"Wow," Dean commented, following Sam in once he'd turned on the lights. Sam turned to see him looking around, hands in his pockets. "It's...clean."
"It's okay, you can say tiny." Sam dropped his Styrofoam box in the kitchenette's trash can, putting his phone, wallet, keys, and sport coat on the counter. "I'm sure your place is way nicer."
"Nah, not really." Dean looked at Sam with a smirk. "If you want, you can come see it sometime. I guarantee you'll be underwhelmed."
Sam's heartbeat quickened at the same time both Castiel and Ruby spoke up.
"Creep. Of course only creeps would be interested in you."
"You're moving too fast, Dean. You're going to scare him off. This isn't at all like you; what's going on?"
Sam and Dean stared at each other in silence across the entrance of Sam's apartment. The same embarrassment Sam was feeling was plain on Dean's face. Lucifer stifled a loud, snorting laugh with one of his wings.
"Sorry," the two of them said in unison. Dean laughed, following it up with, "Jinx. You owe me a beer."
Sam cracked a smile despite himself and headed for his fridge. "I can make good on that right now, if you want." As soon as he had the cold bottle in his hand, though, something occurred to him. "Hey. I probably should've asked this before I ever even got in your car, but...you had a few beers back at the restaurant, too. You sure you were good to drive?"
"Well, like you said, hardly matters now, but yeah," Dean replied calmly, accepting the bottle. "I hold my liquor just fine, don't worry."
"Ooh, yes, very high tolerance," Crowley agreed. He was pressed against Dean's neck, clearly not comfortable in Sam's apartment. "Dean's a heavy drinker. You might even say alcoholic. Functioning, but just barely. Another thing he got from Daddy."
"Jesus!" Dean glared at his demon. "Shut up, okay? Cut it out."
"Oh, you need to know more about that," Ruby instructed Sam. "Ask him. Push."
Sam just cleared his throat quietly, aware that he was in no shape to call Dean out on something his demon said, and turned to grab a bottle opener. If Dean actually did have a drinking problem, he'd deal with it if or when it became an issue. Before he could even open the drawer, Dean loudly busted the cap off his beer using the edge of the counter.
"Dude!" Sam exclaimed, whirling around to face him. "I was gonna get you a bottle opener."
"Sorry." Dean was blushing faintly under his spray of freckles. "Forgot I wasn't at home."
Despite himself, Sam started to laugh, even as Lucifer sarcastically muttered, "How classy." He grabbed a beer of his own and made a show of prying the top off with the aforementioned bottle opener. It came out sounding playful when he commented, "I'd hate to see the countertops at your place."
"They're fine!" Dean defended. "And so's yours." He rubbed the section he'd used. "Laminate's tough."
"Make it up to him anyway," Castiel advised.
"Yeah, all right." Dean took a pull from his beer, grimacing a little. Sam knew it was cheap and tasted like it. "You're in school, right? You got any of those - " He snapped his fingers. "Page markers? Y'know, like the little sticky notes."
"Tons." Nursing his own beer, Sam headed into his bedroom, aware Dean was following him. He tried not to focus on the fact that this was their first date and they were in his bedroom together as he pulled open one of his desk drawers and started sifting through his strictly-organized office supplies. He heard Dean stifle a snicker behind him and Castiel order "Don't laugh," and glanced over his shoulder at both of them. "What?"
"Nothing," Dean said. "It's just that you're every bit as type-A as I thought you were."
"Why would you think that?" Wasn't like it was an unfair assessment or anything, but Sam wasn't sure what he'd done to give himself away.
"Who uses perfect spelling and punctuation in freaking texts?"
"Speaking of texts." Sam handed Dean a pad of neon page markers, wondering idly what he needed them for, then went back into the kitchen to get his phone. "I oughta let Charlie know I'm okay."
"Yeah...who's that Charlie guy, anyway?" Dean called after him. "You two must be close. He was kinda freaking out. Not that I read your texts or anything, they just kept popping up on the screen."
"Girl, actually, and she's my friend. We work at the same firm." Sam woke his phone up. He had a new deluge of texts from Charlie. In the last few, she threatened to track his phone, then noted he was in his apartment. "She's the one who made me make a Fluttr account...and go out with you."
