"Thanks," says Dean around an odd sensation in his throat. He looks around their little yard, the gathering small but filled with more people than Dean can remember letting get this close to him in years and years, and realizes the knot when he swallows is happiness.

He clears it with a shake of his head, leading Rukia to the table filled with burger fixings. "Most of the spells are Castiel's," he admits. "I know plenty, but they're about as crude as you'd expect compared to what you and he know." It's nice - now that he's had a chance to slow down and learn, Dean admires their elegance, just as he respects the elegance of the sword he's somehow allowed to carry.

"You guys might make me a learned man yet."