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Author's Note: In which Harry needs to be made into a burrito; Bobby just keeps fumbling things but at least he's not just switching feet like Sam; and Castiel is uncomfortably observant of his charge. (And yes, that's a shutdown that Harry is experiencing.)
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts 2.0 (T05); RAVEN (2025); MC4A (Wi-Yr7)
Individual Challenges: The Real MC (Y); Old Shoes (Y); Sandbox (Y); Binger; Cinematic; Reader; Finders; Rainbow Connection; Flexible; Hold the Mayo; Mixtape
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 05 - Assignment 01
Subject [Task (Prompt): Defense against the Dark Arts [Task#3 (defusing a tense situation)]
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Library [Slaughter](Dean Winchester); Frenzy [TW#5](Loyal); Center [123 - Sebastian](Protective); Pokemon [639 - Terrakion](Mulberry); Jan House [Transfigured into a Toy](Robotic);
RAVEN Challenges: A [56](Organizing); Traits [16](Demanding); Colors [60](Mulberry); Items [45](Jar/Bottle); Settings [43](Hallway)
Other MC4A Challenges: Ship (Mixtape)[WiMic1 (Crossover)]; Chim [Morwin](Protection; "Shadow" - Livingston; Autistic); Fire [Impala]; Garden [Remember (Night)]; Hang [Phrase#01](n/a); Swap [Tops (College Sweatshirt)]
Representation(s): Dean Winchester/Castiel; Sam Winchester's Mouth & His Foot; Desi & Autistic Harry Potter; Team Free Will as Family; Canon Apocalypse;
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Esbat; Hot Stuff; Second Verse (Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Middle Name; Mother Hen; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Brooms Only; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Rock of Ages; Hot Apple; Bad Beans; Inky Shadow; Under the Bridge); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Turtle-Duck; Forked Path; Sitting Hummingbird)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Intercept); FR (Satisfaction; Gestation); O3 (Oust); HoSE (Sanctuary); SHoE (Terse; Onus); War (Obstruction; Sanctuary); TY (Enfant); Mea (Zymurgy; Ennui); Wings (Scintillate); Share (Ameliorate; Nepenthe; Dragoman; Augur)
Space Address (Prompt): WiB 3D (Found Family); Vocab 1C (Catatonic)
Word Count: 803 words
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Needs and Wants
Chapter 25: Robots
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Castiel was standing outside the doorway to the front room when Dean led the way inside. His head was cocked to one side as he observed something moving around the room. Other than the thoughtful frown on his face, the angel did not appear to be worried about whatever he was watching, so it couldn't be an intruder. Dean frowned himself as he pushed close enough to Castiel to look into the room as well.
Harry was wandering around the front room. It took a moment for Dean to pinpoint how the movements were different than Harry's normal cleaning. Well, outside the obviousness in the blood soaked clothes. Harry's eyes were blank behind his glasses, like he was catatonic and not really present. His motions were robotic, as if he wasn't really directing them.
"Balls," Bobby said beside them before he pushed past them into the room. The old man was careful to approach Harry from the side, even though that required him to shift his trajectory a couple of times. Despite the precaution, Harry still almost bumped into him while turning to put a jar of salt on the shelf with the other commonly used spell ingredients.
Like a rabbit hoping that the fox hadn't noticed it, Harry froze and hunched into himself.
"Whatcha doin', boy?" Bobby asked, his normal gruffness softened to something more resembling neutrality. Dean remembered that tone well from the times his father would leave them at Bobby's growing up, back before the fight that ended the visits entirely. Inevitably, Bobby would catch Dean doing something to keep from sleeping after a nightmare woke him up, no matter how quiet Dean was. Bobby would make them both mugs of hot chocolate and tell him about the latest gossip around Sioux Falls in the same tone that he was using with Harry now.
Harry's gaze darted around the dimly lit front room. His brow furrowed as a muscle twitched in his cheek. The blood and shadows have turned the violet of his oversized sweater into a depressing mulberry. Dean was surprised that Harry wasn't leaving smears of that blood in his wake as he cleaned.
"My chores?" Harry answered as if expecting a trap. There was a flatness to his tone, already familiar despite only having him around for less than two full days. Dean wanted to stuff him full of pie again.
"It's late," Bobby said, reaching out a hand—that Dean knew would feel grounding on the back of Harry's neck, because Dean had felt that solid grip plenty as a kid himself. But Harry tensed at the motion. Bobby dropped the hand without touching Harry.
Dean's stomach felt like he had swallowed a whole bag of rocks.
"Hey," Dean interrupted, unable to stand the way Harry stayed braced for a blow that would never come, "let's get you cleaned up, kiddo."
Harry immediately darted around Bobby to place the jar on the spell ingredient shelf. Only then did he head towards the doorway where he could squeeze past Dean and hurried up the stairs. All of it was done in silence. The kid even managed to skip over the fifth step which always creaked.
"What was that?" Sam demanded. Dean recognized the tone he had to his voice. It was the same one he used whenever he felt like someone was keeping secrets from him. It was clear that Sammy was getting annoyed at being behind the curve where their newest ally was concerned. "That was weird, right? Are we sure he's not possessed by something?"
"Nothing supernatural about that," Bobby declared as he stomped his way across the hall to his study and the half-empty fifth of bourbon on his desk. He poured a standard serving into the rocks glass set out beside it. "Boy's just stretched to near breaking. Sometimes, people just check out and go through certain motions to deal. There's worse ways of shutting off a brain that won't quit."
And with that bit of wisdom, Bobby knocked it back like it was a shot instead of sipping at it.
"Dean cleans his weapons," Castiel said simply. The angel fidgeted with the cuffs of his stolen sweatshirt. Dean spared a thought for how Sammy was never going to get it back, not if Dean had anything to say about it. "He is very proficient and meticulous. It is very pleasant to watch, even knowing the distress he is feeling."
"Dean drinks when he's stressed," Sam argued with a roll of his eyes. The dismissal hurt even with the lingering warmth that Castiel's observation made Dean feel. He cleared his throat roughly.
"I'm gonna go help the kid," Dean announced before turning on his heels and climbing the stairs. Those three could continue gossiping like housewives on their own. He didn't even care.
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To be continued
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