Castiel looked up from Sam's laptop and smiled sweetly at Dean, who had been hovering nearby around the room.
"Dean," he said, "I forgot to tell you; our...date the other night at that restaurant was...very pleasant."
Dean looked up, startled. "What?" he said, "Where's this coming from?"
He glanced suspiciously at the how-to article on dating that was open on the laptop and then back at Castiel.
"The human concept of the mating ritual of dating interests me," explained Castiel, "and after the other night when you came to get me I began doing research on the subject."
Dean smiled sadly. Cas could be so naive sometimes.
"Cas, I'm sorry but that...that wasn't a date," he said, "not really."
Immediately, Castiel's face clouded over, a look of clear disappointment replacing the happy glow he had sported just seconds ago. "Oh," he said, dejectedly. He had been expecting Dean to be delighted; he had hoped that his newfound confusing, muddled human emotions would be reciprocated. "Then the information on this website is very misleading." With a frown Castiel closed the laptop and rested his head in his hands, his cheeks turning decidedly red.
Dean looked apologetic. " No," he said, "I didn't mean..." He shook his head when it seemed that Castiel wouldn't budge, but walked over to the former angel anyway and placed a hand tentatively on his arm. At this, Castiel's arms fell to his sides, exposing his still somewhat flushed face. He was still getting used to this wide range of ways in which humans expressed themselves, and Dean's sudden act had caught him off guard.
"There's a lot more to dating than just sitting down in restaurants or whatever that stupid article on the internet says," explained Dean, doing his best to be helpful.
Castiel glanced warily at Sam's laptop, which had all but been abandoned. He'd thought researching the subject of dating would do him good, what with his lack of experience in that area. On the other hand, he knew that Dean was practically an expert when it came to dating. And Cas trusted Dean, whose knowledge was much more valuable than that of a vague internet article.
"Will you, as the expression goes, show me the ropes?" he asked, proud to show off what little knowledge he had of human phrases.
Dean smiled. "Alright; if you really want to know about dating, you might as well learn it from me."
Castiel knew that Dean had dated a number of women in the time that they had known each other. While he had never exactly been Dean's confidant on the subject, Cas had heard Dean discuss the topic of women several times with Sam. More often than not he had considered what it would be like if it was him that Dean would talk about in that manner in place of the many female figures that drifted in and out of his life. But it had never occurred to him exactly how strong this curiosity was. His human emotions had been growing stronger with his grace now gone, and because of this his feelings towards Dean had been heightened, going far beyond the profound bond they shared that he had briefly described to Sam once.
"When do we start?" asked Cas eagerly.
"Whoa, hey there, let's not jump into it too fast," said Dean, "you'll actually end up scaring girls away if you do that, even though you...you're..."
Castiel looked at Dean questioningly. The hunter was clearly flustered about something, it seemed.
"Yes, Dean?" he said. "I'm what?"
"Never mind," said Dean, brushing it off, "just look at yourself in a mirror and you'll understand."
Castiel nodded, doing his best to look like he understood what Dean was trying to tell him. He made a mental note to take the hunter's advice and look into a mirror the first chance he got.
"Will that help me learn about dating?" he asked, curiously.
Dean gestured at Castiel vaguely. "Sure it will," he said, "you have to get to know yourself better before you start trying to get to know another person."
"But I know who I am already," said Castiel.
"That's good," said Dean, encouragingly, "you're on the right track, then."
"And...I think I already know the person who I want to date," Cas added, as if Dean hadn't spoken.
" I knew it," said Dean, "there's someone, some girl you're not telling me about. Well, who is it? Because I am completely, totally, one hundred percent okay with..."
Dean trailed off when Castiel stared pointedly at him. Suddenly, he knew what Castiel was trying to convey, although he hadn't seen this one coming. His suspicions were confirmed when Cas said,
"Dean, will you...will you go out with me?"
"Oh, no," he said, "no. Cas, I don't...you see...I'll gladly tell you anything you want to know about dating, but I'm drawing the line at this."
"But why not?" asked Castiel, "You have much more experience with this than I do, and I want to learn from the best. Besides, there's no one like you."
"I don't know, man," said Dean hesitantly, "I mean, I..."
Dean paused when he saw Cas's face tilt slightly upward, and realized that Cas was making the puppy eyes
that he tried so hard to resist. It was no wonder that they were made even more irresistible by the fact that Cas was human now. Dean didn't want to let him down, especially since he could already see Sam's bitchface forming at having to deal with a dejected Cas because of him and his refusal to acknowledge his-
Dean sighed, not wanting to continue the thought, and not liking where it had been going. He threw his hands up in defeat. "Oh alright, fine, but just this once. And I'm warning you, I don't have any experience with, you know...other guys...either."
Castiel's eyes brimmed with hope. "What...was that?" he asked, slyly, "What did you say?"
"Yes," said Dean, a bit exasperated, "I said yes, alright? I'll go on a date with you, Cas."
Castiel grinned, his expression one of triumph.
"Are we done here now?" asked Dean. He then turned away from Cas slightly and muttered, "What am I gonna tell Sam?"
"Don't worry," said Castiel, "I've...got that covered."
Dean nodded; he trusted Cas with this. "Alright," he said, "then why don't we start talking where and when? Let's get this over with."
Castiel was all too eager to talk about the specifics of their upcoming date.