Chapter Text
Five days after the feast Dean was up the moment dawn started to lighten up the landscape. Dean had warned Cas that he would be out all day, doing “Naga stuff” but hadn’t been more forthcoming with information.
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Dean said when Cas poked his head out of his room. Dean was just coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in a robe.
“You didn’t,” Cas said, not quite willing to admit that he was just nosy. “What exactly are you doing?” Cas followed Dean through the corridors towards the front of the house.
“I have to show up at a cleaning ritual,” Dean admitted. “It’s silly, but it’s a tradition for men in the capital. I’ll head up to the Seat of the Great Snake, put down an offering and then go hang out in one of the cleaning houses.”
“Is it religious? Or part of the feast rituals?” Cas wondered.
“Religious. I only do it once a season, that’s enough for my taste,” Dean said. “It’s mostly just sitting in a hut with other guys. The fragrant steam in the huts is supposed to promote virility.” Dean looked at Cas and seemed to ponder something. Eventually he offered: “I mean you’re a dude. If you want to join you can?” Cas had to chuckle at that.
“While I appreciate the offer,” Cas said, “I feel I would be out of place. I don’t want to intrude and this seems like a private Naga matter. I don’t want to accidentally offend the Great Snake.”
“I’m not sure the Great Snake would mind if your god doesn’t,” Dean said though Cas actually had no idea what the religious leaders back at home would think about Cas partaking in religious activities of the Naga. “But suit yourself. We’ll be heading out to the communal baths tomorrow anyway, so you’ll get to partake in Naga culture then.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Cas said and found he did mean it.
“And you’ll be fine with me being out? If you’re bored you can always go find Jess or take a walk,” Dean said. Cas followed Dean out into the courtyard and walked him to the boundary of their palace property. Up here, the street always felt deserted and like there was no bustling city just beyond the bounds of this palace district.
“I’ll be fine, Dean. Boredom won’t kill me,” Cas assured him, though the thought of walking around the city was somewhat appealing to him. Though he would probably prefer to see it from the roof tops if he was without Dean, because he didn’t know how to navigate the city yet. Dean seemed uncertain all of a sudden, but Cas put his hand on Dean’s hip, once again fascinated by the feel of the scales under his palm, and gave Dean a gentle push. “Enjoy yourself. Take care of your virility.”
“Thanks, Cas,” Dean said with a laugh, then he headed out. Cas watched him move down the wide street. Once he had turned the corner, Cas backed away from the open gate. He stood in the courtyard of his palace. Maybe a different vantage point was in order. The walls were high and too smooth to climb. But there was enough space to run and jump. Cas approached the edge of the courtyard, eyes fixed on the wall on the opposite side, more precisely the flat roof. He shook out his wings and then he ran a couple of steps, jumped and beat his wings enough to get him up on the roof. He was a bit out of practice and he landed a bit less elegantly than he would have liked. But he straightened himself up, wings spread wide to catch the morning breeze. Even though the building wasn’t that high, he had a wonderful view over the matrimonial palace with the courtyards and the garden in the back. In the distance the great grassy plain with the temple building before it, was still cast in shadows. The rays of the rising sun very slow to spread through the streets before it. Cas sat down at the edge, letting his legs dangle down and enjoyed the view.
Dean was back by the time to sun came down. He looked invigorated and was smiling even as he let himself drop on the long couch in what had become their private sitting room. The way he rested on his back, arms and tail floppy, wasn’t very elegant but Dean had his eyes closed and seemed to be content.
“I take it you had a good time?”
“Yeah. I guess. Put a good word in with the Great Snake for you too, just in case,” Dean said, rolling over to his side (how he did that without falling off the couch was a mystery to Cas), propping his chin in his palm and winking at Cas.
“That’s very generous of you. Though I must inform you that most male omegas aren’t actually able to sire children.”
“So what? Manhood is more than just reproduction,” Dean said with a laugh. “Ah, I’m looking forward to a very good, long soak in the bathhouse tomorrow.”
“One might be led to believe that all Naga royalty ever does is eat and relax,” Cas teased.
