Post by anomaly on Mar 12, 2016 6:11:28 GMT
It was just one of those days where Claire just had to be outside, the cabin was a bit too confining for her tastes. Cas was busy, the brothers were out, and Jody had made Claire promise that she wouldn’t pick up any cases while Jody was out of town. So, most of her sources of amusement were busy; and as much as she loved Donna, she already had her fill this morning when she stumbled into the main cabin for some coffee.
Donna was just a wee bit too much for her in the mornings.
Instead of just walking through the woods with a thermos of coffee, she decided to climb up one of the trees and make herself at home. It was one of those nice ones where you could make a tree-house if you really wanted to. She settled on one of the lower branches with her coffee and a book – but she really couldn’t get into reading the book just yet, the view was nice from up there.
--
Sam had left him here and promised him the world. Promised him memories. Promised him education in the things he was hunting. And he also knew another silent promise was made; that he'd reach out to Dean. But nothing had come to fruition, not a goddamned thing. It was only about twelve hours, but still it was the world. Somehow, Ben had grown significantly more impatient since the truth had become unfolded before him. Sam had told him everything he could, and given him primers on who Dean and Castiel and others were, and the monsters in the shadows, and more. It was eye-opening.
But there were memories that he just didn't have. Memories Sam promised him. Memories he had been searching after for nearing a decade. There were clearly shattered pieces, that neither he nor his mom knew; pieces he knew that his mother didn't. Gapes in knowledge, fuzzed over pieces that made no sense in context.
He was out for another jog. He'd been here, went to sleep for about five hours, and then went for a run, then reviewed his books and his lore and updated notes from things he put together (he'd been updating on the drive already) after a night's rest, and then he went for a run again, absent anything else to take his mind off of it all. He was restless, and huffing as he moved through the chill before he paused, a tree in sight and saw its branches. There was some crazy monkey girl up there, and it gave him pause enough. She was hardly the first person he'd seen; but she certainly was the first who made him stop. Well, other than Donna, who was just obnoxiously helpful settling him in, jesus christ.
His head quirked as he considered her, and he got his breathing under control from the run enough, waving up. "You okay up there?" he asked, a look of quizzical what the fuck?ery on his face.
--
The silence was broken by the sound of feet hitting the ground, her eyes flicked away from the horizon down to the runner. Okay, so the guy was crazy. She liked working out, but not out in the cold like this. When he stopped, she shifted carefully to change position so she could look down at him.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay up here?” Claire gave a look of amusement before taking a sip of her coffee, “are <i>you</i> okay down there?” She paused, then rolled her shoulders, “here, catch,” without waiting, she tossed down a light paperback. It was one of those trashy romance novels, it was one of her guilty pleasures nowadays.
--
He caught it with a surprising deftness, not breaking stride or movement, as he caught it and held it to his side, still looking absolutely puzzled. "Who the hell climbs trees? What are you, twelve?" he called up, baffled and unabashed in his uncertainty.
Shaking his head, he looked down to the book and then his face really twisted up, looking back up in absolute confusion. "What the hell?" he asked, glancing to the book, before thumbing through it to find where she might've dog-eared it, so he could get a good sense of just how damned ridiculous this thing likely really was.
Taking a long, steady look through it, he took a single passage and read it, parodically. "No one had ever gazed at her there.
No one had ever touched her there.
No one had ever told her how she looked there.
No one had ever praised her wetness there.
No one had ever explained in explicit, sexual detail what he intended to do there.
No one had ever prepared her for the feel of a man's tongue there."
Looking back to her. "New Jersey?"
--
“I climb trees.” Claire snorted at him, “I, as in Claire, and I am most certainly not twelve.” She actually wanted to stick her tongue out at him, but figured that would send the wrong message. “Wait wait,” she put a hand out as he started to open the book, “I said catch it, not <i>rea—</i> Oh my god, you’re reading it,” she wanted to duck her head and die of embarrassment as she listened to him read.
“What? They’re cheap,” she sighed as she eyed her thermos of coffee, “if I throw this down, are you going to help yourself to it too?”
--
He rolled his eyes at her explanation that she, Claire, who is not twelve, climbs trees. Seemed ridiculous. He used to climb trees, too, but it was definitely something he did when he was a kid; before... before what happened with mom and the house and the cops, certainly. An artifact of a sweeter childhood.
These days, he can't imagine climbing a tree unless a bear was chasing him or something.
She looked aghast as he read, and it only made him continue, smirking as he tormented the weird climbing not-twelve-year-old (certainly not, he thought) girl who was preparing to come back down the tree. She was a little irritated as she asked her question and he shrugged, shaking his head. "No, coffee sucks. And it stunts your growth. Which explains why you're a tiny monkey-midget-girl, I'm guessing?" he offered.
He closed the book, and reached up a hand to grab the coffee thermos when she tossed it. Both items would get placed gently down, since he wasn't to read the book and certainly had no interest in her certainly foul coffee.
Glancing back to the tree, he raised a brow. "So uh, I take it you're coming down?" he asked.
--
“Would you just close the damn book?” She grumbled at him as she studied him from her perch, she was certainly annoyed by him now instead of amused. “So you don’t drink coffee, are you even <i>human</i>?” She squinted at him before giving a rather indelicate snort, “I’m not a tiny monkey-mi… Why am I even arguing with you?” A soft laugh came from her lips as she scooted over a bit before she made sure the thermos was closed tight.
