Author's note: This was written for Tendencia who wanted to see seahorse Dean and dolphin Sam. Hope you like it, hun. :-D
There will be a second and possibly third chapter to this, too. Enjoy!
1
"Sammy," Dean called to his brother in a hushed tone, "Hey, Sammy. Is she gone?"
"Yeah, Lisa is gone," Sam replied, shaking his head slightly, "I thought you liked her?"
At those words the seahorse let go of the seaweed he had been holding onto with his tail before and let himself drift closer to his brother. That was one bullet he had successfully dodged!
"I do… I did… but that was before I knew that I'd have to carry our future children," Dean explained and snorted, "So not gonna happen, dude!"
Because really, he wouldn't be tied down like this and he simply wasn't father-material to begin with. Sure, he liked little seahorses, but he knew that he'd probably eat the buggers at the first signs of trouble. Alright, maybe he wouldn't exactly eat them, but he still didn't think he should be the one to care for a bunch of little lives. Hell, for all he knew he was just supposed to give birth to them and then let them go and do whatever… that just was by far too much responsibility! Not to mention the birth! Also, who said he'd get his marvelous body shape back after squeezing like a thousand new seahorses out. Besides, there was the birth! Who said that Lisa was going to be a good mother, anyway? And had he mentioned the birth, yet?
"Dean, you're a seahorse," Sam pointed out in an incredulous tone, "How did you not know that the males of your own species give birth to the baby seahorses?"
Hell, even he knew that and he wasn't the one who was flirting and dating like crazy! Not to mention that Sam wasn't even a seahorse and he knew how that worked. Why, yes. He was the younger brother of a seahorse without being a seahorse himself. It was a long and complicated story that boiled down to both of them being probably just a little insane, but they were acting more like brothers than most actual brothers were, so everyone who wanted to judge them could kindly go screw themselves!
"I never really thought about it, okay?" Dean hissed, glaring at his stupid younger brother, "Biology sucks, man."
Sam snickered, ignoring his brother's obvious annoyance. Hey, Dean was the one of them who always insisted that feelings were for females, so it wasn't like the dolphin could actually hurt his feelings, right?
"Yeah, it's easy for you to laugh," Dean muttered, poking his brother in the eye with his mouth which was the most effective thing he could do to the stupid dolphin, "Your species isn't the one that turns everything topsy-turvy!"
"I'm pretty sure male seahorses have been carrying the young for a long time. It's not like they suddenly decided to change the system just to screw with you," Sam shot back, moving one of his flippers quickly and sending his brother spinning with the sudden current he had produced.
"You're such a bitch!" Dean complained.
"I'm not the one who is able and meant to give birth," Sam went on snickering, because this once he was clearly the one who had the upper hand here. It wasn't like that happened all too often.
Dean huffed and muttered something about 'stupid mammals' under his breath as he swam away as quickly as he could. As if to add insult to injury, the dolphin just had to turn around and give a few hard thrusts with his flippers which propelled the seahorse away from him much faster than simple swimming would have done. At least, he didn't have to hear his stupid snickering much longer that way.
It didn't take long for Dean to find a good spot among the corals where he could wrap his tail around a little ledge in the reef and just let his body sway gently with the current to forget everything about stupid brothers and stupid biological facts. If it were for him, he'd have been a dolphin like Sammy, anyway. If they were the same species, he'd be stronger, faster and most of all bigger than the bitch too, he was sure.
"I require your assistance," a deep, but rather monotone voice suddenly broke through Dean's dreams about what ifs.
"Sure you do," Dean snarked, "And you're so fucking polite about it that I'll gladly tell you to f…"
He had meant to tell the fish to fuck off, but before he had been able to get the words out the angelfish had swum around to face him and Dean immediately forgot what he had wanted to say.
The seahorse had seen angelfish before, but it had never struck him just how blue their stripes could be. Yeah, the yellow was nice too, but this one really stood out because of the vibrant blue that Dean was sure a lot of other emperor angelfish would be damn jealous of. The thought that he wouldn't have to worry about giving birth to anything, if he just abandoned female seahorses in favor of other species – let's say angelfish, for the sake of example – was suddenly on the forefront of the seahorse's mind.
"I'll gladly give you all the help you need," Dean finished in a much flirtier tone than he had started speaking in. He hadn't noticed just how close the fish was to him, definitely closer than most fish would think was appropriate, but it wasn't like he was complaining. That meant he didn't need to go to the trouble of releasing his grip on the ledge and find something else to hold onto, if he wanted to float closer to the stranger.
