With Castiel's instruction, Dean made it to the office with only a few more errors. Finally, he turned a corner and saw Mrs. Mosely's clear door that lead to her office. Relief washing through him, Dean half ran up it and went to open it before he heard a scolding voice say; "Boy, you better knock on my door!" Dean jumped slightly in surprise before knocking quietly. "Come in," Mrs. Mosely called cheerfully.
Dean entered her office, closing the door behind him and taking a seat in a plush purple chair sitting in front of her desk. "You got your roommate all sorted out, hun?" She asked before he spoke.
"Yeah, actually, I was going to room with Castiel," he said, handing her the stack of papers that told him who was free to room with.
Mrs. Mosely looked up at that, eyes wide in surprise before her face broke out in a wide grin. "Really? Well I think that is just absolutely amazing, he's a nice boy, really,"
"Yeah, I ran into him into the hall," Dean responded. "We kind of hit it off."
"Good, good," Mrs. Mosely was now digging through a stack of papers spread across her desk. "Well, I'll just get it all sorted out, you can take your bags up to your room, which will be number 674 in the east wing." She explained, handing him a key that had the numbers 674 pressed in the metal. "It should be on your map."
"About the map…" Dean started embarrassedly.
"You lost it already, boy?" Mrs. Mosely pushed her lips into a firm, disapproving line. "Well fine, have another then." She handed him another map from her desk with a demand that he not lose this one because she would let him wander around lost if he did.
Dean nodded and promised to keep it close before he left her office and went down to the dorms with little trouble this time.
On his arrival, the first thing Dean noticed was that Castiel kept a shockingly clean room. Just from their initial meeting, Dean had pegged him as a clean person, but this was just ridiculous. His bed was impeccably made with no wrinkles or bumps to speak of, the floors were spotless and clear of any dirty clothes or trash, and there appeared to be a total of zero personal items from home.
Trying not to dirty anything by breathing too hard, Dean walked over to what he guessed was his bed for the reason that, when he opened the drawers designated to it, they were empty. He dropped his duffle on the mattress and glanced down at his schedule to see that he was supposed to meet with a mentor chosen specifically for his skill sets in room 393. He sighed and trudged back out of his new room, making his way to Mr. Singer's room.
Castiel tried not to smile too much as he made his way to Crowley's to work on his ability focus, but he couldn't keep the small upturn of his lips from happening, so it was in a happy daze that he walked into Crowley's room.
Immediately, a jet of scorching fire shot towards his face. He flung his hands up and shot water back, shouting out in surprise and slight pain as it burnt his hand, but the water took out the brunt of it, saving him from something worse like incineration.
"What the hell?!" Castiel shouted indignantly, now cradling his hand to his chest.
"You have to stay on your toes, Cas, always alert, always ready to defend or attack!" Crowley went on, setting aside the aerosol and lighter he had used to assault Castiel.
"You burnt me, you jackass!" He exclaimed unbelievingly. "There is no way that is allowed in a school!"
"Oh, you're fine," Crowley brushed off. "Couldn't have hurt worse than that lovely black eye your sporting."
"Shut up," Castiel said, turning his face to look out the window.
"They're bloody morons Cas, just focus on what we're doing now," Crowley said, almost sounding like he cared. "Distractions get you incinerated," he went on, somewhat ruining the kindness of his previous statement.
"Now that we've assured you haven't lost your touch with your water abilities, let's work on your secondary ability." Castiel swallowed, wanting to do anything but that. But he nodded anyways, walking forward to the plant Crowley had set out for him to practice on. He reached out slowly and wrapped his hand around the stem loosely. With a few seconds of focus, the flower began wilting, bending over and changing color from a healthy green to a sad brown.
After a few more seconds of Castiel touching it, the once bright, flourishing plant was dead. Castiel looked at it with a sadness someone his age shouldn't have possessed and then to Crowley for further instruction. Crowley nodded his approval and then brought another plant over, setting it beside its fallen brother.
"Now, turn it off and touch, but don't kill, this one," he said, stepping back to let Castiel focus.
Castiel reached out again, zeroing in on the desire to do no harm to the delicate plant on the table. With supreme apprehension, he touched the top, waiting with bated breath to see if it would wilt. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Castiel removed his hand and stepped back.