When she threw it, “Don’t spill it. I’m not going back in there for more coffee, Donna is still home.” When he caught them, she gave a little satisfied nod at him putting everything down. Much better.
She scooted over, turning around so she could get her footing before working on climbing her way down the tree. However, the task seemed more difficult than usual because she suddenly was aware that someone was looking at her do this. Especially someone who had just accused her of being a little kid and…
Her thoughts distracted her, and she slipped, losing her footing on the tree.
--
She was seeming kind of obstinate and irritated and he was a little amused by himself for it; he was almost enjoying the moment, of getting to be kind of a jerk to someone. It felt comforting, in a way, and he was also very curious what her deal was and why she was clambering up trees at all, much less doing it to read smut.
You'd think you'd wanna do that in bed for obvious reasons, he figured.
But then, glancing over her shoulder more than once, she seemed distracted, and her hand slipped; he saw it happen, and saw her begin to fall backwards dramatically. His eyes widened and he lunged forward, one step after another, as he raced against the motion before him, moved quick and unhesitatingly, fearless as he skidded into position. His hands rushed out to catch her, and he tumbled back, her body collapsing to his as he crashed into the earth below, grunting as he slammed into the ground and sparse grass, holding the jacketed girl to him, strong and resolute, considerably breaking a fall that might've broken her head, or at least rung her bell.
"You okay?" he whispered, from below her, his eyes searching hers for response, concern evident and immediate, all appearances of mockery or chiding playfulness having disappeared in the shock of action and panic.
--
Panic flashed through her as she realized she actually was falling, there really was no time to register anything else or come up with a game plan. So, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, because oh god, it was going to hurt and bad. The next thing she knew, she was crashing into him and the ground all at once. A sound of surprise came tumbling past her lips, she was a bit too afraid to open her eyes, they were squeezed shut. Finally, she opened her eyes after what had felt like forever – but really was a couple seconds.
Her eyes met his, she blinked, “I…” Okay, she was pretty sure she was okay, but her pride was definitely wounded. “I’m okay,” she spoke meekly. “I,” she stumbled mentally as she tried to think of something to say that would be better than… “Thanks.” Okay, she wished she really could have said something better.
“I mean, uh,” she fumbled for words, “thank you.” Still not quite it.
--
It was all such a sudden shift; from razzing her, to watching her plummet, to barely skidding into position to catch her and tumble to the ground with her. His breath was ragged again as he worried over the girl, waiting for her eyes to open, to make sure she was okay. Audibly he breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes opened; big, stunning gaze finding his to stumble over her words.
"Don't worry about it," he assured, and he loosened his arms, as she remained atop him, and he considered her carefully. She was a little older, he'd guess, but not much. And kind of stunning, beyond that sort of terrified-and-ready-to-bolt-deer thing she had going on. He was clearing his throat, uncomfortably, at the end of her stumbling through her options on how to thank the guy, smiling a little.
"I mean, I'm not complaining, but are you going to get off?" he asked, a playful grin twisting on the young man's face who she was pinning to the Earth after her fall from the tree's higher branches.
"Ben Braeden," he offered, regardless, as way of introduction. "I'm, uh, Dean's... I... used to know Dean," Ben explained further his method of arriving here. His eyes followed her, and he realized not all of his shake in his breath was likely attributed to the slam of her body against his chest, or the exertion of the run.
Even so, he was rubbing ath is chest, because some of it was certainly the impact.
--
Claire chuckled, “I’m usually way more talkative than this. Not Donna level, but…” She paused, looking down at him, “I… Oh!” A blush colored her cheeks as she moved to sit up on him, “again, thank you. Uh, I’m sorry,” she chuckled as she looked down at him, “are you hurt?” She looked on with concern before realizing she was <i>still</i> on him, she cleared her throat and scooted back onto her knees so she could at least scoot over next to him.
“Claire,” she chuckled, then she rolled her shoulders, “most of us know the Winchesters.” She flashed a slight smile before studying him again.
“Why the hell were you running out here anyway? I don’t think saving girls from falling was in your plan.”
--
She blushed, and it was really cute, as she stumbled back, still sitting on him for a moment before she scrambled off of him as well. He moved to sit up. "No, I'm fine, bruised but I-- wait, Claire?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember, focusing carefully as he tried to remember the details as best he could. He remembered bits and pieces, and a few words would come out.
Castiel made some mistakes, but he always meant well, Sam explained, and more stuff, and then he remembered an example as he tried to do the compliment-sandwich on Castiel to make it clear how he was a good man, ...and when he found out Claire, his host's daughter, was in trouble, he tried to move Heaven and Earth to make sure she was okay. Actually, she's sort of why the Academy is around...
And the details were here or there, but the important nuggets popped out of the woodwork, and he nodded his head slowly. "You're, uh... Jimmy's daughter," he said, clearly having grasped for the name of not-Castiel.
Running a hand awkwardly through his hair, he laughed a little. "I'm uh... I'm Dean's son. Maybe? Sam says he's my dad, I... I don't remember."
Pausing, he pointed as his head. "My memories aren't real, turns out. They're... memorex. Castiel did a favor and wiped me, or something. Small world." Hesitating, he laughed at himself.
