How To Train Your Demon (Sam)

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Ruby pulled up to a small diner, a rest stop just off the highway exit. She'd gotten a phonecall from Sam about an hour ago and he'd asked her to meet him here. He hadn't given her much more information than that, which was weird. But she figured maybe he couldn't talk long or something, so she'd headed over. There weren't many cars in the parking lot. She found a space close to the entrance and pulled in, turning off the ignition and pocketing her keys.

Her stomach growled as she walked toward the door, like the smell of fried food in the air had reminded her she was hungry. She pulled open the door and stepped inside, pausing in front of the "Please Wait to be Seated" sign. Her eyes scanned the diner. There weren't many people inside.

Ruby turned her head as a perky woman approached her.

"Mornin', dear. Table for one?"

"Uh... I'm meeting someone," she said, glancing around again. "He should be here by now. Tall guy, shaggy hair, not bad to look at?"

The woman smiled.

"Ah, I see. There's a gentleman at the corner booth by the window that could be the one you're lookin' for."

Ruby gave the woman a polite smile and a nod.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem, dear."

Ruby walked through the diner, listening to the music and conversation around her. None of it was terribly interesting. Some pop song, two guys talking about a game, some girl on her phone. She saw the top of a shaggy-haired head as she approached the booth. She could tell by the way he was sitting that it was Sam. She slid into the seat across from him.

"Nice place," she said. "Cozy, out of the way, serves food."

She slid the propped up "Specials" menu over and looked it over.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam sat at the table with his phone to his ear and listening to his brother on the other end. He was waiting for Ruby to arrive. Sometimes Sam just didn't get his brother, they way he thought. He shook his head in exasperation.

"No Dean, I can't. I'm busy. Seriously. I'm not going to drop what I'm doing just to bring you a bacon cheeseburger because you're hungry but you still have quarters for the magic fingers and don't feel like getting up. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later. Don't call me, I'll call you. Bye."

Sam clicked hung up the phone then turned it on silent mode. He didn't want to be bothered with Dean calling or texting him back. Sliding the phone back into his pocket he sighed and leaned back against the seat. He closed his eyes, scrubbing his face with his hand. When he looked back up Ruby was sliding into the seat in front of him.

"Nice place," she said. "Cozy, out of the way, serves food."

Sam let the issue with Dean slip to the back of his mind. He gave Ruby a smile and picked up a menu himself.

"Yeah, a guy's gotta eat right?"

He glanced down and reviewed the menu for a few moments. Now that Ruby was here, he wasn't exactly sure what to say. There really wasn't a plan for this. He had just wanted to do something normal with Ruby. The lunch at the diner he was hoping would be something that went smoothly because he was pretty sure the rest of the afternoon he had in mind was not going to be something Ruby would be thrilled with.

"So, how are you today? What have you been up to this morning?"

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Ruby wasn't sure what conversation she'd caught the tail end of as she was approaching, but she'd heard the words "magic fingers" and thought it best not to ask questions. As she sat down across from Sam they exchanged comments about the diner. Kind of. He grabbed a menu as she scanned her own. She was starving.

Sam was quiet while she tried to decide what to order - pancakes were always good, but she could always go for some bacon. Or maybe she could go for an actual lunch special. Something called a Pot-Belly special sounded intriguing. What was it, a pig? Maybe a burger would be better. Ruby knit her brows, thinking. Decisions, decisions.

"So, how are you today?" Sam asked. "What have you been up to this morning?"

Ruby glanced up at him and shrugged.

"I'm alright, I guess. Nothing tried to kill me yet, so that's always a plus."

She flipped the menu back to the breakfast foods. Damn, pancakes were always a must, right?

"Did you order anything yet?" she asked, looking up at Sam.

Then she remembered he was looking at a menu too and shook her head. Duh.

"Nevermind, stupid question," she muttered.

She shrugged out of her jacket revealing a plain black v-neck t-shirt. Tossing her jacket onto the seat beside her she sat back and folded her arms across her chest. She'd never make a decision if she just kept reading the menu. Maybe she could look around at what other people ordered, see what looked good.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam looked up and shook his head just when Ruby muttered,

"Nevermind, stupid question."

