The sound of a running shower permeated the warm, fuzzy haze of sleep, and Cas pried his eyes open. Right. His big brother was staying over, since he'd gorged himself on dinner last night.
Stretching and yawning, Cas decided to remind Gabriel he still had to go home and change before going to Nomed.
The shower stopped, and Cas swung his legs out of bed, pulled on his sweats and a fresh shirt, and made his way to the burgundy room, daydreaming about how he would spend his second day off.

When he nearly collided with someone he looked up, and gasped.
Dean was wearing nothing but a towel, wrapped around his hips, and a pensive expression. His hair was damp, and his chest very, very naked.
'Oh my word... wow... he's perfect.'
A dark patch right above Dean's heart caught his eye.
'A tattoo... so he likes tattoos... he wouldn't mind my wings... but would he still like them if he knew why I got them?'
Cas realised he was gaping at his housemate.
"D.. Dean. Good morning." Damnit! Now he was stuttering, and he knew his cheeks had turned pink.

Dean's freckles stood out slightly, telling Cas that his cheeks were flushed too, but that could be from his shower.
"Morning, Cas. Gabe wanted to bathe, so I used his shower. Only I forgot my clothes."
Knowing it had been Dean he heard under the shower, made Cas' mind go places it was forbidden to go to.
Cas shook his head slightly to dispel those thoughts.
To change the subject, he commented on Dean's body art.
That brought another, bright smile on Dean's face, and he started explaining how Sam, one night, when drunk and after watching 'the Excorsist' had decided they needed protection against posession. It was a fun story, but it did little to distract Cas from how Dean's muscles played under his skin when he gesticulated with one hand during his story, or how his freckles dotted his shoulders too.

"... But I never regretted it. It's like a symbol of our bond." Dean said, a fond look in his eyes.
Cas knew he was still blushing, and his eyes were hungrily feasting on the miles of tanned, freckled skin. He rubbed his hands over his upper arms, otherwise he would touch those broad shoulders or muscled pects.
To distract himself, Cas let his mouth run off with him.
"I can understand that. Mine are a symbol too."
He saw those green eyes flick to where his fingers were still running up and down his arms.
"Yeah? Of what?" Dean rasped out, sounding like his throat was a little dry.

Cas decided that showing his wings wasn't as bad as trying to keep his eyes and hands off of that enticing chest.
So he whipped off his shirt, turned and for the first time ever showed his wings to the person he got them for. An exited buzz ran through him as he answered Dean.
"Of freedom, Dean."
Not quite ready to come clean about the details, he added: "I will tell you the whole story another time. I think you should get going, or you will be late. I was about to wake Gabriel up, but now I don't need to."
Oh God, he was rambling!

He knew it was a cowardly thing to do, but he had to get away from his half-naked housemate.
He put his shirt over his head and turned around.
Seeing Dean glance at his chest, Cas swallowed, quickly tugging his shirt down.
"Y..Yeah. I'll make sure Gabe comes down." Dean mumbled, still blushing slightly.
To cover his own confused feelings, Cas beamed at him and told Dean he would make breakfast.
Not waiting for an answer, he turned an fled down the stairs, internally cursing his luck.
Now he had an accurate picture of Dean's chest to fit his fantasies.. Damnit!

Muttering to himself, Cas slapped Gouda cheese on the buttered slices of whole wheat bread.
He'd set breakfast plates, silverware and mugs on the breakfast bar.
Having breakfast sitting down with eachother had been a staple in the lives of him and Gabriel. Oma had forced them to do it during their childhood and their rebellious teen phase and they had both kept to it while living at home with her. Realising how hurried and unsatisfying his breakfast had been since he had moved out, Cas decided to try and rope Dean into doing this daily.

He made a sandwich with 'gestampte muisjes' (basically it was sugar coated anisseed, which got ground to a fine powder) for his brother and put a sandwich on each plate.
Dressed and hair dried, Dean sat down on his stool, eyebrows raised at his sandwich.
Not saying anything, Cas motioned him to eat up.
A quiet "Hmm. Nom." escaped Dean as he was chewing his first bite. Gabriel had settled on his own stool and quietly munched on his own breakfast.
"You want another, Dean?" Cas asked when three quarters of Dean's sandwich was gone.
Nodding eagerly, Dean smiled at him with a full mouth.

Cas poured Dean coffee, and Gabriel and himself milk, while assuring Dean that putting Gouda on his sandwiches was no big deal, because oma got lots of it from her relatives back in the Netherlands.
Gabriel emitted little puffs of 'gestampte muisjes' while mumbling "I wov oma's welatiffs." around his mouthfull.
Shaking his head fondly at his brother, Cas couldn't stop himself teasing Gabriel.
The puffs he'd emitted, had made white, sugary stains on Cas' black shirt. He deadpanned and delivered his line without emotion.
"I swear Gabriel, they have lied to us all these years. You are actually the younger one, not me."
Gabriel shrugged, while Dean bit his lower lip and quickly drank from his mug.
Cas assumed he was about to burst out laughing, and a feeling of accomplishment blossomed in his chest.

When Dean grabbed his stuff, he paused, looking at Cas and Gabriel, still sitting at the bar.
"Thanks for breakfast, Cas. It was fun, eating together and not wolf down a granola bar." he admitted with a smile.
This was exactly the opening Cas needed. He ducked his head to hide his triumphant smile and schooled his features before answering.
"You're welcome, Dean. If you like, we can do this every day. I know I would love it. We used to have breakfast like this every day. I miss it. It's a fun yet relaxed way to start the day."

Dean nodded whilst putting on his leather jacket.
"It sure is, bud. If you don't mind, we could do that. I'd like that." he smiled.
Cas wanted to whoop out loud, but restrained himself. Gabriel was watching him with a knowing expression.
His golden eyes darted from Dean's retreating back to Cas, and back.
When the door had clicked shut, Gabriel slapped the bar with a gleeful grin.
"You are so head over heels, baby brother! It's patheticly sweet!"
Feeling his cheeks burn like the fires of the Pit, Cas started clearing away the dishes.
"Shut up, Gabriel, and get going. You still need to go home and change before work."
Gabriel chuckled and gave him a sloppy, sticky, anisseed scented kiss on his cheek.
"Love you too, Cassie. See ya!" he sing-songed and all but skipped out the door.