Title: What's In A Name?
Author: [livejournal.com profile] papered
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 424 words
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, not mine.
Summary: Everyone needs some hint of normalcy to hold on to. Even Dean Winchester.
Notes: Inspired as I was listening to Yiruma's instrumental piece, Passing By, which is a gorgeous mix of piano and violin. A big thank you to [livejournal.com profile] potthead for her mad betaing skills. :)


He knows it irritates Sam, which is partly why he does it – the flash of his cocky grin and his amusement-filled voice intoning Sammy, endlessly, until his brother threatens to shut him up with duct tape and stuff his head down the toilet.

But mostly, it slips out naturally when he’s not even trying to be annoying. The nickname rolls off his tongue without his realizing it, as he wakes up in the morning, still groggy, to find Sam researching some topic or another, or calling out a good-night greeting as he rolls into bed with muscles protesting after a particularly vicious hunt. He distantly remembers his mother calling Sam that, and unconsciously, the nickname had slipped into his vocabulary – a small but bittersweet reminder that once, even the Winchesters had been normal, before normal had passed on by. But it’s familiar and comforting, like an old, well-worn favourite pair of jeans that’s been ripped and torn through by hellhounds and werewolves, and covered in blood God knows how many times, but fits him like a glove and somehow smells like leather and smoke and car wax all at once.

He knows it irritates Sam, but there were times when his brother just smiles in response in that way of his, even as their banter leads to flying tackles and wrestling on the floor of the motel – a barely recognizable quirk of the lips. But Dean recognizes it all right. He knows his brother better than anyone, and can identify Sam’s moods and expressions with his eyes glued shut – and Dean knows that his brother understands, and in the same way that it comforts him, it’s a part of their childhood that Sam can hold on to.

It's almost painfully normal in how it contrasts with the rest of his childhood – the metallic cling and cold steel of the gun in his small five-year-old hands; how he could fall asleep more easily to the sound of his father cleaning the weapons than he could a summer breeze. The endless days of night-time hunting, and going to school the next day with a broken arm and bruised ribs, his side protesting as he flashes that dazzling smile at the teacher and explains how he slipped and fell down the stairs. It was anything but conventional.

Sam had always held onto the idea of normal with a determination that had puzzled his father. But everyone needed some hint of normalcy after all – something to cling on to from an almost-forgotten childhood.

For Dean, it was Sammy.

Finis.


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From: [identity profile] potthead.livejournal.com


YAY!!! I love the new ending you came up with for this! Muchmuchmuch better than your last one, and it makes the entire fic so much stronger! Bravo! ♥

From: [identity profile] lovehimnot.livejournal.com


That was really amazing ♥ Awesome work!
ext_103092: My BJDs Ysrael and Vao (don't turn away - dean)

From: [identity profile] r727.livejournal.com


This. This is great. I love it when Dean calls him Sammy and the times when Sam just accepts it. And Dean remembering that's what their mother called him, that part reminded me of the family picture in the basement of their house that was labeled "John, Mary, Dean, and Little Sammy". It just all fits so perfectly. :D

From: [identity profile] rocksalted.livejournal.com


OH BEAUTIFUL!!! ♥ I love it! =)

...to shut him up with duct tape and stuff his head down the toilet.
>> That part made me lauuuugh.

From: [identity profile] cookie-junkie.livejournal.com


Yay [livejournal.com profile] papered!

Great job, I loved this!

The endless days of night-time hunting, and going to school the next day with a broken arm and bruised ribs, his side protesting as he flashes that dazzling smile at the teacher and explains how he slipped and fell down the stairs.

So perfect! Thats just like Dean, he's so in character!

From: [identity profile] acciofirebolt.livejournal.com


OHHHHHHHHH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. I love this. I think my favorite part is, "how he could fall asleep more easily to the sound of his father cleaning the weapons than he could a summer breeze. That's sort-of heartbreaking when you truly think about it. But the end, OOOOOH MY GOD. DSJFLSDKAFSA.
ext_12410: (the dean show - dean and sam)

From: [identity profile] tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com


awww. i love how "sammy" is dean's version of affectionate and normal.

From: [identity profile] surrexi.livejournal.com


Awwwwwwww. Oh, Dean. Very nice fic, chica!

From: [identity profile] kepp0xy.livejournal.com


LIZ OMG. I love it so much!!! I like the descriptions of Sam's smile, and jeans and the way you simply laid out the conflict between Sam & John in a way that emphasized Dean's perspective of the nickname "Sammy". *LOVES ON* great work!!! *mems*

From: [identity profile] ewanspotter.livejournal.com


This fic is so simple, and yet gorgeous. I absolutely love it.

From: [identity profile] adevyish.livejournal.com


First you convert me to the show and now you try to convert me to the fandom!? *glare*

Yeah, that was lovely

From: [identity profile] ckll.livejournal.com


For Dean, it was Sammy.
Period!! I loved it :D

From: [identity profile] hiyacynth.livejournal.com


Awww, very very sweet! Great job, thank you for sharing.

From: [identity profile] ultraviolet9a.livejournal.com


Am happy now. In an ow kind of way. Thanks.

From: [identity profile] iamstealthyone.livejournal.com


But everyone needed some hint of normalcy after all – something to cling on to from an almost-forgotten childhood.

For Dean, it was Sammy.


Aww. :) So, so true. :)

Nicely done!

From: [identity profile] hold-onhope.livejournal.com


YAY I love it. The end! The double entente! YAY!
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