Title: When It Rains It Pours
Author: MoonbeamDancer
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Dean/Castiel
Rating: R (for language)
Disclaimer: No I don't own them.
Notes: Written for the 2012 SPN_reversebang on LJ. Go see the art done by pro_kira also on LJ.
One look at the clock and Castiel fell out of bed. He was late for class.
"Fuck! That is the last time I let Balthazar and Gabriel take me out for a night of drinking." he hissed as he got dressed. Castiel's head throbbed in time with the thunder as it rolled overhead. A quick glance out the window confirmed that it was raining and was also part of the reason for oversleeping. Castiel loved to sleep when it rained. Yanking on his boots, Castiel searched for his smock, he'd have his hands full with his portfolio (leaning against his drafting table, ready to go) and his umbrella (in the back of his closet). It wasn't in sight. Another look at the clock made him swear again, if he was late again, Professor Talbot would have his head on a plate. After he dug through a pile of clothing, Castiel slid on his smock and was out the door, umbrella and portfolio in hand.
He had ten minutes until class started and nearly the entire campus to cover to get there. Castiel charged through the rain, the puddles splashing up on his jeans. Castiel kept his head down, even with the umbrella the rain got into his eyes sometimes. Dashing up the steps of the arts and design building, Castiel ran into someone and bounced back from under the building's awning and into the rain. Castiel heard a ripping sound and looked down. The corner of his portfolio had torn and several of his drawings had fallen into a puddle.
"Jeez! I'm sorry, are you okay?" someone asked. "Let me get those." Castiel watched as a brown haired man stooped down and picked the, now ruined, drawings out of the water. When he looked up to give Castiel the sodden paper, Castiel got a face full of bright green eyes and a smattering of freckles. The man smiled at him.
"I'm really sorry about running into you, I-"
"That's okay, I should have been watching where I was going." Castiel replied, taking the pages. His rendering of the English building was now a runny, soggy mess, but he could always redo it, It wasn't due for another week anyway.
"Again, my apologies. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to be late for class. Thank you for your help." Castiel quickly opened the door and ducked into the building. His shoes squeaked as he ran up a flight of stairs and down a hall. He ducked into his drawing class and hastily grabbed a chair and easel. And none to soon, his professor came in while he was setting up.
Professor Talbot set her bag on her table and clapped twice to get her student's attention. "Good morning class, today we're starting our figure drawing section."
There were whistles from several of the male students, most of whom were wearing the same shirt for the Pi Kappa Delta fraternity. Castiel didn't have anything against them, but it was frustrating that he got stuck with a bunch of meat heads looking for an easy A, in the Basic Drawing class. Castiel couldn't wait until he got into the higher up classes in his minor, by then most of these guys would be long gone.
"Yes, yes, you get to draw people. Naked." Professor Talbot said, silencing the noise. "But I hate to disappoint you gentlemen, because our first model is male." She stepped back to the door and opened it. "You can come in." she said to the person there.
The model entered in a dark blue robe and stepped up onto the platform in the center of the classroom. Castiel really should have seen this coming. He ireally/i should have. It was the guy from outside. He had wanted to draw the guys eyes the moment he had seen them. Their color matched some chalk he had, perfectly. Well it looked like the universe had been listening, because now he was going to do that. Along with the rest of the guy's body.
"Class, this is Dean, he'll be our model for today. Dean, whenever you're ready." Professor Talbot said, handing him a wooden staff. Dean took the staff, walking back to the center of the platform, stopping a few feet away from Castiel. Dean set the staff to his left and leaned into it, turning and bending his left leg and extending his right leg out to the side. He used both hands to brace himself on the staff.
As Dean readied himself, he looked and saw the guy from this morning, Dean grinned and winked at him, smiling a little bigger as the guy blushed.
"You know him?" asked the student next to him.
"Not really." the guy replied. "Just bumped into him is all."
Doing this pose put Dean's face into profile for Castiel and when Talbot lowered the lights and turned on the timer, he began to draw. Class seemed to fly by, despite the fact that it was an hour and a half long. About half way through they took a break and Castiel got up to stretch and wash his hands. Dean put his robe back on and slipped out into the hall. Castiel followed after drying his hands and grabbing his drawing and can of fixer.
Normally Castiel would spray down his drawings outside, but because of the rain, he couldn't, so someone had propped a nearby door open to circulate the air. The air was cool and heavy with the scent of rain as it came down the hall. Castiel held his drawing against the wall, shook the can and sprayed the drawing. Castiel knew students that used high hold hairspray instead, Aqua Net was a good one, but the fixative had been a going away gift for college.
"Wow, you did a really good job."
Castiel flinched from the voice at his shoulder. "Thank you. I had a good model." he replied turning around.
"May I?" Dean asked, holding out his hand.
"Sure." Castiel let him take the drawing. Dean had done two different poses before their break, this picture was of the second pose.
For that one, Dean had used the staff and a blue fedora hat. The staff was again on his left, the hat low and at an angle on his head. He had crossed his left leg in front of his right, and held the hat brim with his right hand with his head tilted down and at an angle. The light had cast shadows on his face and shoulders. Dean's eyes and cheekbones had been hell for him to draw, the lashes were just smudges of black, but he was pleased with the results. The picture mainly focused on Dean's face, the hat and Dean's shoulders and part of his chest. It was more or less a bust portrait.
