I dunno, maybe this is just me being well, me, but I feel like I've got to address something. Yes. I did bring up the Amy Pond episode in that post. Not because of the moral dilemma of it, the whole point of the episode was to make people think. Yes, murdering people is wrong even if you are trying to save your loved ones. The bill will always come due. Maybe that's why Dean got his comeuppance at the end. Who knows. Supernatural has never been about black and white actions... It's a show about humanity. Humanity at it's darkest and finest hours. The point I was trying to make was simple: As much as Supernatural is near and dear to me, I can't deny that what they did to some of the side characters was... Not good, to say the least. Take Sarah Blake for example, she was a fan favorite to a lot of people, only for her to return and get killed off in the SAME EPISODE. Cassie Robinson. Thank goodness they didn't bring her back because she'd probably go through the same fate or even worse. Kevin Tran. Bela. Gabriel. Jesse Turner. Honestly, just take a look at my blog. I promise I don't bite!
(Set in the Faerie Court of Avalon, NJ series. Sam is a half-faerie prince, Cas and Jimmy Novak are his husbands, and Jack is their adopted selkie son.)
THE END OF school and the start of summer was greeted with mixed reactions from the students at Middle Township High School. The final days of school were often shortened to half-days that were more shindig than scholastic, and many of the students in the freshman class just didn't bother going. In the higher grades it was a more mixed bag, some kids choosing to skip out so they could get a head start on summer job applications, while others stuck to the school schedule to avoid having to job hunt or, in the case of the graduating seniors, get any last minute help on college applications.
Newly-sixteen-year-old Jack Kline and his best friends, Matt Pike and Kaia Nieves, were a very mixed bag in that respect. All three of them had made it clear to their fellow classmates that they intended to spend the summer working, but the where and when they started was still a bit up in the air.
"Would've thought that was already settled," Krissy Chambers said where she sat straddling the bench at the lunch table.
"Why would you think that?" Matt asked, exchanging a confused glance with Jack. "I mean, it's a summer job, not a career. There's plenty of options, but not all the options are gonna be good fits for padding our respective college applications in two years...."
"Move, bitches," Kaia interrupted, sliding in between Matt and Krissy with an armful of sodas and snack bags. "We're in the final days so the pickings are a bit slim. What's your poison?"
"Cocaine," Jack deadpanned, laughing when Kaia flipped him off and slid a can of Cherry Coke across the table to him.
"I don't understand," Krissy said, absentmindedly grabbing a can of Sprite as she looked around the group. "I mean, I'm going to be working at the marina with my dad, Jack's obviously going to go work at that cafe his dads own--"
"No I'm not," Jack broke in, surprised. "I mean, yeah, Dad would hire me on for the summer if that's what I wanted, but I've actually got a lifeguard gig lined up at the beach."
"What?" Krissy's exclamation was echoed by two other kids, Jason Pond and Ben Braeden, who'd obviously been eavesdropping. Seeing that they were being acknowledged, Jason coughed and added, "Most of us kinda figured your dads would have you joining the family business right out of school, what with all three of them working there."
"And your mom, too," Ben added, which... what?
"My mom is dead, guys," Jack reminded them, getting a wince from Jason and Krissy and an eyeroll from Ben.
"Stepmom, then," Ben corrected himself. "Or whatever it is you call Miss Charlie."
"I call her Charlie," Jack said, sharing a bewildered look with Matt and Kaia. "Maybe Aunt Charlie if I wanna tease her for getting old or something, but she's not one of my parents." Frankly, Charlie was way more influential over Kaia than him, the way his best female friend had taken to emulating her whenever appropriate.
"Dude, did you just assume every fulltime employee at Lighthouse CommodiTeas was part of the polycule?" Kaia snorted, unintentionally reinforcing Jack's mental point, and full on laughing when Ben blushed. "Yeah, no. Charlie met Sam because her former girlfriend pointed her in his direction when she wanted to get her jackass corporate boss arrested for crimes against humanity or something. Cas and Jimmy came around for their own reasons and stayed because they fell for Sam and Sam fell right back."
"And all three of my dads also went to college before deciding to work in a cafe," Jack pointed out, bringing the conversation back around to the previous topic. "Multiple times in Dad's case since, y'know, fuctionally immortal half-faerie; I think he's got a couple of doctorates and a handful of masters degrees at this point. But Papa J and Papa C both went to college and got degrees in Communications and Technical Writing respectively, and when they first started talking about getting married Dad sat down with them to figure out ways they could put those degrees to proper use since they wouldn't have to worry about money anymore. And since they're all three functionally immortal, in a few decades they'll have probably found people they like and trust to take over the cafe or buy it and they'll go on to do something else."
