They did make it to the bed, eventually, after spending some time on the couch and then up against the wall. The bed was freshly made and welcoming, eager to be messed up as Dean fell onto it from being carried, and Cas was back on top of him in an instant, the two of them grinding together in ferocious harmony, wedded harmony, naked but for their rings, which they would never take off.

After a time, they fell back against the pillows, breathing heavily, side by side. Moments later, Dean turned on his side and buried his face in Cas's side, feeling Cas rub his back and wrap his arms around him, strong and secure. Dean pressed his lips to Cas's skin, warm and flushed and smooth, dragging his lips over as much of the area as he could without having to move much. The late nights and early mornings of their journey here were getting to him, but he didn't want to close his eyes no matter how much they begged him to. Eventually Cas's trailing fingers and the rhythm of his breathing against Dean's forehead forced him to, and then he was out, early, light still peering in through the window and illuminating the two of them as they lay, Dean asleep, Cas still awake.

Castiel, angel of the lord, fierce warrior of heaven, was now a married man, with a gold ring on his finger and a man at his side, breathing against him, arm across his hips and even in sleep clutching onto him for dear life. As if he was going anywhere.

Cas was staying right by Dean's side as they galloped forth into an unknown future. He had always been planning on staying by his side, even back when Dean still had the Mark of Cain and he was going to stay with him and watch him murder the world, still doing everything he could to get the real Dean, his Dean, to come back to him. And if Dean's eyes turned black and he turned on Cas, Cas would cover those eyes and remember what should have been, the green depths of beauty that were once there, as he died satisfied with the fact that he'd done everything he could to get his Dean back.

He was prepared to die for him in purgatory, staying one step ahead of him and fighting off as many monsters as he could, just so Dean had a shot at getting out, at getting back, at surviving even if it was without him.

He'd been prepared to die for him, die with him, never hurt him, since forever.

And now he didn't have to do any of that. He got to live for him, live with him, for forever.

But a normal forever. Not a forever of grey trees and fighting monsters, and not a forever of an angel trying to stop a man kept alive by a mark on his arm. A real, true, human forever.

It was like he'd always been destined for humanity.

He remembered when he'd fallen, when Metatron had taken his grace. He had said that he hadn't been good at being an angel, but he could be good at being human. Now he knew that no matter what he was, angel or human or anything else, it wasn't about whether he was good at being that or not. It was whether or not he was willing to embrace the life he wanted.

Inevitably, he would have been human though, even if he was still an angel. Today, their wedding day, was the day he would've given up his grace for Dean if he still had it, so the two of them could grow old together and live out their lives the way they chose. The fact that he had been willing to make that sacrifice was enough, even though now he didn't have to.

He would sacrifice anything for Dean, if it meant that Dean got to be happy and live the life he deserved. He would even give up Dean for Dean, as he had been willing to time and time again.

He remembered watching him rake leaves, a lifetime ago, invisible, just to see Dean live out a life he'd always deserved.

Next time he watched Dean rake leaves, or do anything of the sort, Dean would know he was there and he would be living out the life he deserved, too.

Everything he'd done, he'd thought he was doing right at the time, despite the things that turned out to be bad.

He deserved this.

He'd earned it.

Dean stirred, his hand sliding upwards and onto Cas's stomach. Cas placed his hand on top of Dean's, lacing their fingers together. Their left hands. Their wedding rings further solidifying they needed each other, their matching leather straps which were discarded with their clothes on the floor showing that not only did they need each other, but they wanted each other.

Castiel found himself very comfortable with these thoughts and his situation as he allowed himself to drift off to sleep, a rest well-earned and well needed.

Castiel awoke an hour and a half later, to find Dean had vanished from his side, but had appeared perched in his lap, their lips coming apart as Cas's eyes opened.

'Hey,' Dean said quietly.

'Hey,' Cas greeted, automatically smiling as he woke up with the most beautiful thing in the world to gaze up at. 'What time is it?'

'A little after eight,' Dean told him, rubbing his hands comfortingly down Cas's chest. 'At night,' he added, just to clarify. 'You look pretty,' he added another thing, smiling cutely down at Cas's sleepy gaze.

'You look pretty,' Castiel corrected, putting his hands on Dean's thighs.

'You just woke up,' Dean scoffed. 'You don't know what you're saying.'

'I know exactly what I'm saying,' Castiel corrected. He grazed his hands upwards over Dean's sides, making Dean shiver slightly. 'What are you doing?'

Dean shrugged.

'Looking at you,' he answered. 'I don't have any definite plans. I just figured I'd better wake you or else we'll be up early in the morning.'

'Get off,' Cas requested, beginning to sit up as Dean followed that request. He sat on the edge of the bed, stretching, Dean watching his back muscles work as they flexed, tightened and relaxed, black tattooed wings flexing with them..

Dean kissed Cas's shoulder blade. Castiel smiled, looking down, then looked to the side as Dean joined him on the side of the bed, smiling lazily and gazing at Cas, not even concentrating on doing it, but just doing it just … because. Castiel gently took Dean's chin between his thumb and the side of his index finger and kissed him, applying the lightest amount of pressure on his lips, letting his hand drop as he leaned back, separating their kiss.

'What do you feel like doing for the next few hours?' Dean asked, pressing his lips against the side of Cas's neck and murmuring against his skin.

'I don't know,' Castiel replied, smirking as Dean nuzzled him, feeling tongue occasionally join lips, and then Dean began to suck lightly. 'It seems like you have something in mind.'

'I was thinking,' Dean mumbled, barely lifting his mouth, 'we could watch a movie … but not pay attention to it.'

'That sounds like a plan,' Castiel approved, as Dean pulled away from his neck and went to stand, pulling him up with him.

Dean dragged Cas over to the couch, ignoring their clothes on the ground, and pushed him down onto it. The fabric was soft against his bare skin, something he hadn't discovered when fooling around on it the first time because they were so busy with the removal of shoes and socks and pants, then Cas pulled Dean up again, shedding their underwear as they slammed against the wall, Dean's back against it, his legs around Cas's waist and Cas's fingers inside him …

Cas was growing hard again at the thought.

Dean left him again to grab his laptop and connect up Netflix and whatnot, going into the movies section.

'Any suggestions?' Dean asked, teasing by how slowly he was scrolling.

'I literally couldn't care less,' Castiel replied.

'Boring rom-com it is,' Dean decided, grinning at Cas as he selected a random one and let it start playing as he placed the laptop down, then the remote right next to it.

