Here is chapter 5! I'm going to have chapter 20 finished by the release of chapter 6; once 20 is officially done and the fic is finished, the update schedule will be updated for all of the chapters :-) Have fun reading!
The next day, Dean's entire body felt stiff and sore to the touch. The sunlight filtered in through the doorway, (recently opened by Castiel, who was already up and bustling around) laying across his body in small patches of warmth. He honestly considered just pretending to still be asleep.
Castiel started into the kitchen and ten minutes later, that thought was abandoned. His stomach gave a deep growl as the smell of breakfast wafted through the house. Who would have thought that burning twice your daily calories in a pool would make you so ravenous the next morning?
Actually, a lot of people probably would have thought that.
But Dean was really fucking sore and still a little tired, so his common sense was allowed a little bit of skew.
He slowly walked into the kitchen, refusing to flinch despite his sore muscles. He inhaled deeply, seeing that sizzling over a fire were the same green things Cas had cooked yesterday morning. However, these ones looked just a little bit different.
"What are those, anyways?" Dean asked, having a feeling that he might just regret asking that question. Castiel slammed a cabinet door, (or at least, it looked like a cabinet door, but made out of bark) coming back over to the sizzling pan and sprinkling on a little bit of spice.
"It's insect larve." Castiel said, flatly. Dean definitely regretted asking. Even so, Cas continued, "These in specific are butterfly eggs. Different subspecies taste differently and butterfly eggs are readily available, so it's what we eat most the time. We try to stay away from endangered species such as the monarch, the-"
"Dude, please stop talking. Like, now." Dean said, sitting down in the chair. "If I have any hopes of getting them down, I need to forget that I'm eating a six year old girl's dreams."
Castiel paused, a look of confusion crossing his features. He looked contemplative for a moment, as if debating whether or not to ask what Dean meant. In the end, he went back to working, still looking confused as ever, but silent.
Soon, there was a plate in front of Dean. This tasted sweeter than yesterday's breakfast; it was utterly satisfying, even knowing that (if not in his stomach) it would have sprouted wings. Castiel had proved himself in Dean's short time here to be a very good cook, and Dean was taking full advantage of that.
"You know, we should bake a pie tomorrow." He insisted. Castiel paused, looking confused.
"Tomorrow? How would we get the human ingredients on such short notice? We usually talk to Jo about these sort of things." He asked, looking around in the kitchen. Dean had, of course, already thought of that. Because he was serious about his pie, and he was intent on allowing Castiel the full pastry experience.
"If you'd be willing to fly to Ellen's kitchen with me, I know where everything is and I have a key to the house in my bag. It would actually be a good idea to grab some of my other clothes too, if you could have Anna get on that?" Dean asked, gesturing towards his lack of wardrobe. Castiel nodded a little, looking thoughtful.
"For today, you can borrow some of my clothes. Do you sunburn easy?"
Dean paused. So, whatever they were going to do today involved the sun?
"I can get a little red on my ears if I don't put on sunscreen. It turns to tan eventually but other than that, no. If we're gonna be out more than a couple of hours it might get a little inconvenient for tomorrow, though." Dean said. Cas nodded his head.
"Okay, then I'll give you my long sleeved cover." He mumbled, walking out of the room. Dean was almost tempted to follow him, but the rest of his breakfast was calling out his name. Dean, it said, You're eating little baby winged creatures. Don't you feel bad? Don't you want to compensate for your bad feeling by eating more? It's a vicious cycle, Dean.
Dean ignored what the food was saying and finished his bowl.
Soon, Castiel came pattering back into the room, a long fabric stretched over his arms. It looked light and Dean discovered that it was soft to the touch. "So, how do I put this on?" He questioned.
Castiel slowly drew his arms around himself, lifting above his head as he did so to get it all straightened out. He proceeded to lower it back down and clip the two parts of the jacket together to create something that looked almost like a-
"You're going to give me a cape to wear?" Dean questioned, trying to shove down the excitement that rose like a tidal wave. Okay, so it was a little immature, but he really loved capes.
"I was told it was a shawl." Castiel said, eyebrows coming together in confusion. Dean rolled his eyes and held out his hands, making a small gesture.
