First Rodeo (SPN, Jack) 3/3 —plus a real Jack sneeze :D

[lillian]

When it comes to raising Nephilim, some decisions are easier than others. In which Dean grows up a bit more. *Jack is 18

This was supposed to be the epilogue to my other SPN story, but then it went its own way so that one will be updated soon! Hope y'all aren't tired of Jack yet!

___

Jack holds his nose between thumb and the side of his forefinger, jerking forward with another nearly silent hhn’gzxt! 

n’gzzt--chu!

“Knock it off,” Dean says, keeping his eyes on the road. “That’s not good for you.” 

Jack sniffles and rubs his nose. He starts to reply, but interrupts himself. 

“hih’ITSCHHew!” He snuffles desperately against the resulting wetness and hides his face behind the sleeve of his coat. “Yuck.” He sniffles again, red nostrils flaring irritatedly against the fabric.

Dean winces and digs around in his pocket for his bandana. “See? You got yourself all bunged up trying to stop ‘em so–”

“nn’GKSHH!”

“Hang on a sec,” Dean says, still searching for his bandana and trying to drive at the same time.

“hehh… heh’ESHHHuu!” 

“Here,” Dean tosses the bandana to Jack, who buries his face in it with another wet, desperate “ATSCHHieww!” and blows hard immediately after. 

“Gesundheit, jeez.” Dean looks him over out of the corner of his eye. “You okay?” 

Jack gives another thick blow and wipes his nose. When he speaks, his voice is threadbare. “I feel…” he stops to think, rubbing a hand over his throat. Dean’s stomach sinks. “...stuffy.” He clears his throat and winces. 

“Well you certainly sound worse than you did an hour ago.” Did he? Dean was struggling to remember. He’d hurried Jack into the car, trying to emphasize the importance of hitting the road on time because rodeo seats go fast and even though Sam and Cas had a head start from their hunt, cowboys had kind of a “manifest destiny” thing about seat-saving…

“How… h-how —- h-hh’NGKshheww!”

“Gesundheit.” Dean’s voice is soft with shame.

“Thadks.” Jack gives another stuffy little blow into Dean’s bandana. He’ll need another one soon. “How are we doi’g on tibe?”

“Don’t change the subject. Do you feel sick?”

Jack looks offended, then a little guilty. “Just sdeezy. Bight be allergies.” 

Dean looks at the clock on the dash, then up ahead at the sun, which is starting to slip close to the tops of the barns on the side of the road. He pulls off into a farm road and cuts the engine. 

“What—”

“Look at me,” Dean says. When Jack does, Dean presses the backs of his fingers against his forehead. Jack leans slightly into the touch and closes his eyes. Uh oh. Opening his eyes, Jack tries to sniffle, but he’s too congested. Dean pretends he doesn’t see the little shimmer of wetness gathering under his nose. He feels under Jack’s jaw and his heart sinks. Jack lifts teary blue eyes to his, searching. 

“Kid–” Dean starts.

“I’b well edough to go!” 

“It’s gonna be a long night, and it’s outside…” 

“Please?”

Dean scrubs a hand down his face. This is the part he always struggled with, no matter which kid he was trying to raise. He would be pissed if he was carted home sick from his first rodeo before he even got there! Who was he to tell Jack he didn’t feel well enough to go? 

He could think of two people who would have a lot to say about that mindset.

“Sam and Cas…”

“We wod’t tell theb!” 

It’s such an innocent response that Dean almost forgets Jack is the most powerful being in the universe. 

“Like you weren’t going to tell me?” Fuck, he sounds like Sam. 

Jack looks down at the bandana in his lap. He tries to sniffle again, but makes himself cough instead. “We could leave early?” he says quietly. 

Dean considers this. The show will be loud, he can get Sam drunk, distract Cas… 

“hhh…. hih!”

Wait. No.

“hih! nng’TSCHHuu!” Jack struggles with the beginning of another one, hitching breathlessly and then giving in to a string of chesty coughs muffled into the damp bandana as it fades.

He kicks himself for even thinking it. 

“Deand…” Jack’s voice is full and hoarse, “do you have adother… this ode’s ki’d of…” Jack holds the crumpled bandana gingerly, trying to sniffle through clogged sinuses. 