"I appreciate it," the angelfish spoke, staring at the seahorse like he thought Dean might disappear the second he didn't fix him with his eyes, "I seem to have lost my way. I was told to go jump in a lake, but I have been unable to locate any lakes."
Okay, so the fish Dean had a rather unexplainable and sudden crush on was a bit of an idiot. Oh well, he still was pretty!
"Alright, dude," Dean replied, bobbing his head thoughtfully, "How about you start with telling me your name and then you should tell good old Dean all about the mean people who sent you on that quest."
The seahorse let himself drift a little closer to the fish, until his side flippers were basically touching him and made his best 'I'm listening' face. It wasn't that easy to make faces when you were a seahorse, though. Oh well, it wasn't like the angelfish was much better with facial expressions!
"My name is Castiel and my brothers made the demand that I jump in a lake when I questioned the logic behind going to war with the other angelfish over a territory neither us nor them intend to inhabit," Castiel explained, letting the seahorse basically rub against him without finding anything odd about it, "As I understand it, I will be allowed back with the colony as soon as I fulfill that task."
Dean shook his head sadly. He didn't exactly like to take those hopes from the poor, naïve angelfish, but at least he could give him a good alternative to the quest he was currently on.
"Look, Cas," the seahorse started to explain, "You got that wrong, dude. Them telling you to jump in a lake means they want you out of their sight, probably permanently. I mean, come on, you must have thought of that possibility before. Uhm… angelfish aren't exactly made for lakes, right?"
He bumped his head against Castiel's side before he spoke on in a more cheery tone, "But I know just the right colony for you. Well, it's just me and my brother, but we're totally open-minded and you would fit right in!"
As good as anyone could fit in with a seahorse and a dolphin, that was. Not to mention the old turtle called Bobby that was hanging around with them sometimes, too.
The angelfish let the other male convince him easily enough. In fact, the thought that maybe his brothers had just wanted to get rid of him had crossed his mind before, but it had been easier to focus on a task than to accept that he didn't have any orders to follow anymore.
"Sammy will love you. He's really nice when he isn't being a total bitch, you'll see," Dean babbled on as he slowly swam back toward their part of the reef. It wasn't his fault that he was a bad swimmer, dammit! He was a seahorse, he was much better at floating and holding on to things. Ha! None of the stupid fish could do that like he could! Their flippers weren't made for holding on to things. 1:0 for Dean!
"Heya Sam!" the seahorse yelled as soon as he spotted his dolphin brother in the distance, "Look what I found!"
He could tell that his brother was trying to approach them slowly, but that wasn't quite so easy for a dolphin, especially not an overgrown one like Sam. Castiel didn't look scared, anyway. He looked baffled, but he had looked somewhat baffled ever since Dean had first laid eyes on him. Baffled and damn cute and oh so pretty, not that he'd say that out loud when his brother was close enough to hear it.
"That's Castiel, he's going to stick around for a while, or longer," Dean informed the dolphin as soon as he had stopped in front of them, "Cas, meet my brother Sam. Uh… brother of another mother, obviously."
"You two share the same father?" Castiel asked in a tone that sounded so serious that it was impossible to tell if he was joking or not. Then again, the angelfish had taken 'Go jump in a lake!' as an order that should be followed literally.
"Uh… no… different fathers, too," Dean admitted, looking at his brother for help with the explanation, but receiving none, "We're more like… related in spirit. Know what, Cas? Just roll with it. Sammy is my little brother and you're uh… my roomie."
Dean totally planned to show the angelfish the places he usually went to sleep, after all. Hell, he planned way more than that, but he didn't have to put all his cards on the table from the first second on, did he?
"I would like to be your roommate, Dean," Castiel replied seriously. Really, the guy said everything seriously, but it fit him very well, so that was okay. Also, Dean had a crush on him, so he could do whatever the fuck he wanted as long as he kept looking as cute as he did doing it.
"Awesome," the seahorse beamed, starting to swim toward his favorite part of the reef, "I'll show you around!"
Sam watched as his brother and the new one made their way over to where Dean liked to hang out the most. The part of the reef with the most plants was ideal for the seahorse and the angelfish shouldn't have problems navigating through them without doing much damage to them, either. The dolphin was really happy for his adoptive brother, but he couldn't help fearing that he would have more time to spend on his own from now on.