"Good, you're really starting to get the hang of this, Cas," Crowley said, taking out a bottle of scotch he wasn't supposed to have. "Celebratory drink?"
Castiel shook his head and went over to the dead plant, lifting it slightly and closing his eyes. "Castiel?" Crowley asked, unsure of what he was doing. "Cas, what-" He was cut off when the flower Castiel was holding started to stand back up, regaining green as it went. "Sweet mother of sin," Crowley said, awestruck at the now healthy plant.
Castiel opened his eyes and smiled wearily at the plant before falling over unconscious.
Dean eventually made it to Mr. Singer's room, and knocked before opening the door to find the teacher sat behind a desk, flipping through an old book with yellowing pages. He glanced up at Dean's entrance before resuming his reading.
"Your late," he said shortly in a heavy hick accent.
"I was at the office, getting my roommate and then I dropped off my bags-" Dean started to explain before Mr. Singer waved a hand.
"I'm not that up tight 'bout tardiness, just try not to let it happen again," he said gruffly, standing and going over to another door on the side of his office. "We'll be practicin' in here, so you don't burn down the school," he said, opening the door to a mostly empty room with a few targets.
"Now," Mr. Singer began. "I want you to hit that target with enough firepower to incinerate it," he said, pointing to the farthest target from them. Dean nodded and raised his hand, taking aim. Once he was sure he was going to hit it, he fired.
There was a loud noise like an explosion, and a cloud of smoke obscured any chance of seeing if he hit it. After a few moments though, it cleared and they saw that he had hit, and incinerated, the target. However, he had also done the same to about ten feet of the wall behind it.
A gaping hole showed the outside greenery Dean hadn't gotten the chance to see earlier, and while it was pretty, Dean was still shell shocked by what he'd done. "Awesome," he breathed, taking in the smoldering edges and small fires that still lingered.
Mr. Singer came in with a fire extinguisher and took out the rouge fires before they had a chance to spread. "I said take out the target, not the whole school, ya idjit," he said, though he sounded more impressed than angry.
"Yeah, I got kind of carried away," Dean replied.
"It's no skin off my nose, it's an easy fix," Mr. Singer replied, flourishing his hand lazily at the hole. All of the scattered pieces surged back into place, the burnt ones mending themselves, and they all sealed together, forming a nice, smooth wall like it was never even blown apart.
Dean laughed and went forward to touch it. "Mr. Singer, this is really awesome," he beamed.
"Call me Bobby, son," Bobby replied. "Never will get used to that 'Mr. Singer' crap." Dean nodded and Bobby motioned for him to walk back to where they were standing before. "Now, how about you try that again without blowing a hole in the school this time."
After roughly an hour of intensive training, Dean finally managed to turn the stupid target to a pile of ash without taking down the school. Bobby had said that was enough progress for today and they could work on the rest next time, so Dean decided to head up to his and Cas' room before going to get dinner.
Upon arrival, however, Dean found Cas passed out in his bed, tucked neatly into the covers. His face was even more blank than usual, but a certain easy calmness that Cas could never quite manage when he was conscious blanketed him. Dean paused for a second before going over and shaking his shoulder.
"Cas?" He asked quietly, trying to wake the boy. "Cas, are you coming down to dinner?" Dean shook his shoulder a bit harder and Castiel jolted awake like he had been shocked. Dean jumped back as Castiel flailed a bit before he got his bearings and looked around.
"Dean?" He whispered in a sleep-muddled voice.
"Yeah," Dean replied. "I just wanted to see if you were wanting to come down to dinner."
Castiel let out a small groan before flopping back down. "No, I'm not hungry," he said from where he had burrowed beneath the covers once again. His stomach let out a small growl as if in defiance of his statement.
"Mm hm," Dean hummed, smiling slightly.
"Well, I'm too tired to be hungry," Castiel huffed, sounding more like a petulant child by the minute.
Dean huffed a laugh at that. "I could bring you back something, if you want," he offered, walking to the door and waiting for his answer.
"Mmkay," Cas mumbled before his breathing deepened and Dean left the room to get them some food.
The dinner served by the cafeteria was just as fulfilling as their lunch was, and Dean happily piled his plate high with an array of pasta and meats, adding a few rolls to bring to Cas later.
