#(tries not to think about this could easily become winny because im a baaaaad multishpper lol)

[jamesnovakwinchester]

SBLW - Day 1

Benny

Despite the fact that it was Sam’s idea to invite Benny to move into the bunker after they returned from Purgatory together, things are still chilly between the two of them, to say the least. Not that Benny didn’t make an effort to thaw the ice. 

After a year in the trenches with him, he knows how Dean can be and he knows he’s heard nothing but good things about Sam from him. So he’s willing to overlook the original animosity between himself and Sam. After all, Sam and Dean are a rare kind of hunter to let a vampire live, let alone be making room for him in their home. So he made himself right at home in the bunker’s kitchen, whipping up the rich Cajun foods his mamma used to make and baking pies in every flavor in hope of one of them striking Sam’s fancy. 

He tried not to feel disheartened when Sam only picked at the food he cooked and never went for dessert. Benny knows he’s a good cook. He hasn’t eaten real food in a cool century, but judging by the pornographic sounds Dean makes as he eats his third helping, Benny thinks it’s safe to say he hasn’t lost his touch. 

It isn’t until Dean finally takes pity on Benny and tells him how his little brother prefers “rabbit food” to the heart attack inducing meals that Dean would reminisce about when they were in Purgatory together that Benny thinks he can start making some headway with the little Winchester. He knows it’s absurd to think of Sam Winchester as little, but still recovering from the toll of the trials, he is no longer the intimidating figure Benny thought of him as after their first meeting. 

Benny asks Sam to take him to the farmer’s market the next day. He feigns ignorance about where to find one and even pretends he can’t understand how to use the GPS on his confangled new cell phone with the too small buttons that Dean insisted he get. Sam looks a little suspicious, but he’s never been outright rude to Benny so he gives in. 

Benny’s attempts at making conversation on the drive there are met with grunts and one word answers. Sam seems lost in thought so eventually Benny gives up and they lapse into heavy silence.

Sam

Sam knows he’s being a bit irrational. He’s never been the type of hunter to overlook the existence of good in monsters. Dean is the one who usually sees things in black and white. Things have just felt so… upside down since he got back from Hell. After the demon blood, after being soulless, he just wanted to do good, to be good. To be worthy of Dean’s love. To not fuck up again. But it seems that’s all Sam does. 

Things are so tangled up in Sam’s head these days, like his mind is still fatigued from the trials, that it’s hard to tell what hunter morality he’s supposed to follow now. Trying to work out whether he should trust Benny to have his back on a hunt or whether he should bar his bedroom door at night seems like a Herculean task. Benny used to kill to feed, but now he doesn’t. If killing people means Benny should die, does that mean Sam should, too? The answer to that should be easy, but it’s not anymore. There are things… The things Dean said to him. Benny has been more of a brother to me this past year than you’ve ever been. And then there are the trials and everything they meant. You’re a monster, Sam– a vampire. And there is Amy, always Amy. No matter how hard you try, you are what you are. You will kill again. And the constant fear in the back of Sam’s mind that none of this is real. You gotta believe me. You’ve gotta make it stone number one and build on it. And Amy who didn’t ask to be a monster, and Jacob who didn’t deserve to lose his mother. You can be pissed all you want, but quit being a bitch. And, and… It doesn’t matter, in the end. Keeping his distance from Benny, from everyone really, is for the best anyway. Lucifer is probably playing a trick on him and any minute now he’ll wake up and–

“Sam, Sam, SAM!!!” He comes to to Benny shaking his shoulder, horns blaring behind them as the light they are standing at has turned green. Face burning in embarrassment, Sam drives the rest of the way to the farmer’s market under Benny’s watchful gaze. 

“Are you sure you’re alright, cher?” Benny asks for the fifth time. The term of endearment makes Sam’s cheeks burn for a different reason, although he can’t say what that is. 

“Yeah, Benny, I just wasn’t paying attention.”

“You always start hyperventilating when you’re lost in thought?” Sam doesn’t have an answer for that, but considering he could’ve gotten them both killed, he decides to be nice to Benny for the rest of the day.