"Don't bother texting her back." Ruby was looking down at his phone, reading through the messages with him. "This whole thing is her fault. Let her stew all weekend."
"Guess I owe her a thank-you, then...even if tonight's been kinda weird for both of us." Dean joined Sam in the kitchen as he typed out a response to Charlie, ignoring Ruby.
I'm fine. Date was interesting, to say the least. I fucked up big time, but it seems like it turned out okay. I'll fill you in later in person. Thanks for looking out.
He set his phone down, then looked at Dean, who had a page marker stuck to the tip of one of his fingers. There was something written on it, but Sam couldn't tell what it was. "Okay. You wanna grab your little douchebag for me real quick?"
Lucifer laughed loudly. "Oh, this oughta be good. Lemme guess: this is one of your so-called 'tricks' for dealing with me? Gimme a break. You don't know shit about angels." Nevertheless, he tried to take off when Sam reached for him. His damaged wings made him slow, though, so Sam was able to grab him. He struggled and cursed, spitting and trying to bite.
"Don't do this," Crowley whispered to Dean. Sam was close enough to hear him. "You do not want to make an enemy of the Devil."
Dean ignored him, going in under Lucifer's halo and firmly pressing the sticky part of the marker to his sandy hair. Lucifer recoiled, screwing up his face and squeezing his eyes shut, but Dean got it on there anyway. There was some kind of Chinese or Japanese character scribbled on it in pen.
Sam watched as Lucifer glared at Dean and opened his mouth to spew venom at him. Nothing came out, though. He looked as shocked as Sam felt.
"Paper seal," Dean explained when Sam looked at him. "They used to use 'em all the time in Japan. Usually for demons, but they work on angels, too. This one's for silence." He gestured to Lucifer. "Won't last forever. It's on the wrong kinda paper and he is an archangel, so he'll be able to get it off eventually. But that should take a few hours." He made eye contact with Sam. "Aim's to help you sleep."
There were a lot of things Sam wanted to say, but he couldn't seem to get any of them past his mouth. He let go of Lucifer, who immediately flew down to the counter in front of him and started trying to get the seal off his head. Every time he made to grab it, though, his hands couldn't even get close, like there was a magnetic field around it. That just pissed him off more. Watching his angel stalk furiously up and down the counter, silently screaming and making every rude gesture in the book, all while a strip of neon pink paper flapped from his head, Sam was torn between laughing and (yet again) tearing up. Crying wasn't usually his go-to reaction, but it'd been one long emotional rollercoaster of a night. He finally tore his focus away from Lucifer and looked at Dean again. "How come you're being so nice to me?"
Dean had been looking at his handiwork with a proud expression on his face, but now he glanced at Sam. "What d'you mean?"
"You drove around for an hour looking for me," Sam began, "brought me my food, gave me a ride home, and did...that for me." He waved a hand at Lucifer, who was still having a meltdown. "Which is a big deal. I don't think he's ever been quiet for this long without me covering his mouth." He shook his head. "It's not that I'm not grateful, but we met online, and we've only been on one date. Which didn't go very well, I might add. So..." He spread his hands helplessly.
"That's it; be skeptical," Ruby encouraged. "No one could ever like you this much, especially after he just met you."
Dean took a swig of his beer, then sighed. "I do like you, though. A lot. And your demon's almost bitchier than mine, which is saying something." Crowley sniffed. "I like you, Sam. I think you're hot and smart and funny and I told you Cas pushed me to go the extra mile with you. I just wanna help you out with your angel problem and get to know you better. I don't want anything from you, if that's what you're worried about. And, honestly, I'm starting to get a little tired of explaining myself."
Sam drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know; I'm sorry. I'll try really hard to be a little less paranoid." He waited a beat, then admitted, "I like you, too." Then his brain finally caught up with his ears and he squinted at Dean. "You think I'm hot?"