"Wow. You're very good." Dean said, holding the picture carefully as it dried
"Thank you."
"I'm sorry again about running into you, were you able to save any of the drawings? I'm Dean by the way, but you already knew that."
"Castiel. You're forgiven and sadly no I wasn't. That's okay though, I didn't like them anyway." Castiel said as Dean handed him back the drawing.
"It's nice to meet you." Dean replied.
"You as well Dean."
"Alright everyone we're starting again." Professor Talbot called as she walked down the hall and into the class.
The rain had stopped by the time class had let out but it was still misty outside. Castiel stopped by his supplies locker to switch out a few things in his portfolio and was on his way out when he overheard Professor Talbot talking.
"You did a great job today Dean, make sure you have those Art History tests graded by Thursday, please."
Coming out of a door ahead of him was Dean, with a stack of papers in his hands, a thick text book and his bag slung across his shoulders. "You got it Bela." he said as Castiel walked past.
Once out doors, Castiel popped his umbrella open and walked down the stairs.
"Hey Castiel, wait up!" Dean yelled after him, hurrying to catch up. When Dean caught up, they walked down the stairs together.
"Cute umbrella." Dean said, glancing at the blue plastic, with yellow ducks on it.
"Thank you. My sister gave it to me." Castiel leaned it a little closer to Dean to help cover his papers. "Where are you headed?"
"The library, got papers to grade."
"So I heard. A Teacher's Aide and model? That's an interesting combination." Castiel responded.
"I'm a Photography student, being an aide and model just helps pay the bills. What about you, Art right?"
"No, Political Science. Art is... a hobby of mine." Castiel said as they came to the library.
"Too bad, you're good." Dean said while Castiel opened the door for him.
"I know, but that's all it can be. Good bye Dean, have fun grading papers." Castiel smiled his goodbye and walked away.
Castiel groaned as he walked away. "'A hobby of mine'." he mimicked, wincing internally. The truth was, Castiel loved art, looking at it or making it, he was happy with either one. His favorites to work with were chalk and ink, acrylics came in at a very close second. His love of art had been a life long affair and one that his family had been okay with encouraging, when he had been young. As he got older, they tried to get him to move on to other things, anything that would get him to interact with people and not off in his own little world. His family was very involved in politics and Castiel soon found himself involved as well. Art became his stress relief and his secret. When it came time to apply for college, his family refused to pay for anything unless he chose Political Science as a major, and while he liked it, his heart just wasn't in it. He managed to draw a compromise by having art as his minor and he got to go to a school of his choosing. Sighing to himself, Castiel continued on to class.
Castiel wiped a hand over his face and sighed. It was late and he was the only one in the studio. Castiel looked at his hands and grimaced, they were smeared in India ink and streaks of pastel chalk, which was a good indicator that his face was as well. Leaving the drawing that he was working on, to dry on the easel, Castiel went to the sink and began to wash his hands. A quick glance at the mirror overhead showed a few speaks of ink and streaks of chalk on his forehead and some on his cheekbones. Drying his hands Castiel turned back to his drawing and stared at it.
It was a picture of Dean.
He had finished the second picture weeks ago, and every time they had Dean pose for them, had drawn more after class. He had managed to fill almost an entire sketchbook of nothing but drawings of Dean. Full body sketches, portraits, 3/4 portraits, and close ups of various body parts, mainly his eyes. Castiel loved to draw Dean's eyes. The green he had was running low and Castiel wasn't totally happy with this latest drawing, something about it was off. Castiel rubbed his eyes and yawned, the coffee had worn off. Maybe it was time to call it quits for the night. A look at his phone confirmed it, too damn late o'clock little art student, time for bed. Castiel cleaned up his space and began to walk back to his apartment, happy that he didn't live that far from campus.
Dean was coming out of the library when he saw Castiel stumble past. Shouldering his bag, Dean headed towards him, calling Castiel's name as he approached. Castiel stopped and turned, his eyes were a little glassy.
"Hello..." a yawn escaped as he tried to say hello. "Dean. Excuse me, sorry."
"It's okay. Are you okay?" Dean asked watching Castiel.
"Stayed up too late drawing, should be in bed now." Castiel admitted, shaking his head.
"Ah, been there. Come on, I'll help you back. Where are you staying, one of the dorms?" Dean asked, slipping an arm around Castiel's waist. "Gimme your portfolio, I'll carry it."
"I'm over at the Blackbriar Fields, they didn't have room in the dorms, so I got put over there." Castiel said, as Dean took the portfolio from his fingers.
Dean nodded. "Not too bad a place, what's your apartment number?" He asked as they walked towards home.
The walk to the apartment was spent with Dean talking to Castiel to keep him awake. The subject didn't really matter to Dean, he just wanted to keep Castiel talking, at the moment it was all about his two friends, Balthazar and Gabriel, and the hijinks that they loved to get up to.
"...had a great idea to go to a gay bar after getting Gabriel drunk and he ended up hitting on and making out with a transvestite."
"Seriously?" Dean asked as they turned towards Castiel's building.
