The Things We Carry With Us - Part 9 - The Morning After

[lovesrain44]

Part 9 - The Morning After

It is morning. Sam knows it is morning because there is a grey light seeping in from between the partly open curtains. The heat is still cranked up, and his mouth feels like cotton, and his lips crack as he opens them to yawn. He feels worn out, like he’d run a marathon the day before. Dean followed him up the mountain and rescued him from the Yukki Onna. Had they destroyed her? Or would she still yet stalk the ravines and frozen river beds for unsuspecting hikers? He will have to do research, and that’s okay, it’s what he does.

As his eyes grit into focus, he realizes that Dean is awake. And watching him. He lies sideways, facing Sam, head on the pillow, skin pale against the white cotton. Eyes glittering. Watching. Maybe they are hopeful eyes, Sam is not sure.

Dean doesn’t say anything. And maybe he can’t. Sam knows that he can ask for what he wants, and that Dean will, at this point, give it to him. It feels like he is standing at a crossroads. Or, being that they are in the mountains, atop a high and craggy ridge, and one step in either direction would take them both quickly to a place from where there would be no return.

He wants Dean to decide. Dean needs to decide, otherwise, he’s doing this for Sam, as he usually does. And that, Sam does not want. Dean should want for Dean once in a while. But that doesn’t mean that Sam can’t let him know that he will be okay with whatever Dean wants.

Sam licks his lips. Or tries to. He is all out of spit, and his head is pounding, and he feels like crap all over. Except for the bit where Dean is looking at him. Waiting.

“It’s morning,” Sam says. “So we’ll go on like we always do.” He pauses to make sure Dean is listening. “No matter what.” He gives a little nod. Encouragement. Permission. Acceptance. Whatever Dean wants.

Dean is listening. In less than a breath he is moving, moving in, moving close. Breath and heat and moisture. Sam soaks up the kiss, drawing in the air from Dean’s lungs, letting his hands scoop around Dean’s shoulders, pulling him close. Warming the chill that Dean has gathered to him while waiting for Sam to awaken. He inches even closer till their hips are touching; Dean’s pubic hair is scratchy against his thigh, and he can smell Dean close now. Dean smells salty, and there is a warm perfume of laundry soap in the sheets and sleep-sweat from Dean’s skin, the oil from unwashed hair, slightly sweet, slightly dank. Sam wants to eat him alive.

“Gotta breathe, here,” says Dean, where his face is pressed hard to Sam. Sam realizes he is squeezing too tightly, and that is also bad. If Dean needs him there, wants him there, then he also needs to be able to breathe and move and be. Just be Dean. Sam doesn’t want to change him, not for all the new boots in the world.

Sam slips back, loosens his arms. He tips his head to look at Dean, his hair in his eyes, limp with sweat. Dean reaches up to push the hair back, like the Yukki Onna had done. Only this time, Sam feels warm at the trace of Dean’s finger. He is warm where Dean his touching him. He is warm all over.

“So,” Sam says. “It’s morning.” He stops, his face feels flushed, and he can’t really say it. Instead he moves his hand down, between their bodies, till he is touching Dean’s hip. Dean’s eyes are wide. Expectant. Trusting. Sam wants to be sure.

Sam makes himself be bold. “Can I—? Like before?”

Now the flush is on Dean’s face, matching Sam’s. Dean’s eyes flicker with a wanting want that he cannot give words to and maybe never could. Not for soft, butter-cream colored boots, let alone for his brother’s mouth on his cock. But in the pause, there is a nod. Only a slight one, but Sam takes that for a resounding yes.

He scoots down, running his hands along Dean’s ribs and his hips, down to Dean’s thighs. At the same time, he flings the covers back with an impatient elbow. He hears a little gasp as the cooler air hits Dean’s skin.

The second his tongue touches the tip of Dean’s cock, his mouth springs with moisture. Dean’s hips shift, and Sam rests his hands on them to still them.

Then he lets his eyes flit up, to look at Dean through his eyelashes. “Going to lick you now,” he says. “Like before.”

