Cracks

Who: Dean and Lullaby
Where: Dean's house
When: Late

Lullaby was waiting. Joshua had to go talk to Sean, and she was really hoping that that conversation wouldn't end with him marching upstairs to cut her down, or, alternately, gunfire from downstairs if he did decide to do that, because she was reasonably sure that Dean would shoot him if he tried. And Joshua, if he got his hands on one of the firearms too. And if Joshua didn't get his hands on a gun, he had the TK going for him, though she wasn't sure she'd be able to hear the results of that like she might a gunshot a floor down. Either way? She was waiting.

She'd looked around Dean's room, though she hadn't done a whole lot of that. It felt wrong, like she was going through his things without his permission or something, even though he'd brought her up there himself then left her there. So she'd looked around but hadn't touched anything, eyes continually distracted out the window--not that she could see anything out there. No lights, just stars and the moonlight, even if the moon wasn't in her view. She looked around at all the little dean-things, things that made a lot of sense for him with some of the things he'd talked about with her at the orphanage. Model planes, half taken apart random bits of things, computer components.

In the end she'd curled up on his bed with her bunny, somehow having retained hold of that. She couldn't remember where the bag was or the other things Joshua had grabbed for her, she was sure they were somewhere. She had her phone out too. She kept punching in numbers to send the simple text message of 'are you ok?' to people, then pressing 'end' instead of 'send'. She remembered them. The numbers. Her friends, who were out there, and she had no idea if they were okay or not. are you ok? - END are you okay? - END are you okay?

Dean wasn't sure about the results of his talk with Oz and Sophie, sitting around the kitchen table. He'd tried to explain about Thia as concisely as possible, speaking pretty constantly so that he didn't have to answer direct questions. After a point, he'd stopped looking at Sophie's face, instead speaking directly to oz. he felt in his gut that he could make Oz understand. He still, even now, wasn't sure whether Sophie did or not. He really thought that he'd lost her at 'raised by magic', when she's looked across at Oz and the werewolf had taken Sophie's hand. It hadn't been a long conversation, especially not once Dean realised that Joshua had left her to go talk to someone else who'd arrived. Which meant that Thia was alone. He'd made his excuses as quickly as possible - explaining bluntly that Thia didn't know what was going on and he had to go and see to her. He didn't know if he'd be in trouble for that, but he was willing to risk it.

He opened the door to his room, slipping inside and closing it behind him. He still clutched the gun - and wow, had Sophie hated it when she saw him with it, but Oz had been firm and insistent that he keep it on him at all times. Crossing to the bed, he sat down on the edge and touched Thia on the shoulder. "Hey," he said, quietly, knowing she wouldn't hear him, but he said it anyway.

She twitched faintly, mostly because she'd been so zoned she hadn't even realized he'd entered the room. She hit 'end' again for the last time and let it drop to the bed. "Hey." she said, not realizing she was echoing him. She tried a smile but it didn't actually work out for her even in the slightest sense of the word. "What's happening?" she asked quietly. What exactly she meant by that could have been anything. And she probably did mean all of it, she just didn't even know where to start on narrowing it down for him. She moved to prop herself up on one arm, her bunny coming with her, loosely tugged by the arm in one hand so it was near her as she curled her legs under and to the side of herself.

"I don't know, entirely," Dean told her with blunt honesty. "It... Everything just went so fast." What time was it? He didn't even know the time - how long was it since Billy had arrived? An hour? Two? Less? It felt like a lifetime, but it couldn't be, of course. He tried to focus, but his heart still felt like it was racing, pushing him on from one thing to the next: get Thia, make sure she was safe; explain to people; make them understand enough; get back to Thia; explain to her; make everything okay... It was an endless list of things that had to be done, his mind feeling like it was already half on the next thing, that everything had to be done nownownow. She'd need somewhere to sleep, he should figure that out. And Joshua as well, he'd need another room. Were they going to be under siege - Oz was making him carry a gun, which meant that possibly yes. Did they need to barricade the house? What did he know about vampires? Shit - he should have asked more questions himself downstairs, figured more out, he could have told her more then, but his mind was just on getting up here and her not being alone anymore and checking she was okay and not hurt. "Are you hurt?" he asked her as that thought rushed through his head and managed to snag.

She shook her head. "No." she answered. Her eyes fell on the gun. It was...indescribable. After all, she'd been shot. That's what had killed her. Seeing Dean with a gun was so...he didn't do that. He...he was Dean. He thought about things like how things worked and silly internet games with webcams and he'd brought her his homework and notes and things and books and the world had taken a really hard tilt. She was still dealing with that. Unconsciously, she rubbed at her stomach a little, light frown on her face before she realized she was staring and she forced her eyes back up to his. "You have a gun." she said. "When did that happen?" Dean happened to be switching tracks in his head to jump to the next one, and Lullaby wasn't doing that much better. Half of her mind was still on her phone, and the message she couldn't send.

Dean looked down at the gun he was still holding and then at her, the way she was rubbing her stomach and he went slightly pale, placing the firearm on the bed, away from them both. He hadn't even thought about it like that - with everything that had been happening, he hadn't even given that a thought. "Thia - I... It's..." She asked you a question: answer it. He dropped his eyes from hers. "Round about the same time I texted you to say we were coming," he admitted.

Her eyes followed it, but then looked back to Dean. She noticed how he looked down. "It's okay." she said first. "I'm sure you...I'm sure you need it. With...whatever's happening. I don't..." she tried to line her thoughts up better. Maybe try working in complete sentences. It was harder than she would have thought. "The guy downstairs. Joshua's talking to him." she said. "...I don't guess you'd be able to say if it sounded like it was going well?" she asked, tone too light. "And how did it go with Oz and Sophie?" Do I have to leave? she thought but had the sense not to say. If Sean comes upstairs looking for blood, can I go into your closet with the lights off and disappear? Is there anyplace else I can hide like that? I don't want to die again.

Yeah, apparently I need it - apparently I might have to kill Oz. And I don't know if I can do it - I don't know if I'd be able to kill anyone, but he made me promise and now I have this hanging over my head and when did my life get turned upside down like this? he pushed that all down, he had things he had to do - he couldn't give in to that inner panic and rash of doubt that he knew was lurking, waiting for him to just stop for a moment. "The guy? I don't know - they were in another room. It... They weren't shouting, at least." He realised that he hadn't heard them - or, if he had, he didn't remember any of it. Everything was a bit of a blur, actually, going from one moment to the next. He couldn't sort it out in his head. "I'm.. I'm sorry, I don't know. Oz and Sophie'll be... I explained it to them. It'll be fine," he told her, not wanting to go into detail - not wanting to express his doubts over Sophie. "Who is he? This guy?" he asked.