"Yep. Gabriel didn't realize that she was really a he. He was kinda irritated with Balthazar about it, but he became friends with her. Girl's name is Carmen, she's really damn nice, fucking amazing cook." Castiel pointed to the door with his number. "That's me." He yawned again and unlocked the door.
Dean brought him in, kicking shut the door behind him."Where's your room?" He asked, dropping the portfolio next to the sofa.
"Down the hall, second door on the..." Another yawn. "the left."
They went past the kitchen and down the hall. First door was the bathroom, second door was indeed Castiel's room. There was a door across from his, it was shut. "You got a roommate?" Dean asked as they came into Castiel's room and Dean poured him into bed.
Castiel kicked off his shoes and burrowed under the sheets. "Nope, jus' me." He wriggled around getting comfortable. "Thanks Dean." he whispered before falling asleep.
Dean smiled. "Welcome Cas."
Dean tiptoed out of the room, pausing to shut the door behind him, doing so made the air shift and the door across the hall popped open. Dean began to pull the door shut when something caught his eye. Opening the door, Dean saw that the room was a mirror of Castiel's, just empty. The light from a street lamp streamed in through the window, hitting the paper on the wall. Dean stepped into the room and turned on the light. He immediately wished that he hadn't. The majority of the walls were covered in drawings. It wouldn't be so bad, if the drawings weren't of him.
There were drawings from class. And drawings from around campus. And a few from off campus. The walls were covered in pictures of him at the library, both studying and grading papers, posing in the studio, and with other people. Most were shaded and detailed, the ones of him with his friends had him completely finished and his friends a combination of detailed and just sketched out. Dean stared at the pages, all of them of him going about his life, with no idea that he was being watched. It was fucking creepy. Dean shuddered and quickly left the apartment.
The next morning, Castiel woke up to sunlight streaming into his room. He stretched lazily and smiled, he didn't have class until later in the afternoon, he'd have time to work on some drawings and finish reading a chapter for another class. Castiel started to get dressed and while doing so, remembered that he had run into Dean the night before and that he had helped Castiel get home.
"Check the library later, tell him thanks." Castiel said to himself, pulling on his shoes. Opening his bedroom door, Castiel saw that the door to the second bedroom was open.
"Oh no." Castiel whispered, all thoughts of studying flying from his mind. This was bad and had the potential to get worse, because it looked like someone had been in here. And since Castiel knew that he had closed the door and turned off the light before, that only left Dean as the person who had seen all of this. Castiel was aware of how it all looked, like he had stalked Dean, and he supposed that he had, sort of, but truthfully he had just been too shy to outright ask Dean to pose for him.
That sounded pathetic even to Castiel's ears and it was the actual truth.
Castiel shut off the light and closed the door behind him. Time to do some damage control and explain things to Dean. Hopefully he wasn't too late.
Dean glanced quickly around before he exited the building. No sign of Castiel. Good. Hitching his bag onto his shoulders, Dean kept his head down as he walked, glancing up every once in a while, to watch where he was going. Again there was no sign of Castiel. Dean made it to his next class and breathed a sigh of relief. He took out his notebook and soon got lost in his note taking, the drone of the teacher washing over him.
Castiel hadn't had any luck so far in locating Dean and he was running out of time. He had enough time to check one more spot before he had to go and get ready for class himself. He rounded the corner of the Philosophy building and thought he saw Dean going into the building next to it, so he picked up his pace, hopefully he'd be able to catch up. Dean was coming down the stairs inside when he saw Castiel through the window, coming towards the building. Dean missed a step on the way down the staircase and grabbed the railing to keep himself from falling as he looked out the window.
"Fuck! Goddammit!" he hissed as he stumbled to a halt. He looked again, Castiel was closer, it was time to go. Dean flew down the rest of the stairs towards one of the side doors. Dean was walking so fast that he ran into the guy that had come though the door.
"Oh! Damn, sorry!" Dean said, grabbing the guy's shoulder to steady themselves.
"It's okay dude. No harm done." the guy replied.
Dean nodded and continued towards the door, which opened under his hand and he collided into Castiel as he came in, both of them running full tilt into each other. Their heads connected and Dean thought he heard Castiel say his name before things went black.
The beeping was the first clue that something was wrong as Dean came to. He opened his eyes, blinking the blurriness away as the ceiling came into view. His head ached and Dean carefully turned his head to have a look around. Castiel was in the bed next to him, asleep, an impressive purple bruise on his forehead, brace around his neck. Dean gasped and tried to sit up, his head swam and the beeping went haywire as his heart beat picked up. Dean groaned and looked around to silence the noise. Or he tried to; he could only move so much due to the foam brace around his neck.
"What the hell?" he asked the room at large.
"Dean?" he heard from the other bed. "Are you alright?" Castiel slowly sat up in his bed.
"Oh you stay the hell away from me! I don't want you any where near me, you freak." Dean growled at Castiel.
"Dean, I can explain, it's not what it looks like." Castiel protested.
"'Not what it looks like'?" Dean asked. "Really? Because it looks like you were stalking me. I've seen the drawings."
"They aren't drawings, they're portraits." Castiel argued.