Dean walked slowly over to Cas and perched himself right in his lap, his legs the perfect seat, his neck the perfect thing to throw his arms around and his jawline the perfect thing to kiss, right up under his ear, sucking on the stubble-covered skin and grazing his lips against the roughness, dragging them down to work on the side of his chin then under it where jaw started to connect to neck, then down even farther to the place the place purple was already blooming, carving a path past it down to the collarbone.

Castiel closed his eyes and tilted his head back as Dean did his work, the fact that there was the opening of a movie audible in the background a completely irrelevant thing. The sensation of soft and rough, smooth and scratchy, lips and whiskers dragging along his flushed skin, made him want Dean to both speed up and go south, yet also stay as painfully slow as he was going as Cas's fingertips padded across the skin of Dean's lower back, his other hand caressing his thigh and what was between both thighs, and upon discovering Dean was still soft after wondering fucking how that was possible he started appreciating the fact that Dean was being completely selfless … this seemed to be all for Cas, despite Dean seeming to get pleasure out of it.

Cas was going to be covered in hickeys by the end of this. It was almost like Dean was claiming him as his own, marking his territory, like Cas had branded Dean when he pulled him out of hell, and that brand had later become a tattoo of his handprint, which Cas placed his hand over now, as Dean's lips grazed his nipple and began sucking on the skin close to it, a mark likely to appear there too, Dean's mark, Dean's claim, no one else's.

It must have taken ten minutes for Dean to make it onto his knees on the ground in front of him, and another five for him to actually acknowledge Cas's arousal, instead having focused on Cas's hips, then down his thighs, inner and outer and finally in between as Cas relaxed, using one hand to pet Dean's hair, dragging his fingers through it and stroking down the side of Dean's hollowed cheek. He used the other hand when Dean released him, licking the head by itself, to grab himself and graze the tip over Dean's waiting lips and tongue as Dean tried to follow his movements before he sank his mouth back down so far it was like he was going to swallow him whole.

When Cas came, not a drop made it onto the floor or onto the couch or onto his own legs, and then Dean was in his lap again, now hard because of the noises Cas had been making, so Cas took him in his hand almost as though it was obligatory and locked their eyes together, moving his hand up and down, quickly, slowly, twisting it and keeping it still, focusing only on the head and then sinking all the way back down, caressing the shaft before continuing.

Dean's climax wasn't as controlled as Cas's had been, and it went all over the two of them and a little got on the couch cushion which they made a note to flip later and then they stayed together, Dean still in Cas's lap and Cas holding him tightly, finally starting to pay attention to the movie and attempting to catch themselves up with what had happened.

That random click had been a lucky one. Not only was Jim Carrey in this, aka one of Dean's favorite actors who he loved in Liar Liar and various other movies, but it was a gay thing. Talk about their good luck with irony, and it turned out to be a very interesting movie, and Dean usually hated these same-old rom-com types, only having chosen that genre because, well, he'd just gotten married and a romantic comedy seemed more appealing than a plain old romantic movie without comedy.

When the movie ended, the duo headed to the bathroom to clean up, talking about the movie as they did so, working in harmony as they had last night, using a damp towel to clean themselves off instead of a shower which would be better for the morning.

Tonight when climbing into bed they could appreciate it more because they were more alert. They slid into the middle together, arms reaching for each other and finding their way securely around one and other as they leaned back against the pillows, although Dean preferred Cas's chest which he rested his head on, securely nestled into his side, one of Cas's legs between his own.

'So, good day,' Dean commented, as casual as if it had been a day of lounging around the bunker doing nothing at all.

'Very good,' Castiel agreed. 'Shopping … marriage … revolving restaurant … movie … that diner from earlier was good.'

'It was,' Dean agreed, nodding against Cas's chest. 'We should go there for breakfast tomorrow.'

'Then we will,' Castiel decided for the two of them. 'Tomorrow …'

'A whole free day.'

'And two more after that.'

'So much we could do,' Dean mused, laughing into Cas's warmth. 'We have to pick up our pictures tomorrow. And our video.'

'And after that?'

'Anything we want,' Dean grinned, although Castiel couldn't see the grin. 'I think we should go out. Tomorrow. Look around. Do more than shopping. And then Saturday … we do the opposite. Break out the sofa bed and stay in all day watching shit.'

'And Sunday?'

'We can figure that out when we get there.'

Castiel nodded, tightening his arms around Dean. Making sure Dean was safe within them, even though he knew he was. Would always be. Cas would always be there, like he always had been, to shelter Dean from harm whether there was harm impending or not.

'I'm tired,' he stated, after yawning once, his chest heaving, Dean's head rising up on it but no complaints being made.

'It's been a long day,' Dean pointed out. 'A long few days, actually.'

'But worth it.'

'Oh, definitely worth it.'

There was a pause, with nothing left to say for tonight.

'I love you,' Castiel stated.

Dean sat up, Cas loosening his arms when he did, letting Dean kiss him.

'I love you too,' Dean whispered on his lips.

Dean slid back down and turned on his side, his back to Cas. Cas turned in the same direction and wrapped his arms around Dean from behind, burying his face in his neck. His hand slipped up onto Dean's shoulder, fitting right into the handprint tattooed there, again, again and always.

They didn't speak again, falling asleep shortly afterwards with no worries or cares in the world, even if just for a few days.

They woke up late the next morning, sprawled out in opposite directions with the blankets a mess. Dean woke first and pushed the covers off of himself, too warm in the heat of their hotel room. The cool air was sudden and harsh but not unwelcome and the stretches that followed were deeply satisfying. With a groan he let his shoulders drop back down once he'd finished stretching his back and he turned on his side, pushed down the lump the covers he'd pushed away made and started to survey Cas, who was still asleep and facing him.

Dean was laying next to his sleeping husband. A word so completely foreign to him. He'd assumed he'd never do the whole marriage thing … yet here was this angel who had gripped him tight and held on until there were rings on their fingers and an unclear and new path about to weave out in front of them.

He had to admit that he had in fact thought about it before, in his deepest, most secret of fantasies and dreams, when he'd finally accepted that yes, he was in love with Cas, he didn't just want him to fuck him one time to get the physical attraction out of the way. But then, he'd also accepted that he could never tell Cas because Cas could never, ever, feel that way about him.

But he did. And here they were. And there Cas was, rolling onto his back as he awoke, blue eyes blinking at the ceiling, strong legs kicking off heavy and annoying blankets.

