He accepted the lumpy package of old newsprint without question, but he did nothing but stare at it. After a drawn out moment of awkward silence he opened his mouth, but Dean interrupted.

"You're supposed to open it, Cas. It's a present."

Cas looked at the man in his curious manner, head tilted and eyes narrowed in a mildly suspicious way, but waited, watching the Winchesters. "Why?"

Dean, who had the shabby newspaper of his gift half torn, paused and raised an eyebrow at the angel. "'Why'? It's Christmas, Cas, we figured you'd be pretty excited, it being the boss-man's birthday."

Castiel frowned and shook his head slightly. "I have actually never understood mankind's obsession with December 25th. Not only did the Gregorian calendar not exist at the time of the Christ's birth, but He was born in what you now call July. The celebration you partake in is actually derived from pagan ceremonies glorifying the winter solstice." He paused, looked to the brothers, who were both staring with that expression he understood to be disbelief, and thought better than to continue.

After the moment had passed, Sam laughed once, quietly, while Dean continued staring, irritation darkening his face. He glanced at his present, still only half ripped open, then showed it to Cas with a flourish. "Open your present, Cas. Think of it as a celebration of friends and family, if Christmas confuses you."

Castiel remained as he was, but the brothers were staring and he grew uncomfortable. So, with little enthusiasm he carefully began picking his own newspaper-wrapped present open. Apparently it took too long, because as he was carefully undoing the crumpled paper, Dean reached over, plucked the thing from his hands, tore it open, and deposited it back into the angel's lap with a smirk and twist of his head.

Cas stared. Finally, after expressing his surprise in the manner that he expressed everything (that is: blankly), he finished unwrapping the mystery item.

He found a pair of socks.

He stared some more.

Sam and Dean didn't seem to notice his stupefaction as they ripped simultaneously into their own gifts. Dean beamed at another bottle of car polish and a new whetstone, while Sam seemed puzzled by a gift card to a cheap hair salon in town. He brandished the card to his sibling. "Really?"

Dean was already busy pulling out one of his many blades to test the new sharpener, and he paused only long enough to chuckle and grin. "You need a hair cut sometime, Sammy. You're starting to look like a hippie, man."

Sam dismissed the idea with roll of his eyes, then looked to Cas, who was still staring at the pair of socks. "You okay, Cas?"

Castiel dragged his gaze away from the footwear and glanced at the man. "I don't... understand."

Sam smiled as he crumpled his used wrapping paper into a wad. "Well, we couldn't really think of what you would want, but everyone needs socks, right?"

Dean glanced at the angel and chortled at his baffled expression. "Come on, Cas, it's not that complicated. It's the thought that counts, right?"

Cas frowned. "I understand that even less."

It was Sam's turn to laugh as Dean wheeled away with an exasperated sigh. "I give up. Enjoy your socks, Cas."

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays :D