mind. "Everyone could potentially one day be a threat...doesn't mean you lock him in his room because someone might turn on him one day." she said. She reached up and rubbed at her eyes. "I don't...I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with this myself. I'm still figuring it all out, and there are times when I really...hate this. And I'm afraid of what...I am. Or what might happen to me. But I don't feel different. Not--I still feel like me. In my head." she tried to explain, but she wasn't sure how she came across with it. She really couldn't at all tell. "If you don't trust me...and I can't blame you if you don't...then take him someplace safe. Out of town, I don't know. At least for now, and I ...I don't know. Maybe I can prove myself later or..." She didn't know. At all. She sniffled, and rubbed at her tearing eyes some more.

"What?" Joshua said meekly, looking at her. She probably wouldn't hear, and his eyes darted back to Sean anyway. "No," he said, shaking his head. "No, I'm not going anywhere." He tried to say it in a stronger tone, but it only came off halfway. What, were they like ... deciding what to do with him? Like he wasn't even there or was some problem that had to be planned for? Didn't he get a say? He felt suddenly like he'd been punched in the nuts. Maybe it was a slight overreaction, but he'd never felt so emasculated in his life. He wasn't a man. Not like this. Not with other people deciding what was best for him like that. He'd never realized so starkly before what little control he really had, because one word from Sean and enough physical force and he'd have no choice. That was how it worked, didn't it? He would've repeated himself, had his throat not closed up. He looked hard at the wall, jaw tightening.

"With what seems to be going on here, leaving town might now be a bad idea anyway," Sean told her. He looked over at Joshua assessingly, taking on board when he said and considering it before he spoke to both of them. "Look - do you see me locking him in his room? I know that I can't keep him from every potential danger, but I can assess threats. As for whether or not I trust you? That's what I had to see for myself," he told them. And every minute he was in the room, he felt... Less like there would be an immediate problem here. He wasn't sure that 'trust' was the right word, but he couldn't see how Joshua was in any immediate danger from this little girl.

"No, I'm saying that if that's how you're saying it, then if all you can tell is I'm just not a threat now, but you're going to be worrying about it in the future, you might as well throw everyone else on that list too." Lullaby said. She wiped at her eyes some more, but she felt...slightly better. Less like the world may in fact be ending. Or...her world anyways. "I don't know what else to tell you. I don't know it all yet. I'm still learning. I can tell you I don't feel emotionally any different than I did before I died, and the last thing in the world I'd want to do is hurt Joshua. Or anyone. And if it makes you feel any better...I don't think even if I wanted to I could. As far as the magic power lottery goes...I disappear in shadows and that's accidental, and I can die. And maybe come back. That's...kinda it. I didn't see anything when I flipped through the book we got that I could even really use to defend myself. If you wanna read it..um...it's downstairs? I think?"

He was listening, and wanted to point out that Sean couldn't keep him locked in his room even if he wanted to, but figured that that wouldn't really help anything. Not to mention the fact that it likely wasn't completely true. He'd been obstinate enough for one night. He tried to shut that part of him that was hurt by all this up and get it to knuckle under. This wasn't about him. He could worry about it later, right now good things were happening. Like Sean wasn't killing Lullaby and she sounded like she was calming down and feeling better. That was what really mattered. He took a deep quiet breath and glanced between them again. Nobody directly addressed him, so he didn't say anything.

"Yeah, Joshua showed me the book before I came up here. Seems there's a lot in it - I'll have to give it a read," Sean told her, not mentioning that he hadn't really looked at it all that much. He would do, but now wasn't the time.

She nodded. "Kay." she said. Then she looked over at Joshua for a long moment, and tried to give him a smile, but it didn't last long. She was still feeling...all kinds of fucked up, and he was clearly feeling badly about things, and Sean still was too. So...awesome. A jamboree of feeling unhappy. "Sean...is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" she asked finally. "Whatever it is, I'll do it." She just didn't know what she could do to prove anything to him on her own. If he could think of something though, she'd be more than happy to do whatever.

Joshua didn't do anything but look back at her. She was trying. He knew how impossibly hard this had to be, and he felt badly that she had to go through it because of him. Which she probably wouldn't like hearing, so he wasn't going to say. Absently, while she talked to Sean again, he reached up and tucked a bit of hair back behind her ear. He hoped like hell Sean would let him stay the night in there with her. He really felt like he needed it.

