Hyhyhy
Dean woke up the next morning strangely energized. So maybe he was being a chickenshit yesterday and didn't ask Cas out, but at least he learned how truly awesome the other man was. It also turned out that he was way out of Dean's league, but that was another story. Cas might not be interested in his flirting attempts but he didn't mind friendly banter, and, who knows, sometimes friendships morphed into something more serious. "Way to go, Winchester. Now you sound like some bat-shit crazy stalker, and it's not even 9 am yet!" he congratulated himself sarcastically.
The family dinner the previous night had been a difficult ordeal, just as he expected, and he was exhausted upon arriving home. What made things worse was that Ben was there, and though his family members were mostly cryptically teasing him, he was uneasy about the information the boy could gather from their banter. Ben was far from stupid and Dean dreaded how he was going to react to the fact that Dean was experienced in more than one flavor of love.
Oh, God... Were you even supposed to talk to a twelve-year-old about stuff like that? Or was that considered child abuse? Could Lisa report him somewhere? Would she allow Dean to see Ben if she knew he swung both ways? No, wait… She knew that already. But would Ben like to see him again after learning that about his surrogate father?
"Breathe, Winchester," Dean ordered himself again. "Cas didn't even bat an eye at you, he didn't return any of your winks, he was only being polite." Ok, so that particular thought didn't exactly help to improve his mood from spiraling down.
He went through the same routine as the day before, minus the yelling at the Winchester Headquarters, which was a slight improvement from the day before. So after he dropped Ben off, but not before he was brought up to speed on the family tree project—AKA Ben and Mary's Secret Missions to the Attic—he said his goodbyes and drove the car towards the Novaks' place.
Forty minutes later Dean found himself standing in front of Cas' house pressing the doorbell for the umpteenth time. He was sure Cas would be waiting for him since the driveway was empty when he arrived, which meant Gabe had already taken off. He moved to press the bell one more time when he heard a car parking next to his Baby; it was a really posh piece, and Dean's mouth almost watered at the sight. He observed an equally posh man stepping out of it and moving to the back to retrieve his bag. He then moved towards Dean, a smile gracing his lips, and Dean would say the guy looked like a too smug bastard if it wasn't for the honest smile that reached his eyes.
"Can I help you?" the man asked with some sort of British accent.
"I was supposed to meet Castiel Novak here," Dean answered, pointing towards the door, "but I don't think anybody's home."
The man smiled again and reached into his pocket. "Well, let's just see about that, shall we?" he mussed, retrieving a key.
Dean felt a little bit uneasy at the other guy's posture. It screamed confidence, like he was suppose to be here, and Dean felt the need to explain himself to the other man for some reason.
"I'm Dean," he said while the other man was walking up to the porch, keys dangling in his hand. "Me and Castiel Novak are working on a project, and I'm his ride."
"Oh, are you now?" The little sly smiles Dean kept receiving were becoming lightly irritating. Who was this guy to act like he owned the place?
"I'm Balthazar," the man offered. "I'm sure we're going to find out he's taking a shower and he's forgotten about the whole world, 'cause that's just Cassie for you."
Dean insides clenched. How was that guy supposed to know what Cas was like? And why was he so familiar with him? "And what's with the keys," he wondered while Balthazar opened the door and motioned for Dean to come in as well.
"Cassie, darling, I'm home!" Balthazar shouted towards the stairs. "I think I was right." He smiled as he turned to Dean, who was looking really pale right now. "I'm gonna go to leave my things upstairs, and I'll tell Cas you're waiting for him. In the meantime, make yourself at home." He winked at the taller man and went upstairs.
Dean felt lightheaded as he grabbed the kitchen counter for balance. The worst scenarios flooded his mind. Of course, it all made so much more sense now, and though Dean had called it yesterday it still stung like a bitch. Now he understood all the frowning and almost-angry looks Cas gave him when he was being flirtatious the day before... Dean was hitting on an already taken man, which meant he made a complete ass of himself.
As he was mentally head-desking himself, because a facepalm was not enough at that point, he saw a full platter lying on the counter with a note stuck to it, and Dean moved to read it just to think of something else for a short moment.