In response, Dean tries to look away, but he can’t and Sam can see the little smirk around Dean’s mouth. On that rosy mouth that he’d kissed the day before for the first time. Sam looks down. Dean’s cock is standing up, leaking against his stomach. Sam works up some spit and takes his tongue and licks from the base of Dean’s cock, all the way up the shaft to the head. He twirls the tip of his tongue, and tastes the moisture there, which is mostly salty and very silky. Then he lowers his mouth, quickly, before the moisture can dry. And hears Dean sigh. 

He sinks down, taking all of Dean in his mouth, leaving moisture behind, sucking up salt, and pressing his forehead against Dean’s belly, absorbing Dean’s smell. He swirls his tongue around as he pulls back up, and feels Dean tapping him on the shoulder.

In a second, he releases Dean with his mouth, still tasting the sparks on this tongue, the sweet bite of salt. Dean. What does Dean really want? Sam will give it to him. Anything.

“What?” Sam asks.

Dean’s eyes are lowered, lashing fanning across his skin. He’s being a little flirty, but there is a flush to his skin that Sam can’t quite interpret.

“Say it again,” Dean says.

Sam wrinkles his forehead and runs back the conversation in his mind. There were only a few words, and all of them with layers of meaning, spreading out code between them. He doesn’t want to ask which part. He wants to know.

He looks at Dean, at Dean’s cock, dark with blood, and stiff and straining. Dean is so very close, and Sam hasn’t barely touched him. Let alone licked him. Ah—

Sam hunkers down. He places one hand each on Dean’s thighs, and pushes them apart a little bit. Gently. But apart. He lowers his mouth till it is right above the base of Dean’s cock. He swipes it with his tongue leaving a sliver of moisture behind. Then he blows air across the spot.

Dean’s cock starts pulsing, even as Sam says it. “I’m going to lick you. Lick you. And then we’ll go on like we always do.”

Dean’s whole body jerks. A stream of milky come shoots up across Dean’s belly, and Sam’s hand is there, soothing and stroking Dean’s cock, his tongue licking and pressing as small quakes run up and down Dean’s thighs. Sam can feel them on either side of him. Then, as the orgasm slows, Sam lifts up on his knees, and swipes his tongue across Dean’s stomach, right across his belly button, and through the ribbon of come. He does it warm and slow, and feels the hard grunt from Dean’s chest. Feels the rumble of it with his mouth.

Sam feels the last pulse of Dean’s orgasm against his lips, and bends his neck to circle the head of Dean’s cock with his mouth, sucking up the last drops. Dean tastes sweet and sour and salty. Sam swallows what’s in his mouth, and wipes the rest away from his chin with the back of his hand. He sits back on his heels, still between Dean’s thighs. Dean’s eyes are closed, but gently, relaxed. His mouth is open and rosy; there is a flush of color on his cheeks.

Blindly, Dean’s hand reaches out and Sam takes it and puts it on his thigh. Sam’s hard himself, and he can feel the pulse of blood rushing south, but he wants Dean to know that what Dean wants is okay. And sometimes, Dean just likes to touch Sam, in no particular place. At least that’s the way it has always been, and Sam promised Dean this.

Dean’s fingers are warm on his thigh. The knuckles tighten as the fingertips curve in, as if Dean is trying to grab hold of Sam. A tighter hold. It tells Sam that Dean is okay with this, and wants Sam close.

His hand reaches up as if to pull Sam to him, but then it stills and Sam feels Dean’s fingers in his hair. The fingers try to push his hair back but Sam knows how that goes. But he doesn’t care. He has Dean now and hair is just hair.

“Come here now,” says Dean. His voice is clear, and his eyes open to look at Sam. “I cut it shorter on one side again, didn’t I.”

“Yes,” says Sam. “Like you always do.”

Now Dean reaches up and pulls on Sam’s arm and Sam lets himself be guided. To lie next to Dean, the length of their bodies full out and touching. Sam pulls up the sheet to belay any chill, and knows that his hardon is pressing against Dean’s thigh.

Dean frowns for a minute. Sam strokes his chest. He can wait. Wants to wait.

“Sleep now,” Sam says.

“Then I’ll take care of you,” says Dean, letting his eyes close. “Like I always do.”