"Not really," Sean told her, shaking his head. "You don't know what you are, really. Neither does Joshua, apparently. And I'm far behind both of you. So, I'll... Give you the benefit of the doubt if you bear in mind that I'm going to be hovering and neither of you try and stop me doing that, okay? If we can work with that, then maybe we'll all come out of this happy," he suggested.

That actually had Lullaby smiling a little. It was tired, and exhausted, but genuine. "I'd rather you did." she said, and there was a note of pure honesty there. Like it as a bit of a relief. Because it was. She trusted Sean to stop her if it ever did come down to something horrible like she randomly became Evil or something. And, when he was around, Joshua would be protected from other things too. So...yeah. She was good with that. When Joshua tucked her hair behind her ear, she reached up to snag his hand, and kept hold of it.

"Works for me," Joshua said quietly, giving Sean a very quick glance before his eyes dropped to his and Lu's entwined fingers. Having an angel hovering was a much better option than being taken away. He thought he could live with that. Especially if he like ... hovered in the hallway. That would be awesome. With his free hand, he spelled out the jist of think you can sleep? to her. Because she looked exhausted, and he was exhausted, and curling up with her right now sounded better than anything ever.

No. She thought, but didn't say. She felt like she wanted to fall asleep for a year, but she didn't think she actually would. Because that might require that her mind stop spinning and ha! Yeah. That was going to happen. She nodded, however, because she couldn't say that she wasn't going to and anyways even if she didn't, she needed to rest, at the very least. They all did. "You?" she asked. She was starting to settle into a more calm mood...though she still felt a little sick to her stomach, and chalked it up to far too much stress in her world right now.

"Yeah," he answered, since she was looking at him now and everything. His gaze ticked back to Sean with a questioning look to them. He almost didn't want to ask, it made him feel about twelve years old, but also didn't want to deal with the 'what the fuck are you doing' if he started to settle in. So. Pride eaten. "Can I stay in here?" he asked his guardian.

Sean considered this, his eyes flickering between the two. "I'd rather you didn't," he said, carefully, since he was giving the benefit of the doubt here. "But, in any event, I think it would be polite to find out from the family here whether they have any objections to that kind of thing," he added in, rather more pointedly. Because it wasn't solely his issues that were raised here. The girl was only sixteen, after all.

Lullaby opened her mouth, then shut it again. Because he was definitely right on that. It was kind of a leftover tick from when she'd been alive. Before her death, it never would have occurred to her that she'd be sharing a room at a stranger's house with her boyfriend. Now sharing a bed was something she did probably more often than other girls her age, and even with boys, it just...didn't involve Those Things. And it was at her house. Or Journey's, which had practically been her house. She nodded, since she didn't want to jeopordize her stay there. Things felt precarious enough and she hadn't even spoken to Oz and Sophie yet. And Dean had been slightly fuzzy on their opinions. She gave Joshua's hand a squeeze though as she looked at him.

Oh because they were really going to have wild monkey sex, hanging from the ceiling fan, after tonight. That was so going to happen, even with the door open and Sean in the hallway. Joshua literally had to bite his tongue on something pissy, because yeah okay, he was right about the other people thing. It was their house and they'd been nice enough to rescue them and like ... accept another complete stranger in. "Then can you give us a minute?" There, his voice even sounded normal. Go him.

"Of course," Sean said, getting to his feet smoothly. "I'll be..." he considered this. Where would he be? How much leeway was he giving here? And there was the guy on the stairs with the gun. "I'll be around," he said, going for 'vague'. He gave them one more look, before heading out of the room.

Lullaby watched Sean walk out of the room, taking his blackness with him, then looked back at Joshua. She tried to give him a smile, but then gave up and just pulled him into a hug, arms going around his neck as she held on tight. She shut her eyes, and told her stomach to shut the fuck up already with it's stupid flail mode. Sean at least was out of the room...though she felt like things were never going to be Right there. Like he'd never really trust her. God, what an awful feeling. Lullaby as a person wasn't used to not being trusted. She didn't honestly think she'd gone a day in her life where she wasn't. Like really truly wasn't. It was an awful feeling.

Joshua was just as eager to cling to her, and swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. That really wouldn't be a good idea right now. He tucked his head in against her's and just held her for what felt like a long time and no time at all. Maybe things would look better in the morning. In daylight, when they hadn't just been so shaken up with chaos and fires and angels and stuff. God, he so wanted to stay with her. Things could have gone so much worse, but he didn't feel like they'd lived up to the 'it'll be okay' he'd promised her. Not that he had any control over that, but still. He squeezed her more firmly, not keen on moving anytime soon.

