Chapter Text
Saying he felt groggy would’ve been a tremendous understatement. Jimmy struggled to kick his brain into gear, to command his eyelids to rise. The sink of the mattress enveloped him, the blankets weighing on him.
“Hmmng,” he groaned, cracking one eye open and being struck by the morning light.
“You have lines on your face,” a deep voice noted from his right. And with it, the events of the day before bubbled back into his mind.
Jimmy forced his eyes to open and realized he was laying awkwardly on his back, one arm over his head, his legs spread, and one of his pillows half-covering his face. “Dent lines or wrinkles?” he asked, smiling at the goddamn angel sitting in the exact spot he was last night.
“Dent lines. You move quite a lot for a sleeping person,” Castiel mentioned.
“And you don’t move nearly enough for an awake person. Did you seriously sit there all night and just… watch me?”
“I could have. A single night for me is comparable to a blink of an eye for you. My attention was drawn to many things: my own internal thoughts, the personal items you keep, conversations beyond these walls—I was not bored, rest assured.”
To Jimmy, it was all just bizarre. Speaking of, his mind played back his last memory before drifting off. Castiel’s face hovering above him, warm hands covering his cheeks. Something along the lines of interest crept through him and Jimmy faced the reality that he clearly had a thing for his winged doppelganger.
When all this was over, he should probably seek help for that. No one in their right mind should be attracted to a replica of themselves. Even if said replica had a strong, smooth body, beautiful wings, and the most peculiar personality. Jimmy remembered the expressions Castiel made during Charlie’s impromptu visit and chuckled.
“Amusing thoughts?” Castiel wondered.
Jimmy snorted. “Sort of.” Wiping the sleep from his eyes and sitting up, propping the weight of his upper body on his hands, he glanced around his tidy dorm room and reluctantly said, “Breakfast and then back to work?”
His temporary roommate nodded.
***
It was late Thursday evening, the time wearing down, but Jimmy was almost done his assignment. It was staggering how well he worked with Castiel. Whatever it was about the angel brought out his drive to do better and work harder.
Granted, it was very likely his sudden willfulness to pour all his focus and skill into this project was a means of distracting himself from other concerns. Very inappropriate concerns at that.
Somewhere throughout the day, Jimmy decided to drop the latter part of his twin’s name and consistently referred to the angel as ‘Cas’ now. Easier and way cooler than Castiel which kind of sounded like a kid who would’ve gotten seriously beat up in grade school.
They were both seated on his bed, their backs to the wall, books and notes surrounding them on the comforter when Charlie burst into the room.
Her initial smile faded when she noticed Cas was still there. “Oh. You—the Harry Potter hating winged replica of my bestie—you're still here?”
Jimmy beat Castiel to a response, “Yes,” he said rudely. “Cas is still here. And we’re almost done, so what’s up?”
“Well,” she stretched the word, “I wanted to know if you wanted to help me out with a little female problem?”
Oh god. Jimmy snorted and rolled his eyes simultaneously (his Charlie expression), “A female problem as in you got your Diva cup got stuck up there again or you want my help hitting on cute newbies?”
Flustered, she shot back, “Okay, yo that was once alright, and besides lady parts gross you out anyway so what do you care, AND for your information, she is not a cute newbie… she is a smoking hot brunette that doesn’t even go here and thinks all us witches and wizards are creeps. I am so not a creep, I’m awesome and I need your help convincing her of that.”
Jimmy opened his mouth to talk when Castiel apparently decided to enter the asinine conversation. “Why does she believe those who possess magical abilities are… creepy?” the angel wondered.
Charlie shrugged. “Oh you know… probably ‘cause there’s tons of twiddle finger creeps that screw it all to hell for the rest of us. But I mean, there’s loads of plain humans that do messed up bonkers stuff, the only difference is when we peeps do some batshit abracadabra, it’s like loads worse. Like homicide versus using mutilation magic to add tiny unicorn tusks to rabbits.” Taking a needed breath, she continued, “Anyway, angel-dude, unless you have some kind of heavenly insight into wooing the ladies, I don’t really think you’ll be a big help.”
Again, Jimmy tried to interrupt, but Cas said, “I could be a very big help, in fact. Perhaps you could explain to her all of what you’ve just said to me (preferably in nicer terms) and ask her for a single chance to prove magics are not inherently evil. Should you wish, I could even take you both to whatever destination in the world you so desire for this one evening.”
Her surprised expression slowly became suspicious. “Why are you helping me?”
“Consider it my apology for criticizing something you enjoy.”
“Deal. So for real though—I convince her to go on one date with me, and you’ll fly us off to some random spot in the whole world?” she asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
“For a couple of hours yes.”
“Woohoo!!!” she screamed, doing a little dance, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. When her excited jig was over she hurtled herself towards the bed, her arms wrapping around Jimmy. “Oh bestie, I love you for being irresponsible and summoning your angel twin from some heavenly realm.”
When she pulled away, he smiled meekly at her. “Uh, you’re welcome. Glad I could be of service. Anyway, go and get your date and in the meantime we’re going to finish my assignment—Wait,” Jimmy turned to face Cas, “But if we finish working, won’t you have to leave?”
Cas smiled at him. “Only if I wish to.”
It was impossible not to smile back, but Jimmy chewed at his lips to kill the expression. For god's sakes why was he smiling at his own face? It was stupid. “Oh. Um, okay. That’s cool.”
“Unless you’d prefer I leave as soon as we’re done?”
Jimmy quickly shook his head. “No, no-no. You’re, um, you can stay. If you want.” Shut up James, shut up now.
