Her laughter faded as she kissed him, all too easily caught up in the sense of being filled and surrounded by him, enveloped in the heat and scent and feel of him against her. And, you know, it really helped that she was wearing his shirt - she had completely free access to caress her fingertips over his back and into the warm groove over his spine.

Lost as he was in her kiss, he settled down, relaxing in her embrace. It might be music that soothed the savage beast, but as far as Dean was concerned, it was Nimue's kiss. His arms slid around to circle her waist again, pulling her up against his bare chest, lost in her embrace. It was right about then that a familiar voice boomed from the direction of the stairs. "What the hell is going on' Some people are trying to sleep around here!"

Ah, the savage beast to whom music - at least music sung in Dean's voice - was anathema. And she was so caught up in Dean, she hadn't even noticed the footsteps on the stairs. Nim let out a loud squeak of surprise, jumping violently as the gruff voice interrupted the tender moment, her lips breaking from Dean's as her face lit up with a dark flush. It wasn't just Bobby they'd woken up, either; a second voice joined that first, one that made her blush deepen even further. "What time d'you call this, missy-girl?"

Unlike Nim, Dean didn't blush nor showed any sign of embarrassment, only smirking at Bobby's reaction to Dean's overzealous and unexpected burst of enthusiasm for life. It had been a very long time since he'd felt as happy as this, and even if it only lasted a few minutes, he was going to milk it as long as he could. "Sun's up, Bobby. Day's a-wasting. Time to rise and shine and start a new day and all that."

Bobby only glared at Dean and muttered something that sounded like "Bite me, ijit," as he moved past the trio on his way to the kitchen to make some coffee. The truth was Bobby was glad to see Dean happy, and he wasn't going to scold him too harshly about it. He knew the mood wouldn't last, and who was he to spoil the kid's fun"

Even Brian didn't have the heart to deflate the bubble of bright happiness that encased the young couple, despite having been roused from a deep sleep by the sudden blast of Frankie Valli in his own bar. He met Nim's grinning, blushing gaze and rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You two're gonna be the death of me," he muttered, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. "When you're presentable, boy, I want a word with you." But that was all he said, moving to follow Bobby and avail himself of the coffee that should be freshly brewed.

Nim burst into giggles again, swaying in Dean's arms as she offered a laughing apology to the retreating men. "Sorry!"

Dean smiled back at Nim as she swayed in his arms, though Brian's need to speak with him burst his bubble a little, bringing him back down to reality once again. He wasn't sure what the man wanted to talk to him about specifically, but he knew it had something to do with Nim. He dropped a kiss against her forehead as he loosened his hold on her. "What do you think he wants?" he asked, gaze following Brian's retreat before turning back to Nim. "Think I'm gonna get the Don't Get Her Pregnant speech' My dad never gave me that one."

She stroked her hands down over Dean's sides, reluctantly letting her smile fade a little as Brian's quiet declaration struck home. "He might," she shrugged. "Or he might have some information for you. He's not likely to tell me if he suspects anything; I'm too sweet and delicate to be able to cope, of course." Her smile was still warm even as her voice trickled into the slow dripping drawl of fond sarcasm. Her palm curled to his cheek. "Dean ....do we need to have a replay of last night so you don't freak out about something that hasn't and probably won't happen?"

Dean furrowed his brows down at her, his ecstatic mood tempered by Brian and Bobby and his return to reality. "Has he ever seen you in action' Because I have." As a point of fact, Dean knew Jo almost as long if not longer than Brian had known Nimue, and he knew she was a skilled hunter in her own right. "Freak out?" Dean repeated, wondering what she was referring to exactly. "I'm not freaking out. Suppose I should get dressed and get it over with," he said, feeling a little like a child who had just been scolded.

She shook her head. "He's never seen me hunt," she admitted quietly. "I took down some stupid little boy who tried to rob us a while back, but that's all Brian's seen me do." She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "I guess I should make sure he knows I can look after myself, but why burst his bubble" He thinks you're capable of looking after me."

She smiled, touching a soft kiss to his cheek. "Don't assume he's gonna have a go at you. He might just want to exchange sex tips." Her dark eyes sparkling, she winked at him, slipping her hands down his arms to entwine her fingers with his, stepping back to lead him to the stairs behind the bar.

He rolled his eyes, not really wanting or needing sex tips from someone he thought of as a father figure to her. He'd never had the honor of meeting her real father, and he still wasn't quite sure what had really happened to him. It had taken a while for him to grow on Ellen, but after a while, she'd seemed to have realized that he wasn't his father; and yet, in a way, history had repeated itself, as Dean still felt responsible for Jo's death, no matter what anyone told him.

