Sam, get more involved with your brother's relationship.
Ground Rules (For Public Displays of Affection)
It had to stop.
It really, really, really had to stop.
Doing it in the motel rooms or in the back seat of the Impala was one thing but doing it in public was something else entirely.
And it was staring to get on Sam's nerves. People would stare and whisper behind their hands and of course neither Dean nor Castiel seemed to notice but it was making Sam uncomfortable. They really didn't need the attention.
The last straw was the diner.
It was supposed to be a regular evening meal, just the three of them (two, maybe, since Castiel didn't eat). Dean and the angel were sitting next to one another, leaving the other side of the booth for Sam. The waitress was friendly enough, flirted with Dean (of course), and when that failed she hit on Sam who really wasn't interested, and then smiled at Cas who just blinked at her. Once they placed their orders, the disappointed woman stalked away trying to look like she wasn't huffy.
That's when it started.
Sam felt a breeze across his face and looked up but no one had entered the diner. Passing it off as a trick of his tired mind, he went back to leafing through the newest addition to his book collection. Something brushed his arm and he looked up sharply, glaring across the table at Dean and Castiel because he knew that electric-static-shock-from-the-carpet feeling could only come from Cas' wings.
Dean grinned innocently back, both of his hands under the table (Sam hurriedly wiped away a horrid mental image), and Cas just sat there with his usual blank expression.
"Not in the diner, please." Sam muttered and went back to his book. But now he was only half paying attention to it. He kept watching Dean out of the corner of his eye and, yep, sure enough, Dean was definitely fondling Cas' wings. In public. Again. At first, Sam had thought this wouldn't be a problem since no one besides Dean could see the wings. But the things were still manifested and they still smacked about, especially when Dean hit a sweet spot.
"Not in the diner, what?" Dean continued playing innocent but Sam could see his hand creeping up in the air beside Castiel, fingers rubbing against something. And Cas himself was twitching, his jaw clenched, trying to keep his wings from spasming but Sam knew it was only a matter of time.
This went on for a while. Dean fiddling with Cas' wings (the angel only manifested them because Dean's fingers in his feathers were like a drug he'd gotten himself addicted to), Sam occasionally telling them to knock it off, and Castiel trying his hardest to keep himself under control.
Unfortunately, the moment he did lose control was the precise moment that their food arrived. The waitress approached, carrying their dinner, and Dean yanked his hand away quickly. Only his fingers seemed to snag in some feathers and he kept pulling, looking quite comical, like a mime with it's hand stuck in an imaginary something. Then he pulled in the exact wrong direction (or right depending on which end you were on) and there was a woosh of air. One wing smacked Dean in the face and tumbled against the wall, almost falling under the table, his fingers finally coming free. The other wing snapped wide open and hit the waitress.
Food went everywhere.
The three hurriedly left the diner. Castiel's face was the reddest Sam had ever seen it.
After that, Sam was not going to tolerate anymore stupid stunts from either of them. So one evening, while Dean was out getting dinner, Sam called Castiel. It took a couple of tries—Cas liked answering Dean in an instant, dropping whatever he was doing to run to the oldest Winchester, but he tended to take his time when it came to Sam.
"Did you need something?" The angle asked, appearing in that light flutter of wings.
"Yeah," Sam squared his shoulders, "I've already tried talking to Dean about this but he doesn't want to listen. You're kind of…the more sensible one. So here it goes," He took a breath and said, "I need you guys to stop fondling each other in public."
Cas tilted his head slightly, unsure what Sam was trying to say.
Sam let out a sigh, "Stop letting Dean play with your wings when go somewhere. It's distracting and it makes a mess. I don't care if you guys do it in the motel room but not in a restaurant or…or the park or when we're on a case."
"But it's how we display affection." Castiel argued back in a confused monotone, "Dean was opposed to holding hands, he said it was…girly. I enjoy the sensation of my wings being 'fondled' as you put it. And Dean enjoys touching them."
Sam scowled, "Yeah, well, look what happened the last time. What if someone gets seriously hurt next time that happens. Hell, you smacked Dean into the wall, Cas! Those wings have some kick to them!"
Cas seemed to shrink at the words and Sam realized he'd upset the angel. Castiel was proud of his wings and Sam telling him off for having them had probably upset him. But the hard truth was that Castiel really needed to learn to control himself.
The air moved, Sam felt it, and he looked up at Cas. The angel was standing straight, a defiant look on his face, and, in the light of bedside lamp, Sam could just make out the shadow of a pair of wings being cast on the wall behind Castiel.
"My wings are my own," Castiel said hotly, frowning at Sam, "I am an angel of the Lord, Sam Winchester. I will not hide my wings."
Sam forget how stubborn Cas could be, "Fine. I'm not asking you to hide them. Just…don't pull them out all the time."
Castiel did not dignify him with an answer. He simply raised his head as if trying to look down at Sam. As if trying to say "make me, I dare you". Sam wasn't about to turn that challenge down.
Before Cas could register the look of determination in the youngest Winchester's eye, Sam had launched himself across the room and tackled Cas to the floor. He could feel Cas' wings bristling against this arms as the angel fought back. There was a lot of shouting, struggling, and more than once Sam got smacked on the back of the head with a wing. But he finally managed to pin Cas face-down on the carpet, sitting on the angel's lower back, hands pressed between his shoulder blades where he can feel the feather tickling his skin. After a moment of struggling, Cas gave up and glared at the wall because he couldn't see Sam. For his part, Sam was wondering why the angel just didn't hit him across the room, God knew he was strong enough to do it.
