August 8th excerpt:
Dean side-eyed Jacob as he tucked his wallet and phone into his pants. “I don’t do girlfriends,” he said shortly, the image of his latest fling on his mind as he shoved the rest of his supplies into his duffel bag. “This job doesn’t leave room for attachments.”
Interlude
The Lounge was a lively place, but for once Oscar didn’t mind. Back in the motel, if a room was full of humans being loud or boisterous, he had to avoid them at all costs. They couldn’t find out he was there, or he’d be in danger.
It wasn’t the same in the Lounge, where they all knew he was around and they all seemed willing to look out for him. He could walk across the open floor safely, and the most he’d get was a hello from a Dean or a Jacob standing high overhead. He could explore as much as he wanted, and even go get food whenever he felt like it.
When he got a strange feeling in his core that he had to leave, he didn’t like it at all. His eyes strayed to the tall doorway and he frowned.
Beyond this strange place, he would be alone again. Left behind just when he thought he might get to leave his motel and not be afraid anymore. He’d go back to hiding away from everyone and hoping he might find enough crumbs to eat every day.
He didn’t want to leave. It was just like his Dean had mentioned so early on, when others first started arriving. He didn’t want to leave.
Oscar glanced around to see what the others were doing, but no one else seemed to notice anything amiss. With a sigh, he found a space under one of the tables and huddled down. Maybe, if he didn’t come out for a while, it would be like he had left, without actually going anywhere. Maybe.
A pair of shiny black leather shoes and black slacks ambled towards the table. They definitely didn’t belong to any of the Deans or either of the Jacobs. Those guys all wore jeans. Oscar wasn’t the only one, in fact, watching the progress of those steps with rapt attention.
The bartender never came out from behind the bar, it seemed. Until now.
Oscar huddled even smaller as the steps came towards the very table where he hid. He tried to scoot around the base to put something between them, but stopped just as the footsteps did. As he watched, the man knelt down so he could see under the table.
Golden eyes that usually lit up with some hidden mischief fixed on him right away, and Oscar froze. There was almost pity there. He was so surprised that he didn’t even argue or try to squirm away when a hand reached under the table to scoop him up. He clung to the bartender’s thumb as he was lifted up, out from the shadows.
“Hey, champ,” Gabriel greeted him, smirking at the kid. Even to him, a head shorter than any of the other human-sized folk in the Lounge, Oscar was small when seated on his palm. “You got a job to do.”
Oscar huffed quietly and pushed himself to his feet. He felt like it hardly made a difference at all; he still looked so tiny on a hand. Whoever was still watching from other tables could probably hardly see him.
“I … I don’t want to,” he admitted, his voice breaking in the middle. His eyes stung and his vision blurred, but he tried to keep it together. He really tried.
The bartender’s eyebrows went up and he shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ manner. “I know it, kid. I put together a pretty sweet place to hang out. But right now you gotta go.”
Oscar took a steadying breath and some quiet tears raced down his cheeks. He couldn’t quite find the words to explain just how lonely he would be if he left. Here, he had multiple copies of his only friends in the whole world, and then some. Here, he was warm and safe and fed.
“I don’t wanna leave,” he echoed. He didn’t even try to brush away the tears this time and he sniffled. “Why can’t I just stay here?”
Gabriel sighed and his invisible wings shifted uncomfortably. He was all about playing pranks whenever possible. He reveled in the kinds of things humans could come up with on their own, and when it called for it a playful nudge was always ready. And, when he thought they needed to be taught a thing or two, he was right there with a lesson tailor made to them. Just desserts, like a cake with their names iced on the top right before he tossed them into a wormhole (to name one of his simpler examples).
This kid … as far as he knew, there wasn’t a lesson he needed to be taught. He’d definitely earned a chance to stay in a place as awesome as the Lounge, but…
“Sorry, kid. I don’t make the rules … well, I did. But they’re like that for a reason.”
Oscar stared imploringly for a second longer before ducking his head and brushing at his eyes. It only made room for more tears to come, as he all but gave up on his argument. He didn’t have it in him to fight hard like the Winchesters did.
“Woah, woah, buddy,” Gabriel said, interrupting the kid’s crying and ignoring the others completely. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come back, now did I? You just gotta go take care of something and then,” he snapped the fingers on his other hand, “you’ll be back and your friends will be waiting.”
Oscar didn’t look up, but he nodded anyway. He knew the Lounge would welcome him back, but he wished he didn’t have to go. Not back to what he had in his actual reality.
“I’ll getcha to the door, kid. You just gotta walk through it,” Gabriel told him gently. Oscar swayed on his hand as he moved, but Gabriel had steadier hands than any human alive. He knelt smoothly by the door to let the kid step off, never once jostling him on the way.
