Folsom Prison Blues (6/11)
Dean had to admit that he wasn’t completely innocent on the whole ‘Make Castiel Sport Inappropriate Hard Ons’ situation. Granted, he wasn’t 100% on whether Cas had gotten a little too excited in the prison yard, but judging by his incessant staring, Dean figured there was at least an 85% chance that Cas wanted to jump him. In a good way, not in the ‘beat Dean’s face into a bloody pulp’ way. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do with this information because Dean wasn’t sure if he could deal with the awkwardness if it backfired. For some reason he didn’t think that the warden considered ‘rejected sexual advances’ a valid reason for a cellie change. The only transfers he had seen were a result of somebody getting shanked. And that was more of a transfer to the infirmary or solitary, not to a cellmate who thought you were funnier.
True, Dean was stoked that he might be able to get some before he died, but it was complicated. Consent was a tricky thing behind bars. So, Dean would communicate his willingness to have a roll in the hay and the rest would be up to Cas. If the other man felt the same way, Dean wouldn’t make a real move until after Castiel did. But judging on Cas’s perception skills, Dean had a feeling that the glaciers could melt and refreeze before Castiel so much as showed interest. But Dean was willing to be proven wrong.
But, much to Dean’s chagrin, he was pretty much ignored for the rest of the day. Either the book Cas was reading was the friggin’ word of God or he was purposely keeping Dean out of his eyesight. Which, if the latter was true, was a major win in Dean’s book. Because if Castiel couldn’t so much as look at him, it might be easier than Dean thought to get the nerdy prisoner to make a move. Or at least turn into a puddle of sexual frustration. Somewhere in the back of Dean’s mind he knew he probably should be devoting his attention to something besides seducing his cellie. Learning a second language for example or even seeing if there was any loophole in the law that would make him a free man.
It wasn’t until just before the guards came to pick Castiel up for his shift in the laundry room did Castiel speak.
“Dean.”
“Yeah?”
“Crowley approached me in the yard earlier today while you were exercising and he informed me that your magazine has arrived. You can pay for it next time you see him.”
“Oh yeah, about that.” Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked him to get that for me.”
Castiel gave him a blank stare.
“What do you mean, Dean? The need for sexual release is very natural.”
Dean choked slightly, but managed to play it off as a cough. “Dude, I’m not gonna jack off with you five feet away.” Unless you’re into that kind of thing, Dean’s treacherous mind supplied. “How big of a douchebag do you think I am?”
Castiel’s brow furrowed and mouth opened as if he was going to say something and then thought better of it, closed it again. Instead, he opted to shake his head and mutter something under his breath that Dean couldn’t quite catch. Feeling slightly uncomfortable and desperate to change the subject, Dean’s mouth acted without any consultation with his brain.
“So, you ever gonna tell me how you got in here, Cas?”
His cellmate’s head jerked up in surprise, his eyes wide. But after the initial shock wore off, a smirk played across Cas’ lips. “Maybe soon, Dean. When I think you are ready to handle it.”
Dean grinned easily, stretching out on his bunk like a cat. “Oh, I can handle it, don’t you worry about that.”
“Even so, I’ll keep it to myself for just a bit longer.”
“Fine, fine, fine.” Dean snapped in mock irritation. “If you want to be dark, handsome, and mysterious, who am I to stop you?”
Castiel was in a Not Good situation. He had been able to keep his mouth shut for approximately three hours and fifteen minutes before he decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He told himself he was talking to Dean purely for the reason of passing along Crowley’s message. But the excuse fell flat even in his own head.
He had been so on edge since the time in the yard; it was a miracle that Dean hadn’t commented on it. Castiel was sure that he was projecting his emotions clear across the room. It wasn’t bad in itself that Castiel was talking to Dean. It was bad because despite his best efforts, Castiel was flirting with him. Which wasn’t helped when Dean off-handedly called Castiel handsome. Yes, Castiel’s life had gone from manageable to off the tracks in the span of a couple of hours. Definitely not good.
Time passed slowly without Castiel to keep him company in the cell. While Cas was gone, the items that Sam had ordered for Dean arrived. Two small boxes wrapped in brown paper slid through the bars, along with a catalogue with more items that could be purchased through the prison.
