31: [Video] Any Way You Want It

[dashboardlite]

Some of you may know Dean as "the obnoxious guy who plays loud music in the library."

Some of you may know him as "the obnoxious monster hunter with bad fashion sense."

Some of you may even know him as "jerk."

To you, he says "bitch" in return.

Fondly.

Dean is currently living up to everyone's expectations in the kitchen, being obnoxious and playing loud music* as he cooks the greatest creation known to mankind: The Turducken.

But one man cannot devour such a majestic beast all on his own. This is where you come in.






* - In case you were wondering, it's Journey.

Comments

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Granted, Dean seems to be consulting himself rather than outside help, but... ]

For that much pie? You'd have to do it separately, unless the outside of your masterpiece supposed to be charred.

[ Yet another drink of coffee as Philip wonders whether he should regret his attempted contribution to the project.

He thinks back to Dean's guest list. ]

...I didn't know you knew Meltzer.

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

...hm.

[Dean settles for baking them individually and delivers the pies to the oven for their first round of cooking. Dusting his hands off as he sets a timer, he leans back on the counter and takes a sip of his coffee.]

Yeah, Mark Meltzer. I don't know the guy well, but he did give me some advice about the Tall-and-Slender guy back when he used to live in the woods.

[Not that Dean took the advice, but...well.

That's Dean.]

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Another demon hunter?

[ Philip is only half joking.

Now there's a nice mental image. Conspiracy nut and demon hunter. Hey. Why not. ]

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

Regular Joe.

[Dean shrugs.]

But he's a "the truth is out there" kinda guy, I think. He probably lives in the library. You know 'im?

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Actually--

[ Hours spent thinking about the man. His looks. His voice. His past, present, future. Where did he come from? How much does he know? Hours and hours again, imagining what he must have achieved in his life before Wonderland. Admiration. Envy. Admiration.

Walking around corners, desperate to catch sight of him. Peering through half-closed doors to hope for pure chance guiding Philip to his room. Looking at people. Staring. Judging, trying to figure out of he could possibly be one of them, but no... no, none of them match. None of them could possibly match the greatness Mark Meltzer must project at a single glance.

...In retrospect Philip is bloody relieved he never did run into the guy during that event. ]

Actually I don't, just that everyone else I know seems to, but apparently I keep missing him.

[ Philip shrugs. An observation, little more. ]

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

[Now that the narration has ceased laughing about the greatness Mark Meltzer must project at a single glance, they can sit down and write an incredibly serious, sincere, and straight-faced reply.]

If it makes you feel any better, he called me out for playing music, too.

[See? And people say that choice tunes don't bring individuals of differing natures together!]

I'm sure you'll see 'im around. Like I said, Professor X, [Another teasing grin. Have you gotten tired of them yet?] He works in the library.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Any sane person would,

[ Philip retorts, not paying attention to Dean's other quip. ]

I guess I'll run into him soon enough then. [ So far he didn't, but hey. ] Christmas at the latest.

[ A beat.

Another one.

...

And another. ]

...What about Castiel? [ He hastily adds: ] Just because- because when you talked to Clarence you said he was back, so I thought maybe...

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

Cas?

[Oh, right, Cas. You mean the angel Dean stepped way out of his comfort zone for? The angel from his future? The angel who disappeared the exact day Dean threatened Clarence with total wrath-of-God annihilation? The angel who isn't in Wonderland anymore?

That angel?]

Yeah, he might mojo his way to a Christmas party. I dunno how angelic beings feel about Christmas bein' all commercial, but he'll probably come.

[Dean tries not to commit, but he does sport a particularly convincing and self-assured smile. Letting Clarence have the upper hand by knowing that they're helpless - that nothing they do can stop him - isn't on Dean's to-do list, though. Better to bluff for the time being.]

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Fooling Philip is easy. Even if Dean had stuttered his way through the answer Philip oh so would have wanted to believe him, because the truth is about as unpleasant as it gets.

But fooling Clarence? Fooling the ever-observant virus who not only wants the truth but looks for it too, in every gesture, every facial twitch and every ever so slight change in somebody's tone of voice?

...It's still working so far, so props for that. Philip smiles. ]

That's great! I haven't seen him in ages, you know I actually never--

[ But wait. Wait. ]

So wait, does that mean you two...?

[ Made up, not out, is what Philip is getting at. ]

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

[Dean almost holds his breath while he waits for a reply. Fortunately, he doesn't have to wait long.]

Yeah! Yeah, we, uh...we patched things up. Made good, whatever. Everything's fine now.

[Totally fine. Sleeping alone is fine. Having no one else from his universe is fine, fine, fine. Dean is fine. Fine. Can you tell?]

