AN: Please don't hate me.
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Cufflinks
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Castiel stared blearily at the bathroom wall. The shower was still running, and he was still tucked between the toilet and tub. None of it had been real. All the progress he and Dean had made… Dean thoroughly molesting his wings… Well, the mess in his trousers was real enough. He groaned in frustration and let his head drop back against the wall, momentarily enjoying the pain. He was back to square one.
He could feel Dean's presence in the other room. That was probably why his dream had felt so real. The cuff's connection was stronger the closer Dean was, and the Hunter's emotions were a vibrant, jumbled mess.
Maybe…maybe Castiel's dream wasn't too far off. If it had been completely influenced by the cuff's magic, then he knew just what the problem was and how to solve it. Dean would no longer have to fear him.
Feeling confident over the situation, Castiel stood and quickly tidied himself up. He leaned over and shut off the shower. He could now hear the voices in the main room and how they suddenly stopped.
Castiel sagged in defeat. As much as he would like to, he couldn't hide in the bathroom forever. He stared at the door, listening to the silence. He slowly opened the door and peaked outside. Three pairs of concerned eyes met his. He quickly looked down and shuffled into the main room.
Dean lifted up a paper bag from the burger joint he and Sam had finally settled on. 'I gotcha a cheeseburger and curly fries… Are you…doing better?'
Castiel nodded and took a seat at the small card table. I'm fine,' he insisted. 'Though I would like to speak with you in private later.'
'Sure. Uh…' Dean looked at Sam and raised his brows in question.
'Gabe and I can probably find something to do in town,' Sam offered.
'Haunted Death Mansion 3!' Gabriel shouted as he jumped up. At Sam and Dean's blank stares, he explained further, 'It's great! This one, they're basing off of The Funky Phantom!'
'The what now?' Dean asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Castiel's horrified expression.
'Trust me, it's awesome. Cas, tell them it's awesome!'
'It's awful!' Castiel looked up at Dean. 'He said the first one was like Scooby-Doo,' he explained. 'The characters were similar, true, but then the dog got rabies, killed off half the cast, was thrown in an oven, and then the Daphne character slaughtered Shaggy with an axe!'
Dean stared at Castiel, dumbfounded. He looked over to find Sam with a similar look and Gabriel nodding with a manic grin.
'And then Daphne was eaten by Scooby!' Castiel cried as he grabbed Dean's sleeve. 'It was awful! It's a horrid series made of trash!'
'I thought the dog died…,' Sam said.
'He comes back as a zombie!' Gabriel squealed. His wings were shaking with excitement. '2 was Jabberjaw, 3 is The Funky Phantom, and rumor has it that 4 is gonna be Josie and the Pussycats!'
'I hate to say it, but… I'm actually kind of curious,' Sam said with a shrug.
'Great! I'm ready, let's go!' Gabriel exclaimed as he grabbed Sam's arm and tried pulling him towards the door.
Sam sighed and let himself get pulled along.
'You're gonna love it, Sammy!'
Sam gave Dean one last look over his shoulder. It had taken a lot on his part, but he had finally convinced Dean to wait for Castiel to make the first move. He hoped Dean would be able to keep a cool head while he was gone.
Dean turned to Castiel after the door shut. 'So, what did you wanna talk about?' he asked, scrutinizing Castiel's every move.
Castiel shifted in his seat and looked away. 'I…didn't think we would be having this conversation so soon…,' he softly replied. He bit his lip as he listened to Dean tapping his finger on the table. After a minute of silence, he looked up to find Dean staring at him with an unreadable expression. He tried to figure out what was going on in Dean's head through the link, but he could only pick up on the fear and aggravation. He looked away and began picking at his sleeve. Dean hadn't given him much time to think about how he would approach the matter. He felt Dean's irritation spike.
'What. Did. You. Want. To. Talk. About?' Dean ground out.
