Catching Up
Chapter 5 – Family Dinner
Dinner was a light-hearted affair. Dean was helping Mary cook and Cas volunteered to help with preparation. Mrs. Winchester took it as a personal challenge to find foods that Cas could eat comfortably so she was currently quizzing the angel about his dietary habits. "What if you purposely dulled the senses in your mouth or used your human taste buds?"
"I suppose I could try to retract my grace from that portion of my body," Cas allowed.
"Be careful mom, I've seen him put away hundreds of burgers," Dean warned.
"I was under famine's influence," Cas protested. "Obviously I would practice moderation. Still Mrs. Winchester, I maintain that eating is unnecessary for me. Even though this form could be considered both my body and vessel, the function doesn't change."
"Vessel or body, they require care," Mary emphasized. "If anything, it's absolutely important to look after yourself now so you can do it, with or without grace. Understand Castiel?"
"Yes Mrs. Winchester," Cas nodded.
Sam watched the scene off to the side with a small smile on his face. Part him was thrilled to have his mother back but another was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was still really amazing to have her with them, looking after them. That was something he hadn't had since Dean and Dean hadn't had since the night of the fire. For a bit at least, they could be a family again. "Hey Sammy!" Dean broke his reverie. "Can you check if we have any more oil? We're running a bit low here."
"Yeah just a sec," Sam went into the pantry and straight to the shelf where he normally kept the cooking oil. "Sorry man I don't think -" Sam turned and stopped dead at the bottle of oil sitting in front of him on another shelf. Now he knew they might own that bottle but he was certain that it wasn't kept there and Dean knew how anal he was about keeping the pantry organized. He picked it up suspiciously and looked around, "You know I can't find the T-bone steaks…" Smart ass. The voice floated through the air and Sam tried very hard not to smile. He gave Dean the oil and went out to the hall, out of earshot from the others. "Are you there?" There wasn't a response and Sam groaned, "Come on seriously, you speak when I need oil but not when I need to actually talk to you?"
Can I help you Samuel?
Sam relaxed just a bit, "What's happening? Are they coming?"
You think I'd be screwing around with cooking oil if that were the case?
Sam smirked, "You must be desperate if you'd use oil."
No one likes a smart ass Sam.
"Well I know you like this one," Sam shot back
Something like that. Dean's coming.
"Wait what?" Sam hissed.
Dean poked his head out from the kitchen, "Who are you talking to?"
"No one apparently," Sam said with sugary irony. Keep taking shots, I will get you back.
Dean regarded him weirdly, "Okay then. Get your lazy ass in here and set the table. Dinner is almost ready."
"Right coming," Sam gestured for Dean to go ahead and once he was gone, he warned into the air. "We are going to talk." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sam sighed long-sufferingly and went back in, pondering how the hell his life ended up in situations like this, talking to disembodied voices. With that in mind, he sat down to dinner with his formerly demonic brother, his resurrected mother, and honorary angel-brother.