A/N: Yaaay Nerd!Dean. I'm going to SDCC this year, (in only four short days!) so I thought I'd write this for destiel! I'll update once I get back from the Great Journey that is Comic Con. If you're going too, and you see a brunette in a Scarlet Witch camping for the SPN panel or at #Wayward Cocktails on Thursday night, hmu! Enjoy :)
Charlie was incredibly, wholeheartedly, insatiably jealous that her brother was going to the all pinnacle heaven of nerd-dom. When open online registration was on, Dean had called Charlie early that morning, praying to Yoda that they would get tickets. The whole thing sounded a little something like this:
"Come ON!" "Jesus Christ, please!" "Dear Odin, I'll do anything." "Give me a SIGN!" "I find our lack of badges disturbing!" "I never wanted the throne! All I ever wanted was to have a badge!" "I'll never let go!" "...Really? Your quoting Titanic right now, dude?" "What, that counts as pop culture..."
They were in the middle of adamantly obsessing over the spinning blue circle of death, each throwing out their best references to somehow win points with the comic con gods that were overseeing this transpiration.
"Dammit, are you in yet?" "No... no, not yet..." "Neither am I..." Dean chewed the inside of his lip, looking away from his screen out the window. He saw some people who looked about his age, 19, out walking a dog and laughing like social people did.
He idly squinted, wondering what it was like to walk a dog on a sunny day. He had never tried it of course, because a), he had never owned a dog, and b), he spent too much time playing WoW and live-blogging with his sister to notice it was even sunny out when it was.
Dean turned back to his screen, rubbing his bottom lip pensively. And he cried out, almost jumping and sending his laptop crashing. "Shit," he muttered, steadying it as if it were gold, which it god damn was in this moment.
"What?" Charlie hissed. "WE'RE IN!" Dean cheered, taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes, because he hadn't actually blinked properly probably in the last five minutes in suspense. "WHAT?! HOLY- ARE YOU SHITTING ME?" "NO, I'M NOT EVEN SHITTING YOU, CHARLIE, IT'S RIGHT HERE!" "HOLY AWESOMENESS, BATMAN!" "I KNOW, RIGHT?!"
Then, Dean heard a knocking noise from upstairs, where his grumpy neighbor, Frank Devereaux, was obviously clunking his broom to shut him up. "Sorry Mr. Devereaux!" Dean called up awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Screw that old hack, we're goin' to Comic Con!" Charlie grinned on the line. Dean cracked a smile too, because he never, ever thought he would be so up on his luck.
Then something horrible happened. Something so awful, generations of brethren would speak in hushed whispers about it...
Charlie got an email- that morning, it had to be that morning- from her boss, about an important workshop all employees had to attend from July 8th to the 17th. She was after a position, and if she wanted a promotion, she had to go to it. Normally, she would have told her boss to stick it, but right now, she was barely making ends meet, and her apartment was riding on her job.
Needless to say, she had cursed out said boss in many different languages, including Ferengi, Vulcan, Elven, even Shyriiwook. And Dean just held the phone away from his ear for the good straight five minutes it took- when Charlie had caught her breath, he had started expressing his pointless sympathies.
"I'm real sorry," he mumbled. "No you're not. You get to go, why would you be?" Dean could hear the bitterness in her voice, but he knew she wasn't sulky enough to not be happy for him. She wasn't like that.
"I'll bring you back an exclusive or somethin'." "You better." "What do you want?" "Surprise me, you know what I like." "Yeah. Okay. So... single badge, four day plus preview?" he asked sadly. She huffed a defeated sigh. "Yeah..." Dean wanted to hug his sister, knowing she must be in tears.
She kept speaking. "You have to call me all the time and give me updates. And Dean?" "Yeah?" "Put yourself out there. I won't be there to flaunt you in hot dude's faces."
Dean blushed, and scratched his neck. He was a very shy person, and Charlie was not. She wore her geekdom on her sleeve, and well... Dean wasn't the first to go out and let his nerd banner fly, excusing the fact that he was the walking image of one, with big glasses and downcast eyes. Occasionally he wore an old Lord of the Rings shirt or something, or maybe a House Stark baseball cap, but Charlie was the one who literally went to her college classes in decked out cosplay.
