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huggybearsunshine · 1 year

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Fewer Things 5

Sam stirred awake in the library, book abandoned in his lap and looking around for what woke him. Then the sound of boots descending the metal stairs pulled his attention to the room behind him.

“Dean?” his tired voice called and went unanswered.

He placed the book on the table and rose to his feet as his brother reached the foot of the staircase.

“What’s wrong?” he pressed, body tensing and brows stitching toward the middle of his face.

“It worked,” the hunter’s voice cracked as he said it.

“Worked?” Sam tried to shake the sleep from his mind, “Burying the box?”

“No, Sam, Cas is…” but Sam’s eyes had drifted up the stairs, “He’s standing behind me, isn’t he?”

“I’m sorry, but my stomach felt suddenly very empty and I also have to urinate,” Cas replied apologetically.

Sam’s gaze drifted back down and found Dean staring up at Cas with the softest adoration before he pretended to cringe.

“Just say you have to pee,” the older of the brothers laughed, “And there’s still takeout in the fridge, right?”

Cas descended the stairs and passed the two, offering a quick ‘Hello, Sam,’ as he did. Dean’s eyes followed before finding Sam’s again once the other man had left the room.

“What?” he bristled at the expression he found there.

“So Cas is back,” Sam raised his brow, “And also human… apparently.”

“I was trying to tell you,” he shrugged.

“You okay?” the younger asked knowingly.

“Better than,” he stood firm, but received an even higher raised brow in response.

“You sure?” Sam insisted.

“I’m a lot of things, okay,” Dean shifted uncomfortably, “Better being one of those.”

He stalked off, wishing to leave the conversation behind him.

“I’m gonna heat him up something to eat,” he tossed over his shoulder as he went.

Cas was coming down the hall toward him as he reached the kitchen.

“Come on,” Dean nodded for him to follow, and without hesitation the former Angel went.

After almost a minute in the microwave, near instantly forgotten as Dean stared at the other man like he was a revelation, the ding startled him into motion again. He placed a lopsided burger on a plate in front of Cas with such care, it seemed almost too precious to eat.

However, the hunger in Cas’ gut insisted.

“Not the best meal, but it’ll do the trick,” Dean commented as he sunk into the seat across from him, “Then we’ll get you showered and dressed in something that’s not drenched.”

“We?” Cas asked around his bite, and Dean’s brows knit in confusion as he replayed his words in his head, going pale when it hit him.

“What? No, I just meant…” but the mischievous glint in Cas’ glance loosened him again, “Are you… messing with me? Really?”

“I just needed clarity,” Cas feigned innocent.

“The hell you did,” he couldn’t help the tug at his lip as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“I have no other clothes,” the former Angel added, sparing the other man from commenting further down that line of thought.

“Right…” Dean sat up again, thinking for a moment before rising to his feet, “Keep eating, I’ll be right back.”

Dean passed Sam on his way out of the kitchen with a quick but evasive glance.

He seemed unsure of where to look since getting back with Cas, and Sam was starting to think he might have a suspicion to why.

“Hey, Cas,” he took the now abandoned seat across from him, a warm smile spreading at the sight of his returned friend.

“Sam,” he forced himself to break from eating in acknowledgement.

“We thought you were gone for good,” the hunter couldn’t stop himself from saying the thought aloud, “Are you… okay?”

“Yes, I admit, I did as well,” Cas nodded, “I am… feeling many things at the moment… but mostly, I’m just glad to be back… and to hear that everything with Chuck was resolved,” a crease formed between his brows as his focus dropped to the table between them, “I do have complicated feelings on Jack being God, though… I wanted a normal life for him. That’s why I… did what I did…”

“Dean wouldn’t tell me anything…” Sam revealed gently, “But I have to ask, Cas… What happened that day?” he tried, wanting to venture further, but a clearing throat in the doorway behind him saved Cas from coming up with a response.

“Let him eat, Sam,” Dean spoke gruffly, a clear and unquestionable warning to his words, before his eyes shifted to look at the former Angel in the seat facing him, “Got you these.”

He held up a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, picked for comfort. Something loose, soft, and warm. The opposite of what Cas usually outfitted himself in.

He didn’t want to look any further into why he’d put that much thought into the garments. In fact, he was struggling to keep his thoughts as far away from that type of thinking as he could, resorting to counting the steps it took to get from his bedroom to the kitchen.

There were one hundred and forty-three.

“I think I’m full,” Cas cut into the hunter’s introspection to which Dean responded with a grateful smile, “Ready for that shower, I think.”

“Right,” Dean nodded, “Sam, you can clean up here. I’ll get him setup in there.”

“Yeah, okay,” Sam couldn’t help the smirk that pulled his lip.

Dean nodded his head for Cas to follow and the former Angel rose without another word to Sam.

Once they entered the hallway, there was a noticeable shift in the energy around them.

“How ya feeling?” the need to fill the silence finally got the better of the hunter.

“I’m fine… a little overwhelmed, but fine,” he assured him as they reached the room and walked in together.

Dean busied himself, gathering all of Sam’s toiletries with the assumption that Cas would like them more than the cheap shit he used.

“Shower might help with that,” he replied, placing everything in one of the stalls for him, “Good way to reset, you know?”

“Yes,” Cas nodded as Dean handed him a towel, “I found them very pleasant before… showers.”

