"Cas," Imogen reached over and gently nudged her sleeping companion, "Wake up."
Slowly Cas sat up straight and attempted to stretch his neck, "Okay, so sleeping in the car is a painful activity."
Imogen smirked and nodded, "Yes, but it's one you'll get used to."
"I'm not sure about that," the newly human man said, rubbing his aching neck, "Where are we?"
"Des Moines."
"Iowa?" he asked, unclicking his seatbelt.
"Yes," Imogen yawned, shutting off the car, "Come on," she motioned for him to follow her getting out of the car.
Castiel followed and walked around the car to her, "What are we doing here?" he asked, looking up at the glowing 'Walmart' sign, illuminating the dark parking lot.
"I told you," Imogen said, locking the car, "We've gotta get you some threads."
"Threads?" he asked, "For sewing?"
Imogen sighed loudly and rubbed her forehead, "No, just clothes. We've gotta get you some clothes. C'mon Cas. We talked about this."
Castiel nodded, "You're right, we did."
"Well come on then," she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the store and inside. She grabbed a basket and pushed it through the store, heading over to the clothing section, "Do you know what size you wear?" she asked.
Castiel shook his head, "I've never bought clothes before."
Imogen nodded, "That's fine, I've got a pretty good eye for these kinds of things," she picked out a couple of pairs of jeans and a bunch of shirts, along with the appropriate socks, "Boxers or briefs?" she asked.
Castiel looked at her, obviously having not been paying much attention to what Imogen was putting into the basket, "What?"
Imogen held up a package of each, "Which underwear do you want?"
Castiel looked at the packages and pointed to the boxers, "Those look most like what I have on right now."
"Awesome," she smiled and threw the package into the basket, "Okay, Walmart's not really the best place to buy shoes but we'll get you a pair of boots that'll tide you over until we find a shoe store."
Castiel nodded and the two walked over to the shoe section together and Imogen found him a pair of boots and made him try them on, "So," she said as he was taking off his old shoes, "How are you liking being human?"
"It's overwhelming," he said, slipping the boot on, "Constantly needing to eat and drink and then excreting wastes, sleeping. Doing it over and over again."
"Sounds about right," she chuckled, "I guess it would be overwhelming having to do all of that when you've never had to worry about it before."
"It's amazing that your kind just knows how to do it instinctively."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far," she said, "I mean we're born relying on other people to take care of us. Our parents feed us and change us when we shit on ourselves. It's not until we are on this earth for a little while that we learn how to control these things," she smiled at him, "You're going to be fine, Cas. You haven't shit your pants once."
The ex-angel let out a small chuckle as he got the other boot on his foot, "Well, that's true."
"Stand up," Imogen told him, "Walk around a bit, try those out and make sure they don't hurt like hell before you commit to them."
Castiel did as she said and walked up and down the aisle a couple of times before stopping in front of Imogen, "These feel fine."
"They don't hurt?" she asked, dropping to her knees in front of him and feeling the toe before tying them both tightly.
Castiel shook his head, "No, they don't," he reached out his hand to help her up.
"They seem to fit okay," she took his hand and let him help her to her feet.
"You're very good at this," he stated.
"Thanks," she smiled grabbing the box and sticking his old shoes in it before throwing it into the basket, "Sam and Dean were basically useless at buying their own shoes and clothes. I don't know where the hell I learned to do it, but I always had to check to make sure they were getting the right sizes."
"Ah," Castiel grabbed the basket and pushed it for her, "Well, they were lucky to have you."
Quickly she shook her head, "No, it's more like I was lucky to have them. Helping them buy clothes was the least that I could do to repay them. Especially after all the hell that I put them through."
Castiel nodded, "Well, regardless I think you will be a good teacher."
"A good teacher?" she questioned.
"Yes, a teacher of humanity."
"Okay," she said slowly, walking beside him, "Let's grab some road snacks and get out of here," she directed him to the food, "Anything in particular that you like?" she asked, grabbing Oreos and chips.
"I don't really know," he admitted, taking in the giant wall of junk food.
"Well, grab anything that looks good or hell even interesting."
Castiel nodded and grabbed a few things off of the shelf and put them in the basket.
"Okay, let's go," she smiled, taking the basket from him and pushing it towards check out. She started loading things up onto the check stand, Castiel saw what she was doing and followed her example until the basket was empty.
Imogen made small talk with the cashier and paid for the stuff and loaded it back up and walked out of the store with Castiel by her side.
"Well, that was a new experience," he said.
"Good or bad?" she asked, pulling her jacket around herself as the cool night air chilled her.
"It wasn't quite as positive as having sex with April, but it also wasn't as horrid as being stabbed by her."
"Ah, well you might be rethinking that statement if you came here on Super Bowl Sunday."
Castiel looked at her very confused.
"Never mind," she shook her head, "Hey, you trust me, right?"
He eyed her, "I suppose."
"Okay, good," she smiled almost devilishly, "Stand on the front of the basket and hold on, don't let go."
"Why?"
"Don't ask questions, just do as I tell you," she said, holding the basket so that he could get on.