Sam lets his weight sink down. His headache is gone, and his muscles and bones feel limp and lazy. This is what warmth and love is delivered in skin and touches and the glitter of green eyes. And a promise. Dean always keeps his promises.

*

They are going down the canyon, headed east. Dean drives as fast as he dares as the tires slip on the roads; the roads are plowed but there are mountains of snow on either side, and the road is ribboned with ice. Sam has the image of the Impala as a black dot amidst the endless terrain of piled snow and rock and when Dean swings around a curve, Sam clenches the edge of his seat and doesn’t urge caution as he normally does. He wants to get out of the mountains as much as Dean does; there is going on as they always do, and then there is getting the hell out of Dodge.

He waits until they hit the flat terrain of the high plains outside of Denver, and are heading straight east along the dry, relatively ice-free highway. The sky is a bright grey and white and while it is still cold, there is only a smattering of snow on the ground that races past Sam’s window. The wind is behind them and he is warm in his down coat, unzipped and cushiony against his back.

He flashes a glance at Dean, then lets himself look; Dean is a little bleary eyed from lack of coffee, since they skipped breakfast to get out of town, and his hair is rumpled on account of he didn’t take a shower either. But he is beautiful, as always.

Dean must feel him looking. “Yeah?” he asks.

Sam swallows. Going on as they always do doesn’t usually mean sharing and caring, but Sam needs to say this. “Back in the mountains, in the cave?”

He waits as he makes sure he’s got Dean’s full attention because he only wants to say this one time. “I thought you weren’t coming.” He takes a breath and then opens his mouth wider to clarify exactly what he means, but Dean beats him to it.

They are barreling down the highway at a cool 75 MPH, so Dean doesn’t take his eyes from the road. Sam sees Dean clench and unclench his hands around the wheel. Then, very clearly, as if he too only wants to say this one time, he says, “You are the only constant thing in my life, how could I possibly leave you behind?”

Dean makes a thick sound in his throat, and Sam, instead of replying, turns his attention back to the road. Dean loves him, but he doesn’t like to be stared at when he makes chick-flick declarations like this. Instead, Sam thinks of lost scissors and found brothers and how Dean let him in, let Sam touch him, and how that makes Sam feel more loved than anything Dean has ever done for him from the Sam list. 

Sam swallows everything else he wants to say. “Where are we going?”

“I dunno,” says Dean. He is relaxing into the drive now, expecting Sam to take up the research.

Sam obliges Dean. He digs his lap top from the back seat and boots it up on battery power. He hooks up the wi-fi and steals a signal from some hotel that will never even feel it. Luckily the high plains make it easy to get good reception. As the tires race along the pavement and Dean hums under his breath, Sam scrolls websites full of weird and looks at online newspapers while his stomach growls.

The down coat is getting warm, so Sam shifts the laptop while he takes the coat off. He plops it in the back seat and thinks that maybe it would be okay to donate the coat to Goodwill, and then thinks that he should wait for a  private moment and call Steve and have him ship those boots to wherever he and Dean are headed. Maybe he’ll even order a pair for himself, just to make sure Dean accepts the present.

As he settles the laptop once more, the Impala lurches over a bump and Sam’s fingers become still on the keys. He scans the article twice to make sure.

“Yeah?” asks Dean, flicking him a glance.

“Black dog,” says Sam, with some pleasure. Dean loves hunting black dogs. “Says here this town imported a church from Wales and rebuilt it stone by stone. The older residents say that’s when the black dog sightings started, and people are getting freaked out.”


(Black Dog)


“Sounds like our kind of gig,” says Dean. The sun is coming through the clouds so he takes his hands from the wheel long enough to pull his jacket over his head, and tosses it to Sam. Sam pitches it into the back seat, where it flumps on top of the down coat and slithers off the seat.

“Where is it?” Dean asks. His hands are at the 10 and 2; he looks ready to turn left or right or put his foot on the gas till they’re a thousand miles away, whatever Sam says.

“It’s about a two day drive,” says Sam. “We keep heading east.” He shuts the laptop down and puts it away to pull out the paper map, which he unfolds across his knees. He traces the highways with his finger, even though it would have been easier to google it; he likes the feel of the paper in his hands.