"Just give me the cape, Grandma." Dean teased. Castiel must have stopped trying to understand at that point, because just a few seconds later the cape was firmly in Dean's arms.
"You won't need a shirt for this, but if it makes you uncomfortable you can borrow one of mine." Cas mentioned, nodding towards the bathroom. Dean nodded back.
"I'll be fine. You guys aren't very modest and I don't have any issues with my body." Dean said, almost absentmindedly. Cas nodded.
Ten minutes later, they were both dressed in a new set of clothes. Dean found the soft fabric to be a little bit restrictive, but also just the right about of stretchy to make it okay. From what he had seen so far, all the fae's clothes were made out of this same stuff.
He'd like to bring some velvet back here sometime. He guessed that Cas had never really experienced man made textures like that, and it sounded like fun to see what his reaction would be.
"So, what are we gonna do today?" He asked, walking out of the bathroom. Cas was in the same clothes as him, but minus the cape, and a mark stood stark against the tan skin of his shoulder. It looked almost like text, but in another language, the lines harsher and more beautiful than anything Dean had seen previously. He had noticed this mark before, but it just occurred to him that he hadn't questioned it's meaning.
"We're going to show you culture. You'll find out what specifically when we get there." Cas said, smiling a little.
"Hey, can I ask what that is?" Dean questioned, pointing towards the tattoo. Castiel paused, looking down at his arm as if he had forgotten it was there.
"It's a tattoo. Judging by David's Star across your chest, you humans do still practice the art." Castiel said, confused. Dean took a minute to debate whether or not he was actually serious.
Suddenly, with the sound of flapping feathers, Anna was at the door with a smile on her face. "Guys, come out here! The rest of us have been waiting on you two."
Castiel nodded and wasted no time in striding forward and scooping Dean up.
I will never really get used to this, Dean thought as Cas approached the door. Of course, as he was still afraid of heights, his next thoughts were composed entirely of, ShitShitShitShit please god in heaven do not let me fall.
As they landed on the ground, Balthazar and Gabriel immediately attacked. An arm was slung around Dean's shoulder before he was even entirely on his feet, and another around his waist once he was. Gabriel loudly announced, "Today is gonna be super duper boring, I hope you're ready for that."
"Our customs and culture is not "boring", and especially to a human who hasn't lived here his whole life. You two have just gotten used to it." Castiel reminded them, his arms crossing over his chest as they started walking.
Soon, Dean found that the grass was taller and the path was more narrow where they were. Long reeds began to shoot out of the rich brown earth and the air smelled of foliage. Several large rocks were on either side of Dean, and the sound of running water gave the place a sense of ultimate peace.
Or, at least it would have been peaceful, if he wasn't traveling with Balthazar and Gabriel.
Soon, the grass broke and they stood in front of a small stream. Fae women and men alike sat in it's flow and their hands moved underneath the water, doing small repetitive motions. Most of them looked very peaceful and content.
"Today," Castiel said, his voice startling Dean from where he had been intensely taking everything in. "We're going to teach you basket weaving."
Castiel lowered his lower body into the water, next to a small fae he knew to be named Annabelle. She smiled at him and fluttered her wings a bit as he sat down, and he gave a small nod in acknowledgment.
Dean stood across from him, arms full of thin blades of grass that they would use to make their baskets. Cas gestured for him to sit down and he did, almost dropping the material all over the place while he tried to keep balance without the use of his hands. Usually Cas would find such an unskilled move to be unremarkable, but for some reason, it made his lip quirk upwards.
"Okay, now you start by tying a knot here..."
Soon, they were both off to a good start. Castiel was in his seventh heaven here; this work was relaxing, repetitive, pretty much the only thing he enjoyed doing that didn't involve taking orders from Michael, the leader of their clan's warriors. It was nice to be able to just... not think, for awhile.
"So, do you have any family?" Dean's voice cut through the birdsong, and Castiel's fingers stopped working for a moment. He hadn't been expecting to make conversation, but now he saw that he should have predicted this. He actually enjoyed talking to Dean at the pond yesterday, so he figured that having a conversation now couldn't hurt anything.
In fact, he may even like it.
