milliways_bar | (no subject)

What Dean thinks but manages not to say is 'See that, Sammy? I'm her type!'

Because he does learn from experience. The smirk might give it away, though.

"Hey, someone's gotta keep things moving. I'm just doing my job."

"I know," she says. "There's a story I could tell you about a train..."

She glances up, at the circle of glass over the bar again, and then shakes her head.

Sam follows her look, remembering, then trades a quick glance of his own with Dean.

"Train, huh? Don't think we have any stories like that. There's one about a truck, though."

He keeps his tone light.

"Oh yes?" she says. "Did it talk?"

Her tone is light, as well; this is a pretty good one. Nobody dies in this one.

"Oh Jesus, no. It being a fucking ghost truck was bad enough."

Well, that and it killed his ex-girlfriend's Dad. And some other people.

Goddammit.

...so that's out on the table, then.

Susannah takes another sip of water. "Mine asked riddles," she says off-handedly.

"Hard to answer those with a gun," Sam observes. "Unless you shoot the engine, or whatever."

A beat.

"We had to run ours over hallowed ground."

"Yeah," Dean cuts in, giving Sam a dirty look.

"And thanks again for setting me up to play chicken with the damn thing. In my baby."

No, Dean is never getting over that.

Ever.

Edited 2008-09-22 04:21 (UTC)

Sam gets a short, assessing look; Dean gets a more amused expression.

"Jokes," she says. "My husband--my first husband, but they were two of a kind, he killed it with bad jokes."

To Dean: "What do you drive?"

He meets her gaze with a bland expression and raised eyebrows, but says nothing.

"Damn, that's some talent."

Hey, Dean knows what's important in life.

Then his grin broadens, slipping away from that previous smirk.

"Impala. '67. It was a damn good year for 'em. You know cars?"

"Not really," she says. "But I know a favorite subject when I hear it. You the kind who names them?"

"What, you mean like Bessie?"

Dean snorts.

"Hell, no. Why, you know somebody that does that?"

"I had a driver who did, once," she says. "And I've known a few other gear-heads over the years."

"Huh. Yeah. Some of 'em do that. Guess it doesn't hurt that there's only ever been one car for me, huh?"

His grin is a little self-deprecating this time.

Hey, it happens.

"A true romantic," she says. "Good for you."

"Hey, now," Dean says with an easy grin. "Too much talk like that and you're gonna ruin my reputation."

He's worked hard for the one he's got, thanks.

Sam remains quiet through all of this, but he doesn't look uncomfortable.

For someone so tall, it's almost surprising how easily he fades into the background as an observer.

It's also very evident that it's not the first time he's done something like this.

"I suppose it gives a lot of credence to the cars-are-people-too viewpoint, if they have ghosts," she says.

Dean does not actually want to think about salting and burning his baby, so he doesn't.

"Huh. Guess it kinda does. But, uh--I'm pretty sure it's got more to do with the asshole who died in the damn thing. You know how it goes."

"Actually," she says, "I don't have much experience when it comes to ghosts."

"Was it a ghost, though? Was he there, or did he bring the truck to life?"

Edited 2008-09-24 03:23 (UTC)

"It was a ghost, yeah -- or partially, at least," Sam puts in. "The guy's spirit sort of infected his truck while he was alive, and the ghost manifested as the truck afterwards."

"Interesting," she says. Her expression remains light, but it's not as authentic as it was; she's filing and cross-referencing and assessing.

Still, she's got a good poker face. She's good at thinking on multiple tracks at once.

"Ours was just a machine, left to rot too long. Completely insane."

Edited 2008-09-24 03:37 (UTC)

Dean looks kinda--not skeptical, but like he's not a big fan.

"How's that even work?"

She shrugs. "It was another world. One that was ending. Their science had hit a peak, and then there was a war, and a decline into savagery... but the machines had been made to last. And last, and last."

"Blaine had human emotions, and more than human intelligence, and an inhuman dependence on logic. It wasn't a good combination for the world he inherited."