FIC: Twitfic II
So I survived the long weekend. It was crazy, and I barely had time to eat and shower on some days, but the weekend's over. I'm waiting to see if my boss runs me ragged the next few days (she kinda did today when she got back), but hopefully things'll get easier now. But... I've totally been neglecting fandom/LJ/the internets bc whilst house-sitting I didn't have internets :o/
So, to kind of make up for that neglect, I'm just posting all my recentish twitfic/twabbles here. Been meaning to for a while, and since I'm too tired to write anything new today, you guys get this :oP Most of my twitfic turns into drabble-like writing, so yeah... Enjoy! I'll catch up on LJ over the next few days :o)
Title: Twitfic II
Rating: Mostly PG, Rish for one?
Pairings: Dean/Castiel, one instance of Kurogane/Fai (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle)
Genre: Various (Angst, fluff, for the most part)
Spoilers: General season 5 (specifically 5.17, 5.21 and 5.22 for some)
Word Count: ~3,280
Summary: Twitfics and twabbles of varying length and genre, involving, amongst other things, Dean and Cas babysitting, proud Chuck, and Crowley shenanigans.
Long Way Home
5.17 Inspired - Not everything is easy at first...
I.
Their first time is nothing like Dean imagined. Things are distant between them. And even though Cas gasps his name as he comes, before that moment there are too many touches with averted eyes, too many kisses that don’t quite have lip meeting lip.
“You’re avoiding me,” Dean says later when he wakes to an empty bed and finds Cas outside on Bobby’s porch.
“No.” Cas’s sighs, and Dean watches as the fallen angel sinks onto the steps and rests his chin in his hand. “You’re doing enough of that for the both of us.”
*
II.
It takes one year, ten months, and thirteen days. Dean’s exhausted constantly, but Sam tells him it’s because he’s never had practice with just letting life happen and simply letting himself be happy. But happy, well… it’s work for Dean Winchester.
But Sam smiles more often, Bobby starts talking about getting fancy wheels for his chair, and Cas… Cas takes longer. But if Dean's learned anything, it’s that the most difficult things to work out are the things most worth holding on to.
And so one year, ten months, and thirteen days after Dean found Cas sitting on Bobby’s porch, Dean finds himself laughing at Sam’s lame joke, leaning unconsciously close to Cas. Cas’s own laugh falters as Dean leans into him, and Dean glances at him, worried at the sudden tension he can feel in Cas’s shoulder.
“Cas?”
Castiel shakes his head, turns his attention back to Sam. But not long after, when Sam gets up to make a dinner run, Cas stands, pulling Dean up with him and into the house.
“You’re happy,” Cas says as soon as he has Dean in their room.
“Yeah.” Dean’s surprised to realize he’s telling the truth.
Cas nods, his hand sliding to cup the back of Dean’s neck. His hands are gentle in their strength as he demolishes Dean’s personal space, presses their bodies flush together. And Dean’s never felt Cas kiss like this, like it’s their last and their first and like he really, truly wants it. And Dean would be lying if he said he didn’t feel like weeping at the sudden, overwhelming relief that floods through him when Cas pushes him onto the bed and settles over him, gaze unflinchingly locked with Dean’s the entire time.
Later, as he holds Cas close under the covers and presses his lips against Cas’s collarbone and simply breathes, Dean realizes that a year, ten months, and thirteen days was a too short a time to pay penance to have this. But it was just long enough to learn that too short a time is perhaps just long enough.
__________
Home Sweet Home
Castiel and Dean settle into the family...
It always amazes Dean that Cas has managed to adjust so well to humanity. He still stares too long, knows way too much for any normal human being, and misses most of Dean’s pop culture references, but for the most part he’s happy and human while still remaining wholly Castiel.
There are only a few moments, a few glimpses, where Dean catches something in Castiel’s eyes that tells him that no matter how far they come, adjusting after a millennia-long existence takes more than a few years.
The twins are running around the living room, toy planes clutched in their hands as they make engine noises with their mouths, and Maggie is trying to talk over their racket to tell Uncle Cas about her recent field-trip to the zoo.
Sam stomps into the room, grabs a twin under each arm and turns to Dean. “Dinner’s ready,” he says, and sometimes Dean still has to get used to seeing his brother smile like that, like there are no problems in the world other than spelling tests and scraped knees and cavities.
Maggie takes a moment to follow her father, leans up to whisper something into Cas’s ear before running into the dining room. Dean thinks he hears her say something about sitting next to Cas. Dean smirks. Despite the silent, stoic ways Cas still hasn’t managed to shake, the kids love him.
Dean joins Cas as the fallen angel stands, knocks his shoulder into him. “Do I have to fight Maggie for my seat at dinner?” He looks at Cas, and his smile fades as he sees the distant look in Cas’s eyes. “Cas?”
Cas shakes his head. “What?”
Dean tries to keep his tone light, joking. “Kids too loud tonight or something? You good?”
Cas looks away, into the dining room where the family is already sitting down. “I like the noise,” Cas says.
And even though Dean knows that Cas chose to stay and regrets nothing, he wonders if the voices of humans could ever compare to the voices of angels.
