for Derek / Dean / Cas

[iwasmore]

Recently, things had felt off for Noah. Not just everything with Ronan, but with...him. It was becoming difficult to stay corporeal, controlling his body, acting human. It scared him, as much as he tried not to let on. He wasn't sure if it was because he was ending, or if it was something about Darrow. So far, the only one who'd mentioned having any sort of knowledge on the subject was Dean. Granted, he also wanted to separate Noah from the mortal realm, but he wasn't aggressive about it and Noah thought maybe after that monster attack Dean kind of owed it to him not to, well. Kill him.

Noah thought it might be a good idea to ask Dean what he knew about his existence, and to check up on him to make sure he was okay. To further make a show of good will, he decided to bring some elfroot with him. Krem wasn't around, and Noah felt a bit guilty taking some without asking, but he'd just take a little. He packed it in a little bag, along with an apple and the lighter. This also meant he had to walk to Dean's. He couldn't just pop in and out, he wouldn't be able to carry anything with him.

On the way, he blinked out of existence. The baggie and apple fell to the ground. Noah showed up about twenty minutes later, and thankfully they were right where he'd dropped them. He picked them up and continued on his way, resting a hand on his chest where his heart would have been if he still had one.

When he got to Dean's house he stared up at it, re-thinking his decision. Did Dean live with Castiel? What if Castiel yelled at him?

Noah frowned and lurked across the walkway. He nibbled nervously at the hem of his shirt sleeve, and turned around to leave. Maybe another day...

Comments

[triskehale]

Derek has a free afternoon, so he decides to go check up on Dean and see how he's doing. Derek is still admittedly hazy on the details of how Dean and Kizuname actually work together, but he knows that what he saw wasn't good.

He's nearly halfway up the walkway before he catches sight of a figure out of the corner of his eye, and he turns to fully look at Noah where he's lingering near the end of it, looking nervous. Being around Noah unnerves Derek still, but only because of his lack of a scent or a pulse. Derek isn't used to being snuck up on.

"Are you here to see Dean?" Derek asks from the porch, raising a curious brow as he lifts a hand to knock. "Quit haunting the walkway and get up here then."

[iwasmore]

Derek startles Noah, he hadn't even noticed his arrival, too preoccupied with his own worrying. He blushes at the word haunts and makes a tiny, indignant sound of protest. He hurries over, though, feeling braver about the whole thing with Derek there.

"You're friends with him?" he asks, a little timid.

[always_enduphere]

On the other side of the wrap around porch, Dean stirs. He's got a hunter's ears yet, even if his body seems to be all but useless, and he's been on alert since the first rustle of the gravel the driveway.

That doesn't mean he's extricated himself from his blanket burrito. If there's a danger, he'll say the word and Cas will come and burn whatever it is to cinder. Dean actually feels bad about that, hot as it is - all he does lately is eat and sleep, which would be a decent vacation if Cas didn't look worried and sad all the time. To be fair, Dean does seem to need the mother henning. He still can't summon Kizuname, and he's exhausted all the time, and ever since nearly drowning in the shower, he can't even do that alone.

Tandem showers used to be a lot more fun, too.

He has a jar of peanut butter in his lap, and in lieu of getting up, Dean lets it roll down and onto the porch - whoever's at the door, they can come around this way.

[triskehale]

"Yeah, we're friends," Derek replies, even if friends doesn't quite feel like a strong enough word. It's good enough, he supposes. "How do you know him?"

He can't really picture Dean hanging out with a teenage ghost, but hey. The guy is full of surprises. Derek is about to say more when his sensitive ears pick up a thump from the other side of the house. He goes still and holds his arm out, shushing Noah and turning to slowly walk around the side of the house, eyes flickering red for a brief moment.

Dean was in danger far too recently for Derek to do anything but investigate, but he stops and rolls his eyes when a jar of peanut butter slowly trundles along the wood to stop at his feet. He leans down to scoop up the jar and walks around the corner, smirking at the sight of Dean all bundled up in a deck chair.

"Behold the great Dean Winchester," Derek teases, and holds out the jar. "Are we interrupting snack time?"

[iwasmore]

Noah's almost glad for the interruption. How is he supposed to answer that question? Yeah, Dean and I go way back. He thinks I should move on to the actual afterlife, which, by the way, is nothing, and he has a sword that can do it to me. So I brought him some pot.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Of course, when he peeks over Derek's shoulder and sees Dean propped up in a chair, wrapped in a thick blanket, looking about as tough as a leaf the wind could pick up and blow away, he realizes he probably has nothing to worry about at the moment.