Good to have you back, Balthy,
I made you a homecoming Spotted Dick so you wouldn't miss England too much. Enjoy its flavor exploding in your mouth.
PS. Don't let Cas drive you too hard.
Lord of Pies
Well, that was super helpful for his current state of mind. Ok, new approach. Cas might not be available to him—the bitter thought made Dean's chest heavy with despair—but he didn't want to lose the opportunity at a friendship. He couldn't imagine going back to his life BC (Before Cas), so he would take whatever he could out of it, even if it meant being stuck in the friend zone forever. At least he could monitor Cas' welfare that way, and make sure Balthazar wouldn't turn out to be a spotted dick himself.
While Dean was downstairs hyperventilating, Cas was basically hurled out of the bathroom. He spent a lot of time in the shower today, but it was because he had to prepare himself for another day in Dean's company. Today he'd dreamt about the man again, thrusting hard inside him, and Cas woke up in the middle of a very powerful orgasm. The idea made his stomach clench, and he felt dirty since he didn't have the right to think of Dean that way—that right belonged to someone else and he was abusing their trust—so he dragged himself out of bed and to the bathroom.
When he stepped under the shower he started replaying yesterday's events. He remembered the pieces that the Winchesters' home was filled with, and he imagined how Dean would caress the furniture while checking for dents and putting the finishing touches on it. That thought immediately shifted to the vision of himself being soothed by those hands on his body, and with a grunt he switched the water to cold because there was no way he was going to do what he would like to now, not if he wanted to have any dignity left.
He was standing under too cold water when someone suddenly burst into the bathroom.
"Balth?" Cas asked after peeking from behind the glass doors.
"Yup. Nice to see you too, Cassie. Now move your ass 'cause there's some wet-dream material waiting for you downstairs"
"Dean!" Cas exclaimed before realizing he stepped into that trap. "I mean, I didn't expect anyone else."
"Yeah, yeah. Save it, lover-boy." His cousin gave him a shit-eating grin. "The bathroom is probably the coldest place in the entire house. What? Dear Dean too precious for you to jerk off to him?" Balth asked, attempting to sound innocent even though that was a totally foreign concept to him.
"Drop it, Balth. He's married." Cas made that clear for the thousandth time, except now he had a witness to this statement.
"Happily?"
"Balthazar!" Cas was moving towards his bedroom, his cousin almost on his back. "Don't even go there," he warned.
"Me? What were you doing in the shower, cousin dearest?" the Brit asked with a cheeky smile.
"What most normal people, which doesn't include you nor Gabe, do–showering!" Cas snapped as he was retrieving clothes from the drawer. Why must they insist on encouraging him in his Dean crush when all Cas wanted was to distance himself from that thought?
"Oh, come on, he looked like a chap picking his date up at their parents' house. So nervous and adorable." Balthazar was lounging casually on Cas' bed. "Now, go work your charm on your pretty boy."
With a parting glare directed at his cousin, Cas left the room, toweling his hair one last time.
"Sorry I've kept you waiting."
Dean looked up upon hearing the voice, and there was Cas, running down the stairs—and, damn, did that wet hair look good. It was even darker than usual, and extra mussed. "Which is probably part from the shower and part from that British dude's hands," Dean thought bitterly.
"Nah, I'm good. But maybe you want to take a rain-check, spend some more time with...Balthazar?" he added, totally against his will.
Cas shot him a curious look. Did Dean not want to meet with him today. "No, I'm ok. He's gonna be here for a while...unless you have other plans..." he faltered at that last part.
"No..." Dean thought of a flirty comeback but stopped himself at the last second. "Let's go then. Can't wait to see you work your magic." He offered a small smile and, with that, both men left the house.
The drive to the shop was mainly uneventful, but it gave them a little time to exchange their opinions on the most important subjects. So it turned out that Cas was a freak who liked Timothy Dalton best out of all Bond's, and Dean drew an outraged shriek out of Cas upon admitting he preferred Lethal Weapon IV to I.
"Jet Lee and Joe Pesci, dude. Flicks with Pesci always tops one without him, it's like a basic law of physics."
"So, by your logic, Goodfellas is a better gangster movie than The Untouchables?"
