timed to May 28th

[weary_head]

The Winchester was empty.

Dean had wandered past its silent tables before, snuck in after hours in search of pie, but it wasn't after hours. It was seven p.m. on a Friday night, a prime dinner hour on a prime dinner night, and yet Dean stood alone in the doorway, pulling fitfully at the sleeves of his suit.

He'd worn the suit before. It was his favorite, and judging by the way Angua looked at him when he was in it, he looked handsom in it, so Dean couldn't understand why the collar seemed so tight now, or why the jacket seemed so hot. The lights of the Winchester were turned down low and intimate, emitting no heat for him to blame, and the breeze through the windows was fresh and sweet. Touching his hand to the flush on his neck, Dean swore quietly, taking another cool sip of water before he returned to the door.

Any time now, he'd see Angua on the path. She'd be beautiful, because she always was, and the sight of her would stop his breath, because it always did. It was strange to think on now when Dean felt so close to gasping into a paper bag, but he knew, as soon as he saw her everything would fall into place.

He'd begun working at the clinic more than a year ago. This last week he'd gone back to school. He had a best friend and a hobby that didn't involve a gun, he had a little girl who he looked on as a daughter, he had a dog and a home and a life that could be shared someone. Maybe Dean had a long, long way to go towards perfect, but he'd worked hard to be the kind of man a woman like Angua deserved. He loved her. Compared to the life he'd known, the island was still and safe, and there was time, and there was no one to take it away from him.

Leaning his shoulder against the door, Dean watched the path for a sudden spill of long blond hair. He loved her, he could have this, and it was time.

Comments

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you know," said Dean. "Class, clinic, couple'a hours of homework." He smiled, setting down his glass. "Beginning to regret this whole respectable thing."

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Maybe it'd be a good idea to only work during the day," Angua suggested. And she truly didn't say so simply because she hated the Catscratch Club, but it was kind of a lot, working days and nights.

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

"Was thinking about it," said Dean, but the truth was, most of the reason he liked working there was because he shared his shift with Roger. "But who'd watch over our cockjob roommate? Boy needs a sitter."

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

"He is an adult," Angua pointed out. She twirled her fork. "Sort of."

She grinned. "Mostly."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

"An almost adult who goes around punching people during his shift," said Dean with a roll of his eyes, but he picked up his fork, finally tucking into the meal. He loved him, but Dean hadn't come here to talk about Roger tonight.

The bite he put in his mouth was good, good enough that Dean looked down at his fork in surprise. "There's really no meat in this."

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

Did he now? If Roger didn't cool it, Angua would have to pay a visit to the Club. She had a feeling she could instill more fear into Roger than Dean could. Dean was much too soft on him.

Angua laughed at the expression on Dean's face. "Would you like me to go kill a boar for you, darling? I could. I'm wearing my best hunting boots."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean gave her heels an appraising look. "Yeah, you could probably stab something to death with those things," he said, forking in another mouthful, "but you'd ruin my favorite dress."

Finishing the last of his course in three bites, Dean wondered whether he should slow down and rerehearse his speech in his head, or hurry the hell up before he ruined it. Stuck between both options, he opted for more wine.

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

"That's why I wore it," Angua said. She knew which outfits she looked best in by the way Dean looked at her in them, and sometimes by the sex they had afterward.

She gave the refill a curious look, but didn't say anything. She finished the salad, licking some stray sauce from her thumb.

"That was delicious, thank you."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean's eyes lingered on her mouth, an indiscretion he'd probably never shake, not even if she married him and they grew old together.

"Glad you liked it," he said, putting aside his own plate, too. Even if it had been meat, he couldn't have finished it right now. "You ready for round two?"

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Always," Angua said, setting her plate on top of Dean's. "More vegetarian?"

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

"You know it," said Dean, lifting the warm plate off a dish of roasted eggplant, which George had somehow managed to arrange in such a way as to hide that it was utterly meatless. It even smelled good.

"Huh. If I like this, I don't have to join the Dark Side, right?"

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Gods, that smells delicious. I love eggplant," Angua said, leaning forward to get a good whiff.

"What's the Dark Side? Is that what you call vegetarianism behind my back?"

