[h3] Dean [/h3]

Dean sighed as Anya and Sam left the kitchen together, but he smirked the second his back was turned to them. It was oddly refreshing to see Sam so loose in the shoulders, and to see an echo of his brother’s old smile on his face. He would give him Hell until the end of time for everything, but in reality, Dean was happy to see Sam happy…for once. The guy needed a win. They both did.

He walked over to the coffee pot, and touched his fingers against the outside, to make sure it was still on and hot. As soon as he was happy with the temperature, he looked down at the counter, and paused, thinking about the sound Anya’s legs made against the metal. Without touching the actual counter, he made a mental note to make Sam and Anya clean the kitchen later, and reached for two mugs.

He heard Lexi’s light footsteps against the floor as he poured her coffee, and he turned to watch her walk…not to him, but to the fridge. The part of his brain that was food driven jumped to excitement, while the part of his brain that wanted to just keep a hand on her all day sunk into a bit of sadness. When she asked what he wanted for breakfast, he walked over to the counter, not far from the fridge, and placed her mug there. He took a drink of his own coffee and glanced down at her, tilting his head with pursed lips, “I’m thinking…”

And then Sam called out, and Dean sighed through his nose at the interruption, followed by Anya knocking on the table like it was a door to tell Lexi ‘yes’. That caused Dean to chuckle, and he shook his head.

“I’ll have what they’re having. Also, she might be too cute to bully. She’s quick. Competitive.” He raised his eyebrows as if he had been beaten at his own game, and took another drink of his coffee. “Sure is nice to see Sam smile, though…after the past few months. I don’t know how he’s held it together this long.”

Dean stepped away from the counter, deciding to go to the door like a watchful father and check on Sam and Anya, keeping out of their eye sight. As he watched them, he smiled softly, watching Anya doing her best to teach Sam sign language. He couldn’t lie, it was new…and it was nice, seeing her little giggles and watching Sam’s face match hers. Seeing how intent Sam seemed on furthering their communication was welcome. There was no way he was forcing this girl out of the bunker…not at this point. It seemed the hunters training had to go forward. His brother…would be happy, even if he was uncomfortable with the means.

[h3] Anya [/h3]

Anya plopped down in one of the old wood chairs, glancing at the lit up table in front of her as she pretzeled her legs in the wide seat. Any other time, she would have propped her feet up on the table, but in Sam’s shirt, she was afraid she might give Dean more of a show than he would prefer. So, she grabbed the edge of the table and rolled the chair forward, and then to the side to be a bit closer to Sam.

After a bit of just sitting there, taking in the morning, Sam had asked her to teach him a few signs. So, she held her hand out for her phone and then laid it on the table top, thinking of words that would be helpful, specifically to hunting.

She typed the word “gun” and then held her hands up, signing to him with a soft smile. Then she typed a few more letters and pressed play to read “he has a gun” and did a slightly more exaggerated version of the previous sign. She then typed “he’s over there” and signed it to him, smiling as he called out to Lexi in the kitchen. When she called back and asked if Anya wanted anything, Anya found a spot on the screen of the table that would echo, and knocked twice for “yes”, hoping that Lexi could hear her.

Anya turned back to her phone with a cheeky grin, and she typed the words, “Are you okay? What hurts?” And then typed “I’m okay.”

She played the first part, and signed it slowly for Sam, looking at his eyes. There was something beautiful about watching him learn, and watching how fast he picked up on information…and the fact that he was doing this to be able to communicate better with her. She then tapped the last message and signed it, pausing at the end to reach out and tap her finger gently on his nose.