"So, correct me if I'm wrong…." Dean started, leaning up against a tree as he watched Castiel fry the ham over the fire pit. "Your elders simply tell you that you have to come find me. They give you a rock and then send an omega off on his own?" he recounted, ticking off the events on his fingers.
Castiel nodded, paying close attention to the ham so he wouldn't ruin it. Not only did he want to impress his mate, but his stomach was rejoicing at the thought of the filling meat. He never wanted to eat another berry for the rest of his life.
"Yes, that is the gist of how I came to find you." He said moving the pan a little more over the fire before sitting back on his ankles, his hands in his lap.
"That's just downright dangerous. You could've gotten hurt- or even killed – really easily." Dean said, idly chewing on a braided piece of long grass.
"I did okay. I stayed away from others as often as possible." He said, a little defensive by the man's words. He didn't like to think about his journey and how possible it was that he could have not made it.
"Hmm, still." Dean said, flicking the blade of grass into the fire and stretching out. They'd ridden through the whole night, only taking breaks to nab sips of water from a stream. Castiel didn't complain. He was just glad his journey was over. Anything from this point on, Castiel didn't consider as his own journey. It was Dean Winchester's journey and Castiel was to be at his side for it.
The man nodded towards the pan. "Looks about done." He said, reaching over with his knife and stabbing one of the slabs, pulling it out. He handed the knife over to Castiel, hilt-first, before stabbing the second slab with a previously sharpened stick. He laughed when the omega tore into the ham like a starving mutt.
"It's very good." The elf groaned in pleasure, licking a trail of grease that had dripped down the ham to his hand.
"It gets better when you put seasoning on it, but this'll do." He said, starting in on his own piece. He was glad the kid was eating. He looked entirely too small and from the size of his clothes, he hadn't always been. He tried to picture the rail-thin elf before him with rounded cheeks and a soft belly and had to stuff another bite of ham in his mouth before he started grinning.
Finally, when their food was gone, stomachs were full, and hands and pans were clean, they started to pack up again. Castiel helped…in a way. Dean raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy shoving things into whatever bag was closest, giving no thought to what fit where. Dean supposed not everyone travelled as much as he did, though, so he didn't correct him.
"Right. Well, let's get back on the road." He said, securing the bags to the horse's saddle. He helped Castiel up first, then climbed on in front of him. Now that they were away from the not-so-nice town, Dean felt it was safe enough to have the omega ride in the back. He still wasn't too sure about this whole 'destined to be together' nonsense, but he'd been raised to protect omegas. He wasn't going to slack on that just because the elf was a little (okay, a lot) odd.
"Are we going back to your house?" Castiel asked, wrapping his arms around Dean's sides and leaning his smooth cheek against the back of Dean's sun-warmed cloak. The man didn't seem to mind and Castiel thought he smelled really good. Like leather and earth and a warm breakfast.
"Eh, yeah. Yeah we are." He said, though his words seemed a little hesitant. "It's not the best place, but it'll keep the rain off you." He shrugged. "Mostly."
That was a little worrying, but Castiel was sure that, as long as it had a roof and four walls that he could make himself comfortable there. And a bed. He definitely needed a soft bed to sleep in.
A kitchen wouldn't be terrible, either. And he couldn't imagine living somewhere permanently without indoor plumbing.
He knew he wasn't supposed to let his imagination get away with him (It had gotten him in tough spots more than once) but he was already starting to imagine what his new home would be like. He could tell that the saddle and tack that Dean used certainly wasn't cheap. It was beautifully crafted with the finest of care put into its shape and stitches. The clothes that the man wore seemed to be a mixer of worn, hole-ridden hand-me-downs and beautifully crafted deluxe items. Dean's dark brown boots, for example, were surely worth more than his worn britches, stained shirt, and fraying belt all put together. That was all mostly covered, though, by his long and soft leather cloak which neither looked old nor new.
Castiel smiled as his cheek brushed against the cloak. It was very soft and surely expensive, yet it had a distinctive air of graceful age around it. The way Dean spoke of his house, though, seemed to imply that it was little more than a shack. He stuck his lip out in irritation, wishing he had the guts to simply ask about it outright.
He didn't want to push his luck, though, especially since he still hadn't gotten a response from the man about their Blessed Union. The man had seemingly reluctantly allowed Castiel to join him back to his home. Whatever happened after that, though, was up in the air. Would Dean accept him as his destined mate? Would he simply use him and refuse to properly mate him? Castiel knew he wouldn't be able to turn the man away.
He sighed and rubbed his cheek a little more on the soft cloak, his eyes fluttering closed as the morning birds twittered above them. The gentle rocking motion of the horse's slow walk was soothing. They'd both stayed up the night before (The man had seemed to want to put some distance between himself and the town as soon as possible), but Dean didn't seem to be the least bit tired. Castiel yawned, his fingers loosening in their grip on Dean' cloak as he drifted off to sleep.
