Movie night, Dean was in charge of picking the film this time as Cas got the snacks ready. He didn't mind picking the movie but it would have helped if Cas owned something he hadn't seen a million times. Dean made a mental note to bring DVDs from home next time. But whatever, it didn't really matter because he wasn't sure they'd be paying attention anyway.
As Dean rifled through the different boxes of still unpacked movies he found a smaller box that read 'Home Movies' on top. Dean lit up like a tree and hauled it out immediately. "Cas! Cas I found something awesome, can we watch it please? Please?"
Castiel, not thinking anything of it shrugged in the kitchen as he put the plate of cheeses and meats together, "Sure babe, what're we watching?"
Dean hurried into the kitchen with him and held up the box, a big five-year-old smile on his face. "Home movies!"
Cas stared at the box for a few seconds and shook his head, "Oh hell no, put that back. Burn it. Throw it out the window, smash it-" He repeated the list as he followed Dean back through the apartment trying to get the box back from him. "Dean!"
"Come on, you already said yes." Dean pouted and held it behind his back, looking at Cas with the sad eyes he'd learned to mimic from Sam.
As much as Dean's pouty face was awesome and definitely doing some damage, he couldn't help but feel that the disapproval from Castiel was so much stronger. "You were flirting last night, if you remember."
"I also insulted them and told them to leave the bar when they insulted you." Dean pointed it out not to get brownie points but to at least get himself out of Castiel's bad books again.
Cas' expression softened and he looked Dean over carefully, analyzing for any signs of a lie. "You… did? What did they say?"
"Basically they didn't like that you were enjoying yourself so much, it was too 'sexual' for a guy to be singing about being slammed by another guy. Made 'em uncomfortable. So I told them to shut the hell up and get the fuck out." Dean shrugged, "Basically anyway."
Cas curled both his lips in and pressed them together, holding his breath as he scrunched up his face in thought, staring at Dean until he finally exhaled and walked back to the kitchen, "Fine, have it your way. Home movies it is," He glared back at Dean playfully, "But you better not laugh."
Dean smiled and shrugged again, "Don't know if I'll be able to help it, but I'll do my best."
A few minutes later they were settling down on the couch, Dean having already put in the first DVD of the set. "Who filmed it?"
"Technically it was Gabriel's camera so most of it was him, though sometimes one of us got our hands on it." Cas smiled and rested himself against Dean, taking up as much space of the couch and his boyfriend as he could, splaying out to get comfy. If he was going to be embarrassed as fuck he might as well be comfortable while he does it.
The camera clicked on and the first thing visible was a big golden eye.
"Hello? Hel-looo? Is it on?" It was Gabriel, blinking and staring at the lens as if it were supposed to tell him.
"Gabe it's on, you flicked the switch." Castiel's voice, higher pitched and oh so cute. Cas made a disgruntled sound beside Dean on the couch, trying to hide his face.
"Oh here we go." He muttered.
"Shh, I'm watching this." Dean was all-bright eyed and bushy tailed as he took in the first scenes, Gabriel running around showing off the house, evidently it had been edited for 'Home movie' purposes but it was still fun to see. It was just Gabriel with his commentary and showing off the big, clean hallways, large messy bedrooms, grand staircases and even the front yard with a motorcycle parked out front.
Gabriel chuckled, zooming in on the bike as if it were of some importance. "Looks like Mike's home, maybe I should go see if he's awake-"
"Gabe no, Mike wasn't back when I went to bed at two last night which means he's definitely going to be tired. He'll kill you."
The camera swung around to show a furrowed brow over beautiful blue eyes, Dean smiled and looked at his baby laying over him, it was so cute to see a younger Castiel.
"I almost forgot, this is my older brother Castiel for all the viewers out there." Gabriel laughed and zoomed in and out of Castiel's face just a little, "Say hello, Cas!"
Cas rolled his eyes but shrugged and waved anyway, "Hello everyone."
"Still gonna wake Mike up."
Dean could hear the grin in Gabriel's voice as the teen ran up the stairs, the camera shaky and old. Cas couldn't have been more than 16, if that. "You're so cute, Cas." He whispered, earning himself a light slap.
"You shut up, I know you're laughing at me." Castiel tried to keep himself from giggling but it was too hard. Dean really did seem interested in the videos. "You aren't bored yet? You just got a virtual tour of my house from about ten years ago."
"It's interesting, I'm getting a history lesson on my boyfriend's family." Dean kissed the top of Cas' head, "Now shh, Gabe's about to go to Mike's room." It was even better to hear Dean using the nicknames given in the footage rather than go by the 'Gabriel and Michael' he'd met as adults.