Dean scooted over and closed the distance between them, planting a kiss on Cas's shoulder. Cas turned his head to look at him, a sleepy smile radiating ultimate beauty and Dean flashed him a goofy grin back.

'Good morning, Castiel Winchester,' Dean cooed into the skin of Cas's shoulder, pressing another kiss against it and another few down his upper arm.

'Say it again,' Castiel commanded.

'Say what again?' Dean teased.

'You know what,' Cas scolded.

'Oh. You mean Castiel Winchester? You like the sound of that or something?'

'Yes,' Cas hissed, turning onto his side so he could throw his arms around Dean and press the two of them together, including their lips which collided in what was probably the fiercest morning kiss in all of history. 'I do like the sound of that.'

'I like the look of your collarbone … hell, a lot of places from the neck down,' Dean replied slyly. 'Been experimenting with purple paint, or …?'

'More like pink,' Castiel corrected. 'And more like lips. These lips.'

Cas grabbed Dean by the chin and kissed him again, pressing his lips onto his hard. When he pulled back his lips were like a suction vice, and once Dean was free to smile he did so goofily and a little sleepily, gazing fondly at the man just inches from his face.

'I like that better than the paint thing,' Dean giggled, yes, giggled, his giddiness making Castiel laugh, close his eyes and turn his head downwards so his forehead rested against Dean's chin.

'Come on,' Castiel mummed, speaking to Dean's neck, 'let's get up. We said we'd go out today.'

'But I'm comfortable,' Dean whined.

'And we said we'd stay in bed all day tomorrow. Besides, we have pictures to look at and I want breakfast first.'

'Ca-as ...'

'No,' Castiel said promptly, pulling back and away from Dean's grip with a struggle, because Dean was holding onto him pretty tightly.

Dean groaned, throwing his arms around Cas's waist from behind as Castiel sat on the edge of the bed and then stood up, Dean's upper body being pulled forwards and upwards with him with Dean's face landing rather spectacularly in Cas's ass. He buried his face in it, kissing all he could reach while pulling backwards, but Cas grabbed his hands and pushed them away from where they were locked together around his waist and then proceeded to walk forward, Dean left moaning in annoyance and hanging over the edge of the bed.

Groaning, Dean clambered to his feet and followed Cas, throwing his arms around him again but he was unresponsive until they reached the shower, where he finally turned towards Dean and placed a light kiss on his lips.

'You're so needy,' Cas smiled, kissing him again as the water cascaded down, cold but fast warming, giving them a jolt and waking them up.

'Well, you do know I need you,' Dean grinned with a waggle of his eyebrows, his arms locked around Cas's waist and his hands resting on top of Cas's ass.

'I know,' Castiel replied, tightening his arms around Dean, 'your ring says so.'

'So does yours.'

'I know that, too,' Castiel confirmed, tilting his head while surveying Dean with utmost love and admiration. 'I didn't always know. I didn't always believe. But I do now.'

'Me too,' Dean grinned, their smiles bumping together as they leaned in to kiss.

They stared at each other for several seconds when they came apart, and then it was business as usual for the rest of the morning.

Their shower consisted of lots of helping each other out with washing their backs and Dean getting too carried away with it, lots of light laughter and then laughter that was less light when Dean dropped a small bottle of shampoo on his foot and swore and whimpered because 'it hit me right on the bone, Cas! It's not fucking funny you dick!'

'We haven't even been married a day and you're already calling me profanities,' Castiel disapproved, frowning at Dean's angry glare. 'That's hardly fair unless I get to call you one too.'

'Go ahead. I fucking dare you.'

'Dare accepted, asshole,' Castiel shrugged, and turned his back on Dean's suffering.

Their little spat was soon forgotten as they all were once they were out of the shower and began the rest of their readying themselves for the day.

Cas wore one of his new button up shirts and wore it with several buttons undone at the top, plus the leather jacket that made Dean look as though he were going to die with his longing looks. Dean was a little slower to get ready, because he'd been watching and admiring Cas most of the morning, still finding it hard to believe that this man, this glorious man, was his. Finding it hard to believe that this was the man who had once been confused by every joke, found weird, deep heavenly meaning in most things, wore the same outfit every day and was afraid to express himself for who he truly was.

And now he was here purposefully making himself look more attractive, giving Dean sly looks and smirks because he knew exactly what he was fucking doing, and as they spoke he understood every joke and every euphemism that would have stumped him two months ago, and he was making them right back.

'Well, are we going?' Castiel asked for the second time, Dean not having heard him the first.

Dean responded by walking straight over to him and throwing his arms around him, glowing with pride and love and respect and awe and gratitude. He kissed him on the cheek, hard, and said, 'yeah, let's go.'

And so out they went with wedding rings and matching leather straps on their wrists, finally united in a way the entire world could see as they walked through the hotel imagining that somehow, people, strangers, were seeing them differently than they had before. It was like it was obvious that they were married and everyone in the hotel, on the streets and then at Roxy's Diner could tell, which was where they got their breakfast.

Their server was the same one as yesterday, and was quick to notice the wedding rings that hadn't been there yesterday.

'Breakfast is on the house for you two,' she said kindly. 'But don't tell anyone I'm giving you two special treatment. A dozen newlyweds pass through here every day and get nothing of such.'

'Our lips are sealed,' Dean promised, and the woman winked as she passed by.

'I wonder why she gave us special treatment?' Castiel asked, frowning at Dean across the table.

'Because we're cute,' Dean grinned, grabbing Cas's hand and holding it in the middle of the table, stroking his thumb across the back of it. 'That's why.'

Their breakfast did not disappoint and was just as good as their lunch had been yesterday. The toast was perfectly crunchy with plenty of butter, not burned or soggy even a crumb, and the eggs which in some diners were often too runny or sticky were perfect in the omelets they ordered. They were congratulated again by their server when they left.

Next they had to pick their pictures and get their video, back at the hotel, which was a thrilling experience because although the ceremony had been simple and didn't seem like a huge deal, it meant a lot to them and to have something to look back on, stick up on their wall at home with the rest of their things, was something they cherished.

When they got their pictures back to their room, it was more than tempting to take pictures of them and send them to Sam, but their marriage had to be a surprise when they got back to bunker, so he could watch the DVD which they settled on the couch to watch, as short and simple and sweet as they remembered. Dean nestled his face into Cas's neck as they watched and Cas kissed his forehead softly and it was over too soon.

'Best. Movie. Ever,' Dean stated as it ended, making Cas laugh out loud and place his hand over his mouth to stifle it. Dean pulled that hand away, complaining, 'no. Stop. I like hearing you laugh.'

