It started with a poke to the side.

It was an innocent thing, really, just to get the attention of a hunter who was intent on watching an old DVD of Baywatch. Castiel didn't much care about how "smokin" Pamela Anderson was in those days, as Dean put it. He just wanted his partner's attention when he'd been content to ignore him for the last hour or so for a busty blonde woman. Castiel could be quite possessive when he wanted to be, and he was more than ready to take that video and throw it out the window.

"Dean." He'd said in a gravelly, annoyed voice as his straightened finger jabbed into the man's side. He'd expected Dean to give him a grunt in return and go back to watching his video, so the squeal the hunter had let out along with the big smile came as a surprise. Castiel had remembered Sam telling him something about Dean being ticklish, so he'd decided to take advantage of it if only to get his boyfriend to pay attention to him instead of scantily clad women.

Castiel smiled as he recalled the way Dean had reacted the moment fingers dug into his ribs. The hunter had squealed again before falling apart in laughter, squirming around on the bed and clinging to Cas's wrists to get him to stop. But despite his protests and his writhing, Castiel had noticed that Dean wasn't really exerting that much effort to stop him. Not that he could have if he wanted to, with how strong the angel was, but Cas recalled the grip on his wrists being loose and Dean's squirming had been constant, but his body never appeared to be trying to move away.

He had thought Dean was having fun, considering the huge smile that had remained on his face even after Castiel had mercy and let up. But then there was the sudden anger, the frown that downturned that smile as Dean snapped at him not to do it again and that he hated it. Castiel had found that strange, so he'd tried again and again. But every time he tickled Dean, it turned out the same. The hunter was smiling and laughing and obviously having fun, but then turned right around and acted upset, pushing Castiel away.

Cas was never one to just let things go, though. He was a stubborn thing and when he didn't understand something, he tried his best to figure it out. That was especially true when it came to Dean. Castiel didn't understand why his partner was acting this way, but he didn't like it when Dean was upset or off-kilter for any reason. So he decided he'd get to the bottom of it and figure out exactly what was wrong.

So here they were again in almost the exact same position as that first incident. Castiel was laying on a motel bed next to Dean, who was invested in watching The Terminator on Pay-per-view. The angel sighed, stretching out idly and fixing his gaze on the other man, whose gaze was fixed in turn to the television, a hand occasionally scratching at his bare belly as he was clad in only pajama pants.

"Dean, you've already watched two movies tonight." Castiel reminded, frowning a little. "You only do this when something is wrong. What's the matter?"

"I already told you I'm fine." Dean replied, annoyance in his tone and his gaze never leaving the screen. "So quit asking."

Cas sighed at the obvious tension he could hear in his partner's voice, wondering why Dean bothered hiding his emotions when he practically wore them on his sleeve, especially when he was angry. He didn't like it when Dean was in this sort of mood, not at all. The angel smiled a little, then, as he thought about a possible way he could cheer up the other man. No matter how Dean denied it, Cas could tell that Dean enjoyed himself whenever he tickled him and it seemed as if he could use a few pokes to the ribs right now. Plus it would give Cas a way to start getting to the bottom of his boyfriend's strange denial.

A brush of the angel's lips to the sensitive skin of his neck was all it took to have Dean letting out a breathy little laugh and scrunching up his shoulders, a smile tugging the corners of his lips. "Cas, stop it. I'm trying to watch this."

Castiel smiled a little himself as he continued to brush his lips lightly along Dean's neck, his nose nuzzling into the most sensitive spots that had the hunter twitching and squirming a bit. "You're upset. I'm going to fix it."

Dean wriggled and huffed out little laughs, shoulders scrunching up against the light, ticklish sensations of his lover's nose on his neck. But just like before, he wasn't actively pulling away. "I told you to stop it. I don't wan—stahap!" He yelped out a laugh as fingers found the sides of his stomach, pinching lightly and causing a full body squirm. "You know I hate that!"

"So you say." Cas replied with a hum, shifting up and over Dean, throwing a leg over him to straddle his hips. "But I'm not sure that's true."

