Cas was a genius.
He'd known this all along, of course - The whole adopt-a-cow thing? Brilliant. The slowly-but-surely-convince-Dean-to-actually-sleep thing? Pair it with the slowly-but-surely-convince-Dean-to-actually-eat-well thing and it was perfection. The distrusting-the-Google and feeding-the-cow-pie-and-coffee things? Just good cow-fathering, really. - but his new idea… that was truly next level.
This… this was the day he taught his daughter yoga.
"And hold… Stretch, Samantha, dear." Naturally, she did it, mimicking his stance as a very flexible lump of cow on the floor. (She was so smart; it really wasn't a wonder she could do it… he was still proud, though.) "Now into the cow pose… really arch your back…" She did, mooing lowly the entire time. "That's the spirit, Samantha! Hold!"
Someone snorted - and Cas would recognize that particular brand of fond derision anywhere (though self-preservation meant that he absolutely not look at all closely at why he'd would recognize it so well), so it wasn't even a surprise to turn around and see Dean hovering in the doorway - before shifting against the wood. "You do realize that she's literally just going from sitting to standing, yeah? Not whatever.. That… ridiculous thing is?"
Cas didn't hold back a pout. "This is yoga, Dean. And Samantha happens to be very flexible." Dean still looked skeptical. "And besides… she's still sick and feeling stiff, the poor dear, so stretching out her muscles must be good for her."
"Uh." Dean blinked. "Okay." Then, he nodded, with that kind of jerky, yielding-without-conviction kind of nod. "Whatever. I'm heading out and getting some more animal crackers since-" He coughed… or was that clearing his throat? "-since you blew through our entire supply teaching her tricks-"
Cas couldn't have held back a smirking grin if he tried. (He'd seen Dean Winchester sitting against the wall in her bedroom that night, cow curled up on his lap, empty bag of animal crackers beside him, and fingers on her head as soon as Cas had gone into the room - self-preservation was very specific that he had not been at all panicked to wake up and find Dean absent from their bed - to deliver coffee, so he knew very well what had happened to their treat stash.) "I blew through them? I used half, Dean. At most. Don't think I didn't notice them all go missing after you stayed with her… you better not be spoiling our cow-daughter, Dean."
It was not a coincidence, Cas decided, that Dean immediately headed for the door, tossed a, "I'm getting more milk, too" over his shoulder, and then left without addressing the comment.
He also decided that he was completely justified in turning to Samantha, offering a hand for her hoof - which she very politely obliged by setting said hoof into his palm - and adding, "Men. Am I right, Samantha?"
She, of course, moo'd lightly, and he grinned, taking advantage of their position to look over her nails. They were a little chipped and a tad bit dirty - it was a good thing Cas was no germaphobe, that's for sure - but the polish had maintained its overall integrity.
– – –
They were just wrapping up their father-cow yoga session - and Samantha, as anticipated, had done beautifully - when the doorbell rang.
Cas immediately turned to their daughter, of course (though self-preservation was very careful not to focus on the phrasing of "their daughter"). "Oh, Samantha. Dean probably forgot his keys. I'll go let him in, and maybe we'll let you out again so you can find them! I'll go talk to him."
Cas had fully opened the door before it occurred to him that maybe he should have looked through the peephole first. He was certainly not expecting the stranger standing on the other side of the door asking, "Hey, uh… is… Dean? Here?"
Cas shook his head. "Not right now, I'm afraid. Leave a message?"
The man shook his head quickly, still trying to look past Cas and into the rest of the house. "Look… Sorry for asking, but who exactly are you?"
Which… Well… It was a bit risky, but Cas really couldn't see a reason to lie. "Castiel Novak. Dean's roommate."
"Oh, his roommate." He jolted. "Oh. You're Cas, then?"
"Yes." Why did he know about that name, about 'Cas'? "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, thanks… I'm Sam." The other man nodded, hair jostling with the motion, shoulders lifting up and down with an inward-curling shrug. "Sam Winchester."
Hello everyone, and thanks for tagging along with us on this journey! We're wrapping up this specific fic - as you'll notice, this is being marked complete - but we're continuing this story past the end of this fic and into a series! We'd love to have you join us, and, if so, I'll be posting the first chapter very soon! Until then!