His fingers touched Dean’s in the hand-off and the hunter froze, eyes instantly darting down to the connection before returning to Cas’ soft eyes.

“Thank you, Dean,” he commented sincerely, “For everything.”

“Yeah,” the word puffed out of his mouth on a breath, “Yeah, no problem…”

Cas watched him curiously until the attention seemed to remind Dean that he should be leaving at this point.

He cleared his throat, something he seemed to be doing in excess since Cas’ return, and pulled his hands away to take a hesitant step back.

“I’ll, uh- let you get to it,” green eyes shifted nervously before he backed away and toward the door, “Clothes are there…”

He pointed toward the nearby bench where they were placed in a carefully folded pile and gave another quick glance before he was out of the room.

Inside, Cas smiled sweetly toward the clothing and began to undress. While outside, Dean had pressed his back into the now closed door, shaky breath pushing its way out.

“Dean?“ Sam asked gently from down the hall, concerned frown scrunching his expressive face.

“Yeah,” Dean quickly stood straighter and schooled his face, “Hey, what’s up?”

“You okay?” his brother neared.

“Mm hm,” Dean’s voice came out clipped and forced, “Yeah, just realizing how starved I am… gonna see what I can whip up real quick.”

He brushed by the other hunter as quickly as possible to head back into the kitchen where he immediately started his search for sustenance.

“Dean, what’s going on?” Sam asked as he rounded the corner, “Something’s different between you and-“

“Sam, back off,” Dean’s voice shook as he tried to keep his calm.

He wasn’t ready, didn’t know his own feelings on the matter and sure as hell wasn’t ready to let anyone else in on them.

“Cas just came back,” he settled on, “Can you not just… let me be happy about that…”

“Yeah,” Sam looked taken aback for a moment, “Yeah, of course, Dean… sorry…”

He looked legitimately guilty so Dean loosened his shoulders and unbristled his defenses.

“Thought we could watch a movie,” he offered, “maybe have some beers and popcorn…” his eyes found his brother’s own awaiting him, grateful to the change in energy if not a little whiplashed, “What d’ya think?”

It looked like Sam was mulling something over before he spoke, “‘We’ as in..?”

“Me, you, and Cas,” Dean frustratedly answered, “Who do you think I meant?”

“No, right, yeah,” Sam stuttered, “Sounds good.”

“I’m gonna have a grilled cheese, you want one?” Dean altered his tone yet again, turning his back to him.

“I’m good,” Sam’s eyes searched the back of his head and shoulders as if he’d find some answers there, but it seemed in vain, so he let it go, “Thanks, though…”

A small nod was Dean’s only response, focus remaining unwaveringly glued to the stove at his fingertips until the sandwich was done. He found the task relaxing once silence filled the room and he could lose himself in the act, but by the time he sat down with his creation, Cas was padding his way into the doorway, barefoot with towel-dried hair and a much more contented look on his tired face.

Dean couldn’t help it if his smile got away from him at the sight, “Hey bud, how ya feeling?”

“The shower was… a nice reset,” he returned Dean’s earlier statement, “Thank you.”

“Thought it might be,” Dean forgot the other half of his sandwich entirely, “How do the clothes fit?”

“Well I think… much more comfortably than my previous clothes,” he replied back, looking down at himself, and that’s when Dean realized he hadn’t given the other man any underwear, “Especially after they were drenched in that sludge…”

He noticed Dean’s eyes fixated on the lower half of his body and he trailed off, head tilting slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Cas voiced the question written on his face.

“N-nothing,” Dean’s eyes immediately darted toward Sam, who seemed as though he wanted to focus anywhere but on his brother in that moment, “Uh… come with me for a sec, will ya?”

He stood, and as always, Cas followed without question.

They entered Dean’s room and the hunter went toward one of the drawers of his chest.

“Do me a favor and put these on, okay?” there was a blush to his cheeks when he handed the boxers over.

Cas squinted his eyes at him as he took them, “Something wrong, Dean?”

“No, uh… just…” he cleared his suddenly dry throat, “Gray sweatpants have a tendency to… um… geez,” he turned away, rubbing a hand over his face, “They leave nothing to the imagination, is what I’m trying to say…”

Cas looked down again and realized the meaning behind Dean’s roundabout description.

“Ah… so it’s a modesty issue,” the former Angel nodded, “I see.”

“Yeah,” another throat clearing rang out in the silence, this one less intentional than the last, “I’ll give you a minute…”

He brushed passed him, face even redder, and Cas felt his lips curl up in response as the door clicked shut.

Dean practically barreled into Sam on his way out, in too much of a hurry to notice the giant looming presence.

“Hold long have you been standing here?” he barked out as he stumbled back.

“I haven’t,” Sam’s eyebrows rose in an amused expression, “I was going to get my own pajamas on.”

“Yeah, me too,” he huffed out, eyes cast downward on his own feet before turning back toward his room.

“Isn’t Cas still-?“ Sam started as the door opened and the man in question stepped right into Dean’s space.

“Yep,” Dean side-stepped awkwardly into the room and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Cas to confusedly turn to the other Winchester brother as he laughed and shook his head.

“What did I do?” the former Angel asked.

“I wish I knew,” Sam walked away, continuing to shake his head.

———————

@destiel-wings @destieliscanon5nov

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