“Yeah, back at the bunker.” Dean starts the car. “In the meantime, there should be napkins in the glove compartment.”

“But…”

Dean looks at Jack and sighs. “Listen to yourself, kid. One sneeze and Cas and Sam’ll be trying to life-flight you out of there. And I will be sleeping on the… I mean, Cas will be pissed.”

Jack nods and searches the glove compartment for a napkin to blow his nose.  

_fin_

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!
 

Edited August 4, 2023 by lillian

[secret19]

Lillian😌. My Shakespeare. So happy to see you again. 

[lillian]

Hello!

Part II… what if Dean hadn't noticed? Three Oblivious Dads at a Rodeo

I kept thinking about this scenario after I wrote the above and I've got too much time on my hands so... 

___

Jack holds his nose between thumb and the side of his forefinger, jerking forward with another nearly silent hhn’gzxt! 

He’d woken up that morning with an irritating tickle in his nose. He’d just been sniffly, at first, and assumed it was his allergies. He’d asked Sam for some medicine and received some, along with a short lecture on keeping his room tidy and dusted to avoid this in the future. 

The medicine helped a little, but slowly the feathery itch settled in his sinuses and started coaxing out sneezes. They’re small and easily silenced, so he’s able to coast by as usual for the rest of the day.

Now though… He tries to covertly glance over at Dean before his eyes snap shut again when another tickle surges through his sinuses.

n’gzzt--chu!

Ugh… ow. 

He sniffles as softly as he can and peeks at Dean. Dean’s staring at the sun, marking its progress through the sky. Jack knows he’s anxious to be on time for the rodeo, something about “manifest destiny” and “seat saving” but his head’s been foggy today and he doesn’t really understand what that means. 

hhn’gxxt! nn’tschh! 

Jack’s thankful that the annoying tickle in his nose isn’t strong enough to trigger his usual loud-ish sneezes. He doesn’t think of himself as a person who generally makes a lot of noise. Unlike some people he knows, he doesn’t usually snore, slam things, yell, swear, or stomp across the bunker in steel-toed boots, so his unavoidably attention-grabbing sneezes are embarrassing. 

ngxxsh!

He rubs his nose and sniffles sharply, feeling his inflamed nasal passages smart in response.  

Oops.

“het’GXSH!” 

“Gesundheit,” Dean says absently, mind still elsewhere. 

“ESHHuu!” The release seems to ease the tickle just a little, and Jack sighs softly in relief, sniffling into his jacket sleeve. 

“And bless you again,” Dean says, turning to look at him this time, eyes narrowed. Jack swipes a palm upward against his nose like Sam tells him not to. Privileges of hanging out with Dean: snot autonomy. 

“I was doing some cleaning in my room earlier,” Jack lies. He doesn’t like to be untruthful, but he also doesn’t want to mess up spending time with his dads. 

Dean nods and smiles slightly. “Who woulda thought that an all-powerful son of Lucifer would get sniffly from dust?”

“Or that a hunter who’s saved the world so many times would sneeze his head off because of a cat,” Jack shoots back, grinning. 

“Well that’s different,” Dean says quickly. “Anyway, there’s napkins in the glove compartment if those pesky dust bunnies keep gettin’ to ya.” 

Jack recognizes the light jab as a joke, but gets a handful out anyway and stuffs them into his pocket while Dean calls Sam to get an update on how close they are. 

They pull up next to Cas’ blue pickup truck in the overflowing parking lot. Dean is grumbling about having to park on the grass. Something about mud in the suspension. Jack looks up from his phone. 

“They’re inside – they’ve got tickets but we’ve gotta hurry.” 

Jack steps out into the orange glow of the sunset and is so distracted by the rich colors that he forgets to shield his eyes. 

“ngxt’TCH!” He stops, frozen, while the inevitable second builds. 

“C’mon Jack, let’s go.” Dean’s voice is already fading into the parking lot.

“HATSCHuu!” He takes advantage of Dean’s single-mindedness to let himself sneeze fully and blow his nose into a crumpled napkin. Instead of the relief he expects, the dull throb of congestion fills his sinuses. Dammit. He knows from experience that it’s only going to get harder to hide his symptoms.