Castiel shrank away. 'N-never mind. I think it would be better to speak when you're calmer.' He jumped and his wings flared out when Dean slammed his fist on the table.
'That was a direct question, Castiel! You can't… You have to answer it,' Dean said with a tremor of desperation. 'How many times have you lied to me today?! How are you able to lie?!'
Castiel's stomach clenched, and he grabbed at the silver cuff on his wrist. It was still there, but it brought him little comfort. His eyes flicked up, and he saw Dean's head buried in his hands. 'Dean…?'
'Did I do it wrong?' Dean asked. He looked up at Castiel, radiating complete misery. 'Did I get the spell wrong? Was I supposed to say something?'
Castiel brought his wrist up and examined the cuff's spell work. 'Everything looks correct…'
'If I asked you to dance on the table like a chicken, would you have to do it?'
Castiel shrugged and looked down.
'Castiel, go…stand in the corner,' Dean said, not once taking his eyes off the angel.
Castiel could feel the slight tug of the order, but he ignored it. After a few moments of silence, he met Dean's eyes. He was taken aback by the absolute shock he saw.
'How can you just brush it off like that?!' Dean demanded.
'I—'
'Gabriel got a fuckin' nosebleed when he fought against Sam's question, so why the fuck are you unaffected? Do you feel anything?!'
Castiel hugged himself with his wings and ran his fingers over the spells carved into the cuff. Dean was right. He should not have been able to ignore the order. 'I…I felt something, but… I didn't have to obey it. Like a…a nudge.' He sensed the Hunter's fear escalate.
'I would never harm you!' he quickly added, hoping to put Dean's fear to rest. 'The Hunter in the woods was the only accident—light bulbs and windows a-and stuff…they don't count!'
'What?' Dean sat up straight with a confused look. 'What are you on about?'
'You're afraid of me! You're scared of what I can do.'
'Well, yeah! But, right now, I'm scared that I'm gonna lose you!' Dean shouted back.
Castiel sucked in a breath. He wasn't expecting that. 'I…don't want to leave…,' he quietly replied.
'Fine, so you don't leave. You stay. What if someone finds out that you're not exactly bound to me? What then? I don't know if some other Hunter will try his luck, or if I'll be forced to release you,' Dean explained as he took Castiel's hands in his. 'I didn't tell Sam—he just thinks I said something stupid in the cave, but I know I won't be able to keep this from him for much longer. Same with Bobby. He'll pick up on something being wrong.'
'It doesn't have to be wrong,' Castiel replied as he loosened his wings. He offered Dean an uncertain smile. 'I'm just a little different. There's nothing wrong with that, right?'
Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed. 'Little, my ass. Cas, you're a lot different.'
'Is that so bad?'
Dean sighed as he ran his thumbs over Castiel's knuckles. 'I really don't know anymore.'
'So…are you afraid of me?' Castiel hesitantly asked, staring at their hands.
'I dunno,' Dean replied. He was going to pull away, but the angel had laced their fingers together and was gripping tightly. 'Me and Gabe already talked about it, and he seems pretty sure that you won't spaz out and kill everyone. I'm…actually pretty good on that right now,' Dean admitted. 'Probably shouldn't be, but…yeah.'
'Oh…' Castiel thought back to his dream. Was Dean able to pick up on his emotions through the link? 'Um…a little bit before I came out…uh…d-did you…er…' He stuttered to a halt, blushing lightly. What if he was wrong? How could he ask without embarrassing himself? He forced himself to look up at Dean. 'Were you really turned on?' he asked in a rush.
Dean blinked, thrown off by the question. 'Uh…actually…yeah.' He noticed that Castiel's blush brightened. 'Don't tell me you were the cause of that.'
Castiel nodded as he disentangled his hands from Dean's.
Dean opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say in response to the revelation. It wasn't unheard of for a Hunter to catch glimpses of their bound angel's feelings. Bobby and Karen's bond was strong enough for that, but it had developed over time. Years. And what he had felt was much stronger than anything Bobby had described.