Like, it wasn't even that he was a scrawny guy; he was quite well built, and he had been told by many girls (that he wasn't interested in, and was only being polite to) that he had the back muscles of a god. That was why he never went swimming at public pools anymore...
He laughed to himself. He would never have Charlie's proud courage.
"Yeah, I'll try." "I mean it! There's probably some really cute, nerdy guy waiting for you there." Dean frowned. He didn't really want a guy who reflected himself. Maybe that's why he didn't have a boyfriend... his standards were too high.
"Earth to Dean! I'll be a good sister and help you plan your sched, okay?" "Okay. Thanks, Charlie. Sorry again you couldn't go. Your boss is a real dick." "Tell me about it... the baktag d'blok!"
Dean assumed that was Klingon for A Level douchebag.
-0-0-0-
The five months that went by in between registration and the actual week was spent preparing, planning, scheduling, and once the days became limited, packing.
"Okay," Charlie said, eating cheetos on Dean's couch, "Got your wallet?" "Yup," Dean nodded, pulling out his batman pouch. "Kay. Sleeping bag for Hall H?" "Definitely." "Alright... camera?" "Yeah." "Phone? Phone charger? Laptop?" "All there." "How much money you bringing?" "What are you, the border guard?"
Charlie threw a cheeto at him, which Dean masterfully caught and popped in his mouth. "400," he answered. "Adequate," Charlie noted, huffing into a pillow. "I still wish I was going with you."
"Me too," Dean mumbled, "I've got no one to drive with, and I don't do talking real well... I don't know how I'm gonna travel on my own." "You'll be fine! You're charismatic when you want to be." Dean stared at her.
"Okay, fine, you prefer a more quiet, reserved lifestyle. But like I said before- hopefully, you'll find someone there that'll change that!" "Shut up!" "Fight me." "I will." "I'll win." "Why?" "Cause I play more Mortal Kombat than you." "You do not!" "Oh yeah? Where do Liu Kang's allegiances lie?" "...Earthrealm?" "No, you twink! White Lotus."
Dean fell beside her on the couch, polishing his glasses in distress. "Dammit." "Told ya," Charlie smirked, smacking his arm. "I could beat you in Batman trivia any day," he grumbled sorely. "Don't be so sure." "Fuck off!" "Not yet, we're not done packing."
She hopped over to the suitcase. "Okaaay... ooh, missing one thing!" "What? Condoms?" Dean deadpanned in jest. Charlie smirked. "Nah, if he's a real man, he'll provide the protection." Dean found himself blushing red as Charlie went on. "Cosplay!"
"Oh shit, you're not gonna make me wear that Jon Snow gear, are you?" "You have to! I'm not there to be a kickass Lady Sif, so you have to do something to represent!" "No. People will be looking at me. Not happening." "You're so closed minded sometimes..." "Yeah, well, you're so nerdy sometimes."
Then they looked at each other, and bust a gut laughing.
-0-0-0-
"Bye!" Charlie called over the phone from her workshop as Dean sat in his airplane seat. He couldn't help but grin wildly as he prepare for the trip, and let slip a similar sounding goodbye as he closed out of the call.
He was going to Comic Con.
And even though it was without his trusty sidekick (or trusty hero and social saviour, as she would most likely see it), he was going to have an awesome time.
-0-0-0-
When they arrived in San Diego, Dean had been listening to his favorite Metallica songs on repeat through his earbuds, because flying wasn't his favorite thing in the world. He was happy to get off, and to his hotel.
The hotel he had gotten was kind of far away from the convention centre, which sucked, but at least he had gotten a room at all. Also, he had had to get roomies to pay for the cost, because as it turned out, even a room half an hour away from downtown cost more than the actual con.
He was nervous about sharing a room... like, being anti social was one thing. But being anti social and having to share your room with two other people? Panic attack.
Dean sucked in a breath as the cab pulled up at the place. He thanked the guy, and took his bags. As he checked in, he contemplated just staking out and camping here... but he was letting the anxiety of it all get to him. They were nerds, just like him! He had nothing to worry about.