“It’s my honeymoon. We’ll be back to regular business in time!” Cas wondered about what “back to business” might look like for him, considering that he had no business. He wasn’t expected the run the household and even if he had to eventually babysit that hardly filled a day. He held no political position, he wasn’t working or studying. So what was he to do?
“What’s with the poop face?” Dean asked. Cas frowned at him.
“I’m not making a poop face.”
“You’re making a poop face,” Dean assured him and Cas wondered if he had breathed in a bit too much steam today to make him so amused.
“I wondering about what to wear to the bath tomorrow,” he said even though it wasn’t the truth. He’d figure out what to do with work later on. The bath house visit was more imminent.
“What do you mean wear?” Dean wondered, the smug grin wiped off his face. “We’re not wearing anything while we bathe. You’ll be seeing some boobs my friend.”
“Boobs? It’s not divided by gender either?” Cas asked and Dean shook his head as if that was an outlandish thought.
“What for?” Cas had no proper answer to that. “What are you wearing in the water?”
“A bathing suit,” Cas said. “It’s unusual for me to be undressed among others, even around family. If I am naked, my genitals are exposed and that is generally considered inappropriate outside specific contexts.” Dean seemed interested in that.
“Admittedly, I’m not sure where your genitals are and what they look like in angels,” Dean admitted. Cas was far from prude, but he was somewhat uneasy about Dean’s innocent interest. Clearly, Dean had noticed but while Dean usually got embarrassed, the whole cleansing thing must have messed with his head a bit, because he didn’t back down this time. “Husband, show me yours and I’ll show you mine. Figuratively. I’m not pulling out my junk in the middle of the sitting room.” Cas debated internally but the curiosity was bigger than any vague ideas of propriety. This was his husband after all. He got up and pulled the front fabric of his skirt to the side, revealing his shorts underneath. He gestured to his lap.
“Everything is concentrated here.” Then he put his hand on his lower abdomen. “What makes me omega is mostly inside. What you’ll actually see when I’m undressed is my penis.”
“Your penis is always on the outside of your body?” Dean wondered. “It’s not protected?”
“No,” Cas said, then he let his eyes travel down Dean’s human torso but then his gaze was blocked by Dean’s robe. “Yours must be if you do indeed have a penis.”
“Are you doubting the Great Snake’s blessing?” Dean asked with a laugh, though he sat up now. He untied his robe and pushed the fabric to the side. The fascinating transition from human body to snake tail was revealed to Cas again. There was still human skin below Dean’s belly button, but soon after the scales began, leading smoothly down into the strong tail. Dean pointed towards the raised portion at the beginning of his tail.
“Both female and male Nagas have a pouch that holds their genitals.” Dean said and Cas squinted at it. It didn’t look like it had any opening.
“And how does it… open?”
“Usually with sexual arousal. I’m not going to stick my fingers in it now, but technically you can. The muscles give under enough pressure or stimulation.”
“And your penis will come out then?”
“Yes,” Dean said, then he studied Cas. “You keep saying penis.”
“Would you prefer me to call it junk?” Cas answered, unsure what Dean was commenting on. Dean laughed at that.
“No, call it whatever you want, but I’m an alpha, Cas. It’s penises. I have two.” He held up two fingers to accompany his words, grinning a bit. And still, Cas couldn’t quite make sense of it. He had heard penises, he had heard two, he saw the two fingers, but…
“Two,” he repeated.
“Two.” Cas again felt like there was not much in his head that was worthy to share, so in the end he blurted out:
“Why?” Dean had to laugh.
“Don’t your alphas have two dicks?”
“No! Whatever for? It’s not like omegas have two wombs!” Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean. “Or do you?”
“I don’t,” Dean protested. “And no, our women don’t. Not even the omegas. Evolutionary it made sense because alpha Naga in the old days mated with all the females in their pack to increase the chances of conception. They could spread the seed more efficiently I guess, especially when fighting other alphas or males for the women. And Naga aren’t strictly monogamous, so more fun I guess?” Cas’ thoughts about the technicalities of intercourse (his imagination somewhat hindered by not knowing for sure what lay beneath Dean’s pouch) screeched to a halt and he looked up at Dean. Seeing Cas’ look Dean instantly lifted his hands.
“Woah, don’t worry, Cas! I’m not planning to take a second partner,” he insisted. “I take it you guys are strictly monogamous!”