He gives a shy, scrunchy wave.

[always_enduphere]

"Every hour is snack time," Dean replies, unearthing his hand from the blankets to take the jar, drawing it back inside his cocoon like some kind of jar consuming blob. He almost doesn't notice Noah behind Derek, he's so quiet and slight, but when he does Dean's brows lift in surprise.

"This is weird, right?" he asks. He's happy to see Derek - after a week he's bored out of his mind, at least when he can stay awake - but it's not so bad to see Noah, too. Dean feels bad for how hard Cas had come at him, even if he doesn't really blame Castiel for it either. Still.

"You guys don't usually come out here together."

[triskehale]

"Little weird," Derek says, coming over and nudging at Dean's feet so he can perch on the end of the deck chair, looking him over and then jerking his chin at Noah. "I found him lurking out front when I get here."

Derek lifts his hand and wiggles his fingers. "I was going to ask if you need me to help you out, but you don't really look like you're feeling much pain."

[iwasmore]

Noah wonders if 'weird' is better than 'creepy', even if they are mostly referring to the situation itself. It doesn't make him feel any less like an intruder, though, not knowing either of them nearly as well as they clearly know each other. He hangs back a little.

"I wanted to make sure you were still alive," Noah says. His questions can wait until Dean is, like, mobile. And for when he's alone. It feels like a private matter.

[always_enduphere]

"I'm fine," Dean huffs, but he knows he doesn't look it. "Just feel like a drained up battery." He can barely stay awake for a few hours strung together, and his stomach is empty all the time, but today feels better than yesterday.

There's something about being truly pathetic that makes him want to be nicer - survival instincts, probably, he's basically an infant like this - and his smile for them both is genuine.

"Just bored. You two must be too to drag your asses all the way out here. Or," he says, looking to Derek, "You ran, and you," he says to Noah, "Clicked your heels three times?"

[triskehale]

"At least you're still pretty," Derek assures him in a dry tone, patting Dean's knee through the blankets. "And yeah, I might have ran. Not sure how he got here."

He looks over at Noah and rolls his eyes, gesturing him closer while still speaking to Dean. There's no reason for him to be all twitchy and off to the side. "Must say, I'm surprised that Cas doesn't have you in a protective bubble."

[iwasmore]

Noah moves closer. A little.

"No, I walked," he pipes up with a proud smile. He lifts the bag he has with him to show why. "I had to carry this."

He glances at Derek, wondering if he'll be able to smell it. He wonders, also, if he'll only get a lecture. Dean and Derek are like...old. They might not be into it.

[always_enduphere]

"He's distracted," Dean tells Derek, smirking a little. "I told him Kashi uses inorganic rice crisps and he's in there writing an impassioned letter."

He lifts his head when Noah moves closer, eying the bag in his hands. "My daddy raised me not to do drugs," he says, which is an absurd thing to come out of a thirty-nine year old man's mouth, unless that man's father was John Winchester. Half of what Dean is, John drilled into his bones.

Still. "I'm supposed to keep eating. I don't think I can manage another bite of peanut butter."

[triskehale]

"Funny thing is I honestly don't know if you're joking," Derek tells him, and then looks over at Noah when he holds up the bag. He lifts his nose and sniffs at the air, and then raises an eyebrow. "Is that weed?"

Derek has never smoked, and he's not even sure if he can get high. He knows of wolves in New York that smoked, but he never knew if it was laced with wolfsbane, and he never asked. "Ignoring Dean's comment, I'm curious. Ghosts can get high?"

[iwasmore]

"I can do a lot of things," Noah says, part defensive, part trying to sound mysterious. You might as well sound mysterious when the opportunity presents itself.

And honestly, it's mysterious to Noah as well. He doesn't know how it works. He has a theory, that it's sort of an imprint or an echo of when he was human. Like how he can cry, or why he 'breathes'. So maybe he's not really high, but it feels like it.

"It's weed from a different world," he starts to say, then realizes he's not even sure if these two are from Earth. Probably. "Um. From Tevinter. It's called elfroot. It's totally safe. I thought...well, I kind of have a favor to ask Dean, so I brought it as an advanced thank you. And it's a nice distraction from pain?"

[always_enduphere]

Dean cocks his head, then turns it, listening hard for any sounds from Cas. There's nothing, not even after that short little leap his heart just did when Dean realized he's considering it, and he relaxes. Cas must be neck deep in drafts by now.

"Doesn't it make you hungry?" he asks. And even if it doesn't, Dean is as bored as he can ever remember being - convalescing at a farmhouse is really relaxing, but probably too much, especially when Space Hospital only comes on once a day.

