Pink
Castiel was in a bit of a pickle. The angel of the lord was slowly but surely losing his grace, and this was having very troubling effects on his body. Or rather, his angelic form was diminishing. He glanced down at his reflection in the waters surface and frowned. An immense depth of trees surrounded his hunched form as he stared endlessly at the large puddle on the forest floor. His shoes squelched in the mud but they would never become dirty. He let out a small sigh. He had been losing his grace for little over a month now, and where once stood proudly a gorgeous pair of pure white silk-to-the-touch wings that would glow in the sun and by the light of the moon, hung the tattered remains of what little was left.
At first it had begun with light moulting, feathers would fall out whenever he would take flight, some would fall while he cleaned his wings. Castiel shrugged this off and blamed it on the human emotion of 'stress'.
Then it got a bit more serious.
Chunks of feathers begun to fall whenever Castiel would open his wings. From time to time his wings would feel raw and achy. Then feathers begun to fall even when he did not have his wings out of his vessel, a trail following him wherever he went. Now Castiel starred as his pathetic wings in the water's reflection, no longer glowing, huge chunks of feathers missing to reveal the skeleton-like structure underneath. And Castiel felt.. sad. His wings were the last reminder that he was, or had once been an angel. Castiel decided enough was enough and he needed help. With no one else to turn to and with great effort, he launched himself into the sky and toward Dean Winchesters last known location.
Dean was in his motel room bathroom, brushing his teeth. In the current time of the apocalypse, dental hygiene was vital. Plus he should stay fresh for the ladies.
"Hello, Dean." Came a stern monotone voice for behind him. Dean almost swallowed his toothbrush. He spun around to face the sombre angel.
"Cass whas the fus?! I tolf you nevas do thass!" Dean spat some of the paste onto Castiel's trench coat while he raged and Cas wiped it away with his sleeve silently.
"Dean, I have a problem. I'm hoping for your assistance." It was then that Dean noticed Cas seemed different to usual, his usually expressionless face was almost curved into a frown, and his blue eyes were tinted with confusion and sadness. Dean turned back around to the sink and spat out the rest of the paste.
"What is it Cas?" He asked, rinsing his mouth out with water and turning back to face Castiel. Cas squirmed awkwardly in his place, eyes moving slowly back and forth to one end of the room to the other, as if he expected something to leap out and attack him.
"Is.." He started slowly "Is Sam here?" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, still shuffling where he stood.
"No he went out. To the library I think. What's this about Cas?" Dean asked, growing impatient and dare he say it, a little worried. "Cas?" He beckoned when Castiel didn't answer. Castiel took one last glance around the room to make sure it was secure and closed his eyes. Dean wasn't too sure what happened next apart from a brilliant flash of light which made him slam his eyes shut tightly and when he reopened the Cas was still in front of him looking more embarrassed than he'd ever been with two huge wings shadowing him. Dean was speechless for a few moments before he finally shut his mouth and his eyes began to adjust to what he was seeing before him. Cas looked tiny in comparison, the wings so tall they were squished against the bathroom celling. Cas watched Dean watching him and slowly unfurled one of the wings, feathers falling as he did so. He could not open the wing fully as the tip would not fit into the small bathroom. Castiel watched Dean's facial expression and he looked at his tattered wing, and felt like he want to shy away from the embarrassment of having his charge see him in such a state, but he held fast. Dean didn't seem to notice the mess at first and he took a little step toward the outstretched wing and slowly raised his fingers to brush at some of the intact feathers. Castiel felt a pound in his ears. One of the feathers Dean had stroked fell away into his hand. Then he seemed to realise something wasn't right and stepped away, clutching the feather. "Oh!" He said in sudden realisation. "Should they look like that?" Dean's eyes were tracing the missing patches and bone underneath.
"No." Castiel replied weakly. He folded the wing back to meet the other one. "I think losing my grace is having an effect upon my wings. I am unsure of what action to take." When Dean didn't reply he continued. "I was hoping for your assistance."
Dean blinked. "Dude, I don't know anything about angel wings. What am I supposed to do?"
Castiel looked back at his wings and curled them back into his vessel. He couldn't stop a tiny pain-filled groan as he did so.
"Of course you do not Dean. I do not know why I asked for your assistance." Dean saw hope fade from Cas's eyes. "I was just at a loss of what to do, I thought.." He trailed off into his own thoughts. "There's no manual you can check then?" Dean grunted. Castiel did not reply. In the whole time Dean had known Castiel, he'd never seen him at such a loss, so ready to give in. Castiel had given up everything for Dean, so surely Dean could help him out with this one little problem. "Hey, I've got an idea." Dean retorted, cheerfully. Castiel looked up at him. "You know how when old people start to loss their hair, they sell like ointments for it to grow back and stuff? Maybe you could try something like that."
