Fic: Make It Better - Dean/Castiel - G
Make It Better
Read on AO3
Author: angel_kink
Written for: dc_derringer
Word Count: 1500
Rating: G
Summary: Castiel is adjusting to being human after he falls and one of the first things Dean teaches him is how to use a smartphone. The device has it’s practical uses, but also provides a surprising source of emotional comfort for the fallen angel.
“So you might not be able to zap around the planet anymore, but this is the next best thing,” Dean said as he handed Castiel the smart phone with the Google maps application open. “Just type in an address or city name and then hit the blue ‘search’ button.”
Castiel took the phone in hand and examined the screen. There was a blinking cursor in an area of the screen that said ‘search’ and a keyboard at the bottom. He’d seen Sam and Dean do it hundreds of times and it seemed so easy, but he had no idea what he was looking at. He looked back up at Dean who simply smiled.
“Just start typing. I have it set up for you. I can teach you how to open the application later, but for now just type in an address.”
Castiel typed in a city that he thought he’d need to reference frequently to test the waters. Jerusalem. Before he even finished typing a suggestion popped up before the search field.
“Dean, it appears to be familiar with the location already.”
Dean looked at the screen. “Ah, yeah, if the phone knows the area you are searching for you can just tap on it and save the hassle of typing.”
Castiel did as instructed and suddenly the map zoomed in on a sparsely colored outline of the city in question.
“Now do you see those three dots in the little bar in the bottom right?”
“Yes.”
“Put your finger on them and drag it to the left.” Castiel did so and a menu with ‘Traffic,’ ‘Public transit,’ ‘Satellite,’ and ‘Google Earth’ appeared. “Now tap on ‘satellite.’”
When Castiel did it a realistically colored map appeared on the screen with a red peg at the center of Jerusalem.
“Now watch this,” Dean said as he put two fingers on the screen and zoomed in. Dean looked at Castiel’s face for some hint of enjoyment, but the angel just sat contemplatively staring at the screen. “See? You can pretty much zoom into any place on earth. Some areas you can see better than others, but, well...”
“Yes, Dean,” Castiel said steadily, trying his best to fake some interest. “That is the next best thing.”
Castiel was never a good liar and Dean could see right through it, but he chose to say nothing. On the one hand Castiel appreciated the space, but he wanted some sort of support too. He just wasn’t entirely sure what that support was supposed to be. Castiel had spent years observing Sam and Dean’s emotions and Cas knew that he felt them, but he didn’t have much in the way of practical experience with expressing them. It was all very confusing.
That night they’d rented a two bed motel room just outside of Wichita. As was often the case when they rented a room, Dean let Sam and Cas to each claim a bed while he curled up on the small couch. Sometimes, when a room didn’t have a couch, Dean would just steal a pillow and curl up on the floor between the beds. Both Sam and Cas had offered to trade with him on numerous occasions, but he refused time and time again even going so far as to wrestle his brother off the couch and then stubbornly latching onto the cushions. They’d gotten to the point where they just stopped fighting and let Dean have his way.
But sometimes in the middle of the night when Castiel began to toss and turn from nightmares, Dean would crawl into bed behind him and hold him until he settled down. He’d shush him and whisper encouraging things to him. “It’s alright,” he’d say. “It’s just a dream.”
Tonight was one of those nights.
“I don’t like nightmares, Dean.”
“Nobody does,” he whispered, running his hand up and down Castiel’s arm in a soothing, calming motion. “It’s just your brain’s way of dealing with information. It sucks. But you’ll be okay.”
A tear finally broke free and Castiel let out a small whimpered. Dean heard the small strangled sound and lifted himself up to look at Cas’s face. He could see the tear and the anguished expression and he could tell it was going to get bad.
“Ah, shit, Cas, it’s okay,” Dean said as his soothing ministrations on Castiel’s arm continued. “Fuck, hold on a minute.”
Dean got out of bed momentarily and came back with Sam’s phone. He plugged a headset into it and placed one bud in Cas’s ear and one in his own.
“These do more than just maps,” he said as he pulled up his brothers playlist. Dean didn’t have very many mp3’s, but his brother had loads. He took a moment to scroll through the list and eventually settled on the Beatles. He hit play on Hey Jude and set the phone on the pillow in front of Castiel. “My mom used to sing this to us when we were little like a nursery rhyme.”