So Castiel laughed until he was done.

Having seen the DVD, they finally decided to put those blank discs they'd gotten at Walmart to use, so they uploaded all the little videos they'd taken together on Dean's phone, including the one Claire took at Christmas, onto Dean's laptop, and then it was a matter of googling things and figuring out how to make a playlist on Window's Media Player to get them all onto the disc. They watched that DVD, too, and despite most of the videos being stupid and under a minute long, just them laughing, or them kissing, or them laying together and saying things to each other while looking between each other and the camera, they still meant as much as the video of their wedding.

And now that it was midday, it was finally time to go out like they'd planned.

It turned out there were a lot of things to do in Vegas during the day, but not a lot of them were altogether appealing. They threw around ideas of things they found on the internet, like driving out of the city and visiting the Grand Canyon, but Dean had seen it half a dozen times and it was one of the many places Cas had already visited as an angel. Other options were a roller coaster thing, a case solving thing, a museum, a tour of a dam and a bus tour. The last option seemed appealing, but they'd have to book tickets so they decided against it.

'We should just walk around,' Dean suggested, looking out the window. 'Go into random stores and don't buy anything. Or hell, do if there's something either of us likes the look of. Look at buildings. Check out all the attractions we can see on foot. It's a damn vacation, we should treat it like one.'

'And if we get lost?' Castiel challenged.

'Then we get lost,' Dean shrugged. 'Come on. Are we going or what?'

Castiel grabbed his jacket which he'd removed to watch the DVDs and threw it back on, Dean practically trembling to behold the site.

'We're going,' Castiel confirmed, accepting the hand that Dean had held out.

They left the hotel in as high spirits as they'd left in earlier; possibly higher after watching the DVDs. The first thing they did when they got outside was take a picture together outside the hotel, and then another one after Cas seized the phone and photographed them as he kissed Dean's cheek, Dean looking both surprised and joyous.

They took pictures in a lot of places around the city, in front of pretty buildings and once Dean took a picture of Cas patting a stray dog that had come up to him to sniff his feet. They went into several shops and didn't end up buying anything, and they got ice cream and ate it as they walked around the streets, laughing about things they saw, or saw people doing. Every few blocks they ran into a street performer, and a woman on stilts let them take pictures with her, and so did two drag queens on the corner doing challenges for money for a competition, the challenges being fed to them through an earpiece. Dean ended up letting one of the queens draw a dick on his arm, where Cas helped the other one out by letting her put whipped cream on his face and lick it off.

'That was quite possibly the weirdest thing I've ever done,' Castiel said, laughing as he and Dean walked away after taking pictures with both queens.

'Vegas, baby!' Dean announced to the sky, loudly, laughing. 'You never know what you'll run– dude, Elvis!'

There was an Elvis impersonator taking song requests on the next corner, so Dean and Cas stayed to watch for a while. He had a guitar with him and he was pretty good at doing the Elvis voice, too, and he was wearing the classic white bedazzled Elvis costume, with the big hair and the shades to go with it. Dean and Cas were among many to take pictures with him before they moved on, and they dropped a dollar in his dollar filled guitar case for good measure.

There was a guy juggling flaming knives on one street, and there was a mime on that same street, and a block over there was a man who had completely bronzed himself and was standing like a statue and whenever someone dropped money in the extra hat by his feet he came alive.

Walking the streets was so much better than any tour they could have gone on or any attraction they could have visited. They saw more and got to do more and weren't shepherded around like sheep or stuck in one spot or stuck sharing their experience with strangers. The only strangers they shared it with were performers and kind strangers they met as they walked, occasionally going in circles because everything changed so quickly it was easy to forget that they'd already walked a certain street.

They walked so much that there feet hurt and they got so far away from their hotel that they didn't know where the hell they were, so they had to get a cab back to it while laughing about how they'd joked about getting lost, when they hadn't really expected to. They were laughing at just about anything at this point through, making all of the excuses to lean against each other and grin at each other and probably thoroughly confuse their driver as they exited at the hotel, still cackling.

They reached their room and dumped their jackets on the couch which they collapsed down on side by side, their laughter having finally died down as they walked through the hotel. They slouched together, sighing, their shoulders and heads colliding as they did and they sighed together.

There was a prolonged silence as the two of them sat there.

And then, 'I'm bored.'

'Me too!' Dean exclaimed, zipping up into an upright sitting position quickly, watching Cas get into one more slowly next to him. 'It's like … there's nothing else to do. '

'We've got our plans for tomorrow,' Castiel listed, 'but nothing for the rest of today or for Sunday. It's still early. It's barely even evening.'

'I feel like we're supposed to be doing all this crazy fun stuff,' Dean told him, 'but when I'm with you I don't feel like … wasting away time at a Casino getting drunk on free drinks at the Black Jack table. And I don't feel like visiting shows full of half-naked women. I just … want to do whatever you want to do. And I don't know what you want to do.'

'I just want to be with you,' Castiel shrugged. 'And … I don't know, do something I previously never would have thought of. Like, let's … go to a Casino tonight.'

'For real?'

'Yes,' Castiel decided. 'But we don't have to get drunk on free drinks. We don't have to waste money on slot machines. We do what you're good at and place small bets on things in an attempt to win bigger money. You're good at reading people, you earn half of your money gambling. Most, actually.'

'Okay, yeah,' Dean nodded excitedly, 'we can do that.'

'And we'll need to have dinner first,' Castiel pointed out.

'We can do that too. Stay in with room service or get out of the room?'

'As nice as this room is, we agreed to spend all of tomorrow basking in the glory of that,' Castiel replied logically, 'so I say, out. But I think we should wash up first, because we smell like the city and like sweat from walking.'

Dean smirked as an idea struck him and he climbed into Cas's lap.

'We could fuck in the bath,' he suggested. 'Like not get out of it this time. We could fuck in it, then go eat, then hit up a Casino.'

'But the lube would wash off in the water,' Castiel pointed out.

'I can kneel up,' Dean shrugged. 'Then once you're inside we can get farther down in the water. It'd be fun, come on.'

'I'm not saying no,' Castiel assured him, pulling him to his feet. 'I'm saying … you go set up and I'll look up somewhere we can eat and make reservations if need be.'

'Well, look at you,' Dean grinned. 'A month and a half ago you were doing research and watching TV and Netflix and not eating or sleeping or any of that crap, and here you are making dinner reservations and gambling plans.'

