Dean and Cas sat down in a wide open field, the Impala behind them and the clear blue afternoon sky in front of them. They were unofficially on their first date...or at least Castiel was considering it his first official date, no questions asked. There was no one he would rather have shared this particular experience with than Dean, even if the hunter was slightly reluctant to consider this a proper date. And the best part was, they were completely alone. True to his word, Cas had told Sam that he and Dean were conducting an unusual experiment, which they were, in a way. For now, it was just the two of them...and infinite possibilities.
Cas decided to put to use the little he'd learned about dating from his research, and from Dean. He looked around, trying to find something to talk about; anything at all would do. The first step to a successful date was to actually have a conversation, after all, and they had been sitting in silence for what seemed like hours.
Cas was unable to think of a witty remark, for once. He realized that now would be a good time to talk with Dean about the Impala, if anything; he knew that Dean always loved to talk about his Baby. But, the problem was, Cas knew almost nothing about cars. He looked around again, and decided to opt for the next best thing he could think of.
"So," said Castiel, "do you love the color of the sky?"
"Yeah," said Dean, absently, "it's the color of your eyes."
Castiel blinked. "That's...true," he said.
Dean nodded and slumped over slightly, seeming to be only halfway aware of what was going on around him.
"Are you unwell?" asked Cas, looking over at the hunter concernedly.
"No, no, I'm fine, I just...didn't get much sleep last night, that's all. Besides, this is a lot to take in. I never thought I'd be going on a date with an angel." He barked a laugh. "I mean, wow."
"You're forgetting one thing," put in Castiel, "technically, I'm not an angel anymore. Metatron most likely still has my grace...I hope."
"Right," said Dean, "but what difference does it make whether he does or not? You're still the same person you were before, and to be honest, Cas, I kind of like you better like this."
"You would prefer me as a powerless human over me with my grace?" Cas was incredulous. He had thought that Dean approved of the abilities that came with his angelic grace. He was much more useful that way when fighting demons and other monsters, after all.
Dean smiled. "I don't mind you either way," he admitted, "but what I meant was you seem much happier this time around as a human. What happened to you?"
Castiel gestured at himself. The physical changes he was undergoing as a human were obvious on the outside; among other things, he had traded in Jimmy Novak's trench coat and suit for an old outfit of Dean's.
"If I'm going to be a human again, I thought I might as well enjoy it this time," he explained.
Dean gave Cas a look of approval. "I second that," he said, "it's about time I enjoy myself, too, for once."
"Yeah," agreed Castiel, "you deserve it after everything you've been through."
At this Dean smiled, touched by the former angel's words. Until Cas said it, he hadn't realized how much he needed to hear something like that. He wished there was some way he could repay him...and then he remembered that there was.
"Oh," he said, "I almost forgot."
He got up and went around to the trunk of the Impala. Castiel immediately turned around and followed him with his eyes.
"Dean," he said, "What are you doing?"
"Give me one second," said Dean, opening the trunk, "it's just a little something special I got for you."
He pulled a brown paper bag out of the trunk, then walked back around the Impala to where Cas was still waiting for him.
Castiel tilted his head in curiosity when he saw the paper bag Dean was holding.
"What's this?" he asked, "What's in there?"
"It's to make this an official date, I guess. Here, take it."
Dean handed the paper bag to Cas, who reached out to take it. He then stuck a hand inside it and pulled out a fresh, juicy hamburger. His eyes immediately grew wide with surprise.
"You got me a hamburger?" he asked in wonder.
"Yeah," said Dean, "it's not exactly the restaurant I know you had in mind, but it's the next best thing. A human's gotta eat, right?"
"Thank you, Dean," said Cas, appreciation evident in his voice.
"Sure," said Dean, "no problem."
With that Castiel leaned over and gave Dean a quick, unexpected kiss on the cheek. Dean turned to him, cheeks slightly red.
"What was that for, now?"
"For being you," said Cas, "besides, isn't that something that people do on dates?"
"You're right, sort of," said Dean, "but I thought we agreed to no PDA."
Castiel frowned, clearly having no recollection of the parameters they had agreed on for this date beforehand. "So...you didn't like that?" he asked.
"No, that's not it. It's just that... well, we don't have to do any of that...you know, couple stuff, if you don't want to. And...well, like I said, I don't have that much experience with other guys."
"Then we can both learn something from this," mused Cas, before going in for a bite from his hamburger.
Dean's eyes strayed to Cas's lips for a second or two before resting on his blue eyes once again. He knew that normally he would've immediately avoided doing this if he had been in this situation with any other man. But with Castiel, it was different; and this time, Dean didn't mind the direction his thoughts were going in as much as he had before.
"Yeah," he agreed, "we have a lot to learn."