It was a little over an hour later when he woke with a groan. The sun was fully up now and beating down on his back. His wrinkled his nose as his belly churned in disagreement. The motion of the horse now seemed very much the opposite of gentle and soothing. He burped and his hand flew to his mouth, embarrassed by the sound.
"U-uh, Dean…" he moaned, tugging on the man's cloak. Dean looked over his shoulder in confusion and his eyes widened when he saw the suspiciously green tint around the elf's face. The man cursed and pulled the horse to a stop, sliding off and whirling around to bring the elf down next. He got Castiel down to the bushes on the side of the forest path just in time before the boy heaved up his breakfast in the dirt.
"Alright, alright…" Dean soothed, rubbing Castiel's back in slow circles as the elf cried pitifully. "Let it out, Kid. You'll feel better."
Castiel coughed and retched, his stomach contracting and his throat burning painfully. He groaned when he finally felt like he was done, sitting back and wiping his mouth with shaky hands.
"Com'ere." Dean said, pulling his hand away and using a soft rag to clean him up. He handed him a skin of cool water (And where the hell had that come from? He'd been sipping from the stream like a dog earlier! ) and carried him away from the mess to sit in the shady grass underneath a tree. "Looks like we were too quick to the draw."
Castiel looked up at him in confusion.
"I mean, your stomach isn't used to eating meat. You haven't eaten it in a while, right?" he asked, pursing his lips at Castiel's affirmative nod. "Well, we'll just have to ease you back into it."
"But I'm tired of berries!" Castiel complained, though he stilled again when his stomach clenched.
"Then we'll get you some dame bread or lettuce. And small portions of meat." He said, still rubbing the elf's back as his stomach settled. He didn't let Castiel drink too fast, allowing him small sips here and there. He moved over and leaned back against the tree, the omega still in his lap. The shade from the treetops was cool and he breathed a deep sigh, starting to feel a little sleepy himself.
"Let's take a break from riding. The heat and the movement might upset your stomach again." He said, though if he was being honest with himself he was glad for the break, as well. He was never in any hurry to get back to his house.
Castiel nodded, feeling guilty for holding up their journey but too grateful for the break to say anything. Dean hadn't pushed him off his lap and Castiel wasn't about to move himself.
He rested his cheek against Dean's chest, closing his eyes and letting the cool breeze drift through his hair. He took another sip of water from the skin, then pressed it against his still angry belly, hoping the cool water inside would help soothe it. He was asleep within minutes, little snores puffing out against Dean's shirt.
Dean stared down at the elf with amusement on his face. Whoever this guy was, he sure was quick to trust. That was a dangerous thing to do in this world, but Dean didn't have the heart to lecture him on it then. He looked almost pitiful the way he curled up like a sick cat in his lap.
Dean sighed himself, rubbing his face tiredly. Already the elf was starting to endear himself to Dean. He wouldn't put it past the sneaky race to have some kind of love potion to use on unsuspecting victims. He stilled his hand that had been rubbing little circles in Castiel's back. He used to do that to Sam when he was young and he was prone to being sickly. At the thought of his brother, as usual, Dean was filled with emotion. Sadness, anger, and regret found their usual and frequent seats in the soul of Dean Winchester. They never left him for long. Dean swallowed back whatever words tried to bubble up—there was never anyone to hear them usually, and the one person here now surely wouldn't understand.
He closed his eyes, but he didn't expect sleep to find him. The elf shifted a little and put an annoying pressure on Dean's ribs but he didn't push him away. He didn't even push him away when he felt the tell-tale wetness that was a sure sign of Dean being drooled on. To the contrary, he found his hand had involuntarily started up on the small circles on the omega's back in response to his squirming.
He huffed out a laugh, thinking 'Dean Winchester you sorry son of a bitch', and he didn't know any more as sleep had snuck up on him.
To see Dean's home was an…odd experience. It was a decent size, yes. It had doors and windows and a roof and four walls. It even had two levels, Castiel believed. It wasn't in the best of shape. There were small and large holes in the roof—some patched over lazily and some just left to gape. At least four of the windows Castiel spotted had cracks in them or were broken open completely. The house looked like it had once been a beautiful and quaint place to live, but was left to ruin.
Only, Dean still lived here, didn't he? So why had he let it fall for so long? That wasn't the interesting part, though. The interesting, or should he say 'odd' part was the fact that the barn, which Castiel could see was almost an acre away from the house, looked to be the barn of a king's horses. It had gleaming metal and clean, well preserved wood. Trees surrounded what Castiel assumed was Dean' property so he couldn't fully see the pasture but what he did see looked to be well kept and a bright, healthy green.
