Textbooks and LARPing
Chapter Eleven: Nerds use too many acronyms
Dean heads down the courtyard of his campus when he receives an urgent text from Charlie telling him to meet her and Kevin in the small wooded area behind the library around 2. They don't usually ask to meet up in public -even shady parts of public- on campus, so it's clearly serious. He shoots her a text assuring her he will be there and heads off to his next class.
After class Dean oh-so-subtly hauls ass to the spot she said and sees a very panicked Charlie and Kevin waiting for him.
"What happened?"
"Seven of the members of our kingdom for this weekend's LARP have cancelled!" Kevin explains and Charlie crosses her arms.
"Like grades and girlfriends are more important than keeping my beautiful kingdom safe. Rude little bastards."
Dean groans, "You brought me here because of that? Damnit, I thought someone was dying!"
"We will die! Our army is too short now, no one will take us seriously!" Kevin argues and Dean frowns. It's true. They need at least three more members to make a true army.
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Dean asks, "You two are the only ones who know I do this. I'm not going to out myself to get more people for one weekend."
"Well…if memory serves me correctly…we're not the only two who know…" Charlie begins, a mischievous look in her eyes that he sure as shit is not comfortable with. "A little dork by the name of Castiel happens to know as well. Castiel who you have been getting pretty chummy with, what with the dinner dates and sleeping together."
"It's not-! Don't word it like that! Damnit I'm not telling you guys anything anymore, you twist it into something perverted."
"Well, I mean, did you two not sleep together?" Charlie asks.
"Twice?" Kevin adds.
"Twice!" Charlie emphasizes and Dean glares.
"Only sleep. Just sleep. Nothing else. And we don't have dinner dates!"
"You have a specific day every week where you meet up and have dinner alone with each other." Kevin points out, "Sounds pretty date-y."
"Certainly the date-y-est thing our little Dean here has done."
"No doubt Castiel as well." Kevin adds.
"You two are the devils."
"Just one weekend. Get him to join us. Maybe Sammy, too. Then we only need one more." Charlie urges and Dean sighs.
"Fine, whatever, I don't care if he joins…but he likes you guys, too, you know. Why do I have to call him? It's not like he lives in my ass." He argues before feeling something bump into him from behind, seeing a completely oblivious Castiel with his face in a book. "Damnit, Cas, get out of my ass!"
Castiel looks up highly confused at whatever is going on in front of him, "But I was never in your-" He stops himself when Dean raises a brow. Clearly he came up at the wrong time. Although, looking around, Castiel is not entirely sure where exactly he ended up. Going by the looks everyone is giving him, Castiel settles on remaining silent.
"Castiel! Just the one I wanted to see!" Charlie exclaims and Castiel is even more confused.
"I am?"
"You are! Dean, ask him!"
"Damnit, Charlie, why do I have to?" Dean groans, looking at Castiel with a strangely defeated look. Like he doesn't want to see Castiel right now.
That hurts a little.
"I feel I should go…" Castiel begins and Charlie stands in front of him.
"No! No! We have a huge favor to ask of you! Apparently Dean is too chicken shit to ask it, though, so I will!" She takes Castiel's hand and looks him dead in the eyes. "Would you-?"
"Are you fucking proposing to him? Jesus."
"Shut up Dean," Charlie groans, "Will you please join us this weekend…for a LARP game?"
Castiel looks at them all extremely confused, "Lar…p…? What…is that? Is it like WOW? Why do all of your games have acronyms?"
"It's for Life Action Role Playing. It's what you saw us doing the day we met." Dean mumbles and Castiel frowns.
"Oh…um…I'd rather…not…" He begins and Kevin comes out of nowhere to stand beside him.
"We're short members, if you don't join us all of our hard work will be ruined!"
"I do not see how that is my problem." Castiel says, moving to sidestep everyone when Dean looks at him.
"We…could really use your help. You wouldn't have to do too much. But, if you really don't want to-"
"I'll do it." Castiel says almost immediately, surprising himself. Dean clearly doesn't want to make him join, but actually needs him there, so it would not kill him to go just once. "Just once." He emphasizes. "If it happens again, find other people."
"Castiel, you're the best!" Charlie pats him on the back before heading away, "Kevin and I will get going, don't want Dean to be caught with us."
As they leave, Castiel hears Kevin whisper something to Dean about being 'so wrong' on some matter and soon it is just Castiel and Dean. "Well, I will take my leave as well." Castiel says, raising his book up, "I'm in the middle of a chapter due at the end of the week, so…"
"…Is that…is that a big book on embalming…?" Dean asks and Castiel nods, "And that's what had you in such a zone you crashed into me?" The teen nods again, "Jesus, you are such a-!"
"Do not take the lord's name in vain, Dean!" Castiel huffs, "You're a grown man, find a better way to show annoyance."
