title | the ineffable rapture of heaven & earth
series | no series
chapter | three. can earth be earth when all the trees are gone?
author | moirataliesin 「fka mallowcakes/inkcapgoblin」
fandom | supernatural
pairing | m/m, dean winchester/castiel 「destiel」
rating | eventually r
genre | romance
warnings | eventual m/m smut
word count | 1.8k
summary | castiel & dean are transported to another dimension where they have apparently lived for 5 years. together. as a married couple. there's no magic, castiel's angel powers aren't working, and somehow they know everything about the lives they've been pushed into. so, what the hell is going on here? and how can the get out?
notes | thanks goes out to my betas, chelsey-jorax diggory and musingfangirl. double thank you to my friend, brohne, for being a pair of second eyes and turning me on to some great inspirational music.
for more of this, and things like it, check out my profile.
as always, likes and comments are appreciated and encouraged.
Dean closed the front door behind him and tossed his key on the entrance hall table. His nose immediately caught a whiff of warm sugar and fruit.
"Cas?" Dean called, walking towards the kitchen and breathing the scent in again.
"I'm in here, Dean." Cas called back.
"What smells so good?" Dean walked into the kitchen and tossed his coat on the back of a barstool before settling into it.
Without saying anything, Cas pointed to the end of the island where two pies set to cool.
"Aw, sweetheart, you shouldn't have." Dean said, his lip lifting on one side.
"I know what sarcasm is, Dean."
"How do you know it wasn't practice?"
"I've met you."
Dean chuckled warmly. Even he had to admit he was pretty impressed with the sass.
"Anyway," Cas continued, bowing slightly for emphasis, "Those two are peach and apple. The one in the oven in cherry and there is a chocolate whip in the refrigerator. One is all yours and the rest go to the cookout. Your choice."
Dean looked at Cas standing there with his hair messed in a blue button-down and jeans. He looked almost normal. There was some flour smudged across his nose and a bit on his cheek as well.
A smile crossed Dean's face. It was almost cute. Shaking his head fiercely, he flung away the thoughts.
Forcing his face into a scowl, he replied, "I'll take the apple. It looks awesome."
Castiel smiled, "I assure you that you will be struck with awe, Dean."
He pulled a fork from the silverware drawer and handed it to Dean while simultaneously scooting the pie towards him.
"I need a shower." Dean told him, grabbing the fork.
"You can worry about getting clean after you have some pie."
"Well, Cas, this does prove one thing."
"What's that?"
"I was right. You are the bottom." He winked.
"Baking does not make one the bitch."
"He doth protest too much."
Cas shook his head and turned to check the other pie. Seeing that it was almost done, he glanced into the reflective surface on the microwave to watch Dean dig into the apple pie and blowing on the bite before shoving it into his mouth. He studied his features for a while, watching his eyes closed and he moved the pie in his mouth and a tiny relaxation of contentment washed over his body.
Castiel was happy that he created something that Dean enjoyed so much. His eyes darted to Dean's forearms. The veins bulging only slightly through his smooth skin that was caked in oil from the days work. He could definitely fake being attracted to the hunter.
After there was a good chunk of the pie gone and Dean had wiped his hands (on one of the threadbare dish towels per Castiel's bitching.) he went upstairs to grab a shower before the cookout while the angel finished up a huge bowl of pasta salad. Apparently, Cas had become a sexy male version of Paula Deen while he was at work.
The angel was downstairs wiping down the counters and putting plastic wrap on the dishes when the doorbell rang. He knew it wasn't Dahlia, so he glanced through the peephole to see a tall, thin blonde in a black bodysuit and sneakers. She had on a lot of makeup and her hair was up in a ponytail.
He sighed before stepping back to open the door.
"Castiel." She said with a smooth tone before holding out a few envelopes to him. "We got some of your mail again. It looks like junk mail but I wanted to be sure."
He grabbed them from her and she slunk forward to lay a hand on the door jamb. Her eyes never left his and he felt his spine go cold. he didn't like the feeling he was getting from her. There were faint memories stirring that made his stomach churn but he couldn't pinpoint why.
"Thanks, Julie." He said with an unsure glance at the envelopes.
She nodded slowly, smiling at him without speaking or moving.
"I, uh, I'd invite you in but Dean's in the shower and we're getting ready for the cookout." Cas made sure that he was standing in a position where she wouldn't try to walk in. He didn't like the feeling he was getting as her eyes bore into his and he hoped that she would take the hint and leave.
"That's too bad." She pouted, "I was hoping he'd still be a work and we'd have time for a chat. We haven't had a chat in so long."
"Another time perhaps." Castiel said, his hand on the door, "Thank you for stopping by."
He closed the door without waiting for a reply, sighed, and laid the junk mail on the entrance table. He traipsed off to the kitchen to finish the dishes.
Dean turned off the shower spigot and made a grab for the towel hanging outside of the shower. He dried off a little before stepping out onto the tile and over to the mirror.
"Dean, I..." A voice came from the hallway.
Dean looked over to see Cas gaping at him with the look of a confused puppy.
"Ya like what ya see, princess?" Dean asked with a raised brow.