"My parents died when I was fifty. I have no brothers or sisters, but I consider Balthazar and Gabriel and Anna to be my family." Castiel mumbled. A quiet "oh" came out of Dean's mouth, and after a few moments of silence, Cas assumed it to be the end of the conversation.
However, it appeared that he was wrong.
"My mom died when I was four and my dad had liver failure a few years ago. I've already mentioned my little brother, and I consider my boss to be like a second dad. Ellen and Jo are family, too, but Ash died in a big fire a few months after dad." Dean said, quietly. Castiel looked up from his work, trying to read Dean's blank face.
"That sounds like it was hard for you." He ventured. Dean laughed a little.
"Life happens, you move on. The important thing is that you still have some of the people you love, even if a couple of them are gone." He said, smiling. Castiel felt himself smiling, too. Contrary to the tone of the conversation, he found himself to be enjoying this. Dean was fascinating.
"I had never really thought of it that way. Tell me, Dean, why do you believe the way you do?"
"Really, I guess it's because I have to. I mean, I'm not going to lie, but I have a terrible track record for being a good person. But even if I'm not strong or brave or smart, the people I love have been there anyways. They've kept me going." Dean said.
Castiel could tell by the tone of his voice that he really believed that. It made the smile on his face fade just a little bit. Dean was a brave and gentle human, compared to what Cas had heard and seen of his kind. In fact, Cas would venture to say that he was better to talk to than most fae.
"Do you really think so poorly of yourself?" He questioned. Dean looked up, and his eyes were filled with honesty.
"Yeah, yeah I do. I mean, I'm an okay person, but I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that I'm some hero just because I saved a few people along the way."
"I haven't known you very long, Dean, but I do know you're better than what you believe yourself to be. You shouldn't beat yourself up over your past mistakes. I know it's hard. I've made mistakes in the past. But you have to forgive yourself and move on." Castiel said, sincerely.
Dean mumbled a little and looked away. It was clear that Cas wasn't going to get anything else out of him on the topic, but he didn't want this conversation to end.
A warm sort of glow was beginning to form when Dean and he spoke. He found himself beginning to admit to himself that he was fond of the human.
Dean's reply pulled him out of his thoughts. "Yeah, okay."
"So, is your brother studying to be anything in specific?" Castiel asked, hoping to change the subject and get Dean talking. Immediately, Dean lit up.
"Yeah, he's going to be a lawyer. I'm really really proud of him and the work that he's gonna do. He wants to help people out in civil rights and shit." Dean boasted, smiling broadly. Castiel felt himself smiling as well, yet again. It seemed like the smile was permanently cemented onto his face when Dean spoke.
"That sounds amazing. In our society, we don't really have lawyers. We know the concept, but our five council leaders usually talk about things and then Uriel makes the final decision. Fae represent themselves in cases. Not a lot happens around here, though." Castiel admitted.
"I don't know if I would want to live in a place like that." Dean said, uncertainly. "Uriel is really fucking full of himself. I would be worried about him coming down on the people and making stupid laws. I prefer good old fashioned democracy."
"Democracy started out in Athens, Greece, and your twisted spin off that America has since adapted isn't something I would want to live under either." Castiel said, his wings fluffing up a bit. He was known for his loyalty to the fae and their ways, and he wasn't about to abandon that now. "There is far too much room for corruption. The people give their voice collectively to one group of people."
Castiel hoped that the things he learned in studying human culture were right when it came to this. They had separated from the humans around the time their democracy had begun to form, so nobody could be entirely certain as to whether or not that system was still in play.
"Well, I had never thought of it that way. Thanks, now I'll never be able to think of my country the same way again." Dean said, partially teasing. Seriously though, it had just occurred to him how fucked up it all sounded from an outside perspective. "But at least we try for justice. Things are getting better for lots of people and they'll keep getting better as long as people try.
"This Uriel guy, though, he has the power to stop everything now. He could snap his fingers and everything could turn against you guys. You could have a curfew and lots of shit that you loved to do could be illegal for no reason."
"I acknowledge your point and I agree it's an alarming one." Cas said, frowning. Suddenly, he felt a little less loyal. "But Uriel knows that the people could overthrow him if he did anything too unsavory." Not that it's ever happened, no matter how unsavory rulers have been.