He looked back down at his menu for a moment then set it aside, already having decided what he wanted. Taking a sip of the water in front of him he looked across the table at Ruby.

"Yeah, it's always good when you haven't had an attempt on your life before noon."

He took another sip of the water and then set the glass down. Just as he was about to say something else the waitress came over to their table and asked if they were ready to order. He glanced over at Ruby.

"I'm ready to order, are you?"

Giving her a minute to decide he paused to let her place her order before talking to the waitress himself.

"I'll just have the grilled chicken plate with rice, a side salad with the vinaigrette dressing and a Pepsi to drink."

Sam handed the waitress the menu and waited until she walked away before turning back to Ruby.

"You have any plans today? I thought we might do something if you're up for it?"

He took another drink of water and wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her exactly what his plans were for the day. Afraid she would probably take off like a scared rabbit. It wasn't something neither one of them would normally do, but he thought it would be something simple enough to start out with.

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Ruby smirked at Sam when he said it was good not to have an attempt on your life before noon. She looked around at what other people were eating, trying to decide what to get. She still wasn't sure when the waitress came over to take their orders. Sam looked at Ruby and asked if she was ready to order.

"Uh... Yeah, I guess," she said.

She looked at the waitress.

"I'll have the shortstack with a side of bacon, a double cheese burger, no pickles, with fries and can I get a cup of coffee?"

The waitress looked at her for a moment, baffled. Ruby stared back at her.

"This is for... both of you?" the waitress asked.

Ruby gave her a look and glanced at Sam. She guessed it was a lot of food for one person. She shrugged.

"Whatever, he can share if he wants."

She flipped the menu closed and tossed it aside, sitting back against the seat. The waitress turned to Sam and he ordered grilled chicken, rice, and salad. She raised an eyebrow as he handed the waitress his menu. The woman collected Ruby's menu too and left the table.

"You have any plans today?" Sam asked. "I thought we might do something if you're up for it?"

Ruby shrugged.

"Sure, whatever. You want to train or something?"

Of course she assumed this had something to do with training. That was normally what they did when they had their secret little meetings.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam tried to sit there and not look nervous. Everything was perfectly normal, he could handle this. It was no big deal. He took a moment after she asked if training was what he wanted to do. Sipping at his water so he could stall for a little bit longer. Thinking of how to answer that question.

He was lucky and got some more stalling time when the waitress came back with their drinks and set a cup of coffee and a glass Pepsi in front of Sam. He immediately picked up the glass and took a drink of it too. Finally, after setting the glass down he spoke, trying to sound casual.

"No, not really training. I thought we could try something else. I don't know. It'll be interesting. Better than training."

He sat with his hands wrapped around his soda glass and fiddle with the glass. Twisting it around in circles on the table as he sat. He tried to keep a neutral look on his face. One that was slightly indifferent, so that it didn't look like he was excited about them going out to do something.

[Deleted]

Ruby folded her arms across her chest as Sam took a sip of water. The waitress came over, giving Sam his Pepsi and Ruby her coffee. Ruby sat up and emptied a few containers of cream into the cup of coffee while Sam took a sip of his soda. She started emptying sugar packets into the coffee, stirring with a spoon once in a while.

"No, not really training," Sam said. "I thought we could try something else. I don't know. It'll be interesting. Better than training."

Ruby stopped stirring and raised an eyebrow. She just looked at him for a few seconds, wondering what he meant. His answer had been pretty vague, which was a little suspicious. She smirked.

"Oh, that other extra curricular activity we do sometimes?" she asked. "The one that requires a lot less clothing than training?"

She nudged his leg with her foot under the table and continued to stir her coffee as she chuckled. She'd be a little surprised if Sam had called her to meet him for a booty call, but it was all she could think of outside of training or killing demons.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam sipped on his soda sitting across from Ruby. He couldn't help but grin when he felt her touch his leg with her foot and ask if it was that, "other extra curricular activity," meaning did he bring her out here so they could have sex. He chuckled a bit, still smiling. At least it seemed like a good thing that she was agreeable to him calling her up for that.

