Title: Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
Pairings/Characters: Dean/Cas, Sam
Genre: Fluff/Romance/Humor
Warnings: Mild sexual content.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Dean educates Castiel in the joys of road food.
A/N: Written for
pann_cake for the
dc_summerlovin exchange. The setting is sort of an indefinite, weirdly happy time period where Cas is just an accepted part of the team.
“If you’re going to ride with us, you’re going to have to eat like us.”
Castiel and Sam stare at Dean in a manner that suggests he is in fact being weird. And okay, maybe he put a little bit too much of a Godfather spin on his pitch, but this is important. To him, anyway.
Sam clears his throat. “Like us?”
Dean rolls his eyes. “Fine, like me. One guy eating rabbit food in my baby is more than enough. I’m going to teach Cas here to eat like a man.”
“A man who is going to drop dead at the ripe old age of forty-five you mean?”
“I do like cheeseburgers,” Castiel offers, shooting a small smile in Dean’s direction.
“You see,” Dean says. “He’s a man-angel, whatever-after my own heart already.”
Diner
Castiel’s education begins at a roadside diner in a little town near Portland. It has neon signs, women wearing little white aprons over their pink dresses, and faded posters from the ‘50s lining the walls-the whole shebang. Best of all though is the dessert menu with its forty-seven flavors of pie. If Dean hadn’t already been to Heaven he’d be a little worried right about now.
Dean can tell Sam thinks the whole thing is kitschy, but he keeps his trap shut. Dean knows his little brother doesn’t really understand why this whole Cas food tour is important to him, but Sammy respects the fact that it is. At least in front of Cas. When their friend poofs off to do whatever it is he does…well, then the teasing commences, but it’s not like Dean can’t give as good as he gets.
Dean watches as Cas slides into the nearest booth, the green pleather squelching as he scooches over to make room for Dean. He carefully plucks the menu from behind the napkin holder and spreads it out almost reverently.
“There are so many choices,” Cas says, and Dean detects a hint of distress in his voice.
Dean stretches his arm out over the back of the seat and his fingers lightly graze the back of Cas’s neck.
“Get the cheeseburger.”
“But you wanted me to try something new,” Castiel replies. He runs his finger down the list and then stops and tilts his head ever so slightly toward Dean. “How does someone fry a pickle?”
Across the table, Sam wrinkles his nose in disgust, but Dean just shrugs. “There’s nothing that can’t be made better by frying. Remember that Twinkie in Delaware, Sammy?”
“Unfortunately,” Sam mutters.
Dean eases his hand down a little more until it is resting lightly on Cas’s shoulder, and he grins when he feels Cas lean into his touch.
“The pickles then. And the Cheeseburger with extra ketchup,” Cas says, nodding decisively.
“Then pie, for dessert, cherry, I think.”
Dean couldn’t be more proud.
Drive-In
The case was supposed to be an easy one, your standard salt and burn, but ghosts aren’t really known for their cooperation skills. Still, they all came out of it standing-well, in truth Dean was leaning on Cas a bit, but that’s more or less standing-and Dean feels okay counting that as a win. He knows the best way to spend the night is crashing at the motel so they can light out early in the morning, but he’s too buzzed and his ribs are too sore to even think about sleeping. Instead, he drops Sam off at the motel to crash and drives to the Last Drive-In In Texas with Cas.
“I don’t think it’s really the last drive-in in Texas,” Dean says conversationally as they wait for the sullen kid in the roller-skates to bring their milkshakes. “But it’ll do. You gotta eat at drive-in at least once; it’s a rite of passage kind of thing.”
Cas ignores Dean completely in favor of reaching out a hand to touch the band aid over Dean’s left eye. Dean arches an eyebrow at him, but Castiel doesn’t move his hand, in fact he shifts closer. The guy is never going to grasp the concept of personal space, not that Dean really minds anymore.
“I’m okay,” Dean says, but Castiel shakes his head.
“You are in pain. Let me fix you.”
Dean reaches up and catches Cas’s wrist, then he pulls Cas’s hand down until it’s level with his lips and presses a kiss to Cas’s palm.
“I’m not broken.”
The anymore lingers between them unsaid, but understood. The carhop picks that moment to roll up to the window shakes in hand and Dean gives the kid some cash, even throws in a tip despite the lack of service with a smile, figures the kid’s got to eat, or buy crappy CDs, or whatever it is kids do these days. And he’s in a good mood. He’s alive, he’s got a chocolate shake in one hand and his other one is entwined with Cas’s.
“I’m okay,” he says again. “And this shake is freaking amazing. How’s yours?”
Cas offers him the cup and Dean leans down slightly to suck on the straw, smiling to himself when he sees the corners of Cas’s lips turn up ever so slightly.
Dive
Castiel is the one who turns the lock on the bathroom door. Dean can think of few things that have ever been that sexy. It’s bold, it’s decisive, but it’s not quite as tantalizing as the sound his zipper makes as Cas pulls it down in one swift motion.
“I like dives the best,” Cas says and Dean grins before bunching his hands in Cas’s coat and dragging him forward for a kiss. The taste of beer and cheeseburger lingers on Cas’s tongue and it drives Dean a little bit crazy.
He knew this was a magical place. Grungy, dirty, the atmosphere all low-lights and smoke like some back alley bar from the ‘30s. The kind frequented by bootleggers and crooked cops who didn’t give a shit about the moonshine flowing free as long as they got a cut of the profits. It’s been a good night so far, Dean won two hundred bucks off some trucker at pool, he got Cas ever so slightly drunk, and apparently bathroom sex is on the table now.
Cas breaks their kiss, but keeps his body pressed against Dean’s.
“Am I educated now?” he asks, his voice even deeper than usual. Dean licks his lips and laughs, the sound a deep, low rumble in his chest that he knows Cas can feel. Cas slides a hand inside Dean’s open jeans and squeezes, turning Dean’s laugh into a soft moan.
“Damn straight,” Dean mutters as Cas drops to his knees.
-
They exit the bathroom looking rumpled, but satisfied and return to the table where Sam is squinting at the pages of a book and sipping his beer. He looks at Cas and Dean with a mix of exasperation and astonishment.
“Really, guys? In that bathroom?”
Dean shrugs and snatches a cold fry from Cas’s abandoned plate. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”
A blush creeps up Sam’s neck and Dean feels oddly satisfied. It’s good to know he can still embarrass Sammy when he wants to. What else are big brothers for?
“You two ready to go yet?” Sam asks hopefully.
Cas looks at Dean and grins an honest to goodness grin. Dean didn’t know Cas could even do that.
“I think I’d like to play pool first,” he says.
“You know you’ve completely corrupted him, right?” Sam asks.
“That was the plan,” Dean replies proudly.
Sam sighs and waves the bartender over to order another round as Dean leads Cas to the pool table.