He got his tray and looked around for Jo and the others for a minute before spotting them at the table they had eaten lunch at.
"Glad you could join us, Dean-o" Charlie chirped from the opposite side of the table.
"Yeah, Cas was completely out of it when I stopped by my room," Dean responded.
The table went silent for a few seconds, tension thickening in the air. "Castiel Novak?" Jo asked warily, her tone begging Dean to correct her.
"Yeah…"
"Why was Castiel Novak in your room, Dean?" She pressed.
"Because," Dean said, wiping his mouth and setting down his napkin. "I am rooming with him."
The tension thickened tenfold after that, with Jo's eyebrows shooting up into her hair. "He's really bad news, Dean," she said before motioning him to lean in more. "People are saying he killed his parents," she whispered conspiratorially.
Dean rolled his eyes. "C'mon Jo, do you really believe what 'people say'?" He asked, sitting back and beginning on his food again.
"Seriously, his oldest brothers Michael and Lucifer take care of them now, something shady went down, I'm telling you. You need to be careful around him," Jo said gravely.
"Well, I don't think so, Cas is really cool, he wouldn't hurt anyone."
A few minutes of awkward silence that Dean tried not to feel as he dug into his food later and everyone was back to normal, Charlie and Ash discussing some kind of computer code that involved a complex equation that everyone else wasn't even close to understanding, Garth and Adam chatting politely about classes and the like, and Jo shooting half worried half reproachful looks between her plate and Dean.
"It's fine, Jo," Dean whispered so as not to draw the attention of the rest of the table and create another deafening silence. "He isn't what everyone thinks he is. He isn't a murderer. He's just a product of the rumor mill, trust me."
Jo pursed her lips and looked like the definition of unsure, but she nodded tersely and loosened up enough to join Adam and Garth's conversation. The rest of their dinner was spent with companionable chit chat.
Once dinner was over, Dean bid farewell to the group and gave Jo a reassuring smile before wandering back up to his and Cas' room with a couple napkin-wrapped rolls held in one hand.
He walked up to his door and opened the door with a quick warning knock before calling out. "You up yet, Cas?"
Muffled grumbling was his only response.
"I brought you some rolls from dinner," Dean went on, walking to Cas' bed and opening the rolls, letting the scent coax him out of his cocoon of blankets.
With one last groan, Cas flipped the blankets off in a flurry and rubbed his eyes dazedly.
"Whas' at?" He mumbled around a yawn.
"They're just rolls, sorry that's all I grabbed."
It's fine. Thank you, Dean," Castiel responded, draping his blanket over his shoulders and taking the rolls into his own hands.
"No problem, Cas," Dean replied, sitting cross legged across from him.
"Sorry I'm so tired, went a bit overboard during practice today," Cas said sleepily.
"You're fine," Dean shrugged. "At least you didn't blow a hole in the side of the school," he half laughed.
His laugh was brought to more confident volumes as Cas' face scrunched up in gleefuql chuckles. "Really?" He asked with his smile still in place.
Dean nodded, laughs slowly dying off as he took Cas in. His face was aglow with amusement and his eyes were open, looking happy in a way Dean was starting to recognize and enjoy.
"Hey Cas?" Dean asked impulsively.
"Hm?" Cas hummed around a bite of roll.
"Do you want to come eat lunch with me and a few other people?" Dean rushed out before he could change his mind.
Instantly, the light, friendly look vanished from Cas' features, leaving a mostly closed off but somewhat wary expression in its place.
"I don't know Dean-"Cas started, body language plainly stating he was preparing to gently decline Dean's offer.
"C'mon," he pressed. "They're cool, and I promise they'll behave. Really, they just need to get to know you and they'll warm up."
"Do they believe the rumor?" Cas asked in a quiet but heavy tone.
Dean looked down, tightening the corners of his mouth in displeasure. "Kind of," he admitted. "But they wouldn't if they just got to know you! Just, meet them. And if you don't like them, you never have to eat with them again."
Cas pursed his lips and sighed but reluctantly nodded, resulting in Dean's face splitting in a grin as he jumped up and swooped Cas up into an excited hug.
Castiel let out a startled laugh as they tumbled backwards, Dean profusely swearing his friends' good nature and their almost definite change of heart once they met Cas.