Joshua's guardian angel. But she didn't know if she could say that. She shifted, sitting indian style instead, and she played with her bunny's ear for a moment before she stopped herself. She noticed how he had put that. In a 'they'll be fine' way. As in it probably wasn't right this second. And this was why she hadn't wanted anyone to know. Because it made everything go to hell. But then again, everything had apparently already gone to hell, and no one had checked with them first. So...yeah. "Joshua's guardian." she said. "He's...he protects Joshua, since he kinda needs it. I um." she started, but then didn't know how to finish the sentence. Maybe she should try that hiding things thing she'd been thinking about. Just...not tell him. Keep the whole possible death thing to herself, because he looked like he was about ready to fall over. "I don't know." she finished, back to picking at her bunny's ear again. Then she set it aside entirely up by the pillows, because she was tugging at a loose thread, and if she kept that up, she'd unravel it. Her eyes fell on her phone again. "I keep worrying about people. I don't know what's happening, but I want to know if they're okay. But I can't ask, because I'm pretty sure that would only cause more panic. If things are going badly in town, I'm pretty sure phonecalls from the recently deceased don't fall into the appropriate category." She tried a smile again, but she should give that up for lost tonight, it failed again.

Dean was watching her, the way she was sitting, the way she was fiddling, the nervousness coming off her, as well as the way she was speaking - the whole thing and suddenly it clicked into place - slicing through the screaming list of things he had to get done and he stilled, suddenly aware. "Thia," he said, reaching out and taking her hand. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I won't let anyone hurt you." Which possibly could have been thought to be self-evident, given the way he'd dropped everything to come for her, but she didn't know that - she hadn't been there for his immediate reaction and he'd not told her either.

She looked down at their hands, and she clasped his back, her other hand coming over to put his between hers. Looking back up at him, she wasn't sure what to say. Tonight was clearly not the night to start trying to hide things--not that she figured she'd ever get good at that. It went against her nature at such a base level. "I don't actually know if you could stop him. And I wouldn't...I don't want anyone to get hurt." she said. Which she knew was not in any way a good explanation, or an explanation at all, really. So she tried again. "I know you'd try." she added, because that bit was important. She hadn't in fact, missed the dash into town to rescue her. Something she had a feeling she wasn't ever going to quite feel like she could express to him what it meant to her. She was still dealing with that.

"As would Joshua - and if the guy's there to protect Joshua, he's not going to hurt him, is he?" Dean said, hoping that sounded nicely rational. All he knew was that the guy would have to come through him to get to her and he made himself keep looking at Thia's face and not at all looking at the gun that was lying on the bed. He felt himself start to shake, almost imperceptibly. Could he do it? If it really came down to it? Would he be able to pull the trigger? He hadn't thought so, but... That's where his mind had gone, that moment of I'd shoot him first, and Dean realised that he was terrified. Of what had happened, of everything that had gone on, of being thrown a gun and being expected to use it, of running out into the night, of the figure that Oz had mown down, of himself. Of everything. He pulled his hand back, letting her go, not wanting her to feel his fear.

She didn't have to feel it. She could see it. And it had her crawling over to him, and she put her arms around him, sitting on her knees behind and to his side a touch, so if they had to say something, they still could. Only not for the first few moments, because that was busy with the hugging things going on. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and rested her face in against the back of his shoulder. "It'll be okay." she told him. She didn't know how, in what universe this situation could possibly be okay in, but she was damn well going to say it right now. It was with a sort of belated realization on Lullaby's part that she noticed when she'd seen the lines draw up and spike out from Dean that she'd hit the stop button on her shit. She wasn't thinking about Sean, she wasn't thinking about the gun on the bed behind them, she wasn't thinking about how the truck felt when it went over that...whatever it was. She was thinking this had started for Dean before he'd gotten to her house, and he probably needed a second. Or a lot of seconds.

He was shaking - he had to stop shaking, he had things to do, there were things he needed to do, there were things... He clung to her, wrapping his arms around her and just clung on to her for a few moments before he made himself let go. And he had to make himself, still shaking a little as he pulled back, moving one hand to hold the other, trying to get himself to stop bloody shaking. He gave her a ghost of a smile and nodded. "It'll be okay," he agreed, though he didn't believe it. He didn't see how it could be. Maybe dawn would break and this wouldn't be as bad as it seemed. Maybe Oz and Sophie would be overreacting and it wouldn't feel like the end of the world anymore. Because that's how it felt - the way that Oz had armed him, the way Sophie reacted when they left, as if going outside was a death sentence. It felt like the end of the world. Welcome to the Apocalypse.

Lullaby gave him a ghost of a smile in return--and it even worked that time, even if it was pale--but she didn't move in any way back from him. She could tell he was still shaking hell. She could still see the badness still rising off of him. "Dean, look at me." she said. Her voice was a lot more even than it had been before, there was more strength behind it. She reached up, brushed the hair away from his eyes, and shifted so she could better look at him. She even went so far as to reach out to turn his face towards hers. "Talk to me." she said simply. Because she was sure there was more to say. Probably a lot more. She knew she hadn't said even a quarter of what was going on in her head, it stood to reason Dean had a ton he wasn't saying.

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" Dean asked as she turned him to her. He tried for more of a smile, maybe a joking tone - it didn't really make it. He waved a hand around the area of his head. "The woobly, tendrilly thing?" Oh look - he just made up a word. Go him. "Sorry - I... I was doing my homework," he told her. In fact, it was still all over his desk, where he'd left it. "And Billy's truck kinda slid into the drive. I went downstairs to find out what was going on and... Billy was there, covered in blood and they were talking about something being in town and being all stocked up and then Oz was telling me that we all had to stay here and giving me a gun and I had to tell him - I had to, I couldn't just leave you out there." He broke off at that point, not wanting to go into the rest, not wanting to tell her what he'd had to promise.

She listened to it all, taking it in. That sounded...stupidly dire. Like the panic button had been hit, and hit hard. But then again, she could see why. When people wandered into your house covered in blood and stuff--that was Bad. She remembered when she'd wandered into Joshua's covered in blood. So yeah. Badness. Of a very high degree. She kept her gaze fully on his face, attention on his eyes even if she could still see the black cords rising up from him, sliding and curling down and around. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she actually tried something. She tried drawing it in, to see if that might help him even in the slightest. There was a point where you were willing to give anything a shot and she was there. She had her hand on the back of his shoulder on the opposite side, and she gave him a slight squeeze, feeling the singing tension there. He needed...sleep or to relax(ha!) or something. "It's okay that you told." she said first. Because he'd stressed that bit, and she wanted him to know that she wasn't going to hold it against him. "I said you could in an emergency, and this was a pretty big emergency." she continued. Even if she didn't even know what it was yet. She also gave him another squeeze, rocking them side to side the tiniest bit. "Thank you for coming for me." she said.

Dean swallowed and looked down, his eyes landing on her phone. There - that was something he could do. That was definitely something he could do and if he had something to do and was being useful then he didn't have to think. He looked back up. "You said you wanted to know if people were okay, but couldn't contact them - I could do that. I could do that for you, I could ask and then you'd know and at least you'd have that."