Castiel looked puzzled for a moment, contemplating. "Do you think that will work?"
No! Of course it won't! Dean thought. "Hey, it never hurts to try, right?" He grinned, and the angel gave him a little pathetic smile, some hope restored.
Two weeks had past since Dean ran to the Chemist for Castiel and brought him back a little black bottle of ointment for 'regrowth!'
Castiel used the ointment every morning and evening and had gone through 3 bottles of the stuff, each time he ran out he returned to Dean and asked for him to pick up another.
The amazing thing was, the ointment had worked. Castiel stood alone, his wings outstretched to the very tips, folds and folds of beautiful white feathers overlaps and bursting from his back. His wings were twice as glorious as they'd ever been, looking as fluffy as cotton candy and shining with such intensity as heaven itself. Castiel himself was brimming with confidence, his wings now full and thick and beautiful once again and they could carry him wherever he wanted in less than seconds.
So when he ran out of his 3rd bottle he was quick to fly to outside Dean's newest motel room, being careful not to startle him he knocked on the door once. Dean came running out, shotgun in one hand, salt and car keys in the other.
"What is it Cas, I've got to go help Sammy. Something about a poltergeist or something." He panted, running down the corridor, Cas following swiftly behind him.
"Dean, I've run out of ointment and was hoping you could get me some mo-"
"Cas I'm a little busy for that now!" He said, pausing at the top of the stairs. "You know what the bottle looks like, go down the road to the chemist and get some yourself!" Dean juggled the shotgun into his other hand and pulled out ten bucks from his pocket, handing it to Cas.
"But.." Castiel started to protest, but Dean was long gone. Cas looked at the money and then over his shoulder to his wings that weren't there. It was almost time for the evening application and Cas didn't want to miss that, for fear his wings would suddenly shrivel up and fall off. So he headed down the street to the 'chemist.'
After proceeding down the street and knocking on every door asking if they were a 'chemist', Cas finally reach the bottom of the road and a small building with a large 'CHEMIST' sign hanging over the open door. Castiel assumed this was the chemist and did not ask as he entered. The store was full of medicine and bottles and tablets and make up and things people didn't really need but brought anyway. Castiel wandered around the store aimlessly for a full hour, before picking up two black bottles and not being able to decipher which was the one he needed. Cas glanced at the man who was trying to close the shop and decided his application was long overdue, so he chose the bottle in his left hand and paid for it at the counter, earning a very strange look from the cashier.
The following day, Dean was back at the motel room. Sam was catching up on some well earned rest and was asleep on the sofa. Dean was at the table taking apart and reassembling a pistol when Castiel appeared before him. Although he had half been expecting him to return after yesterday (with his change) he still jumped a little. "Cas.." He started.
"My apologises." Castiel muttered, seeming a little flushed. Dean looked at him curiously.
"So you haven't told me if this ointment is working or not yet." Dean probed.
"Yes it was working very well."
"Was?" Dean said, a little surprised that is had worked at all.
"Yesterday I believe I purchased the wrong bottle." Cas said feebly, looking at his shoes.
"What? Oh come on! It wasn't that difficult!" Dean grinned, sending Cas into a shame spiral. "Well come on, let me see then!" After much persuading Castiel agreed to let Dean see only if he promised not to make fun of him.
"Very well." Castiel closed his eyes, and another brilliant light engulfed Dean like before, but it seemed much more blinding this time. Dean blinked his eyes open, squinting through the light to see Castiel, his huge wings fully outstretched and bursting to the max with fluffy feathers. Only thing was they weren't white any more. They were a soft shade of baby pink. "I believe I picked up some kind of pink hair dye." Castiel mused. Dean's face cracked into a smile.
"Dean," Castiel warned, but Dean couldn't stop. He exploded into laughter, standing up from his seat at the table and walking over to Cas, shoulders shaking. This time Castiel's face beamed red, unable to hide the embarrassment. "Y-you said you wouldn't.." He shuffled awkwardly.
"Cas.. I'm.. sorry-" Dean spluttered out between laughing fits, making Cas's face turn a deeper red. Dean calmed himself and looked at Cas's blushing face, pink poofy wings spurting from his back. "You just look too adorable." Dean ruffled Cas's hair. Cas frowned but couldn't help grinning slightly.