Teas N Tomes June 4th... After his conversation with Sam the night before, Dean had spent the better portion of the day scouring the Rhydin Library for information on the Nexus and portals and was currently seated at a table with a pile of books spread out in front of him, a cup of coffee in his hand, and a half-eaten donut on a plate.

His hand was wrapped around the mug, his attention riveted by whatever it was he was reading. You can be sure it wasn't a Harlequin romance. His jacket was draped over the back of his chair and he was wearing a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt and jeans.

It was late on Saturday, a prime party night. And yet Quinn was shouldering her way into the tea shop wearing a pair of worn jean shorts, a blue shirt which read "LOVE" across the front, and pink converse. Those weren't her usual club clothes. But she craved a quiet night. She needed it according to the left side of her face which looked bruised and scratched. As did her arms and legs.

She moved over to the counter, just grabbing a bottle of orange juice on display and paying the girl before she glanced around for a table. Her brows furrowed, spotting Dean. He looked busy, buuuut....she couldn't resist bothering him, even just a little. She moved over to his table, craning her head down to peer at him. "De ja vue."

As deeply involved in his reading as he was, the sound of a voice broke his concentration. It was a voice he'd recognize anywhere and she was speaking French. He smiled and lifted his head to greet her, the smile quickly fading when he saw her face. "What happened?" He didn't mean it to come out sounding rude, but he was unpleasantly surprised and more than a little concerned.

Scoffs. "What sort of greeting is that' Not a hello, Quinn" No would you like to sit with me, Quinn?" She was trying to lighten the mood. She didn't want him to worry. "Would it make you feel better if I said that one line" How does it go' You should have seen the other guy."

"Not really, but you can say it if you want." He pushed away from the table and pulled a chair out for her. "Care to join me?"

She obliged. "You should have seen the other guy!" She grinned when he pulled out the seat and she plopped down in it, though the wince that shot across her face instantly showed she regretted that. She had to remember to move more gingerly. "Thank you." She reached out, nosily flipping a few of the books here and there so she could read the spines and covers. "This reminds me of when I used to come home and you would be at the kitchen table. Which looked just like this."

He noticed the wince and knew she must be in pain, but didn't mention it just yet. She'd explain eventually or he'd pry it out of her. "Would you like something" Coffee" Donut' My treat."

"I'm good on coffee, but you know I can't resist a donut." She had flipped one book open, thumbing through it even if she wasn't actually reading it. Possibly just looking for pictures. She flashed him a smile. "Thank you."

He made no attempt to take the books away from her or try to hide what he was reading about, though he hesitated a moment to see what her reaction might be to the subject matter. "Nothing exciting, Quinn. Just research." He shoved a hand in his pants pocket and pulled out some coins. "What kind of donut?" Thankfully, there were no girlie magazines among the pile of books.

She looked back to the books. Once she really took in each of the different titles and the random words she was catching while flipping through, she pieced it together. Her smile faded, but she did her best to appear neutral. "Research is never fun." The book was closed and she looked back up to him, leaning back in her chair. "A honey cruller, please."

He smiled a little. "I should have known." He turned and started toward the counter to fetch her donut. He'd seen the look on her face and knew she probably wasn't pleased about him leaving again, but felt he had no choice. There were things he'd read about he knew he shouldn't tell her, just as he shouldn't have told her about the Crossroads Demon, once upon a time.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" He exchanged coins for the cruller at the counter.

"I'm really an easy girl to figure out, Dean." She took another sip of her orange juice, but stopped in the middle of it at his follow up question. She put the bottle back down and gave a low whistle. "Look at how you just slipped that in there. That was smooth." Oh, what she could say without actually saying anything at all. They had done these dances so much that they were both professionals.

"You want me to guess?" After a moment, he returned to the table with two honey crullers on a plate, his and hers. He retook his seat and held out the plate, letting her choose.

She leaned over, wiggling her fingers before picking up one of the donuts. She slid back down into her seat looking absolutely content. A quiet place, a familiar face, comfortable clothing, and a donut. It felt like bliss right now. She ripped off a piece of donut, popping it in her mouth and speaking after she swallowed. "Are you at least going to try to make your guesses funny, like asking if I got into a fight with a dolphin?"

"My first guess was going to be vampires, but if you want me to hold off on that until my third guess or so, I can do that." Once she made her choice, he set the plate on the table and reached for his cup of coffee, leaving the donut for later.

She scoffed, still trying to not let onto the severity of the situation. "Those leeches wish they could get a single scratch on me, let alone this." She put another piece of donut in her mouth. "I'm okay you know. Nothing is broken. Just need to go a little heavier on the make-up for a while and I'm kind of sore. It's not a big deal."

He frowned at her, looking over the bruises and scratches, knowing she was trying to minimize the situation, let him think everything was fine when it probably wasn't. "Do you need my help?" He hadn't planned on asking that question, but it just sort of fell out of his mouth. It was what he did after all....help people who needed his help.

