Castiel – Day One, in which he falls unknowingly in love.
"Hey Cas," called Anna, raising her voice so that she could be heard over the coffee grinder, "turn it up! I love this song!"
Castiel made his way over to the speaker system at the head of the coffee store counter. The beat had kicked in, and some 'ooohs' were being drawn out signalling the beginning of the main chorus. The dial rotated slightly to the right, the audio becoming loud enough to be heard over the top of the general hubbub of the coffee store that Castiel worked at, called 'Wings.'
Wings was family owned, ever since Castiel's family had made their way to this town – though that was very long ago, before his time. Himmendale was where he grew up under the tutelage of his increasingly distant father.
Cas new this song; he knew it well. It was one of his favorites. "Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods," he sang. He wasn't too bad, if he said so himself.
"Where's the streetwise Hercules, to fight the rising odds," continued Anna. "Isn't there a white night, upon a fiery steed?" Anna thought she was a pretty good singer too. Thankfully, they weren't too bad in truth, but they never could quite reach the tonal heights of Bonnie Tyler.
Castiel put his hands on his hips, tapping his feet in time with the beat whilst practically screaming the next few lyrics, "late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need!"
Anna and Castiel got up in each other's faces, holding a faux microphone in their hands, ready to belt out the lyrics of the chorus.
"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night! He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight! I need a heroooooooo," the two of them screamed together, drawing a few mildly amused glances from the regular customers. "I'm holding out for—"
"Working hard as always, I see," sneered Michael, the second oldest brother to Castiel and Anna. He cranked the volume right down, making it almost completely inaudible. "I'm beginning to wonder if leaving you two in charge of this place was a good idea."
Wings had been in the family for as long as Castiel could remember. He'd been told that the café had been passed down through generations, but ever since their father had left them behind for unknown reasons, the ownership of the place had been left up in the air. The eldest sibling, Luc, had managed the place for a few years until he had decided that it was time to move on. They hadn't seen him since he'd left. After that, Michael had taken his place as the show-runner, but now he too had decided that he wanted to leave. It was up to Castiel and Anna now.
Michael was always so proud, so glad to have taken his father's place, however brief it was. Castiel always had trouble with how he stood in his brother's eyes, sensing the rivalry but almost never feeling love or kinship. In many ways, Cas was the odd one out in the family - he never clicked with anyone save for Anna, and he always seemed to be bickering with the men of the family.
"Worry not, brother," replied Castiel, trying to hide his displeasure. "Anna has almost completed her barista course, and I'm willing to put in the necessary hours to complete my patisserie training. I've put up a sign informing people that we are seeking out new staff, and I expect that we should be filing applicants soon. Is there anything else you need before you leave?"
"Very good, I shall-"
"See you later, then," snapped Castiel, walking through the large, swinging silver doors that gave way to the kitchen.
Anna apologised on Castiel's behalf, before finalising everything and going over it all one last time. "Be safe, Michael," she said gently.
He smiled regally at her, managing to look every bit as self-righteous as Lucifer did the day he left. "Do not screw this place up. If you do, I will return. Goodbye."
Anna returned to the kitchen, placing a comforting arm around her brother and squeezing him gently. "I'm sorry Cas, but you know how he is. Do you at least try to get along with him? Or any of our brothers?"
"No," groaned Castiel, pressing his thumb and forefinger to his temples, "I gave up on that a long time ago. Why do you apologise for me?"
Anna's voice begun to crack, wavering with emotion. "I just… want us to be happy like we were before our father left."
Castiel felt guilt creep slowly through him, but he chose not to show it. "I understand where you're coming from Anna, I really do. But do you see things the way I do?"
"I know Cas, but," Anna looked through the peephole and noticed a small queue forming at the register, "we can talk about this at home, we need to get back to work."
Castiel nodded, getting to work on the pile of dishes that was building up by the sink. After his encounter with Michael, he felt slightly agitated and felt that he couldn't deal with customers for a few moments. His hands expertly wiped and stacked, wiped and stacked, until the pile had vanished and the dishwasher was ready to be turned on. Castiel reached up and heaved on the metal bar, lowering the top of the machine until it closed with a faint *click*before it emitted its usual whirring sound as the water sprayed about inside.
Castiel took a deep breath to calm himself, something that only worked very slightly, then pushed the silver doors open with a smile (unless you knew him well, you would not be able to tell that this was his fake smile).
Anna had taken care of the people that had lined up and was wiping down the machine by the time Cas returned to her. "Do you mind if I leave a few minutes early? I need to meet a friend and I wanna pick up some flowers for her on the way."
Right. Anna's best friend had just lost her grandmother, Castiel recalled. He cast his gaze over the café, evaluating whether or not he could serve everyone efficiently by himself. "I'll see you later sister. Give Charlie my condolences."
Anna gave Castiel a light peck on the cheek and picked up her bag and keys before hurrying out of the shop door.
Two women who frequented Wings made their way to the counter and handed Castiel their empty mugs. "Thank you, my angel," the first one said with a sly wink, "the coffees were perfect."