*
Sam’s waiting for Dean and Cas to drop the kids off after a day spent at the circus. After Dean showed them the article in the paper two weeks ago, smirking at Sam the entire time, they’d bugged Sam almost not stop for a week. Just as Sam was about to cave and agree to take them, fear of clowns be damned, Dean finally relented and gave the kids the tickets he’d purchased. Sam had given Dean a wary look and relaxed only when Dean explained that the two extra tickets were for him and Cas so Sam and Amy could have a day off.
Dean’s fifteen minutes late in dropping the kids off when Sam’s cellphone rings. It’s Cas.
“You should be warned,” Cas says, and Sam’s grip on his phone tightens.
“Cas? What happened? Are-“
“The kids are… fine. But Dean-”
Dean’s voice interrupts Cas before the call breaks off. Sam tries to redial, but Cas doesn’t pick up. When the Impala pulls up to the curb, Sam’s standing on the front lawn. But before he can go to the Impala and open the door, the back door flies open and the twins hit the ground running.
The blue stains on their shirts are not a good sign, but otherwise they look healthy and happy… extremely happy, by the way they’re sprinting around the yard.
“Cas?” Sam looks away from the boys to Cas, who’s still sitting in the car. He looks tired, despite the small smile on his face. “What happened? Why’d you call?”
Maggie bursts out of the car then, starts chasing after her brothers.
“Dean gave them candy.”
Sam stares at Cas.
“Umm… okay. It was the circus. Why wouldn’t he?”
“A lot of candy.”
The boys start making siren sounds as Maggie rams into Sam from behind, arms closing vice-like around his legs as she starts begging for a piggy-back ride.
“Dean.” Sam’s voice is low in warning.
“Hey, I saved your ass with the clowns,” Dean says from the driver’s seat, and the car’s pulling away from the curb. “See ya, Sammy!”
“Dean!”
“Sam?”
Sam turns to see Amy on the front porch, staring at the kids running around the yard. The twins have found sticks that are as long as the boys are tall and are attempting to fence with them.
“Uh…” Sam says, because last time Dean dropped the kids off on a sugar-high, a vase, the screen door, and a couch cushion had been ruined. Before Sam can get to them, the twins start running for the mini-van, sticks raised high, and Sam’s going to kill Dean this time.
__________
The Odd Couple
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Crossover - Dean and Cas meet Kurogane and Fai...
Dean clanked the empty shot glass onto the bar. “So basically, he’s a pain in my ass.”
Kurogane grunted, sipped his beer.
“The worst part about it?” Dean motioned for another shot, his eyes glued to Castiel across the bar. Cas was glancing over the titles in an old jukebox, and Dean knew he’d be there a good ten minutes before he’d picked something. “He still doesn’t get movie references.” He snorted. “The guys a genius with languages, but give him Back to the Future…” He trailed off as the blond man Kurogane had come in with literally bounced over to Castiel’s side, leaned over and started pointing to various titles. Dean narrowed his eyes, but the man seemed more interested in talking than in trying anything with the angel.
“Mine won’t stop eating sweets.”
Dean paused in bringing the next shot up to his mouth, turned to glare at the dark-haired man. “Don’t even mention food, buddy. I’d kill if Cas would try a slice of pie.”
A sound came from the corner of the bar, and both men looked up to see the tall blond hanging over the shoulder of a waitress. She was giggling, the man was smiling, and Dean didn’t miss how Castiel was staring, wide-eyed, at the display.
“At least yours has some self-respect,” Kurogane sighed.
“Touche.”
*
Dean tried to shove Castiel out of the booth, but Castiel held firm. “Cas, let me out of here.”
Castiel simply slid a menu over to Dean. “We have a case, Dean. And they might have information.”
“I don’t care if they have the secret to the goddamn universe, Cas. Let me out of this booth.” He shoved once more, but Castiel remained unmoving. “Oh, come on! Last time that blond guy stole my pie, and he doesn’t shut up. The man’s a menace, Cas.”
Castiel’s head tilted, as if he was considering the possibility. “Regardless,” he said after a moment, “they might be able to help us with this case.”
“Help, my ass.” Dean put his shoulder against Castiel’s this time, but if there was one thing the ex-angel had retained of his mojo, it was his strength.
“Dean.”
Dean froze. Things never went well when Castiel started to sound like he was growling. Dean looked up to see Castiel’s frown.
“Fine.” Dean leaned back, grabbed the menu and flipped it open. “But next time, I’m so getting the end seat. And you can deal with the crazy one by yourself.”
*
Dean sat rigid in his seat, watching the couple across from him. The only thing keeping him half-calm was Castiel’s hand settled firmly over his knee under the table. Dean didn’t mind Kurogane. The guy was eerily quiet, had this strange “silent warrior” thing about him. But from what he’d told Dean last night (or, rather, what he’d picked up from Fai’s rambling), the guy seemed to be entitled to his strange ways. Hell, Dean had met stranger.
But Fai? Fai was…
“Kuro-puu.”
