After it was confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the first angel-human mating of the century has taken place in Lawrence, Kansas, nothing more was known about the couple; since then, social media have exploded with sightings of a man and an angel walking around hand-in-hand and being, as one user called it on twitter "disgustingly in love".
By Monday morning, the public knew that the couple were the high school teacher Dean W. and the angel C., who had been in the habit of visiting earth quite frequently since his twenty-fifth birthday.
The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive; while a few people have spoken against the interracial mating, most have wished the couple well. Students of the school Mr. W. works at have started their own facebook group – "Congratulations, Misters W.!", run by Krissy Chambers, age 17.
"Mr. W's the best teacher we ever had" she said frankly when we approached her, "and that's all you're going to hear from me".
Lawrence Journal-World, 20th August 2015
Dean was busy grooming Cas' wings. Since he'd known him, a few feathers had almost always been in disarray, and he'd longed to comb through them, put them right, but he hadn't been allowed to.
As Cas' mate, he could.
Cas' mate.
A week hadn't been enough to comprehend that this was real, that Cas had chosen to stay with him, had chosen growing old over eternal youth, and sometimes, Dean was too confused to be completely happy, at least until his mate turned around, chastised him and kissed him.
He gently put the feathers in order, now and then massaging Cas back, and his boyfriend sighed contentedly. They were both naked from the waist up, and there had been a pretty fantastic sex session before the grooming, if Dean said so himself. Predictably, Cas was falling asleep.
He liked sleep, he said, just like he liked eating when he was actually hungry. He insisted that meals tasted more intense now, richer, and Sam's witticism about rose-coloured glasses and love sickness had reached new heights before they'd been together three days.
Dean wouldn't have it any other way. Yes, he felt guilty; if Cas hadn't been in love with him, he would still be an angel, powerful, immortal; but he had assured Dean that he would have been miserable, and he'd looked so honest while doing it that Dean had decided this was the less awful alternative.
Plus this way they could have sex like they had just half an hour ago, and that was definitely a plus.
Dean finished grooming and listened to Cas' breathing. He was definitely out cold.
He pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades, smiled and left the room, intending to make himself some coffee.
His phone rang half a minute later. Sometimes he was ready to swear that Sam felt when he had time to talk.
"Hey, Sammy".
"Dean. How's it going?"
He rolled his eyes. His brother sounded like an over-excited puppy, had since he walked in on them making out on last Saturday morning.
Sam didn't bother to knock. He wouldn't make his brother get up and open the door for him. He had no idea how to comfort him – his best friend, the angel he had loved without telling him, had just left and he knew Dean well enough to know he'd try to play through the pain. He just wasn't certain that he'd able to this time. This was Cas. And Dean loved him – loved him like he'd never loved anyone before and, Sam feared, never would again. He had screamed it with every word, every gesture bestowed on the angel – and everyone except said angel had understood.
And now Cas was in Heaven and had to find a mate to return to earth when it was obvious that his heart laid with Dean, as Dean's laid with him.
They would never see each other again.
He all but tiptoed into the apartment, instinctively silent as one was around the bereaved.
It didn't prepare him for Dean kissing the daylight out of Cas on the couch.
"Dean!?"
They jumped apart and Dean looked at him guiltily.
"Surprise?" he tried.
Sam stared.
The silence was broken by Cas, who said, "Dean and I are mated now."
He was smiling so brightly that Sam couldn't help but smile back and step forward, pulling his brother into a hug.
"Congratulations, guys!" He let go of Dean, patted his shoulder and said, "I told you so".
"You told him what?" Cas inquired in his usual blunt way and Sam replied "That he should tell you how he felt" before Dean could stop him.
He soon came to wish that his brother had succeeded, since Cas continued to share what exactly had transpired between them the previous evening.
"Pretty damn good" he answered honestly. Sam chuckled.
"I'm so happy for you".
"Got the memo the first time around, but thanks, Sammy. I'm happy for myself too".
"Attention seems to be waning a little" Sam replied, and Dean knew why he had called to begin with.
Dean sighed, remembering his one source of annoyance – and compared to what he had gained, it was a very small annoyance, really – in the last week. "I wish. Facebook is still blowing up".
They had known that in this day and age, they wouldn't be able to keep their mating or their identities hidden for long, especially since Cas insisted on holding Dean's hand and kissing him in public – not that he had any problem with that.