"I..."
"Speechless? I like that." He turned to face the angel, "What part of I'm taking a shower did you take as 'feel free to barge in?'"
Castiel cleared his throat and tried to keep his eyes above chest level.
"Dean, I just came up here to tell you that the food is finished. When you're ready we can go over the memories."
"You could have just waited for me to come down."
"I... a neighbor visited and she made me feel out of sorts. Julie."
"Doesn't she always?" Dean replied, absentmindedly running his hand through his hair.
"I suppose. I don't remember everything. about h... would you like to put a towel on?"
"No. Thanks for asking." A smug grin crossed Dean's face as he put his hands on his hips and stood proud and naked, "I'm not going to holster this just because it makes your uncomfortable. You interrupted me, remember?"
Castiel stuttered before turning and walking back downstairs.
A few hours later, newly refreshed on the trivia that was their neighbor's names and nicely dressed, Dean and Castiel arrived at Dahlia's door, balancing the dishes on top of each other. Dean knocked on Dahlia and Leon's front door and a few seconds later a tall, chubby man answered the door. He had a goatee and full sideburns with feathered brown hair and a Doctor Who shirt. He was wearing a blue button down over that and fitted blue jeans. His eyebrow and lip were pierced.
"Leon!" Dean said, steadying the food again, "How's things?"
"Great, man! I just finished this week's pages for the comic so I got the rest of the week to kick your ass on C.O.D." He stepped back and gestured for both of them to come inside.
"Well, some of us didn't have our self-published comic go viral. So, we have to work for a living." Dean said, stepping inside after Castiel.
"Excuse me." Dahlia's voice got louder as she entered the room, "If you think our awesome geek love tag team powers isn't work, I dare you two to self start a comic company."
"And keep a marriage as active as ours." Leon added with a wink.
Their two friends grabbed the food from their visitors and walked it to the nearby table already piled with food.
"I assure you ours is at least just as active." Castiel chimed in, trying to keep the uneasiness out of his voice. He looked at Dean who nodded quickly, his lips pressed together.
"So, where's those adorable children of yours?" Castiel spoke again.
"We sent them to their grandmothers." Leon said, looking through the refrigerator to see what kind of drinks they had to offer, "They'll be upset they missed their favorite uncles but hell, the adults needed some us time."
He walked over and handed them each a sparkling water.
Dean nodded. and put his arm around Castiel.
"So," He said, "Is everyone else here?"
"Yeah, they've been." Leon told him, "You ready to join them? Dahl's going to put the buffet table together. You know how she is with her OCD thing."
Dahlia stuck her tongue out at her husband before grabbing a tablecloth out of a nearby cabinet.
"Hush, you." She said, "I'll OCD you. Now get. I'll be out soon."
Castiel and Dean were lead to their neighbor's backyard and glanced around quickly. It was dusk, but the yard wasn't getting dark. They had their yard set up with glow lights and tiki torches. A long buffet table was already set up with a roast pig and random chips and hors d'oeuvres. Several picnic tables were stuck together and their other friends and neighbors were already settled in and chatting loudly.
Cas looked over at each of them and visualized the chart in his head. Scarlet and Tony. Married. No kids. Ashlee and Jocelyn. Married. Adopted son. Forest. Single dad of one. Roger and Julie. Married and weird. Just weird.. He had this. He realized he'd been holding his breath and finally let go at it before Dean led him over to the table to start the evening.
Three hours later when everyone was some level of drunk someone suggested karaoke. It may have been Dean and he may have threatened everyone never to speak of it again but either way Dahlia brought out her karaoke machine and everyone took turns singing. Castiel was having fun watching everyone until someone suggested that he and Dean do a duet and the color drained from his face.
Dean walked over and pulled him from his seat. It was as close as he'd ever been to Dean. His breath hitting his ear bringing the color back to his cheeks.
"What? Angels can't have fun. Let's do this." Dean made sure Cas was the only one that could hear.
Cas sighed, steadying his breath before speaking, "So, what do we sing?"
After people suggesting things like 'All I Ask of You' or 'Lucky'' or 'Just Give Me a Reason'. (And Dean adamantly refusing all of them.) It was decided that the two of them would sing the Ozzy and Lita Ford Classic, 'Close My Eyes Forever'.
After another small freak out by Cas, who was sure he didn't know the song, they started the song and to Dean's surprise, other than a few small mistakes at the beginning, they were pretty damn good.
Everyone clapped and whistled while Cas couldn't wipe the goofy smile off his face. He looked over at Dean who just laughed.
"What?" Cas said, raising a brow.
Dean shrugged before mouthing the word 'bottom'.
Cas folded his arms in front of him and pretended to be mad.
"Encore!" Scarlet called.
"Yes, another!" Ashlee said.
"Aw hell, ladies." Dean said, "You know we don't have a follow up to that."
"Besides," chimed in Castiel, "I've gotta get this one home and prepare for tomorrow's hangover."
The two of them said their goodbyes and told Dahlia to keep their dishes until the next time they come over before heading across the street and back to their house.
Cas made sure Dean didn't need help getting to bed before feeding their cats and heading upstairs to their bedroom.