"Whatever! The point is, you did it all with out my knowledge. What, are you gonna go Hannibal Lector on me?" Dean asked.
"Who?" Castiel asked confusedly. "Dean, what are you talking about?"
Dean stared at Castiel. "You've got to be kidding me." He groaned, wiping a hand over his face. "How can you not know who that is? Have you never seen Silence of the Lambs?"
"No, I haven't." Castiel admitted. His family had been rather conservative, and a movie about a cannibal serial killer was not appropriate viewing material.
"Oh my god... Are you serious?" Dean demanded. "You've never seen Silence of the Lambs? Really? What about Stephen King's It or The Shining or how about John Carpenter's Halloween?"
"No Dean, I haven't." Castiel repeated. "I read the book, Pennywise creeps both my and my sister out. And are we talking the movie with Jack Nicholson in it or the miniseries?" Those he had to sneak out of the library and over to a friend's house to watch.
"The miniseries, the film was utter crap. Jack's a great actor, but the movie sucked, King's more suited for television." Dean replied, temporarily forgetting that he was trying to get away from his would be stalker.
"I got into trouble for watching it at a friends house, and I've never seen Halloween."
"We have got to change that when we get out of here. Tell you what, we'll go back to-" Dean stopped mid sentence. "What am I saying? You've been following me around! No way in hell am I bringing you back to my place."
"I can explain Dean." Castiel began again.
"Love to see you try." Dean snorted. The thought of what Castiel had been doing made his heart skip a beat, maybe the resulting noise from the monitor would finally bring a nurse.
"I'm sorry for following you around with out your knowledge. I really am, but I didn't know what else to do."
"You couldn't ask me to pose for you? I could have done that, would have had no problem with that. But you didn't ask, instead you just crept around behind my back." Dean growled, his eyes narrowed.
"I know! It's just-"
"Just what Cas?" Dean barked, cutting Castiel off.
"You have pretty eyes." Castiel blurted out.
"What?" Dean asked, he was sure his ears were playing tricks on him.
"Your eyes." Castiel said. "I like them, they're pretty."
Dean just stared at him, dumbstruck. It was then, that a nurse ifinally/i came in.
"You're both awake, good. You're at the university's health center for observation. The two of you ran into each other rather hard." She began to look them both over. "So far the two of you are doing fine, how do you both feel, anything feel off?"
Both boys shook their heads as gently as they could.
"When do we get these off?" Dean asked, pointing to the braces.
"After your x-rays. We don't think you hurt your necks too badly, but better safe then sorry. I'll let the doctor know you're awake." The nurse left their room.
After her visit, things picked up and soon the boys found that they were both just fine and were free to go.
"I'm not going anywhere with you." Dean said as they walked out of the building.
"I know." Castiel replied. "We still need to talk though."
"Yeah." Dean thought for a moment. "Alright, come on, I know where we're going."
Dean led them to a nearby diner.
"Best pie in town. I can guarantee that." Dean said, opening the door.
"Why are we here and how do you know?" Castiel asked, following him in.
The diner was a few blocks away from campus. It had a counter, tables and some booths. Dean led Castiel to a booth in the back corner, near the front window. The red vinyl squeaked as Dean slid into the seat and picked up a menu.
"This place makes several different kinds of pie and they keep them all fresh and ready to go, daily. Pick whatever you want."
Castiel watched him for a moment, Dean was serious, before sliding into the seat across from him and doing the same.
"That good?" he asked, pretending to study the menu, instead just using it as an excuse to look over the edge at Dean.
Dean glanced over the top of his menu. "Yeah, that good. I've been uptown, downtown, on and off campus. This is the best."
Castiel sighed and put down his menu. "Why are we here Dean? We obviously need to talk about-"
"I know. After pie." Dean cut him off. "We'll talk after pie. I'm not dealing with any of this until after we've had pie." He went back to his menu.
Castiel shoved down another sigh and picked his back up. After pie it was.
The remains of the battle laid strewn across the table and the battle had been fierce, but in the end, they had won. Four plates, napkins and silverware, and a couple of cups were all that was left behind. Castiel picked up the remained of his crust and nibbled it. Dean had be right, the peach-strawberry pie was a great choice, he was glad he had made it. His other choice had been pumpkin. Dean had gone with apple and a chocolate-blueberry concoction.
Dean set down his fork. "Okay, now we can talk."
"I want to apologize. You weren't supposed to see that and I'm sorry that I didn't ask before hand, again."
"You said you liked my eyes." Dean said, motioning to the waitress for a refill on his coffee. "What about them is so special?"
Castiel blushed slightly and stared at the table. "I don't know really. You posed for class and I couldn't help it. I kept drawing you afterwords, became obsessed."
"Oh, so you do admit to being a stalker." Dean stated.
"No! I mean artistically." Castiel replied. "Yes, I followed you a couple of times. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry I freaked you out. You're right, I should have asked you to pose for me, but I felt too shy to ask."
"Dean finished his coffee. "Okay, so we agree that you should have asked me and not snuck around." He got up out of the booth. "So let's see this gallery of yours." Dean tossed down some money to pay the bill.
"What?" Castiel asked. "Now, why? I thought you didn't want to be anywhere near my place."