Lullaby rubbed the back of his shoulder a little, a light, soothing sort of motion. She didn't know what to say, so...she didn't say anything. Instead she just tried to project to him that maybe things'd work out. She didn't have any real idea that it would, but she didn't want him to worry about it. Or something. Sean hadn't killed her, so...maybe he wouldn't? All she would have to do was attempt not to look threatening or turn evil? And really, if she did randomly become evil, she would want to be taken out. She didn't want that in any kind of form. Pulling back, she gave him a few light little kisses on his temple and cheeks, before she kissed him properly.

It helped some. A little, maybe. In any case, he kissed her back, soft but intense with both of his hands sliding to cradle her face. His chest was doing that achey sort of thing again, that mixture of swelling and some weird kind of desperation that he hadn't figured out yet. He didn't pull back until he had to breathe, and opened his eyes to look at her. There was a lot in his eyes, and not all of it squishy-good, but he gave her a faint smile anyway. Because it could've been much worse. So much worse. And maybe it would work out. It had kind of been the very definition of a stressful night for all of them. After a beat or two, he moved in to kiss her again. Because there had to be some more of that before he left.

Lullaby was fine with there being more kissing. Really, right now? Words weren't really going to cut it, and so they were probably communicating better this way. She knew they'd have to stop in a minute, but she would make it count. She thought it made him feel better too, some part of him needing that physical sort of reassurance, and some distant part of her wondered in the back of her mind if it had anything to do with the fact that he'd been there with her when she died. She'd died in his arms. That thought had her holding onto him tighter.

His own arms tightened around her in response, even if he didn't know what was behind it exactly. It put their chests together and he realized he could feel her heart beating. That was more of a comfort to him than he'd ever be able to explain. She wasn't dead anymore, she was back and her heart beat and everything. And she still felt the same about him, wanted to stay with him, and everything else was just details that could be dealt with. It settled some part of him a bit more. It would be okay. He'd make it okay, however he had to. Joshua broke the liplock to pull her in even tighter, turning his head to cover the side of her face and her ear with more kisses.

She hugged him again, closing her eyes for a long moment. She knew they didn't really have much time, but she clinged for a second there, back to rubbing his back. "I'll see you in the morning." she promised. Even if she didn't really want to be alone, at least they were kinda safe here, right? Out away from town, and...yeah. Safeish. And Sean was there, so Joshua would be okay no matter what. Because Sean was big and scary and wouldn't let anything happen to him.

He nodded against her, still not letting go yet. He could almost feel Sean's palpable presence outside the door in the hall. Like he was ... ticking or something. Like a timer. Joshua gave her another firm squeeze, soaking her heartbeat for another set of seconds before he sat back, reluctantly mostly letting her go. "Okay," he said where she could read him. "Get some rest, all right? You need it." He brushed some hair away from her forehead and leaned in to give that a quick kiss too. "Come wake me up when you get up, if you want. I dunno ... where, but I'll see if I can have one of the bedrooms up here, stay close."

"Dean said there were a few upstairs, and I saw where the staircase was." Lullaby said. She gave a little smile. "I'll get rest. You too, okay? Get some good sleep? Tomorrow's gonna...probably suck." she said, giving a little half laugh that didn't come off quite as well as it should. "And I'll be right here." she promised.

"Okay." He looked at her for another moment, dipped his head in to steal another quick soft kiss, then started to disentangle from her in earnest. Maybe if he was just like ... next door, it wouldn't be too bad. He'd ask Dean. And then sleep, which his body was insisting he needed lots of right now. He knew it was stress and emotional instability -- he'd slept through nearly all the days between her death and her funeral, after all -- but that didn't make it any less strong. Joshua gave her a hand up and hugged her again. Really, he was going. Just in a minute. "I love you," he told her as he pulled back. "'Night."

"Night, Joshua." she said, giving him one last little kiss and squeeze before she let him go. "Make sure Sean gets the fade book to look at...kay?" she asked. So he could read up, and...she didn't know. Learn or something. She headed over to the bed, and reached out to take her bunny. "...Joshua? Thanks for grabbing Hennabean." she added softly.

He was nodding at having Sean look through the fade book; he doubted his angelic counterpart would be sleeping until sunup, and even then it was questionable. Then she thanked him for getting her bunny and for some inexplicable reason just that soft statement brought tears to his eyes and made him grin at the same time. It was bright and genuine and an actual replica of how he used to smile. All of two weeks ago. "Anytime, sweetheart," he told her, and blew her a kiss. And one for Hennabean. Then turned and headed out the door.