"Mike?" Gabriel had pushed the door open to reveal a room that looked like it'd been taken apart by a rampaging rhinoceros. Then again it belonged to a teenager so really it wasn't all that surprising. There were clothes everywhere; the walls were covered with posters, pictures, writing, and even some actual wallpaper in some places. The camera focused on the bed where an entirely motionless figure was sprawled out. Michael had his face buried into the pillows; a mess of black hair and smooth skin greeted Gabriel. Limbs sticking out randomly without so much as a single fuck given.
Most would wonder how that was remotely comfortable but Michael didn't at all question it since he was sleeping so soundly, Gabriel's hushed calls didn't even make him stir.
"Mike sleeps like the dead." Dean mused, his hand slowly petting through Cas' hair as his boyfriend readjusted his position again.
"Still does, though he's gotten better at getting up."
"Mike?" Gabriel stopped being so soft spoken, he was starting to question whether or not his brother was still alive and the mess of his room was a result of a struggle of some kind. That was quickly put to rest when a loud snort came from the bed and Michael started to squirm and roll over.
"Gabe?" Michael sounded so gentle, tired and surprisingly not angry for someone who had just been woken up approximately four hours after they got home. "What's up little guy?" He squinted a little and stared at the camera suspiciously until his sleepy brain recognized it. "Oh fuck…" With that he dropped right back into the pillow and buried himself again.
"Good mooorrrrning!" Gabriel chimed excitedly and ran over to get a better look at his annoyed brother. "How's it feel to be 17 and awake on a Saturday before noon?"
"I'm going to kill you…" The voice was muffled but clear enough to make out.
Dean laughed and looked down at Cas, "How old were you during all this? Or Gabriel?"
"I was fifteen and Gabriel was thirteen, he was really happy to get that camera. Dad couldn't be there for his birthday the day before so he left the camera on the table the next morning for Gabriel to find. It was enough to cheer him up so Michael and I didn't complain as much as we normally would have." Cas chuckled and sat up properly, reaching forward for some crackers, cheese and little ham slices. "Gabriel had gone out for most of the day with his friends after school, in the morning though Michael made sure we all skipped class and hung out together. He said he had a party to get to during the night so we definitely had to celebrate during the day. He wasn't always Mr. Rules."
Dean's brow knit together a little as he looked back to the screen, watching Gabriel fail to drag his tired brother out of bed. The footage cut to Gabriel at the breakfast table, Castiel reading while he ate what looked like Fruit Loops.
"I can't believe he didn't get up." Gabriel pouted.
Cas slowed his chewing and looked over at the camera perched on the table angled suspiciously his way. "Is that thing still on?"
Gabriel was quiet for a long moment until he stuttered the word "Yeeeesss…?" As if it were a question.
Castiel frowned and reached for it, "Not while I'm eating you little gremlin!"
The film cut again and Dean found himself enjoying the tales of Gabriel as he wandered all over the place with his camera. That kid got into more trouble than Dean had originally thought possible, he was a prankster if nothing else and at some points Dean thought maybe he was a little monster as well. Cas was smiling most of the way through it; he'd clearly seen the videos before. A few times it cut to Castiel who smiled and waved at Gabriel's antics, and in the middle of one of Gabriel's plans the roar of a motorcycle rumbled the sound system. The youngest brother hurriedly ran over to the window to see Michael in a biker jacket, jeans, and boots putting his Thunderbird motorbike to rest. Dean felt a little excited to see Michael look up as he removed the helmet, seeing the camera and giving a quick salute to Gabriel. The older teen approached Gabe with a smile.
"Filming again, are you? Ever gonna get tired of that thing?"
"Not a chance, Mike." Gabriel sounded so cocky, and despite not seeing his expression it was obvious it could never match Michael's own.
"Gimme that." The camera shook as Gabriel protested but the eldest still got his hands on it. The angle changed drastically, looking down at a pouty thirteen-year-old. "You don't look so big now, do you?"
"Give it!"
"Not a chance, Gabey." Michael's hand appeared in frame and ruffled up Gabriel's light brown hair. As he played keep away for a few seconds Gabriel stopped and looked down the drive way.
"Cas?"
Michael turned the camera around to see a smiling Castiel wandering down the front drive. "What're you so happy about?" He questioned in a rather dramatic tone.
Cas smiled and shrugged, sheepishly looking around before smiling up at them again, "I got a boyfriend!" He squealed, hopping up and down excitedly.