"Do you think I am in need of sex tips?" Dean was pretty sure that wasn't what Brian wanted to discuss. He followed her lead, hand in hand, toward the stairs, wondering when he should tell her he was anxious to be leaving.

"Oh, hell no." How was that for an instant answer" Nim's expression as she looked at him over her shoulder suggested that he was insane for even suggesting that he might need any kind of advice in that arena. Leading him up the stairs, she waited until he was level with her before sliding her arm about his back once more, making the most of the closeness before they had to part to change their clothes. She could feel him getting antsy again, as though walking into the Landing, where Brian lived a sedentary life, grated on his nerves. "You do know I'm all packed and ready to go, right?"

He sighed as her arm wrapped around him, feeling suddenly guilty for taking her away from Brian and the Landing, but she was a hunter born and bred and if he didn't take her with him, she had already warned him that she'd follow, with or without his permission. He hadn't even had to ask her really. She had made up her own mind all on her own. He smoothed a hand against her side, against his t-shirt that she wore, as if by wearing that shirt alone claimed her as belonging to him.

"Be Prepared is the Scout Motto." Hunter motto, too, he thought to himself. His expression softened, the grin he'd worn just a few minutes before changing to a small frown. "You're sure?" He suspected he already knew the answer to that question, but felt the need to ask anyway.

"He'll be in the bar by now," Nim offered softly, lifting Dean's hand over her shoulder to kiss his knuckles encouragingly as she led him down the stairs. She wasn't worried about the two most important people in her life sitting down for a talk, but it concerned her that Dean found it such a worry. "It'll be fine. I promise."

Led by the hand, he followed at her heels. He wasn't sure why the prospect of a heart to heart with Brian was making him so nervous. Maybe it was because he was dreading the lecture that he knew was coming. He wasn't a hormonal teenage boy anymore, and she wasn't his potential prom date. They were both full-grown, consenting adults, and they were both hunters. "Yeah, I'm sure it will be," he replied, in agreement, though he wasn't really so sure.

Exactly as Nim had said, Brian was already in the bar, sat comfortably in his favorite booth, sipping coffee and flicking through the local rag. He glanced up as the young couple came into sight, obligingly averting his eyes as Nim turned to give Dean one last fortifying kiss before slipping out of his reach, disappearing into the kitchen. "Fresh coffee over here, boy," Morgan of Morgan's Landing offered, his blue eyes impassive as they came to rest on the Winchester. "I won't keep her out of your sight for long."

Dean scowled a little to himself, the word boy rankling him a little. He was a thirty-three year old man who had arguably experienced far more than his fair share of hardship during his short life, not to mention forty years in hell, but he said nothing to the contrary. He wasn't sure how much Morgan knew about him or even how much of his own life here had mirrored the one he'd left back home. He respected the man enough to allow him a little condescension, usually reserved only for Bobby. "You gonna give me the you hurt her and I'll hunt you down and kill you speech?" he asked as he slid his tall frame onto a stool at the bar, grateful for the coffee, but feeling slightly defensive.

"Do I need to?" was Brian's calm response, watching him as he took up his cup. His eyes were sharp, still the eyes of a hunter, still taking in all those little details most people were uncomfortable with knowing someone else could see. And what he saw in Dean wasn't something to worry him over much. "I reckon if you hurt her, you'll be the one doin' the huntin' and killin'. Am I wrong?"

Dean reached for the cup of coffee, arching a slow brow at Brian's question. "I beg your pardon?" he asked, slightly confused by the question. Did the man mean to ask what he'd do if Dean got her hurt by being sloppy' After a moment, he lowered his brows, his expression turning solemn, serious. "If I leave without her, she'll just follow. I give you my word, I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe."

Brian snorted with laughter, rolling his eyes somewhat as he rubbed a hand through the wayward fall of his graying hair. "Good luck with that," he chuckled lightly. "She ain't good at lettin' anyone take care of her. Might have to tie her up on occasion just to get some shut-eye." He eyed Dean thoughtfully for a moment, belatedly realizing that the younger man was worrying himself over nothing. "Look ....I ain't sayin' I'm happy to see her go, that'd be a lie. And you both know it. But there ain't anyone else I'd let her go off with. She's been waitin' for you for near on three years; be a fool to get in the way of that."

Dean eyed his coffee thoughtfully as he listened to the man, patiently waiting for the other shoe to drop, jerking his head up, brows arching sharply at his last statement. "What do you mean waiting for me" She doesn't remember me. Not really. I mean, I'm pretty sure I know why she has nightmares, but..." He trailed off as he thought about how Jo had died and barely stifled a shudder, remembering what it felt like to be ripped to shreds. Still, there were worse things than hell hounds. "I don't understand why we're here, but I intend to find out."

