Standing Together

Chapter 123

A/N ABC ITS EASY AS ^^^

"My Lord," Dean says, kneeling on the ground next to Lucifer and Claire's bed. "It has been too long. Please, don't be mad. Let me serve you. I'll try my hardest to make it up to you; I swear it on my life."

Lord Tyrion just looks at him for a moment, then rolls onto his back.

"Oh no," Dean whispers. "No, he won't let me. What do I do now? What can I...?" Dean looks back at Jack and Castiel, panicked. "Help, my king, my master won't forgive me. I never meant to betray his trust. I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have —"

Lord Tyrion meows.

"What?" Dean gasps. "Sir, you can't do that. No, please —"

As if on cue, Lord Tyrion stands up and hops off the bed, leaving Dean behind.

"Oh, thank god," Dean says, before sneezing into his elbow, so loudly that he scares the cat. "Oh, god, I think I'm dying." He sneezes again, and this time, he doesn't take his elbow away. "I need a tissue." As he walks away, he adds, "I might need a lot of tissues," then disappears into the bathroom.

"You know," Jack calls after him, "You didn't have to do this. I know you're allergic to him. That's a perfectly valid excuse to back out."

"Or, you know, if you value your dignity," Castiel adds.

There's a pause, then Dean peaks his head out of the bathroom, no longer covering his now-clean face. "Bold of you to assume I have dignity."

"I'm 100 percent posting that too," Jack says, only just now ending the video. He quickly adds, "Unless you don't want me to, obviously."

"No, feel free," Dean says. "The world deserves to know that I have no dignity."

"The world already knows," Castiel replies.

"Okay, first of all, fuck you," Dean says. "Second of all, the cat just made me ruin my flannel and now I can't wear it until I wash it and life is hard."

Jack cocks his head to the side. "But you're still wearing your flannel."

"No, this is a different one," Dean says.

"He has, like, fifty flannels on at all times," Castiel says. "You get used to it eventually."

"Oh?"

~~

"You want me to put this like this?" Kelly holds the block horizontally, hovering above the rest of the strangely constructed tower she's built.

"No!" Alex picks up her own block and holds it diagonally. "Like this."

"The block won't stay like that," Kelly says patiently, despite having already explained it too many times to count. "Maybe like this?" She holds it vertically.

"No! This!" Alex pushes the diagonal block towards her, as if Kelly's issue is that she doesn't see.

"But that won't stay up," Kelly says. "See, there's this magical force that holds the blocks upright like this —" She puts the block on the floor lying flat, then vertically, "or this. But the magic stops working when you put the block like this, see?" Kelly puts the block on its corner, and, as predicted, it falls down.

Instead of taking in this newfound knowledge of magical gravity, Alex just bursts into tears.

"Hey, Alex, it's okay." Kelly holds her arms out. "Come here?"

Alex just sobs in place.

"Hey, sweetie," Kelly coes, crawling behind her and wrapping her arms around her. "What's wrong? What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I want block," Alex chokes out between sobs.

"I know, I know," Kelly says. "But the blocks don't want to do it. See, they're not as smart as you are. They don't know how to stay like that. They weren't ready for someone as smart as you to try to use them. You're too smart for them."

Alex's sobs soften, and she looks up at Kelly. "Really?"

"Really," Kelly says. "Pinkie promise."

"What?"

"Pinkie promise," Kelly repeats. Seeing that Alex still doesn't get it, she gasps and crawls in front of the toddler. "Mommy and Daddy never taught you about the pinkie promise? Here, let me show you. Hold your hand out like this."

Whether it's because Alex doesn't notice that Kelly only holds her pinkie out or because she doesn't care, Alex holds her whole hand out, her fingers splayed. Kelly doesn't seem phased by it. She links their pinkies anyway.

"This is a pinkie promise," Kelly says. "It means I can't break it, ever."

Alex looks up at her for a moment, then takes her hand back. "Pinkie promise."

"Exactly," Kelly says.

Alex pushes herself to her feet and toddles over to Kelly, giving her a hug.

"Aw," Kelly coos, hugging her back.

"This is so pure," Lucifer whispers. "Kelly, teach me your ways."

"I think Daddy wants a hug, too," Kelly tells the little girl.

Alex looks up at her for a moment, then walks over to Lucifer, hugging his legs. Lucifer pats her head, a loving smile on her face.

"Cas," Dean says, "I'm having an existential crisis."

"What? Why?"

"My entire life, I have hated kids," Dean says, then adds, "Well, except Sammy. But this is so cute, I can't handle it."

"What? Dean, loving his family?" Castiel gives a fake gasp. "I am shocked. Shocked, I say!"

"I know, right?" Dean says. "Who would've thought?"

A/N So not only does Taylor Swift's new music video come out at midnight EST (5.5 hours!!!) but the spn season finale airs tonight and I'm on vacation so I'll actually get to watch it as it airs and I don't know how I'll handle the complete and utter heartbreak of the finale (especially if anything happens to Jack) and the thrill of a new TS song (complete with 13 day countdown that I've been staring at for the majority of said 13 days) in a 4 hour period. Thank god I'm not seeing Endgame tomorrow or I might actually lose it lol