Dean cringed. The moment Kurogane’s attention was on Fai and on keeping the man from shoving a forkful of pancakes smothered in syrup into his mouth, Dean leaned over, pressed his mouth close to Castiel’s ear.
“Don’t you ever,” he whispered, “ever give me any lame-ass nicknames.”
Castiel's lips twitched as Dean leaned back.
“Yes, D-”
“Don’t try it, angel-boy.”
Castiel’s hand slipped off his knee, and Dean knew he was in trouble.
*
“You still stay with him,” Castiel said, “even though he… annoys you.”
Kurogane grunted. “The idiot needs someone to look after him.”
Castiel nodded knowingly.
“Plus, I owe him.” Castiel caught Kurogane’s slight movement, the shifting of Kurogane’s arms where they were crossed over his chest. Where flesh and blood should have been on his hand, covering finger joints and tendons, wire and metal reflected the afternoon light.
Kurogane stared off into the distance, past where Dean was trying to drag Fai away from the Impala. Even though Castiel could no longer see into human souls, Kurogane still looked old and ancient and worn from too many years traveling. The same look resided in Fai’s eyes, though the other man tried to hide it behind smiles and jokes.
“I still don’t understand humans.” Castiel looked away, only to see Dean reach for his gun, only to abort the motion at the last moment. “But that… I can understand.”
A soft sound came from Kurogane, and Castiel looked back to see the man smiling softly.
“What did he give you?” And Kurogane tipped his head towards Dean, who was starting to draw a line of salt between Fai and the Impala. A curse rang out across the parking lot when Fai jumped over it.
Castiel took in a breath. “Faith,” he said, and Kurogane nodded.
*
“Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
Fai closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sun. A small smile curved his lips. “Tired of what, Kuro-sama?”
Kurogane sighed, but did not answer. The dust the Impala had kicked up as it pulled out of the parking lot had started to settle, and still they sat there on the bench outside the diner, listening as the bell over the door rang as customers went in and out. Even after all these years, Kurogane still didn’t understand why Fai continued with the jokes, the flippant attitude. But then again, there were a lot of things about Fai Kurogane still couldn’t figure out, but he’d found he didn’t quite mind that.
Eventually, Fai’s soft chuckle pulled Kurogane’s gaze down to the blond lounging next to him.
“Dean-sama would have enjoyed the dragonflies from Piffle, don’t you think?”
Kurogane allowed a small smile to show, leaned to his right to press his shoulder against Fai’s as silence fell again.
(just a quick note... the "dragonflies" are bascially airborne race cars ;o)
__________
Promotion
“I got it.”
The words accompany the flutter of papers and the sound of wings. Dean looks up from Cat’s Cradle and pauses. Castiel is slightly out of breath and he’s smiling in a way Dean’s only seen once, and that was just after the Apocalypse ended.
“Got what?” Dean asks.
“The promotion.” Cas rummages in one of the trench coat pockets, walking towards Dean. Dean takes the card Cas holds out for him and smirks. It’s business card.
“Heaven’s really going the whole nine yards with its management overhaul-” He fades out as he reads the card. Then smiles. “'Castiel, Archangel of the Lord.’ Well, I say this calls for a celebration.”
Castiel’s wrapped around Dean before the last word leaves his lips. Apparently, he agrees.
__________
Male Bonding
Crowley and Castiel go drinking... Dean may or may not approve...
“Where the hell have you been,” Dean demands when Cas pops in at 3am. The wind from his wings forms little whirlwinds, and Cas knocks into the sofa’s edge before he collapses half on top of Dean.
“I found a bar,” Cas slurs. He has an odd half-smile on his face that would be adorable. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s 3am.
“And let me guess,” Dean grumbles. “You drank it.”
Cas looks off to the side, shrugs, and then giggles. “Well, half of it.”
“Hello, boys.”
Dean curses as the demon saunters in, cutting a diagonal when Dean’s pretty sure he meant to go straight.
“I thought you two learned your lesson last time,” Dean snaps.
“You’ll thank me later,” Crowley insists.
Dean, however, is distracted by Castiel who’s suddenly nuzzling at his neck.
“You’re warm,” Cas mumbles. A shiver goes down Dean’s spine when Cas’s hand sneaks beneath his shirt. He glances up at Crowley, but the demon seems to be preoccupied with his pockets. Good thing, too, because Cas’s fingers are starting to dip below the top of Dean’s jeans and there’s just the hint of tongue joining the brush of lips against skin.
“Smile, boys.”
Dean looks back at Crowley just in time to see him point the camera of his iTouch in their direction.
“Out,” Dean growls, as Cas starts crawling into his lap.
Crowley smirks. “Told you you’d thank me.”
__________
Family Business
Chuck has a photo album, and Michael took the pics... Castiel's just embarrassed...
I.
Dean doesn’t know when he came to terms with the fact that Chuck was God. It might have started when Cas refused to come within five feet of him if he so much as thought about punching his Father again.
Not that beating up on God did anything. It was like the guy was made of steal. Dean had the memory of broken knuckles to prove it. (If it hadn’t been for Chuck-God-giving Cas his mojo back, Dean would still have the broken knuckles to prove it.)
