hail the orphan king(s)

[kickingand]

Who: Dean and uh.... a wee Sam Winchester
Broadcast: fleetwide!
Action: Red Fish
When: nooww

[ Dean looks ultimately..... tired. And vaguely grumpy, but when does he not look like either of those things. Though it could be said he has good reason for this as there is a toddler-sized child in his arms, preoccupied with screeching and reaching desperately for the ground. It's shouting his name on repeat 'Dean, dowwn, Dean, dooowwn!' but as soon as he puts the child back on the floor, he's immediately reaching back up again, tugging on Dean's jacket, arms reaching for the sky.

'Dean! Deaaan!'

Truth be told, this is not actually something unfamiliar to him.

It's just something that feels as if it happened a million years ago. ]

Looking for some place to take a kid. [ Wait, let's rephrase. ] Not to dump him, but to get him outside.

Don't feel like cramping him up in here while we've got the chance to get out and-- haven't exactly toured the place much. Just want to get him out without having to deal with... anything. Keep him in here and he'll find his way to the armory when i'm not looking.

[ You think he's kidding. Winchesters and guns are like peanut butter and jelly.... give Dean another second while he swaps the kiddo from one hip to another, almost like he's done this once or twice before. It almost even looks like he's doing that bouncing-baby thing. ]

I'd appreciate the advice.

Comments

[namisan]

A fact I'm sure several people are incredibly relieved by.

[Hard to pick the expression on her face. She seems to be dialling between outrage and are you fucking kidding me back to blackmail material and the fact Dean looks a lot...uh. Gentler, like this.

She's not gonna ask if he knows how to look after a baby. Kind of obvious answer.]

There are some nice parks in the Spirit side of things. I haven't been much further. Or take him to the fox park on the Iskaulit. Or bring him by the bar, if you need a break.

[kickingand]

It's not like he came out of the ground fully grown.

[ Though it's possible that's something Dean's teased him about over the years, WHO KNOWS. But not even Dean is sure that outrage is useful in this situation, it just sort of is what it is. Apart from the fact that he hates augments. All augments. So many augments.

Are you fucking kidding me is pretty much completely valid though. Dean totally gets that one. ]

I might do all of the above.

[namisan]

[Who knows. Maybe Sam being a literal toddler will stop Dean from doing anything horribly stupid in the next short while.]

Well, hey. At least he can't lecture you like this.

[Much. Idk Sam would probably find a way.] You just wake up and find him this way?

[kickingand]

[ Iiittt's pretty much true, taking care of Sam is something that's of vested interest to Dean and it's something he's far too well versed at. He's had more than his fair share of practice taking care of this particular kiddo and his oddities, which might be why Sam plops his cheek against his shoulder and continues babbling. ]

Small perks. [ Still not gonna deny that part. ]

Found him wandering around this morning, yeah.

[namisan]

Glitches only last a week or two at most. Sometimes only a few hours. If you're lucky, you won't have to put up with toddler spit for too long.

[Nami's not exactly good with kids. Though in Sam's case, she'd make an effort. Maybe.]

[kickingand]

[ Dean's fairly sure the only kid he's good with is Sam. And while that... may or may not be true, he doesn't particularly care right now, because the only kid he's got to deal with is this runt.

Top priority and all. ]

With our luck he'll be stuck this way he learns to read again.

[namisan]

[Snort.] God forbid. Though he does make a cute kid and all.

[But the Fleet is no place for a child, no matter how placid it usually is. They seem to have a quote of at least one psychotic event a month right now. She hesitates.]

Do you need a hand with him? [Because Dean's a big brother, and that means a lot, but everyone needs a break once in a while. Particularly if they've got their own issues to deal with.]

[kickingand]

Not cute enough.

[ But there's a hint of forced sarcasm there, because this is still Sam after all and no matter how pissed and distant he is... he's still Sam. And now he's a kid again and that weird big brother instinct has kicked in hard. Too many years of his life was spent wrapped up in this little guy, forgetting himself entirely so Sam could eat, sleep, breath, everything.

And old habits die really fucking hard, especially for Dean. ]

Think i'm good for moment. Not like i'm-- [ five years old again? broke? in a motel room all by himself? Dean doesn't know how to finish that statement and so he just doesn't, because life is easier that way. ]

I got it, least for awhile. Why, you wanna trade off with the runt?

[namisan]

Hah. [Nami waves a hand. She's not gonna pry into what he didn't say right now.]

I've never looked after a kid that young in my life. I'm also a younger sibling. But you know. I'm happy to if you ever do need a break. Pretty sure I can at least stop him from wandering into the nearest airlock, anyway.