Title: The New Neighbours
Words: 1,613
Rating: T
Note: Not beta'd as always.
Dean and Gabriel stood outside the Novak home, awkwardly waiting for the door to open and to be led in. Dean couldn't wait to see Castiel and to know about Balthazar. Were they good friends? Were they close friends? Were they friends with benefits? He just had to know. At his side Gabriel wobbled back and forth on the pads of his feet, smacking his lips and clicking his tongue. Dean rolled his eyes at his brother. Gabriel was dangerous when he got impatient, especially where food was involved.
"D'you think it will be normal people food or weird artist food? Cuz I'm starving and I want to eat people food not decorations." Gabriel rubbed his stomach and whispered, "You shall be fed soon, precious."
"I don't know, Gollum." Dean elbowed him in the ribs, smiling. "You should've asked when you were talking to him."
"It didn't come up," Gabriel said with a shrug looking back up from his stomach.
"Then what were you talking about then?" Dean asked turning to face his brother. "Sex?"
"Actually yes," Gabriel replied with a smirk. "We talked about how much you want to jump Castiel's bones."
The door opened before Dean could reply. A smiling Balthazar one arm around Castiel's shoulder and the other on the doorframe looked at them. Castiel, at his side, looked terrified. Dean turned to the doorway to say something and was struck breathless. Castiel looked handsomer than ever. His shirt revealed sharp collarbones that made Dean want to reach out and trace it with the pads of his fingers (or tongue, but he tried not to picture that just now), the shirt making his blue eyes bluer and pants that look too good to be real. He looked like a model from one of those stylish magazines, except for the disheveled hair, that was strictly Castiel.
"Hi Dean," Castiel said looking directly at him.
"H-h-hey Cas," Dean stammered. "You look- wow! You look fantastic."
"Thanks, Dean." Castiel smiled and for yet another second Dean couldn't breathe.
Balthazar smirked, pulling Castiel out of the doorway. "Come on in, gents. Food is ready. Give me a hand would you Gabriel?"
"Sure." Gabriel walked by Dean but not before leaning down to and whispering "Don't gawk too much, he might think you're in love with him or something."
"Go!" Dean muttered pushing Gabriel towards the kitchen.
"Cassie!" Balthazar yelled as he went through the double doors, releasing an amazing fragrance from the kitchen to the living room. "How about taking Dean on the grand tour of the house?"
"Would you like a tour, Dean?" Castiel asked, his eyes shinning brightly as he looked at him. They were begging him to say yes – or maybe that was his imagination. He nodded and smiled, stepping aside to let Castiel lead the way upstairs to the second floor.
Everything so far was going very good. Add to that the amazing food that was sure to follow; the night might very well be a success. Hopefully Castiel and Dean wouldn't ruin the night by being their closed-hearted selves.
Gabriel leaned against the fridge, hands on his hips, watching Balthazar as he put the finishing touches on the food. It smelt great and looked like a great feast worthy of a king. He watched the angel zoom around the kitchen, stirring the inside of pots, tasting each pot and then turning off the stove notches of each. By the time the food was being put into serving plates, Gabriel was drooling with excitement wishing that he'd brought a lollipop to hold off the hunger that was rumbling in his stomach.
"Where in the hell did you learn to cook?" Gabriel finally asked holding the swinging doors open for Balthazar who was carrying a particularly large roast on a serving plate. "I had centuries of down time and my best cooking-wise is an omelette. You were gone for – what? – Fifty years?"
"I applied my so-called 'down time' to more practical uses," Balthazar said as he put the tray down on the empty table. "I thought I told you to set the table."
"Yeah. I wasn't listening," Gabriel replied with a shrug. "I was picturing myself making love to this beautiful meal in various-"
"Set it now." The look in his eyes told him he wasn't playing around and for one second Gabriel felt a bit terrified. Then he remembered that he was an archangel and Balthazar was a soldier. A soldier who stood between him and food, a soldier he couldn't piss off just yet.
"Gosh," Gabriel huffed. He snapped his fingers and the table was set in the blink of an eye. He looked at Balthazar with a cocked eyebrow. "Better, mother?"
