"The grass will be greener on the other side

And the Vampires and Wolves

Won't sink their teeth.

I'm sick of dancing with the beast."

-Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves), The Wombats

When Cas truly fell, becoming entirely human and coming to live at the bunker, things were somewhat tense. It wasn't that Dean didn't want him there, or Sam. Both were enthusiastic hosts. Really, it might have been that they were too enthusiastic.

Thing was, without as many baddies in the world, free time was frighteningly abundant. The concept of free time, for Dean, was impossible to process. Stick a vampire in front of him, no problem. A ghost? Done. The devil? Have it taken care of by the end of the week. But hours of nothing to do? That was shudder-worthy. So he filled his time with teaching Cas every conceivable way to pass time in the bunker.

First, there were movie marathons. So many Sam's eyes wanted to bleed and every line spoken aloud by Team Free Will for a week was a quote from something.

"I'll have what he's having."

"As you wish."

"In the fifth, your ass goes down. Say it."

"May the force be with you."

"Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory."

You get the picture. Then came the days of the TV binging. The three watched, in their entirety (or, at least as much as was currently available in the world), Breaking Bad, Dexter, The X Files, Star Trek, Lost, Arrested Development, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones. This binge led to a bit of fat hanging around stomachs where it had never been before and Dean decided to expand their activities. Just a bit. Just to include a bit of physical activity.

First, Nerf guns were purchased. No clues on who had done the purchasing. One morning three brand new, orange guns with more darts than three grown men would ever know what to do with showed up on the kitchen table. It quickly became a game. Who would take who down first? And they got damn creative. Sam found crevices to hide in that no one even knew existed. He would pop out of nowhere, land two (surprisingly painful) shots on Dean or Cas, then saunter away without a word. Sometimes he whistled. Those were the times when Dean really wanted to pummel him. Instead he moved on to activities he might actually win.

They found a pool table in a closed up room a few days later. This pool table led to what no one, despite Dean's insistences, would ever refer to as "The Great Winchester Billiard Tournament of 2014". He also tried to make this an annual event. After two showdowns that lasted until sun crested in the East, and ended with a sprained finger and three broken pool cues, the annual tradition was quietly shut down.

It was in the ping pong table that Cas found his salvation. Something he was good at. Great at, actually. After their experiences with Forrest Gump, Cas's interest had been piqued. Now it had him by the balls. Pun intended. He was faster than Sam and Dean together, and hyper-focused. The ping pong table was moved to the main living area for easy access after only two days.

Sam was out buying groceries on one particular afternoon (they later found out he was also picking up a Wii system for Christmas) while Dean and Cas played. Cas went easy, letting them get into a rhythm, the small ball making that annoying pop echo noise every time it smacked the table. They had been going for a good ten minutes (Dean's personal record) when Dean hit the ball and it bounced right off the table, past Cas's paddle, and under an overstuffed chair. Dean's mouth fell open.

"Cas?" he asked. Instead of answering, Cas lowered his paddle to stare at it, running a hand over the rough, red surface.

"I have been thinking," he said. Dean stared at him incredulously. The shift had been so sudden and unusual. It shouldn't throw him off, not when Cas had a habit of suddenly getting serious, but it still knocked off his equilibrium sometimes.
"And what was it you have been thinking about?" Dean asked, laughter tinging his voice.

"I was thinking perhaps I should leave," he said. Dean's paddle dropped from his hand before he could have spared a thought.

"Leave?" It was a whisper. Cas furrowed his brows and nodded.

"Yes, leave. Perhaps it would be for the best." And maybe a few months ago Dean would have left it at just that. He might have let Cas walk right out the door and drunk until his veins pumped vodka instead of blood. But after this much time? After so many weeks of falling in love with a different side of Cas? After learning to let himself be happy with small things like breakfast for dinner and the 'next episode' button on netflix and Cas sometimes coming to the kitchen in the morning with his T-shirts on backwards? No, this version of himself wasn't ready to just let go.

"Why?" This time it was a barked yell, which startled Cas into looking at him. "Why do you want to leave, exactly? You done experimenting with living with us mud monkeys? Need something more sophisticated in your life?" Cas's eyebrows drew together.

"No," he said. "No, of course not. How could you think that way about me?"

"How could you think about leaving?!"

"With me here," Cas began, after a few beats of silence, "it seems you and Sam cater to a different lifestyle. You lock yourselves in and tread eggshells to allow me to live a calm life. I no longer want to be a burden neither you nor Sam ever asked for." Dean felt like laughing. So that's exactly what he did. Long and hard, laughing until he had to lean over and catch his breath. He moved around the table and stood directly in front of Cas, who was looking at him like he was insane.

"Cas, I have never been happier in my entire life," he said.

"Because I am leaving?"

"No!" Dean wanted to smack him. He sighed instead. "I have never enjoyed my life more than I have since you came here. I can't get enough of this, of spending time with you, of having fun with light this place up! We get to live now. For real. You aren't a burden. And Sam would say the exact same thing."

"I would say what?" Sam sauntered into the room, shooting a dart each at Dean and then Cas, catching them both in the middle of their chests. Dean swore.

"I was saying you don't think Cas is a burden, but now your opinion doesn't mean shit because you're gonna be a dead man." Sam grinned.

"Nah, you don't have the balls to kill me." He turned to Cas. "And why the hell would I think you were a burden? Oh, I grabbed some ground beef at the store so we can do burgers tonight. Cool?" He leaned down, picked up both of his blue darks, and walked back out of the room without an answer. Hell, he had known the answer before he walked in. Of course burgers were cool. They were fucking awesome. Go burgers. Dean wanted a foam finger that said that.

"Smug bastard," Dean muttered. He shook his head. "So, I don't want to hear one more word about leaving. Ever. Can we get back to the game now? I actually got a point for once." Cas smiled slowly and leaned over to give Dean a peck on the lips, soft as silk.

"I love you," he said. Dean grinned.

"I know."