Instead of going off and doing his own thing, Sam dutifully follows Benny around the farmer’s market as he purchases red onions, various kinds of peppers, mushrooms, beets, spinach, clementines, and fresh goat cheese from the vendors Sam recommends.

Against his better judgment, Sam finds it cute that a big bear of a man can be so serious about picking mushrooms that are the perfect ripeness. 

Dean

The last thing Dean expects to see when he comes to the kitchen for his pre-dinner refreshment is Benny cooking something that smells delicious on the stove. Wait, no, he sees that a lot these days and he loves it. But seeing his brother in there with the vampire is a surprise. 

Sam’s at the table chopping stuff up and hmming along to a story Benny is telling from his vampirate days about his coven taking over a Caribbean rum-running boat during Prohibition. He’s not saying much, but Dean can tell the history geek inside Sam is giddy at getting to hear a firsthand account. 

Seeing Sammy hunched over a cutting board, that cute line of concentration between his brows as he carefully chops beets (beets?) reminds Dean of the serious look on Sam’s face when he used to do his physics homework as a kid. Cooking has never been Sam’s forte, but he’s making an effort. For Benny. 

Dean feels a pang of jealousy at the thought of his friend cozying up to his brother, but he beats it down with a stick before it can turn into something ugly. Sam deserves better than that from him and Sam deserves a friend. So does Benny, but Sam will always come first because, y’know, soulmates or whatever. Without letting his presence be known, Dean quietly heads back to his room to give them more time to get to know each other.

When Sam comes and gets him for dinner, Dean’s pleasantly surprised to see his little brother eat more than his usual few bites of the vegetarian quiche and spinach and beets (beets!) salad Sam and Benny made together that afternoon. And he’s even more pleased that he doesn’t have to eat that shit because Benny made him country fried steak and mashed potatoes.

Sam and Benny being in a room together for longer than fifteen minutes starts to become a regular occurrence. Sam starts trusting Benny to watch his back on hunts. When Sam and Dean are shooting the shit and having a beer, Benny starts joining them with a blood bag of his own.  When Dean and Benny are making magic happen in the kitchen, Sam shyly asks them what he can do to help. Seeing how well the three of them work as a unit eases the last of the wariness Dean had about Sam and Benny’s growing friendship. And seeing Sam come to life again after the trials makes Dean want to nurture their relationship.

A few weeks after their first trip to the farmer’s market, Sam comes up with the idea to start their own herb garden, saying it’ll be helpful for not only spells, but also cooking. Dean refuses to participate in anything that requires digging in the goddamn dirt like a dog, but he can’t deny it’d be useful. The bunker is so off the beaten path, it takes a good thirty minutes of driving to get to a grocery store, which is a pain in the ass in a pinch.

When Sam and Benny come inside after a few hours of planting their newly purchased seeds, sweaty and covered in soil, Dean can’t help but quip, “You lovebirds have fun getting down and dirty?” Sam rolls his eyes, but Dean doesn’t miss how his cheeks pink up. 

Benny, on the other hand, rises to the bait. “A gentleman never tells, brother.” And he fucking winks at Dean, like that’s a totally okay thing for him to do. 

Dean doesn’t think much of it, however, until a few days later when he comes back to the bunker after a night with a gorgeous brunette with a fantastic rack that he met on Tinder. (“Shut up, Sam, my profile picture fucking rocks.”) On his way to the shower, Dean makes a pit stop in the kitchen for a post-breakfast snack. This time, when he sees Sam and Benny in the kitchen together, locked in a deep kiss, Dean has no qualms about making his presence known.

“All right, all right, keep it in your pants when I’m around, kids. Sammy, go put on a shirt, you’re indecent!” Sam smacks him in the shoulder and starts lecturing him about privacy, Dean, ever heard of it? while Benny grins, cheeky and proud, with his arm around Sam’s waist, and Dean knows they’re gonna be okay. 

-SBLW anon