"Cas, you racked up one hell of a bar tab."
"You instructed me to continue with the whiskey shots until I was fully inebriated…" Castiel squinted at the empty road they were walking along, just able to make out the dimly lit sign for the Four Sticks motel 0.7 miles ahead. "You specifically stated 'money's no object'."
Dean looked at him looking ahead, nearly stumbling a step as he became distracted by the glint of the full moon above them reflecting off his dazzlingly blue, faraway gaze. "Yeah, I didn't really think someone your size could drink up four hundred bucks of mid-shelf scotch." He laughed at the memory of the robotic shots his friend had taken, one after another like he was drinking water. "Are you even drunk?"
Frowning at the sky now, Cas hesitated before responding. "I'm afraid my answer might cause you some level of distress."
Dean chuckled some more before sighing wistfully and sticking his hands in his coat pockets. "Damn it, I thought so. I'm having a hard time walking straight and you're barely buzzed."
"I'm slightly more effected than I appear, if that helps. Anyway, it's your birthday celebration, you should be the one fully intoxicated."
A happy smile played across his face. It was the first birthday in years that he could remember celebrating. Sam had left earlier in the day to help Bobby out with a witch coven that had been controlling an entire city council the next town over, running a sort of reversed Salem trials with nasty results. His uncle and brother had told Dean he should sit this one out and relax for his birthday, which was more than they were used to doing for each other's birthdays as of recent years. He was slow to agree but eventually accepted the offer gracefully.
He really hated witches, after all.
The angel had appeared on his own after Dean had spent a few hours lounging about the motel, watching a Dr. Sexy M.D. Marathon on cable and cleaning his many, many weapons. When Cas had asked tentatively what adult human males enjoyed doing in celebration of the annually recurring date of their mortal births, Dean quickly told him 'drinking' and had him transport both of them to the nearest bar.
Now they were walking back to the motel at Dean's request to 'enjoy the night'. He smiled contentedly, only bumbling into his companion every dozen steps or so.
"Do you need assistance walking?"
Shaking out of his reverie, Dean blinked at Cas' concerned face before laughing. "You askin' to hold my hand?"
Cas widened his eyes, appearing almost panicky. "N-no. No, I- you seem unsteady, I was only offering help if you wanted it. I could easily transport us back to your room and would no longer have to worry of your footing as well as get us out of the cold air. I didn't mean to suggest-"
The amount of alcohol that the human had consumed seemed to be enough to make him particularly giddy, as Dean only laughed harder at his defensive reaction. Apparently it also made him fond of physical touch.
The arm thrown over Cas' shoulders surprised him so much that he nearly froze, stopping for a step before Dean's momentum pulled him forward. He fell into stride easily with the taller man, noting that their natural gaits seemed conveniently matched for rhythm.
"You shoulda told me you were cold earlier." Dean said, trying his best to not lean all of his weight on the angel. He had to admit, it was much easier walking with someone steady to hold onto.
"Yes. It's… Not an unbearable temperature. Just slightly below comfortable. Your warmth makes it much more pleasant." After a few more paces, Cas glanced surreptitiously over at him, seeing his face turned towards the sky, seemingly to view the stars.
He'd watched Dean stargazing before, finding a strange appeal in his friend's open enjoyment of the heavens. He'd look so serene when Cas would catch him in quiet moments between hunts while he had no looming responsibilities and a few minutes to himself. Now was no exception. "Do you recognize any of the visible constellations?"
Stopping, Dean looked at him in mild surprise, having been slightly lost in thought. Their faces were very close. "Yeah." His eyes searched Cas' for a moment before he cleared his throat and turned back to the sky. "See these three right there? The really bright ones?" He pointed up with his free hand, the other still securely around Cas.
Following his direction, Cas nodded in response.
"Those're Orion's belt. His legs are here, arms and sword here…" Dean frowned at the constellation before letting his arm drop. "Do you know Orion's story?"
The angel knew every single constellation and star name as well as every human myth and suspicion attached to them. He shook his head, looking attentively to Dean.
Smiling, Dean started walking again, tugging Cas with him. "Orion the Hunter was a hero in Greek mythology. He was killed by Scorpio doing something or other for the gods or because of the gods or whatever, so they stuck him in the sky to honor him after death. Guess they handed that shit out pretty freely back then. I mean, I went to hell and back and all I got was this shitty scar." He grinned at Cas expectantly.