"Well, I guess not that small. I mean, we're all here because, like you said-- we know the Winchesters. For good or ill, right?" he asked, some bitterness clear in the young man's voice.
--
“Good,” she reached out to brush some of the grass off of his shoulder, “sorry about that again. I’m really good at climbing trees,” she gave a soft laugh. When he paused, she tilted her head a slight bit suspiciously, the laugh fading from her eyes. “Whatever you heard, it’s all lies,” Claire said immediately as she shifted around to study him carefully, her arms tucking around herself.
Then he kept talking, she eased up a bit, “yeah… Jimmy’s daughter,” she looked away from him. This was still weird for her to process, she was better, but it was still weird. Her eyes flicked up to him, a look of surprise, then amusement, “you don’t know if you’re his son? Does he even know he has a son?” She tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat to ward off the chill she was starting to feel.
“Oh, Cas,” she gave a soft smile, “I’m surprised he did that.” She hadn’t known about it, but wouldn’t have thought he would have done that – Cas knew how much it sucked to have it done to him; so she figured from some conversations they had.
She studied him when she heard that tone in his voice and laughed, “are we both in the `angry-at-our-dads` club?”
--
"Sam says Dean knows. Dean wanted me mindwiped to... I dunno. Protect me and my mom. Obviously, it didn't take. I've been hunting by myself since I was fourteen. Well-- first I was hunting them, but, obviously, that lead me down some fun alleys and stuff, I guess."
He looked back at the cabin; he usually had the ability to pull out a picture of Dean and him, Dean giving him a noogie after some rough-housing, a picture that was taken by Lisa. It was a picture that served to provide him with endless 'ins' with people who had met Dean, substantiating Ben's claim; but it wasn't on him now.
"I think I'm also in the angry-at-your-dad-club, I guess. But he's not really your dad. Then again... I guess neither is Dean, if I can't remember him, right?"
Smiling ruefully, he shrugged and then pulled his knees up to him. She and he were both sitting there opposite, now, in the aftereffects of that tumbling from the tree. "I really don't want to talk about Dean that much. I don't know him and it's all.. bad. You probably like him. Everyone here seems to. I don't want to take that from you all. He meant well or something, I guess," he offered, clearly not meaning a word of that excuse he gave Dean. It was just an axiom he was getting used to -- easier than defending his position of how screwed up Dean left his world.
Dean and Cass, when he put the math together.
--
“Ah, so you’re in the family business,” Claire nodded knowingly and slowly as she shifted around a bit to get comfortable so she could listen to him. “Well, I hope you didn’t fuck up as badly as me, I threatened a german shepard once because I thought he was a werewolf.” She shrugged as she chuckled.
Then she shrugged, “people either love Cas or hate him, he’s like another uncle to me.” Her eyes flicked at him, “I get it, you don’t want to talk about him, I don’t want to talk about the books.” She smiled, “so what the hell are you doing here then? I mean, you didn’t just hear about Wayward Academy on the tv or something.” She nudged his foot as she teased.
--
"Uh, well... I uh... I tricked Sam. Found a number that worked from an old case of theirs. Told him I remembered everything. He came out, all puppydog eyes, and... then I made it clear I'm not stopping anytime soon. So he... said I should come here. Learn to do it right. Saving people, hunting things, the family business," he quoted Sam, who said the exact same thing to him like six times, as if it was some sort of family heraldric motto, which, judging by Claire's parroting, it really was.
Winter was Coming had a way better ring. Both seemed true.
"So I got dropped off here last night. Been just... trying to process everything. I'm staying until stuff is sorted out. Cas is supposed to get my memories back... the Winchesters promised to get my mom out of jail... and then I'm probably smoke, back on the hunt."
He shrugged. "I don't see myself holing up in my private cabin and pretending the world stopped turning just because I'm here at Camp David."
Gesturing to her. "I heard you started this place or something. You must be pretty interesting. What's your story?"
--
Claire gave a look of amusement at how Ben described Sam, it really was him to a tee. “That should be interesting for you then, actually having to sit here instead of hunting them down.” She lifted her chin, “good luck with getting all that sorted out,” she crinkled her nose a bit, “I wouldn’t want to be in that mess, I got mine handled.”
A pause, “really? Are you so badass you can hunt on your own right now without getting killed?” Her eyebrows lifted in a slight challenge as she pulled her hands out of her coat to study him.
Claire groaned, “I didn’t start this place, it just…” She sighed, “Jody took me and another girl in to help us out. Alex got into some crazy shit herself. I got into some,” she tilted her head in thought as she tried to figure out how to explain her life as simply as possible. “So Cas is my dad. Well. He’s in my dad’s body, my dad is in heaven. So’s my mom – now. She died saving me from…” She flapped her hand, “bad guys. So the brothers figured I needed a safe place.
“Like a halfway house for us, except it kept growing because there were more of us running into all that ugly stuff.”
--
"Feels really weird," Ben confessed. "Been... twelve hours, but it's... idunno. It's ... like I can finally take a breath, but at the same time, I don't remember how. Does that make any sense?" he asked, uncertain, as he regarded her. He was opening up more than he meant to.