"You shut your mouth when you're talking about The Untouchables!" Dean almost choked from indignation. "It's the exception that only proves the rule!" Now there was finger flailing involved just to emphasize his point. "And it's the flick that has all the other flicks underneath."
Both men couldn't keep straight faces anymore and they laughed in unison. "Aaah, man. I'm telling you, I would love to meet Eliot Ness in real life. That dude had to be a real badass."
They continued this exchange all the way to the shop. Dean was in a great mood until he stood in front of his life's work, which he was normally really proud of, but this time he couldn't help but feel a little bit ashamed he was going to show Cas something so modest and mundane.
He took a deep breath, and as they entered the shop he prepared himself for the indulgent smile Cas had to be sporting while comparing Dean's stories about the place to reality; that's why he got shivers when he looked at his companion. Those expressive eyes were taking everything in with curiosity, and an almost awe-like smile graced his lips.
Cas instantly loved the place. The first step he made into the shop he was embraced by a smell that, since their first meeting, he learned to associate with Dean. It was the scent of heated wood that someone just worked on; it was tinged with a hint of leather and something metallic, and Cas wanted to roll in it. Hopefully his shirt would be soaked with it by the end of the day so he could take the scent home with him. "And just how pathetic are you right now, Castiel?" the raven-haired man thought to himself.
"Wow, Dean, this is really something!" he managed to say, and he could tell the other man noticed the honesty in his voice because the look that was directed towards him was that of a 10-year-old who had just found a puppy under their Christmas Tree rather than a grown man showing his place of employment.
"Thanks, Cas. It's not much, but it's mine," Dean said, and his voice sounded somewhat lighter than it had a moment before. "Come on, meet the poor SOBs that are stuck here with me."
He motioned for the smaller man to follow him and they crossed the main workshop and entered the significantly smaller backroom that seemed to be the work office. There were two small desks, a few chairs, and a beaten-down sofa in the room. There was a man sitting behind the desk, typing something furiously into the computer, with a red-headed woman standing behind him and pointing at the screen. There were also two other men and a beautiful woman lounging on the sofa.
"Well, it's nice to know you all work so very hard," Dean noted sarcastically as they made no move to look even slightly busy.
"We do, mon frère," said the man behind the laptop. "Pam here is making new designs and I'm putting them into our computer base."
"So you won't harass me with the same dumbass questions over and over." The woman sitting on a couch, apparently Pam, straightened herself and took in the pair of newcomers.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Cas, I want you to meet my crew." Dean turned towards the other man. "That creep is my genius cousin, Ash. He doesn't work here, just saves our asses every once in a while and helps Charlie with the computer stuff."
Cas nodded in his direction and the man with a mullet gave him a theatrical bow.
"And the pushy lady there is our head designer, Pamela Barnes."
The woman winked seductively at Cas.
"Ok, Pam," came his slightly strained voice from behind Cas. "Don't you harass Cas. We actually want the guy to come back here." Dean moved his attention towards the sofa. "These hard workers here are Benny and Rufus, our carpenters, and that's Charlie."
The red-head behind Ash gave him a Star Trek greeting that caused Cas to smile.
"She's in charge of supplies, sales, and is generally our contact with the outside world." Dean then threw an arm around Cas and delicately pushed him forwards. "And this is Castiel Novak. He's a prodigy art renovator who apparently lives to beautify the world," Dean introduced.
With someone else those words could sound offensive, but Dean sounded so enthusiastic Cas was far from being angry—especially with the strong shoulder that was pressed to his back and providing warmth and comfort.
Cas gave the crew a small smile and tried to retreat. Dean had to feel his slight discomfort because he tightened his grip slightly and added to the crew, "He's gonna help with the nursery furniture, so if you holiday-makers would like to get back to your job, I won't hold it against you."
"Relax, brotha," Benny said. "We're ahead on most of our projects," he assured him, his eyes closed and his head leaned back on the sofa.
"Yeah, boy," the older man, Rufus, chimed in. "We were asked for our professional opinion so they can write their fancy-ass designing program. Cool your jets and let us work here." He basically shooed Dean out of the room, Cas following suit.
"They're not bad, don't let the first impression mislead you," Dean said as they were walking through the huge workshop towards the opposite corner of the room.
