Textbooks and LARPing
Chapter Twelve: Badassdom is not a real kingdom, are you guys even trying, Dean?
Castiel follows Dean through the field full of tents, jousts, and horses. He must admit they do put in a lot of effort for these. Especially Dean, with his elaborate armor and unbelievably well made mask. A heavy mask. Castiel knows because he handed it to the man earlier that day and it was at least three pounds.
"All of the women are wearing battle appropriate clothing this time." Castiel observes and Dean nods, whispering in his ear.
"It's a different larp than the last time." He explains, as Castiel tries not to shiver at the weird feeling.
"Oh."
"Yeah, here Charlie is queen of the moon kingdom. We fight against shadow orcs, mostly. Uniting with the elves and whatnot to bring the orcs down." Dean adds, his voice muffled by the helmet, giving it an even lower tone. It's almost like Castiel is talking with a stranger.
A powerful stranger leading him through a foreign land, protecting him at all costs despite his low position in-
Wait
What?
Castiel cringes and shakes his head no, shooting a glare at Dean involuntarily.
"Whoa, what's going on, buddy? Pissed you have to do this?"
"It's not that." He mutters as Dean leads him into a very well made tent with an authentic feeling to the clutter inside. Admittedly he is relieved this is the group he has to larp with.
"Ready to get dressed?" Dean asks, pulling clothes out of a trunk at the foot of a bed. "You'll be staying in my place for the weekend. It's only got the one bed but I'm sure you can rough it."
Castiel gives him an unamused look before he begins wrestling with his outfit. There's buttons, chainmail, and other things he is not entirely familiar with. "D-Dean!" He whines, struggling in his shirt, unable to find his way out.
Dean laughs a little, "Easy, tiger, I'll help you out."
A pair of hands are suddenly all over Castiel and before he knows it he's dressed in the odd clothing, staring at Dean in awe. "Thank you, Dean…"
"No problem. Also, from here on out, no more Dean. I am Dorian, head knight of the moon kingdom's army."
"Huh…who…am I…?" Castiel asks and Dean shrugs.
"Whoever you want to be."
The teen stares at him blankly. What is he going to use?
"Cassius. It is the closest in name to me that I can think of."
Dean laughs a little, "Sounds good," He says before opening the tent and leading Castiel out.
As soon as they step out, however, a man with long blond hair sporting a bow and sack of arrows comes up. "Dorian, we need you in the meeting. We must prepare for battle with the orcs…" His eyes wander over to Castiel, not-so-subtly looking him over with scrutiny. "Who is this?
"Cassius. He is a new member, a handmaiden of the queen." Dean explains and the man nods.
"Is he your…?" The man asks, breaking character for a split second when he gives Dean a certain look, making Castiel uncomfortable.
He is here to help even out the numbers, not be asked out by a strange man who played at being and elf in his spare time. Although from what he has seen, in the grand list of characters for this game, elves would be his preference.
"He is a friend. An aid for the weekend to even out the numbers. Two more shall be coming as well. Another soldier and a wizard." Dean explains, the pain at mentioning the wizard obvious in his voice.
Why?
Well because said wizard is Gabriel, of course.
Castiel made sure to rope him and Sam in as well, because, come on, he's not going to suffer this alone. He might be a Christian but he is no saint.
"I see. My name is Leland." The man says and Castiel wonders if that is his real name. Probably not. Charlie seems to be the only one who uses her real name here.
"It is nice to meet you, I am Cassius." Castiel shakes the man's hand as Dean looks on slightly annoyed.
"Yes, well, Cassius needs to report to the queen, so I will be leading him to the meeting. Thank you for the message, Leland." Dean says, taking Castiel's arm a little roughly and pulling him towards a grand looking tent.
"D-…orian…was I wrong…or was that man hitting on me?" Castiel asks and Dean tenses up, looking to him with a serious gaze.
"Look, Cassius, the people here are very open to any and all genders for…sex." Dean explains, his gaze now anywhere but Castiel, "Don't…just don't do anything with any of them. They are only looking for flings."
"I was not interested anyways, Dorian…" Castiel says, the name feeling odd. Why must they hide their identities? They all like the same thing, surely there is nothing to be ashamed of with one another.
He gives Dean a sympathetic look, feeling the worst for him. Others no doubt give one another their names, become friends outside, but Dean does not give himself that chance. The man refuses to open himself up to any chance of ridicule.
Yet here is Castiel, out in the open, risking his reputation, all for Dean. Well, he is actually risking far more than reputation by being with Dean, but that is an entirely different hopeless situation.
They arrive inside the tent to see Charlie, her girlfriend Dorothy by her side as she commands her troupes.
Castiel sort of fades in and out of her game plan, focusing more on the commands she gives him specifically; lay out her weapons, battle armor, grab refreshments. Still, he understands the basics of Charlie's plan, which is attack the orcs from the rear as the elves attack from the front. Their powers will enable them to take more out easier, giving distraction for the human soldiers to come and guarantee the joint victory.
He does not really care, but it seems like a decent enough strategy.
"Cassie!" Gabriel whispers from the other side of the tent, a large grin on his face as his brother awkwardly shuffles over to him.
"Yes?"
"This is ridiculous!" The older Novak says with a large grin on his face, clearly enjoying himself. "I can't believe I'm doing this, just to earn brownie points towards sex."
Castiel sighs heavily. He knows Sam and Gabriel's relationship, but that doesn't mean he wants to discuss his brother having sex with his friend.
"Be nice, you know how much this means to him." He whispers, gesturing towards Dean.