Dean drew back after a bit, green eyes still dancing with happiness. "They're gonna love you, Cas, just wait," he smiled.
Castiel returned the smile as sincerely as he could as Dean grabbed what Cas guessed were pajamas and walked to the attached bathroom, whistling.
As soon as he was out of sight, the smile fell from Castiel's face and he looked down at his hands, playing with the bandage wrapped around his burn that the nurse must have put there while he was unconscious. What if they didn't like him at all? Why did he care, he asked himself, although he already knew the answer to that. If Dean's friends didn't like him, it was very likely that Dean would stop talking to him. It was foolish of him to be getting attached so soon after meeting him, he knew, but he couldn't seem to help himself with Dean's bright eyes and friendly demeanor, it was hard not to like him.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door before it burst open to reveal a jubilant Gabriel, balancing a napkin covered plate in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
"Hey, Cassie," he beamed, walking over to him and handing off the food and water before plopping down on the bed next to him. "I heard you had a rough time with Crowley today, how you feeling?"
"Peachy," Castiel replied sarcastically. Gabriel rolled his eyes and looked away before turning back abruptly and grabbing Castiel's face in his hand, turning his head so he could see the other side of Cas' face where not-yet-purple beginnings of a bruise were forming, creating a lovely red splotch sure to darken by tomorrow.
"What's this?" Gabriel asked heatedly.
Castiel brushed his hand away, annoyed at his brother's disregard for personal space. "Nothing," he snapped.
"Really?" Gabriel asked exasperatedly. "Lemme guess, you ran into a doorknob. I thought we agreed you would tell me if this was happening again."
"No, you agreed. I didn't want you to create a problem over it."
"Oh my god, seriously?" Gabriel was beyond upset and had settled on irate at the bruise and Castiel's disregard for it. "That is not the problem. The problem is those assclowns thinking they have any right to touch you." Gabriel was pacing now, pointy little horns poking out of his golden brown hair.
"And what the hell happened here?" He continued, grabbing Castiel's hand and gently unwrapping the bandage to reveal a shiny burn.
"Gabriel stop you-" Castiel started angrily, pulling his hand back, but was interrupted by Dean coming out of the bathroom wearing sweatpants and an old shirt advertising a band Castiel had never heard of called Supertramp.
Dean froze, looking between the two of them with startled confusion at their mutual anger and possibly Gabriel's horn. (A/N: Not even sorry. That one was good.)
"Am I interrupting something?" He asked awkwardly, looking like he was ready to turn back around and wait in the bathroom for them to be done.
"No," Castiel said. "Dean, this is my brother Gabriel, Gabriel, this is my roommate Dean."
"You got a roommate, Cassie?" Gabe looked surprised and delighted at the prospect, a smile cutting through his frustration.
"Uh yeah,"
"Hm," Gabriel replied, turning to look at Dean with narrowed eyes "Are you an axe or any other flavor of murderer?" Gabriel asked.
"No…" Dean replied confusedly.
"Do you drink? Do you do drugs? Smoke? How old are you? Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings? If so, who? What are your intentions of rooming with my brother, because I promise, if they are backed in any sort of malicious way, I will end you." Gabriel went into rapid fire mode, adopting a more threatening posture as he went, until he had full blown antlers and sharp fangs poking ever so slightly from his mouth.
"Um- no- I don't" Dean stumbled over his words, looking fairly lost but unintimidated in the face of Gabriel's big brother act.
"Just go, Gabe, Dean's not a supervillain in disguise, and I'm fine. I won't be able to meet you for lunch tomorrow because I'll be eating with Dean, but we are still on for whatever you have planned for this weekend." Castiel said monotonously as if he was going through a mental checklist of things to get through before he could kick Gabriel out.
Gabe sighed and ruffled Cas' hair, before tossing a farewell over his shoulder and sauntering out, leaving an slightly overwhelmed Dean still standing by the bathroom door and an indignant Cas furiously flattening his hair.
"Nice guy," Dean mumbled, finally going to sit on his bed.
Castiel hrumphed in an unamused way and rolled over to go back to sleep. "That's one way of putting it."
Dean smiled lightly before he too laid down to sleep. "Night Cas," he called quietly.
It was quiet for a moment before a response came from Cas' side of the room. "Goodnight, Dean."