A Destiel Christmas shot. May not be the last. …this is what I do on the way to school in the morning; write shoddy one shots. And I'm posting these now because if I don't then I'll forget. So happy holidays or whatever.


Little Silver Bells


It was not the first time Castiel had wandered off but it was starting to get annoying. Sam and Dean had been wandering a mall, all decked out in festive Christmas decorations, with Castiel. The problem was, the angel seemed to be more apt to explore on his own than to stick with the Winchesters.

"He was right next to me." Dean grumbled, glancing left and right through the swarms of people for the familiar trenchcoat and scruff of black hair, "I didn't even see him wander off!"

"Maybe he actually left." Sam suggested, easily seeing over the tops of most of the people.

"Nah, he's here." Dean muttered and his brother decided not to question it. Ever since Dean had started seeing Castiel's wings, things between the angel and the oldest Winchester had gotten…well, they had changed. Each seemed to know when the other was nearby without having to see them and there were times when Sam swore they were having telepathic conversations simply by staring at each other. But that might have just been him.

"There he is!" Dean pushed his way through the crowd and Sam followed after him with a sigh.

Castiel was standing quietly in front of a group of choir members, his head tilted slightly to one side as he listened to them sing and ring the large bells in their hands. A few of them were giving him disconcerted glances (they probably hadn't gotten this much attention while standing around a mall at Christmas) but for the most part they ignored Castiel and went right along with their business. Cas didn't seem to mind either way; his blue eyes were fixed on the swinging bells and he appeared almost hypnotized by the sound.

"Cas. Hey, Castiel!" Dean grabbed the angel's shoulder and spun him around, frowning, "Quit wandering off like that!"

"Sorry Dean." Cas said but his eyes drifted back to the bells. Dean shook his shoulder and Cas' attention shot back to him, "Sorry. It won't happen again."

"That's what you said the last three times." Dean grumbled, glancing at Sam for backup. Sam gave a quick, assertive nod, hands stuffed neutrally into the pockets of his coat. Dean returned his attention back to Castiel, "What's your problem, huh? I know Sammy's a giant but you've never been scared of him before."

"Shut up, Dean." Sam grumbled as his older brother laughed.

"I like the bells." Castiel murmured in reply, looking a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, I kind of got that impression since every time you've wandered off we've found you next to some." Dean gestured in an exaggerated way, "Do you want to leave? Is that it?"

"No." Castiel shuffled his shoulders and looked around so that he didn't have to look Dean in the eye.

"Hey," Dean's gruff tone became a little lighter and he pressed a hand against Cas' shoulder, "Is everything all right?"

"Yes." But Cas wasn't meeting Dean's gaze. He turned, pulling out of Dean's grasp, and stepped back into the flow of people moving through the mall. Dean and Sam jogged and jostled to catch up with him.

"What's his problem?" Dean frowned at Castiel's back, huffing as he stuffed his hands so deep into his coat pockets that his shoulders hunched.

Sam let out a snort of bemusement and Dean shot a glance at him, "Really, Dean, I can't believe you."

"What?"

"You seriously can't—there he goes again."

Dean shoved his way through a throng of giggling women to get to Castiel who was almost pressing his face against the window of a shop where a mechanical set of strings and pulleys were ringing little silver bells in a melody that couldn't be heard over the din of shoppers. He hovered at Cas' shoulder for a minute, and then gently pressed a hand in between the angel's shoulder blades, right in that sweet spot he knew Cas liked. Cas shuddered but didn't turn away from the bells.

"Cas?"

"Mm."

"Do you want to get that?"

"No." The answer came too quickly and Castiel jerked away from the window to walk stiffly back out into the crowd, leaving Dean's hand suspended in the air, growing cold without the angel's warmth.

"What the hell?" Dean looked around at Sam who had approached during the brief exchange, "What the hell is going on with him!"

Sam just rolled his eyes, bent over, and whispered in Dean's ear.

"Oh." Dean said.

-Later, back at the motel…-

"Hey Cas, come 'ere."

Castiel looked up from the book he'd really been staring at rather than reading. Dean was lounging on his motel bed, propped against the pillows, wiggling a finger at him. Sam promptly smirked, rolled off his own bed, muttered something about getting a drink, and left the room.

Cas was across the room and on the bed beside Dean before the door had closed,

"Yes, Dean."

"So I heard you like bells."

Cas' blue eyes flitted to the blanket, back to Dean's face, and then to the blanket again, "Yes…"

"Like this?"

A beautiful tinkling sound filled the air and Castiel looked up to see Dean holding a small silver bell between them. He shook it and the sound came again. Cas shuddered on the bed, gaze following the swinging bell.

"So is that whole thing about angels getting their wings when bells ring true?"

"No. Yes. In a way." Castiel said distractedly.

Dean abruptly closed his fist over the bell, cutting of the sound, and pressed it into Cas's hand. As the angel leaned in to take it, Dean tightened his finger's around Castiel's hand, moved forward, and pressed his lips to Cas'. When he finally pulled back, he took the bell with him and Cas made an impatient noise. It was the noise that always made Dean smile, eyes crinkling at the edges, lips pulling back to show his teeth in a friendly manner.

"This one's mine." He said slyly and then pulled another from seemingly nowhere, pushing that one into Cas' hand instead, "That one's for you." He rang his bell, still smiling.

Cas trembled at the sound and Dean rang the bell again. Then, with a rush of warm air, Castiel's wings burst into being. Lights blazed gold and silver and white and everything in between, lighting up the room. The colors danced in Dean's eyes as he gazed up at the light-feathers stretching towards the ceiling.

"It's true," Castiel murmured, pressing against Dean, burying his face into the crook of Dean's neck, "In a way. Silver bells resonate with our Grace and…and…" It took him a minute to find the word he wanted, "Thrill us. Our wings manifest because—."

"Because you like it." Dean already had his hand at Cas' back, fingers rubbing circles amongst the small light feathers where the wings erupted from the angel's back.

"Because we like it." Castiel confirmed, breathing hissing through his teeth as Dean massaged the sweet spot, "Dean, ring the bell again."

When Sam finally returned, the room was mostly silent. Cas was curled up in Dean's arms, eyes closed for the benefit of the Winchester's but not really asleep. Dean's breathing was steady, one arm wrapped around Castiel's back to rest across the shoulder blades, the other simply draped across the angels side.

Every time Dean took a breath, the bell still tangled in the fingers of one hand rang once; a clear, single note ringing purely through the room.

Something in the air gave the impression of rainbows after a rainstorm.