Castiel took one step closer.
'Shhh.'
He raised the camera and zoomed in, then clicked the small button on it.
'Yes!' He said quietly.
'Did you get it?' Dean whispered.
'Yes.' He put the camera away and slowly walked backwards. A bird flew past and the deer lifted its head, then looked around and quickly jumped away.
'Beautiful.' Cas said with a smile.
'Can I see?' Dean asked. Cas handed him the camera and on the screen was the photograph of the doe sniffing a shrub. He looked at Cas and beamed.
'This is amazing! How did you become so good at photography?'
Cas blushed.
'Oh- uh..'
'Ha ha, don't worry about it. Is this what you do for a living?'
Cas nodded.
'I sell a lot of my photographs. Sometimes to galleries, sometimes to people.'
'That's great Cas... Do you mind if I look at your other photos?'
'Of course not; go ahead.'
Dean looked at each photo that Cas had taken.
'Woh.. oh.. wow..'
Each photo was a piece of art to Dean.
'You're really good at this. Seriously.'
Cas was bright red. He rarely had people compliment him.
'Thank you, Dean.'
'No problem... listen, we should keep walking. We want to set up camp early right?'
'Sure.' Cas took his camera and put it into his backpack, then they set off again.
'How long have you been in the business for Dean?' Cas asked. Dean looked through his binoculars at the trees in the distance. They were now in the forest area, surrounded by trees and a running stream.
'About twenty years.'
'Twenty years?' Cas was aghast.
'Seems like a while.'
'It is a while Dean. You must have done this since you were-'
'About ten years old.'
'Do you... mind it?'
Dean shrugged.
'It's just what my family is involved in. Helping people. Teaching things. The family business.'
'Your parents did this?'
'Yeah. It's been in my Dad's family forever. The building's been renovated a lot, but the business has stayed the same.'
'Camping?'
'Camping. Well, it used to be less official. Just a bunch of guys teaching other guys how to properly use a knife in the woods. It's different now though. We get a lot of tourists and schools.'
Cas then turned to Dean and stopped walking. Dean did the same.
'But do you enjoy it?'
'It has its moments. Bobby's been trying to make me go to college, but that would be stressful. You know? I mean, WOE can be hard, but it's what I have. Sam went to college, didn't work out for him though. So he came back here.'
'It sounds like you're close.'
'Yeah, I guess you could say we are. We've always been together. Honestly, I didn't mind Sam coming back to work at WOE again. We need each other... do you have siblings?'
Cas opened his mouth, then shut it. He shook his head and looked down at the ground.
'You don't?'
'No I-' He didn't want to talk about it. He exhaled and continued to walk up the path. Dean frowned and was mildly concerned about why Cas wouldn't want to talk about his family.
'Cas?'
'What?'
'Are you okay?'
'I don't really like talking about my family. Okay?'
'Sure. Sorry I asked.'
'No, it's fine... So whereabouts is the camping area?'
'It should be just up here. A big thing of grass near the river.'
When they found the area, they dumped their bags in a pile and lay down on the grass. There were a few clouds in the sky, which Cas stared at whilst Dean closed his eyes.
'It's nice here.'
'Never gets old.'
'Huh?' Cas's head turned to look at Dean.
'Never gets old.' Dean said. 'I've been here so many times. But I never really get tired of the place. It hasn't been touched by people. Apart from the campers, but you know what I mean. I sometimes come out here; on rough days of course. I just lie on the grass, close my eyes.'
'So does that mean today was a rough day?' Cas asked. Dean's eyes open and he looked at Cas then smiled.
'No. Of course not. Today was a good day. I rarely talk to the campers. They're either talking with their friends and family or listening to their iPods.'
'I understand. Thank you for talking to me.'
'I wasn't going to not talk to you Cas. You seem like a nice guy.'
Cas chuckled.
'I seem like a nice guy?'
'No. You are a nice guy. You're... nothin.'
'What? Tell me.'
'You're strange.'
'Why?'
'Well, for starters, you've come out to camp with no family, no friends.'
'How is that strange?'
Dean sighed.
'I guess I'm just not used to it, that's all. Tell me though. Why no company?'
'I only moved here a few days ago. I was looking through the papers, saw the ad, thought why don't I try camping? Because, well, I've never camped before.'
'Never?'
'No.'
'Why? If you don't mind me asking.'
'The schools I went to never organised camping trips, and my Dad didn't bother. We lived near several camp sites, but we just never..' Cas frowned. 'I think he was afraid of it, maybe. I don't really know.'
'That's not a bad thing. Camping isn't a life necessity.'
'Exactly. I wanted to try though.'
'Nothing wrong with that.'
'So why do you like it? I mean, if you could pinpoint the one reason why you keep coming back, what would that reason be?'
'I can be, alone. Of course, usually Benny, Garth and Ash come with me. But when everyone's sleeping; when everything is dead, that's when I can just sit. I can just come out to this exact spot of grass or I can... go down to the river or I can sit in a fucking tree if I want to. And no one will bother me. That's what I like. Besides that reason... I like watching people learn to do the simple things. I like teaching them how to tie the knots and how to assemble the tents and just those small things.' When Dean's eyes shifted back to Cas, Cas snapped out of his trance and nodded his head.