“Generally, yes,” Cas answered. “Especially if you get married for political reasons. Of course it happens. But’s seen as bad taste to have some else that will undermine your partner.”
“It’s not really seen as undermining in our culture,” Dean explained though he shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter. I won’t marry anyone else. I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to marry you.” Dean’s serious expression was replaced by a cheeky grin. “Even though we still manage to surprise each other.” Cas had to smile at that, shaking his head at Dean. “I mean come on, Cas. You got to admit that the Great Snake’s blessing is pretty awesome.”
“I’m not partaking in the Great Snake’s blessing.”
“Yet!” Dean wagged his eyebrows but then he laughed and rolled onto his back again. “Though I have no idea if I’d fit inside your small body.” Cas decided that he was not going to answer that.
The public bath house looked surprisingly similar to the old bathhouses Cas knew from Eden, just on a way larger scale. Cas kept close to Dean in order not to get in anyone’s way, since the bath house was well frequented. Dean guided them to an antechamber and a servant closed the door behind them.
“You can leave your clothing here. This place will be locked to other people,” Dean explained and instead of sitting down to start cleaning his tail, he pulled off his clothing. He opened a cabinet towards the top of the room and deposited his clothes there. Then he tapped the faucet just below the cabinets. “We clean before we go inside. Not just the tails, but all of us.” Cas nodded, then he got out of his shoes. He stepped on top of the bench so he could reach the cabinets on his side of the room. He undressed down to his bathing suit. He pulled the pins out of his hair and then he turned around. He found Dean staring. Notably at his legs.
“What?” Cas asked and pulled at the edge of the bathing suit bottoms, making sure as much of his buttocks were hidden as possible – which wasn’t too much, more fabric was devoted to making sure his “junk”, as Dean called it, was appropriately secured. He could have gone without the top, but he could just picture his mother’s disapproval (never mind the court stylist’s!) if he did that. His chest was covered, the top tied with strings around his neck and below his wings. It was maybe not the most modest bathing suit, but it was at least proper.
“Uh, nothing,” Dean said quickly and then banged his palm against the wall a couple of times until he actually hit the switch for the shower. He gave a start when the water hit his back. Suspicious, Cas turned away and put the water on as well. The water wasn’t too cold, so he quickly put his head under the stream and scrubbed himself down. Luckily the space was wide enough for him to step to the side and then extend his wings to let the water rinse them out as well.
He gave his head a shake, wiping his hair out his face and then turned to Dean. Dean’s face was still an interesting shade of red and he was staring at, well, everything. From Cas’ waist down to his toes and back up.
“Are you alright? You have seen my legs before. It shouldn’t be a novelty.”
“They’re usually covered by a skirt,” Dean defended his staring. “It’s just such an interesting shape. Especially your…” Dean made a vague round shape in the air.
“My behind?” Cas asked, not sure if he should laugh. It was probably not rude for one’s husband to commend on the shape of one’s ass, but it was still somewhat funny.
“I didn’t know it looked like that. It’s nice to look at,” Dean said, then he unceremoniously reached out and squeezed Cas’ ass. He had to hold very still because that was unexpected. “Hah! Interesting.”
“Thank you,” Cas said, unsure what else to comment. He found Dean’s protectiveness of his personal space and the Naga’s extensive personal boundaries and rules about touching tedious. So it would be hypocritical of him to tell Dean that he can’t just grope him there.
Cas was still pondering that and trying to sort through his feelings when Dean announced that they were clean enough. He pulled the bell and then the door was opened by a servant.
“There’s a public part that’s always open, but there are also private pools that you can rent. We’re going to a private one,” Dean explained, leading Cas through a wide corridor with an arched roof and mosaic on the floor. It was humid and fragrant, but in a pleasant way. Archways in the wall showed out into the many pools where Naga were relaxing or playing.
“We have some pools that are for swimming too, but we’re only renting shallow pools,” Dean said and looked down at Cas. “You did asks if they’re shallow.”
“Yes,” Cas confirmed, then he watched the Naga play in the water. “I heard Naga were good swimmers.”
“Naga are excellent swimmers,” Dean said and studied Cas. “What about you angels?”