She could see it. What he was doing. Jumping to things, trying to keep moving. She guessed that would mean he didn't have to stop and deal. Lullaby couldn't quite blame him for that, even if she thought he really needed to stop. Her eyes ticked over to her phone as well, the words 'are you okay?' still on the screen. "I'd appreciate it." she admitted. Maybe she'd let him do that last bit, then see if she could make him stop. "I'm just so worried, and..." she trailed off, giving a little humorless smile. "Like I said, it's not like I can talk to any of them." Yeah, she'd let him do that, maybe he'd feel better, and it was spaced out with the things he'd already done, so maybe it could be a slow stop. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly, and looked at him, and she was looking very concerned about him.

Dean got up and grabbed his own phone, before sitting down, it held in his hands before him as he looked at her. "You'll have to tell me who - and give me the numbers. Would you prefer me to phone, or text? I guess, if I text then you can see the responses, right. Would that make more sense?" he asked, looking at her.

She watched him as he moved, still very well aware of the air about him. She kept up drawing things in. Trying to. She absently fidgeted with the bells on her ankle, for something to do with her hands. "Whichever you want, Dean, it's your phone, and I dunno how well you know any of them." she said quietly. "There's Isaac...and Charlotte...they might know how other people are." she said. "Those two are probably most important." She paused, still watching him carefully.

"Right, okay, I'm - I'll text.   Isaac doesn't really know me, he might not answer the phone, I.. But I have Charlotte's number... Somewhere..." He got up, grabbing his bag from over by his desk and starting to root through it, looking for the note she'd left him. He was sure that it had her number on it. He just needed to find it, it was here somewhere, he was sure it was, why couldn't he find it...

Lullaby watched him for about thirty seconds before she got up and went over to him again. She took him by the shoulders, turned him towards her, then pushed him back into the desk chair. "Dean, you have to calm down." she said. And right up until he'd gotten into the room, she was still in full fledged brain melting zomg mode--but right now she wasn't. She'd snapped that off and it was staying off until she felt better that Dean was...going to quit fritzing. Lullaby was fully aware that she might be in for a long wait on that one, but she was going to try. He'd been nothing but calm and supportive and a rock for her since he'd found her, she thought it was kind of high time it was her turn anyways.

He hadn't expected to be pushed, he'd been too busy tearing his bag apart looking for the note that he'd managed to throw onto the floor when he grabbed the first handful of papers and hadn't even noticed. And so she managed it and he just stared at her for a moment. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he wasn't coping too well at the moment, that he was starting to feel overwhelmed by the entire situation. "Oz gave me the gun," he told her, blurting out the words. "He gave me the gun and told me that it has silver bullets in it and that if he lost control out there, I had to shoot him and try and kill him and I had to take you and run, get you safe. He told me I had to kill him." He was back to shaking again now, goosebumps erupting down his bare arms. No, no, he couldn't do this, he had to keep it together, there were still things to do, she needed him.

Okay that was it. That was what had to be driving him forward right now, the thing he didn't want to stop for. And if it wasn't, she was really dreading what the next bombshell would be, because fucking hell, that was bad. She...couldn't even fathom what that was like. She searched his eyes, and sat back on the ledge of his desk. She reached out for his hands though. What she wanted to do was gather him up and hug him to death again, but that wasn't going to help right now. She thought he might need more to get this out, first. And she didn't really think it stopped with a bare explanation of what had happened. "You're not going to have to shoot him. And if anything goes wrong...there'll be another way." She had no idea what but she was sure there had to be, right? She had actually read up on werewolves, which she was thinking back on. "He's...he was in wolf form before. So, he's got control, it won't break." So why had Oz told him that? He had to have some reason, because he hadn't behaved like a fucking psychopath and that would be the only reason he'd be lying about a thing like that.

Dean shook his head. "I don't know - I... We've never really talked that much about him being a werewolf. Sophie always told me that he wasn't any danger, that he had control and that I never had to worry about him." And the way Sophie had said that? The tones she'd used, the belief and certainty there? Dean hadn't doubted it, not even for a moment. "But - he made me promise. And now, downstairs, he told me I had to carry it with me. And I don't know if that's because of him, in case... Or in case the vampires - I don't know, get in or something? I don't know." Right now, he felt like he didn't know anything, nothing at all and he didn't want the responsibility of being armed, of being told that he had to kill things. He wasn't ready for this.

Vampires? Is that's what's out there? What we hit? Unfortunately, she hadn't read up as much on them as she had werewolves(because werecreatures had seemed more interesting to her--big mistake there!) but she'd read enough. "It's probably for them." she said firmly. She had no clue, actually, but that was her story and she was sticking to it until the gods themselves came down to contradict her. They were probably busy right now. "And they won't get in. They can't get in without an invite, I don't think. I think that's all kinds. But still, better safe, right?" she asked, keeping that hold on his eyes. She was speaking clearly and evenly, like she was perfectly calm about things and knew what she was talking about. There was a part of her that wondered how she was managing that, but she was. She thought he needed her to be. "So it's just a precaution. Just in case. You need to be kept safe, so...that'll help you. But they can't get in." And that didn't mean they couldn't like...throw molotovs in the windows. Which was a thought she really wished she hadn't had, and wouldn't speak out loud upon pain of death.

he caught on that - the sound of her voice, the fact that she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. And he clung to that as he'd been clinging to her earlier. He didn't know shit about vampires - except they drank blood and appeared lots in horror movies. He didn't know whether garlic worked, or crosses, or stakes, holy water - did silver work? Would the bullets in his gun (god his - he was thinking of it as his. That was probably bad, right?) work? he didn't know - he didn't know anything, other than one of them got run over by a fucking truck and got back up again. And that they were fast. "You know about vampires?" he asked her,hope lurking in his eyes. It was something to fasten onto that wasn't the screaming meltdown he felt he was on the verge of.

She could see it, that hope lighting there, and she felt better. Okay she could do this. Or she was in the middle of doing it, and she just now caught onto the fact that maybe it would actually work. Nodding immediately, she gave his hands a squeeze. "Yes. After I was attacked and everything, I got a lot of books from Nevermore, I think I told you about that. And he told me some about vampires and things too, and gave me books, and so I've read up on them. Um..." She paused in thought, biting at her lower lip as she let her mind race. "Sunlight, stakes through the heart, decapitation...and yeah the invite thing. I dunno about like, the other common stuff? I don't think it works on all of them. Um. Isaac has my book, he could look it up for you." she added. "But the can't get in unless someone says they can, and I'm pretty sure we're all on the same page of thinking that's a bad idea. And that's even if they find us way out here..we're kinda far, and not like...even in town, we're even past the other houses more." It was all logical to her, anyways. She didn't know if any of it would hold up, but it sounded good. She squeezed his hands again. "Okay?"