“Kokomo, Indiana.” He nods at Dean, smiling. Then he waits for it, and watches as Dean shifts in his heat, lets himself absorb the curve of Dean’s jaw with impunity.

“Why does that sound familiar?” Dean asks, and Sam knows that Dean is going over all of their recent cases, one by one.

When Dean shakes his head, Sam smiles. “Jack’s Grill,” he says. “It’s in the same town as Jack’s Grill.”

Dean swallows and makes a gasping noise, and flicks a grin at Sam. “We’ll stop for a food here pretty quick,” says Dean, “’cause I can hear your stomach from here, but oh, fuck me, those hash browns—you found us a gig there on purpose, didn’t you.”

“Sort of,” says Sam. “Mostly it’s because of the black dog.” He doesn’t say any more now either; Sam knows that all that mushy I-did-it-for-you stuff when said out loud makes Dean’s skin crawl. So he just smiles and pats his tummy. There is food, and then there is Jack’s Grill.

And then there is Dean in the seat next to him, smiling and warm as the sun pours blue and gold through the windshield as they head east. Then, as Dean reaches for the button on the cassette player to turn on some Metallica tune, Sam realizes that now, now is when they are going to go on like they always do. Only differently.

The End


(Destination Anywhere by radishface )

~

Master Fic Post
Long Author's Notes

Comments

[lady-vader67.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this, very atmospheric and the pics and illustrations set the mood. The legend of the Japanese ghost was fascinating and different. I loved the scenes' descriptions of her with Sam and Dean. Actually, the last couple of chapters were they are in the snow and driving in it made me long for the snow in Colorado. I can't wait for this season.

I often travel through Limon on the way to Denver from the eastern plains and can totally picture Sam and Dean driving through a place like that...they would avoid the I-25 corridor.

The scene with the boots was sad and so Dean especially early seasons Dean and how he saved Sam and took him back made the fic for me.

I enjoyed reading your author's notes and how you travelled to the places mentioned in the fic.

thank you for sharing your fic and take care. I loved it.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

You read fast!

Thank you so much for your lovely comments, I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
And yeah, if Sam and Dean knew, they would have totally gone around Denver! I did consider it, and then figured, they wouldn't know, and to Sam, it would be the most direct route. : D

I feel the same about the boots. At the last minute, the very last, I added the fact that Sam is throwing his coat in the back seat, but he also has plans to get Dean those boots, no matter what Dean says.

You are more than welcome for all of it - it was a labor of love. (And road trips are very fun!)

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

This was absolutely gorgeous. Love the way you depict the love and their every day lives.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO much! Both for reading and posting. It seems like such an old-fashioned story on account of no angels or demons, but I always liked the classics. : D

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

I liked this.

I think the Yuki Onna was my favorite case/part.

They ate a lot of food in this story....I do imagine that it's a part of thier lives like it is as you describe it.

Is the title from that book The Things They Carried? It reminded me of that anyway...

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
Yeah, there was a lot of food, but I'm a foodie, and I figured Sam and Dean are too, a little bit.
And yes, it's a takeoff on that book's title, which I want to read, simply because of the title and the idea of it. I should have put that in my notes!

[snowpuppies]

This was lovely, all over. Loved the melding of the cases and the way the relationship grew and how it all began and ended in the same place and the repetition of "like they always do" and how it tied in with the case-fic feel and the monotony of the road and the constancy of their relationship as family, no matter what small things change between them.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

I always think it's the little things you treasure, especially on the road, where everything is always changing. You have to find the parts that repeat a little bit, otherwise you might loose your way. I'll wager Sam and Dean have it down to a fine science.

Thank you for your lovely comment; I'm so glad you enjoyed the story!

[lavinialavender.livejournal.com]

Oh, I really really enjoyed this. Totally worth the sacrifice of my entire evening and the loss of an hour or two of sleep. :)

I love the boys' promises to each other, Sam's struggle to take care of Dean and get Dean to allow himself what he wants, how you're dealing with such real canon issues with their characters. That's the best kind of thing to mix with Wincest (which was very hot too). The first chapter will probably be my favorite, but I love the twists and turns and resolution.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Oh man, you sacrificed an evening and sleep! That is a great gift indeed. I also prefer stories that mix it up, the wincest and the characters and cases. It makes it more interesting. Of course, pure porn is hot too, but I like a balance.