But she doubted him, and his hunting, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe Dean taught me stuff before Cas wiped my mind. I don't know. But... yeah. I've taken down two vampires, a Rugaru, a pack of Ghouls, stopped six ghosts, buried a Wendigo and set everything on fire, uh, a shifter, although another escaped, um..." he scratched his chin, trying to remember. "I managed to not be killed by a demon? Sam gave me a ritual to exorcise them. I'm trying to memorize that."
He felt fairly ready as a hunter; he knew what he was doing, at least for the most part, but there were far more close calls than he'd like. Going on his own was terrifying, and he wasn't confident he wanted to go out on his own again.
But he also wasn't confident he wanted to stay here any longer than needed. "I don't know if I ... am going solo again, but... I could do a decent job if I had to," he admitted, confident but honest. He'd die doing it, he was sure; there was no way a monster wouldn't get lucky one of these times. No way. But he could at least delay it a lot, he hoped.
And it was still, he assumed, better than being here, near Dean especially, but also Sam. All those who did this and put him in this position.
"It's an Academy now, though, right. And you're training here to be a hunter? Or do you hunt already, too?”
--
Claire nods, “it’s almost like you have all this freedom, but you’re used to not having it, so it’s like you’re stuck.” She screwed up her face before rolling her shoulders, glancing away from him to the trees. “You’ll be okay,” she looked back at him with a crinkle of her nose, “if Sam says he can handle it, he can.”
She gave him an impressed look, “nice,” her lips upturned into a smile, “okay, so you are a bad-ass.” Her head tilted at him, “just give yourself some time. If you try to go out there with all this shit in your head, you’ll get distracted.” Then she put her hands up, “sorry, that was preachy. It’s something Jody is always telling me. It’s supposed to be a zen thing when we’re hunting.
“I kinda hunt, but lately, I’ve been being good. I was doing the school thing for a while, but then that got boring. These people have no idea about the real world.” She moved her legs a bit, kicking at the ground while talking to him. “Wayward isn’t like a school-school, but it works like a school,” she smiled. “We’ve got some teachers, then we have Cas and the brothers checking in now and then.”
--
He looked a little embarrassed, if anything, at her suggestion he was a bad-ass. Really, he had less of a view of it; too much was luck. Skill sharpened along the way, and he became faster, stronger, more capable, pushing himself and working out furiously to try to keep up with the demands and rigors of what to expect-- it paid off in dividends, but he was still confident going into every fight there was a good chance it was his last.
He wanted more than the feeling he made it out alive through chance before he considered himself a bad-ass, that's for sure.
"And these teachers teach what, home ec? Because, honestly, I have no idea how to balance a budget, or file taxes, so... I'm sure it's all very useful. I got the sex ed already, though. That book was very informative," he pointed towards her romance book, pursing his lips and giving her a thumbs up, before the smile cracked from his face, a face that looked unused to smiling.
He kicked her foot, back, from that position, before he dusted off his pants and stood, reaching down to offer hers. As he helped her up, he winced, reaching down for his ribs that she collapsed against so violently in her near-braining from that tree.
"Man, you've got a hard head."
--
“Uh, Donna does that stuff,” she gave him an amused look, “you just have to learn how to handle her first before you handle her classes.” She laughed as she tried to picture Ben handling Donna, “and fuck you,” she tried to keep from blushing at the comment of the book. “That’s… No one gets to know about it,” she attempted to glower at him menancingly and failed. “Or else. I’m good with a knife.”
She gave him a look for that before taking his hand to stand up, a little look of sympathy as she saw him wince. “People keep telling me that,” her eyebrows knit in concern as she let go of his hand. “You’ll be okay, right?” Her hands brushing idly at her pants.
“I should let you go, I’ve got some…” She glanced over at the book before looking at him, “catching up to do.”
--
Donna was the home ec. That made sense. He groaned audibly, and then she threatened him with death by knife, and he gave her a confident, not-at-all-believing-her nod of his head, his lips twisted into a little smug look of amusement. "Yeah, I'll be alright..." he promised, shrugging it off as she agrees to 'catching up' with that book. Her hand slid free of his, and he felt strangely saddened for it, bringing his hand back and pocketing it.
"Little TMI there," he said, glancing at that book, before back to her, teasing, but letting that little tease float through his mind more than he should. There was a moment's hesitation, and he found himself biting his lip without realizing it as he regarded her attempted exit, his breath caught in his throat as he struggled for something smooth to offer.
"I... would hate to join your bookclub, but if you need someone to keep any other secrets, I'm around. Hate Your Dad Club meets every Thursday."
He smiled, biting the right side of his lip again, and fighting against a little blush as his mind focused on the cute blonde in ways he wasn't comfortable with entirely, and he cleared his throat, giving her a nod.
"Seeya, Claire."
--
“I’m sorry if you end up getting a bruise,” she chuckled as she reached out to gently pat where he had been rubbing it earlier. “My hero, I’ll make sure to fall out of trees only when you’re around.” She grinned before pocketing her hands for a second.
“What? I – OH.” She gave him a look that was mixed with embarrassment and something she hoped was threatening, “not <i>that</i>.” She blushed furiously now, one hand escaping from her pockets to tuck some hair behind her ear while she looked down at the ground. Even if she was going to do that, she wasn’t going to tell some stranger.
