"Ya'know, for once I'd actually like more than a cheeseburger for lunch." Dean muttered, leaning back in his seat to where the front legs lifted off the floor.

The pizza box was empty, and the three of them sat and talked before Castiel had to go. "What would you be interested in?" Castiel asked, his hands folded in his lap.

Dean shrugged, "Something fancy." he glanced at Castiel with a smirk.

Castiel chuckled, "What would you consider fancy?" he asked, fiddling with his fingers, only because he needed to keep his attention else where, to stop himself from looking like he were up to something. Sam had gotten him and Dean a beer, so if he wasn't taking sips of his water, he was fiddling with his fingers in his lap.

Dean took a moment to think about it, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, "Cocktail shrimp."

Castiel and Sam both laughed, "That's party food. I'm talking about a meal." Castiel shook his head.

"Trust me, I could make that a meal if I had enough." Dean grinned, glancing at Sam because he knew about his apatite.

"You can make any party food a meal." Sam cackled, shaking his head.

Castiel gave a nod, silently concocting a plan without the Winchester's knowledge. "Well guys, I better get going. Lucifer is bound and determined to make me help out with dinner tonight." Lie. Castiel didn't really need to go just yet, but he was too excited to get home and talk to Lucifer. It would be the perfect excuse if they bumped into each other later on in the grocery store. Maybe he was thinking a little too much into this…

"Alright Cas," Dean stood up with Castiel, "And here..." Dean went into the living room and grabbed up the stack then quickly went through it, "Here. This is your homework." he handed him the American Phsyco DVD. "Another cult classic you haven't seen." he tsked, "I'm gonna get you learned whether you like it or not."

Castiel chuckled, "Alright. Thank you, Dean." he excepted it gladly. "I'll be sure to call you for a discussion afterwords."

"Good. This movie might be a little confusing at the end-" "I'm expecting all these movies to be confusing at the end." Castiel interrupted. Dean laughed, lightly punching Castiel in the shoulder, "Go home and watch it, I promise you'll like it." and then winked.

Castiel quickly turned away, shaking his head and laughing, as if he were simply brushing off the playful wink, but he was actually hiding how his face turned red almost immediately. "I'll see you guys later, bye Sam." He waved over his shoulder, not wanting to make eye contact with either of them. Quite flustered, he left out the front door.

Dean kept grinning and then slowly went to the front door, "Sam." he called to his brother.

"What?" he asked, half expecting him to grin at him stupidly.

"Grab Castiel's laptop and bag." he ordered.

Sam lifted a brow, then did as he was told. He'd forgotten about his laptop as well, and then realized how late it was. They must have been talking for some time. He then put the laptop in the bag and handed it off to Dean, "You gonna run out there and give it to him?" he asked.

Dean, still grinning, just shook his head. Instead he stood by the door, and eventually there was a frantic knock at the entrance. When Dean opened the door he smirked, "You forget something?"

Castiel was now very red, and he half smiled, "My laptop."

Dean reached his arm out and handed it to Castiel, having expected this scenario to go down.

Castiel chuckled, "Sorry about that." he mumbled, then grabbed the bag strap. "Bye guys." he repeated and quickly left.

Dean waved him off, "C'ya, Cas!" He then turned to Sam and gave him a smug stupid look.

Sam sighed, rolling his eyes as he went off to his room upstairs, "I've got homework to turn in." he mumbled, like it was his reason to get away from Dean.

Whether Sam saw it or not, Dean shook his fists in a victorious fashion before heading back into the living room. Tonight had been a huge success.

When Castiel arrived home, he saw that Kali was there, her Fiat in the drive. He also saw that Michael wasn't there. He might still be at the office, he mused. Once inside, he immediately went upstairs to put away his things, then went to Lucifer's room and knocked on the door. A few seconds passed and he received no answer, so Lucifer must be somewhere else in the house. As he came back downstairs he heard hushed whispers somewhere downstairs, near the entrance to the den. He realized that it was Hannah and Ephraim. Thankfully, though, they were simply discussing what professors they had in college. He gave a small sigh of relief as he continued down stairs.

He then went to the kitchen, but the kitchen was empty as well, though there was a pan baking in the oven. On closer inspection, it looked to be some sort of casserole. "Huh..." Castiel mumbled, not having known Lucifer would make something like that, seeing as how he mainly did more modern, or rather, elaborate types of dishes. Maybe the ingredients were what made it special… Either way, Lucifer wasn't in the kitchen, so Castiel made his way to the living room. Finally, he found his older brother, sitting on the couch, reading a book with his glasses hanging by one stem clenched between his teeth.