He shoves the napkin back into his jacket pocket and jogs to catch up to Dean. As they hurry through the parking lot, Jack tries to rank his dads in order from most to least observant. 

1. Sam. Unless he’s distracted by something horrible like death or the apocalypse
2. Dean. Same, plus human distractions like pie and strippers. Add cowboys to the list for this event. 
3. Cas… 

He’ll stick with Cas. 

TBC?
 

[Wolfwings22]

I didn’t know anything could unlock my supernatural phase again and yet this most certainly did! One of my favorite spn fics that I’ve read on here! Please please please continue this fic if you’re able. It’s amazing!!!

[secret19]

You already know how I feel! LOL

[CeruleanBlue]

On 7/6/2023 at 8:18 PM, lillian said:

Hope y'all aren't tired of Jack yet!

Not at all! I’ve been reading all your Jack fics and they’re some of my favorite fics right now. I was really excited to see you posted another fic and am definitely very interested in any more Jack content you want to write. I really like how you write hurt/comfort! The vulnerability of the sick character, the comforting/concern/caretaking of the other characters, the writing style, characterization of the characters, even incorporating some humor—I think they’re all done very well! Definitely hits me with all the h/c emotions™️ lol

You’ve actually got me really tempted to watch some of this particular season. I was a big Supernatural fan but stopped watching around when Chuck’s sister showed up (except for the episode with Fare Thee Well, one of my favorite scenes in anything tbh). So, I’ve never seen Jack in canon, but I’m quite familiar with Sam, Dean, and Cas and am quickly growing endeared to Jack as well because of your fics lol.

Would be very interested in any future update(s?) if you want to write them! Excited to see Jack to try hide his illness from our oblivious angel Cas lol though I think I’ll be excited for any Jack writing you do

[lillian]

On 7/9/2023 at 9:00 AM, CeruleanBlue said:

Not at all! I’ve been reading all your Jack fics and they’re some of my favorite fics right now. I was really excited to see you posted another fic and am definitely very interested in any more Jack content you want to write. I really like how you write hurt/comfort! The vulnerability of the sick character, the comforting/concern/caretaking of the other characters, the writing style, characterization of the characters, even incorporating some humor—I think they’re all done very well! Definitely hits me with all the h/c emotions™️ lol

Aw thank you! h/c is my most favorite genre, sneeze fic or not. I'm glad I can bring others along with me!!

 

On 7/9/2023 at 9:00 AM, CeruleanBlue said:

You’ve actually got me really tempted to watch some of this particular season. I was a big Supernatural fan but stopped watching around when Chuck’s sister showed up (except for the episode with Fare Thee Well, one of my favorite scenes in anything tbh). So, I’ve never seen Jack in canon, but I’m quite familiar with Sam, Dean, and Cas and am quickly growing endeared to Jack as well because of your fics lol.

I initially stopped watching around season 8, tried to start again from the beginning, but I learned about the Team Free Will Become Fathers storyline and I skipped right to the last three seasons. I just love watching them take care of people 😭

I'm not sure how you feel about spoilers (it's a long show so I do a lot of wiki-skimming to get up to speed). My most favorite Jack episodes are The Big Empty, Tombstone, and Gimme Shelter, and the "Jack gets sick" arc (Optimism, Unhuman Nature, Byzantium) which is very sad and dramatic but you know... right up our alley 😉. As I'm typing this out, I'm realizing that all of the last three seasons are good Jack content lol. 

The actor who plays him, Alexander Calvert, is really fucking funny and sweet in his own right. His convention panels are on youtube and they're definitely worth a watch. He has interesting things to say about acting and life and he also rubs his nose a lot and he has a really cute nose and it's distracting 

Please send me prompts if you have any and I'll see what I can do!

Edited July 26, 2023 by lillian

[Loverofreading]

I would love to see a continuation of the last one where they all find out he’s sick!

[lillian]

1 hour ago, Loverofreading said:

I would love to see a continuation of the last one where they all find out he’s sick!

I've got it in the works! Anything specific you'd like to see in terms of emotions, types of sneezes, how they find out??

