Pranks

Dean was miserably sweaty and wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of his clothes and into a shower. He stepped into the bathroom and peeled his clothes from his body. He'd been working on the Impala all morning and he was covered in oil and grease and just wanted to be clean.

He turned the faucet to hot and then stepped inside…and jumped right back out.

The water was frigid.

"What the hell…?"

He turned the knob the other direction, thinking something must have been switched, but it stayed its' icy temperature, feeling like needles as it struck the skin on his arm. Pissed off, he turned off the water and headed for Cas' room. The angel was out, so he was going to use his bathroom to clean up. It felt a bit weird as he walked through Cas' room in just a towel, as if he was violating his friend's personal space, even though he wasn't even there.

Brushing it off, he made his way to the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Ah, blessed heat.

However, not two minutes after being in the shower, it turned colder than arctic water.

"Oh, just…awesome." He turned off the water and grabbed his towel off the rack, wrapping it around his damp waist as he stormed back into the room…and ran into Cas. "Jesus, Cas! What the hell are you doing back already?"

Cas gave him a look, one that Dean didn't quite understand, the angel's eyes wider than usual, and then said, "I was finished with what I needed to do, Dean. That's why I'm back." He paused and looked at the hunter, his eyes lingering a beat longer than was strictly necessary. "What…what are you doing in my room? In a towel?"

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Dean gripped the towel tighter around his hips, his shoulders tensing up, and tried to casually brush it off.

"My shower was acting up, so I decided to use yours. Not that it worked any better, mind you. Still as frozen as mine. Must be gremlins."

Cas gave him a look, and then eloquently replied, "Oh."

Rolling his eyes and adjusting the towel a bit higher on his waist, he walked past him, their shoulders brushing, and then picked up his pace and disappeared down the hallway. Knowing Cas, that whole encounter was probably nothing, but to Dean it was one of the more awkward moments for him. He'd never been that exposed, physically, in front of the angel before. The only thing that had kept him from being completely uncovered had been a thin sheet of white terrycloth.

Giving up on his shower for the time being, he grabbed a hand towel and wiped off the grease and dirt from his face, arms, and chest. He still didn't know what had made his car act up in the first place, even after three hours of working on it. So much for figuring out the problem. Hell, maybe it was gremlins.

He made his way to the kitchen, where Sam and Charlie were seated at the counter, and inwardly rolled his eyes as he saw the book in front of his younger brother. Mythology of Leviathan. Like they hadn't had enough of that, already?

"Hey, Sam. Somethin's up with the water, man. The showers don't seem to have an off-setting for cold."

Sam looked up.

"It was working fine when I used it this morning."

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's not working now."

Sam ignored him and went back to the book, taking a bite of the sandwich that was also in front of him, leaving Dean to his own devices. Curious as to what Charlie was reading, Dean tried to get a look, but to no avail. Giving up (as well as wondering why their' usual chatty Charlie was being silent), the older hunter decided to follow after his brother's idea and pulled out the makings for a sandwich; bread, chicken, tomato, and some mustard and mayo. His hand went to squirt the mustard…and it went everywhere. Not only had he drowned half of the sandwich that he'd already started to make in the obscenely bright yellow condiment, but it had also somehow landed all over his shirt.

"Son of a bitch!"

Sam looked up. Charlie didn't. Dean looked over at him and glared at him, seeing the amusement in his brother's and Charlie's eyes, daring him to say a word, but Sam stayed quiet, despite having a broad grin stretched across his face.

"You shut up."

Sam, still suppressing a smile, and failing, replied, "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to, dumbass. I know that look."

Sam stayed quiet as Dean tried to clean off some of the mustard, but he soon discovered that it was a futile effort. As if on perfect cue, Castiel walked into the kitchen, his eyes squinting and his head tilting in that particular way of his as he looked over at Dean.

"Dean, I believe you have something on your shirt."

"Gee, you think so, Cas?" Dean retorted, sarcasm heavy in his tone. After a few more moments of struggling, he finally gave up on his shirt and pulled it off in one smooth, practiced move over his head, turning it inside out in the process. Not paying any attention, Dean was unaware of the way that the angel's eyes widened at the sight of the hunter shirtless; however, Sam was well aware of Cas' reaction and bit back another grin at the sight. It was about time that one of them noticed what was going on…he just had never thought that Cas would be the first.

Dean then turned on the faucet and withdrew his fingers hastily as the ice cold water he had been expecting came out scalding hot.

"Shit!" He glared at the sink. "I am sick and tired of this," he muttered under his breath.

His brother grinned a second time and said, in a joking manner, "Maybe it's gremlins, Dean. You know, the whole hot water cold, cold water hot, and the mustard going all wonky? Sounds textbook."

The older hunter rolled his eyes, neither of them noticing the serious look that crossed Cas's face at hearing the word gremlins for a second time that morning. Looking all too serious, the angel left the room, headed in the direction of the library, Dean not noticing, too intent on finding a way to resolve his bad luck, muttering under his breath the whole way.