"Alright, I'll let it go for now." Dean said, shrugging. Then, he added, "So, back to the original topic, what would you want to be if you weren't a warrior or whatever? Have you ever thought of it?"
That gave Castiel pause. Nobody had ever asked him that before; ever since he was born, he was raised to believe that he would be a good warrior, that the clan could use him and his skill, and that it was the best option for him. He'd never really thought of doing anything else.
Really, when he thought of all the things that the people in the clan actually did, he only came up with one he would be able to stick to.
"I think I would like to write books. There are a couple of fae who have done that and they seem to be generally appreciated. They don't make a great deal of money, though, so I would probably have to take up some other hobbies to make enough to live off of." Castiel mumbled.
"Really? That sounds pretty awesome, dude. What kind of books do you like?"
"Usually things about nature, and books that are informative. I love a good story every once in awhile, though. I think that's what I would do if I were to write." Castiel said. Suddenly, it seemed like a much more appealing option than being a warrior.
He shook his head. This was a dangerous thought path to be walking down. He had done one thing for his entire life, and fully intended to keep doing so. He didn't want the stress and endless string of questions about his choice if he were to change that now. No, he immediately chased the thought from his mind. He wouldn't let his stupid fantasies ruin what he already had.
But as soon as he glanced up and found Dean's eyes, full of happiness and interest, the thought crept up again. In a more subtle way, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get it to leave.
"I don't read much, honestly, but if it was something you had written? I might. You seem like an interesting guy, Castiel." Dean said, smile reaching his eyes.
Castiel was stricken with how beautiful the moment was. The sunlight was filtering down through the trees, hitting Dean's skin and the ground in small little blotches. Dean's eyes were happy and bright green, and he was looking at Castiel like he was the most interesting person in the world. In the background, Cas could hear Balthazar and Gabriel laughing and teasing each other on the other end of the creek.
He wanted to remember this moment for the rest of his life.
A hand laid gently on his shoulder before he got the chance to respond. He turned to look back, feeling annoyance start to rise within him.
"Are we going to go soon? Balthazar and Gabriel are tying each other up with their grass." Anna announced. Castiel gave a soft growl.
Glancing down at his basket, he could see that he was only a couple of rows away from a good stopping place. Looking at Dean's, he could see that it was the same story. Since that would have been his only excuse to stay here, he knew that he was trapped.
He gave a heavy sigh. "We'll finish up here and meet you all at the entrance in a few minutes. I believe Dean had something planned for the rest of the day." Castiel said, looking at Dean for backup. Dean nodded his head.
"Yeah, I was planning on going back to my room and getting pie ingredients and some of my clothes. Would putting some of that stuff onto them shrink them down to my size?" Dean questioned.
"Yes, I believe that it would." Anna said, speaking slowly. "Our concoctions can grow a military-grade shatterproof plant and originally altered our people's DNA to include wings. I'm fairly certain that your clothes won't be an issue."
Dean paused, blinking. "Uh, okay?"
Anna rolled her eyes and walked away, and Cas gave a chuckle.
"She takes anyone asking if anything can be done as an insult to our people. It's not your fault." He informed Dean, hoping that Dean wouldn't blame himself for Anna's quirks. Dean seemed to cheer up a little after that, letting the encounter and Anna's sarcasm roll off of his shoulders.
"Well, we'd better get to a stopping place, huh?" Dean said, gesturing towards his basket. Castiel nodded, his hands doubling their pace.
Talking to Cas was just as awesome today as it had been yesterday. Learning about him and his culture was way more fun than Dean would have had taking care of Jo's herbs, and he couldn't help but be happy that this whole crazy, fucked up, kidnapping thing had happened.
Soon, Castiel had said he was in a good stopping place, and had leaned over and taught Dean how to tie up his grass so that it wouldn't unravel if he ever were to want to finish it. Dean doubted that he would get the chance since he only had two more days until Uriel would speak to him again, but it couldn't hurt to do it just in case. Plus, Cas might continue his basket once he was gone.