"'Course I do," Dean replied easily. They were still standing close to each other. "Don't run into a ton of guys taller than me, and I kinda like that. Plus I think I already mentioned I like your hair." Very hesitantly, he brought a hand up. Sam stood perfectly still and let him cup his jaw with it. It was warm, and heavily callused. "Look, Sam, I see you, okay? Not Lucifer. And I like what I see. I definitely get how that might be hard for you to believe, with two demons, basically..."
"Right, call him a demon," Crowley muttered sarcastically. "That'll put you back in his good graces."
Sam wasn't sure which one of them leaned in first while Crowley was talking, him or Dean. Maybe they both did it at the same time. It didn't really matter, because either way, they were kissing. Dean's lips were every bit as soft as they looked, and he tasted like steak and mediocre beer. Sam hadn't done this in years, but it came back to him quickly, and Dean was patient enough to let him figure it out.
Mercifully, their respective angels and demons were quiet through the whole kiss. Several kisses, actually, since they broke to gasp in air a few times then went right back together. Sam was feeling a little lightheaded by the time Dean pulled away for real, but he thought he might like it.
Dean's blush was back, green eyes gemstone-bright and mouth slightly open as he panted. Sam felt his dick begin to stir interestedly, and swallowed, suddenly needing to tell Dean how good he looked right now. Unfortunately, Crowley was the first one to speak.
"If you're going to insist on doing this," he began after a heavy sigh, "you should at least milk it for all you can. His self esteem's lower than the bottom of the Marianas Trench. You can do whatever you want with him after that little song and dance."
Dean's expression shifted into one of annoyance and disgust as he reached up to grab Crowley off his shoulder. Sam was about to say something, but a massive, jaw-cracking yawn beat him to the punch.
"I oughta go," Dean said, holding his struggling demon in one hand. "It's getting late, and you should get some sleep. I'll text you the instructions for making that seal, and then maybe we can do this again next week." He half-smiled. "Minus your angel crashing the party and you literally running yourself ragged."
"All right...yeah. That'd be nice." Sam definitely needed to get to bed. As Dean downed the rest of his beer, tossed his bottle, and turned to let himself out, though, the unbearable reality of sleeping alone hit Sam like a semi truck. Not to mention the unbearable reality of being alone with Lucifer when he finally got that seal off. Sam reached out and grabbed Dean's arm. "W-wait."
"What the hell're you doing?" Ruby demanded as Dean looked at him questioningly.
Sam screwed up his courage and followed through on the impulse. "I...I'd like you to stay."
Dean raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"
"Yes," Sam replied, much more confidently than he felt.
"You don't have to - " Dean cut himself off as Castiel started whispering into his ear, and his face slowly cleared. "Yeah, okay. We can give that a shot." He scratched his angel under the chin with one finger, and Sam heard Castiel's deep, gravelly purr. Putting Crowley back on his left shoulder, Dean told Sam, "I'll go ahead and stay the night if you really want me to, but you're gonna be calling the shots. I ain't gonna do anything you don't tell me to."
"He won't stick to that," Ruby predicted. "Make him leave."
"Okay," Sam said. To Dean, not Ruby. He slowly finished his own beer, watching Lucifer's ongoing tantrum on the counter slowly wind down as he thought about what he wanted. To go to bed, obviously, and keep Dean next to him. But he should really shower first. Should he make Dean wait in the bedroom? Or...?
He spoke before he could overthink it, like he usually did. Practically everything that'd gone right for him so far had only happened because he'd acted on impulse. Because he hadn't given Ruby or Lucifer a chance to talk. Because he hadn't sat there and run through all the reasons it was a bad idea and ways it could go wrong. "I need to take a shower. And I want you to come with me."
"Well, look at that," Crowley commented as Dean just blinked at Sam. "He's moving even faster than you were."
"Okay, if that's what you really want," Dean agreed after a second. Sam could tell he was excited and trying really hard to push it down, and he felt bad. It seemed like Sam was teasing him. He kind of wanted to have sex, he was definitely interested, he just wasn't sure it was a good idea. "Lead the way."
"It's what I want," Sam confirmed, then, talking to both himself and Dean, added, "We'll just see what happens."
"Whatever happens," Ruby growled into his ear, "you deserve it."
