The Muse

Castiel let out a loud yawn as he stretched in his bed. He never really did get much sleep. He rubbed his tired eyes as he sat up in his bed. He could feel the ghost of a nightmare playing at the back of his mind. He knew it was filled with images of his mother standing over him demanding to know why he was crying as she glared at him cigarette glowing in her mouth. He shuttered as he climbed out of bed. He looked at his clock it was almost ten now. He didn't have class today which he was grateful for. He picked up his phone and saw a test from Dean:

Still doing lunch today?

His hand hovered over the keyboard before he answered. He did better in text than he did in person. Talking to people always made him uncomfortable; he felt like they were judging him for not thinking or acting like them. He shook his head and began to type:

Yes, I have a great place in mind. I look forward to seeing you

He set the phone down as he went to the closet to dig out some clothes. He was nervous about meeting Dean today. He had decided after he saw him the second time yesterday that he wanted him to model for his art project. He's hand hovered on the blue button down and he frowned. Would it be weird to ask a guy you barely know to be a model? He didn't know him during his brief time and school and other than their brief conversations they really didn't know each other. For all, he knew Dean would laugh at him. He gripped the shirt in his hand and shook his head. No Dean wouldn't laugh at him he knew it. He pulled out the shirt and got him some black slacks and changed pretty fast. He looked at himself in the mirror and made an attempt to fix his hair. His unruly black hair that he inherited from his dad; although his wasn't curly like his that didn't make it easy to manage. To most people, he knew he looked unkempt but he wasn't too worried about it. He laid it down flat and looked at his beard and decided to keep it and shave it later. He sprayed on some cologne and headed his way downstairs to the kitchen.

He walked past his father's piles of books and papers along the stairs and frowned. Sometime soon he hoped Gabriel and Michael would come over and help him and his father go through this stuff. He stopped in the living room and looked at his dad who was sitting there coffee in hand watching TV.

"Morning Cas." He greeted with a halfhearted wave.

"Morning Dad." He grumbled

Chuck looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "You look nice what's the occasion?"

He sighed. "Are you implying I usually don't look nice?" He asked as he looked down at himself.

He shrugged. "Well no, just usually you look like you don't care." He pointed at him. "There's a good look for you see you'll go places with a good look."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes father, as people really do care how an artist is dressed. People are going to see my work, not me."

"What if you get a gallery?" He asked with another shrug.

He tilted his head. "Then I guess I'll wear this." He headed into the kitchen and got some coffee. He looked at the boxes and other junk on the floor and let out an annoyed sigh. He headed back into the living room; ready to challenge his dad over the stuff when Chuck said.

"So I think your room is probably too small to be a good studio, I've decided you can have the sunroom."

His mouth snapped closed then opened back up. "The sunroom?"

He gave a small nod. "Yeah, I haven't used it in years. Gabriel is coming by in like a few minutes and he's going to help me clear it out." He looked at his mug and opened his mouth as if to say something else but he didn't.

There was a knock at the door and Castiel opened it. Gabriel was on the other side.

"Hello, little brother," Gabriel said with a smile. He stepped in and gave Castiel a hug. "You look nice, and you're wearing cologne. You got a hot date?"

He pulled away from him. "No, I'm having lunch with a friend… I uh want to ask him to be my model."

"Oh? Cool, I guess." Gabriel moved past him and walked over to the couch. "All right you ready?"

Chuck let out a sigh and sat his coffee mug down. "As I'm going to be."

The three of them headed to the sunroom. Castiel helped them for a bit until he got a text from Dean telling him he was outside. He bid goodbye to them and headed out of the house. The black Impala was there waiting and Castiel could hear the music even from the outside. He opened the door and got in the car.

"Afternoon," Dean said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I uh I'm good." He responded with a nod. This was the part he hated about getting to know people, the getting to know them part. He had a hard time figuring out if people understood his thoughts, or his jokes or even his sarcasm. He always kept to himself afraid if he showed the real Castiel that people would run off screaming.

They drove in silence listening to the music. Castiel watched Dean as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and mouthed the words to the song. He noted how perfect his lips were, full and well-shaped. Good lips.

"What's your favorite band?" Dean asked. Castiel figured he must have gotten tired of the silence.