The hunter frowned and looked ready to protest that before letting out a squeal-like sound and shooting his hands down to grab Cas's wrists as deft fingers scrabbled up his sides and poked at his lower ribs. "A-ahaha, stop!" He insisted, hips squirming underneath the angel atop of him. "Get o-off of me." He ordered, though Cas noticed that no real effort was being made to try to buck him off.

"I don't think you really want me to get off of you, Dean." Castiel ventured, voice playful as his fingers walked up Dean's ribs, evoking a bit of squirming and a smile from the protesting man. "I think you want me to tickle you until you can't breathe."

Dean gasped slightly at that statement, but it seemed more out of excitement than out of fear. "Cas, no. Castiel stop it." He objected. "I want you to get off me and—Nahahaha stahahahap!" He shrieked in laughter as Cas's fingers suddenly dug into his ribs, prodding and kneading at the areas in between. He was completely lost the moment the angel's fingers hit his upper ribs, squirming and shrieking and laughing helplessly. But all the while a big grin stretched his lips and his fingers remained rather loosely around Castiel's wrists.

Cas was laughing along with him as his fingers pinched and wriggled into every spot that made Dean squeal. Most people bucked and thrashed and tried desperately to get away when they were tickled, but not Dean. Dean folded like a cheap lawn chair under Cas's touch, squirming but mostly because it was his body's natural reaction. He wasn't moving too violently to try to escape and he was only half-heartedly trying to pull Cas's wrists away from his sensitive ribs.

"Cahahahas…ahaahaha plehehehehease!" Dean laughed out breathlessly, head tossed back and hair mussed from the pillow behind it.

"Please what? Tickle you more?" Castiel asked mischievously, taking Dean's wrists and pulling them above his head to pin them with one hand. Now he definitely knew that Dean hadn't even fought him then, as the muscles of the hunter's arms hadn't even tensed, as if he'd willingly allowed Cas to pin them over his head. "If I recall, your underarms were rather bad."

Dean shook his head at that, tugging at his wrists as his smile only widened. "Nononono, C-cas don't!" He yelped, acting as if he really didn't want his partner to do this. But Cas wasn't fooled, he could see the spark of happiness in Dean's eyes, along with an eagerness to continue. Dean was having fun with this, and Castiel wasn't going to let him deny it this time.

"Hmmm….I think I will." The angel said with a smile, wriggling the fingers of his free hand just an inch above the stretched out, sensitive skin of his lover's armpit. Dean was already giggling beneath him, squirming before he'd even touched him and smiling widely as green eyes widened up at Castiel 'pleadingly'. Cas only laughed even more at that, deciding not to keep his partner waiting as his fingers descended onto the skin, scrabbling at the hollows of his underarm and pinching lightly at the muscles along it.

Dean went absolutely nuts, practically screeching before falling apart into laughter, squirming harder and more desperately beneath the angel. "AHAHAHahahaaha….nonononahahaha! C-cas, Cas stahahahahap ihihihiht!" He was tossing his head from side to side as his cheeks grew redder and redder. But even as his laughter grew louder and more desperate and his hands clenched into fists, Dean didn't pull all that hard at his trapped wrists. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the restraint even more, and Cas suspected that he was enjoying having the excuse of being trapped to explain why he wasn't trying to escape the tickling.

Castiel kept the other man in hysterics as he switched between both armpits, "tormenting" Dean mercilessly and keeping him shrieking and squealing in loud, frantic laughter. Eventually he took away his restraint of Dean's wrists so both hands could dig and scrabble down the hunter's sides again, wriggling lightly over his belly. Dean wasn't even trying to block his hands now, in fact his arms stayed above him and only jerked down slightly when Castiel dipped a finger into his belly button and even when the angel's fingers started to scribble along his hipbones, one of his most ticklish spots.

