Day 2 - pet names
Pookie
Dean Winchester did not do pet names.
At least, that was what he said in public.
The only thing he'd let Cas call him in public was 'babe' and that was about it.
But in privateā¦Dean loved pet names. He pretended to hate them, but he actually enjoyed them.
Cas called him everything from 'sweetheart' and 'honey' to 'snookums' and 'muffin.' Dean stuck mostly to 'babe' and 'Wizard,' throwing the occasional 'hot pants' and 'honey buns' in the mix. (So he liked Cas' ass, so what?) Most of them were joking, and hardly any stuck for more than a day, but there was one that did, and for the life of him Dean couldn't figure out why.
"Hey, pookie," Cas said as he entered Dean's office.
Dean raised his eyebrows. "Pookie?" he repeated incredulously. He'd endured 'cutie patootie' and 'bubba,' but 'pookie' was pushing the limit.
"Too much?" Cas asked with a grin.
Dean nodded and laughed. "Just a bit."
But it didn't end.
Cas began to start his emails to Dean with "Dear Pookie," and such. He'd write notes addressed to "Pookie" and answer Dean's phone calls with an exuberant, "Hey, Pookie!"
Dean didn't respond to the pet name, trying not to give Cas the satisfaction, and also hoping that eventually he'd get tired of it.
But one night they were hanging out at Cas' apartment and Cas had fallen asleep and started having a nightmare. He'd been getting nightmares every now and then for the past few years after he'd been in a hostage situation at a bank. They'd lessened since the incident, but he still got them occasionally.
Cas started whining at Dean's side and Dean sat up instantly, pausing the movie. He wrapped his arms tightly around Cas and rubbed his arm. He pressed his lips to Cas' forehead as Cas stirred and whimpered.
"Shh, Cas, it's okay," Dean murmured. Cas began to still and relax. "It's okay, Cas, Pookie's here."
He froze as soon as the words left his mouth and hoped to god or whoever that Cas was too asleep to have heard that.
Cas smiled in his sleep and pressed his face into Dean's chest. "Thanks, love," he murmured sleepily, and then his breathing evened and he was out again.
A warm feeling flooded Dean's gut at those words. He and Cas hadn't told each other they loved each other, hadn't even broached the topic, but Dean was very sure that he loved Cas, and was pretty sure Cas felt the same.
He kissed Cas' messy hair, then unpaused the movie and smiled to himself. 'Love' was a pet name Dean didn't think he'd mind.