"Much," Balthazar returned without missing a beat. "Now how about popping in the rest of the food here as well. My Grace seems to be a bit out of reach at the moment. Something you neglected to tell me in our briefing earlier today."
"Well, that has nothing to do with me. I don't even know how Castiel is Grace-less even though he's still an angel. That's Michael's domain, I'm the artist-slash-guard here - nothing more, nothing less." He snapped his fingers again and the food was on the table. Balthazar went around it, turning some plates to the side and adjusting the position of the food. "You take your food too serious, dude. It looks perfect, no one cares about where each thing is at, just how much effort it takes to reach over for it."
"It matters to me," Balthazar whispered, leaning down his hands on his knees to check out the table from the side. He stood up, walking a few steps back and looking at it from afar. "Perfect."
"Sheesh, cool your jets, Gordon Ramsey!" Gabriel teased. "Shall I call the lovely couple? Or is this your way of getting me into bed 'cuz it's working, I can tell you that now." Balthazar rolled his eyes at the angel and went back to the kitchen without answering. "Alright... one cock block coming right up." Taking a deep breath, Gabriel walked to the living room, went up a step and yelled, "Dinner!"
They were in the middle of dinner when it began. Dean and Castiel sat facing each other in the centre of the table with Balthazar and Gabriel on each end. With one nod from Gabriel, the plan to get Dean jealous began. The table was small enough that Balthazar could reach over and touch Castiel's hand, which lay at the side, fingers gripping his wine glass, every so often. The current dinner conversation revolved around Balthazar and Castiel's relationship. Dean listened intently, his eyes following every touch and look shared between the two men.
"This food is great," Gabriel complimented. "Where did you say you leant to cook?"
"Paris," Balthazar said taking a sip of his cup. "I was there for a few weeks. That was before England but after Asia. You remember, Cassie? You stayed with me for a week checking out schools there."
"Yeah." Castiel looked at Dean out of the corner of his eye. "That's what friends do, right? And you're a great friend."
"Friend," Balthazar repeated with a chuckle. "Remember that new years eve party we went to in Seattle? You got stinking drunk and kissed me when New York reached the New Year." He reached over placing his hand over Castiel's, holding it tight and watching as Dean gripped his spoon until his knuckles were white.
"I remember barfing right afterwards," Castiel muttered blushing pulling his hand away from under Balthazar's. He looked at Dean. "I was drunk. You gave me a spiked drink."
"I would've spiked something else but you – " he pointed at Castiel with a spoon " - passed out in the bathroom."
Gabriel coughed loudly, giving Balthazar a pointed look. Dean looked at his brother worried that in his excitement to eat he had forgotten to chew... again. But he was fine because a moment later, all heads turned to Dean as he said, "Dean once dated a tranny."
"I did not!" Dean cried out in terror. "It was Halloween and the place was dark. How was I to know she was a he?"
"You into men, Dean?" Balthazar asked seductively. "I could show you a thing or two about men or better yet, let Cassie do it."
This time all heads turned to a blushing Castiel whose mouth was half open and eyes wide. A quick kick under the table from Balthazar and he snapped out of it. Unfortunately, the first thing that came to his mind made him blush harder as the words escaped his mouth.
"I would love to show you my thing." It took him a second to realise what he had said. He closed his eyes as the table broke into laughter, leaning forward on his elbows and covering his face in embarrassment. "I mean – I could show you many thi- you know what? I'm gonna shut up now."
"Dean would love to see your thing," Gabriel butted in. "He could show you his th- ow!" A kick under the table from Dean stopped him short.
"I know what you meant, Cas," Dean's voice said as the laughter died out. Castiel removed his hands from his face and looked at him, a faint smile on his face. "I get it."
An awkward silence fell over the table then. Castiel was still blushing slightly; the pink glaze decorated his striking cheekbones. Dean smiled to himself knowing that those blue eyes were on him and not Balthazar who had – thankfully – retracted his hand from Castiel's. He looked up and smiled back as Gabriel burped, pushed his plate aside and yelled, "Pudding time!"