Fic: Dog Days (Castiel)

May 10, 2010 00:32

The last two shifts at work I've done...nothing but write basically. First there was Gabriel/Castiel and then Castiel bonding with Hellhounds and currently, there is Cas/Dean/Jimmy western AU. I don't even know.

This one, is written for puchuupoet as a late birthday gift. Consider this my pet appreciation fic.

1200~ words, gen, PG. Spoilers up to the latest ep.

Castiel spends the day bonding with Crowley's Hellhound. He decides he wants one of his own.


Dog Days
**

After Pestilence and Death are taken care of, the action stops. They’re put on hold again, waiting for their next course of attack and probably, Castiel should be assisting with this. He should be in Bobby’s house with Sam and Dean and even Crowley, deciding their next move. Instead, he’s here, wandering amongst the broken down cars of Bobby’s scrap yard. Without an immediate purpose, Castiel has no distraction.

The sun is beating down too hard on him and he’s had to discard his trench coat a ways back, on one of the cars. He’s unbuttoned his dress shirt and rolled the sleeves to his elbows and still he is hot. The skin of his forearms is starting to pink. He can feel his face prickle. Mosquitoes keep biting him as he passes between the shade of the cars.

He tries not to think about what all this means or the heft of the shot gun he carries with him. He knows where he’s going. To the edge of the property there is an old fence and there are old cans littered around the posts. Firing off the gun had sent a sense of exhilaration through him that he wishes to experience again. He needs the practice anyway. This will be what he is now and the only way he can help.

He can hear the knock of cans against each other as he approaches the fence line and he frowns. His fingers tighten on the gun and he wonders what wild animals Bobby might have in his overgrown and neglected yard. It’s probably a cat and Castiel bends down, grabs a rock and chucks it in the direction of the noise.

A harsh growl vibrates the air and Castiel swings his gun up at the same moment the Hellhound rises to its feet from behind a trashed car. Castiel can see it, the spark of angel still in him. He takes a deep breath and the dog lowers its head and its eyes bore into Castiel’s own with a menacing growl.

“Stay,” Castiel says, as firm as he can.

The dog cocks its head to the side and as Castiel lowers his gun, it gives a hesitant wag of its tail. It has no orders to hurt anyone here, has been set on no one and Castiel relaxes as the threat fades. Hellhounds only kill on order and this one must be Crowley’s.

“Good boy.” Castiel walks to the dog and allows it to push its nose into his hand. Its tail wags fiercely when Castiel rubs it behind the ears and Castiel finds himself smiling. At the feet of the dog are cans, chewed into bits. “You must be bored. Come, I’ll take you for a walk.”

The dog follows at his heals, padding along in silence, while Castiel leads them past the fence and into the wild field beyond it. The dog bounds at crickets that jump from the tall grass. At a rabbit once that escapes only barely. Castiel watches it put down a deer and sits nearby as the Hellhound eats and the light fades into evening around him.

It is pleasant, watching the dog. It runs free without care and Castiel feels envy for that.

When the dog is finished its meal, it pads back to Castiel, tail wagging high and its bark could vibrate the ground. Castiel spends over an hour throwing sticks for the Hellhound and having them brought back into snapped broken twigs. The dog grows tired as the light dims further and lies next to him. It rests its head on Castiel’s lap and Castiel, his hand on its head.

They stay like that and Castiel hasn’t felt so content in a long time. This is why humans have pets. The unquestioning acceptance. This Hellhound does not care that Castiel is less than he was. It does not care nor think that Castiel is useless.

Dean finds him there. Castiel hears him coming, the snap of twigs, the stumble of feet, the loud swearing.

“Jesus Christ, fucking…ow. Cas!” Dean’s voice rings out when he spots Castiel, leaning as far as Dean can tell, against thin air. “What the hell are you doing out here?” Dean swats at the air again, the buzz of mosquitoes. “You must be getting eaten alive, man.”

“Something about the Hellhound seems to keep them away,” Castiel responds, watching Dean stumble nearer.

Dean freezes, hand pressed to the side of his neck to kill another insect. “What?”

Castiel pats the air beside him. “I found Crowley’s Hellhound and decided to take him for a walk.”

“Dude.”

“He’s harmless. And I have been thinking.” Castiel gets to his feet and the dog rises with him, large head butting against Castiel’s shoulder and nudging him forward a step. Dean watches with wide eyes and Castiel sighs at him. “Relax, Dean. I’ve been with him all day; he would have hurt me if he was going to. I’ve found him relaxing, actually.”

“Is that a dead deer over there?”

Castiel decides not to answer this. “I want one.”

“Are you out of your mind?! You can’t have a Hellhound and I’m pretty sure Crowley is gonna want that one back.”

“It could be a regular dog.”

Dean takes a deep breath and Castiel can imagine him praying for patience. “The world is about to end here, not the best time for a pet.”

“But that is precisely why I want one. I am useless, Dean. Except today. Today I was not.”

“Cas.” Dean starts to step forward and the Hellhound growls at his approach. “You’re not useless. You were pretty handy with that gun, I heard.” Dean won’t come closer, eyes flicking nervously to the empty space at Castiel’s side.

Castiel only sighs, looking down and he rests his hand over the dog’s head.

“Maybe…” Dean starts and Castiel hardly dares to be hopeful. “Maybe a cat? I mean…with a cat, we could at least just leave it at Bobby’s when we do the world saving stuff, right?”

Castiel thinks about that before nodding. “There are cats that guard the underworld.” He likes this notion and scratches his head through the fur of the Hellhound’s neck.

“I don’t even wanna know what they look like. Come on, Cas. You missed dinner, you must be hungry.”

Together, they walk back to the house and Castiel keeps himself between Dean and easy going Hellhound.

When, a few days later, Castiel is in Bobby’s sitting room reading and Dean enters looking embarrassed, Castiel frowns in confusion. Until Dean takes the squirming package from behind his back and Castiel finds himself with an orange kitten dropped onto his lap.

“Dean.” Castiel can’t find the words, as the kitten mewls at him and he looks from it up to Dean with wide eyes.

“Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

Castiel has rarely felt so awed and he scoops the kitten up, small enough to sit in the palm of his hand. It spits at him and Castiel smiles. “Thank you.”

“Bobby’s gonna kill me for letting that in his house. You better take care of it.”

Castiel doesn’t answer because he’s too busy holding the struggling kitten to his chest and after a moment, it settles and a purr rumbles between them. Castiel has never felt quite so content.

castiel, supernatural fanfic, genfic

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