Splatter

6. The Swimmer 4748

"There's no mistake," Sam read the email on Dean's phone. "I put you down on the application as my champion. So uh you'll be competing, not me."

Dean glared at Sam over the pizza. "You didn't think you might wanna run something like a marriage past me? Like, consent-wise?"

Sam put down the garlic bread with a squinty expression, he looked exhausted. "Look Dean, I know it was a shitty thing to do but I felt like I had to."

"I knew it, I knew you inviting me out of the blue to drive two hours to get my favourite pizza in the middle of nowhere was an apology for something. How could you Sam?"

"You don't have to go through with the marriage, just hear me out Dean. The Mer are important people, they're the future and we're the past. There are whispers amongst academics that something is coming and we're gonna need them. And besides that, don't you feel an affinity for them?"

"Affinity?" Dean scoffed. "Hell no!"

"Okay, how about for Jimmy?"

"Novak," Dean buried his chin in his palm, frowning. "What's he got to do with it?"

"I talked to him, to add you to my application and he was the one who pushed the paperwork through."

"He more than pushed the paperwork," Dean took a huge sip of his diet coke. "When I went inquiring at the Embassy he gave me a physical."

Sam looked shocked, his eyebrows raised. "How, um, how did that go?"

Dean blushed remembering a few choice moments involving Novak's mouth, a cotton mask and a stethscope.

"Fine."

"He didn't find anything weird?"

Dean choked on his drink.  "Nope. Perfect human specimen. Were you expecting him to find something wrong with my junk?"

"Uh Dean, I thought that was just a height check and weigh-in and an ECG," Sam chewed thoughtfully. "Did he take advantage of you?"

"Not as much as I took advantage back off of him," Dean's words slipped out unguarded. He picked up a double slice of pizza, folded it into an oozy sandwich and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, lest he said more words. Dean had to admit to himself that Novak, somehow, always got under his skin. He brought out the monster in Dean. When it was supposed to be Novak tailing out or breaking out in fangs, it was Dean who was completely overcome. Novak was always in control it seemed and Dean kind of (really) liked it.

"For the Mer, marriage is completely different to mating, the two could coincide but don't always," Sam said. "The thing is Dean, if there was ever something you had to figure out for yourself, do you trust me to do what it takes to help you, even if on the face of it, it was not my place to do so?"

"Oh like sitting me down when I was emotionally repressing in college and you took me to that website and explained every single sexuality to me then let me stream as many superhero movies as I wanted till it all clicked?"

"Something like that. By the way I don't think you were repressing, it was just that we went through a lot growing up and its a protective thing, you just live in the moment and don't think too much about things, not till you felt safe enough to do so. That's a good adaptive strategy, as far as biology theory goes."

Dean looked at Sam and Sam looked at Dean. They traded a look that warmed Dean to the bone. Sam was the best brother ever and Dean of course would do anything for him. Putting up with a sexy Merman in an arena included.

"So you want me to win the Mer games for you?" Dean waggled his eyebrows. "Buy me a tiramisu and call me Katniss."

Sam dipped his head and laughed into his caprese salad.