When he made the quip, she looked back up with amusement, a laugh coming from her lips. “I’ll see you next Thursday. I promise not to be in a tree this time,” she took a step back from him before going to collect her things. “See you, Ben,” she looked at him for a second before giving a soft smile as she turned away to wander through through the woods to her cabin.
Donna was just a wee bit too much for her in the mornings.
Instead of just walking through the woods with a thermos of coffee, she decided to climb up one of the trees and make herself at home. It was one of those nice ones where you could make a tree-house if you really wanted to. She settled on one of the lower branches with her coffee and a book – but she really couldn’t get into reading the book just yet, the view was nice from up there.
--
Sam had left him here and promised him the world. Promised him memories. Promised him education in the things he was hunting. And he also knew another silent promise was made; that he'd reach out to Dean. But nothing had come to fruition, not a goddamned thing. It was only about twelve hours, but still it was the world. Somehow, Ben had grown significantly more impatient since the truth had become unfolded before him. Sam had told him everything he could, and given him primers on who Dean and Castiel and others were, and the monsters in the shadows, and more. It was eye-opening.
But there were memories that he just didn't have. Memories Sam promised him. Memories he had been searching after for nearing a decade. There were clearly shattered pieces, that neither he nor his mom knew; pieces he knew that his mother didn't. Gapes in knowledge, fuzzed over pieces that made no sense in context.
He was out for another jog. He'd been here, went to sleep for about five hours, and then went for a run, then reviewed his books and his lore and updated notes from things he put together (he'd been updating on the drive already) after a night's rest, and then he went for a run again, absent anything else to take his mind off of it all. He was restless, and huffing as he moved through the chill before he paused, a tree in sight and saw its branches. There was some crazy monkey girl up there, and it gave him pause enough. She was hardly the first person he'd seen; but she certainly was the first who made him stop. Well, other than Donna, who was just obnoxiously helpful settling him in, jesus christ.
His head quirked as he considered her, and he got his breathing under control from the run enough, waving up. "You okay up there?" he asked, a look of quizzical what the fuck?ery on his face.
--
The silence was broken by the sound of feet hitting the ground, her eyes flicked away from the horizon down to the runner. Okay, so the guy was crazy. She liked working out, but not out in the cold like this. When he stopped, she shifted carefully to change position so she could look down at him.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay up here?” Claire gave a look of amusement before taking a sip of her coffee, “are <i>you</i> okay down there?” She paused, then rolled her shoulders, “here, catch,” without waiting, she tossed down a light paperback. It was one of those trashy romance novels, it was one of her guilty pleasures nowadays.
--
He caught it with a surprising deftness, not breaking stride or movement, as he caught it and held it to his side, still looking absolutely puzzled. "Who the hell climbs trees? What are you, twelve?" he called up, baffled and unabashed in his uncertainty.
Shaking his head, he looked down to the book and then his face really twisted up, looking back up in absolute confusion. "What the hell?" he asked, glancing to the book, before thumbing through it to find where she might've dog-eared it, so he could get a good sense of just how damned ridiculous this thing likely really was.
Taking a long, steady look through it, he took a single passage and read it, parodically. "No one had ever gazed at her there.
No one had ever touched her there.
No one had ever told her how she looked there.
No one had ever praised her wetness there.
No one had ever explained in explicit, sexual detail what he intended to do there.
No one had ever prepared her for the feel of a man's tongue there."
Looking back to her. "New Jersey?"
--
“I climb trees.” Claire snorted at him, “I, as in Claire, and I am most certainly not twelve.” She actually wanted to stick her tongue out at him, but figured that would send the wrong message. “Wait wait,” she put a hand out as he started to open the book, “I said catch it, not <i>rea—</i> Oh my god, you’re reading it,” she wanted to duck her head and die of embarrassment as she listened to him read.
“What? They’re cheap,” she sighed as she eyed her thermos of coffee, “if I throw this down, are you going to help yourself to it too?”
--
He rolled his eyes at her explanation that she, Claire, who is not twelve, climbs trees. Seemed ridiculous. He used to climb trees, too, but it was definitely something he did when he was a kid; before... before what happened with mom and the house and the cops, certainly. An artifact of a sweeter childhood.
These days, he can't imagine climbing a tree unless a bear was chasing him or something.
She looked aghast as he read, and it only made him continue, smirking as he tormented the weird climbing not-twelve-year-old (certainly not, he thought) girl who was preparing to come back down the tree. She was a little irritated as she asked her question and he shrugged, shaking his head. "No, coffee sucks. And it stunts your growth. Which explains why you're a tiny monkey-midget-girl, I'm guessing?" he offered.
He closed the book, and reached up a hand to grab the coffee thermos when she tossed it. Both items would get placed gently down, since he wasn't to read the book and certainly had no interest in her certainly foul coffee.
Glancing back to the tree, he raised a brow. "So uh, I take it you're coming down?" he asked.
--
“Would you just close the damn book?” She grumbled at him as she studied him from her perch, she was certainly annoyed by him now instead of amused. “So you don’t drink coffee, are you even <i>human</i>?” She squinted at him before giving a rather indelicate snort, “I’m not a tiny monkey-mi… Why am I even arguing with you?” A soft laugh came from her lips as she scooted over a bit before she made sure the thermos was closed tight.