'Well, what can I say?' Castiel asked, shrugging. 'I adapt quickly. I'm better at humanity this time around, because I wasn't thrust suddenly into it, unwilling and just … grudgingly doing what I could to survive. This time, the humanity crept in before the literal definition of humanity. The moving into the bunker, the trip with Sam, the trips with you, our relationship, Christmas and interaction with others, slowly becoming literally human … it was never about whether I was an angel or not or anything to do with that. It was about circumstance and opportunity to grow and learn and be something more than a tool in supernatural games.'

'And I think that journey,' said Dean, throwing his arms around Cas's waist and pecking him on the lips, 'is my favorite journey that I've ever taken with anyone. I'm glad to have been a part of all that.'

'Go be a naked part of all that,' Castiel instructed. 'And I'll join you soon.'

'Yes, sir,' Dean grinned, saluting and winking, as he turned away and headed towards the bathroom, walking proudly.

Castiel's research was quick, and it was a choice between three places, all of which were in the same hotel as they were in. He decided to choose the most casual seeming one, McCall's Heartland Grill. It seemed to fit the tone of the evening. There was the Sky Lounge and there was a place called Fellini's, but they seemed the kind for the more formal date like the one they'd had after getting married, where tonight they were just having some casual fucking, food and fun.

Damn he wished Dean had heard him use that phrase, because it was fucking genius. Maybe he'd say it out loud later and get it out of just his own mind.

There were no reservations needed, so he scoped out the menu, decided it looked good, and that was what he chose.

He shed his clothes before entering the bathroom, where Dean was sitting on the edge of the tub, naked and waiting for him, with towels and lube beside the sink.

'Ready for casual fucking, food and fun?' Castiel asked, grinning evilly.

'That was so lame,' said Dean as he stood up, 'but so fucking genius.'

'Yeah,' Castiel smirked, putting his hands on Dean's waist and sliding them around to his back, then lower down to his ass. 'That's me. Lame and so fucking genius. Now stop talking.'

Dean did just as he was commanded, and took a moment to consider how fucking lucky he was to have Cas when it came to this activity. Cas, who liked to be in charge and in control and liked to be the one to suggest new things or new positions. Cas, who liked to make him bend to his every will. Cas, who liked to take things slow as they spent time enjoying the warm water around them, grinding against each other and making it lap at their skin as they gently moved, and Cas, who liked to fuck him slowly on his knees, and then fall back so Dean was riding him, facing away as Cas relaxed back against the side of the tub, his hands on Dean's hips, fingers digging in as he guided Dean's frantic and hard movements and bounces up and down, and then sit up as Dean went on, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his back and rubbing and squeezing his dick, rubbing his thumb all around the head, practically milking it as he came into the water which clouded in one area before it began to spread through the rest of the water …

Cas came inside Dean shortly afterwards, and Dean lifted himself off of Cas and lowered himself back down between his legs, leaning back against his chest, slick and wet and warm from the water, Cas's arms wrapping securely around him from behind.

There was a pause of several minutes as their breathing evened out, and then Dean made a weird ass statement.

'It's so weird that dicks float.'

Castiel laughed and reached down farther to take hold of Dean's casually floating dick and give it a few strokes before he let go so that Dean shivered.

'Is that what we do now?' Castiel asked. 'Have sex, fall silent and then talk about weird shit?'

'Isn't that what married people do?' Dean asked, turning, churning the water with him, to lay against Cas on his stomach. 'Go from sex to casual odd discussions to discussing their taxes?'

'Dean, we don't pay taxes.'

'Ahhh, just like all the rich business men,' Dean grinned. 'Excellent. I'd like to be Donald Trump so I can make him withdraw from the presidential race, and make him stop tanning. The dude looks like season four Phi Phi O'hara.'

'Season what who?'

'Nothing,' Dean said quickly. 'At least Phi Phi stopped tanning, though. Trump looks like a Dorito.'

'Dean, please don't talk about the man with a mouth that looks like an asshole and hair that looks like a birds nest when we've just had sex. It will make me never want to have sex again.'

'Sorry,' Dean grinned up at him. 'But yes, Cas. This is what we do. Have sex and then talk about weird shit.'

'Wonderful,' Castiel replied sarcastically, looking down at the adorable, wet man resting his chin and looking up at him with a look in his eyes that made it seem like he was watching the world develop before his eyes. Cas would never, ever stop being grateful for how he'd gotten here, but for now, he'd stopped wondering, because he knew. He'd gotten here because he was meant to be here, with Dean, making the life he truly felt he deserved after years of thinking he deserved nothing but the suffering he was getting.

Dean's adoring eyes suddenly dropped the adoration factor as his eyebrows raised in surprise when the stomach he was leaning against growled.

'Hungry much?' Dean asked.

'We've been walking around for hours and we just had sex,' Castiel justified. 'That burns a lot of calories.'

'Then we should eat,' Dean stated obviously. 'Did you pick a place?'

'Right here in the hotel,' Castiel grinned, confirming it. 'I picked the most casual one. I hope you don't mind.'

'Not at all. So, we going?'

'Well, I think we should get dressed first …'

Dean rolled his eyes and pushed himself up onto his knees, sitting back on his heels which made his knees crack and made him wince.

'Ow,' Dean complained sulkily.

'You're getting old,' Castiel teased, sighing dramatically.

'Shut up, because you're fucking older.'

'I used to be an angel, you ass.'

'Yeah, but physically,' Dean explained.

'Dean, we've been over this,' Castiel reminded him. 'We've been over the fact that what used to be just a vessel is older than you are. That's not a secret.'

'But we never specified that that mean it means you're physically older than me,' Dean teased, grinning wickedly. 'Physically you're probably over forty, you know.'

'Shut up,' Castiel muttered.

'Wow, look at all those wrinkles … yikes, don't frown. You don't want to put more lines on your forehead than there already are.'

Cas glared at Dean, making a noise of indignation, and splashed him. Dean sighed, looking down as if disappointed, then he met Cas's eyes.

'Now, Castiel, acting childish isn't going to make you any younger.'

'Let's see,' Castiel began to list. 'Who frequently groans when getting up from a chair? Is that me, or is it … no, yep, that's you. And who sometimes has to push himself up by putting his hands on his knees first? Oh yeah, still you. And who often groans when bending over because it makes the bottom of his back ache? Oh yes. You.'

'It's wear and tear,' Dean grumped. 'I've been a hunter most of my life. A lot of running and jumping and injury.'

'Technically I healed literally everything that has ever been wrong with you when I pulled you out of hell.'

