Of course Cas knew something had happened the second he walked in (though Dean honestly wasn't sure if that was because he'd heard the monstrously loud and very, very obvious truck pull up outside or just because he had an unfortunate ability to read Dean). Which was why he was greeted immediately with, "Dean… what's wrong?"

"Nothin', man." It was true… he was fine. Sure, it was a little nerve-wracking to have the cow so close to his dad, but it was actually a pretty decent conversation. They'd certainly had much worse in the past. "My dad came by for a bit, but it's dealt with-"

Cas didn't seem to get that, though, not if he was starting with, "I'm sorry, Dean." and ending with "Do you want to talk about it?"

And the answer to that was a quite vigorous no. Which was, of course, why he started talking about it. (Had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Cas had been the one asking. Of course not. It was internally motivated. Naturally.) "It wasn't that big a deal. Shit about real estate and people not doing shit for themselves and how much - well, how little, I guess - college is worth." He shrugged. (He meant it. Completely and absolutely.) "You know, normal stuff."

Except Cas was frowning. "You were literally just mowing the lawn." And? "And I know you care about college, Dean." And? "I'm sorry."

Which made zero sense because Cas had no reason to be apologizing or commiserating since nothing was wrong. "I told you, it's fine… He's probably right, anyway. Shouldn'ta moved past high school… could be working full time at the garage. Or gone into the family business. You know, hunting houses, fixing things… all that jazz." He was completely and 100% enthusiastic about the idea, of course.

Cas was… still frowning. "You're in electromechanical engineering, Dean. That takes a college education."

Dean did not hum skeptically. It was a very articulate expression of skepticism, but absolutely not a hum.

"You'll be a great engineer, Dean." Damn, Cas just did not know when to let things go. "You're smart, of course, and-"

"Okay, enough with the exaggeration… chick flick moments are a hard pass; thanks but no deal." Dean walked out of the room, but it was not at all part of an attempt to stop a blush - Dean Winchester did not blush - from rising on his cheeks. "But, anyway, he didn't see Samantha, so 's all good."

And then, in another episode of Cas-not-knowing-when-to-drop-something: "One of Samantha's cow-fathers has been insulted, Dean. All is not good."

And, even knowing that Cas couldn't see him when he stood in the kitchen and Cas was in the living room, he still rolled his eyes. "It was hardly an insult, Cas. Hard truth, at worst."

"It was, Dean."

"You do realize that it doesn't take a college degree to do stuff, yeah?" Dean was not hiding in the kitchen. At all. He was just… taking a very, very leisurely stroll through it. That was all. "Like the fact that you've decided 'cow father' is a role… It doesn't take college."

Cas sniffed - actually sniffed - like some kind of posh Englishman, and then… he hmphed. "You say that, but John is clearly a terrible cow father. Obviously, some kind of education is needed. Or at least common sense."

Dean was… okay, he'd admit he was confused. "He hasn't even seen the cow, Cas. How is he a cow father of any kind?"

"He's the father of the father of a cow. And… with all due respect - which, in my opinion, and in Samantha's, I'm sure, is not very much - he sucks. He hasn't even taken cow responsibility."

And, even with Cas in an entirely different room… Dean couldn't handle that. His brain was in the process of shutting down, trying to restart, and utterly failing until the process repeated, and he barely managed, "Okay, Cas. If you like."

And Cas, true to form, said something completely and unfailingly Cas: "I do like."