Castiel Novak loved his job. He worked at a circus, as a trapeze artist. Now, normally this wasn't the sort of career that came up in everyday conversation. So whenever he did mention it, it usually garnered a fair amount of surprised looks and exclamations of "Wow! What an interesting job!"
In fact, other members of his family worked in the same company as he. His brother, Gabriel, was the ringmaster. His eldest brothers, twins Michael and Lucifer, worked with tigers. Though the circus only had two, named Alistair and Abbadon, they got along well with the twins despite what their names suggested. His sister, Anna, was a phenomenal acrobat. She and another woman, Charlie Bradbury, performed a stunning routine.
Of course, there were others in the circus besides Novaks. There was a rather grumpy man named Crowley who knew a bit of magic, which was a little out of the ordinary but crowds loved in nonetheless. And there was Dean Winchester.
He was in the same acrobatics routine as Anna and Charlie. He was strong, and graceful, and he had the greenest eyes that Castiel had ever seen… ahem. Moving on.
Dean had worked with them for a little over two years. Castiel had had a crush on him for one and a half. They'd been a little touchy for the first six months, but their friendship had blossomed rapidly. And Cas's feelings for him had grown just as rapidly.
Right now, it was a Friday morning. They'd just arrived in a new town, and they'd put up their tent (tents were becoming rarer now, in the modern era, but Gabriel was fond of the orange- and-white -striped thing, plus it meant that they only had to rent a plot of land and not an arena or something.)
Cas and Dean had the place to themselves for an hour or two. Gabriel, Charlie, Anna, and Crowley had all gone out for coffee and donuts. Lucifer and Michael had declined, but had slipped off to their room (okay, the mobile trailer/van/whatever the hell that piece of junk was) to "warm up their competitive spirits for the show". This really just meant they were going to play Mario Kart. Shouts of "take that, Luci!" and "I'll still kick your ass, Mike, just you wait" echoed faintly in the distance.
"Hey, Angel." Dean greeted as he walked into the tent. Cas, who was already climbing up towards the rafters, called "Morning, Dean."
"Angel" was the nickname that Cas had been given, for one of his favorite moves, one that involved a jump that made him appear to be flying. It was a pretty cool trick, if he said so himself. And he did. The name also came from the fact that he had black wing tattoos that stretched along his shoulders and part of his arms.
Down below, Dean was slowly stretching in preparation for the exercises he did every day. Bending down, he launched into a handstand, then, once he'd found his balance, stuck one hand straight up in the air so it was parallel with his legs. Cas watched, hanging upside down by his legs from a trapeze. Gabriel often joked that Cas felt more at home up in the air than he did on the ground with the rest of them.
Dean grinned up at Cas from his upside-down pose. With the two of them upside down, each looked to the other like he was standing right side up. If you left out the fact that Dean would have been hanging by a hand on the ceiling and Cas would somehow be perched on a suspended bar. And of course the massive height difference that their respective positions lent them.
"Like what you see?" he called up. Cas, damn his body's stupid instinctive reaction, blushed, and awkwardly grasped his other arm, which was made even more awkward due to the fact that he was upside down. On the bright side, maybe Dean would think his red countenance was because the blood was rushing to his head.
The other man's smirk grew a little wider. "Want to go for a tumble after you are done?"
Cas nearly fell off the trapeze. Of all the reactions that he'd imagine Dean might have, that one had not been on the list. Hell, he hadn't even thought that would be a possibility. While he struggled to remain in his spot, he studied Dean closely.
Though it was hard to tell, he thought Dean was blushing too. Of course, it could be all the blood that was surely rushing to both of their heads. But before he could say anything, Dean placed his other hand on the ground and launched himself out of the headstand. He was definitely blushing.
"God, Cas, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to put you in an awkward situation or anything, man. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I don't know what I was thinking. We can just pretend this never happened, right? God, I am so, so sorry." Dean said this all very fast, and he was halfway across the tent before Cas could process all of it.
Wait. He didn't want to pretend this never happened! A little voice in his head, the one that sounded a lot like Lucifer, was screaming at him. "This is your chance! You finally have proof of his feelings! Don't waste it, you idiot! Go after him before it's too late!"
As quick as he could without breaking any bones, Cas got himself to the ground. He bolted across the tent, searching frantically for Dean.
The air outside was much cooler compared to the inside of the tent, and he still wasn't wearing a shirt, but Cas didn't feel the cold. He had something much bigger to worry about. Eyes roaming frantically across the lot, he caught sight of Dean opening the door to the mobile trailer/van/piece of junk.
"Dean! Dean, wait!" The acrobat turned around, a look of pain and embarrassment on his face. "Cas, I know what I said was-" he was cut off when Cas cupped his face in his hands.
And kissed him.