Hey Jude, don’t make it bad
Just take a sad song, and make it better
Remember to let it into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Castiel picked up the phone and looked at the display.
Hey Jude, don’t be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
Dean put his hands over Castiel’s and guided him to the main screen with all the applications. He tapped on the photos button and began to show Castiel how to scroll through the pictures. They were mostly pictures of scenery taken from the window of the Impala as they drove from hunt to hunt, but occasionally he’d come across a photo with more of a story. There was one that Dean had taken when Sam had fallen asleep in the passengers seat on the way to Dallas. Dean folded one of their empty fast food bags into a paper hat and put it on his head before gently placing two straws up his nose. Sam hadn’t woken up through the whole ordeal. Castiel took his knowledge of zooming in and focused on Sam’s nose. Dean laughed.
And any time you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain
Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
They flicked over to a picture of the two of them that Sam had taken when they’d been unaware that his phone on camera mode. They were standing close to each other next to the Impala looking at each other. Dean didn’t remember that particular day. It could have been any hunt before Castiel had fallen. Though Cas often still wore the trenchcoat, he hadn’t worn the suit and tie since the day the angels fell from Heaven and he was wearing that in the picture. Dean had come awfully close to losing him. This picture might have been the last thing he had from Castiel if he’d fallen anywhere else on earth. Thankfully he’d fallen close enough to wander back to them in a matter of hours, but things could have turned out very differently.
Dean shuddered and pulled Castiel closer to him. He kissed the angel softly on the cheek and froze, knowing that he’d just crossed a line in their relationship that they’d been dancing around for a long time.
Hey Jude, don’t let me down
You have found her now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start and make it better
Castiel reached back and cupped Dean’s face. He turned slightly and set a gentle kiss on his lips. It was brief and chaste, but it was the most intimate physical gesture the two of them had either shared. They looked at each other in the glow of the phone screen for a moment.
So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin
You’re waiting for someone to perform with
And don’t you know that it’s you, hey Jude, you’ll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah yeah
The phone was set back down on the pillow and Dean and Castiel curled around each other and fell asleep. The music player continued to cycle through the Beatles and Castiel continued to dream peacefully, free from nightmares and fear, comfortable in Dean’s arms.
Read on AO3
Author: angel_kink
Written for: dc_derringer
Word Count: 1500
Rating: G
Summary: Castiel is adjusting to being human after he falls and one of the first things Dean teaches him is how to use a smartphone. The device has it’s practical uses, but also provides a surprising source of emotional comfort for the fallen angel.
“So you might not be able to zap around the planet anymore, but this is the next best thing,” Dean said as he handed Castiel the smart phone with the Google maps application open. “Just type in an address or city name and then hit the blue ‘search’ button.”
Castiel took the phone in hand and examined the screen. There was a blinking cursor in an area of the screen that said ‘search’ and a keyboard at the bottom. He’d seen Sam and Dean do it hundreds of times and it seemed so easy, but he had no idea what he was looking at. He looked back up at Dean who simply smiled.
“Just start typing. I have it set up for you. I can teach you how to open the application later, but for now just type in an address.”
Castiel typed in a city that he thought he’d need to reference frequently to test the waters. Jerusalem. Before he even finished typing a suggestion popped up before the search field.
“Dean, it appears to be familiar with the location already.”
Dean looked at the screen. “Ah, yeah, if the phone knows the area you are searching for you can just tap on it and save the hassle of typing.”
Castiel did as instructed and suddenly the map zoomed in on a sparsely colored outline of the city in question.
“Now do you see those three dots in the little bar in the bottom right?”
“Yes.”
“Put your finger on them and drag it to the left.” Castiel did so and a menu with ‘Traffic,’ ‘Public transit,’ ‘Satellite,’ and ‘Google Earth’ appeared. “Now tap on ‘satellite.’”
When Castiel did it a realistically colored map appeared on the screen with a red peg at the center of Jerusalem.
“Now watch this,” Dean said as he put two fingers on the screen and zoomed in. Dean looked at Castiel’s face for some hint of enjoyment, but the angel just sat contemplatively staring at the screen. “See? You can pretty much zoom into any place on earth. Some areas you can see better than others, but, well...”
“Yes, Dean,” Castiel said steadily, trying his best to fake some interest. “That is the next best thing.”
