Shipwrecked Part 1 (gift!fic for Gedry)
Title: Shipwrecked
Author: earth_heart
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Castiel/Dean
Warnings: AU
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Supernatural is not mine. It belongs to Kripke and the CW/WB.
Summary: Gift!fic for Gedry. The prompt given was ‘shipwrecked’.
AN: So, this was supposed to be porn, but I’m way too mellow right now to try and come up with something that’s even half-good. Besides, I like the direction the story went. :D So, I hope you all enjoy it as well!
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Dean’s head hurt; like, I-just-got-hit-by-a-bus hurt. Actually, now that he was somewhat conscious, he realized that his entire body hurt except for his legs. That was just weird.
As the man tried to remember what had happened, bits and pieces slowly trickled in. He’d been on a work-related cruise (because his job kicked ass), and there had been a freak storm- practically a hurricane. The ship had crashed or something; torn apart by waves stronger than they’d seemed.
The more lucid Dean became, the more his surroundings started to take shape around him. He was sprawled on warm sand; sunlight lighting up his eyelids with the familiar ember-orange glow of one’s eyes being closed while facing said sun.
Something cool touched his face suddenly and Dean jerked with a gasp. Whatever it was wiped over his face, being gentle around his left temple, which Dean suddenly realized was throbbing.
“Shhh, you’re alright.” a deep voice murmured. “Relax for me, okay? You took quite a bad hit when your ship wrecked. I’m going to cover your eyes so you can open them, but take your time, and tell me when you’re ready.”
Darkness suddenly blocked out the sunlight, and Dean carefully cracked open first one eye, then the other. He stared up at the hand covering his eyes; the long, slender fingers and the bits of sunlight that managed to reach him through gaps where the fingers didn’t quite meet.
“I think I’m alright. You can take your hand away.” he rasped, and my god was that really his voice? He sounded like he’d swallowed a few tons of saltwater and brine.
The hand didn’t immediately pull away, which meant that this guy really knew what he was doing. The fingers slowly widened, only letting in a bit of sunlight at a time as the hand carefully pulled away. By the time Dean could fully see again, the brightness was only a milt irritant.
Curiously, Dean turned his head to see who, exactly, had saved him. Large blue eyes stared inquisitively back at him. They were as dark as stormy waters, slightly hidden by dark brown tufts of bangs that fell tousled over his forehead. However, that was absolutely not what had caught Dean’s attention.
The guy’s skin was a very light shade of blue-green, and his outfit was made from something that looked suspiciously like seaweed. He had an interesting marking inked under his eye in purple; a pair of wings surrounded by some sort of serpent-like vine.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice deep and worried.
Dean nodded dumbly, trying very hard to say something that wasn’t a very rude ‘Holy shit what the fuck are you’. Clearing his throat, he winced at the painful rasp. Suddenly there was something in his face; something that looked a hell of a lot like a conch shell.
“Drink, it will help you feel better. It’s fresh water, so you don’t have to worry.” Gently the man helped Dean drink, and when that cold, crisp water trickled down his throat he all but moaned in pleasure.
At least he didn’t feel like he’d swallowed sandpaper anymore. Sighing happily, Dean licked his lips before turning to look back at the man... creature.... thing that had saved him. “So, I owe you so much gratitude right now, for saving my ass.” he said, reaching out. “My name’s Dean. Um... I really don’t want to be rude, and I should probably be freaking out more about this, but what are you?”
Man-creature-thing stared curiously at his hand, as if wondering why Dean was simply holding it up in the air. When asked what he was, he looked up at Dean again; the man dropped his hand self-consciously.
“I’m a vhorztah.” he replied seriously. Okay, well... that told him nothing, really. Dean stared blankly at the guy. “My name is Castiel.” That was a bit better; at least now he had a name.
“Castiel. Nice name. Again, I don’t want to be rude, but what’s a vhorztah?” Dean really hoped this guy wasn’t offended. Part of Dean had always been interested in things that couldn’t be explained (he probably had Sammy to thank for that), and there was no way to explain this strange man with the blue-green skin. Needless to say, Dean’s interest was seriously piqued.
Castiel looked at him, though he didn’t seem very angry. “Well, a more human term would be a half-breed.” he said after a moment where he was clearly thinking. “We’re not a very well known breed. Vhorztah are the children of angels and mermaids. More precisely, we’re the children of Grigori and mermaids. We’re relatively young; the first vhorztah was born only about two thousand years ago. There aren’t many of us, and we try to keep as hidden as possible. Mainly we keep to the seas, living with our mermaid kin.”
Dean’s pretty sure he was swallowing sand, his jaw had plunged that far through the ground. Okay, angels were one thing, but freakin’ mermaids? And now an angel-mermaid baby? “You’ve got to bear with me here, Cas.” he finally managed to mumble. “I’m just a norma-”
“Cas?” the vhorztah said suddenly. “You... you just called me Cas.”
Oh, shit. “Sorry.” Dean said hurriedly. “It’s just... it’s kinda hard to remember a name like Castiel, and I give most people nicknames. I can call you Castiel if you’d prefer.”
