"Which one do you think would be more filling?"
Dean frowned a little as he turned to face the man whom he assumed was talking to him.
The stranger was wearing a tatty pair of jeans and a red hoodie, and had extremely ruffled hair. He was looking extremely perplexed - eyes squinted and head tilted slightly to the side as he switched between reading the labels on two different peanut butter jars.
"Huh?" Dean replied dumbly. He himself had been quietly inspecting the meat counter.
"Well, this jar says it contains less riboflavin, but this one says it has more sodium. That means it could taste less molecular I suppose…"
"I don't think it really matters, dude" Dean replied. "Peanuts are peanuts."
The man looked up at him with questioning. "What else would they be?"
Dean rolled his eyes as he turned back to his own production selection. He watched the man cautiously when he came to stand beside him.
"My name isn't Dude; by the way, it's Castiel."
"Gesundheit" Dean quipped shooting the man a grin. It quickly faded though as it was apparent from Castiel's expression that he didn't understand the humour.
"What's your name?" Castiel asked.
"It's, uh...it's Dean."
"Hello, Dean."
"Yeah...Hi, Cas."
Dean tried to continue rummaging around the meat shelf, but he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with Castiel hovering by his shoulder.
He picked up a pack of beef.
"You're not going to buy that, are you?"
Dean sighed. "Why not?"
"It's not free range" Castiel claimed. "You shouldn't give money to companies which condone confiding animals in small spaces and force-feeding them. Of course I've considered breaking into many battery farms to free the animals, but then where would I put them all..."
Castiel had clearly zoned out into his own headspace as he plotted the great escape. Dean decided to take it as his opportunity to shuffle away - he did, however, pick up some beef which was free range before he did so.
Dean grabbed the rest of his groceries and headed over to the cashiers' counter. He had to restrain a groan when he saw Castiel was at the adjacent till.
"I have money" Castiel assured the cashier as he put down a crumpled handful of notes - most of which, Dean noted, where only single dollars.
"Sir, I'm afraid that doesn't cover your bill" the cashier huffed.
"B-but I-" Castiel stuttered as he wrung his hands together nervously. "You don't understand. I need to eat."
"Ya, we all do" the cashier said, clearly getting annoyed. "You're going to have to put some stuff back."
"Can I at least afford the water and the medicine?"' Castiel asked meekly.
"Sure" the cashier replied as he removed the rest of the items.
Castiel hung his head and rubbed a hand across his stomach with a pained expression.
Dean supposed he should have realised. Now that he looked closer at Castiel not only did the see the man's dirty and tattered clothes, but also his paled skin, sunken eyes, and defeated posture. He was hungry and homeless, and probably lonely given his incidence on talking to Dean.
Dean felt guilt beginning to gnaw at him. Maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to just dismiss Castiel as crazy activist.
"Sir? Sir!"
Dean blinked feverishly as he realised that his cashier had been talking to him.
"Yeah, sorry."
"Will that be all?"
"No, I'll buy the rest of his stuff too" Dean said indicating to Castiel.
The smaller man looked up at him. "What? Dean, you don't have to-"
"I want to" Dean insisted.
Castiel still seemed hesitant, but Dean hurried the cashier along before he could protest anymore.
"Thank you so much" Castiel said with a saddened smile after Dean offered him the paid for bag of groceries. "It's been so long since someone has shown me such kindness."
"Well, that ain't right" Dean said as they left the store together. "You seem like a good guy, Cas. How about we go to a diner? On the condition they make free range burgers, of course."
"Dean, please, I couldn't ask you to spend any more money on me-"
"You're not asking, I'm offering" Dean said. "Besides, if you really do want to pay me back, my sorta kinda uncle has a scrap yard not far from here that I'm staying at. I'm sure he'd appreciate some help getting it in order."
"Yes, of course!" Castiel said eagerly.
His face lit up, and Dean couldn't help but smile softly. Castiel was rather endearing.
"Great, well let's go get dinner and...uh...we'll see how things go."