But, what would she think of the rest of his plan? He was thinking that 'agreeable' probably wasn't the word that would come to mind. So, he hedged.

"Well, it could definitely lead up to that. Yep, we can do that later. In fact, it might be interesting if you had something kind of sexy to wear."

Sam winked at her and then kind of cleared his throat as the waitress decided now was the time to come and deliver their food order. He leaned back a bit as she expertly took up his empty salad plate and replaced it with another plate of food. Then he watch in amusement as the waitress put several plates in front of Ruby. He gave the waitress a little smile and said

,"No, I don't think so."

When she asked if they needed anything else at the moment.

Immediately he picked up his fork and started to eat. Filling his mouth, to give him time think in case Ruby asked any more probing questions about today's activities. With luck, she was hungry enough that her food would distract her for awhile.

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Ruby took a tentative sip of her coffee, smiling at Sam over the rim of the cup as he chuckled. The coffee was hot so Ruby made a slurping sound as she took a sip. After a few seconds of consideration, she emptied a few more sugar packets into the cup and stirred. She'd only been half-serious when she made the comment implying a booty call. She didn't really think Sam was the booty call type. But, if that was what this was she wasn't opposed. She may not have considered Sam her boyfriend or anything, but she wouldn't throw him out of bed. At least he knew to feed her first.

"Well, it could definitely lead up to that," Sam said. "Yep, we can do that later. In fact, it might be interesting if you had something kind of sexy to wear," he added with a wink.

Ruby choked on her coffee, which she'd just taken another sip of as Sam was talking. Oh, God, he wanted her to wear something sexy? What did that even mean? What did Sam even think of as sexy? Sam cleared his throat awkwardly as the waitress came over with their food. Ruby watched her set Sam's food in front of him and go about trying to arrange Ruby's little mini-buffet. Ruby picked up the little bottle of syrup the waitress had set down and started drowning her shortstack of pancakes with it while Sam told the waitress they were all set. Ruby watched the waitress leave and looked at Sam as soon as the woman was out of earshot. She raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, what the hell do you mean? Like, a dress or something?"

She wrinkled her nose at the thought as Sam shoveled food into his mouth. She rolled her eyes and picked up her fork to dig into her pancakes.

"'Cause you ain't getting me into a dress. You know that right?" she asked through a mouthful of pancake.

She took a sip of coffee to wash down her food and picked up a strip of bacon, munching on it as she waited for Sam to swallow his food and reply.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam looked down at his food as he kept forking it into his mouth. He took a quick drink of his soda and immediately took another bite of his chicken. He was chewing carefully when Ruby responded.

"Uh, what the hell do you mean? Like, a dress or something?"

"'Cause you ain't getting me into a dress. You know that right?"

Another swallow of soda and then Sam answered her around another mouthful of food.

"No, not a dress or anything like that," he said. "At least, not to start with."

That last part he sort of mumbled in coherently so Ruby couldn't make out what he was saying. Then he shoved another mouthful of rice into his mouth.

"It'll be fine trust me," Sam added and then promptly put more food in his mouth.

He glanced up at Ruby then back down at his plate. Taking another drink from his glass of Pepsi and then a drink of water as well. Lifting his eyes up to Ruby again, he figured he'd try a distractions.

"The food is good here. At least mine is. How's yours?"

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Sam seemed more hungry than Ruby was as he shoveled a non-stop stream of food into his mouth. She took another bite of her bacon strip while he took a drink and replied.

"No, not a dress or anything like that," he said.

And then he mumbled something she didn't quite catch and she blinked at him.

"Huh?" she asked.

Sam shoved more food into his mouth before he said anything else.

"It'll be fine trust me."

Ruby watched Sam eat and drink like he hadn't even seen anything edible in days and narrowed her eyes. There was something a little off about this, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. She picked up another strip of bacon and chewed it thoughtfully, still studying Sam.

"The food is good here. At least mine is," he said after a moment. "How's yours?"

Ruby glanced down at her plates and shrugged.

"It's not bad," she said. "It's kind of hard to mess up bacon."

She finished her strip of bacon and picked up her burger, careful not to let it fall apart.

