Ch. 25. St. Valentine's night revelations

It was St. Valentine's day, the most romantic night of the year so, of course, Hester rudely teased him once she learned he was staying at home that night. He was going to comment on the fact she was going out on a date with her lover while her husband was on a 'business trip' (another word for 'fucking someone, anyone else but her on a different town') but he took pity on her and just endured her comments during tea time, then she went to prepare for the evening and he continued working on his assignment.

Cas was on his way to the library, it was late at night but he just couldn't let go of his project and he was in dire need of an ancient Greek grammar book to go on. He was about fifteen feet away from it when he saw old Martha forcefully clutching Dean's wrist.

"Please, you have to believe me!" The desperation in Dean's voice was evident.

"Like hell I will! What else a stupid thing like you could be doing this late at night in the library? Oh, Master Michael is going to enjoy punishing you…" She had a wicked smirk on her face, she was clearly enjoying the situation as well. Cas had to help Dean out of it, he deserved at least a chance to explain himself.

"No, please, I swear I wasn't stealing!" Dean was livid now and about to kneel in front of her to beg when Cas approached them and blurted. "Dean! I sent you ages ago for that book! What kept you this long?" The angel looked into Dean's eyes, hoping he'll follow his lead, which fortunately the slave did.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting Master" he said and bowed his head. The Head Housekeeper let go of his wrist and turned towards him. "Master Castiel! You sent him to fetch you a book at this hour of the night?" She was clearly confused and Castiel took advantage of it.

"I work whenever I feel like it, and I sent him because he knows which books I need… But why am I explaining myself to you? Where you the one that kept me waiting for Dean?" He tried his best to sound harsh and his gravelly voice worked out well.

"I'm sorry Master Castiel, it won't happen again. Please forgive me"

The turn of events was a bit much for old Martha and Castiel saw it as an opportunity. "Fine, leave us, now" It was sufficient, she bowed and left.

Dean kept his eyes glued to the floor till the angel finally addressed him. "Come with me"

Once into the library, Castiel made sure they were alone and faced him. "Care to explain what just happened? I really hope you weren't stealing"

"..."

Dean was visibly nervous, he was biting his lip and fidgeting, he was in deep trouble, the punishment for stealing was to be lashed an ungodly amount of times so Cas hoped he had a perfectly good explanation. "Well, I'm waiting"

His words shook Dean out of his hesitation, he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders but he wouldn't meet his eyes. "First of all, thank you for helping me, I really am grateful for that, Master Castiel. I hope once I speak you'll be able to forgive me"

'Oh, no, he's a thief! How didn't I see this coming?' Cas' mind was racing and he almost missed Dean's next words.

"I was here because I was looking for something to read, and I thought it would be sufficiently late and I will be alone" Dean kept looking away from him, his voice was no more than a whisper but his revelation reached Cas nonetheless.

"You were looking for something to read!" It was intended as a question but it didn't come out that way. The angel tilted his head in confusion, he had never met a slave who could read, it was illegal and highly irregular, people even though it to be 'dangerous'. It added another layer to the man in front of him.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again if you order me to, but you must understand why I kept it a secret" Dean was definitely losing his resolution, he was taking a huge risk by confessing on his ability, the punishment for that was rather cruel and brutal, and he was there at his mercy.

Cas hated to be the one putting fear in those green eyes.

"I won't tell anyone about this, I said I wanted to be your friend and I'm glad you shared this with me" Cas knew that Dean was in a sharing mood just because he was caught red-handed, but still, it was an unexpected gesture from his new friend. Now that the surprise was wearing off he wondered what Dean would read for fun, being it the huge risk it was. "What were you looking for when she saw you?"

Dean relaxed a bit and let go of the air he was holding in, he was safe, for the moment anyway, but he needed to respond. He thought about telling a lie and going for something innocent like a novel, but the angel didn't deserve that. "I… I was umm… I was looking for this" he walked a few steps to take an old book from an upper shelf and handed it to his Master.

The angel deadpanned, it was a Sanskrit dictionary, and the only reason he knew that was that he had asked his tutors about it once as a child. "Now I know you're lying. Please don't lie to me Dean, were you stealing something? I won't tell, but don't lie to me…" Cas was disappointed, he thought they were friends but apparently he was wrong, he was the most gullible person in the universe and there wasn't anybody he could trust in this house…

Dean widened his eyes and shook his head "I swear I wasn't stealing. I know it's a Sanskrit thesaurus, and I was looking for it because…" he lowered his voice almost to a whisper "because I needed it to make sense of something I'm translating…"

Wait, what?!

"You're telling me you know Sanskrit? And you're translating something? What are you working on? Where did you learn Sanskrit...? I never knew you could study it…" Cas was baffled, he wanted to know everything, and make sure Dean wasn't playing him because, let's face it, what?!

"Those are a lot of questions" Dean scratched the back of his head but his mouth was twitching on the corners, like fighting a small smile. "Please come with me so I can show you what I'm working on. I really hope you won't be mad at me when we're done, I really enjoy serving you in my full capacities" Dean was looking at him with hope in his eyes; he truly seemed honest so Cas was starting to really believe him.

The slave led the way into the third floor to a room Cas had almost forgotten about, his old uncle Metatron's study. When Dean opened the door Cas expected to find some dusty and abandoned place but instead encountered a tidy and spotless office crowded with books. Dean reached one of the desk's drawers and handed him an old leatherbound book whose title he couldn't read. He opened it and flipped some pages, but it was useless, the text was in some kind of language he had never even seen in his life, it didn't even look like Sanskrit at all. "This is what you're reading? What is it? Why…?"