"Hello, Lucifer." He greeted his brother, who looked up with a smile.

"Hi. Sit here." Lucifer patted the spot beside him, putting his glasses back over his eyes. Without hesitation, Castiel took a seat beside his brother, his hands folding together in his lap. Apparently Lucifer didn't like how far away Castiel sat from him, so he scooted the distance between them till they were hip to hip and hung his arm around his shoulder, then continued to read.

"Lucifer..."

"Yes?" he answered without looking away from the words.

"I have a favor to ask..."

Lucifer suddenly put down the book and looked over the rims of his glasses at Castiel, "And what would that favor be?"

"Well…" Castiel looked down at his hands. "I hung out with Dean again today." he told him, trying very hard not to feel embarrassed by it. It wasn't embarrassing to hang out with a friend…

Lucifer grinned, "Michael already told me, but go on."

Castiel made a scoffing noise, knowing he probably shouldn't have answered Micheal's phone call. "We talked about how he's getting tired of eating burgers all the time, so I was wondering-" "You want me to cook for Dean?" Lucifer finished Castiel's question for him, not entirely surprised, but a little charmed.

"I know you probably just got done putting that casserole together, and you probably don't feel like cooking again," "I didn't make that casserole." Lucifer corrected.

Castiel gave pause for just a moment, "Who made it then?" he asked, furrowing his brow at his brother.

"Kali. She said she had this amazing casserole at some place and she wanted to make it tonight." He shrugged, "Was she not in the kitchen?" Lucifer asked, now a little concerned.

"No, I didn't see anyone in the kitchen." Castiel answered.

Lucifer sighed, his arm falling from around Castiel then he stood from the couch. "She's probably up there going at it with Gabriel again."

Castiel made a face, but then stood and followed after his brother. If Castiel could only describe Lucifer in a few words, up front would be just a few.

"I told her she needed to keep an eye on it." he mumbled, heading for the kitchen. "Anyway," he groaned, "What did you have in mind?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Castiel.

"Well, that's another thing I need your help with. I tried asking him what else he liked without tipping him off, but he didn't give me much to go by." he answered, sliding his hands into his pockets as they made it into the kitchen.

Lucifer looked into the stove, making sure the casserole wasn't burnt., then grinned in Castiel's direction. "So this is a surprise?" he asked, though Castiel didn't give a response and simply turned a shade darker red. "Alright, so we'll stick with something simple." He went on, sparing Castiel that small bit of embarrassment. "Maybe wraps?" he suggested, leaning against a counter as he spoke to Castiel.

"That sounds fine. Possibly chicken wraps?"

"Yea, sure. I can do that. But I don't think we have anything here for something like that-" "I can go to the store if you want." Castiel interjected.

Lucifer's hand had been stretched out to open the fridge to check, but it froze, "O-ok. I still need to make a list of the things I need." he grinned, "You thought this out, didn't you?"

Castiel chuckled, "I'll get a piece of paper."

Lucifer gave Castiel the ingredients he needed, and were written down. He thanked his brother again for helping out and went back upstairs to get his wallet. It was on his way back down, as he glanced mindlessly at the family portraits that hung from their walls that he had an epiphany. His mouth went wide as he realized what had been so off putting about the Winchester's house. He hadn't been able to pin-point it before, but now he knew what it was.

No where in the house did he ever see any pictures of their family. Not on the walls, mantels, or even on the fridge door. But it felt like there had been some at one point, because there were bare spaces that clearly used to have something there. Outcroppings in the dust. Like they had been taken down.

Castiel leaned against the railing of the banister, letting the weight of his realization sink in. Why would they take down their family pictures? He remembered how badly the pictures in his own home affected him when he first came back, and got all the details from Lucifer. That night had been the worst, he couldn't look at them, too afraid to crack again. Then he started to realize that if he could have, he'd taken them down, too. Castiel ran a hand down his face, slowly. Perhaps there was more to their situation than he knew of.

Castiel then continued down the stairs, a bit slower, a bit sluggish. He might be over thinking again, making assumptions. Maybe one day he'll be able to ask Dean himself, but he knew that was a while from now.

Once back into his SUV, he turned the heater up, the cold night air chilling his bones. The days were getting darker earlier, and unlike Seattle with all its buildings and businesses, there wasn't as much light in town, and many businesses didn't stay open very long after dark. The big stores, the chains, stayed open on a regular schedule, and it was mostly the mom and pop places that closed shop early. The streets in New Haven were darker than in Seattle. Somehow, though, he liked it that way. No one would see his face, his features, or the mixed emotions that played across them if he didn't want them to.

