title: spooning (done wrong)

"Hey, Cas, I did the washing up for once." Dean grins boyishly at me, and I try to restrain the responding smile.

I shake my head slowly. "Did you put everything away?"

"Yeah. So, you proud?"

"I'd be proud if this wasn't a special occasion." I ruffle his hair, but slip into his lap on the sofa. He may not like cuddling, but he does like this. Don't ask me what the difference is. "So, what are we watching?"

"Well, I was watching one of those British nature programmes, but we can change the channel." His arm drapes itself around me, and I burrow as much into him as I can. This is maybe as much of a reward for me as it is for him. Not that I know what I'm rewarding myself for. I just am.

"No, I like David Attenborough."

"It's not David Attenborough."

"Change the channel."

"It's David Tennant."

"Stay on this channel."

"You're a bit indecisive."

"Your fault, you knew what you were doing."

"True enough." He kisses the top of his head, and I fall asleep to a soothing Scottish accent and the smell of Dean (whiskey and leather, in case you're wondering. His dad's old jacket smells like it, and it just… sticks to him).

###

I wake up with somewhat of a jolt, the very act surprising me. The sound of Dean chuckling wafts above my head. "Long day at work?"

"Long week at work." I lean back and carefully stretch, so as not to cause Dean any trouble. "Sorry, are you okay?"

"Yeah, you weren't out that long." He smiles at me in a way I can only describe as fond. "What's happening at work?"

"Oh… it's just busy. Everyone wants something done, and I'm basically the paid intern." I shrug. The boss has told me she's impressed with my work, so a promotion seems probable. Especially as a senior member in my team is about to retire. "Plus, people are still whispering when I leave the room."

"Still? I thought you let the word 'boyfriend' slip months ago."

"I did. It's not common for book editors to be forgetful, though." I smile wryly.

"What's their problem?" He grumbles, with little malice but more… sadness.

"I don't think it's their problem, per se, I just think we get so little gossip that mine's stuck. I don't know, it might just be that I don't ever tell them anything about me." I shrug.

"It's not their business, though; they shouldn't make your life difficult because of it."

I smile up at him. "Thank you, but I'm all right. We already knew they were idiots. What's the time? Should I be making dinner?"

"I just ordered Chinese, don't worry. I thought that was what woke you up, actually."

"Well, if it did, I didn't notice." We smile at each other for a couple of seconds. "Do you want me to move? I've been here a while, are your legs going dead?"

"Nah, I have enough thigh muscle to handle this for… at least a few more hours." He grins and tightens his grip on me a little.

"If you complain of pins and needles later, I'm not helping."

He shrugs. "That only works to your detriment."

"I'm not even going to reply to that."

We watch the TV until food arrives. Well, I say we watch, but I don't honestly know what's going on – I'm still only barely awake.

When the food arrives, Dean shoos me off to answer the door. I think he just wants to show his legs aren't dead, but they buckle a little on the way to the door. At my laugh, he flips me the bird behind his back before charmingly greeting the delivery man.

When the door closes, I get up to grab us forks.

"Dean."

"Yeah?"

"Are you aware of how the cutlery gets set out?"

"What?"

"You've put all the forks in the spoon section."

"What? No, I didn't."

"Come, bear witness."

He peers over my shoulder, having put down the containers. "Crap. How did I do that?"

"That's my question." I move the forks, grab a couple, then turn with a smile. "Spooning only works between two of the same type. Spoons are compatible with spoons, but forks poke the spoons too much; the spoons don't like it."

Dean narrows his eyes. "You just tried to make a pun."

"It was a great pun."

Dean shakes his head. "No, it wasn't."

I poke him with a fork. No spooning for him.

if you remember, 'cuddling' was technically spooning... so i had to make do with the pg-rated version. hope it didn't suck.

(i really liked the idea, but the actuality disappointed me a bit, ngl)