[h3] Cason [/h3] Cason held his hands up, raising his eyebrows at Natalia’s outburst. But when she mentioned Esme, he frowned deeply and clenched his jaw. He knew from the moment he saw Duke that he had some sort of history with Esme, but he didn’t know the extent of it. Now, judging by the nudity, and the closeness…he had to assume that it was a little more than friendly. The thought made his stomach clench painfully and he groaned. But Nat wasn’t finished with him. She defended her brothers, while also insulting him, and he held his hand to his chest, feigning anguish, “So mean! You know that demons can actually be helpful, right? I’m still here. I’m still helping your perfect brothers. So, calm down with the insults, or I might leave…and then where will you all be, without me, and my connections?” He stared down at her phone, the longer she stood and stared at the door, but when she picked it up and texted Dean, he tilted his head to the side, “And now you’re going to get him all worked up again, right? Great. You’ll come to appreciate me. I think you’ll be surprised.”, he chimed, his smile widening to show all of his teeth as he scoffed. [h3] Dean Winchester [/h3] Dean pulled his phone from his pocket as it vibrated and sighed, reading over Nat’s text. He kept his frustration under control, only clenching his jaw for a moment before turning his aggressive gesture into a forced smile, “Looks like Cason’s tried to start the party early. Nat’s ready to kill him and we haven’t even left.” He texted her back a simple, ‘On our way’, and closed his phone, throwing it back into his pocket as Mika ran over the driving arrangements. He tilted his head from side to side as he weighed them over, “I think that’s our best bet, even though Cason might end up with a missing voice box by the time we get to where we’re going. We should go.” He turned and grabbed his bag, tossing it over his shoulder, and reached out for Mika’s hand before opening the door to step out. [h3] Annabeth [/h3] Anna rolled her eyes at the thought of Cason and Nat getting at each other’s throats. She knew there wasn’t much she could do to get in between them, but she did think she could control Cason, if he got too out of hand. She knew him best, afterall. She reluctantly pulled her hands away from Sam, even though his hand brushing her cheek was a lot more relaxing than anything they were about to deal with. There would be plenty of time for that, when they came out of this. She groaned as he mentioned her phone, turning to pick it up from the table, “It is Cason. And he’s practically begging us to hurry. I think they’re already ready to kill each other. Should be a fun night!”, she joked, picking up her backpack from the chair in front of her. She turned back to Sam, leaning up on her tiptoes as she picked up his hand. She pressed a careful kiss to his lips and pulled at his hand, “Let’s go save whichever one of them is closest to being killed by the other. I would like for ALL of us to get back unscathed.” [h3] Duke [/h3] Duke stood awkwardly until Esme turned to him, and just his nickname falling off her lips caused his heart to swell, and calm a bit. He chewed at his lip, just watching her face as she spoke to him, and he shook his head lightly. He wanted anything she wanted to lay on him. He wanted all that she was willing to give, because for the first time since knowing her, he was overwhelmed, but she was his to protect and to keep. They could just…be. As she admitted that she didn’t want to be alone, Duke inhaled deeply, fighting his legs from jumping back on the bed. He wanted to stay. He wanted to stay with her as long as she would have him, even if he was a little afraid of her powers, and what she had laid on him. He still wanted to stay, “I want to stay.”, he said quickly. He approached the bed slowly, as if she would suddenly change her mind and hit him if he touched her. He placed his palms on the mattress, carefully crawling onto it, and glanced up at her face, before resting in front of her, and sinking back under the blankets. He scooted, until their noses were almost touching, “I’ll stay as long as you need me to. But…tell me to move or to go…or to fuck off. Don’t be scared to push me away if it’s too much.” He sighed through his nose, his heart still a bit high in his chest from the lingering anxiety and he brought a shaky hand up to brush a thumb across her cheek. He leaned forward slowly, his head still laid against the pillow, and swallowed heavily, before pressing his lips to hers. The touch was feather light, as if afraid she would break or punch him out, just brushing his lips over her bottom lip as he held his breath.