The fact might have settled in when Chuck just popped in one day-and Dean was never going to get used to that-with a tattered photo album under his arm.
“Hey guys,” Chuck-God waved. His voice squeaked, as if he wasn’t sure if Dean was going to try to punch him again, but after a moment he sidled up next to Sam. Dean didn’t miss the fact that Chuck made sure Sam’s tall frame stood between him and Dean.
And Dean was never going to get used to God being the nerdy, jumpy little dude.
“What’s up, Chuck,” Sam mumbled, eying Chuck carefully. Apparently Sam was still trying to come to terms as well.
“Well I, er… I thought you’d like to see this.” Chuck placed the album down on the motel bed
Dean and Sam made no move toward it.
“What is it?” Sam asked flatly.
“Photo album.”
“Obviously,” Dean snapped.
“I thought you especially would enjoy it,” Chuck said and stepped forward, flipped open the album to a page near the end. Dean was about to walk away, call Cas down to deal with his weird-ass father, when the sight of a baby with huge blue eyes and dark hair caught his attention.
“Is that…”
“Yup.” And Dean would swear that was pride in Chuck’s voice. “I couldn’t be there when most of them grew up, so… Michael did some picture taking for me.”
Half an hour later, Castiel popped into the motel room and froze when he came face to face with Dean laughing with Chuck and Sam on one of the beds.
“Dean?”
Dean looked up at his voice, and Cas couldn’t remember seeing him smile so big. At least not outside the bedroom.
“I never would’ve guessed you were such a brat,” Dean said.
Castiel’s head canted to the side and he closed the distance between them, sidling up to the side of the bed. He stared down at the picture of himself, arms held stiffly at his side, a scowl on his face as he stared up at Gabriel.
“Michael never said what you two were arguing about,” Chuck said, and Castiel took a step back.
“It was nothing of import,” he said, but a faint blush started to appear on his ears.
Chuck shrugged, looked back to the album. “Never mind. This one’s my favorite,” and he started flipping through the album. “Apparently it was when Castiel was going through his independent stage. Didn’t last long, so I’m told, but he refused to accept help dressing himself for a week, with some pretty horrible results… so I’m told.”
“Father!” Castiel darted in, grasping for the album. But Chuck was fast-Chuck was God-and disappeared, only to reappear with the album on the other side of the room.
“Ah! Here it is!” he said, and turned the album around.
That moment, Dean decided, was when he was almost, very nearly, okay with Chuck being God.
*
II.
Family photo time that explains how Castiel came to be the one to grip Dean tight and raise him from Perdition (And also how he came to be the one without a sense of humor):
Michael knew he should never have agreed to this task. It seemed easy, at first. Hold the camera, snap a picture, say “Cheese” every once in a while when the kids started to grow and candid shots would no longer cut it.
But the kids growing older also meant they started hating the whole “time to take pics for Father because he’s still MIA.”
Which explained why Michael was staring at three of his younger siblings as they argued. Uriel wasn’t too bad, despite the glaring, but Castiel and Gabriel were in the middle of the biggest prank war Heaven had seen since Anael and Ophaniel decided to see who could best the other.
So taking a picture was taking a lot longer than Michael had planned. And Gabriel plucking at Castiel’s feathers wasn’t helping matters one bit.
“The next one to move,” Michael admonished, “gets Human Duty the next time one of them lands into trouble.”
“Father said we can’t go down there.”
Michael scowled. “Don’t be a smart ass, Gabriel. You know I meant the next time the need arises.”
“Whatever.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.
“Are we going to take this picture, brother,” Uriel growled, “or just talk about it?”
Michael sighed. “On the count of three.” He raised the camera to his eye. “One… Two… Three.”
Castiel’s wings flared out, hitting Gabriel square on the nose, just as the shutter clicked. Gabriel fell back a step, a colorful expletive Michael had never heard before flying out of his mouth as his hands went up to hold his nose.
“That’s it,” Michael growled. “Castiel, you’ve just claimed the next mission.”
Castiel’s wings froze in shock, his grin fading as he looked at Michael. “It was just a joke.”
“You had fair warning.” Michael glanced down at his camera, adjusted the shutter speed. “And you know not to mess with orders.”
“It was just a picture.”
“A picture for Father,” Michael amended. “You know not to mess with tasks for Father.”
Castiel’s wings wilted as they pressed close to his back.
“Yes, brother.”
Michael nodded and raised the camera to his eye again.
“Good. Now smile.”
“Remember that,” Uriel whispered lowly as Michael started counting again, “the next time you want to play a joke.” He pointedly shot a glance at Gabriel.
Gabriel stuck his tongue out, and the shutter of the camera clicked.
“Gabriel!” Michael’s shout made all three of them jump.
Gabriel pointed indignantly at Uriel. “Uriel started it!”
“I did no such thing.”
Michael rolled his eyes, brought the camera to his eye, and shot another picture. Gabriel had moved into Uriel’s space, and Uriel was trying his best to glare a hole in his brother’s head. Castiel was staring at both of them, but his gaze was distant and contemplative, no doubt occupied with the punishment he’d just resigned himself to with his last prank.
