Mature rating for this chapter, it doesn't get that bad but there are still some sexual themes
Bathing Castiel went a bit smoother than Dean had anticipated, at least his torso. Cas was more than happy to let Dean scrub him down, though Dean had to pause when he got to Cas' waistline. He couldn't help but wonder if it was okay to just reach down there, he was just going to wash Cas off so it couldn't be so bad, right? It wasn't like he was molesting and doing things against Cas' will, right?
Dean sighed to himself; he'd have to give that another few minutes before he was ready to do it. Instead he put his hands on Cas' shoulders, "Alright, let's get your hair wet." He said with a smile as he tried to slowly lower Cas into the water.
At first Castiel was cooperative, he stared up at Dean obediently sliding down, though clearly he wasn't thinking about the water. It encroached on his face as soon as he got low enough and he stiffened, Dean stopped and pulled Cas back up before there was a thrashing moment. Castiel shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands, a grumbled few chittering noises left his mouth.
Dean laughed a little though he wasn't sure what to do about it. Getting Cas to dunk his head in the water might take a little more effort than either of them were willing to put in. Dean looked up at the showerhead and realized it was removable. "Perfect, we'll use this instead." He grabbed it and snaked it down to Cas' side, part of him was worried Cas would flip out about the running water but he decided it was worth the risk.
He turned the water on again and noticed Cas' tense posture, "It's okay, Cas." He put a hand on Cas' shoulder and pulled the tab on the tap. Water rushed up through the hose and sputtered out of the showerhead in his hand, thoughtfully aimed away from Castiel entirely.
Cas exhaled and made a small grunt as he looked at Dean; Dean just took it as a sign that Cas was okay with it. "Pretty cool, right?" he asked as he lifted it closer, daring to spray Cas' chest a little bit.
Castiel nodded with a little squeak and took it from Dean's hands, immediately turning it to look at where the water was coming from. It sprayed him in the face and he dropped it with a sharp 'gah!'
Dean snorted out a laugh as he tried to get control of it; he was so tired from the day and lack of sleep at night that he couldn't help it. Castiel was pouting and Dean was barely holding himself up against the tub as he giggled away.
"Why did you do that?" He hardly managed to ask through his fit, his sides were starting to hurt.
Castiel's pout slipped away and he smiled back, a little laugh bubbling up in his chest too. He took the showerhead back from Dean's weakened grip and turned it on Dean's face for a second. The Winchester sputtered and fell away from the tub, surprised at first but it only served to make him laugh harder.
"Okay, okay," he wheezed and got back onto his knees beside the tub and took it from Cas again, "Close your eyes."
Dean's instruction came with a demonstration and Cas listened, a content smile on his lips as Dean washed the top of his head. Dean grabbed the shampoo he'd brought and lathered up his hands, "Keep 'em closed," he said as he pushed the scented goo into Cas' hair. It was kinda fun to play around with Castiel's hair; he rubbed it in deep and scrunched it up through to the ends. He heard Cas sniffing repeatedly and knew it was because of the shampoo.
"Things are gonna be a little stinky," Dean chuckled and put his hand over Cas' slowly opening eyes, "Not yet, close 'em."
Castiel grunted in reply but kept his eyes shut. Dean turned the pressure up on the shower and went back to work on Cas' hair. It was really easy, Cas even listened enough to keep the chemicals out of his eyes. Dean coated his hair in conditioner next and let it sit as he started to rinse the soap off of the rest of him.
Castiel sniffed some more and put his fingers in his hair to feel the new liquid added to it.
"Don't eat it,"
Dean knew that Cas didn't listen or didn't understand because seconds later the winged boy was spitting and sticking his tongue out in disgust.
"I told you not to eat it."
Cas glowered at him, tongue still hanging out of his mouth.