I'm so glad you liked the story. Thank you for your lovely comment. : D

[deceptivechasm.livejournal.com]

I loved how you included multiple cases in your fic. Most people only do one, and while that can be good, if you don't like the case/characters then it gets really boring. I liked how they were all different, and yet unique too. You did a great job.

I also liked Sam's personality/progression in this story. His thoughts were intriguing, and genuinely his. Same with Dean. I liked how their relationship didn't really change near the end. They aren't going to go on romantic candle lit dinners or confess their love/talk about their feelings at every turn. You kept them true to themselves.

I'd also like to thank you for your use of pictures. I liked being able to picture the places where they went, rather than reading long winded, unhelpful descriptions. xD

Great job, I enjoyed your work.
Dec

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you! I think cases make the story more interesting, because after all, that's what Sam and Dean do all the time, they go out and hunt down the monsters and save people. To me, context is all. : D

And I don't think Sam and Dean would go all hearts and flowers, even if they fell in love...well, maybe Sam would have a thing or two to say that's mushy, and Dean would listen, but they are who they are.

I'm glad you liked the pictures and the story; thank you very much for coming by and commenting!

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Oh, marvelous. Sam makes sure that Dean gets what he wants, isn't just doing this for Sam. And then a case back in the town with Jack's Grill. Because food like THAT? Is worth driving a couple days for. So much love in this. And it's a perfect balance between casefic, the mundane yet precious) details of their lives together, and that tale of brotherly love.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Food like that is worth driving for, definitely, so much so that I wish it were a real place because I would go there. Perkins just doesn't cut it!

I really appreciate you reading the story and leaving your comments as you went. It was a treat to see how a reader might react as she went through the story, and it gave me a nice perspective from your side.

Thank you again for coming by and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

=)

[vickevire.livejournal.com]

One of the signs that I really like a story is when I feel a need to wax on about it (is that a weird expression? Argh, stupid foreign language!), like this story is like the ocean when it's really calm - you feel the depths and the force of it - but it's still so serene. Um *is embarrassed*.

Anyway, I love that it's set in season 2, I love just Sam'n Dean on the road - I read your notes, and even tho it was hard work combining two different stories I really think it made this story special (or maybe this is how you always write?) - that feel of the earlier seasons with everything we know about the winchesters now. Like, I really like how Sam identifies himself as a little brother - it's the first fic I've read that shows it so clearly.

Great fic! It was a pleasure to read =)

One more thing...

[vickevire.livejournal.com]

The ending sentense simply kills!

The Things We Carry With Us

[ewanmax.livejournal.com]

It took me a few days to finish this because I'm back at work, but it seemed almost appropriate to saunter through this, because it had this pace that was very soothing and I could stop back in and feel a part of it again. I really loved the small moments and the food and conversations between them. I loved the way Sam viewed the things Dean did while he was doing them and seeing them in a way that made the reader feel very much a part of his inner voice.

I enjoyed it so much for the quietness of their love, for the absolute gift of their love and you're pacing, it all made me feel as if I was there in the car, the diner, petting the cat. All of it was simply wonderful.

Re: The Things We Carry With Us

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Oh, a saunter, nice! I'm sorry you're back at work but I'm glad you enjoyed reading the story. I'd like to be in the car with them sometimes, so it's way cool that you felt it too.

Thank you for the lovely comment!

[big-heart-june.livejournal.com]

This was just so perfect, so very Sam and Dean, so wonderfully entertaining with all the gorgeous pics and food stuff and their every day life. Loved it, all of it!

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Thank you so very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it, that just makes my day. : D

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

I loved everything about this, the food, the clothing, the weather, the case--how everything around them pushed them to where they ended up. It was a most satisfying ending, one I couldn't imagine them getting to safely, but miracle of miracles (and under the threat of icy frozen death), they did. And gorgeous--oh my, such gorgeous, amazing, lyrical writing! I just sank right inside this story and loved every little bit of it. I don't think "I can't want it" has ever been as heartbreaking, those words really tore me up.

