[h3] Dean and Duke [/h3]

Dean nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard Esme’s voice, turning with her plate in his hand. He was just about to pour her a cup of coffee to bring a whole tray to her, when she stepped into the kitchen. He quickly ran over to the table, and sat her plate down, strolling over to her straight after.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He called to her, scanning her face. It took less than a second for him to read every ounce of pain that she was feeling, which told him everything about the ‘are you okay’ question he was dying to ask. He didn’t even bother. “Come sit down and eat, alright? I’ll grab some peas for…for that.”

Dean guided her to the table, as if she was going to break under his touch, causing Bobby to raise an eyebrow as he watched them. Duke also narrowed his eyes at Dean’s behavior, but before he could say much, Dean shoved his feet off the chair at the end of the table and he nearly fell off his chair.

“Hey! I was comfortable.” Duke complained, pushing his cowboy hat back to show more of his face. His blonde hair fell in random strands over his eyes and he straightened up in his chair. “Good morning! You don’t look like crap at all. I promise.”

Duke smiled brightly, and Dean once again fought the urge to slap him. But Bobby was still staring at him as if he was an alien. Dean shot Bobby a ‘what?!’ Look, and Bobby simply shook his head with a shrug, going back to his paper. It was obvious that this would be a conversation later on, when he and Dean were alone. Dean stepped away from the table and poured Esme a cup of coffee, bringing it back over and holding his hands out with a smirk.

“There. Breakfast. You kick back, relax and eat. Ignore Duke. And we’re gonna have a day…off.” 

He stepped over to the fridge and grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer, laying them next to Esme’s plate before taking his seat across the table from her.

“A day off? I thought we were goin’ out to do that thing at the Peterson’s farm…” Duke spoke up, genuinely confused. Dean kicked his leg under the table and Bobby once again spoke up.

“I sent Chuck and the others after that one.” 

“And you don’t think we should go help them?” Duke asked, holding a hand out to Dean. Dean kicked him again with a scowl and Bobby shook his head at him.

“We are taking…the day…off. We have company, and our company had a long day yesterday. And it’s one werewolf. It’s nothing the other guys can’t handle.” Dean explained simply, taking a bite of his toast. He looked across the table to Esme and smirked, winking at her.

“Alright. Well…that just gives me time to get to know Esme, here! I need to redeem myself.” Duke beamed with a bright smile, his blue eyes almost glittering under the dim light of the kitchen. Dean simply rolled his eyes, dipping his head in annoyance before taking a long and annoyed drink of his coffee. “Maybe I’ll take you out for a shoot later.”