"But I tried making pancakes once and it was a no-go," she said. "I figured there wasn't much to it - mix the batter together, toss it in a pan, done. But that is not how it went down."

She took a bite of her burger and chewed, shaking her head.

"I had to smother 'em in syrup and even then they tasted like crap. Don't know how some people can pull off pancakes. Ooh, burger's good," she muttered as an after thought as she swallowed.

She put down the burger and dug into her pancakes again with her fork and smiled at Sam.

"How's your healthy choice, diet-whatever you got goin' on there?"

She motioned to his plate with her fork before jabbing it into a few bites of pancake and shoveling it into her mouth.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam sat back and relaxed a little when Ruby seemed to take the bait with the food talk. He kept his eyes on her as she eat her bacon and then started in on her burger. It was amazing how much she could eat, pancakes, bacon, burger and fries. Holy Christ, she was like Dean in so many ways. That was actually kind of scary.

He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her as she told her little story about trying to make pancakes. The little smirk just appeared on his face, he couldn't stop it. It was a bit of a surprise that she had made the attempted at cooking, but a good surprise. This was something that just proved his point. Even though she wasn't successful, she still liked to eat food and she had her preferences and even attempted to cook. How very human of her he thought.

"You tried to make pancakes? That's good to know. A little bit of practice and I bet you'd get it down."

Sam took a few more bits of his food as Ruby continued. He frowned when she said something about his food being, "Healthy Choice."

"I happen to like chicken, and rice, and salad." He said a little bit indignant. "Besides there is nothing wrong with eating healthy. But, everything is good in moderation."

With that he leaned over and snatched one of Ruby's fries and popped it in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed and then grinned at her.

The waitress came over and asked if they needed anything else.

"I'm good. Unless she wants something, I'll just take the check."

Sam went back to his plate, finishing off what was left. Then sat back and sipped on his Pepsi.

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Ruby took a swig of her coffee to wash down the pancakes as Sam commented she’d probably be able to cook pancakes with a little practice. She just shrugged at that. Maybe it was true, but who needed to bust their ass cooking when they could just find a restaurant? That was one of the many conveniences she loved about this century. You could find any food you wanted any time you wanted and have someone make it for you.

She smirked as he got a little offended at her healthy choice comment. Hey, he was the one who had ordered something that looked like hospital food. He insisted he liked healthy food… right before he snagged one of her fries. Ruby chuckled.

“Way to treat yourself, Sam,” she said teasingly.

That was one of the things she didn’t understand about Sam. He had things he liked and things he wanted, but he seemed to spend a lot of time forcing himself not to indulge in them. That would’ve made sense if he had a guilty conscience or something. Ruby was a bit more familiar with how a conscience worked these days, as a concept, at least. If he felt like he’d done something wrong and was trying to balance it out by denying himself the things he wanted that made some kind of sense. But, what the hell could Sam “Straight and Narrow” Winchester have to feel that guilty about? Sure, there were his “training” sessions with Ruby, but that was a recent development. His personality wasn’t. As far as she could tell he was a pretty solid guy, always trying to do the right thing. Would it kill him to loosen up and live a little? Considering his line of work, maybe it would, but whatever. That was a minor detail.

Ruby glanced up at the waitress when she came over a little while later. She asked if they needed anything else and Ruby looked over at Sam. She’d eaten enough to feed a small army while he’d only had his little chicken and rice special. Sam said he’d take the check and the waitress looked over at Ruby.

“I’m good, thanks,” Ruby said before the waitress could get a word out.

The woman gave Ruby a look then put a cheerful smile on her face.

“Alrighty, I’ll be back with the check.”

She took a few of Ruby’s empty plates with her as she left and Ruby sat back in her seat, stretching her arms up over her head.

“So, what’s next on the day planner?” she asked. “You said you wanted to do something…?”

He never had quite finished that thought before. He’d made a crack about her wearing something sexy, so maybe this was some kind of booty call, but she hadn’t really taken that seriously. She assumed he had to have something else in mind. Wasn’t that what he kept insisting whenever they talked about their situation? That this was about more than killing and screwing?