Shrugging off the thought, Sam looked around for something to restrain Cas' wings with. It was an extreme but he really didn't know what else to do. So until he found a solution, it would have to do. Unfortunately, there was nothing useful nearby. Except…
Sam groaned but lifted one hand to undo his belt all the same. Cas jerked at the sound of the belt buckle coming undo and tried to twist around to see what was going on but Sam kept one hand firmly on the angel's back. Castiel still didn't tap into his angelic strength to throw Sam off.
Now to find the actual wings.
Dropping the belt onto Castiel's back, Sam lifted his hand and felt in the air for the wing. Nothing. Cas probably didn't have them raised. He dropped his hand and felt along the carpet, staring at Castiel's shoulder. He could feel the angel's eyes on him and it made him uncomfortable but he shook it off and kept feeling around.
When he touched the feathers, the shock sent a tingle up his arm and down his spine. He ran his hands over them, trying to find the edge. He had always assumed that angels had feathery wings, just like birds, but Castiel had corrected him. Angels' wings were made of Grace, the power that gave angels the ability to be, well, angels. Dean had tried to describe them to Sam as light and every color in the universe but had stopped angrily when Sam had started dropping lines about gay double rainbows. Now, running his hands over the silk-soft electric bursts, Sam wished he could see them.
A low humming noise distracted him and he looked around, thinking maybe the heater had turned on or something. Until he realized that the humming was coming from Castiel. Sam quickly yanked his hand off of the angel's wing and the humming stopped. Cas looked at him and there was humor in his gaze. Sam scowled, reached back to the spot where the feathers had been, and grabbed a handful of them. A yelp from Castiel. Sam pulled on the feathers, trying to pull the wing up so he could trap it under his knee. Castiel would have none of it and made the most un-angelic like sound Sam had ever heard—something like a growl that rumbled in the angel's throat—before yanking back, almost pulling Sam to the floor.
"I'm doing this for your own good!" Sam snapped, keeping his grip tight on the one wing while his other hand quested for the other. The trapped wing kept straining in his grasp and Castiel continued to make that low growling noise that reverberated like a bass drum in Sam's chest.
He finally found the other wing, grabbed it, and pulled it back too. It felt a bit like he was trying to pull back on the reigns of a rather unruly horse. And Castiel was not going to go quietly. As if he wanted to remind Sam that his wings were not his only appendages, the angel pressed his hands into the carpet and pushed back as if trying to stand. Sam jerked back on his wings, leaning away from Cas, and the growling noise grew louder. It almost sounded like a…
"Cas, are you purring!"
Castiel just flopped back to the floor and tried to flare his wings. Sam, unprepared, was dragged forward. His grip still tight on the feathers he couldn't see, the young Winchester ended up sprawled across Castiel's back, his face in the angel's shoulder, their legs tangled together as Sam tried to reorient himself.
Dean chose that exact moment to come back with the food.
"Hey Sam, their salad looked kinda iffy so I got you a veggie burger…in…stead…"
"Hello Dean." The pleasant tone in Castiel's voice made Sam's face turn red. He let go of Cas' wings, scrambled across the floor, and clambered to his feet.
"I-it's not what it looked like!" He said quickly.
"Oh yeah?" Dean said and that tone in his voice was dangerous as he kicked the door closed and dropped the food on the bed, "Tell me what it looked like Sammy."
"You guys have been getting kind of…frisky in public. Dangerously so." Sam took a couple of steps back, "Look, I just don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Ooohhh, somebody's gonna get hurt, Sam." Dean started forward but his path was suddenly blocked by Cas trying to get to the bag of food. Dean's attention immediately switched targets, "And you. What was that humming, huh? Sammy doin' it better than me?"
"He pulled my feathers in a pleasing manner." Castiel responded as if he were discussing the weather and Sam wanted to disappear, "I was simply expressing my satisfaction."
"Satis—oh, oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?"
"Dean, please, it was just a—."
"Uh-uh." Dean shook a finger at Sam, stopping any objections, "There's rules, man. Guy rules. Haven't you ever heard: thou shalt not touch the angel thy brother is currently dating?"
"That is not one of my Father's commandments…" Cas said slowly, tilting his head.
Dean ignored him, "You don't touch my angel." Sam opened his mouth to try and explain himself but Dean wouldn't have it, "Hands off the merchandise, Sammy. If you want a wing-job so bad, go find your own angel to 'grip you tight and raise you from perdition'. And you," The oldest Winchester rounded on Castiel who stopped with a hand inserted into the food bag like a cat who'd been caught with a paw in the milk jug, "Nobody else gets to fondle your wings but me, got it? That's like…that's like cheatin' on me, Cas!"
"I did not mean to hurt your feelings, Dean." Castiel replied, hand still in the food, "It was unexpected. Sam has a very strong grip. Did you bring me a burger?"
"No." Dean yanked the bag away from the angel, jealousy clear on his features, "And just for that, no more wing touching for a week. Two weeks!"
Sam didn't think he had ever seen Castiel look so crushed.
But a week later, Sam walked in on Dean with his face pushed into the blankets beside Cas and angel practically singing while his free wing beat the wall next to them.
So really, nothing actually changed.
