𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

『1.3』

      Riley sits in the backseat of Baby while her dad is inside the gas station. She has her sketch pad in her lap and the cap of her pen between her lips. Every now and again she'll glance up, looking at her reference: Sam. He doesn't seem to notice her glancing at him, that or he doesn't care.

      Riley's art skills have greatly improved over the past two years and she has even allowed herself to start using a pen for her drawings. Mistakes are not an option. She used to have a lot of trouble with shading, but she's figured it out. There's always room for improvement, but for what she has it's pretty good.

      Dean sometimes tells her she should go to art school. Riley couldn't see herself there. She is perfectly fine by her father's side hunting monsters. Great lifestyle to love, right?

      "You want breakfast?" Riley hears her father call. She looks up from her drawing and sticks her hand out the window. Dean chuckles and hands her a powerade and a Hostess cupcake. "No, thanks." Sam says.

      Riley looks at the drink and frowns. She prefers gatorade, though she and her dad constantly argue that they taste the same. Riley said that it's like water: It always tastes different. Dean simply shot back that water is water and blue drinks are blue drinks; there's no difference.

      Sam glances back at Riley's food and she hides her sketch from his eyes with an eyebrow raised. He lets out a breath. She's always been like that. Never shares her art.

      "So how'd you pay for that stuff?" He flips through a few more of Dean's cassette tapes. "You and dad still running credit-card scams?" Riley returns to her drawing, this time Sam notices her glancing at him and figures she is drawing him.

      "Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career." Riley clears her throat and glances at her father through the rear window. He chuckles. "And RIley can't always hustle people at the bar." Riley nods satisfied that her work effort has been recognised. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

      Dean walks around to the front of the car. "Yeah, and what names did you write on the application this time?" Sam closes his door and Riley rushes to finish her drawing. "Uh... Bert Aframian and his son, Hector." Dean gets into the car and tries to get a peak at RIley's sketch pad. She hides it to her chest and glares at her father.

      "Scored two cards out of the deal." Sam laughs and RIley observes her drawing and purses her lips. She goes back to Sam's eyes and adds a bit more detail. "I swear, man, you got to update your cassette-tape collection." Riley looks at Sam with an eyebrow raised. She loves the cassette tapes. "Why?" Dean asks, offended.

      "Well, for one- They're cassette tapes," Riley scoffs. Vintage is better. "And two- Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica?" Dean tsks and takes one of the tapes from Sam. "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." Dean puts the tape into the stereo and meets Riley's eyes in the backseat.

      "House rules, Sammy-" Riley smirks and leans forward to finish her father's sentence. "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole." Sam sighs. "You know, Sammy is a chubby 12-year-old. It's Sam, okay?" Riley smiles as 'A gift to the World' by Loveless begins to play through the speakers.

      "Sorry, I can't hear you. The music's too loud!" Dean smirks and pulls out of the gas station. Riley puts her sketchbook away and begins bobbing her head to the music, mumbling the lyrics every now and again.

△

      "All right, so there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or the morgue. So that's something, I guess." Dean glances at Sam. He catches Riley looking at him in the mirror and gives her a smile. She looks away, then sees police cars at a bridge. "Check it out." Dean pulls off to the side of the road.