"Wait, what's that?" Dean asked when the towel on Sam's hips slipped further down.

"What's what?" Subconsciously, the taller man hoisted the towel higher on his waist as he had felt it slipping.

Dean stepped forward slightly and pointed towards the off-white towel that was covering Sam, "There on your hip."

"Nothing." Sam turned away to search through his duffle. He hoped that Dean would drop the subject. He had no such luck.

The younger Winchester could hear his brother getting increasingly closer and closed his eyes to sigh. He just wanted to get dressed in peace. After all, he'd been able to hide this from Dean for the last year through strategic towel placement and high waisted jeans; it'd be such a disappointment for it to be revealed now just because he'd become careless.

"It's a tattoo, isn't it?" Dean pushed the subject further ignoring how much it was annoying his brother.

"Leave it, Dean." Sam warned in the most authoritative tone he could muster. He frowned when he reminded himself of his dad.

"Why do you regret it or summin'?" Dean asked curiously. "When did you get it?"

"Dean." His patience was wearing thin.

"Awh! Come on, Sammy! Let me see!" He knew he was annoying his brother and he loved it. Revenge for all the times he'd been rude about his music taste, Dean thought.

"No, Dean!" Sam turned to his brother and squared his shoulders while crossing his arm, "I don't regret it and I got it shortly after you got me from Stanford." Anger laced his words.

A mischievous sparkle lit in the elder man's eyes and Sam knew that meant trouble. He cursed silently.

Dean throw his arm out and grabbed his brother's towel, ripping it from around Sam's thin waist. The younger Winchester cried out in shock as he tried to catch the scratchy motel towel before Dean chucked it over his shoulder.

The taller man was too slow, leaving him standing completely naked in front of his smirking brother. His hands automatically shot down to cover his dignity but couldn't cover that and the tattoo.

Dean bent down to scrutinise the small tattoo that was located on Sam's right hip bone. Embarrassed, the taller Winchester tried to move away from his brother but Dean grabbed his arm to stop him moving.

The tattoo was only slightly bigger than a small matchbox but the drawing had intricate patterns and features. Dean would praise the tattoo artist for the steady hand they kept during the finer details.

"It's a..." Dean was lost for words at what was tattooed upon Sam's skin. Not that he didn't like it, it was merely unexpected.

"A moose, yeah." Sam shifted as his face got redder.

Dean released his grasp on Sam's arm so the man could slip on some clothes and not just stand nude.

"It's cool. Kinda sums you up, I suppose." Dean leant his head to the side thinking.

Sam quickly pulled on his clothes and hoped that it'd be the end if that. He should have known better.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I have a moose permanently etched into the front of my right hip." Sam spoke as though it were obvious.

Dean nodded in understanding, "Why?"

Sam smiled slightly and looked up at Dean with sad eyes, "They'd always compare me to a moose. It was great since they're pretty much my favourite animal anyway." Sam rubbed the pad of his thumb over the small picture fondly.

It didn't take a genius to know that he was talking about the people from his college.

Dean smiled up at Sam and patted him on the shoulder, "Well, I like it."

Sam smiled back at him and was just a bit relieved that he didn't have to constantly hide this from his brother now.