Sam, on the other hand, looked after Cas, wondering what he was doing. Curious, he followed the angel, and had to hold back a grin when he saw him at the bookshelf, in the G's, muttering the word gremlins under his breath and pulling out a book as he did so. From where he stood, Sam could read the title and it was none other than a book on gremlins. Not having the heart to correct Castiel and tell him that it was simply a joke and that something was just probably off with the plumbing, he simply watched from the doorway, just out of sight, his arms crossed over his chest and a fond look on his face.

Those two. How long was it going to take them to see what everyone else could see?

Hearing footsteps, he broke from his reverie and quickly removed himself from the doorway. Exchanging a quick nod with Dean, who was now in a clean shirt, he simply said, "Library," and let Dean take over from there. Of course Dean was going to ask where the angel was, it was a given.

Dean, unaware of his younger brother's following eyes, went into the library, and then stopped in his tracks when Castiel looked up at him and said, in a completely serious tone of voice, "I do not see an immediate solution to the gremlins, Dean, but with your help I am sure that we can get rid of them and solve your problem."

Before Dean could sensor his reaction, he bent over at his waist, laughing, trying hard to breathe, completely taken aback by the fact that the angel had taken his and his brother's sarcastic jabs as fact.

After a moment, during which Castiel gave him a genuinely confused look, Dean stood back up and said, wiping a few stray tears from his eyes, "Dude, Cas…we were kidding about the gremlins. There's no gremlins, alright? Just…just really old plumbing and stupid bad luck."

The angel's brow furrowed.

"I am confused..."

"I can see that," Dean chuckled, walking over to the table. He snagged the book from Cas' hands and put it back up on the shelf. Just as he turned back around, he managed to nearly trip over a pile of books near his feet and he cursed. "Shit! See, Cas," he said, gesturing to the leather bound volumes on the floor. "Bad luck, that's all. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess."

"Wrong side of…?"

Dean waved him off, moving over to sit on the edge of the table, saying, "It's just an expression, man." However, the instant he put his weight on the solid oak table, one of it's legs inexplicably gave under the weight, causing Dean to go sprawling in the Castiel's direction, eventually landing both of them on the floor, Dean on top of the angel, his hands on either side of Cas' head, his legs almost neatly across the tops of Castiel's thighs.

Their mouths were an inch apart. They shared breath for a few moments, and then Dean moved to get up, but Cas' hand on his hip conveniently prevented him from doing so.

"Uh, Cas…"

"Yes, Dean?"

Their eyes locked for a moment and both of them were very much aware of the tension was steadily rising with each passing second, but neither of them moved to break the contact. This was not exactly what Dean had imagined for their moment of truth…not that he'd ever imagined, or anything like that. They stared for a few moments longer, and then, just as Dean decided to pull away completely, Castiel closed the distance between them, lips locking fervently with his…and Dean groaned.

Oh, yeah. Worth the damn wait.

Forgetting where they were, they continued to kiss, completely oblivious to the fact that Sam was in the doorway, having rushed to the room when he'd heard the crash. He stared, wide-eyed, but not all-too surprised. Charlie walked up behind him, looking around his shoulder, and she smiled.

Sam looked down at her.

"So…did you see this one coming?"

She smirked up at him and wiggled a finger in his direction.

"Seriously, Sam? I have eyes." Sam snorted and nodded in agreement, looking back his older brother and the angel, who were veering off from PG into full-blown X-rated sounds, along with the movements. Hastily averting his eyes, he walked back into the kitchen, Charlie at his heels, and then stopped when he turned and saw the book in her other hand.

"Hold up…you…you didn't…?"

She shot him a wide grin, casually flipping her hair over her shoulder as she said, "There's this handy little spell in here. Causes serendipitous accidents between two people who have feelings for each other but won't act on them." She gave him another grin and then waved her fingers at him as she added, disappearing around the corner into the hallway, "Just call me Miss Gremlin…"

Too shocked to say anything, the hunter just let out a short laugh of disbelief and then muttered under his breath, "Why didn't I think of that?"

So, when Cas and Dean emerged from the library looking thoroughly debauched, he didn't say a word. And when the next morning, Castiel emerged into the main kitchen wearing one of Dean's band t-shirts, boxers, and his robe, and Dean walked in with a hickey on his neck and a smile on his face, Sam just smiled. And when, a week later, Charlie confessed to Dean and Castiel about her meddling, Sam simply grinned like an idiot when Dean pressed a kiss to her forehead and gave her a heartfelt thank you.

Gremlins. Good for something after all.

Who knew?

THE END

A.N. - This was for a writing challenge on Tumblr. The prompt was monster:gremlin. I took the creative route and had some fun with it. Hope that you enjoyed it! Please review. Helps me improve. :)