"Changed my mind. Besides I wanna see what all I'm working with."
Castiel remained in the booth, mouth agape at what he was hearing. "Just like that?"
"Sort of. I'm willing to give you a chance." Dean replied. "You ready or not?"
Castiel sat for a moment before scrambling out of the booth.
"Wow. These really are good." Dean said, as he looked at the pictures on the wall, pausing to look at one, before looking back to Castiel. "Why aren't you an Art major again?"
"Because my parents won't pay for school unless I'm a Poli Sci major." Castiel responded, leaning against the doorjamb.
"Are you serious?" The concept seemed foreign to Dean, that parents would withhold something that made their child happy, in favor of something else that made them happy instead.
"Yes."
"That is really fucked up."
"It's tradition. All the men in my family are Poli Sci majors." Castiel shrugged, like it was no big deal.
"That's still fucked up. Do you want to be a Poli Sci major?"
"I find it enjoyable, and my family approves of it, but..." Castiel trailed off.
"You want to do Art instead." Dean finished.
Castiel nodded. "Very much so."
"So why don't you tell them? It can't be all about the money right?" Dean asked, moving back towards Castiel.
"It isn't. Both of my uncles are in the Senate, my brothers are involved in Washington. Politics is a way of life in my family. I'm expected to be involved somehow." Castiel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's their way of making me be more social."
"That... okay yeah, that messed up."
"Tell me about it." Castiel agreed.
"Or we could just move on to how and when you want me to pose for you." Dean said, changing the subject. "You can always pay me in food and beer."
"Tilt your head to the left just a little more. Wait, right there. Perfect." Castiel muttered as he sketched. His newest assignment was three portraits of Greek Gods or Goddesses. He had asked Dean, Gabriel and Balthazar to pose for him. Balthazar was modeling as Hermes, Gabriel became Dionysus, and Dean was going to be Pan.
"So I get to meet your friends for the bonus picture of all three of us, right?" Dean asked.
"They're coming over later. I have no idea if I'll be able to do another picture." Castiel replied and added a bit of color.
"You should, it might wind up in the student gallary showcase." Dean said offhandedly.
"Showcase?" Castiel asked, looking up from his picture.
Dean groaned. "I wasn't supposed to say anything, but sometime in the next couple of months, the Art department is going to have a showing of student work. The best work will have a private showing and a chance of being shown in an actual gallery."
"That's amazing." Castiel whispered.
"Yeah, and you didn't hear any of it from me, right?" Dean asked.
"Hear what?" Castiel replied, going back to his drawing.
"Exactly."
"Alright, I'm done for now. You can move." Castiel set his pen down. For this set he was doing a mixture of ink and chalk and so far things were going wonderfully. He screwed the lid back onto the ink pot while Dean got up to go to the bathroom and walk around a bit.
"Hey Cas." he heard Dean call.
"What?" Castiel asked, as he put things up. He left the portrait out while the fixer dried.
"What's with all the rubber duckies?"
Castiel came over to where he heard Dean's voice. Dean was standing in the hall, just outside of his bedroom. "I saw the couple you had on the counter in the bathroom and the shower curtain." He snickered, waving a hand to the few that had been tucked around Castiel's room.
A small group in the bookcase, one on his dresser and another on his window sil. They were of various colors, but his favories had to be the bookcase ducks. There were four of them, each a different color scheme, but all part of a group. This one was of the seasons. Winter was white with blue snow flakes and a blue bil, Spring was a pale gree with a yellow bill and roses wrapping around it. Summer was bright yellow, with blue waves and a beach, and an orange bill. Fall was orange with a yellow bill and leaves scattered across it.
"Please tell me it's some kinky sex thing. Should I start calling you Ernie?"
"Yes, Dean." Castiel deadpanned. "I get a huge turn on from having rubber duckies around me. And only if I get to call you Bert." At Dean's shocked look, he snorted. "No Dean. It's nothing like that. When we were children, my sister Anna and I started a duck collection. The shower curtain and umbrella were going away gifts from her and the ducks are my share of the collection."
"Oh. Really?" Dean asked.
"Yep." Castiel said. A knock sounded at the door. "I think that's Gabriel and Balthazar."
"Cassie! Open the door!" was shouted through the door.
"Quit making out with that hot T.A. of yours, and open up!" came another yell. "This pizza won't eat itself."
"That's them I take it." Dean stated, looking towards the door.
Castiel nodded. "Balthazar was the first one, Gabriel was the second." He started to walk to the door.
"Castiel! Get your clothes back on and answer the damn door!" Followed by a loud banging on said door.
Castiel blushed and rushed for the door while Dean laughed. Castiel opened the door and glared at the other two men on the other side.
"Ah, dressed, finally." Balthazar smirked, walking though with a paper bag in his hands.
"Damn Cassie, that good hmmm? Taking your sweet time to answer the door?" Gabriel asked as he followed, pizza boxes in hand. He got his first good look at Dean as he entered the living room again. "And survey says yes, he's that damn good. Good looking. We can totally leave you two alone, if you want, unless letting us watch turns you on."
Castiel shut the door a little too hard. "Gabriel!" he hissed.