'Well, then, there's seven years of wear and tear. Still significant.'

'Yeah, or you're old.'

'Bye, Cas.'

Dean stood up and shook off before he stepped out onto the towel he'd laid out beside the bath, and grabbed a towel from beside the sink. He wrapped it around his waist and left the room, but Castiel was quick to follow him.

'Where the fuck are you going, you moron?'

Dean stopped and rolled his eyes around his eyes as if searching for an answer. He briefly bit his bottom lip and then licked his lips.

'I don't know,' he admitted. 'I was making a bold statement by leaving, you know.'

'Leaving with nowhere to go. Genius.'

'You're mean.'

'And we're dripping. Come on, let's go dry off in the bathroom where there's no carpet to dampen.'

Dean sighed dramatically, as if he'd been defeated.

'Fine,' he exhaled. 'Let's go.'

They returned to the bathroom and dried off in front of the mirror. At one stage Dean caught Cas frowning and looking at his forehead, touching it with a finger as the lines appeared there, but Dean pulled his hand away and kissed his forehead firmly.

'I was fucking kidding, Cas,' he reaffirmed. 'I think those lines are cute. They happen when you smile sometimes too – see, like that. Like when you raise your eyebrows. It's fucking adorable.'

'Well, thank you,' Castiel smiled. 'And that's what I tell myself when I see the deep trenches by your eyes when you smile.'

Dean shoved him. He thought he heard Cas mutter a, 'now who's childish?' but he ignored him.

Once they were dry and dressed, they set off to try and find the place Cas had chosen to eat at. It wasn't difficult and when they got there, what was difficult was choosing what to order. The starter was an easy choice – they both got the Sample Platter, of course. A little bit of nearly everything. And for their main meal, Dean got a Half Rack of Chile Roasted St. Louis Ribs. Castiel got Cajun Chicken & Andouille Sausage Penne Pasta. They, of course, shared with each other throughout and they were very satisfied when they left, now off in search of the Casino.

On the way to the Casino Dean briefed Cas on many of the gambling games they would encounter there, and told him about some of the key things to look out for when gambling and Castiel figured he'd just let Dean, the expert, do most of the work.

'We can try and earn back some of the money you spent on this,' Castiel proclaimed.

'That'd be nice,' Dean laughed. 'Or of we left with more than we came with. Never gonna happen, but we could make some good money if we don't drink. Don't want our thoughts clouded.'

Dean booped Cas on the nose and Cas laughed.

'Noted.'

'We can drink later,' Dean suggested. 'Dude, there's this thing I've always wanted to try since I read about it on the internet – if we order a bottle of champagne for our room there's a thing I can that's like, sucking your dick with the champagne in my mouth. The fizz in it is supposed to feel pretty good.'

'Sounds intriguing,' Castiel replied. 'We should both try that.'

'Dick with a side of champagne,' Dean sighed, throwing his arm around Cas. 'Sounds delicious.'

Castiel just rolled his eyes.

They reached the Casino, and it was teeming with life, and Dean knew all the right places to go and the right games to play. Castiel soon adapted to the atmosphere and Dean soon became used to it as he usually did. It was nice to have Cas with him here, instead of coming alone to waste time and get drunk, or coming with Sam judging him and telling him to do it strategically, do you know how rigged this is or that is, blah blah blah …

Ironic that he'd become Sam now, in the sense that he had a strategy and was going to do his best to avoid things that were rigged, and he was definitely going to keep away from machines.

They stayed in the Casino for two and a half hours, and it was pretty fun and they were relatively successful, winning close to a thousand dollars, although that did include the round about two hundred they lost playing. And when they left, the first thing they blew that on was a bottle of champagne to take back to their room, to get experimental with.

It resulted in a lot of champagne running down their chins.

But, they did finish off the bottle with an episode of Grey's Anatomy before bed.

They slept in the next morning. Castiel woke first, rolling over to wrap his arms around Dean and hug him to his chest until he woke about a half hour later. Castiel himself was fighting sleep again when Dean woke up and rolled onto his back, Castiel rolling away again onto his back, too, so they were now side by side.

'Hey,' Dean replied, a good two minutes later.

Castiel's reply was a tired laugh at the length of the pause.

They spent a good portion of the morning in bed. They lay side by side for a while, silent, and then broke into small and fun discussions that were irrelevant and largely made no sense. Then, bored but not wanting to get up, they decided to go on Youtube on Dean's phone for a while and watched some random amusing videos on there, the phone propped up by a lumpy mess of blankets in front of Dean, Cas with his arms around Dean from behind again watching over Dean's shoulder.

Several more minutes of silence, and then they decided to order breakfast, which they ate in bed, Castiel answering the door for it in nothing but a robe tied only enough to avoid flashing the person who brought it.

It was a much more relaxed day than the one before it. They broke out the sofa bed around noon after they'd fooled around in bed for a while after breakfast, and turned on the TV for an entire day of binge watching Grey's Anatomy. They were in dire waters now, it was a matter of weeks and less than a month until season twelve.

They day was uneventful. A lot of distracted makeout sessions between episodes, only pausing the episodes to use the bathroom or if their sessions got a little too heated and involved into something else, leading to a day of multiple hand jobs and blow jobs and one rim job which rather ironically came after lunch and led to a lot of teasing about dessert, which resulted in Cas whacking Dean in the face with a pillow, but that thankfully didn't lead to a full blown pillow fight … just a little one.

They ended up finishing season nine of Grey's Anatomy that day.

'Two more days like this, and we'll be ready for season twelve,' Dean grinned.

'Then that's what our Sunday will be,' Castiel decided. 'Tomorrow, you and me, season ten. There's nothing better to do.'

'There's a lot of things better to do, actually,' Dean pointed out. 'Out there in the world. Shows to see, sighs to visit, tours to go on.'

'But I'm not interested in them,' Castiel groaned. 'I'm not … the tourist type. I'm the hotel room watching Netflix with my husband type when it comes to vacationing.'

'So am I,' Dean grinned, tucking himself into Cas's side. 'So more of this tomorrow, and tomorrow night we go out for dinner again?'

'Fellini's or the Sky Lounge. Take your pick.'

'Fellini's. Sounds Italian.'

'And then Monday for breakfast we can go to Roxy's Diner again as a farewell.'

'What a glorious plan,' Dean grinned at him tiredly. 'So … one last episode before we sleep?'

'One more,' Castiel nodded.