"Then you take her with you, and you find out together." Brian was serious, stern even, as he spoke, leaning toward the younger man with one finger stabbing hard against the wood of his chosen table. "You ain't seen her the last coupla years, you ain't watched her walk through life like there's a big piece of her missin'. I thought it was the memories, I thought she was mournin' not havin' them anymore. And then you show up, and she's more alive, more Nim than she's ever been before. So yes, she's been waitin' on you. You give her somethin' no one else can, and I'll be twice-damned and hellspawned before I'll let you walk away from her."

From the shocked look on Dean's face, this was clearly not what he was expecting from the man, and he felt a mix of relief and defensiveness at the man's stern words. Dean already knew most of what Brian was telling him, but to hear it directly from the man who'd cared for her like a father was not what Dean was expecting. Dean narrowed his eyes as a wave of anger flared, not really aimed at Brian so much as at the entire situation. "I lost her once. You think I want to lose her again?" he asked, his voice matching his feelings. "I'd die before I let anything happen to her again."

"Don't think I'd forgive you for dyin' on her, either." Brian wasn't making this easy. "Look, Dean ....you want me to rant and rail at you, give you a reason to leave her behind" Or d'you want me to give in with grace and make sure the pair of you got everythin' you need when you set out, whether it's tonight or next month?"

Dean frowned, letting all the anger go out of him. He wasn't angry at Brian or at Nim or at Bobby. He was angry and frustrated at not knowing the anwers and worrying that somehow something would happen and history would repeat itself. "I just don't want anything to happen to her again," he admitted. "I've made a lot of enemies, and I don't know what to expect here."

The older man nodded slowly, his hands lying flat on the table. "She's a good hunter," he admitted reluctantly. "Heard the stories from the others she's hunted with; girl's got instincts that most hunters'd kill for. She must've been quite somethin' back where you're from. And you're no slouch yourself. Just don't think you need to look after her all the time. Let her return the favor - it'll save you a lot of arguments, let me tell you." He chuckled, rolling his eyes at memories of similar arguments he'd had with Nimue himself.

"You're talking like she's my partner," Dean said, coming to the sudden realization that a partner was exactly what she'd be if she travelled the road with him. "Only partner I ever had was my brother," he continued, feeling that heavy weight of grief at his brother's loss, countered by relief that Jo was still alive. Oh, he'd taken on a few temporary partners before, but no one he'd ever let get that close, and he'd often wondered if he wasn't better off hunting alone.

Brian studied him for a long moment, watching each nuance of expression as he allowed the younger man to feel that weight, that tempered grief, in a way only someone who had suffered loss ever could. "Some things you ain't made to do alone," he said quietly. "One of them's livin'."

Dean lifted his head again, this time giving the older man a long, hard look. It seemed to Dean he was trying to tell him something that went deeper than mere words, and he thought maybe he understood his meaning. It was something he had come to understand himself these last few days spent with Nimue, and he wondered if that wasn't part of the reason he was brought here. "Life is too short. Is that what you're trying to tell me" Live while you can?"

Brian met his gaze with an equally long stare. Deep in those sharp blue eyes was visible the long held pain of his own loss, the loss of his wife and child that would always stay with him. "Can't make that decision for you," he said quietly. "S'just my opinion. But here's what I think ....I think you won't last two minutes out there without her at your back, and I know she won't last without you. I reckon you need each other like air. That about right?"

"Damned if I do and damned if I don't," Dean remarked, quietly. "I trust her. More than I've ever trusted anyone before." And yes, that included his brother, who had let him down on more than one occasion. And I love her, he thought to himself, leaving that much unsaid. "She died because of me. It should have been me, but it was her." He shook his head at the memory that ran on instant reply inside his head. "I owe her my life."

"No sense thinkin' over what was. What is ....now that's worth your thoughts and time." Brian nodded calmly to Dean. "Made your decision, then?"

In all honesty, Dean had already decided. He'd decided the first time she'd told him she was going to go along, whether he wanted her to or not. He smiled a little at Brian's question, before offering an answer. "Don't think I have much choice. She's gonna come with me whether I want her to or not, but honestly' Yeah, I've made my decision."

There was nothing vegetarian on the plates, much to the men's relief. Nim might want them to eat more healthily, but she knew when she was fighting a losing battle. Leaning back into Dean as he wrapped his arms about her, she bit her lip a little guiltily as Bobby left the room. "I don't think he's very comfortable around me, you know."