Dean looks at him surprised, "Um…sorry? So why did you only do it when I asked, by the way?"
"Such a master at segues…" Castiel mocks before shrugging, "I do not know them, but I know you would not ask something unless you really needed it. Especially since you were so reluctant to ask in the first place." He bites his lips for a second before speaking again, "I cannot leave my friend when he needs something."
Dean blushes a little and scratches the back of his head awkwardly, "Um…yeah…that'd make you a pretty shitty friend." He laughs awkwardly and Castiel nods.
"That it would." The teen begins to back up, "But I was serious, I need to get back to my studies. Since tonight is our dinner-
"It's not a date!" Dean yells and Castiel gives him an odd look.
"…No…it's not…but since that is tonight…you can fill me in on this…LARP thing."
"Oh, right, yeah. Sounds good. Chinese food and LARP tutoring. I'm sure you'll catch on quick."
"I'm sure I will, I'm a fast learner." Castiel says before leaving an oddly flustered Dean in favor of the never flustered (because it's a building but that is beside the point) library.
At the set time of their weekly dinner meeting, Dean arrives at Castiel's usual table with food, a laptop, and many papers. It slightly reminds him of when Dean was trying to 'culture' him on nerd activities not so long ago.
"Hey Cas!" Dean sits down, sprawling out papers and their shared Chinese before opening his laptop. "Are you ready to learn from the sexiest tutor alive?"
"Sure," Castiel says, wrapping some lo mein around his fork and looking to Dean, "When are they arriving?" He asks before shoving the food in his mouth. It still amazes Dean that such a prim and proper kid can eat like a monster when he's comfortable enough.
"Wow, rude Cas. Way to be a dick."
"I'm a Novak," The teen says between chewing, "It's in our blood. Just be glad I'm not as bad as Gabriel…or heaven forbid Lucifer…"
"Hey, whoa, wait, back the fuck up. You have a brother named Lucifer? Like, I know they went with an angel theme but the fallen angel? Really?"
"It's not his birth name. He was born Lucas, named after our grandfather. Then he grew up, joined a band, and legally changed his name to Lucifer." Castiel explains, "Gabriel likes to refer to him as a 'big bag of dicks'."
Dean gawks at the oblivious teen as he continues eating, "Wait…you…you're related to Lucifer? The singer Lucifer? Most popular male singer in the world right now, Lucifer? Why the hell didn't you tell me you had something so cool going for you?"
Castiel pouts a little, "I would think the level of cool I bring on my own is enough."
"It's not, zero is not enough cool, Cas." He teases, earning a harsh shove from the teen.
"It's enough cool to earn me you as a stalker."
"Why does everyone keep saying I stalked you? I never followed yo…" Dean goes silent, remembering a day when he did in fact follow him to figure out where one of his classes was.
It wasn't his fault. It was for pranks.
"Just tutor me, already." Castiel sighs and Dean perks up again, pulling out a list of names from his mess of papers.
"Okay, so this is a roster of everyone in our kingdom. I have a roster of the other team as well but we will start with ours. First is Charlie, she's the queen of the kingdom. Recently her girlfriend Dorothy joined our kingdom as a knight, and the queen's lover."
"How scandalous." Castiel mutters, half listening.
"She killed her king, so yeah, it's all pretty scandalous."
"Were it truly the medieval times she would have been killed immediately upon his death."
"Not necessarily. Queen Catherine did fine." Dean points out, remembering the queen from some obscure history class he took freshman year.
Castiel goes silent for a moment before looking to him, "I do not believe she killed him."
"Well some Queen Catherine killed her husband."
"Catherine I had a husband who died naturally, and Catherine the Great's husband was killed by someone who could not be connected to the Queen." Castiel points out, "Either way that was long after your game takes place."
"Could you…could you just…?" Dean groans, "This is not historically accurate, it has fucking orcs you dweeb."
"I believe the grown man playing fantasy in the woods is more of the dweeb."
"Ugh, whatever, just listen for five minutes without saying something smart. I am in charge of the army, of course. No one knows who I actually am though, and as far as they know you don't either."
"What will I be?"
"Probably a chamber maid, and we'll move the actual chamber maid to the army for the weekend." Dean explains and Castiel pales.
"Wait…the weekend…as in more than one day?"
"Yeah, we spend the night out there in our camps…you…um…you look a little horrified right now Cas…"
"I have to sleep out in the woods?" Castiel asks and Dean nods.
"What's wrong? Never camped before?"
"Of course not!"
Dean smirks at the panicked look on the teen's face, "I guess this weekend is gonna be all kinds of firsts for you then, isn't it?"
A/N: Sooo I have an editor-ish now. She doesn't check the grammar or anything but she gives me deadlines and tells me what I have to work on.
Friends can be so damn pushy. Anyways, apparently I will be updating next sunday. Or I will be killed.