hadriel | misfired audio;

( you would think, with all of the glitching happening across the network, he would have the sense to not try in the first place. but as far as he's seen, all of those glitches have been confined to text posts, and with all of the intermittent voice chats he's been having with kate –

he should be safe. right?

( sure, we'll go with that, sammy. )

they never do video – whether due to no real reason, or the fact that most of their conversations take place in the small hours of the morning is anyone's guess – so it's only audio, though there is the sound of a smile in his voice like there always is. )

So, you're missing a notebook, right? You left it on the kitchen counter. ( a beat. ) It's got something added to it, but you're gonna have to come get it to find out what it is.

( this – sadly – is how this idiot flirts. or thinks he's flirting. s i g h. )

Oh, and how do you feel about another movie night? If I promise not to burn the popcorn this time.

( that promise will probably be broken. s i g h.

and kate is probably going to flip her shit when she sees this. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ he gets all the minutes because he's the big brother here!! and because he wasn't the idiot sending people texts, that too.

also, dean has yet to come out of his cave so that's a thing he's sticking to, but he's still practically cackling under his breath in that way that dean does. ]

Uh huh yeah, okay.

[ you are so full of monumental bullshit. so. full. of. shit. ]

Movie night round two, that's like what- third base? [ he sure thinks he's funny. ]

( no he gets absolutely zero minutes because being the big brother means absolutely nothing in this conversation. aside from the fact that he's being the BIGGEST ASS IN EXISTENCE and that kind of goes with the title.

you just stay in your cave, ass. he's not going to come get you. not ... yet, anyway.

he just groans and rolls his eyes. )

Shut up! ( sam ... repeating yourself isn't going to get you anywhere, and you know it. ) Just drop it, would you?

[ Being the big brother means everything always as far as Dean is concerned; that has never changed and never will. Even if it just means the fact that he's allowed to be an asshole and not go about this gently. Because them and romance?

Should probably not involve assloads of teasing.

But whoever said that Dean was good at this - Dean sure didn't. And Den is always and forever the worst, just grinning to himself at Sam's groaning, all too amused behind his beer.

Yeah- Shut up? Not effective here. ] So how long've you had the hots for this- whoever, huh? Long enough for you to suck at flirting, I mean- but that's nothing new.

( as far as dean is concerned. and that makes it law, right? because dean winchester is always right, and never wrong, sam is always wrong and there were no two ways about it.

or something like that.

but that's complete and utter bullshit.

sam finally gets up, mumbling something about wanting to be dragged out into a field and shot just to be put out of his misery, meandering his way over to dean's mancave and standing just outside the door. whether it's open or shut, he'll be able to hear him a bit more clearly now as he leans against the frame. )

It's Kate. ( you know her, right? she's sure to have been a blip on your radar at least fleetingly. she's pretty damned cute. ) We've been hanging out pretty regularly for a few months. We help each other out.

( grumblegrumble. ) I'm not flirting.

( damn right you're not. because you fucking suck at it. ) Since when is asking someone if they're missing something, or if they want to watch a movie considered flirting?

[ It makes it law for the time being at least, in that Dean is sure he's an expert on Sam Winchester - there's no two ways about it. He knows him best, knows all the ways in which he slips between words and comes out the other side with his head still on straight. Even if he's frustrated in this, Dean can't help but think he's still going to try his damndest to make a point that obviously doesn't exist.

And Dean's going to try everything he can to shove it right in his face. Let's see who wins.

Dean just waits out the silence, hearing Sam rustle around and grumble low under his breath, holding a beer against his knee until Sam suddenly makes his appearance at Dean's open door. He's got nothing to hide, not even his grin and while Dean hears him out, the words go in one year and out, well, who knows where. But they certainly don't wire through his brain. ]

Since when is a movie date not flirting. [ But wait, that's not the point-- ]

When it comes to you.

[ There's the point. ]

( well. whatever. :| dean might be an expert on his little brother, but said little brother is going to deny that right this very second until he's blue in the face, even though this level of teasing so close to normal and familiar that they might as well be back in the bunker, or on the road to their next job. anywhere but here, in the murdercave.

he stands there, staring at his older brother like his expression might end up with some physical repercussion, like a cutting gaze might scratch him up, and it's only going to end up being more fuel for dean's fire.

they've always been like this. are always going to be like this. that's just how they operate. no two ways about that. )

... Shut up.

( good job, sam. really uh. sticking it to him, there, aren't you? )

[ It almost feels like home, it's true.

Feels like the simple things in life, the banter that's always volleyed back and forth between them until someone arcs too high, until someone hits out of bounds. Sometimes these things turn into fists and glory and black eyes but sometimes they descend into brushed laughter and really, right now Dean doesn't know which way this is going to go. It's always the open road with them, always the banter that alights like so much easy breeze and Dean just sort of readjusts himself on his bed and shrugs, one arm wrapped around his chest.

Sam can glower at him as much as he likes, Dean just knows too well. Knows the soft edge of Sam's feelings when they truly exist, when they hover there, alighting like Cas' fireflies. ]

Why, because you know i'm right?

[ Dean lifts his brows in something akin to superiority before he knocks back a drink, just waiting for it. The resistance. The push and pull. ]

( it's always going to be either of the two extremes for them, and never anywhere in the middle, where it would do them the most good. it either comes to blows or devolves into something even sillier than it had started out as, and this, at the very least, is erring on the latter half of the two, something that can keep them both laughing and in good spirits, even if it happens to be at sam's expense.

then again, when it comes to dean, when isn't it at sam's expense?

dean is still leering at him, amused and pleased with himself in that way of his, and it's all his little brother can do to roll his eyes in response - because, really, he doesn't have much more in the way of anything else. dean knows him, inside and out and every which way, and he knows when he's gotten him backed into a corner. when sam can't deny whatever is coming out of his mouth any more than he already has. )

I'm never going to say it's because you're right. ( but he doesn't say he's wrong, either, and there's the clincher. )

[ But Dean, at least to some small extent, thinks this is what's best for Sam. Thinks he needs this, this shove into reality, this fight. It's what Dean would need after all, to be physically grappled towards understanding and so Sam requires it as well. There's no gentle touches to this, no kindness, and Dean can't help but situate himself right in the middle of the teasing aspect of it all because it's what he does best.

It's what he knows, this brutality, this encouragement, trying to egg Sam on until he stumbles directly into action. ]

Nah, course not. I'll just say it for you.

[ But he finally begins to shift, to wriggle his way up off his bed and to his feet, stretching out on his toes so he can purposefully point his bottle of beer in Sam's direction, as if he needed the additional height to more better make his point. ]

C'mon man- someone around here should be gettin' some. It's drier than the Sahara around here. Just, stop thinking about it so damn hard.

misfired audio;

no i won't help u

you're so mean to me ...

i know, im cruel

the worst ...

u love it

i refuse to acknowledge that.

SEE I KNEW IT

YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!!

I KNOW ALL THE THINGS