[lillian]

Part the Third! Disclaimer: I have been to exactly one rodeo several eons ago and I just remember it being loud and dusty with some cool horses. And I can only assume that Dean likes chitlins and fried pickles. I'm sorry if my Sam isn't very good! He's hard for me to write, for some reason. Enjoy! also @secret19 I tossed in some more stifling for you until I can figure out that hunt fic

__

Jack's handed a beer and shoved onto the stands. Sam’s hand is on his shoulder, guiding him to their seats. Dean is talking really fast about something called barrel racing and Cas is trying his best to listen. Jack was hoping to sit near them, but Sam pushes him into their row in front of him and sits beside him as Cas and Dean file in. 

Loud country music fills the arena and bright lights wash out the last of the sunset, until the sky looks like the ceiling of a huge black velvet circus tent. Jack takes a tentative sip of his beer and looks up, trying to see stars. Suddenly, a burning tingle sparks in his sinuses. The combination of fizzy beer and floodlights does not agree with his irritated nose. He barely manages to pinch his nose shut before a powerful sneeze wrenches him forward. It’s almost silent, undetectable over the music, but the arena seats are close together and Sam feels the jerk of his shoulder against his own. 

“Bless you?” He asks with a cheerful smile that actually reaches his eyes. Jack hasn’t seen him smile for a while now, and he definitely doesn’t want to be the reason he stops. So he smiles back before quickly looking away, wrinkling his nose against the second sneeze. His dark blue eyes fill with prickly tears and he presses the knuckle of his index finger to his septum, clenching his jaw in determination. 

“Oops, did I jinx it?” Sam asks, tone warm and teasing, before Dean gets his attention with an excited yelp.

“SAM! There’s a palomino! They have a PALOMINO! Isn’t she beautiful? Look!” 

“--NGXT!” Jack’s ears pop with the force of it and he has to take a steadying breath. He rallies to meet Sam’s focused gaze; spotted horses apparently not ranking above concern for nephilim foster sons. 

“Bless you.” Sam looks like he can’t decide if he should be worried or not. 

“Thagk you.”Jack smiles and holds back a congested snuffle. “What’s a palobido?” He asks brightly.

___

After a few minutes of quiet sniffling, Jack realizes that he needs to blow his nose or he's going to start sneezing. Sam’s broad shoulders keep accidentally brushing against him in the narrow seats and he knows if he sneezes again he won’t be able to hide it. 

He taps Sam’s shoulder. 

“I’b –” he has to sniffle, but if he notices, Sam doesn’t react. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Sam nods, attention mostly on the arena, where a man in all white and a very large cowboy hat is yelling into a microphone. 

Jack gets up and slides past his family, then hurries down the steps towards the bathrooms. He's almost made it to the door when the first sneeze hits. 

“TSCHHieww!” It’s uncommonly strong and jerks him forward. “ehh… eh’TSCHH!” The second is less strong, but releases everything he’d been sniffling back. Jack belatedly cups a hand over his streaming nose and glances around to see if anyone had witnessed his, in Dean’s words, “snot rocket.” He doesn’t have much time to look before he crumples forward again, this time into his sleeve. “hnnn’GTSHH!” It’s urgent, strong, and wet. He mops his face on his sleeve desperately and hitches, painfully aware that he’s standing in the middle of a hallway behind the stands at a rodeo sneezing his head off. He tries to move towards the bathroom, but his eyes squeeze shut when his breath catches again. “nnn’SHIEWW!” How long is he going to stand here sneezing? He snuffles again, feeling tears prick at his eyes. He suddenly wants to go home. 

He’s finishing blowing his nose with the last of the napkins from Dean’s car, pausing between each productive, thick blow to find a clean spot on the napkin, when a familiar voice calls his name.

“Jack?” Cas, balancing four beers, a bag of chitlins, and a tray of fried pickles, is walking towards him. 

“Hello,” he says, clearing his throat. 

“We were wondering where you disappeared to,” Castiel says. He holds out a beer. “This one is for you.” 

“I’m okay. Let me carry some of that.” Jack stuffs the damp napkin into his pocket and holds out his hand. Castiel looks at him, then at the crumpled napkins poking out of his coat pocket, and tilts his head.

“Was that you I heard sneezing?” 

Jack widens his eyes and tries to look innocent. 

“...No?”

Cas narrows his eyes. “I am a celestial being, Jack, I have beyond excellent hearing. You also look like you’re about to–”

“hh…” He’s out of clean napkins, and Cas is staring at him, so Jack pinches his nose. “--hnnnGXT! –NGXT!” 