He cracked open the door, and was greeted very abruptly by a young woman with blonde hair. "Hey!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him. Dean stiffened, and the woman pulled back, grinning. "I'm Joanna Beth Harvelle! But don't you dare go calling me that, it's Jo if anyone asks."
Dean nodded slowly, and Jo scampered over, hitting a guy with a mullet that Dean hadn't even noticed out of sleep on the far bed. "Get off my bed, shit-face, our roomie has arrived!" "Buenos Dias, are you Carrie Fisher?" "Uh, no..." Dean answered. "Then I don't give two shits about you- g'night!"
Jo rolled her eyes. "Ah, Ash, such a charmer." She shoved him off of 'her bed' with a thump, and turned to Dean. "So! What're you hear for?" Dean swallowed, placing his stuff on his bed. "Um... Comic Con?" "Duh, silly- I'm talking about fandoms. What do you like? Wait, lemme guess... Avengers? Walking Dead?"
Dean shrugged. "Fantasy Sci Fi's more my thing." "Now you're talkin'!" Ash said, suddenly conscious, "Please say you like Star Wars." "Ash's mad for Star Wars," Jo explained. "Yeah, I dig Star Wars." "I like you..." Ash said, pointing at Dean.
"Who was your first nerd-crush?" "I… don't really know..." "Come on, everyone had one!" Dean blushed. "Um... it's a close cross between Han Solo and Captain Kirk." A flicker of understanding came across Jo's face. "OMG!" (She literally said the acronym). "You and I have more things in common than one, we both fuck dudes!" Dean's eyebrows shot up at how blunt she was about it, but yeah, he supposed she was right.
"Mine was Tom Hiddleston!" "Still is, dammit," Ash grumbled, "All I hear about 24/7, Loki this, Hiddleston that!" "Shut the hell up, Ash, I'm a fangirl!" "I've noticed." "Like you're any better!"
Dean smiled a little, and Jo quirked her head. "Not the talking type, are you?" Dean shook his head. "Nah... I'm more of the quiet guy who everyone looks at and whispers, 'hey, I didn't even know that guy came to these lectures.'" Jo snorted. "What are you studying?" "Engineering," Dean said, pushing up his glasses.
"Excellent," Ash said, sounding befittingly like Mike Meyers from Wayne's World, "I'm a computer kinda guy. Graduated from MIT two years ago, full ride." "I'm at Julliard now," Jo added, "Acting program!" Dean could see why.
"You been to SDCC before?" Jo asked curiously. "No," Dean replied, "My sister and I have been wanting to go for years, but we've never been lucky enough to get badges." "Your sister?" Ash asked, interested, "She comin' too?" Dean shook his head. "Job stuff." "Oh, that sucks!" Jo exclaimed, "Damn... we've been using the force or something, cause we've gotten badges for at least one of the days for four consecutive years," she said, "Tip: head straight for the Funko booth first. Exclusives galore!" Dean nodded.
"Well, we should turn in. Big day tomorrow, preview night," Ash yawned. "You've been sleeping all afternoon, why are you tired?" Jo snapped incredulously, then she gasped over-dramatically. "How about we all go out to the Gaslamp district and get smashed to prepare for this kick-ass week?!"
Dean felt himself recoil at the idea, and Jo laughed a little. "Fine, I can tell you hate that idea. I guess I'll have to find myself some company to make up for you two stiffies." "Nope, the stiffies come tomorrow, after extensive female cosplay viewing," Ash commented, and once again, Jo shoved him.
Dean smirked again as he settled into his bed and took off his glasses. His roommates weren't that bad, and he could already feel himself becoming comfortable around them. The thing was, he wouldn't see them very often anyway, so it didn't matter. But it helped to not have totally douchey people sharing his room.
-0-0-0-
The next day, Dean slept in, because he knew he should get as much sleep as possible. He spent the day touring around the marina area, committing the places to memory so he would remember the various lineups. He prided himself in having a photographic memory.
Before he knew it, 6:00 was approaching, so he got in line for his badge. He was secretly checking around to see if there were any good looking males in say, super ripped shape parading around as Captain America or something, cause maybe a little eye candy would calm his nerves now. Or maybe just get him worked up... this whole thing was much more complicated alone.