Within a few minutes Cas' entire upper half was clean and though Dean wanted to convince himself that just sitting in the water was good enough to clean the rest, he knew better. "This is going to be a little weird," he explained calmly, hoping to show as little stress about it as possible. He liked Cas, he did, but Cas couldn't say he wanted anything like that to happen. It made Dean feel uncomfortable at best, but it was just a bath. He told himself this over and over as he grabbed his soap and lathered up his hands.
"Okay," he took a breath and looked at Cas who seemed curious but not worried. "I've gotta clean you up, okay?" He wasn't sure why he kept saying it; maybe repeating it would help Cas understand better. Regardless he reached down into the heated water, his face feeling warmer than before as his fingers traced past Cas' thigh. He took another slow breath and wrapped his fingers around the base of Cas' cock, it was difficult to ignore the soft gasp and little moan that Cas let out but Dean managed to do it. He gently rubbed Cas clean and moved his fingers back to get underneath.
Castiel shifted awkwardly, trying to let Dean get at him a little easier but he wasn't used to the slipperiness of the porcelain surface. His heels slid and his wings fluttered, all attempts were made to prop himself up for Dean's touch.
But it didn't last that long, Dean moved on as quickly as he could while still doing a good job. He refused to be a pervert or someone who'd take advantage of another person; that just wasn't him. Cas whined at him but Dean shook his head.
"Not until you can say yes and mean it," he said sternly and Cas pouted. It still wasn't going to work, though Dean had to repeat those words in his head. He'd been avoiding the thought but it was pretty clear that he'd definitely give Cas a chance if Cas were more recovered from the experiments. Dean smiled a little; he was glad he could get an answer to that question by accident, it left out all the guesswork.
With Castiel all clean Dean helped him out of the tub, "There you go," he grinned and messed up Cas' damp hair. "Good as new."
Cas squeaked his approval and hurried back to their bed, jumping into the covers and rolling around. Dean wished he could've dried Cas off a little more before that happened but he supposed a wet Cas was as good as any, he could live with a soggy bed for one night.
Over the next few hours Dean spent his time putting his shit away, he didn't want to leave it as it was. Making his new room feel like home was important, putting up his photos helped more than putting his clothes in a wardrobe and he couldn't help but sit and stare at old trinkets. It took much longer than it should've but he enjoyed it.
Then he came across a few things he didn't recognize. Sam had gotten everything right up until that point, but there were some items Dean knew for a fact weren't his. He didn't own a dildo like that one he'd found in his possession. It was tucked neatly away with Dean's other toys – a cheaper dildo, a remote-controlled vibrator, and a butt plug- but he'd never seen this one before. It was in perfect shape, very well taken care of and stored properly – Dean had to do some research on how to do that when he bought his own, he was practically an expert. He could tell it was expensive, too. It was sleek and had several vibration intensities and modes, it even had its own fancy bag.
While he knew that Sam had packed it away and he knew that if it wasn't his then it could only be one person's, he wasn't sure he was prepared to make that connection just yet. So how the hell was he going to give it back to the rightful owner? He couldn't just go knocking at the door; it'd be too awkward. He could see it happening, 'Hey man, I got your vibrating dildo, Sam put it in my stuff by accident.'
No, the better option was give it back to Sam. He nodded firmly and went to the door; peering into the hall he saw no one and decided that it was safe to head out. Cas chirped behind him, his hair a fuzzy mess and pantsless, he followed Dean out of their room.
Dean knew he had to be quiet because all their rooms were very close to one another, plus it was a little late already. He knocked lightly at Sam's door, his face intense and his hands starting to feel a little sweaty. He glanced at Jet's door anxiously then quickly knocked again, "Sam," he hissed once just before it opened.
Sam yawned, rubbing one eye he muttered a little too loudly "What do you-"
"Shhhh," Dean shoved the item into Sam's hands, "This isn't mine. Good night." He shuffled away quickly, leaving Sam blinking dumbfoundedly holding a dildo in a bag.