Castiel was never a good liar and Dean could see right through it, but he chose to say nothing. On the one hand Castiel appreciated the space, but he wanted some sort of support too. He just wasn’t entirely sure what that support was supposed to be. Castiel had spent years observing Sam and Dean’s emotions and Cas knew that he felt them, but he didn’t have much in the way of practical experience with expressing them. It was all very confusing.
That night they’d rented a two bed motel room just outside of Wichita. As was often the case when they rented a room, Dean let Sam and Cas to each claim a bed while he curled up on the small couch. Sometimes, when a room didn’t have a couch, Dean would just steal a pillow and curl up on the floor between the beds. Both Sam and Cas had offered to trade with him on numerous occasions, but he refused time and time again even going so far as to wrestle his brother off the couch and then stubbornly latching onto the cushions. They’d gotten to the point where they just stopped fighting and let Dean have his way.
But sometimes in the middle of the night when Castiel began to toss and turn from nightmares, Dean would crawl into bed behind him and hold him until he settled down. He’d shush him and whisper encouraging things to him. “It’s alright,” he’d say. “It’s just a dream.”
Tonight was one of those nights.
“I don’t like nightmares, Dean.”
“Nobody does,” he whispered, running his hand up and down Castiel’s arm in a soothing, calming motion. “It’s just your brain’s way of dealing with information. It sucks. But you’ll be okay.”
A tear finally broke free and Castiel let out a small whimpered. Dean heard the small strangled sound and lifted himself up to look at Cas’s face. He could see the tear and the anguished expression and he could tell it was going to get bad.
“Ah, shit, Cas, it’s okay,” Dean said as his soothing ministrations on Castiel’s arm continued. “Fuck, hold on a minute.”
Dean got out of bed momentarily and came back with Sam’s phone. He plugged a headset into it and placed one bud in Cas’s ear and one in his own.
“These do more than just maps,” he said as he pulled up his brothers playlist. Dean didn’t have very many mp3’s, but his brother had loads. He took a moment to scroll through the list and eventually settled on the Beatles. He hit play on Hey Jude and set the phone on the pillow in front of Castiel. “My mom used to sing this to us when we were little like a nursery rhyme.”
Hey Jude, don’t make it bad
Just take a sad song, and make it better
Remember to let it into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Castiel picked up the phone and looked at the display.
Hey Jude, don’t be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
Dean put his hands over Castiel’s and guided him to the main screen with all the applications. He tapped on the photos button and began to show Castiel how to scroll through the pictures. They were mostly pictures of scenery taken from the window of the Impala as they drove from hunt to hunt, but occasionally he’d come across a photo with more of a story. There was one that Dean had taken when Sam had fallen asleep in the passengers seat on the way to Dallas. Dean folded one of their empty fast food bags into a paper hat and put it on his head before gently placing two straws up his nose. Sam hadn’t woken up through the whole ordeal. Castiel took his knowledge of zooming in and focused on Sam’s nose. Dean laughed.
And any time you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain
Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
They flicked over to a picture of the two of them that Sam had taken when they’d been unaware that his phone on camera mode. They were standing close to each other next to the Impala looking at each other. Dean didn’t remember that particular day. It could have been any hunt before Castiel had fallen. Though Cas often still wore the trenchcoat, he hadn’t worn the suit and tie since the day the angels fell from Heaven and he was wearing that in the picture. Dean had come awfully close to losing him. This picture might have been the last thing he had from Castiel if he’d fallen anywhere else on earth. Thankfully he’d fallen close enough to wander back to them in a matter of hours, but things could have turned out very differently.
Dean shuddered and pulled Castiel closer to him. He kissed the angel softly on the cheek and froze, knowing that he’d just crossed a line in their relationship that they’d been dancing around for a long time.
Hey Jude, don’t let me down
You have found her now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start and make it better
Castiel reached back and cupped Dean’s face. He turned slightly and set a gentle kiss on his lips. It was brief and chaste, but it was the most intimate physical gesture the two of them had either shared. They looked at each other in the glow of the phone screen for a moment.
So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin
You’re waiting for someone to perform with
And don’t you know that it’s you, hey Jude, you’ll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah yeah
The phone was set back down on the pillow and Dean and Castiel curled around each other and fell asleep. The music player continued to cycle through the Beatles and Castiel continued to dream peacefully, free from nightmares and fear, comfortable in Dean’s arms.