Dean looked over at Cas who didn't look so excited now, his eyes having grown shallow to the scene playing out before him. Luckily it didn't have a chance to go further, the DVD ended right there. "What's with the face?"
"Nothing," Castiel got up, "I'm going to get us some drinks, you pick a new one."
"Sure thing." Dean smiled and watched Cas walk around to the kitchen. 'Something more light hearted maybe…' He thought to himself.
As older technology seems to do, the DVD's were each pretty short so Dean rummaged in the box, hoping to find one less Cas-and-his-boyfriend oriented. It was nice to get to know Gabriel a little, considering he was with Sam now, but Dean knew he could leave a lot of the figuring out to Sam. It wasn't necessary to get involved on that level, at that moment anyway. He found one labeled 'Love Stoned starring Cas and Mike.' Dean raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cas who had grabbed a couple beers for them and was returning to the living room.
"Love Stoned?" He figured his tone asked most of the question.
Cas smiled and laughed, "Yeah it's a song by Justin Timberlake. Michael needed to do a project displaying what's wrong with media and how they portray certain situations and people for his social media unit in high school. They had the option to either obviously show it or find a way to make the viewers very aware of the problem. He decided to go for a music video approach, though he was allowed to use the instrumental part of the song they said he'd have to add his own lyrics otherwise it was like someone else was doing all the work for him."
Dean raised an eyebrow and looked at the disc, "So your name's on here because?"
"I was singing for him, dumbass." Cas took the DVD and popped it in the player, "Gabriel helped us edit it, I had so much fun."
"What was his plan for the project?"
"He wanted to make us see it on our own; he chose to portray how sexist and disturbing the media can be. Where in a music video there are usually hot, half naked women running around he used himself as the center of attention for the song, made me change the lyrics to make them male pronouns." Cas explained, settling back down and getting comfortable again.
Dean was skeptical but when the music started playing he could see what Michael had envisioned. He'd picked a sensitive issue of sexism, indefinitely; the first scene was erotic if nothing else. He couldn't believe that Michael was allowed to show this in school.
And Castiel's voice was just fantastic. He was into it, he was enthusiastic, it was amazing to hear.
"He might be goin' home with me tonight. Yeah. He looks like a model, except he's got a little more ass. Don't even bother, unless you got that thing that he likes. He might be goin' home with me to night."
"You guys were really good at this." Dean marveled half way through the video, "Still the same year?"
"Yeah," Cas nodded as he bobbed his head a little, "But Michael was the genius behind it all. He knew exactly what scenes he wanted in there, what to show off and what not to, where to stop when he knew the teachers would be uncomfortable. But pushing their limits was what he had in mind, Michael told me later that the teacher hadn't watched the whole thing, she had never expected something like this from him."
"I can imagine, from what you guys told me his reputation preceded him." Dean was a bit disappointed to see the video end. It really had been good, it sexualized men as strongly as any woman had been in a music video and Dean wasn't sure how it made him feel. It was Michael majority of the time, once in a while Cas had been shown for the sake of it, but they were teenagers and Dean was 26. Not a turn on. Or so he kept telling himself, Cas was still Cas, sure a little young but he was as pretty as ever. Dean almost smacked himself for that.
"Michael's reputation was exactly why the class was so shocked. They knew him to be the badass guy who rode a motorcycle, went to every party, tough, and a mean fighter when he wanted to be. Michael was the coolest kid in school, all the girls loved him and I think his following grew after that video."
Dean laughed, "I bet, how many guys did they see run around shirtless in music videos and actually know him in real life? I mean of course they were impressed, that's pretty good for a teenager. Gabriel was an awesome editor too, how did you do on the project?"
"Michael got bonus marks for surprising everybody," Castiel shrugged and took a swig from his beer. "So just over 100%."
Dean nodded and cracked his can open finally, "You three are crazy talented, you know that?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well you've got the patience of a saint, you're really smart, your singing is fantastic, and you're gorgeous. Gabriel's funny, cunning, good with video editing apparently, and good with people. Michael's business smart, charming, protective, and probably pretty strong. I just can't believe you're all so amazing, your dad must be epic."
"He used to be I guess, but all work and no play, you know." Castiel smiled as he saw the reference burning in Dean's mind.
"Kind of a dull boy then, eh?"
"I knew you couldn't resist." Cas laughed and nudged the box with his foot, "What do you say we pick an actual movie now? We can watch more of these some other time."
"Sure thing," Dean had gotten some fun out of it and obviously Cas was ready to throw in the towel. After the little fiasco Friday night Dean figured it was probably best to not piss Castiel off anymore than that.