Oscar stood in front of the huge door while the bartender stood back to his full height and pushed it open with one hand. No one could really tell what was beyond that threshold. It was just outside the Lounge. Nothing more, nothing less.
Oscar glanced over his shoulder to see the others in the room one last time before he faced forward and walked through it.
August 7th excerpt:
The t-shirt in the drawer provided plenty of fabric for Jacob to get lost in, and all Dean could make out was a barely visible tuft of brown hair sticking out of a fold. Fighting back a smile, Dean slipped a hand into the drawer and somehow managed to wiggle his fingers underneath the shirt, scooping Jacob and the t-shirt up as one.
With care, Dean settled the bundled up shirt on the part of the bed recently vacated by himself. Some of the warmth from his body remained in the sheets, and he left Jacob there as he went to get ready for the day.
Heck yeah I’ve heard of it! I’ve been reading Brothers Apart and all the other AUs that have branched off from it since back before I had a tumblr account! I was only on fanfiction back then, and I found @nightmares06’s stories just by searching through the Supernatural tags, if I remember correctly. I was hooked from the very first story that I read which, funny enough, wasn’t even Brothers Apart. I read The Comeback Kid first, and I would refresh the page everyday to see if a new chapter had been posted! It is still one of my favorite gt SPN stories of all time. From that point on, I read all of the stories that weren’t part of a series (The Dollhouse, An Ounce of Courage, Reversal of Fate, etc.) since I was a bit intimidated by such a large series at first, but after falling in love with all of those stories as well, I just knew that I HAD to read the series. Brothers Apart was the only one there at the time that I was reading them, so the AUs hadn’t been posted yet. From there, I read through every single new part any chance that I got when I had free time and I finished them pretty quickly. I had a lot more free time back then though, so I’ve unfortunately fallen a bit behind on my reading for the other AUs, but I always make absolutely sure that I stay up to date on Brothers Apart stories and one of the newer AUs, Brothers Consulted (I’m a big fan of Sherlock too). I’ve read at least the first story of all of the other AUs, and they are all insanely creative as well. I can only hope to write a story as well-done as the different AUs in the Brothers Apart world, and I really admire all of the writers who work on those stories as well ( @neonthebright sent me a prompt a while back and I was literally screaming with excitement all through my house when I got that in my inbox). All of the writers that put so much work into those stories are incredible. I don’t know how they manage to crank out so many stories in so many AUs, but it’s beyond amazing to see their work in action! Keep being awesome @brothersapart! I’m hoping to get through all of the AUs one day just so I can keep going on these amazing adventures that you create!
Aww! XD Stan and Dean are at the very least, the brotp of the AU.
While in BC canon, Stan is certainly head over heels for Nathan, there’s no denying Dean’s natural charm. He would respect their size differences, and of course Dean’s own preference for women (In BAverse canon, he remains straight).
If Dean found himself at the same height as Stan, and Stan was unattached, Dean might have a fiery redhead crushing on him for a bit XD Stan falling a bit for that natural charm before they manage to untangle it.
We did make a few ship names for them XD You’re not the only one that loves those two dorks. (St)an and D(ean) for Stean, and (Win)chester and Ba(ker) for Winker. Which do you guys like? Any other ideas?
Art by @mogadeer!
August 6th excerpt:
The little lump in Dean’s mouth was the last thing on his mind as he sat bolt upright, glancing around the room and trying to find his mysterious attacker. He blinked blearily at the glowing numbers on the nightstand, his mind beginning to work its way to being fully awake as the late hour started to sink in.
What the hell’s going on… was the most coherent thought Dean could manage.
They will not. We’ve kept all the Sams to the same height in the various AUs. Spritely Sam and BT Sam both ate well growing up, much like Sam in canon, and there was never any plan to make Sam different when the series started out, so they’ll all either be 4″ or 6′4″ tall. Taller than all the Deans, and that’s what matters.
August 5th excerpt:
Part of the spike of Dean’s hair was squashed into the pillow he lay on. Jacob stepped back to survey his chances, and then made a short hop forward to stumble onto Dean’s forehead.
Once there, Jacob froze and let what he was doing really sink in. He stood on a human’s face, with a pen tucked under one arm ready to draw on said face. He was about to prank a giant.
He’ll only really have to worry about BT Dean, the rest of them retain their original height. And you can bet that BT Dean will be lording it over BA Dean after all the times he told him he couldn’t have a beer at the bar. Getting him juice and sitting him down at the kiddie table. He is never going to let BA Dean forget that he’s the tallest now.
BL Dean and BC Dean will be like fuk you both.
Brothers Apart 