"What? I'm just saying you're right, he's very cute." Gabriel replied as he and Balthazar began to hand out plates of pizza and drinks. "We've had to hear Cassie here, go on and on about you and your eyes. He's totally right."
Castiel groaned and hid his face in his hands. "I hate my friends, I really do."
Gabriel and Balthazar snorted. "No you don't, you love us." Balthazar replied, handing Castiel a plate. Dean just stared at them before laughing and talking the plate that was offered to him
"Alright students, time's up." Professor Talbot called as she turned off the timer and turned the overhead lights back on. The model that had been on the platform got off the sofa and stepped down.
"Thank you Ruby." Bela said as she left.
"You're welcome Professor, see you in Ceramics."
"Before everyone leaves, I need to see Castiel, Amy and Emily, please."
Castiel and two other girls, a red head and a blond, gathered their things and stopped at Bela's desk.
"I know you all know about the student show. I just wanted to let you three know that you've been picked to be in it. Congratulations."
Castiel smiled as he walked home, he was going to be in the student show, this was awesome. Sitting on his doorstep was a box, Castiel picked it up and went inside. Setting his things down, Castiel opened the box and chuckled when he saw what was inside. It was a little red devil duckie. Castiel picked up the invoice and saw that it was a gift from Dean. Written on it were the words "Something new for your collection, maybe you should be a little naughty every once in a while?" Castiel laughed and went to add the duck to his collection.
The night of the art show is a nerve racking one for Castiel. His hands shook as he knotted his tie and he startled at the knock on the door.
"Ready?" Dean asked as Castiel opened the door.
"As I'll ever be." Castiel replied, stepping out and shutting the door behind him. "Balthazar and Gabriel said that they'd meet us there. How do I look?"
Dean looked at the white dress shirt, dark blue tie and black pants. "You look good. What about me?"
Dean had opted for a new pair of blue jeans and a white dress shirt. Castiel tilted his head to the side. "You look good too."
The show was being held in one of the bigger studios in the art building and there were a lot of people there. Castiel and Dean watched the crowd while looking for Balthazar and Gabriel.
"Heya Cassie!" they heard called and began to look for the source.
"There you are!" Gabriel called coming up to them. Both Gabriel and Balthazar cleaned up nicely for the event, both dressed in white dress shirts and Gabriel in dark blue jeans and Balthazar in black.
"Congratulations on being picked for the show again." Gabriel grinned.
"Yeah man, this is a igreat/i turn out." Balthazar said as the four of them went inside to see the show.
Inside the building, people talked and looked at the pieces on display. It varied from paintings, to scuptures and ceramics, to jewlary and in a few cases, clthing being worn by live models that stood totally still. Unless you saw them blink or breathe slightly, you'd think they were a maniquin. When someone tried to take a picture, they'd make a face and laugh when the patrons would jump.
The painting were scattered along the walls and the group of four walked and talked about the various pieces before they came upon Castiel's set. Three paintings were grouped side by side on the wall, each with each own name card. Each card had Castiel's name, the painting's medium, and a title. They stopped in front of them.
"Oh wow." Dean gasped.
"Holy cow Cassie, these are fantastic." Balthazar said in awe. Gabriel just wordlessly nodded.
All three paintings were in color and done with acrylic paint. The Hermes painting showed Balthazar dressed in a while toga with the toga crossed over one shoulder. The toga was edged in silver and he wore matching gauntlets and sandals that laced up his calves. He was shown in flight with a pair of beautiful white wings on his back and a scroll in his hands and a quiver full of scrolls on his back. The scrolls were paper with gold ends.
"Wasn't Hermes a messenger of the Gods?" Gabriel asked.
Castiel nodded. "Yeah, but here I pictured him as a thief, those are the royal scrolls he's stealing from Zeus."
Dionysus showed Gabriel in a toga as well with gold gauntlets and sandals instead of silver. In the painting it was night time and in the background there was a party going on. Gabriel was lit by the bonfires and in one hand he held a glass goblet of wine and in the other dangled a bunch of grapes. In his hair was a crown of oak leaves.
"The God of Wine, I like it." Dean grinned.
Gabriel laughed. "Me too. Got to drink the wine afterwards too."
Dean is last as Pan. In his painting, he was shirtless and was a goat from the waist down, his fur was a beautiful tawny brown. He was taking place in the Wild Hunt and ran across the star studded night sky with a bow and arrow in his hands and a quiver full of them on his back. On his hip rested a dagger. He and the group of hounds, stags, horses, and other gods chased down another soul to join the hunt.
"The Wild Hunt?" asked Balthazar. "Isn't that Scandinavian?"
"It is. I figured Pan would like something new for a party, besides some of those Goddesses are hot. He's there for them."
"Can I have everyone's attention please?" was called over the intercom system, followed by a squeal of feedback. Up on the stage was Professor Talbot and the Head of the Art Department Professor Sarah Blake. Professor Blake stood at the microphone.
"Thank you everyone for coming to our art show. All of our students here were hand picked to be in the show and we believe that they are the best and brightest for the art world's future. We wish all of out students the best, no matter what path they choose, tonight is about celebrating art. But it is also about picking the best, ladies and gentlemen, and tonight we have a tie."
Bela handed Sarah a red envelope which she opened.
