Easter was just around the corner, spring was in the air. Dean Winchester could care less. He and Sam had just finished a hunt, some Germanic pagan goddess Eostre who'd been kidnapping people and drinking in their life force at dawn, in a small New England town. It had been a relatively easy hunt for the boys. Bobby was able to help them find the way to kill her and she didn't go down with much fight at all. However, it had taken a week to track her down and it'd taken a lot out of the Winchesters.
As soon as they got back to their dingy motel Dean collapsed to the bed. "Oh sweet and precious bed, how I've missed you," he said into his pillow. How long had it been since he'd gotten decent rest — two, maybe three weeks? He was glad to finally have some time for the sleep he so desperately needed.
Sam sat on the bed, not yet ready for sleep. He looked over at Dean speaking into his pillow and laughed. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Without even waiting, Sam stood up and said he'd get it. It was a bit strange that someone was knocking on the door because they hadn't made any acquaintances in the town and room service certainly wasn't coming by at 7:30 in the morning.
He opened the door and saw a small blonde girl holding a basket that held several items covered with blue plastic Easter grass. Sam smiled down at her and said, "Hi there." She looked up at him, clearly nervous.
"Hello, my name is Sarah. I'm the owner's daughter. I just wanted to give you this Easter basket. It has some candy and eggs for egg coloring. I hope you like it." She smiled up at him. He wasn't really sure what to say. It was an odd situation but what else could he do but take her basket? Before Sam could say anything though a tall woman, who Sam recognized as the woman who checked their room out to them, came striding up to door.
"I'm so sorry," she started waving a hand, "Sarah is working on a little project for her Girl Scouts troop but she wasn't supposed to bother our guests, were you Sarah?" She directed the final part to the little girl, looking down at her. Sarah just looked up at her mother and mumbled a sorry.
"It's fine," Sam said smiling kindly.
"But he still needs to accept my Easter offer!" Sarah protested. She held the basket out to him. Sam looked at the woman and she nodded. He took the basket and thanked Sarah.
Mother and daughter both waved goodbye, an apology from the mother, and Sam closed the door laughing to himself over the strange situation. He set the basket down on the table between the queen beds. "Are you awake, Dean?" When no reply came, Sam snatched the keys to the Impala and went to get some breakfast.
It was quiet in the room; the only sound was Dean's light snores. It'd only been 10 minutes since Sam had left when the distinct sounds of wings filled the quiet. The noise didn't immediately rouse Dean, but when loud footfalls could be heard, in quick succession, he awoke and was on his feet in seconds, silver knife in hand.
A sigh of relief escaped him when he saw it was only Castiel. "Man, you're gonna have to knock or something. What is this, like the third time in the last month I've almost stabbed you? You can't sneak up on me like that," Dean said to the angel, only half serious. Castiel's face remained stoic.
"Bobby prayed to me and told me that you needed help killing a pagan god," Cas stated dryly.
"Well you're about two hours too late on that one Cas," Dean shrugged. "We figured it out on our own."
"Oh. Well I'm sorry I was late. Things are getting… A bit more difficult and I've been hitting many dead ends in my search."
Dean didn't say anything. He knew Cas had been going through a lot in his quest for God but there was nothing he could do to help. It was Cas' father so he would eventually find the guy… Right?
"Is there anything else I can do for you though?" asked the angel.
Unfailingly kind Dean thought to himself. He sat back down on the bed and rubbed his temples. "Uh, not really Cas. I was just trying to get some sleep…" He let his statement trail off because he noticed a confused looked on Castiel's face. Dean laugh, "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm in good health. I'm an angel and we aren't usually unwell."
Dean laughed even more, "No, no, no. You looked confused."
"Ah, yes. Well, what is that?"
Dean looked at the place Castiel was pointing. There sat what was clearly an Easter basket. "Um, an Easter basket. I have no idea where it came from though."
"Oh," came the curt response.
Dean looked back at Cas and saw an expressionless face. "Have you ever seen an Easter basket before?"
"Of course." Another curt response.
"Are you sure?" taunted Dean. Cas narrowed his eyes and looked away.
Dean leaned back and grabbed the basket. He set it in his lap and began looking through it. There were a couple little ziplock bags full of different candies, six large white eggs, and an egg coloring kit. "Ah sweet! Sammy and I used to color eggs as kids." Which was only partly true. There had only been a handful of Easters when they had been kids that their father had brought them eggs and some dye before he ran off on another hunt. Admittedly, Dean had enjoyed those Easters but he hadn't thought about it in years.
Dean looked away from the basket and up at Cas. He was looking at the eggs and coloring kit, his head tilted to the side. Dean lifted an egg and said, "It's really easy actually." Dean looked at the egg in his hand and suddenly had the overwhelming desire to color it. It surprised him. He didn't usually deal with nostalgic moments.
"Hey, where is Sam?" asked Dean who'd finally noticed the absence of his brother.
"I believe he has left," said Cas.
"How do you know?"
"Well, your car isn't parked outside and Sam… Isn't here," said Cas, who was unsure whether Dean was trying to make another joke.
Dean raised his eyebrows at the angel. Well maybe this is a really good opportunity thought Dean. Sam was gone and would probably be gone for a while and here were all the tools to color the eggs… Maybe just one or two…
Dean looked up at Cas and said, "You wanna color some eggs with me?"
"I can't tell if you're trying to joke with me or not." Cas was caught off guard by the offer. He hadn't known Dean for a long time but he didn't seem like the kind of human that took part in the modern traditions of Easter.
"Nah man, I'm not. I mean, why let this stuff go to waste. Plus, how many times am I gonna get the chance to teach YOU something."
"Ah, well…" Cas looked around.
"Come on. God will still be hiding in an hour, you won't be missing anything."
"Well alright," said Cas uncomfortably.
Dean walked over to the table and set the eggs and coloring kit on top of it. He starting setting things up when he noticed Cas hadn't moved from where he was been standing. "If you're gonna be weird than it's gonna make this whole learning process a lot harder for you," Dean said matter-of-factly and motioned for Cas to sit in the seat across from him.
Cas walked over and sat down. He looked up at Dean and listened intently when Dean started talking.
"Alright, so the first thing you gotta do is…"
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