'You weren't listening.'
'Of course I was. I was just mesmerised.'
'By my ridiculously good looks?'
'By your words. You like it, do you not?'
'The job? Of course I like it. But like I said, it can be difficult. People can go off the track and become lost, people can hurt themselves, people can fall in the river.'
'If I fell in the river, you'd rescue me right?'
Dean laughed.
'Of course.'
Dean showed Cas how to set up the tent then they put their bags inside and closed it up.
'Sticks. We need sticks for the camp fire.'
There was a small area a few metres away from the tent with a set up of rocks and log seats where the camp fire would be, which was where they began to pile up sticks.
'Is this one okay?' Cas asked, holding up half of a large branch.
Dean laughed and shook his head.
'Don't be stupid!' He shouted.
Cas shrugged and dropped the branch to the ground.
'What about this one?' He picked up a stick of about 10 inches in length.
'That's fine.'
When they had gathered all the sticks they needed, Dean began to start the camp fire.
'Siddown.'
Cas sat down on the log and watched Dean.
'It's too dark to use a lens to start it, so maybe we can try that tomorrow.'
Dean took out his knife and looked around. He moved down to the river and searched there until he came back moments later with a quartz the size of a tennis ball.
'So basically,' he began as he sat next to the pile of rocks and sticks, 'you have one of these rocks and a knife.'
'Yes.'
Dean then began to quickly run the blade of the knife along the side of the rock. He repeatedly did it until sparks started to bounce out. He aimed for the small handful of grass until soon the grass was alight, then he pushed it into the pile with a stick.
'There.'
'How long would that take for someone inexperienced, like myself?'
'A few minutes.. at least. But if you keep practicing and manage to get it right it can take you only a minute.'
Dean handed Cas the rock and the knife.
'Try it yourself.'
Cas took what Dean offered him and began to emulate his movements. Soon, sparks were coming from the rock and Cas managed to light a part of the firewood.
'Good job Cas.' Dean smiled and shook Cas's shoulder.
'Thanks.'
'So...' Dean stood up and stretched. 'To eat, we have cans of baked beans. Is that okay?'
'It's fine.'
Dean went to his backpack and took out four cans.
'I hope it's okay.' Dean said as he took out the silver pot.
'Of course it is, why wouldn't it be?'
'Well, you're probably not used to this sort of food, that's all.'
Cas open his mouth in disdain and shook his head.
'Sorry I-' Dean shut his eyes and huffed. 'I wasn't trying to insult you, what I meant was-'
'No, I understand what you were trying to say Dean. But trust me, I have had my fair share of canned goods.'
Dean nodded and smiled.
'Okay. I understand.'
When the food had cooked, Dean split it into two plastic throw-away bowls and gave Cas his meal.
'Thank you Dean.. but, tomorrow, I'm cooking.'
'Really?'
'Of course. I don't care if you're the instructor of this. I want to make it easier for you.'
'You want to make it easier for me?'
'Yes.'
'Then you could start by coming over here and warming me up.'
Cas smirked and went over to Dean's seat, then sat right next to him.
'Thank you.'
'I don't mind.'
'Listen Cas,' Dean said after swallowing his first mouthful of food, 'I just want to know. Why are your siblings such as sensitive subject?'
Cas put the spoon into his mouth then slid it out.
'Good.' He nodded as he said this. 'Umm.'
Dean turned to Cas.
'I grew up with a Dad; just a Dad. And I had a brother. Lucifer. When I was about seven years old, my Dad was in a car accident and he didn't survive it. Anyway, my brother ran away from home and I was sent to a, you know. A home as they call it. During my time there I received three letters from my brother. Just the three. They said about how he is fine, how he is coping. When I finally moved out I went to study at a college with money from the, home and myself. I of course studied photography.' Cas shrugged. 'Anyway, after college I did all kinds of photos for people. I sold a few photos to newspapers, I won money in competitions, a few times I had people personally come up to me and request me as a photographer for weddings and photo shoots or whatever. And, I worked in Red Cross for a while. I went overseas, I went across the country. It was nice. Helping people, you know? Then, my brother came into the picture again. He found me and we met and talked and- he expected so many things. He expected so many things despite leaving me and sending me those three letters. He wanted to be with me, but I didn't. I mean, could you blame me? Dean, I know that Sam is, so important to you. But Lucifer just came back and he was treating me like a brother. He wasn't though. He was old enough to have looked after me when I was in that fucking building, but he didn't. And he moved to Illinois. And I couldn't handle it all. It was all too much. So I had to move. I had to get away.'
Dean nodded.
'I'm sorry Cas.'
'It's okay Dean. Everything's different now. I've made a new start.'
Dean put his arm around Cas and shuffled closer next to him.
'Dean?' Cas looked to Dean. 'After this weekend, can we be friends?'
Dean smiled.
'Of course we can.'
'Good. Because you're the first guy in Lawrence to be this nice to me.'
'I could say the same about you.'