When she threw it, “Don’t spill it. I’m not going back in there for more coffee, Donna is still home.” When he caught them, she gave a little satisfied nod at him putting everything down. Much better.
She scooted over, turning around so she could get her footing before working on climbing her way down the tree. However, the task seemed more difficult than usual because she suddenly was aware that someone was looking at her do this. Especially someone who had just accused her of being a little kid and…
Her thoughts distracted her, and she slipped, losing her footing on the tree.
--
She was seeming kind of obstinate and irritated and he was a little amused by himself for it; he was almost enjoying the moment, of getting to be kind of a jerk to someone. It felt comforting, in a way, and he was also very curious what her deal was and why she was clambering up trees at all, much less doing it to read smut.
You'd think you'd wanna do that in bed for obvious reasons, he figured.
But then, glancing over her shoulder more than once, she seemed distracted, and her hand slipped; he saw it happen, and saw her begin to fall backwards dramatically. His eyes widened and he lunged forward, one step after another, as he raced against the motion before him, moved quick and unhesitatingly, fearless as he skidded into position. His hands rushed out to catch her, and he tumbled back, her body collapsing to his as he crashed into the earth below, grunting as he slammed into the ground and sparse grass, holding the jacketed girl to him, strong and resolute, considerably breaking a fall that might've broken her head, or at least rung her bell.
"You okay?" he whispered, from below her, his eyes searching hers for response, concern evident and immediate, all appearances of mockery or chiding playfulness having disappeared in the shock of action and panic.
--
Panic flashed through her as she realized she actually was falling, there really was no time to register anything else or come up with a game plan. So, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, because oh god, it was going to hurt and bad. The next thing she knew, she was crashing into him and the ground all at once. A sound of surprise came tumbling past her lips, she was a bit too afraid to open her eyes, they were squeezed shut. Finally, she opened her eyes after what had felt like forever – but really was a couple seconds.
Her eyes met his, she blinked, “I…” Okay, she was pretty sure she was okay, but her pride was definitely wounded. “I’m okay,” she spoke meekly. “I,” she stumbled mentally as she tried to think of something to say that would be better than… “Thanks.” Okay, she wished she really could have said something better.
“I mean, uh,” she fumbled for words, “thank you.” Still not quite it.
--
It was all such a sudden shift; from razzing her, to watching her plummet, to barely skidding into position to catch her and tumble to the ground with her. His breath was ragged again as he worried over the girl, waiting for her eyes to open, to make sure she was okay. Audibly he breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes opened; big, stunning gaze finding his to stumble over her words.
"Don't worry about it," he assured, and he loosened his arms, as she remained atop him, and he considered her carefully. She was a little older, he'd guess, but not much. And kind of stunning, beyond that sort of terrified-and-ready-to-bolt-deer thing she had going on. He was clearing his throat, uncomfortably, at the end of her stumbling through her options on how to thank the guy, smiling a little.
"I mean, I'm not complaining, but are you going to get off?" he asked, a playful grin twisting on the young man's face who she was pinning to the Earth after her fall from the tree's higher branches.
"Ben Braeden," he offered, regardless, as way of introduction. "I'm, uh, Dean's... I... used to know Dean," Ben explained further his method of arriving here. His eyes followed her, and he realized not all of his shake in his breath was likely attributed to the slam of her body against his chest, or the exertion of the run.
Even so, he was rubbing ath is chest, because some of it was certainly the impact.
--
Claire chuckled, “I’m usually way more talkative than this. Not Donna level, but…” She paused, looking down at him, “I… Oh!” A blush colored her cheeks as she moved to sit up on him, “again, thank you. Uh, I’m sorry,” she chuckled as she looked down at him, “are you hurt?” She looked on with concern before realizing she was <i>still</i> on him, she cleared her throat and scooted back onto her knees so she could at least scoot over next to him.
“Claire,” she chuckled, then she rolled her shoulders, “most of us know the Winchesters.” She flashed a slight smile before studying him again.
“Why the hell were you running out here anyway? I don’t think saving girls from falling was in your plan.”
--
She blushed, and it was really cute, as she stumbled back, still sitting on him for a moment before she scrambled off of him as well. He moved to sit up. "No, I'm fine, bruised but I-- wait, Claire?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember, focusing carefully as he tried to remember the details as best he could. He remembered bits and pieces, and a few words would come out.
Castiel made some mistakes, but he always meant well, Sam explained, and more stuff, and then he remembered an example as he tried to do the compliment-sandwich on Castiel to make it clear how he was a good man, ...and when he found out Claire, his host's daughter, was in trouble, he tried to move Heaven and Earth to make sure she was okay. Actually, she's sort of why the Academy is around...
And the details were here or there, but the important nuggets popped out of the woodwork, and he nodded his head slowly. "You're, uh... Jimmy's daughter," he said, clearly having grasped for the name of not-Castiel.
Running a hand awkwardly through his hair, he laughed a little. "I'm uh... I'm Dean's son. Maybe? Sam says he's my dad, I... I don't remember."
Pausing, he pointed as his head. "My memories aren't real, turns out. They're... memorex. Castiel did a favor and wiped me, or something. Small world." Hesitating, he laughed at himself.
"Well, I guess not that small. I mean, we're all here because, like you said-- we know the Winchesters. For good or ill, right?" he asked, some bitterness clear in the young man's voice.
