Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, the suggestion is Dean's. The day before had marked the end of a particularly nasty ghoul, and all members of Team Free Will agreed that it was time to blow off some steam. Well, Cas didn't necessarily agree as much as he didn't argue the suggestion. But in his way of communicating as the boys knew it, not saying 'no' was as good as putting on a party hat and shouting 'who wants to do shots?'
So, they're in this bar. In Kingman, Arizona. And they are drunk off their asses when Dean floats the idea the first time. His subtlety was noted.
"Hey, man. Cas! What if we got married?" this was shouted very loudly over the table towards the angel in question, who was pleasantly buzzed but perhaps not as smashed as Dean currently was. It was good Cas already knew Dean wasn't a seriously romantic man otherwise this form of proposal would have been an enormous let down on that point. Cas shifted around in his seat slightly and took another large gulp of beer for good measure.
"Married?" he asked it in a sort of clarifying way, in case he had somehow misunderstood Dean's suggestion. Dean nodded emphatically, so hard he threw off his balance slightly and tilted on the edge of toppling over in his booth. He spilled a bit of beer on the table before he could right himself.
"Yeah! I mean, we're close to Vegas," Dean said, as if that explained everything. He nodded like that was the only point that needed to be made and sat back in his booth, satisfied, gulping down some more of his drink. Cas glanced around to ascertain Sam's position and found him leaning down over the bar with a dumb grin on his face, talking to a woman with long, red hair and a very low-cut shirt that Cas had grown accustomed to seeing around bars such as this one.
"You want us to get married?" Cas asked again, just for good measure. Dean made an impatient noise at the back of his throat. It sounded eerily like a whine and Cas hid a smile, tugging down at the corners of his mouth where the expression threatened to spread.
"Well, yeah," Dean said. He leaned in to the table, like he was going to talk to Cas quietly, but he still shouted. Cas did his best not to wince at the volume of his explanation.
"Like, there's - love stuff. Between us. And stuff," he shouted. Cas failed spectacularly at hiding his grin this time.
"Yes, I have told you that. And you have told me the same," the angel said. He glanced over at Sam again and saw him moving in towards the redhead, going for a kiss. Dean would be proud. If he wasn't so unbelievably drunk and currently proposing (badly) to the angel Sam had teased him about for years. Even after they got together, the teasing still occurred regularly. Cas chalked it up to brotherly things he would never quite understand.
"Right, so, love stuff," Dean said. He squared his shoulders. "So, why not? Let's get married!" Cas thought for a moment. He obviously loved Dean, and he knew that Dean loved him. They had been together for a long time, but marriage had never been mentioned before. And there was the fact that Dean was very, very drunk that made him pause. But the fact remained, he did very much want to marry Dean. He wanted something solid, something human, that bound them together even more than their feelings already did. He slowly came to the decision.
"Yes, alright," he said, at a much lower volume than Dean's own booming voice. "Let's get married." The grin that stretched from one side of Dean's face to the other was totally worth it. Dean turned out to the crowded bar and stood up, shouting.
"He said yes!" A loud roar went through the crowd in no particular direction since no one could really see where the original announcement had come from. "Drinks on me!" This, people did hear, and it took the Winchesters and Cas just a little bit longer to get out of the bar than previously expected. But they did eventually manage it.
Sam seemed much more amicable to the suggestion than Cas thought he would have been and he easily left the girl he was making out with once he was informed of the situation. The tall Winchester collapsed heavily into the backseat of the Impala and it was only a few minutes into the drive that Cas first heard the snores from the back trail outwards. After some stumbling, Cas convinced Dean to sit shotgun while Cas drove the distance to Las Vegas. He wasn't the best driver, but Dean had taught him well enough that there were no disasters during the trip.
There was one point when they drove through a town called Winchester in Nevada when Dean collapsed into giggles. The fact that Cas joined him in the laugh only served to prove that maybe Cas was less sober than originally thought. Still, they did actually make it to Vegas in one piece. Castiel pointedly drove past a place called Cupid's Wedding Palace, which Dean either didn't notice or ignored completely. He was bouncing in his seat animatedly as they drove past each new casino. It was like driving with a 10-year-old, Cas thought. Or maybe it wasn't. He had no real experience with children and driving to draw on.
The place the Impala finally pulled into was simply marked Wedding Chapel. It was a small, white building with colorful flowers outside and a picture of Elvis on the sign. When Dean saw it he jumped up and hit his head in what must have been a painful way on the ceiling of the Impala.