Cas didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't.
"Hey, I'm only messing with you!" He said with a laugh, squeezing his shoulders. "I got you, so that worked out pretty well for me."
The small smile was enough to illuminate Cas' entire appearance, and Dean had to force himself to look away from it to keep from falling flat on his face. "So anyway. When I was a kid and my dad would leave me with Bobby, sometimes he'd take me out in his salvage yard and show me the constellations. Told me it was a good way to find your way around if you ever got lost at night. This time a year, he'd show me Orion and tell me that… That it's where the best hunters all go when they die. The ones that really made a difference and saved the most people. Their souls went up there and made each star that much brighter. And he said that if I was half as good a man as he thought I would be, I'd be right at the tip of the sword." He shrugged. "I was eight and swords were cool."
Sometimes, the emotions Dean Winchester managed to incite inside Castiel were utterly baffling to the angel.
"The stupid shit kids'll believe." He finished, shaking his head with a laugh.
"Bobby's a good man." Cas said, still looking at the shapeless mess of stars above them. "You're a good man."
"I'm alright. Fuck-!" Dean's booted foot came down crookedly in a small indent in the gravel and he pitched forward, trying to compensate. His already shoddy equilibrium reeled.
As if he'd been waiting for the incident, which he more or less had been, Cas threw his arm quickly around Dean's back and gripped the hand hanging over his shoulders, anchoring the drunk human to himself before the trip could turn into a fall.
Regaining his footing, Dean straightened. The embarrassment he felt at the stupid stumble was all but forgotten with the warmth of the arm around him. He smiled abashedly at Cas. "Ah, shit. Good thing we didn't drive, huh?"
"Yes, I would not allow you to drive in this condition." Cas answered, staring up at him with obvious worry.
"Allow?" A crooked, wolfish grin slowly replaced the smile. Planting his foot, Dean jerked Cas with his right arm, catching him off guard and bringing him around to face him. Cas shuffled awkwardly, putting a hand against Dean's chest to keep his balance.
They stood less than six inches apart, Dean's right arm was resting on his shoulder, left hand at his hip to steady him while both of Cas' hands were at Dean's chest, one splayed against his black shirt and the other gripping the lapel of his leather jacket.
"Tell me, Castiel. How exactly do you plan on stopping me from doing something you don't allow?" As he spoke in a low, suggestive voice, he let his fingers run idly though the back of Cas' hair, thoroughly enjoying the flustered blush already creeping across his face.
"I have considerably more physical strength than you, even in this limited vessel." Cas replied in a carefully even tone, staring at a point just next to Dean's head to avoid losing his concentration in the indescribable pools of his eyes. "If I really disapprove of the action and believe it may bring harm to yourself or others, I can stop you when I please."
"Hmm, do me a favor and tell me when I start breaking rules before you break my face, okay?" Dean's hand moved slowly from Cas' hip, following the top of his belt and stopping at the buckle.
Cas gave a quiet, surprised gasp when Dean hooked his fingers behind the belt buckle and yanked him against him. He could feel the hunter's heart thudding against his own chest; slow, constant and reassuring. Cas could leave in the blink of an eye, he could go anywhere on earth between those beats.
But the steady thump of his heart combined with the hot breath against Cas' ear made him feel more grounded and attached to this silly planet than anything ever had. He couldn't leave until he knew the next heartbeat had come and gone, to be replaced by the next, and the next, and the next…
"Cas?" Dean pulled back a bit, disconcerted by the silence. He leaned down, angling his head so that he was staring right into crisp, blue eyes. "Hey, man, I was just fuckin' with you. I'm coming on to you, to clarify."
Cas squinted in response. "Sometimes, your words don't express the intended meaning."
He laughed, wrapping both arms around Castiel and squeezing him. "I know, isn't it the worst?"
"I can think of several worse human behaviors, that one's simply confusing." Slowly, he let his own arms creep under Dean's jacket and wrap around him, returning the hug softly. He greatly enjoyed the warmth this embrace created, Dean's arms and body almost entirely blocked him from the chill mountain air.