Dean listened to her intently, making himself focus on taking all of this in, gaining a little comfort from the fact that someone else knew what they were talking about. Maybe it was just him - maybe it was just him that knew shit about vampires. Maybe everyone else knew and then they could tell him and he'd know too and it'd be fine. "You think?" he asked her, squeezing her hands back. Right now he'd never felt so much like a small child. He could even see the appeal of diving into bed and hiding under the covers, or closing his eyes on the basis that if he couldn't see it, it couldn't see him. There'd just been so much to cope with recently, he didn't know how much more he could take. He'd been doing so well, but now... He didn't want to play anymore.

"I think." Lullaby said firmly. She even managed a smile for him. It was small, a little grim, but it was there. She pushed off the desk and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "It'll be okay. The...vampires, or whatever, they can't get in, and people are prepared, right? You're okay, you came and you rescued me and everything, and we're all fine. And all we have to really do is wait it out til dawn. After that we can make a better plan. So just that just a few hours, and then we'll figure something else out and we can be ready for anything." She thought that sounded good too. "And if we can get someone talking to Isaac for more information on the types of vampires they were dealing with, we can do it even better, right? Right." She leaned over the chair a little, hands on the arms of it and looked him in the eyes again. "It'll be alright."

He was shaking less now and he felt a little calmer as he listened to her talking. That made sense and he wanted to believe her, he really really did. "I'm sorry," he said to her, taking a shuddery breath. "I... You don't need this right now, you've got enough to think about without me going all weird on you. Sorry."

Lullaby gave him a Look for that, and this time when she smiled, it was looking a lot more like her. It had a more genuine feel to it, and she rolled her eyes at him and pulled him forward for a hug. "You soooo don't get to say that." she said. "For as much as you've been there for me since I came back? With all the freak outs and emotional timebombs going off left and right? It was your turn. In fact, you still have a lot of turns before we're even close to even. So just...I'm your best friend. You came out in the middle of the night to get me in mid-crisis. There's a lot of insane shit going on. You've got more than a right to take a minute to be a little thrown, kay? So...you don't get to be sorry. I just hope you're feeling better...even a little." He looked like he was feeling a bit better. She'd noticed it a short bit ago, when she'd started telling him about the vampires and logicing things. "You look it." she added, in a lighter tone. "See? Use number two for my weirdness. I can tell when you feel better, too."

He had to chuckle a little at that. "Yeah, yeah, you can tell when you're doing something right - must be a real ego boost for you," he told her, a hint of teasing in his tone, though he still mostly sounded less than happy. He paused. "Don't... Can we keep this between ourselves? My little freakout here? I just... Can we just not tell anyone else?" he asked her, not quite able to express why he didn't want to tell anyone else. He knew it was all wrapped up in the responsibility Oz had given him - as much as he hated what it actually was - and that hint of pride in the way the man had looked at him, and the fact that Sophie obviously didn't think he was up to it, or something because he knew she wasn't impressed and... No, he couldn't explain it.

"I owe you a lot of those, too." Lullaby said. "Secrets. Yeah. Of course. Dean...anything you want kept between us can be. I won't tell anyone. Promise." she said, hooking her pinky with his. "Pinky swear even." she added. Which she wasn't sure if he'd understand or not, but she was doing anyways. Because it was one tiny shred of vaguely normal Her, and she kind of wanted to be that for him right then too. Look, stable, normal, totally healthy and fine Lullaby. Who wasn't at all worried about the man downstairs who might come up to try and kill her. Or the vampires outside. Because Everything Was Fine. Or it would be.

Dean wasn't really thinking enough right now to really be able to engage with whether he knew what a pinky swear was or not, he just let her hook his finger and went with it. Her promise was good enough for him. "Thank you," he said, quietly, then brought her in for a quick hug before letting her go. "So, erm, we should sort you out with a room," he said, taking a breath and getting himself properly steady. He still had that list, there were still things that needed to be done - he just wasn't quite so much falling headlong into it all now.

She nodded. "Kay." she said. You sure I can't hide in here until I find out if Sean's going to want to snap my neck like a twig? But she'd just finished calming him down, she didn't really want to add anything back in again. Even if the idea of leaving Dean's room was kind of a bad one right now. Why she felt like it was safe she didn't know. Probably because it was his house. Or maybe because that's where he'd brought her, and he'd run out to rescue her or something. Perhaps it was because he'd told her he would protect her. And even if she knew he couldn't, not from Sean, and she wouldn't even want him to try on that score, because Sean was an angel, and she was willing to bet he could go through anything and anyone...she was being a stupid little girl about this.

Like this room was any different from any other in the house. It's just more familiar. He's here, and there are him-things, and it smells like him. And right now, in a big crazy house full of people you don't know well, or should still think you're dead, and there are a bunch of unknowns there, you're feeling vulnerable. she told herself in something resembling rationality. Though speaking of being a stupid little girl, she kneeled on the bed and reached over to snag her bunny. It was far easier to be calm and collected, holding it all together when she was doing it for someone else. She wound up sitting there, maybe prolonging the room-finding, and looked down at the gun, since it was next to her. She reached out to touch it, the metal feeling cool under her fingertips. One of those things had killed her. She wondered in a purely morbid way what kind.

He watched as she went back to the bed and picked up her bunny and then just... stopped, as she reached out for the gun and touched it. He didn't need to be able to see black badness tendrils to know that she didn't look good. He stood, crossing to go and sit next to her. "You okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.

She nodded. Then gave him a rueful little smile. "I'm just...being kind of lame for a minute." she said. She tried to sound as normal as she had a minute ago, and mostly managed it. She also picked up the gun. Turning it over in her hands, it was...heavier than she thought it would be. Guns were always tossed around all over in movies, she guessed they always looked lighter than this. Or maybe this was just a big gun or something. Her eyes were down on it though, and again she was wondering what kind of gun had killed her. How far away the person who'd shot her had been. It was strange. She hadn't really thought about her death in quite that manner until now. Maybe it was the reality of seeing a firearm that did it.

He didn't like seeing her holding that thing and his palms itched to reach out and take it from her, to the point that he almost sat on them. In the end, he did actually reach out. "Tell you what, why don't I have that," he told her, easing it from her hands - like he was any better handling it than she was, being that he'd only touched the thing for the first time not but a few hours ago. "And you can tell me about your lameness - I think it's your turn."

Lullaby didn't stop him when he took it, she didn't really especially want to be holding onto it. It was just...drawing her attention. A frown flickered over her features, and she still wasn't sure it was her turn. Considering she thought the scales between them were infinitely unbalanced. He had one little freak out and that was it. And he'd been putting up with her for a while, and she knew she'd been particularly crazy. It made her reluctant, like she would just be piling more on, and couldn't do that right now. She was meant to be being stable. Of course, that was before the prospect of being brought to another room she didn't feel comfortable in and left there. And in the end she looked up to meet his gaze. "You were going to find me a room?" She made herself not ask if it could be close by.