He got to the front, received his badge, and slung it over his neck. He made his way right for the Funko booth first; as Jo had said the night before, they sell out their exclusives fast, so it's the first stop.
As he scanned the wall for some good vinyl figures, he felt his phone vibrate. He picked up. "Hello?" "So?!" It was Charlie.
"So what? I'm still a rock star. I got my rock moves-" "Don't start quoting Pink to me when I'm not there to sing it with you. How is it?" "Is sucks, be glad you didn't come." "What?!" "I'm kidding, I was simply trying to be an awesome brother and make you feel better."
Charlie huffed, but Dean could hear her smile. "Are you in the Exhibition Hall right now? Sounds like a crowd." "Yeah, at the Funko booth. Speaking of which, you want Hermione: Ravenclaw Edition, or Rainbow Dumbledore?" "What do you think?" "Yeah, okay," Dean said, lifting a Hermione out.
"See any good, sexy slave Leia cosplays yet?" she asked, and Dean scanned the crowd. "Not yet... but there is one fine looking Captain Hammer out there... wait, that's Nathan Fillion! Shit, Charlie!" Charlie groaned. "I wish I was theeeeere." "I knoooow. But I swear I'll call you again tomorrow, give you an update. Oh, by the way- you would really like my roommates. One's this super smart I'm convinced doubles as a stoner, and his best friend- her name's Jo- she's cute and blonde... or I assume she's cute, don't take my word for it..." "Answer me this- how come my gay brother gets to sleep in a room with a hot girl while I have to brood around here with my pervy middle aged manager?"
There was a faint, 'I heart that!' in the background, and Dean cringed, chuckling a little. "I don't know, but unfortunately, she's straight." "All the best ones are..." Charlie sighed. "Tell me about it..." Dean muttered, shaking his head as he watched the Firefly star walk by.
"Okay, well, gotta go. Enjoy the night! Buy good stuff!" she said, and Dean nodded. "I will. Talk later." "Peace out, bitch."
He hung up, stuffing his phone away again and pushing up his glasses. He decided on a Captain Picard to complete his Trek collection, and bought a limited edition Jon Snow with a cape as well. So far, he was totally scoring.
When Preview Night was over, he checked over his schedule. He didn't have any panels tomorrow, but he did have to get in line for a big Hall H DC panel that night for the next morning, which he was only going to for Batman, pretty much. Comic books weren't his favorite, but there was something to be said about the classic character, especially since, depending on his mood, Dean either wanted to fuck him or be him.
-0-0-0-
The next morning when he woke up, sun shone through the drapes, and Dean found that he was alone in the hotel room. He thought back to the schedule, and remembered vaguely that there was some panel today featuring Crimson Peak, a new movie Tom Hiddleston was in. Jo must have dragged poor Ash up at 3 AM at least.
He smiled, rolling over. He was dressed in his Darth Vader boxer briefs, with a simple black tee over his top half. He was alone, which meant a nice relaxing shower.
He stripped down, and got in, loving the feel of the water. Then he got to thinking... what if Charlie was right about meeting someone here? It was a small part of his conscious that was feeding him this, of course, because he doubted it with 90% of his being, but was there even a chance...?
Come on, who would want me? he thought, I'm shy, I don't talk unless it's someone I know really well, I've got social anxiety... what about me is appealing? What about me is hot, even?
He sighed as he stepped out, but didn't let those thoughts bring him down. He would still have a good day, because Comic Con really wasn't about meeting your true love and living happily-nerdy-after.
...was it?
Evidently, he forgot about all of that once he hit the floor again, wandering around. He was fascinated by the artist's booths, and picked up a glowing batman ring (he's a big fan, okay?), and found a really stylish airbrush print of Liv Tyler from LOTR in her elf costume. Charlie will love him for this.
He checked the time. He still had a fair amount of time to go before he had to be in line for Hall H… he checked the schedule over. He was far from finishing up the floor, but maybe it would be fun to attend that Battlestar Galactica panel in Ballroom 20. He always had a soft spot for that show, and bonus, Tahmoh Penikett was going to be there; there had been many times Dean had admittedly dreamt in detail about that man's abs…
So he made his way over, and lined up.