"My first impression is that I like them a lot. You all seem so comfortable with each other. It must be nice to work together."
"Yeah. They're all a pain in my ass, but you know how it is. Ash is my cousin, Benny and I have been best buddies since that freak show you call high school, and Rufus is friends with my dad so I've known him my whole life. Charlie and Pam are also around pretty often too. Charlie went to school with my cousin Jo, and Pam is Sarah's best friend. So we're on each other's case like twenty-four-seven." Dean whined, but in reality he was very pleased he got to see a circle of his close friends on daily basis.
When they reached the corner Cas looked at a highchair and a chest of drawers that were definitely a set together with the crib that was currently in Cas' barn-turned-workshop.
"Ok, Poindexter, so what are you gonna do with these two?" Dean asked, really curious about Cas' ideas. He had a glimpse of how the painter's mind worked already, and he was nothing but humbled to have the opportunity to work together; no wonder Cas was a renowned renovator that posh men were throwing themselves at. Dean really started to feel out of place with his simple solutions and practical ideas that were lacking any finesse.
He shook himself out of his thoughts just to catch Cas', "...so I was thinking we could use the accents to bring out the pieces you've made."
"Why would you want to do that?" Dean asked incredulously.
Cas was wearing an 'are you freaking kidding me' expression. "Dean, you do realize your work is stunning, right?"
It was Dean's turn to wear the expression.
"Dean..." Cas continued, sounding exasperated, "your furniture is unique. It exudes warmth and comfort, and pieces like that are what makes a living area a true home. Each is special, but it's easy to see how you put a little of your heart in every one of your pieces. They're what's gonna create a peaceful and safe atmosphere in that nursery, so don't ever sell yourself short, Dean. I don't wanna hear you doubting yourself again."
"Ok. Thanks, Cas. But it's you who's artsy and makes beautiful things, and I don't even like Picasso 'cause I don't get why he couldn't paint stuff normal way—and I know he was able to." Now Dean started mumbling, an attempt to cover the furious blush that was spreading on his cheeks, and it really didn't help that Cas was smiling like Dean was the most precious thing on the planet.
"I'm not particularly fond of Picasso myself, so I won't fight you on this one," Cas admitted.
"Really? I thought you'd have a deep understanding of the cubist movement or gush over some Pollock on a wall," Dean mused, because that was what Sarah and Sam sometimes do when they go on their nerd trips.
"I do understand cubists, but I'm more of a turner enthusiast myself."
"It suits you," Dean admitted.
"What about you?"
"Don't know. Don't really know much about art, but I really like looking at Dutch painters. It's not even about the subject, more about their pallet and color saturation... I can't even tell, I just like it."
"I know, like Vermeer. It suits you," Cas replied with a smile. And it did. And now Castiel understood a little bit more about Dean and he knew what to do about their design.
So Cas continued to run Dean through his plans as they started to work on the highchair, and they were halfway through when the others started to stir up and leave.
"So, Cas, maybe we should call it for today..." Dean offered while he stretched a little bit. The movement wasn't lost on Cas, who followed the toned body's exercises.
"Sounds fine. We still have some time to finish it."
"Come on, I'll take you home."
When they sat in the car Dean checked his watch for the first time in a while.
"Ah, crap, it's later than I thought. You mind if we take a little detour?" he asked while turning the ignition on.
"Not at all, but if it's inconvenient I could call Gabe or Balth to take me back."
"Hey, no need, I'd be happy to." What? Dean was going to squeeze as much quality time from Cas as he possibly could; this Balth dude could have him later. "I just need to drop by my parents' place. Anyways, we're there already, so you're attempts are futile." He grinned as he moved out of the car. "Come on." Dean leaned slightly to peer at Cas through the windshield.
"No, it's ok. I'll just wait here. I don't want to impose."
"Come on, man." Dean motioned for Cas to join him "You're gonna meet my family," he told him. "And Ben!" he added after a moment.
"Who's Ben?" Cas asked curiously as the other man opened the door.
Mwahahahaha! (But please like me still)
And the next chapter will be out this week as well, cause it was meant to be a part of this, but again, they're all so chatty. And meeting Balth and Ben in one chapter is too much.
Reviews are highly appreciated.
