A/N: The conversation between Dean and Cas at the beginning of Free to Be You and Me made me giggle... "damnit cas, we talked about this! personal space!" This is the occurrence that I immediately imagined... so I suppose I decided to write it down. I'll probably end up deleting it later, anyways. x
Dean had just stepped out of the shower when the angel appeared in front of him, right in his face. He jumped and fell back into the shower behind him, his wet feet disallowing him to keep his grip on the tiles below. He didn't hit his head (which he suspected to be Cas's doing) and so he picked himself up immediately, groping for the shower curtain as he got to his feet. He was naked, after all.
The angel didn't seem very phased by this. "Dean." he said simply, his voice emotionless like usual.
Dean looked down at himself, his bottom half covered by the plastic curtain. He then looked back up at Castiel, sighing grumpily and rolling his eyes. There was silence between them. "Alright," Dean broke it with a loud announcement, "we have to have rules. I'm in the shower, Cas. The shower."
"Yes, you are." acknowledged Cas. "I need to speak with you and Sam." he claimed.
"No, I need to speak with you." Dean objected. "The shower. I'm not exactly..." He looked down at himself again. "decent." The angel titled his head. Dean took it as his cue to continue. "There's this human thing called... personal space." He wanted to made wild gestures, so he looked to the towel rack and asked, "Could you hand me a towel, please?"
Cas looked at the rack also. He then looked back at Dean, but then grabbed a towel and handed it to him. He took it and wrapped it around his waist and then stepped out of the shower. Cas looked at him curiously.
Dean waited until he held Cas's gaze again. He raised his eyebrows at him when he did. "Personal space." he repeated. He ran his hand up and down an imaginary wall in front of him. "Everybody has this little... bubble. Other people usually don't cross into this bubble because it's considered rude if they do." he attempted to explain. "And then there are places where people shouldn't be... with each other." he continued. "Like the toilet. The bath. The shower." he listed.
Cas's gaze flicked to the ground. "I'm sorry, Dean." the angel apologised.
He laughed. "You don't have to be sorry. It's just... etiquette, y'know?" he continued. "Just don't go appearing in my face all the time..." He trailed off, catching Cas's gaze again. "and when I'm in the shower." he added firmly.
The angel nodded, his gaze darting around the room as he did so. Dean suddenly felt sorry for him. He surprised both Castiel and himself by laying a hand gently on his shoulder. Cas didn't respond; he only tilted his head at Dean. Dean let out another low laugh and then patted Cas's shoulder twice. He looked down at his feet, and then when he looked up, Cas was gone, his hand suspended where the angel's shoulder had been.