Dean returned her gaze steadily. "Try again," he said, simply.

"I really don't know when the turn thing kicks in when I've taken a million, and you've only taken one." she said, looking down again. But she kind of knew when to give up with Dean by now. "I just never really thought about it like...that before." she said, nodding at the gun. "Like, thinking about what killed me. I never thought about it. And seeing a gun, kind of made me. It's okay, I'm not really upset? Just...I don't know. It's hard to describe. I guess I wonder what kind it was, or if the person was close by when they shot, or if it was on purpose, or an accident, or if they heard..." me screaming. Which she would not say. "And it's weird, because I have the scars, but I didn't heal it, but it's there. Which seems messed up to me, I guess. Like it's wrong?" she suggested. "So see? Lame. Nothing..." she made a vague gesture.

"Special circumstances: it will always be your turn," Dean told her, mock-seriously, before he listened to the rest of what she had to say, glad that she'd not gone up against him on this one, since he wouldn't have let it go. "It's not nothing, Thia. And it's definitely not lame. You're right - it's weird and messed up and I'd say it's perfectly reasonable for you to be entirely thrown by it." He turned and leaned over the edge of the bed, tucking the gun out of sight underneath. It wasn't very good as 'out of sight, out of mind' went, but it was a start.

You might need that. she thought to herself. "Honestly, it's okay." she said again. "It's just weird to think about. I never held a gun before." she added. "Guns...not a really huge part of my parent's lives, and all." There was a quirked half smile there on her lips for that bit. "But I think it's probably good...especially with everything going on. Never know. But...I'll...stick with my super awesome magic hidey powers and...my bunny. Because I don't think I'm actually---" she paused. "Hey I brought the books." she said. Then her mind latched onto something else too. "And thank you for everything else. Though I was kinda sad i didn't get to see you, but I got that you needed to get home." Then she smiled a bit. "However, just as a minor suggestion...if there's any men on the cover of books that have longer hair than me, and there's any females in imminent danger of bodice shredding? I'm probably just going to giggle over the whole thing, and possibly read bits aloud to torture you. If I really wanted to read porn, I'd probably be able to find it on the internet. And probably slightly better written."

He blinked as she seemed to rattle through multiple subjects and he got a little lost. And he didn't reply straight away as he tried to figure out whether she was just trying to distract him from issues - he didn't trust her not to try and do that, since she seemed to have cottoned onto the fact that flat out avoidance wasn't going to work with him. Which meant rewinding and replaying what she'd just said in his head and picking out the important bits. "You don't think you're actually what?" he asked her. Sure, there was so much else he could have addressed in that, but he wanted to know what she'd been going to say. Though it was hard not to be distracted by the porn reference.

"Useful." Lullaby filled in the blank. What she was doing was a little distraction. Though really, all that required was she didn't stop her mind from veering off in the directions it wanted to go to, not narrowing her focus down to the matters at hand, because the matters at hand sucked. "I looked up some things about the Fades, but the book seems to kind of be sketchy in some bits, and I kind of get the idea that the author didn't like them much. And can't really say I can blame, considering. I didn't get to go over everything though, I was looking up telekinesis stuff with Joshua too, and so..." She trailed off. She didn't really want to be thinking about when Joshua first came in. About the discussion, or how she'd gotten upset, and still felt like things were wonky. She was probably being paranoid or...something. Though she wondered if she'd be able to come up with things for him to do. It wasn't like it was within her nature to be really demanding or wanting of a lot of stuff. "But that's what I was going to say. I can...hide in shadows without trying. And see badness coming off of people, which hey...everyone here's got right now because of everything." Though Dean was still doing better than he had been, and that was important. She felt like she should shut up before she said something wrong though.

"I think you're useful - you just stopped me from having a total screaming breakdown, didn't you? And anyway, if we're talking about the usefulness of abilities, yours at least could be applicable from a defensive point of view. Look at me - what good's being able to fuse things going to be against vampires. Oh, great, I can turn everything dark, when they probably have better eyesight anyway, so, wow - I can make it easier for them. And your author can go take a running jump then - people shouldn't be allowed to write books when they don't like the subject. Books should be..." he paused. "Why telekinesis?" he asked. He'd bought that other book because of the chapters that seemed to relate to him, but she'd ended up reading about something else entirely. That seemed a little... He didn't like that, though he tried not to show it.

"Dean, you were hardly going to go into a screaming breakdown." In fact, Lullaby couldn't actually picture Dean ever doing that. Ever. He'd been close to a crack, she thought, but not like...'I'm gonna sit in the corner and cry' type. "You just needed a little...minute to sit down." she said. And she'd made him take it. She didn't know how much she'd actually done to help-help. Hey look, there was a little curly tendril of something whisping off of him. One day, she was going to learn to pinpoint what they different looks signified. "Um...I'm sorry, I forgot you didn't know. Joshua can do that." she said. She also kind of felt bad, because she didn't know if Joshua would want her to tell, but she also didn't feel like she could lie, and anyways at a time like this, it might be a good thing to have. "And you're a disruptor. Or...that's what they called it in the book. I looked. There's kind of a lot there though, it seems more complicated than some of the other psychics outlined in the book. And Dean, if you can make a street lamp explode into a shower of sparks? You can do things to slow down vampires. I'm pretty sure they don't like fire or being electrocuted any more than we do."

She'd looked him up. And knew the name, which he'd kind of read in the store, but hadn't quite been able to remember. But she had and that made him feel a little bit better and generally less liable to pout. Added to that was the fact that they'd been looking up telekinesis because of Joshua, not just for some random reason. And of course it was more important to look up what Joshua was. And of course he'd have some special ability - everyone seemed to round here and telekinesis was a damn site more useful than what he had. "Well, at least Joshua'll be able to throw things at them. I can make sparks, but I can't direct them to do anything. It'd be like suggesting that I could put up a fight using fireworks - yeah, might be able to cause some damage, but it's not reliable. Plus, I'd probably get myself killed, since I do anything big enough to have a real effect and I'm laid out for god knows how long." Okay, so maybe he was still sulking a little bit...

"He still needs to learn better control." Lullaby said, not really wanting Dean to think that he could rely on that. Since Joshua still wasn't that able to really fine tune things with it. And she didn't think he'd been practising since she'd died. "And let's not get into an argument over who sucks worse. I still think you're more useful than me. I can hide." And die. "I still wanna figure out how to get around that reaction of yours though. The making yourself sick thing. There has to be a way." Lullaby paused and eyed him. "I think this goes without saying, but I veto anything that has to do with you getting yourself killed." And tonight that was so much more serious than it ever could have been before. "You know if I knew what was happening, I would have told you to stay here...right?" Which she figured he did know, what with her not even knowing it was vampires til like...what, ten, fifteen minutes ago?

