041 - Macintosh Apple

[deadly_ned]

I don't...expect there to be anyone. From my world, that is.

There wasn't anyone last time, but.

Hope's a hard thing to squash.

Comments

[mattersverymuch]

Should I go away, then?

[You can't make him.]

[deadly_ned]

...No.

No, please stay.

It's...

It's very good to see you again. More than anything.

[mattersverymuch]

No need to get sentimental. I was only checking in to make sure you aren't permanently dead.

You seem not to be.

But I'll stay anyway, I suppose.

[deadly_ned]

I'm not dead.

I. Don't know what I am.

What are you?

I mean...how. How are you?

[mattersverymuch]

I am the marquis de Carabas. And I am doing magnificently. I don't know why you'd expect any less.

Progress is made. Slowly but almost surely.

[surfaceshine]

Do you even know how to do that?

[mattersverymuch]

When it suits me.

[There you are. No open evidence of unease, but he is uneasy.]

[surfaceshine]

[Dean, caught up in the excitement of having the Barge on his fucking cell phone and abruptly having access to so many people again, doesn't notice right away.

He is, however, openly delighted to see the Marquis.]

Typical. Always keeping open the option to be fickle.

[mattersverymuch]

Why wouldn't I? Fickle is one of the most delightful things a man can be.

[See? He is a man. Not that he'd admit it to many but Dean.]

I note that you're still annoying.

[surfaceshine]

That's why they compare it to cockroaches, you know.

Glad you're still infested, Squeaker.

[deadly_ned]

[The Piemaker frowns, squinting at the screen. He's been avoiding Dean on the Barge, too miserable about the man's fate and unsure how to break through the aggressive stranger that's replaced him.

But this smile is something he recognizes. His expression breaks, heartbroken]

Dean.

[surfaceshine]

[Okay, not remotely the reaction he was expecting, the smile drops immediately down to half wattage and then fades from there. The hunter sits up a bit, eyebrows pulling together.]

What? What? Am I interrupting your soaps?

[deadly_ned]

[He sucks at his bottom lip, holding in the wave of emotion that threatens to drown him. It was bad enough seeing Dean how he is now, without being reminded of how he could have been.]

In a manner of speaking.

You look....great. Really, really great.

[surfaceshine]

[And he does look pretty great. Dean had struggled to be a point of solidity and humor on the Barge, to lighten the spirits of others however he could and drag them back from various and sundry edges, but it took its toll on him. Here he is once again a creature in his element: very rarely were his eyes quite this bright, his smile quite this easy, his sense of self quite this at peace with the world around him.

He's happy. Really, truly happy. And also, presently, staring suspiciously at Ned.]

It's my natural awesomeness shining through. What's going on? Besides the obvious.

I can't make it private from my end. Do the thing if you have to.

[skateonmirrors]

[Someone remembers who Squeaker means.]

Oh hey, the pie dude! Man, you spoiled him for like, every other pie ever. You would not believe the bitching.

[deadly_ned]

Pie dude? I mean, it's not...something I'm typically known by, but.


....Sam?

You're..

You're Sam Winchester.

[composited]

Not your world, no.

Fancy trick, coming up on a computer with no power, Ned.

[deadly_ned]

...I was hoping you'd come.


Hi, Alpha.

[composited]

Hi, Ned. Say hi, Ditto.

[ There's a dog nose in the screen, over Alpha's arm. ]

Why haven't you gone home yet, piemaker?

[deadly_ned]

Hi, Ditto. Say hi, Digby.

[Digby sluggishly gets up off the bed to come sit his head in the Piemaker's lap]

...I don't know. I wanted to look after Dean and I kept expecting to be re-paired. Neither of those things happened.

[composited]

Two inmates means you don't have to worry about the barge anymore, Ned... You've done your time. Don't want to keep your lady waiting, do you?

[Video]

[neverfeltbetter]

Hey Ned? Is that you?

[Video]

[deadly_ned]

Is that you, John?

That's definitely your voice and your face and I'm going to tentatively say yes. It's both of us.

[Video]

[ss_buttcrack]

Yep, it's me. In the flesh, so to speak.

Hey, I wanted to let you know your pie was a hit. Imagine Cookie Monster eating and then substitute a fat little frog and that's kinda what it looked like when Rygel ate his slice of it.

[Video]

[deadly_ned]

That makes me tremendously happy. Though I didn't know frogs liked pie very much.

I'm sorry I can't send you another.