2

Castiel sat awkwardly in the hard plastic chair next to the washing machine and tried to ignore the other presence in the room. Easier said than done, he thought, when you were sitting, practically naked, under bright fluorescent lighting and unsure of what to do with your limbs. For a man who was never surprised at his own levels of social awkwardness, this was an all-new low. He was afraid to look around, worried he might make eye contact with the brash young man he knew was sitting in the corner. He managed to last a few more minutes before he nonchalantly tried to look around the room. He was sitting in a chair in the corner, long, jean clad legs ending in worn boots spread out in front of the chair, leaning back casually scrolling through his phone. As if sensing Cas's eyes on him, the young man looked up and slanted one eyebrow, lifting the corner of his mouth in that damnable smirk. Cas flushed and looked back down at his hands resting solidly on his knees.

His phone rang a moment later and he sprang up to grab it from the machine it was laying on. Looking at the screen, he sighed when he realized it was his sister Hannah. She was almost more socially awkward than he was. He really needed a call from his sister Anna. She could always give him good advice even in the oddest situations. And this was definitely the oddest one he had found himself in in quite a while.

He swiped his thumb across the screen and raised the phone to his ear, quietly answering with, "Hello, Hannah."

"Hello, Castiel."

Cas waited a moment for his sister to continue, waiting for her to fill the silence with her reason for calling. After thirty seconds, Cas prompted with, "Did you need something, Hannah?"

"Oh yes, Castiel, of course. Anna and I were wondering if you would be free tomorrow evening for dinner? We thought it would be nice to catch up after your first day."

Cas ran a hand up the back of his neck and ruffled the back of his hair as he considered meeting his sisters for dinner the next evening. As the youngest of their family, his sisters tended to be overprotective and almost suffocating at times. One of the reasons he had jumped at this job at the University was because it was almost an hour's drive from his hometown. He would still have the chance to spend time with his large and overbearing family, but be far enough away that they wouldn't be stopping by at all hours of the night and day.

"Um, Hannah, I'm not sure that would be the best idea. The movers didn't show up tonight. I'll have to unpack everything tomorrow after work, if they get here tomorrow. Maybe if we waiting until the weekend the timing would be better?"

Hannah didn't answer for a moment. As Cas was just beginning to prompt her into speaking again, she answered.

"The sounds like a more appropriate plan. Would you like me to contact the Better Business Bureau about your difficulties?"

Cas sighed and turned to lean his back against the bank of washing machines, tilting his head back to look absently at the ceiling before answering, momentarily forgetting to feel self-conscious of the other person in the room.

"No Hannah, I can handle it."

"Alright, good-bye Castiel."

Before Cas could respond with his own valediction, Hannah ended the call. Cas rolled his eyes and tossed the phone back on top of the washing machine, before scrubbing his hands through his hair. He was tired, anxious about starting his job, and standing in a room with a stranger wearing nothing but his boxers. This wasn't the way he had envisioned the night before his first day as a professor. The washing machine chose that moment to emit its end of cycle bell. Cas turned and piled his wet clothes into his arms, having no choice but to walk in the direction of the bank of dryers on the far wall, near where the young man was sitting.

Dean didn't have any qualms about watching the dark haired man. He had been sitting so stiffly in the chair next to the washers, looking so uncomfortable, Dean couldn't help but grin. He held himself perfectly straight, spine rigid, feet evenly spaced apart, hands on his knees. Dean would bet money the guy attended some sort of fancy prep school before whatever Ivy League college the guy had no doubt attended. He just had that vibe about him. He looked like he would be right at home behind a desk in an accounting firm. When he had looked over earlier and caught Dean's eyes, Dean smugly noticed the blush rising up his neck. The guy was freaking hot as hell and for some reason the whole vulnerable nerd thing was really hitting a kink Dean didn't even know he had.

Then the phone rang, and for the first time, Dean saw the man appear comfortable in his own skin. He talked to someone named Hannah, Dean was pretty sure it wasn't a girlfriend. He had spent too many of his teen years watching people and calculating the odds of whether or not they would be an easy con. The body language coming from the other guy read more like 'irritated and obligated' than 'significant other.' He had tilted his head back at one point and stared up at the ceiling, creating a long smooth line out of his body and exposing a perfect length of throat Dean was dying to scrape his teeth against and suck a bruise on. Too bad the guy seemed so uptight, Dean might have explored the options a little further. But, with Sam home alone and this guy's Absentminded Professor routine it probably wasn't going to happen.

When his washing machine buzzed, Messy Hair stretched long, lean arms into the machine and retrieved the bundle of clothes. Dean tilted the front two legs of his chair off of the ground and leaned back, enjoying the play of muscles against the taut skin of his back. As the other guy walked across the room towards him, Dean bit his lower lip, and watched him. After he loaded a dryer and slammed the door shut he fed the machine quarters and turned to walk back across the room, before he could get too far, Dean returned all four legs of his chair to the floor and stretched a booted foot out, hooking a nearby chair and pulling it closer. He stretched his legs out and placed his feet in the chair, folding his arms and leaning his head back against the ugly green wall.

"Moving trouble, huh?" Dean asked as the man walked back across the room.

He turned, appearing surprise that Dean had called out to him. "Yes, all of my things are currently in transport." He answered, quietly, before shrugging and sitting back in the chair on the opposite side of the room.

"That sucks," Dean replied, obviously.

"Yes, it is certainly inconvenient. Especially since I'm supposed to start my new job in about…" He paused to look at the clock hanging above the door. "Five hours."

Dean grimaced, "Yeah, that ought to make your first day really interesting." After a moment, the buzzer on the dryer went off. Dean stood and dumped the warm clothes onto a folding table. He quickly started to sort and fold his and Sammy's clothes. He looked up and caught Blue Eyes watching him.

"Like what you see?" He asked cheekily before his brain could remind his fucking mouth to stop being such a dumbass.

The other man jolted and stammered, "I'm sorry, excuse me," before looking away towards his spinning washing machine.

Dean laughed quietly, "Dude, its fine. I'm just being a smartass." After he folded two pairs of Sammy's jeans and Holy shit, the kid was going to outgrow these soon if he didn't slow down, Dean looked up at the other man. "I'm hoping your apartment came furnished, it would really blow if you didn't even have a bed to sleep in tonight."

Something flickered across the man's face and Dean could have kicked himself. "Aw, man. Seriously? You don't even have a bed?"

He shrugged and motioned towards the door. "I will sleep in my car tonight. The floors of my apartment are hardwood and I believe it would be the lesser of the two evils."

Dean began stuffing the folded piles of clothes into the laundry bag before tying it closed. "He walked towards the door and looked out at the parking lot. "That blue thing? How are you going to sleep in that? It looks like a roller skate."

Dean slung the heavy laundry bag over his shoulder and looked from the man to the tiny electric car out in the lot.

"Okay, listen, there is a hotel down the block. It's called the Twilight Inn, looks seedy but really it's not too bad. My friend Ash works behind the counter. Tell him Dean sent you and he'll give you a break on the rate." Dean slapped four quarters on the washing machine with a wink and backed out the door towards the parking lot saying, "Try the Magic Fingers. You'll love it."