"You know I would have ignored you, right?" Dean shot right back, actually giving her a grin with that one that actually made it to full on smiley. "And yes, mum, I promise - no dying for me. Weirdly, I'm not a fan of that idea. You too, okay?" he said, then figured he should clarify that. "Look, I... I know what you were told by your dad, but I'd prefer not to test the theory, okay? So, for the record? I'm all kinds of fine with you hiding. In fact, I encourage this. Please, hide. Just... take care of yourself."

It was nice to see him smile. He didn't do it all that often, so when he did, it was kind of special, or it seemed like it to her. She gave him a bit of a look. "Yeah, I do know you would have ignored me. That doesn't make what you did any less stupid, and it doesn't make me any less grateful. I know I said it already, but thank you." She figured she'd be saying that a lot. It meant a lot to her, it was something she couldn't fully figure out how to express. It was there in her tone though, and her expression and eyes. "And yeah, I know. I don't really wanna test it either." She was apparently resurrectable, but that didn't mean she didn't feel pain. "And we'll both agree to avoid the death thing." She didn't say that she would hide. Because no way in hell if people really needed her that she would be. That? Just no. And no. There was a world of no there.

"It wasn't stupid," Dean told her with authority. "And you know you would have done the same for me." Which he was fairly sure about, actually. He knew this girl and she'd go that extra mile for people. It was just who she was. "You don't need to thank me. Or, well, you can thank me with that whole 'not dying again' thing. I just want you to be safe."

She couldn't argue with him over the whole doing the same for him thing. She would have. And even as he said it, she nodded a bare bit. "Yes, okay, I would have, but still." she said, making a face at him. "So we're agreed." she added. Then she gave him another hug, because she wanted to. They were talking about death and not dying and going out into danger for things, it was necessary.

He returned the hug, squeezing her a little as he spoke into her ear. "We're agreed," he said, before he pulled back. His hugs had been shorter today, whilst they'd been talking. Dean was aware in the back of his mind that Joshua was downstairs and even in the midst of crisis he knew that being found in his room, with the guy's girlfriend, hugging her, possibly on his bed... These were not things that he wanted to be happening. So, quick hugs and pulling back, making sure there was space between them. "So, you feeling better about things now?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I guess...rest is in order, huh?" Which meant she'd have to leave that imaginary safety of his room thing. And she wouldn't be going to bed because she would still need to talk to Joshua, though she was really really hoping that she wouldn't have to talk to Sean until tomorrow. You can stop being stupid any time now, Lullaby. she told herself. Which didn't do anything, but she tried.

"I guess so," Dean agreed, standing up. He paused for a moment, then bent and retrieved the gun from underneath the bed. He was really going to have to talk to Oz about the best way to carry this. He knew that in the films they just, like, shoved it in the waistband of their trousers, but Dean didn't have any real wish to blow his nads off, thank you very much. So, for now, he just carried it in his right hand - and tried to keep it out of Thia's line of sight.

She didn't stand up right away, and looked up at him. She could see he was kind of half hiding it. "You have my word it doesn't bother me." she said before she made herself stand up. Then she glanced around for her phone again, and retrieved that. She thought that was all she needed. "You're going to get sleep, right?" she asked, looking at him in that tone of voice that said she thought he had better. "Probably a long day tomorrow."

"I'm going to try," he allowed. He rarely slept well, though out here it was easier. Back home when he'd been surrounded by other houses, other streets... He hadn't had an unbroken night's sleep in years. But here it was quieter, though between the other people in the house and the birds in the morning and the occasional car passing, he still awoke easily. He got the point she made about the gun and relaxed a little, though he still kept that side half turned away from her. "Come on, let's find you a room. There's a few to choose from..."

"Try. Get rest. Tomorrow we'll...talk plans of doom, I'm sure." she said, then followed him, even if walking back out into the hallway felt really wrong. Exposed. It was just so stupid. But she couldn't help it, she didn't know where people were, or how the talk with Joshua and Sean was going. Or if Sophie and Oz really understood. "What rooms are open? This house is...ridiculously big."

"Isn't it just?" Dean agreed. He'd come from a fairly wealthy background, at least in the scheme of never having to worry about money, but this was something else - this house was just huge. "Erm, there's another spare bedroom on this floor," he said, walking in that direction and pushing open the door of the room that lay half way between his own room and Oz and Sophie's room. He led her a little further down and pointed up the stairs. "Or there's another three rooms on the next floor up. So loads to choose from, really."

Lullaby barely even glanced at the staircase. "I'll take this one." she said, looking back at the room he'd showed her there. She didn't care what was inside it, or anything. "If no one minds." she added, walking over to actually peek inside the room. She flipped the light on, and looked around. "...it's kind of weird being in a house again with stuff in it." she said. "Not bad-weird." It more just reminded her that she lived in an empty house. This one was far from it.

"You got used to Journey's that quickly?" Dean asked her, glad that she was taking this room. He had no idea what was going on with Joshua and the guy downstairs, after all. Were they going to stay for the night? There were rooms enough that it wouldn't be a problem, and he couldn't see Sophie and Oz letting anyone leave again til daybreak. Which would mean that she wouldn't have been alone on the top floor or anything, but, still - what about after today? If Joshua and his guardian left in the morning? He looked at Thia and realised that he couldn't see her leaving here. Well, maybe - if she left with Joshua and he was going to take care of her. But, apart from that, he knew already that he wouldn't be letting her go back to that house. "Nobody's going to mind you taking the room, promise," he told her - he'd make sure of that.

Quirking a half smirk at him, she shook her head. "Dean, I can't leave. You get used to a place really fast if you can't actually y'know. Go outside. Plus I practically grew up there, so I was used to the space. It was more just getting used to the fact that all the stuff that's supposed to be in it isn't anymore. But...yeah. I've been there near enough twentyfour hours a day since..." she paused, frowning a little bit. "...how long has it been?" she asked. Her days kind of bled together, especially in the beginning.

"It's been a week. Last Friday." Around this time, actually. Oh God, that's awful... Dean suddenly realised, like a punch to the stomach. For a moment he really felt like he needed to sit down and he reached a hand to the wall to steady himself. It passed quickly, but there was definitely a moment there and when he recovered he gave her a slight smile, hoping that she'd missed that. "So, we should get you sorted - you had a bag, right? Did you grab some clothes? Did you need to borrow something to sleep in? I can sort something out for Joshua as well," he said, moving swiftly on.

No such luck on that. She frowned and walked back over to him, reaching out to touch his arm lightly. "Yes, I think, no, and he'll need something." she answered in rapid succession, without putting much effort in there, and it was clear she wasn't really dropping things. "Are you okay? What..." she wasn't sure what might've got the reaction, besides thinking about her death, or...she wasn't sure. But she wanted to know.