"But you have all those-"
"Still not mine," Dean said as he hurried Cas into his room again and closed the door; a sigh of relief was his reward. Dean walked back to the bed and dropped into it, he'd done a lot of organizing that day and a lot of sorting his shit, he figured it was time to take a break. Cas crawled onto the bed with him and curled up, he was clean, smelled like Dean, he was happy.
Just as Dean thought his day was pretty much over he heard a light tap on his door. His heart jumped and he silently prayed that it was Bobby or Charlie. "Come in," he said after tossing the blanket over Cas' nakedness.
The door clicked and a red-haired head peeked inside, "Uh, hi Dean." Charlie gave a short wave and slipped inside, closing the door behind her. "Can I talk for a minute?"
"Totally," Dean smiled, relieved that it was Sam or Jet but a bit concerned that Cas hadn't put pants on yet. "I just helped Cas take a bath, shouldn't smell so funky now." He admitted in advance, just in case she asked him why.
She laughed a little, "I can tell by his hair, he always hated how crazy it could get without products." Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed, her eyes were on Cas but Dean could tell it was a very distant kind of gaze.
He glanced at Cas who was smiling at her regardless of her melancholy vibes. "So… what's up?" Dean asked with as much care as he could without being insulting, Charlie was looking at her old best friend who'd gone through numerous brain surgeries and body modifications against his will. He could only imagine what that might be like, he could put himself in both Charlie's and Michael's shoes. If the thing that happened to Cas happened to Sam or Jet he was sure he'd lose his mind. He'd go on the same hunt Charlie did to find his best friend. He knew that if he hadn't heard anything about where his brother had gone for four years he'd be pissed at anyone who brought it up. Dean could get into the mindset Charlie was in but he knew he couldn't really understand her pain. So instead he spoke gently and hoped she'd feel comfortable around him.
Charlie was quiet for a while as she rested her hand on Cas' head and started to slowly comb his wild hair into its rightful shape. "I just… I can tell that Cas really likes you, and I know it's because you saved him from the basement." She took a deep breath and looked at Dean sternly, "I want you to promise me you'll take care of him."
Dean hadn't expected the conversation to come at him that night but that didn't change his answer. He looked her right in the eye and nodded, "I swear to you I will take care of Castiel, and I don't just mean I'll passively let him do things and not hurt him. I mean I'll help him find himself again; I'll help him figure out how to be Castiel and teach him anything he can't remember on his own. I won't leave him, I'll never hurt him if I can help it, and I'll make sure he can be the best version of Cas he wants to be."
Any doubt that was in her face vanished and Charlie just sat there smiling as tears slipped down her cheeks. "Thank you," she said calmly, her voice a very steady whisper. "I'll be here to help now too, so I hope we can get him back on track."
"I'm glad you're here," Dean sighed with a smile, "Though to be honest I thought you were going to try and take Cas away."
"While I'd love to take him home and pretend he'd just turn back to normal, that's not our reality right now." She wiped her eyes and went back to fixing Cas' hair, he was pleased and held still for her. "Besides, when Cas decides he wants to be somewhere it's damned near impossible to get him to go anywhere else."
"Sounds like I would've loved to meet him before all this happened,"
Charlie laughed softly, "He would've been all over you, Cas loved pretty boys with freckles."
"You think I'm pretty?" Dean grinned and she shrugged, deflating his ego a little.
"I guess so? Not really my type."
"Yeah, I thought not." Dean's grin widened as he thought about Cas and how Cas always stared at his face. Maybe that was why; Cas really liked freckles.
Author's Note:
Thank you for following this story you guys and keeping me going through all the craziness my mind decides to put me through. I am grateful to have you all with me and even more grateful for those that take the time to comment even once. I know the holidays aren't good for everyone, me included, so I write to keep myself busy. Maybe some of you read to do the same, I'm not sure. But if you do, I hope I can help even a little bit by uploading during the holidays. Take care guys xoxo