“Less excellent,” Cas admitted. “The wings repel water to some extent, but if they truly get soaked we’ll inevitably sink. We can hold our breath for quite a while, but angels are still known to have been drowned. Which is why I asked how deep the pools are. But I guess I shouldn’t have worried,” Cas said. They reached big doors that were opened for them by what he assumed to be a guard. The room behind was very spacious so that even the dozen or so Naga didn’t make it feel too crowded. There were no sharp edges or steps leading down into the pool, instead the floor slowly sloped down until it was met by water. That made sense, since Naga had to be able slide in easily.
“Hey you two! Glad you could make it!” Mary called from close by. Cas instinctively wanted to avert his eyes because his mother-in-law was indeed completely naked. He did notice that her arms were muscled and patterned with freckles and little scars. “I heard you had a bad case of indigestion!”
“Why does everyone know about that? Is there no such thing as privacy?” Dean grumbled, then he lowered himself into the water until his entire tail was submerged.
“Not really,” Mary said with a smile, then she studied Cas. “That’s an interesting thing you are wearing!”
“Angels don’t bathe naked in public,” Dean explained before Cas had to. “His bits aren’t internal.”
“Dean,” Cas complained.
“That’s curious!” Mary said, then she motioned for Cas to get into the water properly. “Come on! The water’s nice!”
“I… are you sure it’s fine if I get my wings into the water? They are clean but-“
“Of course!” Mary said, then her tail end with the feathers attached lifted out of the water, flicking water droplets at them. “We have our feathers in the water too!” Cas slowly lowered himself until he was sitting on the floor. And instantly slid down a bit on the smooth floor. It was a bit deep for sitting, with the water coming to his chin, though while he darted a look at Dean’s tail, he was not sure if Dean would approve of him sitting on him.
“Enjoy, you two!” Mary said, then she turned around and floated away, her tail moving her forward. It did look very elegant. Dean submerged himself fully and when he came back up he took Cas’ wrist.
“Come, let’s get comfortable,” he said. Cas let himself be pulled along as Dean guided them to a somewhat secluded alcove built into the wall. The water was a bit deeper here, but had a raised bench where Cas could sit more comfortably. The light was dimmed here as they were under cover, but the alcove had a domed roof of stained glass, which let in some light. It was cozy.
While Dean was happy to just sit and soak, Cas eventually got a bit bored so he pushed himself out of the alcove and swam a bit, not that he could do much in the shallow pool. But it was nice to swim without the threat of drowning.
“The way you move is truly fascinating,” Jess commented, swimming up to him. “Especially how you move your legs!” Cas stopped and sat on the floor. He was at the edge of the pool now and Jess sort of crawled out of the water, using only her arms. Again, Cas had to resist the urge to look away from her uncovered bosom.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, clearly noting that his eyes were drifting up to the ceiling. He could feel a wave of water brush against him and soon enough Sam was also sitting by him, a big grin on his face.
“Hi, Cas! Where did you leave your other half?” Cas motioned towards the alcove where he could see Dean floating still, eyes clearly closed. He hoped he hadn’t fallen asleep. Sam didn’t seem worried though.
“Hello Sam, Jess. It’s nice to see you both again,” he said, less phased by Sam’s nakedness.
“I like your bathing clothes,” Sam said.
“It does lift some mysteries about how your legs are attached to your body,” Jess said. Cas had to laugh.
“Yes, it seems it does. I hope the revelation doesn’t disappoint.”
“Not at all!” Jess insisted. “But why do you cover the parts you do cover? Is it preference or does it have a deeper reasoning?” Jess lifted her hands and Cas couldn’t help notice the bounce of her breasts as she did so. “We are completely uncovered! I hope that’s not too rude for you!”
“No, though it is unusual for me. Since I’m male I could uncover my chest, but our sense of modesty wouldn’t allow me to uncover my bottom. I’m as naked as it socially acceptable for an omega in the presence of others.”
“That’s so fascinating! There’s this stereotype that you angels have a lot less boundaries than we do,“ Sam said, “but you have different approach to modesty.”