"NAHAHAHA N-NOT THEHEHEHEHERE!" Dean wailed, hips bucking and thrashing as Cas's devious fingers tormented his hipbones, squeezing lightly along his worst spot. Even with all of his thrashing though, his hands still didn't move down to stop Castiel's and his smile remained big and bright and happy as tears of laughter started to drip down his cheeks. Cas laughed right along with him as his fingers finally slowed to a stop and he decided that based on the way Dean was having trouble breathing that he'd had enough.

"Feeling better now?" The angel asked with a satisfied smirk, laughing softly at the way Dean curled up into himself slightly, giggling breathlessly and panting for air.

"Y-yehehes…a-aw man, I give up." He gasped out, smile still ever-present and cheeks flushed. Cas looked over him with affectionate eyes, smiling at his partner's happiness until he started to see Dean's lips down-turning into a frown. "I told you not to do that." Dean panted out, glaring at him now. "I hate being tickled."

Castiel gave a sigh of frustration, pinning the other man with a firm look. "No, you don't." He argued. "I can tell you were having fun. Why are you so against having fun?"

"'m not against having fun…" Dean grumbled out, trying to push Cas off of him. "I just…don't like being tickled…" His protests were getting half-hearted now, as if he just wanted to change the subject.

"But you always look so happy when I play with you like this." Cas responded, giving the other man a prod to the ribs and evoking a yelp and a smile. "Why don't you admit that you like it?"

"I told you I don—"

"Dean."

"It's a weakness, alright!" Dean snapped out quickly. Cas's surprise must have been obvious on his face, because the hunter immediately averted his gaze and frowned. "I shouldn't…I shouldn't be having fun with something like that. Being ticklish….it's for kids. It's….pathetic…" His voice was starting to weaken, as if he really didn't believe what he was saying either.

Cas raised a brow, remaining silent for a moment before laughing a little again. "Dean, that doesn't even make sense. That is what has been bothering you this whole time? That is….ridiculous." Castiel was a blunt, straightforward sort of angel and he was showing it. "From what I can tell almost all humans are ticklish. Angels too, actually. There's no point in being embarrassed about it. And if you're having fun, why deny it?"

Dean grumbled and shrugged. "Man, I don't….It's just that…..Well now you're making me feel stupid." He said gruffly, though his lips were turning up into a smile again. "Fine. You're right."

Castiel blinked incredulously. "…..I'm right? Did you just admit that you were…wrong?"

The hunter scowled. "Yeah yeah, don't have an aneurysm. I'm not that full of myself." He only huffed when Cas laughed at that statement. "Alright, jerk."

Castiel's laughter toned down into an amused smile, then he tilted his head curiously. "Now that the denial has stopped….why do you like it when I tickle you?"

Dean flushed slightly at the question and sighed. "I don't know….I guess it sort of reminds me of when I was a kid and everything was….okay, you know?" His gaze was averted still as he said those words, but then green eyes came back up to meet Castiel's blue as a smirk tugged at Dean's lips. "And I always like it when you touch me." He purred.

Now it was Cas's turn to redden as Dean's tone completely changed. "Well I….alright then."

Dean chuckled at the response as he pushed Castiel off of him, smiling as the angel went willingly this time to lie on the bed beside him. "Yep. Any time you touch me, it's exciting." He said teasingly, voice a little husky as he shifted to straddle the angel instead. "But do you know what I like more than you tickling me?"

Cas looked up at his partner with wide eyes, excitement obvious as he realized where this was going. "What?"

The hunter's lips curled up into a wicked smile. "Tickling you~"

The excitement in the angel's eyes turned to trepidation as he realized that what he'd been expecting was wrong. "Dean. Dean, no. I'm serious, don—AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Castiel's words were immediately lost in laughter as Dean's fingers started to dance mercilessly over his ribs. Dean laughed and grinned down at the angel.

"It's only fair, Cas. I've had my fun." The hunter's tone made it clear that he didn't plan on letting up anytime soon. "And now it's your turn."

And if Sam returned a little while later only to turn right back around as soon as he heard Castiel's desperate laughter mixed with Dean's evil laughter, neither angel nor hunter noticed.