--
“Good,” she reached out to brush some of the grass off of his shoulder, “sorry about that again. I’m really good at climbing trees,” she gave a soft laugh. When he paused, she tilted her head a slight bit suspiciously, the laugh fading from her eyes. “Whatever you heard, it’s all lies,” Claire said immediately as she shifted around to study him carefully, her arms tucking around herself.
Then he kept talking, she eased up a bit, “yeah… Jimmy’s daughter,” she looked away from him. This was still weird for her to process, she was better, but it was still weird. Her eyes flicked up to him, a look of surprise, then amusement, “you don’t know if you’re his son? Does he even know he has a son?” She tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat to ward off the chill she was starting to feel.
“Oh, Cas,” she gave a soft smile, “I’m surprised he did that.” She hadn’t known about it, but wouldn’t have thought he would have done that – Cas knew how much it sucked to have it done to him; so she figured from some conversations they had.
She studied him when she heard that tone in his voice and laughed, “are we both in the `angry-at-our-dads` club?”
--
"Sam says Dean knows. Dean wanted me mindwiped to... I dunno. Protect me and my mom. Obviously, it didn't take. I've been hunting by myself since I was fourteen. Well-- first I was hunting them, but, obviously, that lead me down some fun alleys and stuff, I guess."
He looked back at the cabin; he usually had the ability to pull out a picture of Dean and him, Dean giving him a noogie after some rough-housing, a picture that was taken by Lisa. It was a picture that served to provide him with endless 'ins' with people who had met Dean, substantiating Ben's claim; but it wasn't on him now.
"I think I'm also in the angry-at-your-dad-club, I guess. But he's not really your dad. Then again... I guess neither is Dean, if I can't remember him, right?"
Smiling ruefully, he shrugged and then pulled his knees up to him. She and he were both sitting there opposite, now, in the aftereffects of that tumbling from the tree. "I really don't want to talk about Dean that much. I don't know him and it's all.. bad. You probably like him. Everyone here seems to. I don't want to take that from you all. He meant well or something, I guess," he offered, clearly not meaning a word of that excuse he gave Dean. It was just an axiom he was getting used to -- easier than defending his position of how screwed up Dean left his world.
Dean and Cass, when he put the math together.
--
“Ah, so you’re in the family business,” Claire nodded knowingly and slowly as she shifted around a bit to get comfortable so she could listen to him. “Well, I hope you didn’t fuck up as badly as me, I threatened a german shepard once because I thought he was a werewolf.” She shrugged as she chuckled.
Then she shrugged, “people either love Cas or hate him, he’s like another uncle to me.” Her eyes flicked at him, “I get it, you don’t want to talk about him, I don’t want to talk about the books.” She smiled, “so what the hell are you doing here then? I mean, you didn’t just hear about Wayward Academy on the tv or something.” She nudged his foot as she teased.
--
"Uh, well... I uh... I tricked Sam. Found a number that worked from an old case of theirs. Told him I remembered everything. He came out, all puppydog eyes, and... then I made it clear I'm not stopping anytime soon. So he... said I should come here. Learn to do it right. Saving people, hunting things, the family business," he quoted Sam, who said the exact same thing to him like six times, as if it was some sort of family heraldric motto, which, judging by Claire's parroting, it really was.
Winter was Coming had a way better ring. Both seemed true.
"So I got dropped off here last night. Been just... trying to process everything. I'm staying until stuff is sorted out. Cas is supposed to get my memories back... the Winchesters promised to get my mom out of jail... and then I'm probably smoke, back on the hunt."
He shrugged. "I don't see myself holing up in my private cabin and pretending the world stopped turning just because I'm here at Camp David."
Gesturing to her. "I heard you started this place or something. You must be pretty interesting. What's your story?"
--
Claire gave a look of amusement at how Ben described Sam, it really was him to a tee. “That should be interesting for you then, actually having to sit here instead of hunting them down.” She lifted her chin, “good luck with getting all that sorted out,” she crinkled her nose a bit, “I wouldn’t want to be in that mess, I got mine handled.”
A pause, “really? Are you so badass you can hunt on your own right now without getting killed?” Her eyebrows lifted in a slight challenge as she pulled her hands out of her coat to study him.
Claire groaned, “I didn’t start this place, it just…” She sighed, “Jody took me and another girl in to help us out. Alex got into some crazy shit herself. I got into some,” she tilted her head in thought as she tried to figure out how to explain her life as simply as possible. “So Cas is my dad. Well. He’s in my dad’s body, my dad is in heaven. So’s my mom – now. She died saving me from…” She flapped her hand, “bad guys. So the brothers figured I needed a safe place.
“Like a halfway house for us, except it kept growing because there were more of us running into all that ugly stuff.”
--
"Feels really weird," Ben confessed. "Been... twelve hours, but it's... idunno. It's ... like I can finally take a breath, but at the same time, I don't remember how. Does that make any sense?" he asked, uncertain, as he regarded her. He was opening up more than he meant to.
But she doubted him, and his hunting, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe Dean taught me stuff before Cas wiped my mind. I don't know. But... yeah. I've taken down two vampires, a Rugaru, a pack of Ghouls, stopped six ghosts, buried a Wendigo and set everything on fire, uh, a shifter, although another escaped, um..." he scratched his chin, trying to remember. "I managed to not be killed by a demon? Sam gave me a ritual to exorcise them. I'm trying to memorize that."
