D U S T [in the] W I N D

[Tristan Michaels]

Listen, if I'm wrong about her, if I'm wrong about this, anything. Its all on me. I'll take full responsibility. What was he thinking? What possibly possessed him to say something like that. For his status, what he did was like making a deal with a demon. One slip and he was gone, cast straight out of the home he had known since the beginning of time. Stripped of his wings. If he was lucky he'd be sent to Hell. Tristan was never lucky though. He knew if he fucked this up. If he made the wrong decision and she turned on him, he'd be stuck on Earth living a mortal life.

Long ago, Tristan screwed up and as punishment he was forced to live on Earth as a mortal. By the end of the first week he had nearly gone insane. Tristan did not even want to fathom being stuck like that permanently. It terrified him. Yet something possessed him to make that deal. To save Ruby from the fate that Lilith had planned for her. She was important. She was the only one that would be able to help train Sam. To keep him on the right track. Tristan knew that from his prior experience with Ruby. They had a... complicated relationship. When forced to they relied on each other, but stuck in a room together they were constantly arguing.

Now Tristan found himself under more pressure than he had felt in centuries. All because of some girl, some demon. What was he thinking? He sat at the diner, early morning. Four months and some odd days after saving Ruby's life, keeping her from the Hell that awaited her once more. And that was all that was on Tristan's mind. Why had he done it? For Sam? For the youngest Winchester? Or was there something else behind it. Tristan was not about to lie, Ruby had a habit of picking the most attractive bodies to possess. Were she anything but what she was, there would have been several occasions involving a hotel room and a bed. But she was a demon, and no matter what Tristan was not going to let himself cross that line.

Was that why he saved her? He had convinced himself it was because of Sam, but now he was not so sure. Tristan sipped his coffee and contemplated his fate, the thin wire he was walking across now. Lose his balance even a little, and there was no hope for him. Tristan made a habit, his whole existence of pushing the boundaries, but now, for the most part, that was over. One wrong move and Tristan faced something far worse than Hell. He glanced out the window next to him ever few minutes, sitting in the corner booth of the diner. Outside the sky was dark, rain poured from the saturated clouds. His black leather jacket covered a black t-shirt and he wore dark blue worn blue jeans, his feet clad in his broken in combat boots. Tristan sighed loudly, grabbing the attention of one of the waitresses and ran a hand through his hair. He looked up and saw the brunette woman and smiled, then the woman went back to work. I am so screwed.

[Ruby Hawthorne]

I got off scot-free. This was the thought that kept running through her mind. She'd barely touched a foot in Hell, before she was yanked back out again. It was amazing, wonderful, and she would have been grateful, had she known who did it and what the hell they wanted. But not knowing...she had two roads she could travel. Brush it off, pretend nothing happened, or become completely, freakishly, paranoid. She chose number one, thanks. If whoever it was that gave her the 'Get out of Hell free' card felt like showing up before the next century and explaining their motives, maybe she'd listen. She was indebted, of course.

She felt good, inside. Better than she had in a while, though body jumping did tend to bring that feeling down a few notches. It had to be done, though, because Sammy had opened his mouth a bit to wide and claimed her dead. Not that she minded too terribly much. The less people knew she was alive, the better. But still, she had to play meat suit dress-up every time she went to see Sam-o, just in case Dean were to walk in. But she liked her current body. She wasn't sure why she was so attached to it, but it seemed like a magnet, drawing her back every time she left it. Not that she minded. The body was restored, like new, except for the "nobody home" part. At least it wasn't dead. Those tended to creep her out.

Without really noticing it, Ruby found herself moving towards a diner. A nice looking little place. She bet her life they had french fries. She could definitely go for some right now. A bell jingled above her head as she pushed through the door, grabbing some quick looks of curiosity to the new person coming in, before their attention went back to their meals. Ruby stood there for a moment in her brown leather bomber jacket with her usual graphic tee, jeans, and heeled boots. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders, moving subtly with each movement of her body, greenish silver eyes scanning for a place to sit, until she spotted someone who bother made her mood brighten and darken. Tristan.

She didn't take but a moment to decide to sit down at his table. She annoyed him as much as he annoyed her, so it was all fun. "Hey there, Angelpants. How've ya been?" She asked with a grin, plopping into the seat across from the angel, her fingers moving to flag down a waitress. "French fries and a chocolate milkshake. Put it on his bill." She said, gesturing to Tristan, before turning her sweet smile from the waitress to the male across from her. Oh, he was yummy as ever, wasn't he? The demon crossed her arms under her chest, leaning back in the booth. "Haven't seen you in a while, Trist. What have you been doin?"

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