Therefore, he had started to explain to his classes right on the Monday after their mating that him and Cas were a couple now.
Or he had tried to.
Because most of his students had seen or read the news coverage about another human-angel mating over the weekend.
He still suspected his – no, their, he still couldn't quite believe it, their – nosy neighbour from apartment 312 to have called the news crew, of course she'd stopped them on Saturday afternoon when they returned from having Cas put on record as Dean's mate with a "Isn't today your birthday, Castiel?"
Once the story broke, it hadn't been difficult for his students to put the pieces together.
Especially not for Krissy, who had known about his feelings for Cas probably longer than he had suspected. Coincidentally, he had her class first thing Monday morning – English and not Angelology (that came on Wednesday) but who cared, certainly not his students.
He came in especially early – not because he had put his alarm earlier, but because Cas had decided to wake him shortly after sunrise because "I understand that it is nice to wake up your partner in order to have sex".
All in all, Dean agreed on the it being nice bit.
He hadn't expected to find Krissy waiting for him long before she had to be in school, before they both had to be in school, to be honest, but there she was, holding a card in her hands.
"Is it true, Mr. Winchester?" she asked. "Are you and Cas mated?"
He nodded. She extended her hand, blushing.
"I wanted to give you that. I know it's lame..."
It was a congratulations card; she'd made it herself so that it did spell "Happy Mated Life to Mr. Winchester & Castiel" and Dean swallowed, touched.
He wished it was appropriate to hug his students, but he would have to wait until her graduation day.
"Thanks, Krissy".
"I'm just happy for you" she said in a motherly fashion, and Dean was reminded again of how losing one's mother made one grow up too soon.
"Is Cas coming on Wednesday?" she asked innocently, and Dean suppressed a smile; naturally, an hour of his mate telling them about angels meant less studying.
"Yeah, he's coming" he said. Cas had informed him of that rather casually before he'd left, claiming that he wanted to spend "more time with him".
Krissy smirked.
"You're smitten".
"And even if I am, young lady, that's no way to talk to a teacher. Off you go, get yourself in trouble like teenagers are supposed to do".
Later that day, the facebook page was created. He mostly found it cute.
Cas' was utterly fascinated, but then this had always been his reaction to the internet.
That evening, Dean found he had a friend request as well as one to concur "Castiel Winchester's" relationship status.
He laughed and kissed his angel.
The tabloids had soon figured out where to find them – big surprise there – and in the last five days, their phones had constantly been ringing; they had even called the school. Thankfully the headmaster had told them to leave them alone and had assured Dean of his support.
He hadn't thought that their mating would have been such big news, but then again, he probably should have.
It didn't matter. Cas was here, with him, and they would spend their lives together.
"Hey, at least you got no regrets" Sam supplied.
"You're right. None at all".
"How is he doing?"
"Still adjusting but still perfectly content" he replied and jumped when arms drew him back so he was flush against Cas' chest. His mate sighed happily and nuzzled his neck as his wings encapsulated them.
"I'm assuming that's him?" Sam asked, clearly amused.
"Yeah" Dean said, relaxing against his beautiful mate.
"I'll leave you to it, then" Sam announced and was gone before Dean could call out "Bitch".
"I woke up and you weren't there" Cas murmured. Dean chuckled.
"I wasn't tired."
"It's not my fault that you're so exhausting".
"Oh, I'm exhausting now, am I?"
"Dreadfully".
"Good then" Dean told him as he turned around to kiss Cas.
His phone rang again. He didn't recognize the number. The press then.
He sighed and was contemplating picking it up, when Cas, who he'd been careful to shield from too much contact with other humans before he was completely used to being mortal, took it out of his hands.
"Castiel Winchester speaking".
He listened while Dean tried to wrestle the phone out of his hand, admittedly not trying very hard and eventually said, "I do not understand your interest in our mating. It has been a matter of tremendous joy for me, and I hope Dean too, of course, but I don't see – "
He stopped and listened again.
"Oh, I see".
Then, and Dean would never forget the expression on his face as he looked at him, "Because he is the love of my life".
He hung up and kissed Dean, and the teacher had never been more thankful that tabloids existed.
A study of the confirmed cases of angel-human mating shows one thing: Love truly conquers all.
Malcolm Tucker, We are not that different – a Plea to let angels be themselves, p.27