"Cas, wait," Dean trailed Cas into the hallway.

"You are fine, Dean, I can wait downstairs," Cas mumbled and stabbed the elevator button into the wall.

"I have to tell you something first," Dean turned Cas' body to face him. Cas noticed that the mocha he made him was in one of his hand, and a towel was hastily draped around his waist. Cas heard the elevator behind him open and close a few second later.

"Look, Cas," Dean exhaled.

Cas' eyes had flickered down to ogle Dean's near bare body and the phantom outline of something beneath, but he pulled them back up to look into Dean's eyes. He saw a new, troubled expression there, and felt his stomach stir.

"I, uh, sometimes...money is tight and I…" Dean started shakily before cutting himself off. He took a deep breath in and his voice came out more steadily. "I'm a whore."

Cas blinked once. Twice. Three times. "You sell your body for money?"

Dean made a face. "If you want to put it that way, yeah, I do. Sam seems convinced that Stanford will give him a full ride, but I'm working to make sure we have a Plan B."

Cas deliberated for a second. "Okay."

Dean seemed surprised. "Okay?"

"Yes, okay," Cas nodded like a bobble-head, "You need to make money for your little brother, and with your body there is close to no reason for you not to do this." He paused. "Apart from a moral aversion, which I assume is not present."

"Sure as hell not," A relieved grin pushed across his face.

"Okay," Cas shrugged.

"Okay," Dean said more assertively, and then nodded with a sense of finality, "I'll be down soon."

"I will get everything ready," Cas said as he turned and pressed the elevator button.

"Mmmmm," Dean groaned behind him, "Peppermint mocha. Good choice."

Cas smiled as he took the steps into the elevator. He watched Dean's half-naked form move away from him until the door closed. It didn't bother him that Dean was a prostitute.

"No, it honestly doesn't," He assured himself, "He is just trying to provide the best life for he and his brother. There's nothing wrong with that."

Cas stepped back onto the main floor of the Cafe, and turned on the rest of the appliances. He pulled down the beady cord to turn on the open sign. He looked over the pastries that had been left in the case over night. And then, he took a seat behind the counter. To wait for Dean.

He came barreling down minutes later. "Let's get to work. What do-" Dean started before cutting short when he got an eyeful of Cas, "Are you wearing my clothes?"

Cas felt self conscious as he looked down and blushed. "I spilt milk on my work unif-"

Dean took a huge sniff in. "Is that my body wash?"

"Is it? I just used the one that I liked th-"

"Really making yourself at home, aren't cha?" Cas would have thought he was being made fun of if not for Dean's wide and sincere smile. With only a hint of malice.

"Yes," Cas said into his lap.

"Well, good," Dean nodded as he held the door to the kitchen open, "I'll start today's merch."

Cas sat quietly behind the counter. The conversation with Dean had given him whiplash, and his head was spinning, tingling with self consciousness and embarrassment. Those feelings started to fade as the questions to start to nibble away at his brain. He couldn't help but vocalise them after a few minutes of listening to Dean amble around the kitchen.

"How does it work?" He called through the door.

Dean's head popped out. "How does what work?"

"The prostitution."

Dean's lips twisted upward. "Don't say 'prostitution,' it makes you sound like some sort of big-shot lawyer or a rich doctor that drives a car he can't even do the upkeep on."

"What would you prefer?"

"A...an..." Dean rubbed his hand on his scrunched up face, "Income supplement."

"Does that make me sound like less of a lawyer, then?"

Cas was worried that his sarcasm wouldn't be received well, but Dean laughed. Guffawed, even. "Shut up, Cas," He pulled his head back into the kitchen.

It was silent for a few seconds. Cas spoke up again, "I really am curious, Dean."

A ding from the kitchen. Dean appeared, propping the door open with his foot, again. He just barely managed to squeeze himself and the tray of pastries through the snug opening. "I know. You look good in my clothes."

Cas looked down again, his heart compressing and relaxing repeatedly in his chest. He wanted to say it was out of embarrassment, but it felt like something a lot more complicated. And more simple at the same time. All he knew was that he felt comfortable in Dean's clothes. There was a strange sensation he hadn't felt in a while. Dean started to push muffins and cookies up to the front of the display case. The tray emptied as Cas' eyes traveled over Dean's labored form. He waited for Dean to start talking. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of him primping and arranging pastries, Dean turned and met Cas' eye, an openness in them that was fresh to Cas.

"What do you want to know?"

"How does it work," Cas said it as more of a statement, than a question. He almost wanted to whip out a pencil and take notes, a desire to fill out his knowledge of Dean prominent in his mind

"Well," The sound of the elevator door opening and steps in the hallway stopped him. Benny entered the room, and tipped his cap at Dean with a wide smile.

"Hope to see you again soon, Dean."

"Can't wait, Benny," Dean practically growled at the man.

Dean and Cas sat in an awkward silence (perhaps it was only awkward to Cas) as Benny took his time leaving the room. Benny looked extremely disheveled to Cas. Maybe that was because he had his naked silhouette earlier. Maybe it was because he was jealous. Maybe because he had just woken up from a night of sex. Cas wasn't exactly sure. Once Benny had walked out of the Cafe, Dean continued.

"Basically, after ten o'clock the place becomes a whore house. Everyone in town who wants to know, knows, and they know how to order. I don't really know how. It's not like the menu flips over like at McDonald's and tells them how much the sex costs. But, no one really comes here after dark and doesn't know what happens upstairs."

Cas thought about his next question. "Is prostitution legal in Lawrence?"

"Watch it there with the 'prostitution', Doctor Castiel M.D.," Dean replied quickly and shot a chastising look Cas' way before continuing in his genuine manner, "No. We're not one hundred percent sure, but we think that Crowley has the police so deep in his pocket they just overlook us."

Cas nodded. "Is the coffee shop just a cover, then?"

Dean violently shook his head. "It's its own business."

"Do the other prostit-" Cas stopped to correct himself as Dean glowered at him, "-Employees...work here, too?"

"They do, just not every day like I do," Dean abruptly stopped the conversation as a customer entered the room. The woman wanted a decaf coffee, which Cas brewed. Dean used the tongs to grab a muffin for her. She handed a Dean a bill, and told him to keep the change. Dean's charm was never ending. The poor woman had barely been prepared. After the door closed again, Dean picked right back up. "Gabriel will be coming in tomorrow morning, oh, he's a hoot. I'm sure you'll love him."

"Gabriel," Cas mused.

"Yeah, he's a fuckin' trickster," Dean smiled, "And the ladies can't get enough of him."

Cas stayed silent for a few seconds. "My brother was named Gabriel. Or is named Gabriel...he is not dead...I haven't seen him in years."

"That's rough," Dean grunted.

"Not really," Cas shrugged, "Our family is Hell risen to operate on Earth. He and I both could only take so much before we left."

Dean looked at him quietly for a few seconds. "Is that why you were wondering the streets when you came here?"

Cas paused. Faltered.

"Yes," He said, barely above a whisper, "But that is not the focus right now. The focus is your income supplement."

"Right. Of course."

Cas deliberated for a few seconds. God, is it hard to find the exact questions to satisfy your curiosity in a pinch. He felt like he was grasping straws trying to learn more about Dean. He finally settled on, "Do you enjoy it?"

"You ask the weirdest goddamn questions," Dean snorted and then laughed outright, "It's cute. I do enjoy it. Enough to keep doing it."

"Good," Cas mumbled.

The two were silent.

"Is that all?" Dean asked, his tone shooting up in surprise.

Cas shrugged.

"Well, all right."