The time with lots of alcohol

Getting drunk was my idea, but Dean took little convincing. I only had to suggest that it might be fun to turn up some music and do some shots and Dean was putting together a playlist and searching through the liquour cabinet. Kevin retired to his room as soon as he caught wind of our plans, scowling in distaste.

Before long Dean, Castiel and I were sat at the library table, music playing loudly. A half-full bottle of bourbon and a full bottle of tequila were in the centre, challenging us. I poured out three shots of tequila and handed them out; clinking glasses, we downed the drinks together.

We repeated this over again several times, switching between bourbon and tequila for a truly fucking disgusting taste experience. Between each round, I coaxed Dean into a karaoke of whatever song was on; he started off reluctant, but after six shots he was belting out Alice Cooper's 'Poison' to the ceiling, using his shotglass as a fake microphone. I tried to sing as well, but I was laughing too hard. The song finished and Dean giggled his way through a bow, almost smacking his forehead on the table. He grinned and winked at Castiel, leaning close with a hand on the back of Cas's chair.

"You a lil' bit drunk yet, angel?" he slurred, apparently unaware that he was giving his best friend the bedroom eyes and cheeky smirk that he usually reserved for hot chicks at bars. Cas's mouth dropped open, cheeks flushing and he stared at Dean, looking lost for words, fingers wrapping nervously around his shotglass. He and Dean gazed at each other for a long moment, faces way too close, before they both blinked and looked away, bright red. Used to ignoring awkward moments of sexual tension between these dumbasses, I poured three more shots and passed one each to Dean and Castiel, grinning evilly at them both.

"You know what's fun after a few drinks?" I said casually. "Truth or Dare."

Dean groaned dramatically before knocking back his shot and shrugging, obviously trying to shake off the weird moment. "Let's do it!"

Castiel tipped back his drink too, grimacing and wiping his mouth. He frowned at me, having trouble focusing very well; evidently he got as hammered as everyone else when he was human. "What is Truth and Dare, Sam?"

"Truth OR Dare," I corrected him. "It's a game, it's simple. Look, watch: Dean? Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," smirked Dean, leaning back dangerously in his chair. I sniggered and turned back to Cas.

"Dean chose dare, so now I get to make him do something and he can't say no," I explained in an overly loud voice, grinning away. "If he'd said truth I'd get to ask him a question and he'd have to answer it without lying. See?"

Castiel nodded slowly, wide blue eyes sliding across to Dean. I drew myself up importantly and fixed Dean with an imperious gaze. "Dean Winchester, you must sit in Castiel's lap for the rest of the game."

Dean's mouth dropped open at the exact same time as Cas's and I burst out laughing at their identical expressions of shock, doubling over in my chair. Dean's eyes narrowed and he snapped his mouth closed. Glaring at me, he shoved his chair back and stood. He paused for a moment, seemingly gathering himself, before looking down at Castiel with raised eyebrows.

"D'you mind?" he asked in a surprisingly polite voice. Cas broke into a shy but pleased grin, looking way too eager as he pushed his chair back, gesturing to his slightly parted knees. Dean looked determined to act casual as he sat down carefully on the ex-angel's lap, at a slight angle to allow Cas to see past him. Snatching the bottle from the table, he poured himself another shot, studiously ignoring my sniggering across the table. Castiel looked utterly engrossed in the person suddenly occupying his personal space, hands hovering in the air instead of touching him, cerulean eyes fixed on his profile.

"OK," said Dean after he'd downed his shot. "My go! Sam, truth or dare?"

I shook my head, amused laughter dying down. "Truth, man, I don't care."

Dean smirked at me, looking oddly at ease in his new seat, leaning back towards Cas without appearing to realise he was doing it. "Hmm. OK. OK. Do you, or do you not, think that Jody is kinda hot?"

Shit. I groaned, covering my face with my hands, hearing my brother cackle with triumph. I peeked through my fingers to see him twist around and hold up his hand to hi-five Castiel, who looked mildly confused but obliged him all the same, letting his other hand finally rest on Dean's lower back. Dean twitched but appeared to ignore the contact, turning back to look expectantly at me. I lowered my hands, glowering at him.

"You think she's hot too," I snapped. Dean snorted.

"Well yeah, but I don't have wet dreams about her."

I was no longer forbidden to lie, so I did. "I have never had any kind of dream about Jody, Dean, don't be an ass. Cas, it's your go, pick either one of us."

Castiel tore his gaze away from Dean's mouth and glanced at me before nodding and looking thoughtful. To nobody's surprise, he directed his question at Dean. "Dean, truth or dare?"

Dean didn't look at him, toying with his shotglass as he answered hesitantly, a light flush creeping up his neck and jawline. "Dare?"