“Well, rules of modesty aren’t binding. Dean’s definitely not adhering to modesty laws, he’s never wearing a modesty skirt,” Jess said. When Cas lifted his eyebrows quizzically Jess was quick to explain: “A modesty skirt is fabric that covers our pouches. It holds everything tight and makes sure no… well… accidental exposure happens if you get my drift. Men, especially alphas, tend to like to keep exposed to show off.”
“Dean does seem very proud of what he calls the Great Snake’s blessing,” Cas mused which had both Jess and Sam break out in laughter.
“Typical alpha,” Sam said, shaking his head.
“Sam however is a good boy, he’s wearing his skirts,” Jess teased, pinching Sam’s cheek. Sam rolled his eyes at her. “Alright, enough being lazy,” Jess announced and slapped her hand onto the floor, splashing Sam. “Let’s work a bit, Cas!”
“What? Work?” Cas asked, though he somewhat stumbled to his feet when Jess slid back down into the water. Sam seemed to take this as his cue to drift over to Dean.
“Nothing all that bad. Since you’re new here, I think it’s best if you just say hi to everyone. Tedious, I get it, but networks don’t get built without any effort,” she said and while Cas saw the truth in that statement, he would have preferred to just swim back to the alcove and doze there with Dean.
Luckily for him, Jess did all of the talking, reminding Cas of the names of people and giving prompts such as “don’t you think Cas’ clothing is funny? I wish I could wear that!”. His clothing was then also the main conversation point among him and others and he didn’t have to field any uncomfortable questions. Clearly everyone was mostly interested in relaxing and Jess eventually released him back to Dean.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t think Jess would steal you away,” Dean admitted when they left the pool together shortly after Cas had found his way back to the alcove. By now both were well soaked and clearly feeling somewhat heavy after all that floating.
“It was alright,” Cas assured him. “I understand the importance of forging contacts with your family and friends.” They returned to their changing room, where they showered and got dressed, Dean insisting that they do their grooming at home.
The walk home was pleasant and Cas did feel invigorated after this trip, even though he would probably be happy to get cozy on the bed and just relax some more. Dean only poured water over his tail and then dried it once they were home, leaving the actual tail care for when they were in the bathroom. While Dean worked on his scales, Cas tried to untangle the mess of his hair and feathers. When he looked over his shoulder a while later he found Dean combing his tail feathers. Cas grabbed his grooming kid from the shelf and sat down on the bench opposite Dean. Dean shot him a smile, then he got back to work. Cas was still not used to do his grooming entirely by himself and there were parts of his wings he struggled to reach.
“Do you need help?” Dean asked. When Cas looked up he found Dean studying him, a contemplative expression on his face. “I mean… I don’t know if I should offer assistance or if that’s rude.”
“It’s not rude,” Cas assured him and set down his brush. “It’s just another limb to me. If you want to touch my wings you can. Though there is some intimacy in wing grooming.”
“Yeah?”
“But you’re my husband, you’d be the first person I’d go to for assistance in grooming,” Cas said and slowly turned around, presenting his wings to Dean. “But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s alright. I just… yeah. No, I want to do it,” Dean said and took the brush Cas handed to him. He was very careful and gentle when he brushed Cas’ wings, getting his fingers into the feathers to straighten them. “I just… You know… Feel like I should offer you my feathers to groom too.”
“You don’t have to,” Cas assured him.
“Nah, I’m gonna,” Dean said with a sniff. Cas wasn’t sure what it cost Dean to do this, but he did find himself with the end of Dean’s tail draped over his legs. Fascinated as always, and with such blatant permission given, Cas drew his palms over Dean’s scales, marveling at the texture and the warmth. Dean’s tail twitched, but his husband said nothing. After a while, Cas picked a jar of oil out of Dean’s grooming kit and started taking care of Dean’s tail feathers.
“Thank you,” Cas said after a while, “for letting me do this. I find grooming very soothing.”
“Yeah well,” was all Dean said and then he coughed. Cas darted a look over his shoulder and found Dean’s face flushed red. “You’re welcome.” Cas felt the smooth scales slide over his upper thighs as Dean inched closer to Cas.
“Just don’t go around telling people that you had your hands in my feathers. It is kind of indecent,” Dean warned him. Cas laughed but he was so content in that moment that he would have promised anything.