Dean reached around her to snag a piece of bacon from one of the plates - it didn't matter which one. "He'll get over it," he replied with a shrug. His thoughts drifted momentarily to the Bobby he'd known back home who, like Jo, had died, and he wondered how many other differences he'd find here for good or for worse. From what Bobby had already told him, most of what had happened before that fateful day with Lucifer had still taken place, but there were some important and interesting differences, as well.

She smacked his hand as he stole a piece, laughing warmly. One thing Nim had discovered very quickly was how very reliable Dean was at distracting her from even the slightest thing that might lower her mood. "You take theirs out to them while I wash up," she told him, choosing not to tell him off in favor of stroking her palm to his cheek, tipping her head back to kiss his jaw. Such a strangely domestic scene, for both of them.

She smacked his hand too late, as he popped the bacon into his mouth, grinning mischievously at her. He leaned into the kiss, smiling down at her, as he chewed at the bacon. "Yes, dear," he replied, playing along with the domesticity. He reached past her to grab up a plate in each hand. "Don't take too long," he warned, not wanting to be left alone with Bobby and Brian too long. And off he went, back toward the bar to serve the grumpy twosome breakfast.

It wasn't possible for Nim to take particularly long - there are only so many ways you can scrub a pan before you have to concede that it's clean. Only a few minutes later, she slipped into the bar herself, bearing with her Dean's promised breakfast along with her own. "I take it no one's gonna try and tell me I'm feeding them rabbit food today?" she asked pointedly. Across the bar, Brian snorted with laughter, flashing her a grin through his mouthful of food.

Breakfast was awkward at best, with the four of them mostly lost in their own various thoughts. Dean seemed back to his old self again, thoroughly enjoying breakfast, as well as the company of those he cared about. The four of them chit-chatted as if they didn't have a care in the world, though they all knew it was getting close to time to say goodbye.

Bobby had excused himself shortly after finishing breakfast and had stepped outside, without explanation. Dean assumed he wanted to give the Impala a last once over before he gave the pair their leave. Brian had been just as quick to excuse himself, gathering up the plates and cutlery to disappear into the kitchen himself, leaving Nim and Dean alone again.

Brushing blonde hair back from her shoulders, Nim rolled her eyes, smiling as she slipped from her perch. "He's about as subtle as a housebrick," she muttered, stroking her hand over Dean's back. "Anything in particular you want to get done?" Without even discussing it, it seemed to have been agreed that today, or tomorrow, was the day. The time was shorter than anyone wanted to admit aloud.

Despite Dean's impatience to be going, he felt a sense of regret and sadness, as if he was leaving home for the very first time. He smiled faintly at her question, giving her the answer he'd assumed she was expecting. "I seem to recall someone promising me a shower," he remarked, turning the stool to follow her movement. It seemed to go without saying that they'd be leaving soon. Today, tomorrow at the latest, though they hadn't exactly decided on a date.

Her lips curved into the deeper dip of an enticing grin as she paused, leaning her hands on his thighs, slipping close enough to touch her nose to his in that sweetly affectionate bump they both seemed to enjoy so much. "Think you can get into the bathroom without ....arousing anyone's suspicions?" she teased in a low voice, dark eyes sparkling invitingly.

He smiled, settling his hands against her hips, green eyes mirroring her sparkle as their noses bumped together. "I think it's too late for that, but I doubt anyone will care." He drew her close for a kiss, as if to underscore her meaning. This could very well be the last quiet interlude they'd enjoy before they hit the road. There was no telling what to expect once they left the safe haven of Morgan's Landing, but he didn't think he had any choice.

Her arms drew about his neck as he gathered her in close, lips soft against his as she nuzzled into his kiss. Quiet and safety were all very well, but something in the darker danger of the world outside called to her, just as it called to him, and they both knew they couldn't ignore that call. Gently drawing back, she nipped at his lips teasingly. "I guess it all depends how loud you are," she snickered, knowing full well that she was the loud one. Slipping back from his grasp, she flashed him a wink and a grin and fairly bolted from the bar, making a dash for the stairs as though he wouldn't be able to catch her within a few strides.

A little lost in her kiss, it took him a moment or two to recover, just enough for her to make her escape, but he wasn't far behind, grinning back at her as he slid off the stool, a long stride catching up with her, hot on her heels up the stairs toward the bedroom. One last day of quiet and safety before they faced the unknown, but at least, they'd be facing it together.

((Humungus thanks to Dean's player for the scene, thankfully not quite as epic as the last one!))