He sat there thinking. "Uh… well, I like a lot of bands. My music varies from time to time. I like most genres…" He trailed off he felt his face heat up.

"Name some bands then?"

He frowned. He hated being on the spot. "Uh…" He didn't get to answer when Dean said.

"I forgot to ask what restaurant are we going to?" He asked

"Oh ugh there's this little café by the college I like so… there I guess." He felt his face redden more.

Dean chuckled. "Relax Cas I'm not going to bite."

"W-why do you say that?"

"Because I can hear your voice waver, and crack and man you are so nervous it's making me nervous."

"Sorry." He said so fast it sounded snippy. There was another pause of silence and finally, Castiel cleared his throat and said. "Depeche Mode."

"Bless you?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow

"A band… a band that I like…." He blushed. How was he going to ask this guy to be his model if everything made him so embarrassed?

Dean nodded. "Oh okay. Haven't heard of them, I usually listen to music before 1979." He eased the car into a parking spot at the café.

It was a bit busy there given that it was noon time but Castiel knew they could probably find a good seat. He led Dean into the restaurant and found a booth for them closer to the back so he wouldn't have to worry about the other patrons. They ordered their food and they sat in silence again.

"So… Dean… I'm sure you want to know why I asked you to lunch."

Dean shrugged. "No, I figured you were paying me back for the car thing."

"Well that's part of it but…" He looked at his hands and looked up at Dean. He looked into those green eyes and could see the other man's unease. "I… now this isn't easy to ask and it's a bit odd." He noticed Dean's eyebrow rise so he acted fast. "I want you to be my model." Dean looked at him his jaw dropped in confusion.

"Model? You want me to model for you?"

He nodded. "Yes see you have a perfect face and you would be interesting to paint and I would love to capture you in one of my artworks." Creepy Castiel that was creepy as fuck. He felt his face burn hot as Dean looked at him with his mouth half open.

"Me?" he pointed at himself. "I'm not… I'm perfect." Castiel noticed how red his face got and he looked away. "So… will… will I have to be naked?"

He felt his eyebrows shoot up. "N-no! No nudity I don't do work like that. Clothes on nothing weird. It's for my final I need to work on it now to perfect it…"

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah okay I'll be your model."

He smiled so wide his face hurt a little. "Oh good, I am so glad to hear it." He clapped his hand together. "You won't regret it I promise."

He smirked at him. "Well, I hope not."

Their food arrived and the two them made small talk around their burgers. For once Castiel didn't really mind. He realized he enjoyed Dean's company and was looking forward to having him model.

"So when do you want to start this gig?" Dean asked

"Umm how about tomorrow?" He hoped the sunroom was cleared out by then. Compared to most of the house it wasn't that bad.

"All right just how about after three. I work at the garage tomorrow."

He nodded. "Sure." Defiantly by then, they would have that room cleared out.

They finished their food and the two of them left the café. Dean took Castiel back to his dad's place.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Dean said. Castiel could pick up a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"I ugh… look forward to it, Dean." Castiel said. The other man gave a smile as he backed the car out of the driveway then headed down the road. He headed into the house to find Gabriel and Chuck sitting on the couch.

Gabriel looked back at him. He had a box on his lap and the two of them were sorting it. "Oh look at you with a smile on your face. It's a good look, Cassie." Gabriel teased.

"Huh?" he asked he felt his face get hot.

Gabriel smiled brighter. "Seen the guy in the Impala drop you off, who was that? A boyfriend? Gasp, does Cassie have his first boyfriend?"

He shook his head. "No Gabe, just a friend kind of… I asked him to be my model for my final project."

"Oh yeah, the portrait. That thing is due isn't due for a while though is it?"

"I wanted to get a jump on it." Castiel said. He sat down in a chair beside the couch and picked up a box and started to go through it.

"You going to have him do it naked?"

"No!" He screamed and Chuck yelled. "Gabriel! Stop it!"

Gabriel laughed. "You two are such sticks in the mud. I swear I think I was adopted." He elbowed Chuck with a laugh.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Nope trust me. I was there all nine months and the delivery you are not adopted."

Castiel gave a small laugh as he continued to sort through the box. He was still smiling he really was looking forward to tomorrow and to having his own art space to work in.