"I will if Derek does."

[triskehale]

"You will if I will?" Derek asks with an astonished laugh. "God, I've been transported back to high school."

He looks at Dean long to realize that yes, he's completely serious, and then he rolls his eyes and gestures Noah over. "Fine, I'll try it, but you have to promise not to let Cas smite me."

The weed, or elfroot or whatever it is, smells earthy and a little sweet, and Derek eyes it curiously. "I don't even know if it'll work on me."

[iwasmore]

Noah doesn't mention that he'd still technically be in high school if he hadn't, well, died.

"Even if it doesn't work, it tastes good. Better than Earth weed," he comments, pleased that they both seem to be up for it. He finally comes over to where they're at, sitting cross-legged on the porch and taking the apple from the bag to begin constructing a bong the way Krem had done. Back home, he'd never had to make one, but the apple thing was clever and quite handy.

"No, I don't get hungry," he adds, smiling.

Once he's done carving out all the appropriate functions, he holds the apple up. "Do you guys know how to use this?"

[always_enduphere]

Dean's smelled weed - it hadn't smelled either good or bad to him, mostly just forbidden, but sweeter is nice. He manages to bump Derek's leg with his feet. "C'mon, I suck at being a bad boy." For Noah's presentation of an apple, though, Dean frowns.

Dean's actually pretty good with quick works of engineering, but he eyes the apple and the bag dubiously.

"I have no idea what's happening," he admits. "Am I already high? Are we smoking it through an apple?"

[triskehale]

"Apparently," Derek replies, giving the apple an unimpressed look. He's heard of the technique, remembers it from high school. "Can you not just get rolling papers? I feel like the principal is going to catch us any minute now."

After he says it, Derek sits up straight and turns towards the house, listening carefully for any movement from Castiel before turning back to Noah again. "Do you want me to go get papers?"

[iwasmore]

Noah looks a little hurt. He likes the apple bong, it's cute and it smells good and it seems clever to him. He's never smoked the elfroot like a joint, but he doesn't see why it wouldn't work just fine.

"If you want," he says. He doesn't have anything on him to use, not even a receipt.

[always_enduphere]

"Wait," says Dean, confused, but still intrigued by the apple. "Will that make the smoke not hot?" he asks Noah. "I don't actually smoke, and coughing up a lung will bring Castiel down on us faster than anything."

He actually smirks. "Unless you want to try shotgunning, but I guarantee you that'll bring him out here, too."

[triskehale]

Derek actually feels bad about giving Noah shit about his little apple bong. Either Derek is getting too soft, or Noah's sad little ghost face is just that sad. So, here sits Derek Hale, almost twenty-six and about to smoke weed for the first time out of a piece of fruit.

"No one likes a tease, Winchester," Derek says, patting Dean's knee through the mound of blankets. He looks at Noah and gestures towards the apple with his chin. "Light it up, then."

[iwasmore]

Noah looks a little embarrassed at the mention of shotgunning, blushing, his cheeks looking more flesh-colored than normal.

"I don't think it will help that much," he says apologetically. "But just don't take too much smoke, and let it sit in your mouth for a second to help cool it off."

He lights it up as requested, and takes the first drag to demonstrate how to smoke from the apple. He exhales slowly, the smoke wafting around his face. He doesn't cough, but then, he's a ghost.

"Next?"

[always_enduphere]

Dean watches Noah curiously. It seems simple enough, and Noah doesn't cough, so it must not be terrible. Still, he's quick to volunteer someone else, first.

"Derek," he says, "You're up," and already his nose is filled with the smoke. Like Noah said, it's almost sweet, and Dean pulls at it carefully to prepare himself.

[triskehale]

Derek watches Noah inhale closely, making note of how he holds his fingers. The smoke smells sweet on its own, and when combined withe the apple it has a sort of earthy pleasantness. When Dean speaks, Derek scoffs and cuts him a look. "Pansy."

He leans forward and takes the apple and the lighter, looking down at it with a slight frown for a moment. This is pretty much the last thing he expected to be doing when he started heading over here, but somehow this is where he's ended up.

Derek lifts the apple to his mouth and lights the weed, or whatever the hell it is, and pulls the smoke into his mouth. It lingers on his tongue, sticky hot, and then he draws it into his lungs. It burns a little, and makes his eyes glass over with a slight sting, but he tips his head back and exhales without coughing.

"Here you go," Derek says, voice a little rough as he holds the apple out to dean. "Unless shotgunning is still on the table."