Candid would have to do, Michael thought with a shake of his head.
So, to kind of make up for that neglect, I'm just posting all my recentish twitfic/twabbles here. Been meaning to for a while, and since I'm too tired to write anything new today, you guys get this :oP Most of my twitfic turns into drabble-like writing, so yeah... Enjoy! I'll catch up on LJ over the next few days :o)
Title: Twitfic II
Rating: Mostly PG, Rish for one?
Pairings: Dean/Castiel, one instance of Kurogane/Fai (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle)
Genre: Various (Angst, fluff, for the most part)
Spoilers: General season 5 (specifically 5.17, 5.21 and 5.22 for some)
Word Count: ~3,280
Summary: Twitfics and twabbles of varying length and genre, involving, amongst other things, Dean and Cas babysitting, proud Chuck, and Crowley shenanigans.
Long Way Home
5.17 Inspired - Not everything is easy at first...
I.
Their first time is nothing like Dean imagined. Things are distant between them. And even though Cas gasps his name as he comes, before that moment there are too many touches with averted eyes, too many kisses that don’t quite have lip meeting lip.
“You’re avoiding me,” Dean says later when he wakes to an empty bed and finds Cas outside on Bobby’s porch.
“No.” Cas’s sighs, and Dean watches as the fallen angel sinks onto the steps and rests his chin in his hand. “You’re doing enough of that for the both of us.”
*
II.
It takes one year, ten months, and thirteen days. Dean’s exhausted constantly, but Sam tells him it’s because he’s never had practice with just letting life happen and simply letting himself be happy. But happy, well… it’s work for Dean Winchester.
But Sam smiles more often, Bobby starts talking about getting fancy wheels for his chair, and Cas… Cas takes longer. But if Dean's learned anything, it’s that the most difficult things to work out are the things most worth holding on to.
And so one year, ten months, and thirteen days after Dean found Cas sitting on Bobby’s porch, Dean finds himself laughing at Sam’s lame joke, leaning unconsciously close to Cas. Cas’s own laugh falters as Dean leans into him, and Dean glances at him, worried at the sudden tension he can feel in Cas’s shoulder.
“Cas?”
Castiel shakes his head, turns his attention back to Sam. But not long after, when Sam gets up to make a dinner run, Cas stands, pulling Dean up with him and into the house.
“You’re happy,” Cas says as soon as he has Dean in their room.
“Yeah.” Dean’s surprised to realize he’s telling the truth.
Cas nods, his hand sliding to cup the back of Dean’s neck. His hands are gentle in their strength as he demolishes Dean’s personal space, presses their bodies flush together. And Dean’s never felt Cas kiss like this, like it’s their last and their first and like he really, truly wants it. And Dean would be lying if he said he didn’t feel like weeping at the sudden, overwhelming relief that floods through him when Cas pushes him onto the bed and settles over him, gaze unflinchingly locked with Dean’s the entire time.
Later, as he holds Cas close under the covers and presses his lips against Cas’s collarbone and simply breathes, Dean realizes that a year, ten months, and thirteen days was a too short a time to pay penance to have this. But it was just long enough to learn that too short a time is perhaps just long enough.
__________
Home Sweet Home
Castiel and Dean settle into the family...
It always amazes Dean that Cas has managed to adjust so well to humanity. He still stares too long, knows way too much for any normal human being, and misses most of Dean’s pop culture references, but for the most part he’s happy and human while still remaining wholly Castiel.
There are only a few moments, a few glimpses, where Dean catches something in Castiel’s eyes that tells him that no matter how far they come, adjusting after a millennia-long existence takes more than a few years.
The twins are running around the living room, toy planes clutched in their hands as they make engine noises with their mouths, and Maggie is trying to talk over their racket to tell Uncle Cas about her recent field-trip to the zoo.
Sam stomps into the room, grabs a twin under each arm and turns to Dean. “Dinner’s ready,” he says, and sometimes Dean still has to get used to seeing his brother smile like that, like there are no problems in the world other than spelling tests and scraped knees and cavities.
Maggie takes a moment to follow her father, leans up to whisper something into Cas’s ear before running into the dining room. Dean thinks he hears her say something about sitting next to Cas. Dean smirks. Despite the silent, stoic ways Cas still hasn’t managed to shake, the kids love him.
Dean joins Cas as the fallen angel stands, knocks his shoulder into him. “Do I have to fight Maggie for my seat at dinner?” He looks at Cas, and his smile fades as he sees the distant look in Cas’s eyes. “Cas?”
Cas shakes his head. “What?”
Dean tries to keep his tone light, joking. “Kids too loud tonight or something? You good?”
Cas looks away, into the dining room where the family is already sitting down. “I like the noise,” Cas says.
And even though Dean knows that Cas chose to stay and regrets nothing, he wonders if the voices of humans could ever compare to the voices of angels.