Dean quickly ripped the paper off of the packages, eager to see what was inside. He unwrapped the books first, a paperback edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Like every other person on the planet, he had seen the movies when they had been released, mostly because of the smoking hot elf girl. But, he had never read the stories, mostly due to the fact that he never had the time. Now, he supposed, he had nothing but time. The second, smaller, package had a small battery powered radio inside. Grinning, Dean fiddled with the dials attempting to find a clear station. The only station that would come through was an oldies station, complete with an overly sunny DJ who interrupted every few songs to reminisce about the ‘good old days’. Even though the radio was tinny and the music sucked, Dean was happy for the change of pace. More than anything he wanted to take a long drive in the Impala with AC/DC blasting and no plan. Just driving for the sake of driving.
Leaving the books until he was crazy desperate for entertainment, Dean flipped through the catalogue of prison approved care packages. Most of it was just extra toiletries, or even snacks from the outside, but there was a section that grabbed Dean’s attention, sporting goods. Specifically, the accessories. Next to the footballs, basketballs and soccer balls there was an air pump to inflate the balls. On the air pump there was a tube that was at least three feet in length. Outside, Dean heard a squawk from a startled duck on the mill pond and an idea slowly formed in his head.
The rest of the afternoon passed more quickly after that, Dean lost in thought and closed off from the world. He hardly even noticed when the cell doors opened to let Castiel back in. It wasn’t until he was in the mess hall for dinner was he brought out of his isolation. Castiel, as usual, was pushing the soggy peas around on his plate dutifully ignoring Gabriel’s jibes. Gabriel, on the other hand, was regaling the table with stories from his brief but exciting stint as the richest man in New York. Even though Dean had only been paying attention for about five seconds, he didn’t think he could take another extremely detailed retelling of an orgy with one of the Olsen twins.
“So, Josh.” Dean interrupted, looking over at the quiet older man. “We all know why loud-mouth over here is in the joint, but what about you? I haven’t heard a peep out of you.”
Joshua smiled weakly and set down his cutlery. “You’re too young to really remember, but in the early 80’s, cocaine was very popular. In the cities you couldn’t go five feet without seeing people snort up in the public restrooms or dealing in the clubs. I was younger, and I-I” Joshua took a deep breath “I made some poor decisions. I was working as a bouncer in one of the clubs and had developed a bit of a habit.”
Dean listened closely, the idea that this mild-mannered prisoner was a coke head in a previous life completely taking him by surprise.
“Pretty soon after that, I was addicted and I was neurotic. The drugs messed with my head. My wife had been working late and I became convinced that she was cheating on me. Then, one night I took my .44 from the closet and shot her to death.” Joshua’s voice was oddly flat, as if he was telling a story of somebody else’s life. “When I came down from the high, I realized what I had done and I ran. By the time the cops caught up to me, I was down in Juarez trying to sell my car for more coke. Arrested for voluntary manslaughter, on account of the drugs, and a bunch of other offenses.”
Dean let out a low whistle. “Jeez, I had you pegged all wrong Joshy-boy.”
“However, I’ve left that all behind, the moment I stepped into Folsom.” Joshua said serenely, scaring Dean just a little bit. “I found my Lord and Savior, and I’ve redeemed myself in the eyes of Heaven.” That was it; Dean was not instigating another conversation with Joshua for as long as he lived. Dude had gone crazy. He looked around the table, but nobody looked especially surprised by Joshua’s tale. Even Crowley who made a point of shitting on everything anyone said ever. Dean figured that Joshua either had earned the respect from everybody at the table, or more likely, they had given up on trying to understand the strange man.
From then on, the meal passed with quiet conversations and laughter. That was until Juan, a new recruit to the Latin Kings, was forced to prove his dedication to the gang by shivving a stranger at dinner. Then, all chaos broke out. As soon as everybody realized what had just happened, the fighting started. Gangs threw punches, stabbed with their dirty knives and forks and Dean was sure he saw a couple of people get head-butted. After a moment of absorbing the situation, Dean sprung into action. Without a second thought, he jumped from the table and grabbed Cas’ arm.
“Dean, what are you doing?” Cas hissed, watching the fighting nervously.
“I’m sure as hell not going to lose my only friend in this place, dude.” Dean replied easily, pushing Cas in front of him. He was heading towards one of the corners of the cafeteria, it wouldn’t give them the best sightlines in the room, but they’d be protected from two sides. If anything could ruin your day, it was being stabbed in the back. Ignoring the way Cas’ arm felt underneath his hands, Dean patted his pockets looking for anything to help them.
“You didn’t grab anything before you left, did ya?”
Castiel glared at Dean. “You mean before you pushed me across the cafeteria without a word?”
“Okay,” Dean breathed and shot what he hoped was a reassuring smile at Castiel “I hope you have one mean right hook on ya, because this is going to get a little messy.”
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