Dean fell asleep half way through. Castiel turned off the television and settled down next to him, not bothering to wake him so they could transfer themselves over to the main bed. They were comfortable here, and they were together, and as long as they were together it didn't matter if they slept in a bed made for royalty or a floor made for rats and dust.

It was an unorthodox vacation/honeymoon, when it came down to it. It had a lot of sex and when they went to Fellini's it had their second romantic dinner of the trip, but those were the only two real honeymoon-ish aspects of it, and the only vacation aspect was when they'd walked around the city as they pleased and checked things out. The rest was basically just lazy lounging.

Oh, and getting married. They also did that.

Sunday night after dinner they bid their farewell to the tub with their third session in that, which was less frantic with the second, Dean slowly riding Cas, facing him this time, which evolved into Cas putting in slow, deep thrusts and Dean perched in his lap but he sat upright and their chests pressed together, their arms around each other, and then they lay there, cuddling close and revisiting their fantasy of the ribboned dog and their life as it evolved ahead of them until the water began to cool and they retired for their last night in the hotel bed, which seemed grander than their own despite the two being the same size.

Monday morning breakfast at Roxy's was good as usual, although the service was a little slow, and packing up their things back in the hotel room was almost sad, even though they were going home to start a life together.

They got lunch to take on the road when they left around one. They'd checked out at noon and spent another hour wandering the city to take in the last of it before they left. They decided they would make eight hours of the drive today and stop in a motel that night, and complete the drive the next day.

Being on the road was more fun than being cooped up in a hotel, and Dean listened to music while Cas did some reading, and then Dean sang along to the music and Cas stopped to listen to him. Dean was actually good at singing when he was just singing along casually, although when he got too into it and was just singing along for the sake of singing alone, more like shouting along like one would at a concert, then it wasn't as good. And then there were the times when Dean sang along, but it wasn't because he was doing it just for the sake of it, it was because he enjoyed the song, and he sang the song, and embodied the song, and his voice got louder or softer along with the singer of the song, and it was like if the whole world could hear Dean sing there would be no more wars.

And then If You Want Blood (You Got It) came on and he was back to casually screaming.

And eventually, Dean convinced Cas to join him on the parts he knew, and they were both screaming, and they were both singing, and it was fun and liberating and the windows were down and the breeze was coming in and they were free on the open road.

For eight hours, until they reached Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and checked into the Frontier Lodge.

It was a quaint place to stay the night, staying in to continue season ten of Grey's Anatomy rather than going out like they had on the way to Vegas. By now, they really just wanted to get home and flaunt their rings around proudly.

'How are we going to tell him?' Castiel asked, as he and Dean settled in for the night.

'Maybe the same way we told him we're together,' Dean suggested mischievously. 'Just … act married. Subtle hints. Use our hands a lot to get him to notice our rings. Talk about … married stuff.'

'What the hell is married stuff?'

'Okay, I don't know. Ignore that.'

Castiel laughed. Then Dean had a bright idea and got out of bed again, grabbed his phone, and pulled the wedding DVD from one of their bags. Castiel watched him, his ass mostly, because it looked good in his tight, dark boxer briefs. And then Cas watched his hands as he took a picture of the wedding DVD, just a plain silver disc with the word "Winchesters" on it, and sent it to Sam with the caption "We have something you need to see."

That led to a slightly worrisome few minutes in which Sam called because he thought it was something sinister, so Dean assured him it wasn't. Once that was reassured they fell into a few minutes of idle chatter, in which they told Sam they'd be home tomorrow evening.

'Good,' Sam said, sounding like he was happy about it. 'Because I have something I need to tell you when you get here.'

'So have we,' said Castiel. 'But … it's not urgent. It can wait. So can that DVD.'

And so followed Sam pouting about how he wanted to see it, but Dean and Cas told him he could wait. And finally the call ended.

'Nice hinting,' Castiel said sarcastically. 'First he thinks we're dying, now he's desperate to watch it.'

'Well, he won't be watching it until he damn well figures out we're married,' Dean decided determinedly. 'Hopefully it doesn't take him as long as it did to figure out that we were together.'

'Technically it didn't take him a long time to figure that out,' Castiel reminded him. 'It just took him a long time to let us know he knew.'

'If he does that again, I'll fucking kill him before he even has the chance to tell us whatever he wants to tell us. Speaking of which, what do you think it is?'

'Aroura's moving in, probably,' Castiel shrugged. 'It's to be expected, isn't it?'

'Yeah, I guess,' Dean shrugged. 'Doesn't matter to me either way. She's nice, she's not bad to be around, she makes Sam happy. We talked about this already.'

'After getting married,' Castiel nodded. 'I recall.'

'Anyway, it's late, and we have another eight hours of driving ahead of us tomorrow.'

Castiel nodded, laying back down after sitting up for the phone call, Dean settling in beside him. Cas put his arms around Dean as he often did when they were falling asleep, even if they didn't stay that way all night.

'Night,' Castiel muttered into the back of Dean's neck.

'Night,' Dean sighed back, comfortable and content already.

And in the morning after breakfast, they hit the road again, alternating between singing songs loudly and Dean listening to them quietly so Cas could read, Dean occasionally asking him to read out loud because Dean liked the sound of his voice.

It was like they entered a different world completely once the bunker was in sight that evening. Big and empty and abandoned looking, the parking lot dark and unlit, all of its cars there in their glory untouched, as if they'd never left.

Dean wasn't sure why he had expected Sam to graciously greet them at the door when they entered, and they didn't even run into him as they took their bags back to their room and dumped them on the bed, Castiel immediately going over to Freckles the fish and looking in at him.

'Do you think he missed me?' Castiel asked.

'Who wouldn't?' asked Dean, walking to Cas's side and putting his arm around him.

'I should clean out his tank tonight,' Castiel decided.

'Use the spaghetti strainer to pour his stones into,' Dean suggested, 'and wash them out in that. So, you know, you won't lose any and they'll get washed.'

'Good idea,' Castiel grinned. 'I might do that now, actually. Or after I eat something.'

'I'll go out for pizza,' Dean offered.

'But we just got back.'

'So?' Dean shrugged. 'It's not like anyone noticed. Come on, it'd be funny. Sam just strolls into a room to find us casually eating pizza like we never left.'

'Evil,' Castiel commented, 'but that sounds fun. Okay, you go for pizza, I'll clean out the fish.'

'There's disposable dish cloths in one of the cupboards you can use to wash the tank.'

'Thank you,' Castiel grinned, grabbing the tank, 'husband.'

'You're welcome, husband.'