*
Sam’s waiting for Dean and Cas to drop the kids off after a day spent at the circus. After Dean showed them the article in the paper two weeks ago, smirking at Sam the entire time, they’d bugged Sam almost not stop for a week. Just as Sam was about to cave and agree to take them, fear of clowns be damned, Dean finally relented and gave the kids the tickets he’d purchased. Sam had given Dean a wary look and relaxed only when Dean explained that the two extra tickets were for him and Cas so Sam and Amy could have a day off.
Dean’s fifteen minutes late in dropping the kids off when Sam’s cellphone rings. It’s Cas.
“You should be warned,” Cas says, and Sam’s grip on his phone tightens.
“Cas? What happened? Are-“
“The kids are… fine. But Dean-”
Dean’s voice interrupts Cas before the call breaks off. Sam tries to redial, but Cas doesn’t pick up. When the Impala pulls up to the curb, Sam’s standing on the front lawn. But before he can go to the Impala and open the door, the back door flies open and the twins hit the ground running.
The blue stains on their shirts are not a good sign, but otherwise they look healthy and happy… extremely happy, by the way they’re sprinting around the yard.
“Cas?” Sam looks away from the boys to Cas, who’s still sitting in the car. He looks tired, despite the small smile on his face. “What happened? Why’d you call?”
Maggie bursts out of the car then, starts chasing after her brothers.
“Dean gave them candy.”
Sam stares at Cas.
“Umm… okay. It was the circus. Why wouldn’t he?”
“A lot of candy.”
The boys start making siren sounds as Maggie rams into Sam from behind, arms closing vice-like around his legs as she starts begging for a piggy-back ride.
“Dean.” Sam’s voice is low in warning.
“Hey, I saved your ass with the clowns,” Dean says from the driver’s seat, and the car’s pulling away from the curb. “See ya, Sammy!”
“Dean!”
“Sam?”
Sam turns to see Amy on the front porch, staring at the kids running around the yard. The twins have found sticks that are as long as the boys are tall and are attempting to fence with them.
“Uh…” Sam says, because last time Dean dropped the kids off on a sugar-high, a vase, the screen door, and a couch cushion had been ruined. Before Sam can get to them, the twins start running for the mini-van, sticks raised high, and Sam’s going to kill Dean this time.
__________
The Odd Couple
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Crossover - Dean and Cas meet Kurogane and Fai...
Dean clanked the empty shot glass onto the bar. “So basically, he’s a pain in my ass.”
Kurogane grunted, sipped his beer.
“The worst part about it?” Dean motioned for another shot, his eyes glued to Castiel across the bar. Cas was glancing over the titles in an old jukebox, and Dean knew he’d be there a good ten minutes before he’d picked something. “He still doesn’t get movie references.” He snorted. “The guys a genius with languages, but give him Back to the Future…” He trailed off as the blond man Kurogane had come in with literally bounced over to Castiel’s side, leaned over and started pointing to various titles. Dean narrowed his eyes, but the man seemed more interested in talking than in trying anything with the angel.
“Mine won’t stop eating sweets.”
Dean paused in bringing the next shot up to his mouth, turned to glare at the dark-haired man. “Don’t even mention food, buddy. I’d kill if Cas would try a slice of pie.”
A sound came from the corner of the bar, and both men looked up to see the tall blond hanging over the shoulder of a waitress. She was giggling, the man was smiling, and Dean didn’t miss how Castiel was staring, wide-eyed, at the display.
“At least yours has some self-respect,” Kurogane sighed.
“Touche.”
*
Dean tried to shove Castiel out of the booth, but Castiel held firm. “Cas, let me out of here.”
Castiel simply slid a menu over to Dean. “We have a case, Dean. And they might have information.”
“I don’t care if they have the secret to the goddamn universe, Cas. Let me out of this booth.” He shoved once more, but Castiel remained unmoving. “Oh, come on! Last time that blond guy stole my pie, and he doesn’t shut up. The man’s a menace, Cas.”
Castiel’s head tilted, as if he was considering the possibility. “Regardless,” he said after a moment, “they might be able to help us with this case.”
“Help, my ass.” Dean put his shoulder against Castiel’s this time, but if there was one thing the ex-angel had retained of his mojo, it was his strength.
“Dean.”
Dean froze. Things never went well when Castiel started to sound like he was growling. Dean looked up to see Castiel’s frown.
“Fine.” Dean leaned back, grabbed the menu and flipped it open. “But next time, I’m so getting the end seat. And you can deal with the crazy one by yourself.”
*
Dean sat rigid in his seat, watching the couple across from him. The only thing keeping him half-calm was Castiel’s hand settled firmly over his knee under the table. Dean didn’t mind Kurogane. The guy was eerily quiet, had this strange “silent warrior” thing about him. But from what he’d told Dean last night (or, rather, what he’d picked up from Fai’s rambling), the guy seemed to be entitled to his strange ways. Hell, Dean had met stranger.
But Fai? Fai was…
“Kuro-puu.”
Dean cringed. The moment Kurogane’s attention was on Fai and on keeping the man from shoving a forkful of pancakes smothered in syrup into his mouth, Dean leaned over, pressed his mouth close to Castiel’s ear.