In Spirits name, Castiel honestly thought Dean might just live in the barn with the beasts. "I, ah, I don't know what to say…" he said, a little awkwardly as he shifted around on the back of the saddle.
Dean snorted, "Yeah, I know. It's not the best but… well, its home." He said, shrugging one shoulder as he steered them towards the house. They rode the horse all the way to the back porch- Dean having the horse walk through what appeared to have previously been a nice sized vegetable garden without so much as a blink. He dismounted and wrapped the reins around one of the posts before helping Castiel down. "Come on in, I'll show you around." He said, moving up the steps to the back porch and pushing the creaking screened door open.
There was a good layer of dust on most things, but others seemed to be cleaned. The table and food pantry showed signs of regular use, but the furniture in the next room over looked like it hadn't been touched in years.
"Well, here's the kitchen. Through there is the den and the closets. Upstairs is the bedroom and bathing room." He said, pointing to various spots in the house.
"Dean, what's going on?" Castiel finally asked, the words blurting out like a bubble. He knew it was rude, but there was only so much mystery an elf could take. "You live here? What, are you a ghost? Do you only sleep in the kitchen?" he asked, holding his arms out in exasperation.
"Ah, sometimes, I guess. Most of the time, when I'm not travelling, I sleep in the barn." He said, as if that was something common. Castiel nearly didn't register the words at first.
"Not in the hay or anything." The man scoffed, rolling his eyes. Castiel could tell he was annoyed. "I have a second bedroom set up there in one of the old stalls. I spend most of my time home there, so why not?"
"I-… but-" Castiel stuttered, not sure where to begin. After a few moments of tense silence, he let it go. "Can I see the barn, then? It looked very nice from what I saw."
Dean cleared his throat and nodded, moving back out the door and grabbing the bags off his horses' back, setting them on the porch before he took the reins and started walking her towards the barn. Cas followed him, his bare feet padding in the cool evening grass.
"Why don't you like the bedroom in your house?" he asked, only able to stay quiet for so long.
Dean shrugged one shoulder again. "It's dusty." Was all he said.
Castiel had about three million more questions swirling around in his head, but Dean didn't seem to be in a good mood. He followed him to the barn and watched as Dean rubbed the horse down and got her ready to be put in the stall for her dinner. It really was a nice barn and the converted stall-to-bedroom Dean spent most of his time in was small and bare but also nice. Castiel, however, was not sleeping in a barn.
They spent a few hours there together, not doing much talking. Castiel was bored pretty quickly, and he'd entertained himself by being nosy in the barn's tack room, poking around, eating a few cubes of sugar, playing with the bullwhips. When he knocked over a stand of very expensive looking saddles, though, Dean got annoyed with him and told him to go back up to the house and start unpacking the bags.
He hurried to do so, glad to be given a task and to get out of eerily quiet barn. When he'd left Dean had abandoned his task of mucking stalls and had started to reset the tack room how he liked it, all the while grumbling about something or another.
Castiel padded his way back up to the house, gathering a few of the bags in his arms before pushing the door open with his foot. He gasped, dropping the bags and stumbling backwards when he saw another person in the house.
"Who are you?" the other asked, with a slow raise of an eyebrow in response. Cas could scent that he was another omega.
"Who are you!?" he demanded back, pointing a finger directly in the stranger's face.
"Are you here with Mr. Winchester?" the stranger omega asked, knocking Castiel's finger away as he turned to rummage through the food pantry. "Because I told him I don't appreciate having to cook for whores. This is gunna cost extra." He grumbled.
"Wh—whore?!" Castiel said, outrage filling him. "I won't hear another word of that! I am Dean Winchester's mate, you little fool. Now what are you doing in this home?" he said, arms placed on his hips and lips pursed as he tried to look authoritative.
"Hah, mate? What poor sucker would mate that lunatic." The stranger said, holding up a few food items and a stained apron. "Mr. Winchester hires me to cook for him on days when he's home and to feed his animals on days when he's not."
Castiel moved forward, snatching the apron out of the other's hand like a child not wanting to share his toys. "Well, sir, we won't be requiring your meager services any longer, seeing as how he has me. Goodbye." He snapped, taking the food items out of the other's hands and setting them on the counter.
The other omega finally reacted, eyes filled with anger. "Is that so? Well fine! I'll be glad I don't have to spend any more time around that crazy son-of-a-bitch!" he said, slamming the last few things down before marching back towards the front door. "You must be crazy too! Enjoy sleeping in the muck with the pigs!" he shouted back before slamming the door behind him.
Castiel cursed wildly and childishly at the door for a moment before he calmed, panted heavily as he looked down at the apron in his hands. He paused for a moment before slipping it over his head, tying it around his back like he'd seen the servants do before. If they could cook, then surely he could as well, right?
"Well, how hard could it be?"