Cas nodded slowly, furrowing his brow in thought. "Alright... Uh... Maybe... No, I have no idea. Sam, could you help me?"

Dean's face went immediately paler and he glared at me as I smiled innocently back. "Of course, Cas! Hmm, let's see. OK, I have one. Dean, I dare you to wear your shirt tied around your head for the rest of the game."

Dean swore under his breath; he was only wearing a t shirt. But he was way too drunk to think better of it at this point. Still seated on Castiel's lap, he pulled the shirt off, twisting it up and wrapping it around his head before tucking it into a rough, lopsided sort of turban. I snorted uncontrollably at Cas's enormous eyes and slack jaw; I couldn't have given the guy a better gift if I'd tried. Dean carefully avoided looking at Cas, choosing instead to scowl at me.

"It's pretty fucking creepy to get your own brother to strip, just sayin'," he informed me waspishly, folding his arms. Cas's darkening blue gaze centred dazedly on Dean's closest bicep and I broke down into giggles again.

"Sorry, man, you're just too pretty!" I replied cheerfully. "My go again. Cas, truth or dare?"

Cas looked at me straight away, to his credit, although his hands were shaking where he held them inches away from Dean's bare skin. His voice wasn't much better when he answered. "Truth."

Dean swallowed nervously and I sniggered, but decided not to be the one to completely destroy their carefully constructed platonic charade. I couldn't entirely resist, though. "What's your type? Like, physically."

Cas screwed up his face. "I'm not sure what you mean. Are you referring to what I might find aesthetically or sexually attractive in humans?"

"Yeah," answered Dean before I could, twisting to look at Castiel, whose breathing visibly quickened as their eyes met inches apart. The poor guy was totally unequipped to deal with the situation whilst drunk and I was a bit amazed that he was as calm as he was. Dean continued as though oblivious to the effect he had on the inexperienced human, which was sadly probably the case. These two were fucking tragic. "Like, what would your ideal woman look like?"

Despite his distraction, Cas frowned in confusion. "Why specifically women?"

Dean looked puzzled and I shook my head in disbelief at how clueless he could be. I took over again. "No, Cas, any gender or no particular gender, whatever you like. Just your ideal human, physically."

Cas nodded and thought for a moment while my brother stared at me, green eyes wide, shock written all over his face. I raised my eyebrows at him impatiently and he looked away, gazing blankly at the table. I wondered if he'd actually assumed that Castiel - until recently, an ancient celestial being who probably had trouble even differentiating between humans of different genders, races and ages - would exclusively be attracted to women just because his physical form was male. I shook my head, amazed and saddened by the stranglehold that heteronormativity had on my poor brother. Social conditioning is a bitch.

"I think I like physical fitness and strength, in any gender," Cas suddenly piped up, looking off into the distance. "I suppose I like different things in more feminine humans and more masculine ones. I like feminine humans to be shorter than me but masculine ones to be taller. I like interesting skin, on anyone."

"Interesting skin?" I echoed. Cas shrugged. Dean was staring at him now, but the ex-angel appeared to be avoiding his gaze.

"I knew an angel whose vessel was a woman with patches of brown skin and patches of my colour skin. She said it was a disorder but I thought it was beautiful. And I like... tattoos. Or just things like moles and... freckles." He muttered the last word, looking at the floor. I smiled at Dean's blush and obvious gulp. Bingo.

"OK, what about hair and eyes?" I pressed. Cas frowned at me.

"I don't have much of a preference. I like light eyes better than dark eyes, I suppose. Blue or grey. Or, um, green. And, uh, long eyelashes are nice." He smiled weakly at me, still ignoring Dean's intense study of his face. "Honestly, I used to have to concentrate to even take in much about a human's physical appearance, I usually saw souls much more clearly than flesh. I only really saw the details of your faces clearly when I became human. It was a bit of an overwhelming moment."

He finally dragged his eyes up to Dean's at that point, and the two of them shared yet another long, meaningful stare. Cas's right hand finally closed the distance and settled against the other man's bare waist. Dean drew in a sharp breath and scrambled off of Cas's lap, frowning.

"I am really fucking drunk," he announced in my direction, trying to grin but looking mildly panicked instead. "I think I'll head to bed. Night, guys."

Shooting a small, stiff smile at Castiel, he turned and walked unsteadily out of the room. I sighed and looked at Cas, who was staring after him with a mournful expression, hands still slightly raised.

"Sorry," I said to him, not sure what exactly I was apologising for. Cas smiled wearily at me, lowering his hands to fold in his lap.

"That's alright, Sam," he murmured. "I've had a good time tonight. Alcohol is very interesting."

I snorted. It sure as hell was that.