"Ah, yes, Dorian. What are you going by? I am Beelzebub. They fought me on it at first but sort of gave up after a half hour." Gabriel laughs, "Amateurs."
Castiel rolls his eyes, "My name in this game is Cassius. What is Sam's?"
"Moose." Gabriel says proudly and Castiel cringes.
"Did you…did you choose his name?"
"Of course!"
"And they…allowed it?"
"That was after Beelzebub. They were already broken."
Castiel sighs, "Poor Sam…and everyone who had to deal with you…"
"Alright, everyone!" Charlie says, louder to obviously gain the Novak brothers' attention. "I will be sending you off to gather strength, weapons, and potions. All will go in groups. My captain Dorian shall take the new people; Cassius the chamber maid, Beelzebub the wizard and…Moose…the…soldier…" She mutters, giving Sam an apologetic look, "He will also take the healer Kieran."
Castiel looks confused for a moment before Charlie gestures towards Kevin, which answers one question, but he was more curious as to why a chambermaid is going out into battle. They are to stay in the tents and tend to the queen, at least that is what Dean assured him.
After Charlie has finished doling out the rest of the assignments, Castiel goes up to her and asks for an elaboration on the chambermaid role.
"Well normally you would stay…but…these orcs are sort of…ruled by our previous king." Charlie says awkwardly.
"The king you killed…?" Castiel asks and Charlie nods.
"When you are killed in story rather than just in gaining experience, you lose your current status and character." She explains, "However you can return as a new character. The guy had a big following and so when he-"
"Got murdered by you," Castiel supplies and Charlie laughs a little.
"Yeah, when he was murdered by me he decided to join the orc kingdom. In it he started his own story of corruption and murder to rise the ranks. Now he is the orc king, who was the previous human king's long lost brother out to avenge his death. I know, totally overplayed, but here we are." Charlie says, "So anyways because he's super bitter and super pissed at me we need all the manpower we can get. So you will be going. I don't need a chambermaid anyways." She motions to Dorothy, "Not when I have a wife."
"Watch it." Said 'wife' warns.
"I see. You need manpower because a child did not get their way." Castiel says and Charlie laughs.
"I mean, yeah, basically. Anyways, the battle is tomorrow, today is the day we go out and have little quests and mini fights, building up our levels and gaining new weapons and other loot. Tomorrow is the real 'story'. Anyone who dies today, or any minor soldier in battle tomorrow, does not lose rank as they do not have their own stories yet. So if you die you will be fine, but if Dorian dies he will lose his character."
"So what you're saying is I must ensure he makes it these next two days without losing his character." Castiel clarifies and Charlie nods.
"Technically only tomorrow. Today is for fun!" She grins before returning to her queen-like demeanor. "Now, go forth chambermaid and aid my valiant captain in his quest."
Castiel raises a brow and simply nods before leaving the tent to meet up with his group. "So do we…get weapons?" He asks Dean who looks away guiltily.
"Well…level one characters…only get a small dagger…you have to win battles to take their weapons and level up as well." Dean explains before looking to Gabriel, "Wizards just learn a new spell with each level. Right now you should have been given the powder for an ice spell."
The older Novak holds up a pouch with the same grin still present. "Got it, captain." He says, with no small hint of mockery in the title.
"Now I am relying on all of you to move up the ranks and be of use to me tomorrow in the battle. I have no intentions of dying." Dean looks to all of them, and although his face cannot be seen through the helmet, the intensity of his eyes can.
An intensity that catches Castiel off guard.
And gets him shot by a god damn arrow.
"Oh." Castiel says, turning and picking up the foam arrow, "Did I die?" He asks Dean before Kevin is over to him, grabbing his shoulders and pulling his shirt down below his shoulder blades dramatically.
"It will be ok, child. I will give you a potion to heal that wound." Kevin reaches into one of several pouches on his belt and puts a small dab of lotion on his shoulder where the arrow 'hit'.
"I am a level 10!" The Elf boasts, "A simply healing lotion will not save him!"
Kevin scoffs, "Come now, pretty boy, I am a level 20. My spit would be enough to save him from your wounds."
The elf seethes a little, pouting as a child playing pretend pouts when the other one says they dodged.
Castiel, as per the course today, is confused. "I thought…the elves and humans were friends."
"Just because we must fight together tomorrow, does not mean we shall be friends today!" The elf yells, flipping Kevin off before Dean comes out of nowhere behind him and pretends to slash his throat.
"Nobody harms my men." Dean practically growls out and the boy in front of him just grumbles and falls to the floor, pretending to be dead.
The eldest Winchester's demeanor would honestly pass for attractive, if it were not for the painfully nerdy situation.
"Keep your eyes peeled, chambermaid." Dean commands and Castiel simply rolls his eyes.
"As you wish, Captain." After he says this, much to his aggravation, another arrow comes from nowhere and hits him square in the forehead.
He makes sure to give Dean the bitterest look when the man begins to speak to chastise him again.
Needless to say the captain stays silent as Kevin places some lotion on the spot, trying not to laugh.
Gabriel, however, does not extend the same courtesy.
It is only noon, with eight more hours to go for today alone before they retire for the night, and Castiel is already a pretty special kind of done.
A/N:Sooooo yeah...it has been half a year. I got really busy moving into a new place with someone and then, you know, adult life. Anyways I finally settled in so I am going to try and update this more. Not making any promises this time. I will finish this story...I just...can't give a date for that. Because I'm an asshole. Also I know literally nothing about LARPing. Picking up some stuff from the movie The Knights of Badassdom and just fucking made up the rest. We will pretend it's accurate.