I loved the story's illustrations too, what a fun addition. While they helped to put the story in place, the writing was so vivid that they mostly reinforced what I saw in my mind, but they were a lovely icing to a very delicious cake. ( i might be just a bit hungry now. ;))

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story. I expected it was going to be excellent, and it was that and much, much more.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

You are so very kind to come by and comment like this; I'm so glad you enjoyed reading my big bang. I love the idea of sinking into a story, and it makes me feel good to know that you went there with this one.

You are MORE than welcome; I'm glad it lived up to your expectations. : D

[tabaqui]

What a lovely, different kind of story. I really enjoyed all of Sam's inner monologues, about himself, about Dean, about their routines and their habits and their back and forth, give and take. I loved their *love*, and the ghost was scary and strange, the snow brutal, the word-pictures of light and wet, autumn and winter, cold and heat just wonderful.

Really very enjoyable - thank you so much.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

And thank you, in return, for the lovely comment. It was a fun story to write, and yeah, a bit different, maybe because it has an old fashioned feel to it. At least I think it does, since it's so simple.

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

I really, really enjoyed this! You hit a bulletproof kink for me--one person rejected by another until that other realizes the person might be taken from them forever. Gah! Love it!! But beyond that, I really liked your characterizations, the sense of mood you were able to capture with the descriptive passages and the final climactic scene in the cave was riveting (great monster--though I'd be intrigued to learn how a Japanese spirit wound up in the Rockies ;-) ). This was thoroughly satisfying. Thank you so much for writing it.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hit a kink, eh? I think that I might have the same kink, too!

As for the snow ghost, I never was able to figure out in my head how that snow ghost got there. Maybe it came over with the Japanese and Chinese workers who worked on the railroad in the late 1800's? Maybe only John Winchester knows for sure. : D

I'm so glad you enjoyed the story. Thank you for your lovely comment.

[spiritedcretin.livejournal.com]

Dean never carries anything with him, but he never leaves anything of import behind.

I love that line.

The depth of character development in this story is just amazing. I really liked the structure, too -- seeing the brothers interact over the course of several cases made everything about their relationship seem very real. The idea that they are so tied up in each other yet have such a complicated, largely unspoken set of issues and topics that are not to be addressed (at least in words) is fascinating to me.

Such a lovely, engrossing story. Thank you!

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

What a nice comment, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the story. And yeah, me too, I always like stories where I see them working on a case together, because, after all, that's what they do, right? : D

Thank you so much again!

[destina.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful story. I was not able to put it down, literally; I was telling someone the other day that I stayed up an hour past my bedtime (and I <3 my bedtime) to read it. *g* I loved the relationship between Sam and Dean in this, the way it's complex and not easy and takes a long time to come to a boil, and even when it does, the way you make it clear Dean denies himself the things he most wants, from shoes to Sam, right down the line. Man, I was captivated from the word go. I'm a sucker for complicated relationship dynamics, and this was beautifully done, and all wrapped up in a delicious series of case files, too.

Just...this made me so happy, right down to my toes. Thank you for the wonderful read.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

How marvelous of you to come by and post such a lovely comment. I'm really flattered that you stayed up late to read it; that means it was an engrossing tale and I hope it was worth the next day's exhaustion. : D

I love complicated dynamics myself, I mean, porn is good, but complex boys? Yeah, I'm there.

[davidcrackin.livejournal.com]

this was awesome! i really enjoyed the relationship between the boys. Thank You for sharing :)

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

You are more than welcome, I was glad to share. I like spreading the love that is Sam and Dean. : D

And thank you for reading and coming by and posting.

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed reading this. I don't want the characters to stay the same forever, but sometimes I miss the easiness of early seasons SamnDean on the show, and it was relaxing to wallow in it for a bit. Also, I never seem to tire of "love conquers all" in this fandom. Nice job.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, it's all very well that there's a storyline and all, angels and demons and whatnot...but yeah, some days, the early seasons are like slipping on a nice, comfy pair of slippers.

Thank you for coming by and leaving your lovely comment.