While he was teaching him how to tie it up, their hands brushed delicately. Dean felt the blood rise to his face, and he briefly scolded himself for it. Castiel just kept talking, leaving him wondering why-
Oh. Oh no. He was not starting to get a damn crush on a fairy. This was stupid and entirely unpredictable and lots of shit could go very very wrong, this was a bad idea.
He tied up his basket after a couple of tries and tried not to look like he was flustered as hell. Because he was. He'd gotten very very small crushes on a couple of guys before, but most of his romantic attraction was geared towards women. And, you know. Typically just human beings.
He shoved down the realization for now, deciding that it was something he would deal with later (or just not at all, if he was lucky). Those blue eyes looked into his for a moment before Cas's head tilted just the smallest amount, as if he could tell something was off.
That was when Dean realized that he hadn't done anything except for stare at Castiel in shocked realization for the last twenty seconds.
His face heated up yet again as he stood too quickly, water splashing up and sprinkling onto the fairies closest to him.
"Sorry!" He apologized, flinching at himself. Castiel stood too, the confusion now more than just a glimmer. His head was tilted to the side and his eyes were wide.
"Dean, are you okay?" he questioned. Dean took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"Yeah Cas, I'm fine. Can we please just go and get the ingredients?" He asked, standing up and straightening his posture. He was determined not to let his small and ridiculous crush get in the way of behaving normally. Even if things seemed a little weird now.
"Of course." Cas said, shaking the water out of his pants before stepping out of the stream. His bare feet left large water stains upon the earth, and Dean chose to focus on that instead of how ridiculously blue his eyes were.
Yes, there had been a physical attraction from the beginning, Dean wasn't going to deny that in the slightest. But the fact that Cas actually had a really nice personality to match meant that Dean was absolutely, entirely screwed.
Balthazar and Gabriel hopped up as soon as they saw Dean and Cas. The edges of their wings had been dipped just barely into the water, and they decided to get back at Cas's "boring" day plan by shaking them off all over him. Dean was, of course, caught in the crossfire.
"I hope you're happy, Cassie. I'm going to have grass burns from Gabriel's shitty knotting for at least a year." Balthazar joked, holding out his wrists as proof. Castiel rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring the small droplets. Dean stopped to inspect the injury.
"If you're interested, Gabriel, I could teach you how to tie a real knot." Dean offered. Gabriel laughed gleefully, full-on dimples.
"No thanks." He said. A look of realization came across Balthazar's face.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you? You bastard." He said, sounding scandalized. Gabriel laughed out loud and immediately started running, just barely managing to avoid Balthazar's grasp.
It didn't take long until they were all standing in front of Dean's cabin, staring up. Dean was a little overwhelmed; the sheer size seemed like it was almost too much. Ever since he had been tiny, everything else had been just the right size. He didn't quite understand how something that had seemed so small before was now absolutely massive.
"How are we gonna open the damn door?" He questioned. As he was talking, Balthazar and Gabriel flew up and grabbed a hold of the handle, pushing with all of their might and sufficiently opening the damn door.
Great. Now he felt stupid.
"After you," Anna purred, holding out an arm. Dean walked through the door and immediately spotted his bag, clothes scattered throughout it.
"It would be easier to just shrink this entire thing." Anna informed him, walking around it and frowning a bit. "That should shrink everything in it. Is there anything you need other than this stuff?"
"No, I don't think so." He admitted. Anna nodded her head.
Dean jumped as a cold, metallic thump sounded through the room. He turned sharply towards the sound of the noise, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin as he did so. His fears immediately relented when he saw that it was just the key for the door into the Roadhouse, and he immediately put together what happened once he saw Gabriel grinning at him from the shelf.
"Why don't you and Castiel work to get whatever it was you two were going to get? Here's some shrinking potion; use it for anything you two may need." Anna said, shoving the bottle into his hand.
"Come on." Castiel insisted, putting a hand on his shoulder. Dean turned, looking back and forth between Cas's hands an his face. Again, the confusion crossed Cas's features, a small enough glimmer that Dean wasn't even entirely certain it was there.
"Right!" He said, too loudly. He marched past Castiel and stood in front of the kitchen door, feet firmly planted and waiting for him to open it. He half-hoped that the Roadhouse door would be harder to open than the door to this place, and that they would end up needing help from Balthazar or Gabriel so that Cas and Dean didn't end up being alone.