Giving a content little sigh, Dean leaned heavily against the unwavering Cas, his head bobbing low enough to rest against his shoulder. "Hey, I've got an idea for how you can settle your bar tab." He was speaking right next to Cas' ear, breath hot, voice full of allusion.
"I don't enjoy performing illegal actions for financial gain." But when Dean spoke to him in that tone of voice, Cas had a silent pull in his chest that made him suspect that he might do anything asked of him by this damaged human.
"You might hang around the wrong crowd if you don't like hustling." Dean laughed, moving his hand along Cas' shoulder and down the front of his shirt, fingers tracing out the buttons carefully. "I was actually thinking somethin' a little less Renegade, a little more Whole Lotta Love, if you catch my drift."
"I don't know what that means. Is it sexual?"
"Yes." Dean hauled softly on Cas' twisted blue tie, pulling him against his lips.
Dean's lips were a single carnal pleasure that Cas had never anticipated before his fall. Admittedly, he had imagined being with him physically before making the final choice, but as an immortal who had watched the turn of the earth, the rise and fall of civilizations and the very evolution of the beautiful humans he monitored, he had not been fully prepared for their first kiss.
Or their second, or their third.
This one marked an even two dozen and Cas still felt a rush of surprise despite fully expecting it, mingled with warm excitement that swam from his cheeks, down his neck and dispersed through his body.
"You are significantly drunk." Cas reminded, breaking away from the kiss and frowning earnestly at him.
"I know, it's great." Dean agreed, putting a hand against Cas' scruffy cheek while he twisted the loose tie around his other hand thoughtfully. "I was hoping you would be, too, so we could get a little further without you pullin' a horny Houdini on me, like you do every time we get goin'."
Frowning, almost hurt by the albeit-accurate accusation, Cas raised up and kissed him. He kissed him tenderly, enjoying Dean's half-closed eyes and low, encouraging moan.
Dean had learned to fight his dominant urges when Cas initiated like that, fight the urge to grab him and express some of his deeper emotions in the only way he knew how. Instead, he stood as still as he could while the other man pressed against him and deepened their kiss. Dean parted his lips, tugging his teeth against Cas' bottom lip and groaning inwardly at the surprised little murmur this earned.
"What if," Pulling back, Cas glared at Dean's chest and held a hand to his own mouth thoughtfully. "What if I promised to attempt not vanishing when I get… Sexually aroused. Just tonight maybe, as a sort of…" He squinted, trying to think of the phrase.
"Birthday present?" Dean suggested hopefully.
Cas nodded.
"I'd say 'happy birthday to me!'" He caught one of Cas' hands, squeezing it as he angled his head and kissed him once, lingering at his mouth. "Are you serious?"
"I am rarely frivolous."
"Huh." Dean's eyes were beginning to glaze and his pants tightened uncomfortably as if his own Cherry Pie music video had just started up on the hood of his Impala.
When he moved in again, Cas turned his head, surveying the road. "We are still in public, however."
Following his gaze, Dean looked both ways down the highway as he hooked an arm around Cas' neck. "It's emptier than a Beach Boy's reunion concert out here."
"There was one car driving northbound seventy six seconds earlier. They saw us and said very crude aspersions about us."
"Oh. I'm sure I've been called worse."
"Perhaps. I have not."
He couldn't tell exactly how bothered Castiel was by the incident, he was sort of difficult to read after all, but he knew he was bothered, and that was enough. "Well," Dean moved Cas' head back towards him with his hand. "Wanna go somewhere-?"
Cas' hands pressed against Dean's chest and the moonlight disappeared. The crisp, fresh smell of the mountains vanished and the crunch of gravel under their feet silenced eerily.
"Fuuuuuck!" Dean gasped, sagging backwards against the motel wall. "Every time, I feel like I just stepped off the Ring of Fire at the carnival."
Looking worried again, Cas reached out to him, grabbing his shoulders to offer support. "I'm sorry, I anticipated your next words being a request for somewhere private. Did you not want to be here?"
He shook his head, clearing the temporary confusion and nausea of the angel transportation. Bracing his back against the wall, he grabbed Cas' forearms and pulled him closer. "Nah, you did just fine." He pulled at him until he was forced to step closer, nearly straddling Dean's knee. "Let's talk birthday presents."