Dean took a mental stock of what was going on. He had an angel with black wings. This angel was exceedingly powerful and could easily brush off commands. Dean was already tapped into Castiel's psyche.
As he thought about it, the anxiety he had been feeling since he and Castiel left the cave had all but vanished when he and Sam had left the motel in search of food. And he was feeling it right at that moment. He wasn't actually anxious or nervous. He could see that now. The only thing he could compare it to was food. His own thoughts and feelings were like food he was currently tasting, flooding his senses, and Castiel's were like a fresh pie sitting on the counter. Something that overwhelmed his sense of smell and he could just barely taste through scent alone.
He found that Castiel's own worry and fear were doubling up on his own, making him feel much worse. Now that he could tell the difference, he felt more at ease. Not great but it was a start.
'So… The cuff's working, but it isn't…,' Dean eventually said.
'It would seem so.'
'Any idea why?'
'It could be any combination of factors. I…I'm certain I'm a large part of the reason,' Castiel quietly admitted.
'You're implying I'm part of it, too,' Dean pointed out.
'We're bound together, however frail the connection may be…so, of course you have an influence on it.'
'This is so fucked up!' Dean growled into his hands.
'The situation is rather contradictory…'
Dean rested his elbows on his knees and stared at Castiel. The angel stared back miserably. 'So, what do we do?' he asked.
'I don't know. I could ask Gabriel,' Castiel suggested, despite knowing the Hunter's answer.
'I…really don't wanna tell anyone.'
Castiel sighed. He straightened up and stretched out his wings. He faltered when he caught Dean's lust spike. Dean must have noticed because he quickly looked away.
Castiel carefully tucked his wings behind him and coughed awkwardly. 'S-someone will eventually notice,' he stuttered.
'Not if you stop lying,' Dean replied. 'And start obeying.'
Castiel ducked his head. 'I don't know if I can promise that.'
Dean huffed in annoyance and looked away. 'Can you at least try?' he asked, not bothering to mask his exasperation.
'I-I'll try.'
Both human and angel sat in awkward silence for a long time. Dean relocated to one of the beds and turned on the TV.
Close to midnight, a loud commotion in the hallway alerted them to Sam and Gabriel's return. Sam was the first to enter and looked worse for the wear. Gabriel bounded in after him, chattering excitedly about the advancements in blood effects.
Dean looked up at Sam in concern. 'You all right there, Sammy?'
Sam shook his head. 'I'm gonna have nightmares for the rest of my life.'
'That bad?'
Sam gave Dean a withering look as Gabriel rambled over him.
'It was great! Better that the last two! Combined! Oh, Cas, you shoulda been there! You would have loved it,' Gabriel said as he hurried up to his brother and wrapped an arm around him.
'You know how I feel about those movies,' Castiel replied, a touch more forlornly than he'd meant.
Gabriel gave Castiel a quick once over. 'You two square?'
Castiel nodded. 'We've found a possible solution.'
'Good!' Gabriel replied. 'Glad to hear it.' He searched the younger angel's eyes. He tentatively reached out and felt reassured. Satisfied, he nodded and clapped Castiel on the back. 'Now let's introduce you to a genre if film I know you'll like.'
Castiel reluctantly allowed himself to be led over to the vacant bed.
Dean protectively held the remote. 'I don't know if I quite trust your taste in movies.'
Gabriel grinned. 'C'mon, Dean-o. Everyone likes what I have in mind. You, especially. I'm sure.'
'I have to agree with Dean,' said Sam. 'I mean, that was one fucked up movie…'
'Aww, but the movie I had in mind's got pirates and pretty girls, and an epic battle against skeletons!' Gabriel pouted.
'It sounds interesting,' Castiel said cautiously. The problem with his brother was that you never knew what the end result would be.
Gabriel's grin widened. 'See? Cas is in!'
