Dean finds Castiel sitting outside, luckily it's not raining this time. Castiel seems to think that if he does enough of the reckless things he used to do as an angel enough he'd magically turn back into one. Dean wants to tell Cas otherwise, but it's sort of like when Dean tried to tell Sam that Santa wasn't real as a kid. He really didn't like to see Sam's sad eyes, let alone the innocent-blue-eyed angel of the lord version…
Regardless Dean finds himself staring at Cas for a little while. Dean feels a little weird because it's usually the other way around, with Cas staring at him, and he'd look between Cas and Sam. However Sam's inside getting some much needed sleep and Cas is staring curiously at a tree seed. It wasn't a very uncommon seed, hence why Dean doesn't really see why the hell Castiel is so enraptured by it, but on the other hand Castiel was always really weird. Dean briefly thinks that Castiel might have devolved into crazy-beekeeper mode, but doesn't voice his concern (because you know, it makes it more real and the last time he confronted Cas straight on about his divergence from reality Cas wanted to play twister). No, instead of saying what he wants to say, that Cas should throw himself and his coat in the shower, and eat something, he clears his throat and shuffles over.
"Uh, Whatcha' got there Cas?" Dean knows what he has. It's a seed. A very common seed, found all over America, it's bulbous on one end and has a long flap protruding from the bulb. If you were to ask Dean what tree that seed would grow up to be he'd tell you to fuck off and that he wasn't a botanist.
"You know Dean, it's amazing how things are all designed in such a way that suits life so perfectly." Castiel throws a seed up into the air and follows it with his eyes as it twirls its way down to the ground. "It makes me wonder if everything is as it should be."
Dean guesses that there's some deeper meaning behind what Cas is getting at, but doesn't really see Cas's infatuation with seeds. "Cas. You're no how you should be."
The angel, with his mussed hair and tired eyes look up at Dean. "I know. I've fallen and I-"
"No Cas. I mean, you're not how you should be. You should be inside with me and Sam. You're one of us now, and you're going to get used to it. No more poofing away from your problems anymore Cas, so get up and take a shower." Dean's almost yelling at the end, but doesn't really raise his voice. He just gets a bit harsher. It makes Cas wish that Dean did raise his voice a few decibels.
Castiel looks down at the seeds he made a little pile of during the day, and smiles sardonically.
Dean sighs, sitting beside Cas, who makes no motion of getting up. "Look Cas, all I'm saying is that it might be time for you to get off your de-feathered butt and do some human stuff. Act natural. Maybe finally get laid now that your chances of dying are sort of greater."
Cas nods and Dean gives him a firm pat on the back. Cas doesn't look away from the seeds, but Dean knows that Cas probably doesn't want to look anyone in the eyes now. He's got a whole entire arsenal of human emotions locked up behind those eyes and no idea how to use them. Instead he just looks down at the seeds. "They're really amazingly made these seeds. They fly so well and when they fall they grow into something really beautiful." He throws one up and his hand is shaking.
The sun's going down now and Dean knows the conversation is over. Dean goes inside to check on Sam. Castiel doesn't his human brain wanted solitude to deal with things. He needed to get things straightened out without Dean's help sometimes, and now was the time because in a way the fallen angel knows Dean is right. He's going to die this way and he's got the same odds of dying as Sam and Dean. If Dean, or Sam dies he needs to be able to do human things himself. He's got to learn their tricks, so that one day he could fight their battle himself.
The next day Dean comes out to see Cas sitting outside again. He's clean though, shaven and he's wearing the clothing Dean bought at a thrift store for him. The trench is draped over a large rock, looking damp and dark around the bottom. Dean doesn't waste time awkwardly waiting around this time, Cas finally did shit and deserved a fucking high five or something, though the gesture might be lost on the angel.
"You know Cas, Sammy and I used to collect those stupid seeds when we were kids."
Cas looks up at Dean. Dean can see the pride and perpetually active confusion (or curiosity) behind those blue eyes. Sort of like when Dean explained Santa to Sam the for the first time what, twenty years ago?
Dean sits down beside him. "Yeah, we used to collect these stupid things cause they used to be everywhere and Sammy needed something to do while we were in the motel room." Dean wasn't going to tell Cas that he was bullshitting him right now. There was no way Dean and Sam did something so girly. Hell no, they collected frogs and Dean took Sam out to the park to make fun of him for being a baby when he needed a push on the swings. However Cas couldn't read minds anymore, so one lie to give him a little faith in something other than god was okay. "You get maybe a thousand of them and throw them off somewhere really high you can get a wish. Like a shooting star." Dean pats Cas on the shoulder, and the man just takes it because he still doesn't seem to care about personal space.
Dean just leaves Castiel with that because doing anything more ventured into the realm of unmentionable chick flick moments that Dean would never admit to. Cas liked to do things with a hint of secrecy anyways, even though Dean knows most of the time what he's up to — Like his freshly done laundry and the fact that two slices of bread and a lot of ham is gone from the kitchen.
He walks back to the house, checks up on Sam and catches Cas, bending over and picking up seeds through the window.