lonely is the muse ♱ supernatural

- one ♱

aster

the air was cold and crisp that october morning, and aster gray was late to work. she barreled through the diner door, jacket already halfway off her shoulders. her favorite coworker, jamie, laughed as she tied the apron around her waist and pulled her dark hair back into a ponytail. "long night?" jamie asked, checking the ink in her pen on her notepad.

aster let out a sarcastic huff, watching the clock tick down to 8am sharp. "you could say that," she responded as she walked around the counter to flip on the open sign. "sister issues," she said plainly, and jamie gave her a knowing nod. it wasn't a secret that her younger sister finnley was the 'problem' child around town. the cops had probably driven down their driveway more than they had driven their own.

   she didn't have time to linger on thoughts of her sister much longer as patrons had begun to slowly pour into the small diner for their usual breakfast specials. aster found herself in her normal routine: take orders, deliver food, make small talk, send people on their way. it was a normal thursday morning.

   that was, until they walked in.

   the two of them stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the regulars aster saw daily. they took a booth far in the corner, and spoke in hushed voices. they were hunters, she was sure of it. she could feel it radiating off of them. she quickly dropped off an order to one of her tables, nodding her head toward the two of them at jamie, signaling to her coworker that she would take them. jamie just nodded back, pouring a cup of coffee at the counter without a second thought.

aster's hands were sweating as she walked up to the booth, the two boys ceasing their hushed conversation immediately. "good morning, welcome in ," she plastered on a fake smile, looking between the two boys in a way she hoped wasn't suspiciously. the boy on her left gave her a small smile, and the other... oh boy, aster thought as he opened his mouth.

"good morning to you too, sweetheart," his voice was smooth, and if she was any other girl, aster might have found it attractive. aster, however, was not any other girl, and a hunter was not exactly high up on the list of people she wanted to get in the pants of. plus, it was 9am.

aster laughed awkwardly, clicking her pen. "so..." she trailed off, turning her gaze to the boy on her left. "what can i get you?"

he glanced over the menu before setting it back down onto the table. "we'll both just have your breakfast special," he said politely, handing his menu up to aster now.

she took it, giving the boy a small nod and quickly walking back up to the counter without a second thought. she put in the order and busied herself with pouring cups of coffee and delivering food to her other tables, all the while stealing glances to the two hunters, who had started up their hushed conversation. a few times aster caught a word or two; sulfur, demons, and murders being the three that stuck out most of all. her hand fumbled as she dropped off a plate of food, the plate clattering onto the table loudly, and heads turned her direction at the noise. she apologized softly, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment as she darted back to the kitchen to tell them to remake the order.

in the diner, sam and dean continued their conversation, but not before dean gave the pretty girl
who took their order a look as she darted into the kitchen. he shook his head and turned back to his brother. "so you think this demon is looking for someone in particular?" he asked, absentmindedly tearing up the wrapper of his straw.

sam sighed, sinking lower into the booth and running a hand over his face. "i don't know man, the victims all fit into the same categories. young women, early to mid twenties, dark hair... seems like the demon isn't gonna stop till it finds who it's looking for."