“I would prefer Castiel.” the half-breed replied slowly. He sounded almost apologetic. “Now, please continue. I am sorry for interrupting.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it, man. I was just saying that you’re going to have to bear with me; I’m just a normal guy, from a human society. I’ve never run into anything that couldn’t be explained before, and now I’m talking to you. Maybe I’m just crazy, though. Perhaps I hit my head harder than I’ve realized, and I’m hallucinating.”
“Oh, dear; I do apologize.” Castiel said suddenly. “I forgot all about that. Now that you’re fully conscious, I can heal that for you.”
Before Dean could say a thing, the vhorztah reached out with two fingers that were glowing a soft blue color. When he touched Dean’s temple, all he felt was a warm, tingling sensation that spread through his skin from Castiel’s fingertips. The ache in his head immediately began to recede, until finally it was gone. His throat even felt better.
“Wow, man. That’s some amazing mojo you have there.” he said, his voice full of awe; he couldn’t even bring himself to care, because that trick was absolutely awesome.
“Mojo?” Castiel tilted his head to the side, blinking his large eyes; clearly confused with Dean’s slang.
“Your ability.” Dean clarified. Well, this was just going swimmingly. He was marooned on an island with a creature all of humanity had probably never even heard of before, and he had no idea where he even was. Actually, that might be a good thing to ask. “Hey, Castiel, where am I?”
“You’re approximately five hundred miles from shore. This is a remote, unclaimed island, but it’s the first one I found when I pulled you from amidst the wreckage of the ship. I searched for other souls, but everyone else had perished. You’re lucky I found you, because sharks were already circling.” Castiel replied. He pursed surprisingly full lips, his forehead wrinkling as he thought briefly. What he was thinking about, Dean couldn’t even begin to guess.
“So, I guess there’s no hope of me getting home right now?” Dean hazarded, looking at the vhorztah for conformation.
Castiel hesitated briefly, dropping his eyes. He ran his fingers through the warm sand, and Dean noticed how long and slender they were; how elegant his wrists were. Okay, so he was probably suffering from sunstroke right now or something.
“Moving through the water is no trouble for me.” the vhorztah said after several moments of sand-shifting. “I could take you to shore in less than an hour. However, my methods of travel would not be the most comfortable for you. I honestly would not suggest such a thing until you’ve at least rested more, and recovered.”
Dean opened his mouth to protest, and then actually stopped to think about it. Castiel had a point. His healing mojo had gone a long way towards making Dean feel better, but he was still a long was from one-hundred percent. Despite how much he wanted to get home and let Sam know that yes, he was still alive, it wouldn’t be the best of ideas. Dean’s stomach rumbled then, and the man flushed.
Castiel stared at his abdomen with fascination. “You require sustenance.” the vhorztah murmured, reaching out to rub his fingers over Dean’s stomach through his wrinkled shirt. Dean clamped his mouth shut, trying not to feel too weirded out by that strange stroking. It wasn’t terrible, but at the same time it wasn’t great. He kind of felt like he was being observed like some rare, unseen specimen.
“Yeah, some food would be great.” Dean mumbled.
Nodding, Castiel pulled away and rose. He was slim but obviously muscled, and Dean could bet he was a hell of a lot stronger than he looked. His eyes followed the vhorztah down the beach and to the water. Dean could not help but watch in awe as Castiel walked head-on into the incoming waves, which were beating against shore strongly. He walked right on in as if he couldn’t even feel the rough water buffeting him, vanishing under the crash of one particularly large wave.
Dean didn’t remember drifting off, but he must have closed his eyes and dozed off at once point. He was woken by the feeling of someone shaking his shoulder. Eyes snapping open, he looked up into Castiel’s large eyes. The vhorztah was peering down at him, his blue eyes flicking over every part of Dean’s face. His skin looked much healthier than it had before; it was now a rich blue-green color, as opposed to how pale he’d been earlier.
“You can’t be away from water for long, can you?” Dean murmured as he let Castiel help him sit up. “How long did you stay with me before I woke up?”
“You were unconscious for twelve hours. I stayed with you on the beach after removing you from the water.” Castiel replied, moving back once Dean was sitting. He held up a flat, polished rock piled with what looked like some kind of vegetarian crap Sam would eat. God, Dean missed his brother.
“You really didn't have to do that, Castiel. It can’t be good for you.” Now he felt bad. When the half-breed held up some small seaweed-wrapped piece of food to him, Dean warily took it and popped it into his mouth. A burst of flavor filled his mouth; the clean seaweed and several other flavors he couldn’t identify. It was delicious. Before he realized it, Dean had eaten half of the platter.
“Dude, what is this?” he asked after swallowing another mouthful. When he looked down at the plate, he realized that most of the food was gone and flushed. Castiel had only managed to eat a piece or two.
“It’s called kapkai.” Castiel replied. Dean was pretty sure he was gaping like a fish, because the vhorztah went on to say, “It’s a seaweed-based wrap that has been stuffed with kelp and sea cucumber.”
“Oh. Well, it actually tastes pretty good.” Dean said, grinning. “You can have the rest, though. I’m pretty good after pigging out on most of them.”
Smiling, Castiel delicately finished off the kapkai.