"Oh, just thinking about things - it's been one of those weeks," he told her, moving into the room to check that the bed was made up and everything. Not that he needed to - Sophie was one of those people who kept everything just so, after all, but it was something to do. "Okay - did you want me to go find your bag? Was it left downstairs?" he asked her, not wanting her to go downstairs until he figured out what was going on about her.

Lullaby crossed her arms and levelled a Look at him. "Here'd be the part where I tell you to try again." she said.

Dean looked at her from across the other side of the bed. "You expect me to generally okay about thinking about you dying?" he posed right back at her, raising an eyebrow. Okay, it wasn't quite what he'd been thinking about, but if she was going to call him on shit, that didn't mean that he was going to immediately cave and bring up subjects that he was of the opinion didn't need to be broached. Cos, hey, yeah, he was standing here with a gun and they'd be talking about the fact that near enough exactly a week ago someone pointed one at her and pulled the trigger.

"No, but it looked like a little more than a passing twitch." Lullaby pointed out. He'd also been pretty good about it, not that they talked about her actual demise very often. Actually, she was wondering if they had talked about the event itself since the night he'd found her, and thought they probably hadn't. She wasn't sure if it was a deliberate avoidance, or it hadn't come up. She knew that tonight was the first time she'd thought about it from sort of the other side.

"Yeah, well, it's my more than a passing twitch," Dean told her. "And I should show you where the bathroom is." Yes, he was still attempting to avoid here. Okay, he didn't much think it would work, but he was putting that shit out there. If she wanted to press the matter, she could, but she'd have it there loud and clear that he'd prefer not to talk about it.

"Dean..." Lullaby said with a heavy sounding sigh. "You know it really isn't fair if you expect me to tell you everything that's going through my head especially if you notice something's wrong--and then blow me off when I ask you." she pointed out. She didn't go further to say that if he was going to be doing that to her she was going to reserve the right to dodge too. Even if she sucked at it. Though mostly she just hated feeling shut down, cut off. Like her shit was important enough to him that he wanted to dig it out of her, but she wasn't allowed to do the same.

"This isn't to do with 'fair', Thia - this is to do with the fact that you have a shit tonne of crap to deal with right now and you don't need me adding to that with things that are better left unsaid and wouldn't achieve anything for either of us except to make it hurt more. You died and the fact that you came back doesn't take that away. You died. It was horrible. We don't need to dissect this," he told her, avoiding her eyes.

She always noticed when Dean was avoiding looking her in the eye, because he made a point to always be looking at her when he was talking. So when he was doing the aversion thing, it was obvious to her. "So, let me get this straight." she said. "You're telling me that you're not talking to me, because I'm under stress?" she asked. "Because you're not? Because that makes sense anywhere in the universe? I'm your friend! Yes! I died. I've had a hell of a lot going on. Newsflash, it's not like I have overlooked the fact that you have too. Me going through things doesn't negate you going through them and I'm sorry but my own problems aren't near as important to me as they are to you, and you could probably do with the knowledge that you can turn that around on me too. I died. You had to deal with it. I know it wasn't particularly well. I haven't randomly become some selfish person who's only concerned about herself, you know." She stopped for a moment, still looking at him with a stubborn, light frown. "I'm stronger than you're giving me credit for. Either you're underestimating my ability to deal, or..." You're using it so you don't have to.

"I never called you selfish - don't put words into my mouth," Dean snapped at her, his eyes coming up to meet hers. "I know you're not and that wasn't what I meant at all. And I'm telling you that I'm not talking to you about this because this is something that doesn't need to be talked about. Not everything does - this is one of them. It was just a passing thought that was pretty horrible and, really, it's gone. We don't need to go over this, Thia. That's all - it's not like I'm refusing to talk to you about anything. Because that's bullshit, considering the last few days where all we've done is talk about shit. So if you're suddenly deciding that I can't talk to you? That I'm avoiding or some crap like that, you really need to take a look at the situation here."

"Well that's what it puts on me when you up and make decisions for me that I don't need...whatever, fill in the blank. It's not really up to you what I can and can't deal with. I know you're trying to protect me or whatever from badness, but..." she dragged her fingers through her short hair, and tossed her bunny on the bed, even if she didn't actually go over near it. "I get it. Horrible thoughts. Doesn't mean I didn't see how bad it threw you, and that also doesn't mean that I don't want to know or...I don't know." she sighed again, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked at him. "And yeah. Trust me I noticed the part where lately we've been having really really good talks. I appreciate them more than you probably know."

"So, what? I'm just meant to tell you absolutely everything, just because you want to know? Don't I get any choice in this?" He turned away for a moment, stalking to look out of the window into the darkness, telling himself that he was being stupid, that he wasn't making any seDean and Thia - Google Docsnse. And that he should just cave and tell her - that it wasn't worth an argument about. His jaw flexed a little, his mouth set in a line, unhappiness coming off him in waves.

She watched it, and let him have the space, leaning against the wall just inside the door. "You're being really unreasonable." she said. Her voice was probably a bit calmer than his was. "Yes, you get a choice. It's not like I can actually make you tell me anything. I just don't like the double standard of how you keep expecting it out of me universally, and then shut down on me. And especially with your reasoning. I really hate the whole 'Hey, Thia, I don't want to drop things on you because you're going through a lot' when we're going through the same thing, just on opposite ends. I..." she trailed off, not sure where that sentence ended. And she was aware there were differences. Though some of those differences she hadn't even started really dealing with yet in any fashion. She was, however, ignoring that entirely.

"It's worse for you," Dean told the window, his voice dropping. He knew she wouldn't have heard that and for once he wasn't looking at her when he spoke. But at least he wasn't shouting or snapping at her any more. He knew he was being unreasonable, he knew that - unreasonable and nonsensical and all of that. He was aware. He took a moment, and then turned back round to her, taking a few steps away from the window towards her. "It's not the same thing from different ends," he told her, looking at her now, though his voice was still quieter. "Whatever I've been going through, it's nothing compared to you. You lost everything. I just lost my best friend. This... Your life, your old life... You died that day. Whether you came back or not, you died. And your life died with you. I got you back. You're never going to get your life back. What I've gone through? It's nothing compared to you. So sue me with being rather more careful with you at the moment and not wanting to add to the fact that you've been all over the place emotionally lately."

The suckiest part was that she couldn't really argue his logic there. Because it was true. And she knew that part. She didn't like when she thought about it, and sometimes it hurt enough that she sat down and didn't move for a few hours. But he didn't know she did that. And it didn't make her less capable of dealing with him. In fact, having people to worry about, between both boys, helped her some because it gave her something else to focus on. And merely being there and being able to listen cost her nothing. She also winced at the last bit, something she rather wished she could have held back, but it stung. It had her averting her eyes this time for a few moments, staring off over his shoulder at the lightswitch, even if she wasn't really concentrating on it. "I know. Okay? You don't have to tell me. That just doesn't mean I'm..." she tried to figure out a word. "Too fragile to deal with your shit too. And I'd rather do that than think that you're there for me but you feel like I can't be for you, or..." she looked back over, though more because she needed to because he was only speaking loud enough that she could hear minor tone, and only some of it, not words. "I don't want to be broken, and unable to be there like I should be."