Later, when five o'clock rolled around, people were beginning to thin out, and Dean decided it was about time to get in line. He closed his eyes, remembering where he had found the area before, and walked over. Someone bumped into him, and he saw her dressed in a slave Leia costume.
"Oops," she said seductively, eyes running over Dean's body, "Sorry." Dean shrugged his jacket a little tighter. "Um, no worries at all." The girl stood for a while longer, almost waiting for him to ask for a picture of something, but when he just awkwardly looked at his feet, she gave a small smile, and kept going.
Dean scratched his head, and sat down where the line was. There was a fair amount of people already, but since he had gotten there so early, it wasn't too crazy yet. Most people usually start coming around 9, he had heard. He set up behind this guy who was wearing a blue shirt, and had black ruffled hair. Dean couldn't see what he looked like, because he was turned around, playing something on a gaming device.
Dean smiled in relief. Good. That meant no chatting. He hated chatting.
He took out his own book, which was the third in the Game of Thrones series he was re reading. Just then, Dean heard the guy's phone go off.
"Avengers Assemble!"
Dean smirked a little, hiding behind his glasses. He saw the guy check his phone, then sigh a little, deflating then dropping his phone again.
Dean went back to reading.
At 7:00 PM, Dean was almost finished speed-reading his book, when he felt a hand on his arm. He almost jumped, and he looked up in surprise.
"Hey! Could you please hold my spot? I gotta go to the bathroom."
It was the guy in front of him.
Dean searched for words, but words didn't come to him, because Dean's insides felt like the pits of Mordor right now from looking at him. His blue eyes were bright even in the dimming daylight, his cheekbones the only things Dean cared about in that moment with his thin, glistening lips…
"Uh… so can you?" he asked, and Dean snapped back. "Yeah! Yes. Sure, I mean… totally. But, like, um… Yeah. Sorry." The guy smirked a little in amusement, and went dashing off.
Dean had to catch his breath. Forget men in spandex suits, line guy was gorgeous… and don't even mention his voice, god, it was a perfect mixture of rough edginess and melting honey… He thought about it as he closed his eyes.
"Sorry if I caught you at a disadvantage," the guy said, and Dean didn't even realize he was back. "Hm?" "Well, I know that when I'm reading, I hate being distracted."
Dean smiled shakily. "No… it's fine, I don't mind."
He expected the guy to turn back to his game, but he searched Dean's face. "I'm Castiel Novak," he said, jutting his hand out. Dean shook it nervously. "I'm Dean Winchester." "Dean Winchester… that's a really cool name. You should be on Game of Thrones or something." Dean blushed. "Thank you… I guess your name sounds kind of Elven… you should live in Rivendell or something."
It was Castiel's turn to laugh, and it was an amazing sound, loud and crisp and his eyes crinkled as he did so. Dean's stomach clenched.
"So, Dean Lannister- that's what I'm calling you now, because Stark makes me think of Tony and you're too shy to be him- what brings you here alone?" Dean bit his lip. "My sister couldn't come… job hold up." "Eee. That's sucky." Dean nodded, picking at a blade of grass. Castiel paying any attention to him was making him feel a little flushed.
"I was going to come with somebody… but then we had a falling out, and she sold her ticket."
She.
Dean tried his best to hide how disappointed he felt. No dice on sexy line guy, then.
"Mhm?" Dean nodded, and Cas went on, running a hand through his black hair. "Yeah, Meg's her name. She told me she thought all my nerd stuff was weird, and that she wasn't going to degrade herself at a place like this." Dean felt bad for him, the way he talked about it. He looked hurt.
But then his face brightened into pure sunshine again. "But hey, I'm here, and I just made a new friend, so screw Meg and her opinions!" Dean was surprised; Castiel considered him a friend already.
Well, alright. If not possible interest, friend is second best.
"You a big fan of comics?" Dean asked, trying to reciprocate the interaction. Cas held his shirt out a little, and Dean saw that it had WW for Wonder Woman on it. "Yep. Comics are my MO. You?" "I'm more into fantastical worlds and stuff…" "You should try Thor then!" Castiel said enthusiastically, "That's exactly what it's about!" Dean made a mental note to read a Thor or two, and maybe watch the movie when he got home.