Once at the grocery store, he grabbed a basket to hang on the crook of his elbow and went on finding what Lucifer needed. He told him that he wouldn't actually be making the wraps until tomorrow, so they'd be fresh when Dean went to eat them.

He was rifling through different packs of chicken when his phone began to ring. He pulled it from his pocket, making sure to not use the hand that had been on the chicken,"Hello?" he asked, having not seen the number that was calling in his rush to answer it.

"Cassie!" Balthazar. "Are you in the middle of something?" he asked.

"Nope, I'm just at the store. Why, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing, just wanting to catch up. Didn't you hang out with Dean again today?" he asked.

Castiel grinned, "Yes, I did. We had a great time. Sam came home at some point and brought a pizza and we talked for the longest time."

"Good, good." Balthazar sighed, "Okay, I've got a quick question for you." he asked, like this were the real reason he'd called at all.

"And what would that be."

"How many times a day would you say you go to the bathroom?"

"Uhhh..."

"I promise you, this is for your benefit. Also, out of those times, how many of them are number twos?"

"Balthazar..." Castiel took a moment to close his eyes, his brows furrowed, "I have a hard time believing this isn't just…" he made a gesture with his other hand, basket still in the crook of his elbow, as if Balthazar could see. Why, no, what could he possibly need this information for…?

"Castiel, I'm getting you something that will revolutionize the way you go to the bathroom."

"Please don't..."

"You're going to thank me, I swear it." And without another word, Balthazar hung up on him.

Castiel sighed, looking down at his phone. At least Balthazar wasn't dull. Castiel was the dull one. He needed a personality like Balthazar around to remind Castiel that he was in fact a sane person instead of asking himself constantly.

All though that in itself seems a little insane.

Castiel shook his head, trying to forget he'd just had that conversation and continued to shop. There was an older woman behind him, who seemed displeased by the fact that Castiel had been standing directly in front of what ever meat she was trying to get at for quite some time and he hadn't realized it. He smiled and gave a small "Sorry." and stepped out of her way. She didn't replied, but huffed and went to sorting through the meats.

Castiel sighed, and quickly went to find everything else Lucifer needed.

Back at the Autman residence, Anna and Samandriel were in the kitchen with Kali and Gabriel, talking about recipes Kali's family uses and dishes from her home country. "I know its not very traditional, but my mother makes the best Momos, which is actually just a variation of dim sum, or pot stickers. After a long day, she'd take me into the kitchen and we'd prepare them together." she smiled warmly, clearly remembering one such occasion.

Gabriel wrapped an arm around Kali's shoulders and smiled to her, "Oh my God, I remember trying the ones you made for me on our third date." his eyes went wide, "I think Lucifer spent the whole day trying to replicate them after I brought the left overs to his house."

Kali had been very flattered that her boyfriend had wanted to present her dish to the most highly rated chef in town to taste them. But since they'd met each other through Lucifer, she hadn't been too excited by his appraisal. Being a food critic, she'd given Lucifer a four star rating, way back when, having not been too impressed by Perdition.

Of course that set a fire under Lucifer, and ever since then he'd bring Kali a complementary lunch to her office in The Cloud's head quarters, just to see what she thought of it. Eventually Gabriel wanted to meet the food critic that had the audacity to neglect the fifth star from Lucifer's rating, and a spark ignited between them.

Anna smiled to herself, having always been happy to see her cousin so infatuated with someone else. She'd always thought Gabriel would be the last to get a girlfriend when they were younger, and that he'd be alone most his life. She was glad that this time she was wrong. "So how long has it been now? A couple years, right?" She asked simply because she loved hearing them talk about their relationship. She lived vicariously through them in a way, seeing as how she hadn't had a date in years.

Kali giggled, "Its been three years. I can't even believe as I say it out loud." she looked to Gabriel, her eyes sparkling with something Anna yearned for.

Gabriel nodded, "Yep, it'll be four years June 5th of next year."

Kali scoffed, "No, its June the 8th. June the 5th was the day you asked me out on our fourth date, but June the 8th was the date when we decided to actually become a couple." she explained it to Anna, ignoring the goofy grin on Gabriel's face.

Even them arguing about their anniversary was adorable. Anna sighed internally.

She then turned slightly to see the stare Samandriel was giving her, almost sympathetic, and sad. She glared at him, then turned back to Kali and Gabriel. Samandriel knew she must be feeling lonely, but giving her that look wasn't fair. It's not like she wanted pity for not having a boyfriend.

Before Anna could come up with another question for Kali, they all heard the front door open. "I wonder who that is..." Samandriel spoke aloud, watching the kitchen doorway for the person to walk through it. Soon after seeing it was Castiel, holding a bag from the grocery store, Anna laughed.