“Don’t you ever,” he whispered, “ever give me any lame-ass nicknames.”
Castiel's lips twitched as Dean leaned back.
“Yes, D-”
“Don’t try it, angel-boy.”
Castiel’s hand slipped off his knee, and Dean knew he was in trouble.
*
“You still stay with him,” Castiel said, “even though he… annoys you.”
Kurogane grunted. “The idiot needs someone to look after him.”
Castiel nodded knowingly.
“Plus, I owe him.” Castiel caught Kurogane’s slight movement, the shifting of Kurogane’s arms where they were crossed over his chest. Where flesh and blood should have been on his hand, covering finger joints and tendons, wire and metal reflected the afternoon light.
Kurogane stared off into the distance, past where Dean was trying to drag Fai away from the Impala. Even though Castiel could no longer see into human souls, Kurogane still looked old and ancient and worn from too many years traveling. The same look resided in Fai’s eyes, though the other man tried to hide it behind smiles and jokes.
“I still don’t understand humans.” Castiel looked away, only to see Dean reach for his gun, only to abort the motion at the last moment. “But that… I can understand.”
A soft sound came from Kurogane, and Castiel looked back to see the man smiling softly.
“What did he give you?” And Kurogane tipped his head towards Dean, who was starting to draw a line of salt between Fai and the Impala. A curse rang out across the parking lot when Fai jumped over it.
Castiel took in a breath. “Faith,” he said, and Kurogane nodded.
*
“Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
Fai closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sun. A small smile curved his lips. “Tired of what, Kuro-sama?”
Kurogane sighed, but did not answer. The dust the Impala had kicked up as it pulled out of the parking lot had started to settle, and still they sat there on the bench outside the diner, listening as the bell over the door rang as customers went in and out. Even after all these years, Kurogane still didn’t understand why Fai continued with the jokes, the flippant attitude. But then again, there were a lot of things about Fai Kurogane still couldn’t figure out, but he’d found he didn’t quite mind that.
Eventually, Fai’s soft chuckle pulled Kurogane’s gaze down to the blond lounging next to him.
“Dean-sama would have enjoyed the dragonflies from Piffle, don’t you think?”
Kurogane allowed a small smile to show, leaned to his right to press his shoulder against Fai’s as silence fell again.
(just a quick note... the "dragonflies" are bascially airborne race cars ;o)
__________
Promotion
“I got it.”
The words accompany the flutter of papers and the sound of wings. Dean looks up from Cat’s Cradle and pauses. Castiel is slightly out of breath and he’s smiling in a way Dean’s only seen once, and that was just after the Apocalypse ended.
“Got what?” Dean asks.
“The promotion.” Cas rummages in one of the trench coat pockets, walking towards Dean. Dean takes the card Cas holds out for him and smirks. It’s business card.
“Heaven’s really going the whole nine yards with its management overhaul-” He fades out as he reads the card. Then smiles. “'Castiel, Archangel of the Lord.’ Well, I say this calls for a celebration.”
Castiel’s wrapped around Dean before the last word leaves his lips. Apparently, he agrees.
__________
Male Bonding
Crowley and Castiel go drinking... Dean may or may not approve...
“Where the hell have you been,” Dean demands when Cas pops in at 3am. The wind from his wings forms little whirlwinds, and Cas knocks into the sofa’s edge before he collapses half on top of Dean.
“I found a bar,” Cas slurs. He has an odd half-smile on his face that would be adorable. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s 3am.
“And let me guess,” Dean grumbles. “You drank it.”
Cas looks off to the side, shrugs, and then giggles. “Well, half of it.”
“Hello, boys.”
Dean curses as the demon saunters in, cutting a diagonal when Dean’s pretty sure he meant to go straight.
“I thought you two learned your lesson last time,” Dean snaps.
“You’ll thank me later,” Crowley insists.
Dean, however, is distracted by Castiel who’s suddenly nuzzling at his neck.
“You’re warm,” Cas mumbles. A shiver goes down Dean’s spine when Cas’s hand sneaks beneath his shirt. He glances up at Crowley, but the demon seems to be preoccupied with his pockets. Good thing, too, because Cas’s fingers are starting to dip below the top of Dean’s jeans and there’s just the hint of tongue joining the brush of lips against skin.
“Smile, boys.”
Dean looks back at Crowley just in time to see him point the camera of his iTouch in their direction.
“Out,” Dean growls, as Cas starts crawling into his lap.
Crowley smirks. “Told you you’d thank me.”
__________
Family Business
Chuck has a photo album, and Michael took the pics... Castiel's just embarrassed...
I.
Dean doesn’t know when he came to terms with the fact that Chuck was God. It might have started when Cas refused to come within five feet of him if he so much as thought about punching his Father again.
Not that beating up on God did anything. It was like the guy was made of steal. Dean had the memory of broken knuckles to prove it. (If it hadn’t been for Chuck-God-giving Cas his mojo back, Dean would still have the broken knuckles to prove it.)
The fact might have settled in when Chuck just popped in one day-and Dean was never going to get used to that-with a tattered photo album under his arm.