Dean looked down, away from her, at his feet. This had been what he'd been trying to avoid - hurting her, making things worse for her. He listened as she spoke and then crossed the room, from the window to where she was standing by the door and drew her into a hug, burying his face in her shoulder. He held her for longer this time - which had a lot to do with the fact that because they were standing behind the closed door, he didn't have to be worried about mistaken retribution from a boyfriend who'd got the wrong end of the stick. But eventually, he pulled back. "I don't feel like you can't be there for me, Thi - really, I don't. I just..." He closed his eyes for a moment and make a decision, hating himself because he was fairly sure of the result. "I just suddenly realised that... this time last week you were probably bleeding to death on a pavement out there."

The hug made her feel better. But then they usually did, she was that kind of person. When he hugged her, she felt the gun against the back of her shoulder--since he hadn't put it down. She mostly noticed it because it was hard and cold. She held on back, a tight sort of hug and she rested her face in against his opposite shoulder. In her mind, she was wondering if she couldn't take the word 'broken' back somehow. She didn't like it, though that was because she rather believed that. But then again, was there any way out of being broken when you'd died and come back? When he spoke, she could understand the look he'd had then. She almost asked 'was this around when it happened?' but didn't. Her memory of the entire event was fuzzy and patchy at best, and while it sometimes flooded back to her at strange times when she didn't want it to, or in her dreams, it was hard for her to really focus on the event itself. She wondered if Joshua was thinking about it or not, if he would be upset if he did. Which would mean she wouldn't be bringing it up when he came upstairs. She gave him another little hug, and squeezed his free hand. "I'm back. And...I don't really remember it that well. I'm here, and okay, and...it's okay." So she'd been dead for a week. A full week, apparently. It didn't feel any different. Like birthdays didn't really make you feel any different either it was just a day.

He gave her a quirked smile that wasn't quite a smile and more just an upturning of the corners of his lips. "I know it's okay. I know you're back," he told her, looking down at her. "It was just a momentary realisation - like I said. Like I tried to tell you that it wasn't something we needed to talk about, or that I needed to go over with anyone. It was just a thing." A fact.

She gave him one back. "Yeah but I feel better for knowing?" she suggested. "Because I'm a girl. I'll blow things up in my head, if you give me enough of a chance to. I'll wonder, and start trying to figure it out, and I'll be wrong." There was the hint of a teasing undertone in her voice, nothing heavy, but present. "And by the time I'm done with it, it'll probably be something huge and way off track too, so I'd just be concerned over nothing, or at the very least, something so far off from what it really was you'd just stare at me like I was insane."

"Yeah, well, I'm a guy - which means that you need to learn to realise that nothing's ever that complicated and whatever you're thinking I'm thinking is probably wrong and completely over the top and therefore you should just stop worrying about it because it's probably something inane and stupid and if I told you you'd look at me like I was insane and be all like 'oh, is that all?' about it. So, it's not worth your time." Plus, he was overprotective about people he cared about, but he didn't add that because (a) she probably had noticed that, and (b) right at this moment, he didn't think that that would go down too well and he'd probably end up being called a chauvanist pig, or being accused of keeping things from her or something like that and right now, he couldn't deal with it.

"Girl--we never stop worrying." Lullaby said with a light smirk at him, eyes narrowed slightly in what might have in another life a playful challenge. "And for the record, there's nothing about you or anything you could say or do that wouldn't be worth my time." she said. "So...there. That's not changing, get it through your head, and if you suggest it again, I'm hitting you. But I can try to not let my imagination run away with me so much, if you remember that it happens and occasionally just tell me things to keep it in line."

"Well, then I'll bore you about football and in the summer we'll start on cricket and then you can tell me that there's nothing I can tell you that's not worth your time," Dean told her, his eyes flashing. "But, yes mum - I promise I will continue in my habit of telling you almost everything. You know, like I have been doing so far. I think I should get brownie points for that."

"Dean, you have wracked up more brownie points than some people manage to build up in several lifetimes. I'm sure there are nuns out there with less good karma owed than you've got coming." Lullaby said. "So...you're covered." Then she paused. "And I probably wouldn't be bored because I don't know anything about either of them so you'd have to explain. Which might just annoy you." Then she quirked that little half smirk at him again. "There was supposed to be rest going on."

"Okay - for the record - comparing me to a nun does not do much for my guy-esteem. But I'll let you off - seeing that you're you and everything. And okay, since you asked for it, tomorrow I'm going to make you sit through a footie match - since it'll be Saturday and everything, so don't say I didn't warn you. Though, since you're a girl, you'll probably spoil the whole thing by going on about their legs or something..."

"I thought nuns might be better than priests." Lullaby explained. "And I wasn't comparing. I didn't say you were nun-like, it was purely an example of someone who theoretically should be getting a whole lot in the way of brownie points in their life." She gave him a mildly confused look at the comment about going on about people's legs. "Are they bionic? Because if they're bionic, I might. But otherwise you'll be safe." She also thought that they'd be doing no such thing because tomorrow, she was thinking what was actually going to be going on was a whole lot of explaining what the fuck was going on, figuring out what had happened in town, and trying to get ready in case the crisis wasn't over. But it was nice to pretend that they could be doing something normal. She was betting Joshua would be happy with the match-thingy too. Unless the Irish weren't as into it as the English were, and she was going to stop trying to figure that out, with the resounding fuckall that she knew about it. "And I'm a girl, but I'm not that much of a girl."

"No, not bionic. But they're guys. In shorts. And generally... You know what? I'm going to stop encouraging you on this right about now," he told her. He was actually of the opinion that this wasn't going to happen tomorrow either, but at the moment it was nice to pretend that they would all wake up in the morning and this whole thing will have been a horrible dream and that the world would be back to normal again. Well, the world apart from the part where Thia was in his house and everything.

"You do that." She said, laughing a touch. "Now okay, go. Rest. Get some, I hear it's nice. I'm gonna..." she looked around the room. "Settle in?" she suggested. In the strange room where it kind of felt alien and too large. But sure. Settling. She thought the bags were still downstairs, but she wasn't sure. She knew if she had one though she'd start reading, and she should probably try to get real rest, even if she was convinced she wouldn't get any.

"I'll see you in the morning, Thia," Dean agreed, not saying anything about going and getting rest, since he knew that wasn't on the cards. Not yet, anyhow. No, first he had some time of sitting on the stairs, waiting for everyone else who was still downstairs to be done and making himself happy that she was going to be safe here. She didn't need to know that though and he opened the door to slip out. "Night."