They left together. Dean got the door for Cas on the way out of the bedroom, and they continued to walk together until they had to go their separate ways.

The kitchen was empty when Cas reached it and he began his cleaning out of the tank. He placed Freckles in a pot of water and poured the contents of the tank, once he'd removed the toys, into the strainer and began rising off the stones at once. When he'd done that, he moved on to filling the tank half way with hot water and dish soap, grabbed a disposable dish cloth and began to wipe down the inside. He was doing this when Sam walked in.

'Cas!' Sam exclaimed, walking forward with his arms outstretched.

Castiel dried his hands as best he could and met Sam, allowing the unexpected hug while trying not to put his actual still wet hands on Sam's back. They pulled apart and Sam grinned down at him.

'Did you get taller?' Castiel joked.

'Nah,' Sam shrugged. 'I'm wearing stilettos.'

Castiel raised an eyebrow and looked Sam up and down.

'You'd probably break the heels.'

'Yeah, you're right,' Sam laughed, heading for the fridge as Cas returned to his fish tank cleaning and emptied out the water, to rinse it out and wipe it down again to get all of the suds out. 'So how long have you been back?'

'Barely five minutes,' Castiel replied. 'I got back and decided to clean out the fish. His water looked a little cloudy.'

'Well we've been keeping him fed,' Sam promised. 'So where's Dean?'

Castiel paused. He put the dish cloth down and poured out the water, now ready to rinse out the tank a few times before he dried it to get the last of the suds out.

'I came back without him,' Castiel lied, and then spoke the truth. 'He's not my boyfriend anymore.'

It took Sam a moment.

'You're kidding, right?'

'Yeah, I'm kidding. He's getting pizza.'

He left out the fact that he wasn't kidding about the last part.

'Seriously?' Sam asked. Castiel nodded. 'So's Aroura. We were about to have a Game of Thrones marathon. She wants to rewatch it before season six in April. You and Dean can join us if you want, Dean loves that show. Though he says the books are better, and I honestly don't agree.'

'I'm sure we'd love to,' Castiel smiled, then added, 'he's still not my boyfriend anymore, though.'

'You're hilarious,' Sam scoffed. 'So, tell me about your trip.'

As Castiel continued his rinsing and Sam sat at the table with the smoothie he'd gotten from the fridge, Cas relayed the tale of the night he and Dean had gone out in Akron, and about the time they'd spent in the Casino and the things they'd seen on the street, from drag queens to fake Elvis. He left out all of their romantic moments such as oh, well, the whole marriage thing, and their dates at nice places like the revolving restaurant, and their meaningful conversations about everything. He did describe their hotel room in detail, though

'You guys have sex in the tub?' Sam asked jokingly when he heard about it, also giving the visible hickeys on Cas's neck and what was visible on his collar bone a glance.

'Three times,' Castiel replied honestly.

'Cool,' Sam mused. 'Aroura and I did it in a swimming pool.'

'Impressive,' Castiel nodded, and a jolt of excitement shot up his spine when he realized he was discussing sex casually with his friend who was now also his brother in law. His appreciation for Sam had grown more since marrying Dean, or even getting together with Dean, because Sam truly was one of his only friends, and he was most certainly his closest.

His guy friend. His buddy. His brother in law.

It was nice.

'Dean and I spent two of our days in Vegas in bed in the sofa bed watching Grey's Anatomy,' said Cas, now sitting across from Sam at the table having a drink with him, while Freckles waited patiently in his now-clean tank on the counter. 'There's really not much to do if you're not there to gamble and drink and if you're not interested in tourist attractions. But we're nearing the end season ten of Grey's Anatomy now, which is a bonus.'

'Almost there.'

'Yeah. Dean says it's not long before season twelve.'

'No, it's really not,' Sam agreed. 'Hey, you and me still need to finish watching at least the first season of Gilmore Girls we started last month. You know, the one with the guy who looks exactly like me?'

'I recall,' Castiel nodded. 'We should definitely do it.'

'You can get a break from Dean for a while. You and me can spend some quality friend time together,' Sam grinned. And then his eyes went wide as Cas picked up his soda can to take a drink, Sam finally paying attention to what Cas's hands were doing. 'Or … brother time? Cas, is that what I think it is?'

Castiel's smile spread slowly and turned into a huge grin.

'Don't tell Dean you found out so quickly,' Castiel asked. 'Please. I want to see him get frustrated. It's funny when that happens.'

'My lips are sealed,' Sam vowed. 'Congratulations, man. Wow. You and Dean. Married. That's even weirder than what I wanted to tell you guys.'

'What did you want to tell us?' Castiel inquired.

Sam paused, looking down, but then he looked back up and he suddenly looked happier than Cas had ever seen him look.

'I asked Aroura to marry me.'

'What?'

'And she said yes.'

'Oh, my god. That's amazing, Sam, congratulations.'

Sam laughed the laugh of a man who thought he couldn't be happier. Cas recognized that laugh, he'd laughed it, Dean had laughed it, and then they actually had gotten happier when they got married.

'And we plan to have the wedding soon and actually invite people,' Sam said accusingly, 'you know, not elope.'

'We're sorry,' Castiel offered in the face of the accusation. 'It was a spur of the moment thing. Neither of us even asked the other, we were just talking and came to the same conclusion and before we knew it we were leaving. We have pictures. And we have it on DVD.'

'Oh, so that's what that was,' Sam realized. 'Good. We're watching it.'

'As soon as you've allowed some time for Dean to get annoyed at you for not noticing.'

'Yeah, as soon as that happens.'

Sam laughed, grinning, his smile like a bright light on his face. Those stupid Winchesters and their stupid smiles always shining like Christmas lights or fireworks or stars or anything else bright. Castiel supposed it was because for years they hadn't often seen the light of day, but ow they were beginning to shine.

'Feel like moving this to the living room? Shrek and I were hanging in there watching some TV.'

'Let me just put Freckles back first,' Castiel decided, downing the rest of his drink in one. 'I'll meet you there.'

Sam nodded and the two of them got out of their seats, both throwing their empty drink things in the trash. They paused in the middle of the kitchen and grinned at each other, Sam lightly nudging Cas's shoulder with his fist in a friendly gesture.

But they weren't just friends anymore. They were family, officially.

'Later, bro,' Sam said as he left, clicking his tongue and giving a dorky wink. Cas could see where he got that from, because he'd seen Dean to the same thing a thousand times, along with the same tongue click.

'Bye,' Castiel laughed as Sam left, pausing, marveling in it before adding '… bro.'