"Really?" came from Ben, Jason, Krissy and, surprisingly, Matt.
"I kinda thought the cafe was your dads' passion project or something," Matt admitted to Jack's raised eyebrow, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Eh, for now, maybe?" Jack shrugged. "Dad opened the place originally when we moved here to give us both a touchstone with the broader community, but he only really considered expanding or building up the place a little after Papa C started baking there. So, like, it's a business that's run by my family, but it's not a family business, y'know? Not like the Three Black Cats diner run by the Banes family, or Krissy's dad's place at the marina."
"It honestly never occurred to me to make that distinction," Krissy admitted sheepishly. "I mean, it always seemed like a given that I'd go to school until I graduate and then come work with Dad. I mean, isn't that what most parents expect of their kids?"
Several loaded looks were shared around the table for a moment. Eventually, Matt sighed and set down his grape Fanta. "Look, my foster mom is a selkie sheriff and her girlfriend is a veterinarian, and they both encouraged me to decide for myself what I want to do. Meanwhile, my bio dad tried to sacrifice me to a pagan god to lift an ancient curse on tribal land his company was trying to commercialize, so I figure he doesn't get a vote anymore."
"I don't know who my bio parents were or what they did," Kaia said with a shrug. "And my foster parents were unenthused when my powers manifested, so I don't really care what they think, either."
"My mom works in a morgue," Jason added with a dry look. "With the Revelation and recent protections for folks like us, she doesn't have to, and she says I don't either if I want to do something else."
"Mom's a yoga instructor," Ben offered without elaborating.
"And we just went over what my dads do and why," Jack piped up, covering his cousin's reticence. "My mom was a selkie like me and worked as an underwater environmental lobbyist until my sperm donor stole her coat. She gave me to Dad in exchange for vengeance on the asshole as a way to protect me from being trapped and abused like she was, and Dad's done his best to fulfill that wish. So we all figure what I do is my choice, and being a lifeguard will look good for applying to Annapolis or getting into another college on a ROTC scholarship, get a degree that'll give me a flipper up with the Navy."
"Huh," Krissy sat back, looking a little troubled. "Am I being boring for just going to work for my Dad?"
"Nah," Matt shook his head.
"Kinda," Ben said, holding up his hands when Kaia glared at him, "but if it's what you really want to do, as a long term thing or even if you just want to do it while you look for something else to call to your passion, then our opinions don't mean shit."
"Choice matters," Jack added earnestly. "At the end of the day, no one can make your choices for you. Even if they think they can, you still have to agree to go along with it," he added with a flicker of a glance towards Ben, who ducked his head in a way that could've been a nod.
"Okay," Krissy nodded, looking a bit happier.
For a few minutes all of them just drank their sodas or munched on the chips, pretzels, and funions, each with their own set of thoughts. Eventually, Ben cleared his throat and glanced up at Jack.
"So, since you won't be going to work at the cafe," he said slowly, one finger tapping a finger against the near empty can, "you think your dad might be willing to hire me for the summer?"
"Only one way to find out," Jack said with a smirk. "Just don't call Charlie my mom again, for your own protection. You will get way too much information about her and Miss Dorothy."
"Dorothy Baum?"
"The school librarian?!"
Jack sat back and let his friends have their mental meltdowns over finding out about their librarian's lesbian love affair with his favorite aunt. It was times like this when he definitely understood Uncle Dean's propensity for mischief. Making a mental note to let his Dad know that Cousin Ben might be around looking for a summer job regardless of his mom's wishes to keep him away from their "bad influence", he settled in with his soda to enjoy the show.
Okay I'm still not over Jacob actually. I will never stop hating Dean for that. But like, how old was he? Nine, ten? How much you wanna bet that kid didnt know how to keep himself alive? Unless some other kitsune took him in, how much you wanna bet that kid died, starving and alone, all because of Dean fucking Winchester?
Ok so I did the bunker kids so you know I had to do the appt kids! The idea was originally created by @fromcenotaphy for HBO SPN…and I just kinda took it and ran with it 😅 I hope you don’t mind. I just found the four of them interacting so fun!
