The humans' insistent desire for nourishment was tiresome. Castiel understood the biological process, but it was not until now that he understood how time consuming this process was. Finding the desired eating place, parking, walking, sitting down, ordering, waiting, waiting, waiting, finally eating, and eating, and eating, paying, leaving, starting the car again. The ritual was fascinating at first, especially the social protocols that seemed to be followed quite strictly, but it quickly became tiresome.
Once again, Dean had dragged him to such an establishment to talk strategy. Castiel didn't understand why food had to be involved so often in these processes. This particular place was one that Castiel could not understand that people would accept food from. The owners had to be aware of the state of the place since they kept the lights so dim. On the other hand, they were far away from any alternatives, so since Dean insisted on food while talking, this was the quickest – if such a word could be applied to the feeding process – solution.
Castiel looked around at the other occupants of the place while Dean went to place his order. This only supported Castiel's theory that the place should not be serving edibles when no waiters were happily taking their orders by the table. He met the eyes of pretty much every other occupant in the place. They seemed to be just as curious about him as he was about them. He got a slightly hostile vibe from them though. They were only human and therefore not able to detect an Angel. How odd that they should find him a potential threat despite him just entering the establishment.
"Cas, stop eyeing the locals." Dean dropped a beer bottle on the table, drawing Castiel's attention away from the curious looks.
"I am not… 'eyeing' anyone." Castiel frowned as Dean sat down in front of him.
Dean took a sip of his beer before leaning a little closer over the table. "In small joints like this, out in nowhere, people don't like strangers, 'kay? So just don't look at anyone or talk to anyone. We just eat, drink and get out."
Castiel grunted in response, annoyed with the illogical explanation, but accepting it. It was his experience that Dean never tried to steer him wrong, though the hunter rarely explained conducts in a way that the Angel could understand.
"You gonna drink that?"
Castiel was once again pulled from his musings when Dean clinked his bottle against the one that he had placed on the table. Castiel had assumed it was Dean's. He now realised that Dean had another bottle in his hand. Thinking about it, Dean was fully capable of finishing two beers, or more, by himself, but Castiel had only seen him drinking one at a time before ordering another. That was the most logical way of consuming the beverage. Which led to only one conclusion.
"You bought me a beer." Castiel stated, studying the bottle on the table, the condensation dripping down the side as cold met room temperature. "You have not bought me a beer before."
"Yeah. About time, don't you think?"
"Is there a specific time limit for when one should by another person a beer?" Castiel squinted at the hunter.
Dean huffed amusedly. "No, man. I mean… But you've been around for some time now, so it just seemed right to buy you a beer, okay?"
"I don't need liquid nor solid sustenance to survive." Castiel stated automatically.
"I know, Cas…" Dean ran a hand down his face. "But you can drink just for fun, right? So just relax and have a beer." Dean tilted his bottle towards the Angel as in a toast.
Castiel took the bottle. The cool, smooth, wet surface of the glass felt surprisingly nice. He tilted the bottle in the same manner as Dean, and the hunter clinked the two bottles together. Castiel followed the hunter's movements as he took a sip.
The many sums of the different components rushed over his tongue. It was almost overwhelming, but they did somewhat complement each other.
"You like?" Dean asked with an expectant look.
Castiel was about to explain how taste had little meaning to him, but quickly sensed an unknown human protocol by the way Dean kept eye contact with him, though he could not tell what exactly it was. But this seemed to be about more than the simple beverage. Toasting, drinking together, eating together. It all served to fulfil a social need among humans. Castiel felt an odd desire to fit into this unknown convention and therefore hesitantly answered; "It is… Not unpleasant."
"Hah! See? Not so bad, huh?" Dean grinned and took another sip of his own beer.
Judging by this reaction, Castiel must have answered correctly. He felt a baffling warmth in his chest. He took another sip of the cool beverage, finding it a little bit better the second time around.