"There! That one!" Castiel pulled in and parked the Impala, getting out with very careful steps. He was far, far more drunk than originally thought. Dean stumbled out, practically landing on his ass, but righted himself in time to land on the back door of the Impala and wrench it open shouting, "rise and shine, Sammy! Time to get hitched!"
"'m gettin' hitched?" came the slurred reply. Dean pulled on the tall Winchester's legs.
"No, I'm getting hitched, dumbass," he said. It would have sounded more forceful had Dean not begun laughing through the last half of the sentence. Sam, for some unknown reason, joined him. Cas couldn't seem to stop smiling. When Dean and Sam got around the car to him, Dean handed his angel a little flask that Cas hadn't noticed before.
"For luck," Dean winked and then walked past Cas, slightly off balance, towards the chapel. Castiel looked at the flask, back up at Dean, up at the sign on the chapel, and took a liberal drink of the flask. He nearly spat it out. Whatever was in the container was strong, and sharp, and it went through Cas like a shot, warming his face and numbing his fingertips before he could even get to the front door of the chapel.
"We're getting married!" was the first thing Cas heard upon entering. Dean stood at the front reception desk, with Sam leaning on him heavily. The woman behind the desk didn't seem impressed, but Cas only assumed that, in this line of work, it couldn't be the first time she had seen someone this drunk demanding to be married. After it was explained to the front desk that, no, the butch one with the freckles wasn't marrying the lumberjack-sized man on his shoulder, but the soft-spoken guy in the semi-creepy looking brown coat, they were led into a room where a man dressed as Elvis greeted them.
Dean stood next to Cas, stumbling a bit so that Cas had to take his hand to steady him. The grin on the hunter's face was huge, and stretched in a way that must have hurt, but just made Cas want to float right out of his shoes.
"So, you lovebirds have anything to say?" the man dressed as Elvis asked. He threw in a halfhearted hip swivel to keep in character, but Cas hardly noticed. Dean cleared his throat.
"Cas, you're a really special guy," he halfway slurred. He pulled an annoyed expression at not having Cas right in his eye line and turned himself slightly so they were facing one another. Behind him, Sam sniffed like he was upset about something. "Love you," Dean added with a smile. Then he nodded like that was enough said. Cas thought for a moment about his own words. His brain was fuzzy at best. Whatever Dean had in that flask, it was strong. And it was working. What he did finally decide to say was nothing he hadn't said to Dean before, but he perhaps would not have made the decision to say in front of others pre-drink.
"I have loved you since the day I rebuilt you, though perhaps I did not know what that meant until later" he said. The man dressed as Elvis gave him a weird look but didn't ask. He had likely heard more odd things in his time. "You have saved me more times than I can count, and not just on hunts, but in my decisions. You have altered me blood and bone and grace. Without your leading voice of reason I may not have been here today to make promises to you. My promise that I love you and shall continue to do so for the remainder of my time on earth and the time after."
He was interrupted before he could quite finish by a quiet wailing erupting from a very drunk and unsteady Sam. The tall Winchester had large, globe-like tears flooding down his face. His eyes were wide open, looking at Dean and Cas the way Dean had sometimes described as like, 'a little lost puppy'. Cas gave him a small smile and turned his attention back to Dean. His breath caught in his throat. Dean's emerald eyes were looking at him with such attention Cas felt he must surely be looking past Castiel's vessel and instead at the angel within. There was no hint of drink clouding his eyes. He was sharp and aware. And, in an instant, it was gone. Dean smiled, wide and gummy, looking every bit as drunk as before. But now Cas knew his hunter was going to remember this. So he had better make it worth it.
"Thank you for my life, Dean," he said, looking seriously into Dean's eyes. The green eyes wavered and grew glassy, the hint of tears tickling at the corners. Yes, Dean was not nearly as drunk as he had lead the others to believe. Although Cas really was getting slightly wobbly at this point. He was going to have to inquire what Dean had in that flask because with its level of potency it couldn't possibly be safe for human consumption.
"Very nice," the man dressed as Elvis announced, sounding uninterested. "You fellas got some rings?" Rings. Of course. Dean cleared his throat.
"Yeah," he said. He reached down to his own hand and removed the silver ring that had rested there for as long as Cas had known him.