"You know Kali's making dinner, right?" she joked.

"I know." Castiel replied, smiling as he set the bags on the island. "These are the things I got for Lucifer for tomorrow." he visibly hesitated before including the next bit, "It's so that he can help me make lunch for Dean tomorrow." He looked down at the bags, avoiding their eyes as he lightly blushed out of embarrassment.

"Oh my God, that is so cute!" Anna declared, "What did Dean ask for?"

Castiel chuckled, "Actually, he doesn't know I'm doing this for him." he rubbed a hand at the back of his neck, "It's a surprise." he grinned, now a little more unabashed as he looked to the four of them.

Kali made a whining noise, "My chhota bhai!" she giggled and waved her hands at Castiel, "I love you!" she squealed then got up and went to Castiel, quickly hugging him to herself, whining again.

Castiel blushed harder, hugging back. "I just thought it would be nice." he mumbled. As she pulled away, he could see how hard she was smiling.

"Oh, Castiel, he'd be an ass if he didnt' give you a kiss after that!" she laughed, Anna joining in soon after, "Oh my God, I know right?" she giggled.

Gabriel was laughing, though more to himself. It was weird to finally see Castiel venturing out into getting a boyfriend, though to be honest, he'd still kind of thought he'd have at least gone out with a girl at some point, just to test the waters.

"What are you guys gonna be making?" Samandriel asked, grabbing for the bag to peek inside.

Castiel went to the bag and began pulling the items out, showing them off. "Dean mentioned how he was getting tired of having burgers all the time, so we went for chicken wraps instead." he told them. "It was mostly Lucifer's idea, and he'll be doing most the work," He shrugged, "But I'll find a way to help." he informed them.

Anna smirked, "You wanna be able to tell Dean that you made it just for him." she guessed, though it may have sounded that way, she wasn't trying to tease Castiel. She just loved the way he worked.

Castiel nodded, not speaking it aloud, but yes. He wanted to be able to say he'd done it himself, and really he wanted to do it all by himself, but he truly needed Lucifer's guidance, even for such a simple dish.

Suddenly Michael and Lucifer were walking into the kitchen, Lucifer's arms crossed, seemingly frustrated. But then again, he could never be for sure with Lucifer. Michael was holding a small hand book, keeping it turned to a certain page with his thumb. His brows rose when he saw them all in the kitchen, "Oh, I didn't expect you all to be here." he chuckled, then set the book down on the island, "That makes this easy." he mumbled, then coughed to clear his throat. "I need to let you guys know about the new hardware I'm getting." he spoke loud enough for them all to hear.

"What, a lip ring?" Anna joked with a smirk, making them all laugh.

Micheal rolled his eyes, "No. It's a coded locking system." he pointed to the picture in the book, displaying a metal box that sat on a metal pole that came out of the ground with a panel of numbered buttons on them and what looked to be a speaker. "It's going out front at the gate. We actually should've gotten this a long time ago, but you guys know how Dad puts things off." he joked lightly.

Gabriel picked up the book to look closer at the picture, "Finally." he mumbled.

Michael then continued, "I was getting nervous with all this extra traffic around here, so I made an appointment for a guy to come out tomorrow and get it installed. Now we'll have a code to get in, and we won't have to wait for Tommy to get up and open the gate."

Tommy was their head of security, and he spent most his time in a small booth beside the entrance of the inner gate. He was the one who pushed the open/close button, allowing anyone who rang his little hotline to come through to the property. But having to call Tommy up every time they wanted to come in was tiresome. The man was on the portly side, and he usually had his eyes glued to his small television he kept in his booth with him. He had his own golf cart that he rode around the property, but he rarely got to use it because of the frequency of people coming and going. He was tasked with taking down the names of everyone who came and went, in what vehicle and at what time. But now with the coded lock system, all he had to do at the end of the night was go back over the tapes and mark off the comings and goings, allowing him the time he had to now patrol the area.

"This is going to be so much easier." Lucifer added, leaning his arms against the island in a lean. "And if the code gets compromised, we can change it."

"Yep." Michael agreed, then went towards the oven, bending over a bit to look through the pane of glass on the stove's door. "How much longer till dinner is done?" he asked, straightening back out to look at Kali.

She tsked, "I would go ahead and turn the oven off. Let it start cooling off." she mumbled getting up to go check on it.

As conversation went more towards dinner, and the effectiveness of the new security system, the heat was taken off of Castiel, who now started putting away the ingredients for tomorrow. He kept smiling to himself, simply because he'd never done anything like this before, and it was an exciting feeling. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.