In the romance movies, the first kiss is always accompanied by a dramatic swelling of music, and maybe some fancy lighting to really accentuate the moment. When Castiel kissed Dean, there wasn't any fancy lighting, unless you count the sun, and the dramatic music was the sound of Lucifer and Michael's video game. But to them, the moment was just as good regardless.
How long they stayed like that, the two didn't know. They were too absorbed in each other, and finally making up for the time they'd lost. But it was certainly long enough for the others to return from their coffee, because the thing that brought them back to earth was Gabe shouting, "Get a room!" with Anna and Charlie giggling. Crowley rolled his eyes.
Dean threw his head back and laughed, long and hard. Cas stared at him for a moment before he too burst out laughing. The others followed suit, and eventually the racket they caused was so loud it drew the twins outside.
They stared around in confusion, before Michael shrugged. "Come on, Luce, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you when we get to Rainbow Road."
…
Opening night, the tent was packed with crowds of excited people. Little kids pointed enthusiastically around them, drawing their parents' attention to whatever was most fascinating to them.
At precisely nine o'clock, the tent went dark and silent. The spectators shifted in their seats, murmuring to each other and wondering what was going to happen.
Then, a sudden beam of light cut through the darkness. In the circle it illuminated, Gabriel stood in all his glory. His outfit sparkled in the light. Grinning wide, he spread his arms, and boldly proclaimed,
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Novak's Circus!"
A flare of bright light lit the entire tent. The lights that hung in the rafters looked like strings of stars as they illuminated the tent's colored stripes.
The twins swept into the ring, sparkling in the frock coats that they wore (The story behind those outfits was hilarious- but that's a tale for another day). Michael in blue, Lucifer in gold, they were trailed by the tigers, Abbadon and Alistair.
As the audience whooped and cheered for the twins, and Crowley's magic tricks, one of which included vanishing a very disgruntled Michael (he hated this part), Cas crept carefully along the small catwalk near the ceiling.
Down below, Anna, Charlie, and Dean were beginning their routine. Watching his Dean go through the familiar flips and jumps that never failed to astound the audience, he felt a sudden rush of affection. He scrambled into place, bracing himself.
When the lights turned up to point at the ceiling, Cas launched himself forward. He felt rather than heard the stillness as the audience held their breaths, waiting to see what would happen. For a few shining seconds, he was soaring high over the earth. Then, he grasped the trapeze and swung around it in a graceful flip. A roar of applause surged up below him.
For the next two hours, his world was a blur of light and color. Until, during the finale, when he leapt to the ground to take a bow, and Dean appeared at his side. He grabbed Cas's hand, and bowed deeply, pulling Cas along with him.
Gabriel called out, "Goodnight, everyone! We hope you enjoyed the show, and have a spectacular evening! Drive safe, now! And thank you for coming to Novak's Circus!"
The main lights went out. Dean, who was still holding on to Castiel's hand, pulled him closer. "I love you, Angel."
Cas smiled. "I love you too, Dean." He looped his arms around the other man's neck and kissed him soundly. When they pulled back, both of them were grinning like dorks. "Here's to many more nights under the stars."
Dean laughed. "I second that."
They would have kissed again if Gabriel hadn't called them over. "Dean-o, Crowley says there's a guy asking for you outside. If he's from the FBI, we had no idea, got it?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Dean rolled his eyes, but ducked outside. His face lit up when he caught sight of a tall young man with rather long hair standing there. "Sammy!"
The man in question grinned. "Dean! I missed you so much, and I heard that the circus you worked for was near, and I came to see it! You were amazing!" The two embraced, and Gabriel came to stand beside Cas. He whistled.
"Damn, he's hot."
"Yeah, Dean's pretty great, isn't he?" Cas joked good-naturedly. "You better not be trying to steal my boyfriend, Gabe."
His brother shook his head. "Nah, not Dean. I mean the guy he's with!"
Speak of the devil, Dean came bounding towards them, the other man in tow. "Cas, Gabe, this is my little brother, Sammy! He's studying to be a lawyer at Stanford, and he came out to see us tonight. Sam, this is my boyfriend, Cas, and Cas's brother, Gabe."
Sam grinned. "Nice to meet you guys. Cas, you were the trapeze artist, right, and Gabe, the ringmaster?"
Before Cas or Dean could answer, Gabe bowed low. "That's me. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sam Winchester. Might I have the honor of getting to know dear old Dean's brother better? Maybe over a drink or two?" He winked and offered his hand.
All Cas and Dean could do was gawk. Sam, however, smiled. "The honor's all mine, Gabriel Novak." He took Gabe's hand and led him off.
The silence was broken by Lucifer. He poked his head outside, yawned, and proudly announced, "Mikey owes me five dollars because I beat him in Mario Kart."