Ordinary Extraordinary

Type of Submission: (Fiction)
Title: Ordinary Extraordinary
Author/Artist/Vidder: vanillafluffy
Recipient: bellatemple
Rating: PG-13 for language
Word count: about 5200
Warnings: Some cussing, may be spoilers for aired episodes
Author's Notes: From the prompt “Crossover with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, either book or miniseries -- Dean (with or without Sam) gets lost in the world Below" Book 'verse.
Summary: Set about six months after the conclusion of “Neverwhere” and post-series for SPN, when Dean’s perfectly ordinary Saturday is dramatically interrupted and he’s thrown into a situation that could change his reality forever.

(  Ordinary Extraordinary  )

19 to 50: 1991

1991 was the year of the Pittsburgh Tattoo Convention. It was advertized in the tattoo 'zines, and I *really* wanted to go. I wanted to see more tattoos---this was before you could go to Wally World and see fifty people with tatts any Saturday afternoon. There were very few shops in my area, because Florida had very restrictive laws at the time. GK and I scoped them out when she was looking to get hers, and the closest one was about 25 miles away.

I wanted to get a tribal background for my lizard, and Shaw was going to be there. Which I did.

I also had An Adventure. Except during the years of my inheritance, I've never had a lot of money. I didn't reserve a room, because the info packet had advertised a Con suite.

Unfortunately, the suite wasn't set up on Thursday when I arrived (and it turned out to be a daytime-only thing anyway). I got creative; I found a table on the mezzanine with a floor-length cloth, crawled under it, head pillowed on my briefcase, and slept fitfully til morning, when I hit the hotel brunch and ate half my body weight in bacon.

That evening, when I was standing around talking with a gal who'd also gotten tattooed that day---there was a nightly parade of fresh tatts---I mentioned my room dilemma, and she knew a guy who had a room...I ended up sleeping on the floor again, this time with actual pillows. Nice guy, too bad he was checking out that morning and going wherever.

That night, I found the ladies' room less traveled---this was a nice hotel, and the ladies room on the far side of the mezzanine had an area as you went in with little stools and counters with big mirrors above them, and I pulled out the stools, crawled under the counter and (All together now---) went to sleep on the floor. Was awakened around six by a cleaner, who was very nice. She gave me a clean washcloth to freshen up with, and we chatted. She had family in Bithlo---"Beautiful downtown Bithlo" is something of a local joke, it's a wide place in the road---but it was one of those playful moments from the Universe.

I kept dozing off in the Con suite---which was a partitioned space to one side of the mezzanine, NOT an actual suite---and the lobby. I'd made the mistake of thinking that since the Con ended on Sunday, most people would be departing Monday morning. No such luck.

I ended up taking the hotel shuttle bus to the airport and not sleeping there. Not even on the floor. To this day, I regard the Pittsburgh airport as an outpost of Hell.

It goes down as one of the craziest things I've ever done, and sleep deprivation or not, the Con was a blast.


.

19 to 50: 1991

1991 was the year of the Pittsburgh Tattoo Convention. It was advertized in the tattoo 'zines, and I *really* wanted to go. I wanted to see more tattoos---this was before you could go to Wally World and see fifty people with tatts any Saturday afternoon. There were very few shops in my area, because Florida had very restrictive laws at the time. GK and I scoped them out when she was looking to get hers, and the closest one was about 25 miles away.

I wanted to get a tribal background for my lizard, and Shaw was going to be there. Which I did.

I also had An Adventure. Except during the years of my inheritance, I've never had a lot of money. I didn't reserve a room, because the info packet had advertised a Con suite.

Unfortunately, the suite wasn't set up on Thursday when I arrived (and it turned out to be a daytime-only thing anyway). I got creative; I found a table on the mezzanine with a floor-length cloth, crawled under it, head pillowed on my briefcase, and slept fitfully til morning, when I hit the hotel brunch and ate half my body weight in bacon.

That evening, when I was standing around talking with a gal who'd also gotten tattooed that day---there was a nightly parade of fresh tatts---I mentioned my room dilemma, and she knew a guy who had a room...I ended up sleeping on the floor again, this time with actual pillows. Nice guy, too bad he was checking out that morning and going wherever.

That night, I found the ladies' room less traveled---this was a nice hotel, and the ladies room on the far side of the mezzanine had an area as you went in with little stools and counters with big mirrors above them, and I pulled out the stools, crawled under the counter and (All together now---) went to sleep on the floor. Was awakened around six by a cleaner, who was very nice. She gave me a clean washcloth to freshen up with, and we chatted. She had family in Bithlo---"Beautiful downtown Bithlo" is something of a local joke, it's a wide place in the road---but it was one of those playful moments from the Universe.

I kept dozing off in the Con suite---which was a partitioned space to one side of the mezzanine, NOT an actual suite---and the lobby. I'd made the mistake of thinking that since the Con ended on Sunday, most people would be departing Monday morning. No such luck.

I ended up taking the hotel shuttle bus to the airport and not sleeping there. Not even on the floor. To this day, I regard the Pittsburgh airport as an outpost of Hell.

It goes down as one of the craziest things I've ever done, and sleep deprivation or not, the Con was a blast.


.