"I'll take that into consideration," Dean nodded.
"So you like Star Trek?" Cas asked, nodding to Dean's shirt. It had the Enterprise on it. "Yup. NCC-1701 A. That was a much simpler time." "Tell me about it! In my opinion, the show was more interesting back then, but in the Next Gen NCC-1701 D, Picard really took better care of the ship." "Especially since Kirk blew up the first one. But he's still my captain… always will be." "Really? I'm undecided. Sway me." "Kirk always gets the job done. He shows the entire universe who's the boss, and no one dares question him. Except for McCoy, but that's for an entirely different reason. And… I kinda think he's attractive," Dean added, sheepishly pausing.
Cas' eyebrows raised, and Dean thought he saw a flicker of something indefinable come across his face, but then he broke out into a wide smile. "Okay. Consider me part of the team. I'll be… first officer. I suck at science, so I couldn't work in sick bay or anything." "I'd be ship's engineer. Beam me up, Scotty, y'know?" Dean attempted a lopsided smirk. Cas laughed. "I cann'a do it, Captain," he imitated, "You've slept with one too many green women, and now we can't find a way out!" Dean grinned, breaking out into full on giggles at how much he sounded like him.
Then he realized what had just happened- he felt loose, comfortable, like he was in his comfort zone with this guy. They had just shared a joke, and Dean was liking him, but he had a girlfriend, and ohh… he rubbed his forehead.
"You know," Cas murmured, "We're all crazy sons of bitches lining up overnight." "Yeah, I guess so… what if we get robbed or something?" "We'll take shifts," Cas winked, and Dean felt his chest pang at the gesture.
"Alright," Dean smiled a little, watching as Cas took out a pillow.
It was maybe around 3 that Dean did end up falling asleep. He was excited beyond belief, and it was hard to fall asleep due to this, but he had to, or he'd probably fall asleep during the panel.
-0-0-0-
"Hey Dean! Wake up," Castiel said, nudging him out of sleep. "Hm?" Dean mumbled, eyes slipping open. He fumbled for his glasses, and took in his surroundings, remembering where he was. Hall H line…right.
"Line's moving," Castiel smiled in a gravelly, just-woke-up voice, "I guess we did a shitty job of taking shifts… we both conked out at one point or another." Dean nodded, staring up at him as he got his stuff packed up. Castiel's hair was askew a little in the morning, even more so than usual, and Dean loved the sight of it.
He quickly got up, trying to push those thoughts out of his head.
They made it into the panel, and it was the single coolest thing Dean had ever experienced. Everyone was hyped up, and getting to see his favourite actors at the front of the room, breathing the same air as him… it was, quite frankly, magical.
After it was finished, Dean assumed he would just go back to the floor, because he had been meaning to check out the Capcom booth. So he got up, wondering if he was ever going to see line guy- Castiel- again. Probably not, he thought, so he just got up without a second look. It was fun talking to him while it lasted- but there was no making someone gay, and that thought applying to that situation really put a damper on his mood. He slung his backpack over his shoulder with a sigh, and made his way out and around, on his way to the floor.
Just then, he heard Castiel's unmistakable voice behind him. "Hey!" He jogged up beside him. "Mind if I join you?" Dean stuttered for a second. "Uh, n-no. Like, no I don't mind." "Cool. Awesome panel, huh?" "Yeah… I never thought I'd get to see those guys, ever." "That's why Comic Con is so fun." "Oh… you been here before?" "Only once. But I was young, so it's hard to remember exactly what went on. I just have a vague understanding of the place."
Dean nodded again, and Cas squinted at him, cocking his head. "You don't say much, do you?" Dean laughed. "You're the second person who's figured that out in the last 24 hours." "Sorry… just an observation." "Well, your observation's right… I'm really not speaker of the year." Cas grinned. "That's fine. I can do all the talking. I like to talk, if you haven't already guessed."
Dean smirked. "Sounds good to me." Maybe things were looking up.