Castiel's father was big on the biblical symbology – hence the angelic names for all his children, and the gentle nods to the text in the menu and theme of the café. Every employee was referred to as an Angel, each one of them ranked differently depending on what kinds of things they did at work.
Cas smiled. "I'm glad you've enjoyed them. May I get you anything else?"
"Two large lattes please, for takeaway, thank you."
Castiel expertly whipped up the two coffees, snapped on the lid and placed them into a carry tray, "That'll be seven dollars," he said as he slid the tray across the bench. These two women were some of his favourite customers, and though they knew that Cas was 'fruitier than Carmen Miranda's favourite hat' (as Gabriel often put it) they consistently exchanged flirty banter.
The clock informed Castiel that it was five minutes until closing time, so he got to work turning putting away the remaining pastries. After that, he removed the tray from the coffee machine and brought it into the kitchen so he could wash it down.
"Hello!" someone called out. Castiel peered through the peephole and spotted a man who appeared to be in his early forties waiting at the counter, rapping his fingertips along the bench impatiently.
"Sorry, we're actually closing up now," he said to the man.
"Excuse me?" snapped the stranger. "I just watched two women walk out of here carrying two coffees."
Why me? Castiel thought. "Yes, Sir, but that was several minutes ago. I've already begun dismantling the machine."
"I don't care," growled the man. "The shop window says you close at half-five. Now your clock up there says I've still got a couple of minutes to go. So make me a damn cappuccino."
Normally, Castiel would be ready to reply with a handful of sass and a few choice words, but he was too tired to argue. "Fine."
By the time Castiel had returned the machine to a usable state and made the coffee, it was seven minutes past close up time. "Here. Four dollars."
The man threw the change at Castiel then spun on his heel and stormed out the door.
"Assbutt," Castiel muttered to himself.
He went through the regular motions once again, sighing with relief when his tasks were completed. Anna, unlike Gabriel, was very good at keeping everything generally tidy as she moved along, meaning less work for whoever closed up at the end of the day. Man, did Castiel hate working with his moronic prankster brother.
For the final bit of the cleanup, Castiel switched the door sign to closed, raised the volume on the stereo until it filled the entire shop with the garage rock sounds of Cage the Elephant, and then proceeded to give everything a once-over wipe down.
Due to the intensity of the music, Castiel did not hear the door swinging open, nor did he hear the customer slamming his coffee down on the counter, practically frothing at the mouth with anger.
Castiel turned, almost dropping the ceramic plate in fright as he spotted the man.
"This coffee is fucking cold," he shouted. "I want a refund!"
"I- I'm sorry sir, but I've put the money away and the register is locked," replied Cas.
The man was beginning to turn a livid shade of red. "Then make me another damn coffee!"
"I'm afraid I cannot do that. The machine has been completely turned off. Would you kindly leave the shop now?"
The man pushed his way behind the counter and stepped up to Castiel, taking a fistful of shirt in his hand. "You better give me my damn money back, you little asshole, or else!" growled the man, drawing his fist back to strike. Castiel could smell some very potent alcohol on his breath.
Suddenly, someone ripped the man from Castiel and tossed him to the ground. "Or else what?" he shouted back.
The angry customer jumped to his feet and swung at Castiel's saviour, but he ducked under the swings and struck the older man hard in the gut.
"I suggest you leave, now," added Castiel's new hero, coolly.
The man left without further question, after which Castiel whimpered slightly.
"Hey, he's gone. You're alright now. What's your name?" asked the man.
"C-Castiel. Cas," he stammered.
The man laughed. "I'm Dean," he replied, holding out his hand.
Cas practically shivered at the Dean's touch, the warm and strong hands gripping his firmly. He looked into Dean's brilliant green eyes, losing himself momentarily.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Dean, looking concerned.
"Yes. Just a bit… flustered," replied Castiel. Whether he was flustered because of the attack, or flustered because of the sudden surge of attraction for the man, Cas could not tell.
"You need a ride home?"
Castiel really did not want to walk home, but he couldn't see himself asking for a ride either. "No, thank you, I will walk."
"Aww, don't be an idiot. I'll give ya a ride. I got nothin' else to do," grinned Dean.
"I really cannot ask you to do this for me, but…" replied Cas, acquiescing at last. "It is much appreciated."
"Hey, no problem."
The ten minute car ride from the café to Castiel's home was largely uneventful save for a few things: The first was that Wings had found its newest angel in the form of Dean Winchester, a young man who had recently moved into town with his younger brother.
The second thing was that it seemed as though Dean acted as both a brother and a father to Sam, whom they had picked up from school on the way back to Castiel's home. Sam liked Cage the Elephant too. His favourite song was 'Indy Kidz,' because he felt it accurately described his view on most of his schoolmates.
The third and final thing was that Castiel could not help but imagine himself doing all sorts of things with Dean, most of which caused him to cross his legs in an attempt to hide an ever increasing bulge that was tightening in his pants.
Castiel was definitely going to be rubbing one out tonight. It was going to be spectacular, he thought to himself whilst grinning maniacally.