Dean was biting his lips and it was something that, despite the delicate situation they were in, Cas couldn't help but think was adorable.

"It's a poems anthology, it's written in Curonian and, as you probably know, it translates easily into Sanskrit, but I was having problems with some of the rhymes, they didn't make sense, that's why I needed the dictionary…" Dean was clenching the hem of his shirt in his hands. The poems were the key to an old grimoire he was working on, but that would have to be left out, he wasn't ready to explain why he was researching spells.

"Where are your notes? How far have you gone?" Cas couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, but he was truly curious anyway.

"I don't keep notes, if someone were to find them it wouldn't be good for me… I 'm about half of it but I'll stop, I promise, please don't be mad at me, I won't do it again…"

Cas was astonished, if this was true, and it somehow seemed like it was, the man in front of him was a genius. Dean wasn't just able to translate from an extinct language to another obscure one, he was capable of doing so relying only on his memory? This was incredible.

No, it was impossible. The cynic part of him, the one that had gotten stronger since he moved back home, the part of him that, lately, only Dean, Jo and his uncle and auntie had the power to keep down suddenly burst back to life, loud and clear. Dean was playing him. "Read something for me, from this book"

Dean took the offered book and opened it in a specific page that was marked with a small piece of paper, old and yellowed by time. Cas thought how it was a clever way to conceal the bookmark, it looked like that could have been there forever. The man also fumbled with the newfound dictionary for a moment, going back and forth through the pages and tracing some of the words with his fingers. He took air in but stopped just before starting on it, like thinking hard what his next move could be. Cas waited patiently, he was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Dean closed his eyes and sighed, then reopened them and focused on the lines.

"I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,

That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,

In life after life, in age after age, forever…"

Dean lifted his eyes from the book and looked at him expectantly. Cas, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by what he had just witnessed, and surprised by the beauty of the words that just had filled the room, spoken in his own language nonetheless. Dean took a Curonian text, translated it into Sanskrit in his head to comprehend it, and then passed it to Enochian for him to understand it? It was indeed unexpected and it took him a moment to regain reign on his words, something hard to achieve after what just had been spoken. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Dean sighed again, and for a moment Cas could see the struggle behind his eyes. "I was born at Master Robert Singer's Household. He was Head of the Linguistics department at the Council and he worked at home. I worked with him translating and researching till he died. He taught me everything I know"

Cas knew the name from a portrait at the Council offices and was more than interested in Dean's story. "Let's go to my room, I want to hear everything" and grabbed Dean's hand in order to get him there. They were traversing the stairs when Jo spotted them, she was wearing the tunic and was about to enter Zachariah's room. She shyly smiled at them and waited for them to be gone before knocking on the door. Castiel made an effort and didn't think about it, he had more pressing matters at the moment.

Once in his room, Cas placed them at the armchairs by the fireplace and looked at Dean, who was staring at the floor. "What do you want to know, Master?" he asked softly.

"Is it… I'm sorry Dean, I'm very curious about all of this but you're not comfortable with telling, I can see that. I would really appreciate it if you choose to tell me your story, like you would to a friend" Cas was trying to be as calming and comforting as possible, and desperately trying to convince Dean he could trust him.

Dean snorted and lifted an eyebrow, his head was held a bit higher but he still wasn't meeting his eyes. "It's not like I can refuse to tell you whatever you wish to know, so please, Master, where do you wish for me to start my story?" his voice sounded bitter and Cas hated it, so he went with another approach.

"Well, given that you were juggling three languages without taking notes, I guess that watching me struggle with Greek must have been very funny to you" he laughed a little, hoping to lighten the mood.

Dean willingly took the bait and smiled softly "Nah, I could never laugh at someone who puts as much dedication as you do in your work, so no, I wouldn't laugh…"

Cas' smile softened at the remark, that was sweet. "Thank you for that, sometimes I feel like I really don't know what I'm doing…" The angel's wheels were turning while thinking about the implications of his friend's talent. "… you were always there when I… did you… Dean, you helped me figure how to proceed when I had problems with my work, right?" he was genuinely interested in his answer.

Dean was blushing and staring at the floor, like a school girl would do when asked who her crush was. "I'm sorry… you truly were struggling with those books… Please forgive me…"

"Forgive you…? Dean I'm glad you helped me… thank you for that!" Cas smiled at him and Dean finally lifted his head. They locked eyes for a moment, blue and green meeting for this rare occasion. Just for a moment.

The silence stretched between them till Dean cleared his throat. "I… umm… I'm sorry Master but I can't believe that you're not mad at me for keeping this from you, thank you…" Dean was bewildered. "I umm... I'll tell you anything you wish to know"

Cas smiled at him but he knew that it was still an order in a way. "It's alright, I know you'll tell me when you're ready… but it's alright… It's late Dean, you should go rest. Goodnight"

"Goodnight Master" Dean couldn't help the wide smile that took over his face before leaving the angel's room. He felt lighter, his Master really was a good person and this was definitely bringing them closer, something Dean was deeply craving by now.

Definitely the best St. Valentine Day's night ever for the both of them.

Author's Note: Dean was reading a poem from Rabindranat Tagore called 'Unending love'. I think those lines properly describe any AU fanfic starring your OTP.