She shook her head. "It's already done, Dean." She set the remainder of her donut on the plate and brushed her hands together. "I know you want to help, Dean. It's what you do. And you should. You're good at it. But you have to focus on the people who can't help themselves." Shrugs. "I'm not one of those people anymore."

He mirrored the smile. "You know me that well, huh?"

Her smile turned cocky. "I would like to think so." She tilted her head at him. "Have you thought of going to see the ever lovely Emily' I'm sure she's just dying to see you again."

He scowled at her suggestion, obviously not liking it. Yup, she knew him pretty well. "I'm sure. She'd probably love Sam." And hate him.

She was much too excited to still have him pegged to sympathize. She bounced in her seat with a clap then instantly groaned. Slow movements, Quinn. Once the dull ache of her outburst was gone she was back to smiling. "It's just an idea. I have to be honest; I haven't seen her for a while. After you left she helped take good care of me, but once I got back on my feet she just slowly faded out." Shrugs. "Who can predict what the hell Emily is going to do?"

"Probably try and ruffie me again," he mumbled under his breath before taking a sip of his coffee, scowling again as it had turned cold. He set the mug down. "Tell you what....I'll go see her on one condition..."

"I think that's how she says hello." Snickers. Then she squinted at him. "What's the condition?"

He flashed a smirk at her. "If you go with me. And you still have to tell me what happened."

She returned the smirk. "You're just hoping to use me as a shield against Emily's weirdness. Though, I did get more used to it while you were gone. I have to admit. She would come over to the loft. Like a real person and stuff. We weren't even doing an exorcism." Then her expression soured at the second condition. "You're going to fit."

He shrugged. "I already had a fit when I found out you were hunting vampires. How much worse can it be than that?" Pause, brows furrowing as a thought occurred to him. "Please tell me it wasn't demons."

Her entire face scrunched at his last statement, bracing herself. "It wasn't demons." She let that sink in for a moment. "It was only one demon." She used the heels of her shoes to slide her chair away from him a little bit. Not sure if he was going to flail or what.

He breathed a sigh of relief but it was short-lived. Nah, he wasn't a flailer. He was a curser and he let loose a long string of curses that would make a trucker blush. "Demons" Are you out of your mind" What did I tell you about them' Why are you getting involved with demons?" He paused to take a short breath, frowning at her, anger turning to concern. "Did they hurt you?" Well, of course they did! Eyes narrowed as he suddenly realized he might have inadvertently put her in danger....again. "This wasn't about me, was it?"

She leaned back into her seat, keeping a calm expression while she let him get out his initial anger before she even tried to explain. "I am not out of my mind, thank you! I didn't seek it out, Dean. I was out-" Don't say on a date. That was the last thing this conversation needed. "'-and it came out of nowhere. It was different then what I saw before. Not a meatsuit and not smoke, different. But it wasn't about you. And I would have been fine except it was going to go after someone so I-" She bit her tongue too late. If he knew what she did he would think it was stupid and he probably would have made even more truckers blush.

More eye narrowing, jaw clenching and other signs that he was trying to keep his anger in control. "You what? You love" You care about' Daigh or Mack?" He didn't care one whit about either of them, but he did care about Quinn.

"What?" She pointed at him. "I was going to say so I jumped on its back and I stabbed it in the goddamn neck with a heel! That pissed it off, obviously, and all this-" Gesturing at herself. "Was from my less than stellar landing on the ground after it chucked me. Don't twist this." But her expression soured at the question, she looked aside when she answered. "Daigh."

He blinked, having heard her wrong and not having even realized it. "Well, at least those heels came in handy for something. Did you kill it?"

"I told you!" She folded her arms over her chest. She turned her gaze back on him. "I didn't. Daigh finished it."

Another blink and a swell of male pride and ego mixed with unexpected jealousy. "Well, good for him. I guess you don't need me after all."

Rolls her eyes. "Really' You're going to make it like that?" She shoved her fingers through her hair. "I shouldn't have told you. Next time, I'm saying I fell down the stairs."

He stared at her silently a moment, forcing his own feelings aside, which took an enormous amount of effort. There were more important things to worry about than his feelings. "What did it want?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. It was....it was a weird situation." She was full blown frowning now. "We didn't really get a chance to discuss it all, Daigh and I. I've just been laying low for the day. So I don't know all the details. He said he was going to be looking into it."

"He was going to be looking into it' Don't tell me he's a hunter, too." There was that look on his face again that said he was not only jealous but a little bit hurt.

She winced. "In a sense, but it's different. But it's not my place to explain it." She really wasn't expecting to have this conversation tonight. She peered up at him, trying to diffuse the tension somewhat. "I said it right off the bat. I need to go on a damn game show. I picked you. I picked Mack. Now hanging out with Daigh. Apparently I have a sixth sense for picking out hunters." Smirks.

"There are no accidents, Quinn," he told her solemnly. "And you didn't pick me. You just needed a place to flop and ended up with..."

She looked absolutely crushed by that. "That hurt, Dean."

He looked apologetic, regretting his words or at least, the way they came out. "That's not what I meant."