"Dean, that is your mother's," Cas warned. Surely he must be mistaken. Dean quirked a smile at him and slid the warm metal ring down Cas's slender finger.
"And now you're gonna wear it," he said. Cas stared down at the ring in surprise. He was glad he knew now that Dean was somewhat sober because otherwise he would never have accepted such a gift. Although now there was a pit opening in Cas's stomach.
"I'm sorry but I'm afraid have no ring for you," he said, mortified at being the one who had come unprepared. He thought for a moment, trying to clear his head. "I will find you one." Dean smiled. And Cas flew away. He came back seconds later, but the faces around him were very different from before. Dean's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly opened in surprise. The man dressed as Elvis was in outright shock, lowering even the barest pretense of being an old rock and roll singer.
"How… what the fuck?" he gasped. Oh, right, Cas thought, I probably shouldn't fly in front of people. This alcohol was making it hard to care. He put a finger up on the man's forehead and calmed him with a thought. Dean looked like he was trying very hard to look stern instead of amused but he was failing terribly.
"I found you a ring," Cas said seriously. Dean swallowed a smile again. Sam stumbled and fell into a chair, mumbling something unintelligible. No one looked his way.
"Oh, yeah?" Dean asked, raising a wild eyebrow.
"Yes," Cas responded solemnly. He could feel his wings twitching, although he hadn't thought about moving them. He pulled the ring from his pocket cautiously. He had thought seriously about his choice and was wary to show it off. Dean looked down into his palm at the ring that rested there.
"Uh, Cas," he said, uncertain, "that is made of wood."
"Yes," the angel said, as though that explained everything. In his head it all made sense.
"Where did you get it?" Dean asked, still treading carefully.
"Oh, I just shaped it myself," Cas said. Dean raised both eyebrows. "I made it from the wood of a bench where you once sat. After you made the decision to save one person over a town and called me a hammer. It was the first time you made me smile and when I first realized that I felt differently for you and that it meant something." At some point in the middle of this explanation, Dean's hand had stilled, touching Cas's hand softly like it would break.
"May I?" Cas asked, holding up the ring more now. Dean nodded, mouth open. Cas slid the ring, which he had carefully made sure had no imperfections and would last conceivably forever, over Dean's finger. It fit perfectly, as Cas knew it would. It also gave Cas a thrill to see it there. His ring on Dean's strong finger, on his perfect hand. The parts of the man Cas had rebuilt from scratch. The angel looked to the Elvis man, who was still being calmed by Cas's grace.
"And now?" Cas asked. The man shook himself, looking confused.
"Uh, right," he said. His voice was higher and lacked any attempt at the accent he had put on before. The only thing that now resembled Elvis was the man's outfit and wig. "Do you, uh, take this man in marriage?" He didn't specify who the question was for but Dean was still looking at the ring in awe so Cas took the opportunity.
"I do," he vowed, feeling the promise deep in the center of his grace. It rang through him like a strike of lightening. Dean looked up at his words, smile breaking through the surprise. He reached over and clasped Cas's hand tightly.
"Me too," he said, not waiting for the man to ask the question again.
"Then, by my power invested in, uh, by… look, you're married. Kiss or something," the man said. It was good enough for Cas, although it lacked a certain eloquence. Perhaps Cas had erased more than he intended when he had attempted to calm the man. Not that he really cared. He only felt for Dean at the moment.
Dean leaned in quickly, smile wide on his face, looking a bit flushed. He met Cas's lips with gusto, licking into the angel's mouth roughly. He stumbled a bit on himself and Cas nearly fell over and they pulled away in laughter, Cas's quiet and Dean's boomingly loud. A loud cheer sounded from next to them and the pair looked to see Sam shoving himself to a standing position. He wiped his teary face on his green, plaid shirt and half-ran, half-fell on Dean and Cas, enveloping them in a hug.
"I just love you guys so much," he said before promptly collapsing back on his ass and falling asleep with a snore. Cas smiled softly down at him and then back up to the ring on his finger. He liked the way it fit, the way it looked on his hand.
"So," Dean said. Cas looked up at him and saw a mischievous grin. "Mr. Winchester. What ever shall we do for our honeymoon?" Cas snorted, which made Dean laugh loudly. The man dressed as Elvis wandered out of the room still looking confused and Sam snored like a large bear.
"Whatever we want," Cas said, nodding with finality. Dean smiled and kissed him again. Yes, whatever they wanted.
Together.