I'll spare you the details, but it ended up okay. He wa- [Is.] -is from later in time than before, though.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Philip listens, puzzled describing his look more than anything else. ]

That sounds-- Um.

[ He laughs. ]

I almost... can't believe things actually aren't completely awful right now.

[ Because it's true! It's all true! ]

But, uh, I'm-- I mean, good for you, that's... good to hear, really.

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

S'goin' good, yeah.

[Even Dean sounds convinced. He won't be when he gets back to his room, of course, but he is for now. He has to be.

But this subject really needs to change now.]

So whaddayou want for Christmas, anyway? I'm kinda crap with gifts, but having a couple guidelines oughta be nice.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

For Christmas? Er...

[ Let's face it now, the only good gifts are either piss expensive or piss thoughtful and one of those two already counts for nothing here, so making a list seems a little pointl--

Philip snaps his fingers and pulls out his notebook, flipping through it for a particular page. ]

This.

[ He slams it (http://i.imgur.com/yWFlY.png) down on the table, following up with a dramatic pause in which he'll leave Dean to process the material and see what he makes of it. ]

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

[Dean leans across the counter, skims over the contents of the journal entry, and whistles.

Wow, Philip, way to pick a gift that is only capable of being done justice by one Bobby Singer.]

...so you want info?

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

{ }

I've looked. God knows I've been... looking into this even before we met, but--

[ Another piece of paper comes to light. Plain. White. A list of about thirty books, about five of them underlined. ]

Those are the ones I found that are even remotely related, but what they've got is... thin, at best.

[ He shoves the page over to Dean. ]

I figure you've got better sources or... or maybe if you went looking the library would give you a better hunters-only section, I don't know...

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

[We'll set you up with a nice Tuurngirl, Clarence. She'll slaughter kittens and everything.]

I'll see what I can dig up.

[Damn, this means serious effort, doesn't it? And Dean's never been particularly skilled at research.

He pulls the list cross the counter and frowns at it.]

You mind if I hold onto this for the time being?

[He understands why Philip wants this information. He really, really does, but he doesn't know how applicable stuff from his world is going to be with...whatever the fuck Clarence really is.]

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Sure, go ahead. [ A beat. ] Dean, um--

[ Philip knows how much work went into that list. He doesn't know how much it would take for Dean to expand it. He knows he was going to mention it as a favour, if Dean ever got around to it.

And now he wonders if the effort it might take would even be worth the results. ]

...You could always just wrap up a bottle of Ardbeg, you know.

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

Nope, already on this like white on rice.

[In a manner of speaking.

He'll do what he can, at any rate. With all the time in the world, what's a little effort?

Dean tucks the sheet of paper away in his shirt pocket and moves to the oven to check on his bird(s?). Lookin' good.]

Might get you the booze as a stocking stuffer, though. Everybody needs a little liquor, right?

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Philip wonders if thanks are already in order, but he suspects he'll be doing plenty of that once Christmas rolls around.

He offers a smile instead. ]

More than just a little, if you ask me.

[ Then again, that part probably remained unspoken knowledge around Philip anyway. ]

...Any guesses on what Wonderland is going to inflict on us this year?

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping it's gonna be a white Christmas with nothing that involves a lot of moving.

[Dean shrugs. He hasn't thought about it altogether too much. In the past, his Christmases have been fairly low-key.]

Last year was a clusterfuck, I just want somethin' a little less...everything. I mean, I want everything, but not Wonderland everything.

[A beat.]

...you know what I'm saying, right? Like, a good Christmas.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ EVERYTHING YOU SAY? ]

...You're not going to mash more animals together, are you?

[ Christmas is a lovely time for excellent fish dishes, such as for example lovingly prepared carp, trout or salmon.

It is however an awful time for caroutmon and Philip needs to make sure that this notion does not even take roots. ]

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

Ha.

[The laugh is loud and sounds slightly sarcastic, but as an answer it doesn't really count as a no.]

I mean play Bing Crosby and...and open gifts with everybody there. Drink eggnog with so much brandy in it that it stings. Classic stuff, right?

[Dean is actually hazarding a guess here, because he hasn't experienced a traditional Christmas (that he can remember, because it's hard to remember anything before the night his house burned down) ever. Give him a break.]

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Right.

[ A genuine smile that turns into a slightly less serene grin. ]

So you reckon we can get the glee club to put on a Nativity play?

[dashboardlite.livejournal.com]

[Would you like to see a grimace worthy of theatrical dramas? Here it is.]

Yeesh, how 'bout no. Tell the kids we need a Nativity play and they'll turn it into a Broadway musical. I'd rather watch A Muppet Christmas Carol and call it a day.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Would you like to receive an expression of completely sincere disappointment in return? ]

What's wrong with caroling? Where's your Christmas spirit, Dean?