There was, of course, no such luck.
The door swang easily open, and they marched inside. Castiel's mouth immediately pursed into a surprised gasp as he looked at all of the equipment. The door behind them shut, but suddenly, that was the last thing that was on Dean's mind.
Cas looked absolutely amazed by everything. His eyes frantically scanned the place and his wings fluttered and twitched as he drank all of it in. Dean found it absolutely, heart-achingly endearing. "Do you like what you see?"
Castiel nodded a bit, walking over to a refrigerator.
Dean spent the next half an hour showing him everything. He walked around the entire kitchen, pointing out the blender and the oven and the toaster, gathering ingredients along the way into some ziplock baggies that he hoped would hold enough. He knew that cup measurements had been around for centuries, so he didn't bother asking Castiel if he had any.
It would be a shame to upset Cas's wonder with questions of his own, anyways. He looked absolutely fascinated by everything. He was intent on touching it all, seeing how it all worked, even looking at his reflection in the mixing bowl.
"This is amazing, Dean. The human world has so much technology to offer." He said, obviously wonder-struck.
"Yeah, I know. But, uh, you know you guys aren't too bad either. You're really neat." He said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted everything. "Neat"? This wasn't the nineteen-eighties. He should have said something that made sense, like "fascinating" or "awesome", but no. God, he was an idiot sometimes.
"Thank you, Dean." Cas said. Then, suddenly, all at once, his stance became just a little more fridgid. He stood up straighter, and his eyes narrowed. "Uriel certainly will be happy to see that you've come to appreciate us and our culture. I'm certain that he would now be confident in letting you go."
Dean paused. What the hell? They had just been having a normal conversation, and then suddenly, Cas was ice cold. It was as if the dude had just found out that some asshole kicked his puppy.
Maybe... Maybe this was his way of saying that he was going to miss Dean? Freezing up so he didn't show any emotion about it?
Dean's brain short-circuited at that point. Castiel, miss him? The cold and frigid warrior who's only friends stood behind them, inside of the little room, waiting for them to come back? There was no way that he'd actually formed an attachment to him.
After all, Dean was just... Dean. He wasn't anything special, nothing to be marveled at or gazed upon fondly. He wasn't somebody's crush or best friend or even the hardest worker. He hurt the people who he loved, drank too much, and refused to do the things he enjoyed sometimes because he was embarrassed by them. There was no way anyone would want him, no way someone who didn't even like regular, good people, could be forming an attachment.
"Yeah, of course. I can't wait for that." He mumbled, because he couldn't stand to trick himself into thinking anything for any period of time longer. He was just plain old Dean Winchester, and that's all he would ever be.
Even if Cas did like him, he would move on after a couple of days. Dean was entirely unremarkable in every single way.
The door pushed open, revealing Balthazar's face peaking around the corner. He eyed Dean and Cas suspiciously, and soon, Gabriel's head joined his around the corner.
"We've got company." Dean said, loud enough that they could hear him. Balthazar smiled and pushed the door away, walking in in long, strong strokes of his legs. He looked positively douchey.
"Sorry, we just had to come in and make sure you hadn't quite deflowered Cassie yet. I mean, he hasn't showed any attraction to anyone before, but it's never too late to start, you know?" Balthazar said, smirking. His eyes clearly showed playfulness, and Cas didn't seem to mind, aside from his cheeks going pink.
"You're a douchebag." Castiel and Dean said together. Dean turned to Castiel in suirprise, feeling his own face start to heat up. You know, actually, now that he noticed it, they were standing sort of close. He could feel Cas's body heat radiating off into his own, and all he would have to do to kiss Cas would be to lean forward a couple of inches...
Balthazar cleared his throat, and Dean jumped a little, putting some distance in between himself and Cas.
"Right. Let's go, shall we?" Balthazar suggested, rubbing his hands together. Castiel walked off and Dean started to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped them.
Balthazar waited until Cas was out of hearing range to whisper, "Be up tonight after Cas goes to sleep. Gabriel and I are going to take you to see where the real fun is."