Lightkeeper /Destiel//Sabriel//Michifer

The Habit of Routine

Two people sat slouching against the kitchen work surface. The first, a tall, freckle-faced boy with sandy brown hair, was slowly pouring milk into a bowl of cereal, drowning its contents entirely. He watched, through emerald green eyes, as some of the coco-pops surfaced and floated around aimlessly. Placing the milk back on the counter, he yawned.

Beside him, a younger girl had her head resting on the table. Her face was hidden between her folded arms, leaving only a cascade of short, chocolate-brown ringlets visible atop her head.

The elder boy stretched, checking his watch as he did so. It read 6:45am - this was going to be a long day. Sighing, he leaned over and made to lightly tap his companion on the shoulder, just as a third person walked in, distracting him.

The new arrival was the tallest by far, but his face gave away an impression of youth; he was clearly not the elder of the three. As he strode over towards the fridge, he dragged a hand through his muddy-brown hair, attempting to arrange it somewhat neatly. The effort was wasted, as the moment he removed his hand, the hair flopped back to its original position: untamed wisps escaping in slightly different directions.

"Dude, seriously, get a hairbrush."

The taller boy stopped as he reached the fridge and looked over at the speaker, his own hazel eyes meeting the emerald ones of the first boy.

"Get lost, Dean."

"Actually, better yet, get me a pair of scissors and I'll have you cleaned up in five minutes - tops."

"Not happening."

"What, can't I help my little brother out?"

Rolling his eyes as he removed a pre-made fruit shake from the fridge, the second boy then moved back across the kitchen and took the seat opposite his brother. The room was silent for a while, each person absorbed in their own thoughts. Then, "Is she sleeping?" The second boy motioned towards the girl, who was still sprawled out over the work top.

"Wow, Sam, you truly are a genius," Dean smiled.

"Isn't it too early in the morning for sarcasm?" Sam complained, stretching over to prod the girl awake. After a couple of seconds, she stirred, slowly lifting her head.

"Morning," Sam grinned.

"Again," Dean added.  "I've already had to wake you up once."

The girl only smiled sleepily, rubbing the dust away from her eyes and blinking. Gradually, her vision grew less hazy as she became fully awake. Still, her eyes retained something of a tired or rugged look.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing to something outside.

The other two turned to look, surprised to find the ground coated in a single layer of crisp, untouched, white powder. It covered everything in sight, sitting on top of it like a giant blanket.

"Huh, would you look at that," Dean mused.  "It actually snowed."

"It definitely feels like Christmas now," Sam agreed.

"Well, it ought to," a fourth person - a woman - commented on entered the room.  "It's November already - it's practically advent. Though we've got Thanksgiving first, of course."

"Mornin' Jody," the three youngsters greeted in unison.

Chuckling, Jody placed the small box she'd been carrying carefully on the table. "Mind keeping that by you a sec there, Elsa?" She asked, addressing the girl as she began to look through one of the cupboards above the sink.

"Sure. What is it?"

"That's a surprise," Jody grinned, "So if I see any one of you Winchesters try to peek, there'll be trouble, you hear me?"