“God bless you. I believe both Sam and Dean have told you not to do that.” 

Jack snuffles and wipes his nose on his jacket sleeve. 

“And not to do that, either.” 

“I’b… I’b sorry, I just cad’t… stop– hih! –NGXTshhu! stop sdeezi’g…” 

“Bless you. Are you allergic to something?” Jack shrugs tiredly and Castiel's eyes soften. He sets the beers on the floor (Jack can imagine Sam practically fainting at the ick that must live on that concrete) and shifts the food in his arms so he has a free hand. He holds up two fingers. “Can I examine you?” 

Jack hesitates. If he lets Cas touch his forehead, the game’s over and it’s to home and bed for him. He can feel the low heat of a fever starting up, making his skin prickle and his head ache. But… 

He leans forward into Castiel's offered touch, shoulders slumping when Cas presses his whole palm against his forehead. It feels less clinical and more comforting than how he usually assesses someone. 

Jack all of a sudden really wants to just go home. To be taken care of. 

“Oh, Jack,” Cas says, eyes burning with sympathy as he pulls his hand away from Jack’s forehead. “You’re fighting something.” The earnest concern in his eyes and Sam and Dean’s words in his mouth make Jack want to hug him. 

He does the next best thing, which will certainly get him home to a movie, tea, and bed. 

“GXZSCHhhu!”

“God bless you.”

”Cas... I... hh... I d-dod't.... ngGXSChhhew!” A thick sniffle. “I dodn’t feel well.” 

Cas hesitates for half a second, then drops the food and hugs him.

”I’m taking you home.”

_fin_

 

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by lillian

[Wolfwings22]

This was so good! You’re bringing back my SPN obsession with a vengeance and I love it! Castiel going full dad mode is one of my favorite things and you write is so well. I can’t wait for what you write next!

[secret19]

19 hours ago, lillian said:

“hh…” He’s out of clean napkins, and Cas is staring at him, so Jack pinches his nose. “--hnnnGXT! –NGXT!”
 

“I’b… I’b sorry, I just cad’t… stop– hih! –NGXTshhu! stop sdeezi’g…” 

Oh Lillian. What have I don’t to deserve you. These two lines actually killed me. Thank you so much. 

[lillian]

I’m so glad you all liked it! I enjoyed writing it  

I also, uh, learned how to make a gif so I could endlessly watch Alex Calvert (actor who plays Jack) try not to sneeze. Unfortunately he succeeds (this time… but I can wait forever). Thought y’all might enjoy  

Might be my imagination, but he sounded a little sick at this con too. He said he was tired, poor baby. 
 

here’s the link! 

start at 00:30! Rob talks about how Alex is tired so he’ll forgive his pathetic jump. He might also start to say “and you’re s—“ but again, imagination? 3:17 is the little laugh-cough, and the triple nose-rub is around 30:30ish. 

thank you for coming to my analysis. someone please join me in loving this man.

Edited August 3, 2023 by lillian

[lillian]

After this I promise I’m done but I was so excited about this I wanted to let y’all know it existed. There’s girls yelling but if you listen close you can hear a pretty powerful “hut—ESHoo!” from Alex (Jack, for the uninitiated) at the very beginning. Nobody says bless you because Matt’s about to tell the story of when Misha (Cas) got covered in his own piss on an airplane, but Alex, after a second to recover (poor baby) jumps back into character and turns it into a joke.

Edit: upon rewatching I noticed Alex looks kinda miserable. He’s usually a lot more animated. Plus he coughs through the entire panel  

full panel: VERY cute: when alex comes on (20:24) co-star brianna notices a pillow mark on alex's cheek and he admits that he was "asleep 2 minutes ago" so it's easy to believe (with sf imagination) that he got sick on the trip and this was the last day and he was running on fumes and just woke up to do this last panel. anyway I love him and I hope you fall in love with him too because he's great. 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by lillian

[secret19]

Great finds Lillian but I miss your writing 😩

[lillian]

3 hours ago, secret19 said:

Great finds Lillian but I miss your writing 😩

Gotta get my inspiration somewhere! 

[secret19]

How are you Lillian? Has inspiration struck?