He felt fairly ready as a hunter; he knew what he was doing, at least for the most part, but there were far more close calls than he'd like. Going on his own was terrifying, and he wasn't confident he wanted to go out on his own again.
But he also wasn't confident he wanted to stay here any longer than needed. "I don't know if I ... am going solo again, but... I could do a decent job if I had to," he admitted, confident but honest. He'd die doing it, he was sure; there was no way a monster wouldn't get lucky one of these times. No way. But he could at least delay it a lot, he hoped.
And it was still, he assumed, better than being here, near Dean especially, but also Sam. All those who did this and put him in this position.
"It's an Academy now, though, right. And you're training here to be a hunter? Or do you hunt already, too?”
--
Claire nods, “it’s almost like you have all this freedom, but you’re used to not having it, so it’s like you’re stuck.” She screwed up her face before rolling her shoulders, glancing away from him to the trees. “You’ll be okay,” she looked back at him with a crinkle of her nose, “if Sam says he can handle it, he can.”
She gave him an impressed look, “nice,” her lips upturned into a smile, “okay, so you are a bad-ass.” Her head tilted at him, “just give yourself some time. If you try to go out there with all this shit in your head, you’ll get distracted.” Then she put her hands up, “sorry, that was preachy. It’s something Jody is always telling me. It’s supposed to be a zen thing when we’re hunting.
“I kinda hunt, but lately, I’ve been being good. I was doing the school thing for a while, but then that got boring. These people have no idea about the real world.” She moved her legs a bit, kicking at the ground while talking to him. “Wayward isn’t like a school-school, but it works like a school,” she smiled. “We’ve got some teachers, then we have Cas and the brothers checking in now and then.”
--
He looked a little embarrassed, if anything, at her suggestion he was a bad-ass. Really, he had less of a view of it; too much was luck. Skill sharpened along the way, and he became faster, stronger, more capable, pushing himself and working out furiously to try to keep up with the demands and rigors of what to expect-- it paid off in dividends, but he was still confident going into every fight there was a good chance it was his last.
He wanted more than the feeling he made it out alive through chance before he considered himself a bad-ass, that's for sure.
"And these teachers teach what, home ec? Because, honestly, I have no idea how to balance a budget, or file taxes, so... I'm sure it's all very useful. I got the sex ed already, though. That book was very informative," he pointed towards her romance book, pursing his lips and giving her a thumbs up, before the smile cracked from his face, a face that looked unused to smiling.
He kicked her foot, back, from that position, before he dusted off his pants and stood, reaching down to offer hers. As he helped her up, he winced, reaching down for his ribs that she collapsed against so violently in her near-braining from that tree.
"Man, you've got a hard head."
--
“Uh, Donna does that stuff,” she gave him an amused look, “you just have to learn how to handle her first before you handle her classes.” She laughed as she tried to picture Ben handling Donna, “and fuck you,” she tried to keep from blushing at the comment of the book. “That’s… No one gets to know about it,” she attempted to glower at him menancingly and failed. “Or else. I’m good with a knife.”
She gave him a look for that before taking his hand to stand up, a little look of sympathy as she saw him wince. “People keep telling me that,” her eyebrows knit in concern as she let go of his hand. “You’ll be okay, right?” Her hands brushing idly at her pants.
“I should let you go, I’ve got some…” She glanced over at the book before looking at him, “catching up to do.”
--
Donna was the home ec. That made sense. He groaned audibly, and then she threatened him with death by knife, and he gave her a confident, not-at-all-believing-her nod of his head, his lips twisted into a little smug look of amusement. "Yeah, I'll be alright..." he promised, shrugging it off as she agrees to 'catching up' with that book. Her hand slid free of his, and he felt strangely saddened for it, bringing his hand back and pocketing it.
"Little TMI there," he said, glancing at that book, before back to her, teasing, but letting that little tease float through his mind more than he should. There was a moment's hesitation, and he found himself biting his lip without realizing it as he regarded her attempted exit, his breath caught in his throat as he struggled for something smooth to offer.
"I... would hate to join your bookclub, but if you need someone to keep any other secrets, I'm around. Hate Your Dad Club meets every Thursday."
He smiled, biting the right side of his lip again, and fighting against a little blush as his mind focused on the cute blonde in ways he wasn't comfortable with entirely, and he cleared his throat, giving her a nod.
"Seeya, Claire."
--
“I’m sorry if you end up getting a bruise,” she chuckled as she reached out to gently pat where he had been rubbing it earlier. “My hero, I’ll make sure to fall out of trees only when you’re around.” She grinned before pocketing her hands for a second.
“What? I – OH.” She gave him a look that was mixed with embarrassment and something she hoped was threatening, “not <i>that</i>.” She blushed furiously now, one hand escaping from her pockets to tuck some hair behind her ear while she looked down at the ground. Even if she was going to do that, she wasn’t going to tell some stranger.
When he made the quip, she looked back up with amusement, a laugh coming from her lips. “I’ll see you next Thursday. I promise not to be in a tree this time,” she took a step back from him before going to collect her things. “See you, Ben,” she looked at him for a second before giving a soft smile as she turned away to wander through through the woods to her cabin.