Dean sighed and looked to Sam with a doubtful expression. 'No, thanks.'
Gabriel ignored Dean and snapped his fingers.
Dean raised his brow at Sam and nodded his head in Gabriel's direction.
Sam crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Whatever Gabriel had chosen had to be better than the atrocity he had witnessed earlier.
'Oh, my.'
At Castiel's shocked muttering, both Hunters looked at the TV. It was just as Gabriel had promised: pirates and pretty girls. However, he had conveniently forgotten to mention just how horny said pirates and girls were.
Dean pointed the remote at the TV and turned the power off. At least, he tried. Repeatedly. 'Gabriel!'
'Oh, come on! Cas is enjoying it.'
Castiel blushed deeply and tore his eyes from the screen. He had trouble keeping them away, and he could feel Dean's amusement.
Gabriel hopped onto the bed next to Castiel. 'As long as no one whips it out, we can all enjoy this magnificent contribution to porn.'
Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Gabriel…'
Gabriel's attention snapped to Sam. His wings slumped in defeat as he awaited the inevitable command.
Sam watched Gabriel's body language then looked away. 'Never mind,' he said. He headed over to his bag and pulled out a book.
Gabriel blinked in confusion at the dismissal. He frowned as he watched Sam take a seat at the card table and begin to read. At first, he wondered why Sam had chosen to ignore him. Then he realized, Sam was giving him a choice. Probably trusting or hoping that he would make the 'right' one.
Gabriel sighed and snapped his fingers, returning control of the television to Dean.
'Thank you,' Castiel whispered.
'Don't think you're getting off that easy,' Gabriel warned. 'I fully intend to corrupt you.'
Castiel bowed his head and frowned. He didn't think he needed to be corrupted. And certainly not by his brother. He returned his attention back to the TV, fully prepared to have everything fly right over his head. Next time, he was going to bring a book. If there was a next time.
'Really, Dean?' Gabriel teased and waved a hand at the TV. 'This shit is barely a step above porn!'
'Don't compare Dr. Sexy to your trash!' Dean shot back.
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Dean awoke with a crick in his neck. He found that Sam was already up and ready to go, so he set to waking up the pair of angels. He hated to admit it, but Gabriel actually looked innocent curled up with Castiel.
It took a while, but, with Sam's help, Dean finally managed to get the angels up and into the back of the Impala. It was slow going, but at least there was very little complaint or argument.
'Hey! Why are you two so out of it?' Dean asked after they had been on the road for about an hour.
'Looney Tunes,' Gabriel replied.
'And Merrie Melodies,' Castiel helpfully added through a yawn.
'You stayed up all night watching cartoons?' Sam asked.
'Of course!' Gabriel shifted in his seat and pulled Castiel towards him
Sam watched the two angels wordlessly arrange themselves so that they were perfectly balanced against each other. Gabriel's head lay on Castiel's shoulder, who in turn had his cheek and nose buried in the blond's hair.
The sight made Sam a little jealous. He was jealous of Castiel, being able to snuggle up to Gabriel, and he was jealous of the brothers in general. It had been years since he and Dean would have been found in a similar position. Anymore, Dean referred to any form of affection as a 'chick flick moment,' and shied away.
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It was early evening when they arrived back at the Singer house. Dean grunted as he hefted one of the duffels over his shoulder. He was about to head for the front door, but was stopped by a hand at his elbow. He looked behind himself to find Castiel staring warily at the house.
'Somethin' wrong?'
Sam and Gabriel stopped on the porch steps and turned to look at Castiel. Gabriel caught his brother's stare and immediately jumped down from the porch. A quick beat of his wings softened his landing, and he ran to join Castiel behind Dean.
Sam watched the display, just as bewildered as Dean. The door opened and Sam turned back to face an older angel with pale brown wings. The angel grinned at him before searching out Castiel and Gabriel.
'Cassie! Gabey! No hugs?'