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

"I call it that to your face," snorted Dean, but he sobered quickly, spooning some onto her plate with a solemnity he felt was more befitting a man about to propose.

"I...also call it 'A Waste of Eating Utensils' and 'God Gave Us Canines for a Reason.'"

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

Angua blinked at the sudden change. Dean was seriously starting to confuse her.

"But he also gave us molars!" She took her plate with a nod of thanks, and tried a bite. "Mmm. Definitely joining the Dark Side with this one."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean took a small bite of his own, smile wobbling strangely around the edges. He was lightheaded. It could've been the wine, but it was more likely a byproduct of the nervous fear trickling insistently down his spine. He gave Angua a look from the corner of his eyes and felt his heart jerk in his chest. Oh yeah, definitely nerves.

"You - " he started. "You think you'll have room for dessert?" It was a dumb question, especially when they'd only just begun the main course, but Dean's mouth and his brain seemed to be operating on different levels.

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

Angua stopped eating mid-bite, swallowing after a moment. She didn't answer right away, as though she could puzzle out Dean's erratic behavior simply by looking at him.

"Dean. I think you're sweating. You know you don't actually have to try to impress me, right?" She gave an uncertain smile. "You kind of had me no matter what a long time ago."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Some of the knot in Dean's chest untangled at that. He passed a hand over his brow. "Sorry, uh. I think sitting next to the plates is making me hot. 'Cause they're..." He waved a hand. "Hot."

Shoving a mouthful in to shut himself up, Dean began to eat by rote, suddenly determined to get to the important part before he broke into freaking hives.

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

O-kay, well, if Dean was going to be weird without reason, there wasn't much she could do. It wasn't like she was going to give him the third degree during dinner. She just hoped it wasn't more bad news. He didn't - neither of them needed it.

She continued to eat, and noted Dean was shoveling it in as usual. "You like it? I could actually make this with meat, if you'd like to have it again sometime."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean smiled faintly, pausing long enough to actually taste the stuff. "That sounds good," he said. "Maybe I'll actually do the cooking some time, too." He could do that. She'd said he had her a long time ago, and maybe she might have meant it differently, but Dean didn't think so. He thought, his eyes passing gently over the features he knew and loved so well, that they meant the exact same thing. He was the one asking permission to do it forever, was all.

"Angua," he said and stopped. "I'm gonna get the dessert out."

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

Angua was about to say that'd be fun, and maybe check Dean for a fever at the same time, when he continued. She was in the middle of her meal, and glanced down at it to confirm.

"Well. Okay, sure." She smiled, pushing her plate aside. It wasn't like she was very hungry anymore, the salad and what eggplant she had eaten had hit the spot. "What is it?"

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

"Not sure, actually," said Dean. Something with chocolate and raspberries, brown at the very least, he remembered pushing something rich and brown over the ring to cover it before George topped it off with the berries.

He stood up, making himself walk slowly towards the kitchen. "Good though, I might've sampled it."

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

"I look forward to the mystery desert, then," Angua said, grinning a little at how slow Dean was being. "I guess it isn't pie, or you'd have cut right to the chase."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean rescued the dessert plates from inside the fridge, and even though he knew the ring was in the one on the right, had made up a rhyme to remember it and everything, he couldn't help sticking a spoon in it until he heard a clink. Satisfied, Dean stuck a berry over the spot and reemerged, carrying the dessert as carefully he might have a newborn child.

"Here you go," he said, sticking it in front of her with an almost overwhelming roll of nerves through his insides. Eyes wide, he looked down at the dessert, then her.

[loaded-wolf.livejournal.com]

Angua met Dean's look with her own slack, open-mouthed expression. She finally tore her eyes away, and smiled, delighted, at the little cake. "How adorable," she said.

She waited, spoon poised, for Dean to sit.

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean blinked and shook himself, hastily moving to the other side of the table. Honestly, this part...he wasn't sure how it was supposed to work. What if she ate the ring? What if she chewed on it and hurt herself? But everyone did this in the movies. It must turn out okay, so Dean sat back, pulling his napkin back over his waist, and picked up his own spoon. His tongue made a nervous pass over his lips.

"Dig in."