“Hey guys,” Chuck-God waved. His voice squeaked, as if he wasn’t sure if Dean was going to try to punch him again, but after a moment he sidled up next to Sam. Dean didn’t miss the fact that Chuck made sure Sam’s tall frame stood between him and Dean.
And Dean was never going to get used to God being the nerdy, jumpy little dude.
“What’s up, Chuck,” Sam mumbled, eying Chuck carefully. Apparently Sam was still trying to come to terms as well.
“Well I, er… I thought you’d like to see this.” Chuck placed the album down on the motel bed
Dean and Sam made no move toward it.
“What is it?” Sam asked flatly.
“Photo album.”
“Obviously,” Dean snapped.
“I thought you especially would enjoy it,” Chuck said and stepped forward, flipped open the album to a page near the end. Dean was about to walk away, call Cas down to deal with his weird-ass father, when the sight of a baby with huge blue eyes and dark hair caught his attention.
“Is that…”
“Yup.” And Dean would swear that was pride in Chuck’s voice. “I couldn’t be there when most of them grew up, so… Michael did some picture taking for me.”
Half an hour later, Castiel popped into the motel room and froze when he came face to face with Dean laughing with Chuck and Sam on one of the beds.
“Dean?”
Dean looked up at his voice, and Cas couldn’t remember seeing him smile so big. At least not outside the bedroom.
“I never would’ve guessed you were such a brat,” Dean said.
Castiel’s head canted to the side and he closed the distance between them, sidling up to the side of the bed. He stared down at the picture of himself, arms held stiffly at his side, a scowl on his face as he stared up at Gabriel.
“Michael never said what you two were arguing about,” Chuck said, and Castiel took a step back.
“It was nothing of import,” he said, but a faint blush started to appear on his ears.
Chuck shrugged, looked back to the album. “Never mind. This one’s my favorite,” and he started flipping through the album. “Apparently it was when Castiel was going through his independent stage. Didn’t last long, so I’m told, but he refused to accept help dressing himself for a week, with some pretty horrible results… so I’m told.”
“Father!” Castiel darted in, grasping for the album. But Chuck was fast-Chuck was God-and disappeared, only to reappear with the album on the other side of the room.
“Ah! Here it is!” he said, and turned the album around.
That moment, Dean decided, was when he was almost, very nearly, okay with Chuck being God.
*
II.
Family photo time that explains how Castiel came to be the one to grip Dean tight and raise him from Perdition (And also how he came to be the one without a sense of humor):
Michael knew he should never have agreed to this task. It seemed easy, at first. Hold the camera, snap a picture, say “Cheese” every once in a while when the kids started to grow and candid shots would no longer cut it.
But the kids growing older also meant they started hating the whole “time to take pics for Father because he’s still MIA.”
Which explained why Michael was staring at three of his younger siblings as they argued. Uriel wasn’t too bad, despite the glaring, but Castiel and Gabriel were in the middle of the biggest prank war Heaven had seen since Anael and Ophaniel decided to see who could best the other.
So taking a picture was taking a lot longer than Michael had planned. And Gabriel plucking at Castiel’s feathers wasn’t helping matters one bit.
“The next one to move,” Michael admonished, “gets Human Duty the next time one of them lands into trouble.”
“Father said we can’t go down there.”
Michael scowled. “Don’t be a smart ass, Gabriel. You know I meant the next time the need arises.”
“Whatever.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.
“Are we going to take this picture, brother,” Uriel growled, “or just talk about it?”
Michael sighed. “On the count of three.” He raised the camera to his eye. “One… Two… Three.”
Castiel’s wings flared out, hitting Gabriel square on the nose, just as the shutter clicked. Gabriel fell back a step, a colorful expletive Michael had never heard before flying out of his mouth as his hands went up to hold his nose.
“That’s it,” Michael growled. “Castiel, you’ve just claimed the next mission.”
Castiel’s wings froze in shock, his grin fading as he looked at Michael. “It was just a joke.”
“You had fair warning.” Michael glanced down at his camera, adjusted the shutter speed. “And you know not to mess with orders.”
“It was just a picture.”
“A picture for Father,” Michael amended. “You know not to mess with tasks for Father.”
Castiel’s wings wilted as they pressed close to his back.
“Yes, brother.”
Michael nodded and raised the camera to his eye again.
“Good. Now smile.”
“Remember that,” Uriel whispered lowly as Michael started counting again, “the next time you want to play a joke.” He pointedly shot a glance at Gabriel.
Gabriel stuck his tongue out, and the shutter of the camera clicked.
“Gabriel!” Michael’s shout made all three of them jump.
Gabriel pointed indignantly at Uriel. “Uriel started it!”
“I did no such thing.”
Michael rolled his eyes, brought the camera to his eye, and shot another picture. Gabriel had moved into Uriel’s space, and Uriel was trying his best to glare a hole in his brother’s head. Castiel was staring at both of them, but his gaze was distant and contemplative, no doubt occupied with the punishment he’d just resigned himself to with his last prank.
Candid would have to do, Michael thought with a shake of his head.