"The grand prize of a private showing in the Blue Moon gallery of Seattle belongs to Miss. Emily Vivian and Mr. Castiel Milton." The room burst into applause. "Can they please come up here?" Sarah asked.
Dean and Gabriel pushed Castiel to the front of the crowd. Emily's friends were doing the same to her.
"Along with the showing, both students will be sharing a cash prize." Sarah said as they walked up the stairs and across the stage. When they got to Sarah and Bela, they were both handed a check and Sarah stepped aside to let them talk. Castiel let Emily go ahead and talk, she mainly said a lot that he was going to say, anyway.
The next morning Castiel woke up in his bedroom and wondered how he got there. Blinking slowly and rubbing his eyes, Castiel thought about the night before. After he had managed to escape the stage, someone had suggested that they go out for a drink to celebrate. Castiel thinks it's Balthazar, since they ended up at the Ashland Roadhouse.
The Ashland Roadhouse was a combination bar and grill that was a couple of blocks away from campus. You could play darts or pool and the jukebox always seemed to alternate between twangy country songs and heavy rock and roll. The food was decent and the drinks were reasonably priced. Castiel remembered sitting at the bar and ordering drinks and how Balthazar had insisted that his money was no good. Both Balthazar and Gabriel had spent the night buying him drinks and Dean had paid for his dinner. Dean had said that it was in celebration of Castiel winning the show.
It was around then that things began to get blurry for Castiel. He remembered the third pitcher of beer. He remembered when Gabriel suggested doing shots. They decided on tequila shots and somewhere in there, they had become taken over by eleven year old girls, because it turned into a game of Truth or Dare and Castiel had been dared by Gabriel to kiss Dean. Castiel remembered the kiss with startling clarity. Dean tasted like the hot wings he had been eating and the alcohol they had all been drinking. It was spicy with a mix of sour and sweet from the chocolate martini that Gabriel had dared him to drink. Watching him suck the chocolate off the rim was, honestly, one of the hottest things Castiel had ever seen. And judging from the way Gabriel had stared at Dean while he did it, Gabriel thought so too.
The throbbing in Castiel's head spiked when his phone rang. Groaning softly, he reached over and answered it.
"Hello?" he said dryly, slowly sitting up in his bed.
"Castiel James Milton!" was screamed over the phone. "How dare you! What were you thinking?"
By now Castiel had yanked the phone away from his ear, held it at arm's length, and figured out who was yelling at him.
His mother.
He gingerly held the phone back up to his ear and before she could get a really good rant going on, asked "Why are you calling and yelling at me?" His happiness at the kiss was now shattered and the throb in his head returned stronger then before. This was so the last time that he was drinking with Gabriel and Balthazar, it was time for coffee, he'd be better able to deal with his mother if he had some. He got out of bed to his mother's explanation.
"Your art teacher called us, a woman by the name of Bela Talbot."
Castiel walked into the kitchen, internally moaning at the light streaming in. It was the same light in his bedroom, but the shades had been drawn there, here the light came in unhindered. He dug the bag of coffee out of the freezer.
"Yes mother, she's my teacher." he said, scooping some coffee grounds into the filter of the coffee maker, grateful that he had thought ahead and had it ground when he had bought it. He wasn't sure if he could handle the noise of the grinder and his mother's shrilling at the same time.
After setting things up and setting the machine to perk, Castiel slumped against the counter, listening to what Bela had done.
"She called to tell us about your student art show and how you and another student had won a showing at a gallery in Seattle. The Blue something or other and that we should be proud of you and that if we wanted her to, she might be able to get us tickets to the private showing."
Castiel closed his eyes as his mother huffed in his ear. Bela had meant well, but she may as well set a pack of starving hell hounds after him for all the hell he was about to get. When the coffee maker beeped, he poured himself a cup, black with no cream or sugar, and steeled himself for the inevitable bitch fit.
His mother did not disappoint him at all in this regard.
"Your father and I can't believe that you went and did this. What have we told you about art? It is a hobby, not a way to live, you can't make any real money from it."
Castiel drank his coffee as she talked, mentally checking off bullet points as he listened to her. "Mother, I was picked to be in the show and did it ever occur to you, that this was a good thing? That I wanted this?" He put his cup on the counter. Castiel wasn't really in the mood for any crap right now, his head hurt and he wanted to see Dean and find out what he thought about their kiss. But for right now, he'd settle for crawling back into bed and sleeping for a few more hours.
"Mother, I'm really good at art. I enjoy it and I love making it, why can't you accept that? This show is a good thing, it could lead to wonderful things for me, why can't you be happy for me?"
His mother sighed wearily over the phone. "Castiel we've been through this before. It doesn't matter how good you think you are, you won't make a living at it, and-"
"Is that all that matters to you, money?" Castiel demanded, cutting her off. He glared, even if she couldn't see it. "Art makes me happy, why isn't that good enough?"
"Because it will get you nowhere and o nothing for you." she replied. "Your father and I have discussed it, you will be dropping out of this show, or we'll be cutting you off financially."
Castiel's mouth dropped open at this. His parents hated his love of art that much, that they would stoop ithat/i low to get rid of it?