[jespretender.livejournal.com]

a beautiful story. I loved the Japanese ghost trying to lure Sam away from Dean, and how you resolved it. The descriptions of the extreme weather, driving conditons and the food were totally absorbing. Superb.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, I'm very glad you enjoyed it. The Japanese ghost was particularly fun to research!

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this. It was very atmospheric, and the food porn was almost as good as the actual porn.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you so much! I think atmospheric was what I was going for, rather than anything twisty or complicated. And yeah, food porn is the best!

[cee-m.livejournal.com]

As a lover a of road trips and great road food... this was like a treat for the senses and a poke to my inner road sister!

The characterization was fantastic and the flow of the story had a wonderful style all its own! I just loved the quiet way it progressed. I loved the shopping and the museum and the FOOD... The pictures were fantastic, just showing how much we could be there...

Random note: I don't know that I would call it PG just because I don't think you can have hand jobs and blow jobs in a PG fic.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! I love road trips too, so it was a pleasure to just go inside that world with all those little details that make up a trip. Thank you so much for your lovely comment.

And re the rating. I've had someone else say the same thing, and I've thought about changing it. But I've never really seen a chart that says, hey, this amount of sexual activity equals this rating. At least not in fanfic world, so I went with what seemed most appropriate. After all, if it's slash, and the pairing is Sam/Dean, there's going to be sex, regardless of the rating. And, also, the mods of the big bang accepted the rating, so I'll probably stick with it. But I appreciate the input; maybe somewhere out there is that rating guide.

[maraceles.livejournal.com]

I absolutely adored this story. I'm not sure, exactly, what it is about your Sam/Dean fanfiction that I love so much, but you write about their love for one another in such satisfying, all-encompassing ways, where their feelings include brotherly affection, lust, and yet more besides. I don't know what those extra factors are, but gah, I love reading your versions of Sam and Dean and how they interact with each other. They're so three-dimensional, and they care about each other so very much.

I loved all the extra detail in this story--the quirks of their job, of the places they visit, of the food they eat, and the people they meet. Your Sam and Dean, and the lives they live, always feel so real to me, and this story is no exception.

Thanks for writing such a great fic!

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

What a lovely, lovely comment! Thank you so much for reading and for coming by; I really appreciate that you like the kind of details that I put in this story. The way I see it, being on the road with Sam and Dean is just as fun as watching them get together in bed. : D

[stormcloude]

Gosh, I really enjoyed this. It's got a slow, almost inevitable quality to it. Thanks for sharing.

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

I am so glad that you did and that you came by to tell me. You are more than welcome.

[katiebugs18.livejournal.com]

This is beautiful from beginning to end. Lovely transition from just brothers to something more.

Thank you for such a lovely read. :)

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

You are more than welcome. Thank you so much for coming by and leaving such a nice comment.

[chemm80]

Oh, man, I enjoyed the hell out of this. If I had to pick one word to describe this fic, I'd go with "subtle." You've struck such a delicate balance between the UST and the brotherhood, the going on as they "always do", with the cases a pleasant hum in the background, and yet still interesting for all that they're sort of secondary to the relationship, which is at it should be with these two, IMO. As I said in the earlier sections, there's a great sense of place, beautiful descriptions and just overall a wonderful read. Thanks so much. Let me know about the podfic, yeah? (Check my LJ for samples of my work, under the "my podfic" tag.)

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

You are very kind, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! I really had a good time figuring out the places they went to, and the cases they worked on, because to me, that's part of who they are.

And seriously, yes to the podfic! I'd be entirely flattered, plus I know how much work goes into one of those. (Or at least I can imagine!) Thank you again, let me know if you would like a single file to work from, although the master fic post has downloads for all the many versions that amothea made for me, so one of those might work. I look forward to hearing it. : D

http://lovesrain44.livejournal.com/42788.html

[mjg021182.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I loved how Sam got caught out by the yukky ona or whatever it's called, and Dean came for him, and had to decide he wanted Sam enough to take him instead of denying himself, and the whole last chapter is just lovely, but WAAAAYYYY too short!! XD

Great story. Really really good.

mj

[lovesrain44.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's too short, I think that was your complaint last time, but that's a huge compliment to me because it means you were enjoying yourself.

I've really enjoyed your comments as you went, that was fun. : D