Castiel hesitated before sighing and doing as she instructed, "This feels dangerous."
"Oh it is" she caught his eye, "Hold on tight," she stated, grabbing the basket tight and taking off in a run pushing it in the empty parking lot, jumping onto it herself and letting it fly with the two of them on it, screaming as it rolled quickly.
Castiel's face was one of pure horror as he gripped the basket for dear life, "Imogen. I don't think this is a good idea," he called out as the basket was rolling to a bumpy stop by the car. Once they were at a standstill he slowly got off.
"See," she smiled at him, "That wasn't so bad."
He shook his head, "No, I guess it wasn't."
Imogen popped the trunk and started loading the bags into the trunk once it was empty she looked to Castiel, "Go take the basket back inside and let's go," she said, grabbing the cookies from the bag and getting into the front seat.
Castiel was inside of the car a few moments later, "It's cold outside," he said, "I never paid much attention to temperature before."
"Ah yes," she smiled, taking an Oreo from the container, "Temperature. Yet another obnoxious part of being human," she passed him a cookie, "Thankfully we have food that makes up for it," she put a cookie in her mouth and took a bite, "Like Oreos. God I love Oreos."
The dark haired man examined the cookie before putting it in his mouth and taking a bite. For a few moments he chewed and concentrated on the flavor, "That is good," he said, spraying crumbs on his lap before swallowing.
"Good man," she began, "Stick by me, take my advice, and I think you'll be all right."
He nodded slowly and put on his seatbelt, "So where are we going now?"
Imogen yawned loudly, "We'll probably drive until I find a motel. I'm still like half hungover and exhausted," she started up the car, "I don't suppose you want to drive?"
Castiel looked at her, "Oh, sure," he nodded "I can do that."
"Thank you so much," she said, getting out of the car and switching places with him,
Once secured into the driver's seat Castiel placed his hands firmly on the wheel and stared down at the dash board. His hand reached for the gear shift and he tried to put it in gear like he had seen Dean do time and time again, but it resisted and he couldn't shift the gears.
"I think it's broken," he stated.
Imogen looked at him, "Cas," she paused, "Don't take this the wrong way, but do you actually know how to drive a car?"
Castiel scoffed, "Of course I do," he lied obviously.
The female sighed and rolled her eyes, "You've gotta push in the brake before you can put it in gear."
Castiel looked down at his feet, the gears obviously turning in his mind.
"The brake is the one on the left," she sighed.
"I know," he said, defensively as his foot pressed in the brake and he shifted gears.
"Put it in reverse," she said. Noticing he was in drive.
Castiel let his foot slowly ease off of the break and the car started to roll forward.
"Reverse! Cas! Reverse!"
Either Castiel wasn't listening or he didn't care because his foot pressed into the accelerator ever so slightly and the car hit the concrete pillar that a lamp was hanging on. Slowly Imogen turned to look at Castiel.
"You were supposed to put it in reverse."
Castiel's eyes were wide, "Imogen, I'm so sorry."
"I thought you said you knew how to drive," she stated stiffly.
"I uh- well."
Imogen shook her head and got out of the car, walking around to the front to assess the damage. Castiel got out too and walked to the front, "It's not too bad, is it?"
Imogen sighed, "Just get in the car," she grumbled, getting into the driver's seat and putting the car in reverse. And while she really didn't want to she waited until Castiel was inside of the car and pulled out of the parking spot and out onto the road.
"Imogen, I really am very sorry. I didn't mean to damage your car."
"I know, Cas," she muttered, "It's fine. It's just a car."
"I do know how to drive-"
"Cas!" she interrupted, "Shut up," then she reached down to flip on the radio and let herself decompress as the two flew down the highway together, neither saying a word to the other. Though Imogen really had planned to stop over and get a motel the second she found one she was a little worked up and knew it would be a waste of a night because she wasn't going to be able to sleep, so she drove. Castiel slept on and off, and it wasn't so bad. It just was.
The sun was high in the sky before Imogen had to stop and fill up the gas tank. Castiel was still snoring the passenger seat so she left him there and headed into the store, using the restroom, and paying for the gas and then going out to fill up the car.
She loaded the nozzle into the car and started pumping the gas. Castiel woke up and slowly got out of the car, looking at her and rubbing his head, "Where are we?" he asked.
"You really like that question, don't you?"
"I like to know where I am at all times."
"Chicago," she said, "I'm wrecked, so I'm going to find us a motel and catch some sleep."
"I've slept plenty," he stated.
Imogen narrowed her eyes at him, "Congratulations. You snore by the way."
"I do not," he stated defensively.
"Okay, I'm lying," she breathed with a roll of her eyes, "Anyways, regardless of how much sleep you've gotten, I've gotten none. So you can watch television or go out and pick up chicks or do whatever you want, just keep your phone on you so I can call you or whatever. Frankly, I don't give a damn. I just wanna find a motel and get some sleep."
Castiel nodded, "Okay," he took the gas nozzle out of the car and hung it back up where it belonged, "Then let's go and do that."