"No." he growled into the phone, eyes narrowing to slits. He had put up with and done a lot for his family, they weren't going to take away something he cherished.
"Excuse me? Did you just tell me no?" his mother asked. "Castiel-"
"No!" Castiel snarled. "I'm not doing that. Go ahead and cut me off. I don't need you." He then hung up before she could respond to him. Castiel let the phone drop to the floor and ignored it when it began to ring again. Castiel tossed the remainder of his cup of coffee in the sink and walked back to his bedroom. While walking back, it hit him what he had said and done. Castiel's vision grayed out for a second and he had to grab the wall for support.
He had told his parents no. He had told his parents no and then hung up on them. Okay, that last part he really didn't care about, but the telling them no part shocked him. He had always done what his family wanted for most of his life with the exception of art. He was happy and scared at the same time. Breathing deeply, Castiel decided to get dressed and go see Dean.
Dean woke up to knocking on his door. He groaned and rolled out of bed, whoever it was, it had better be important. The person at the door knocked again, harder this time.
"Hang on! I'm coming." Dean called. He opened the door and saw Castiel on the other side. "Cas? What are you doing here?" He moved aside to let Castiel in.
"Hello Dean, my apologies for waking you." Castiel said, walking in. His hair was wild and sticking straight up in some spots. Dean shut the door and looked at his friend, he looked like hell.
"It's okay." Dean rubbed his eyes. "I'm making coffee, you want some? While we wait, tell me why you're here."
"Right, sorry. And no thanks, I had some at home." Castiel replied.
They walked into the kitchen and while Dean set about making a cup of coffee, Castiel filled him in on what had happened with his mother. "And now they've cut me off. I've got some time to apologize, but I don't know if I want to." He ran his hands through his hair. Dean took one of his hands in his after putting down his cup.
"You like doing art right?" he asked.
Castiel nodded.
"Then keep doing it, you'll figure out the rest, it's not the end of the world. Don't worry, I'll help." Dean squeezed his hand. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm still kinda tired. I'm gonna go crawl back into bed, come crash with me if you want."
Castiel followed Dean and they curled up together before falling asleep.
Epilogue: A few years and a lifetime later.
The alarm clock went off around seven in the morning. Castiel reached over and after a minute or two of fumbling blindly, managed to turn the noise off. There was a mumble and some shuffling next to him, the lump under the blankets was moving. An arm snaked around his chest and pulled him close.
"Morning already?" Dean asked sleepily, nuzzling Castiel from his cocoon.
"Sadly." Castiel replied. He got out of bed, streatching. "Feel free to sleep a little longer, you don't go in for a few more hours."
Dean squirmed deeper into the nest he had created and went back to snoozing. Castiel threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and silently padded out of the room.
After getting a cup of coffee, Castiel walked down to his office and sat down at his desk. Turning his computer on, Castiel thought about what needed to be done. The cover proof for Gabriel's new book would be finished today and be sent to the publishers. He needed to look at the photos he had taken of the models for Serena Tekkov, a character in a new series by Joellen Singer. After Castiel had stopped talking to his parents, he had changed his major to Art, with a focus in Publishing. His minor had been turned into Photography. He spent a few years after college doing actual paintings, a few were in galleries around the country, but he really loved doing art for books, so he switched to doing book covers full time.
The computer finished loading and Castiel began to sort pictures and look through his e mail for anything from the publishers or authors that he worked with. Castiel clicked one open and found that it was a reply from Ruby Crowley about the cover for "Rune Castle". She loved it and was looking forward to the final copy. Ruby's summaries for her books and chacaters were a hoot to read and were a tremendous help in creating the proper look for each cover of hers that he had the pleasure of making. Castiel sent a reply to her and narrowed down his choices for pictures.
Dean came in a couple hours later when Castiel was knee deep in designing Joellen's book a new dimly remembered hearing Dean move around the apartment.
"Looks good." Dean said, sipping from his cup. The photo that Castiel was working on featured a woman with blond hair and shark's teeth. Castiel was currently experimenting with skin tones and leaning towards blueish with a green tint. Which made sense, seeing as how Serena was supposed to be a mermaid.
"Thanks. You've got that shoot with Baker's Dozen today right?" Castiel asked, stopping to turn and look at Dean.
Dean nodded. Baker's Dozen was a cake and pastry magazine that Dean shot for on occasion, they were doing a fall/Halloween set up today. Dean had become a rather well know magazine photographer and he worked for several of them, his job taking him all over the place. "Need to get going in a couple of minutes, just wanted to talk to you before I left."
Castiel smiled, getting up with his cup in hand, and moved to go out of the office. Dean followed him to the kitchen. Dean and Castiel had gotten together after Castiel had changed his major. Dean did remember the kiss they shared and asked Castiel out to lunch to see if they wanted to date. That was six years ago.
Castiel poured himself another cup and asked Dean if he wanted one. Dean shook his head. "Already had some when I got up."
Castiel set the pot back and leaned his hip against the kitchen island, sipping from his cup. "Have fun with the spooky photo shoot."
Dean grinned and stepped into Castiel's space, looping his arms around Castiel's waist. "I will. You have fun drawing mermaids."
Castiel nodded, kissing Dean good bye. "I always do."