It was in that moment he saw Charlie’s slow grin. “Well, well, well… Dearest Bestie, we nee—”
Before she could say another word, he lept off the bed, grabbed her shoulders and steered her out the door, whispering, “Oh my god, what are you doing?!”
“I think I should be asking you that,” she countered.
Jimmy reacted with a huff and glared. They waved goodbye and he ducked back into the room, doing his best to ignore the flame in his cheeks.
“Um, sorry about her. Crazy redheads. Anyway… let’s keep working.”
And they did, worked for another hour and forty minutes. The assignment was completely finished, and he was relieved. It was done well, his presentation was roughly put together but everything else was written out and ready to be submitted.
There was only one problem left.
Cas had done his angelic maid service and cleaned the room of research debris. Sitting on the bed, same position as before, Jimmy watched the angel stretch his wings in the centre of the room. It was a spectacular show.
It brought out a reaction in him… reminding him of his problem.
“Uh, what do you want to do until Charlie gets back?”
Cas turned away from the window and met his eyes. “In the event that I don’t stick around, what would be one thing you’d wish for someone to experience from this realm?”
He almost laughed and said, ‘Sex?’ but that seemed leading. And besides, he had no idea how good sex actually was. “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “How about we just watch a movie because my brain is done with thinking.”
“You’re going to suggest Harry Potter, aren’t you?” Cas guessed.
Actually he wasn’t, but hey, why not? “Sure, that works for me.”
The TV was a slim screen barely noticeable on the opposite wall from his bed, and he could control the commands with a few simple words. Technology had significantly advanced but screens were still preferable for watching media. Holograms existed now but the picture was never as clear. Pigments without punch, he thought.
As the movie started up, Jimmy killed the lights and shifted over towards the pillows at the top of his bed so Cas would have a place to sit. And with those wings, the angel certainly needed the room. Even when they were tucked back, they still got in the way. Not that Jimmy minded.
A few feathers had settled by his arm, silky and strangely warm. He was tempted to reach over his lap and drag his fingers across the spine of the closest one but he had no way of knowing how inappropriate that might be. It was bad enough he couldn’t stop staring. The longer he lingered, watching them shift ever so slightly, he began to notice the change in colour, a slow creep of deep purple was beginning to mix with the blue. It radiated from the apex between his shoulder blades.
Forcing his stare to shift back to the movie, Jimmy imagined all the different reasons why Cas’ wings might be turning purple.
Forty minutes later, his nagging curiosity hit a breaking point. His fingers twitched into action and before he realized what he was doing, Jimmy was reaching across with his right hand and stroking the few feathers that lay over his other arm. The moment his skin made contact, the lingering purple flashed to burgundy and then red.
His eyes shot up, finding matching blue staring back. “Did I hurt you?”
Exhaling slowly, Cas said, “No.”
“What does red mean?”
Castiel’s focus on him didn’t shift or abate, not even as he leaned closer. “Red expresses… a strong emotion.”
Entranced by the angel, and somewhat by the surrounding darkness, Jimmy glanced down and brushed his hand across the lower extent of Cas’ wing. The sweeping change in colours was mesmerizing, deep blue to purple, to magenta, and a trail of sharp red. “Are you angry?” he asked, not for a second thinking it was true.
In a brief move, Castiel shook his head.
Jimmy repeated the motion once more. On the next pass of his hand, Cas caught his wrist and garnered his attention.
“What are you feeling?” he demanded.
In one word, Cas responded, “Curious.”
“About?”
Gently, Cas pulled on his wrist, dragging him closer. “Human interaction… and you.”
“Me…” echoed Jimmy, looking unsure. “No one is ever curious about me.”
“I am,” the angel stated. “You’re very unexpected, and I find myself wanting to… learn you.”
A blast of heat rose from the centre of his chest and swept down his limbs. Jimmy couldn’t explain the pull he felt from Cas, the way his slightly deeper voice caused shivers to race along his spine. Way back, in the far reaches of his mind, Jimmy knew how twisted and severely wrong this whole thing was. And yet, the only thing he thought of doing, was leaning forward the last few inches and pressing his lips to Cas’ mouth, wondering if it would be as warm as his wings.
He knew Cas had said something… and something strange, but his mind was fuzzy, thoughts indirect. Automatically, he nodded, not sure what he was saying yes to, or whether a question had even been asked.
With his free hand, Cas reached up towards Jimmy’s face and paused, meeting his eyes. “May I?”
This time, he didn’t even nod, he nervously licked his lips and that was apparently sufficient. In the next breath, Cas’ palm was resting lightly against his cheek, and the angel’s familiar (yet so foreign) features were easing closer.
Whatever Jimmy had been expecting; it wasn’t this.
Cas’ thick lips greeted his in a soft, warm touch. Feather-light at first, then pressing against him, two hands guided his head a bit to the side. Jimmy felt Cas’ thumbs reach down and graze the corners of his mouth. By some intuition, Jimmy knew it was a silent instruction and he turned pliant, opening himself to a deeper kiss.
When Cas licked past his lips, it wasn’t like anything else. The angel’s hot, slick tongue dipped into his mouth, sweeping around as if he were tasting everything that he was. Distantly, Jimmy heard the flutter of wings, wished he was coherent enough to open his eyes, wondering what colour they’d be.
For several minutes, Castiel showered him with affection, all through a simple kiss. It was delicate, and yet passionate. It occurred to him in a flash that the angel had so obviously never kissed anyone before. It was why Jimmy felt exposed, as if he were a guinea pig, letting his scientist explore him.
Because that was exactly what Cas was doing: Exploring.
Maybe minutes later, maybe an hour, the mystifying angel pulled back, cheeks flushed the same as his wings and stared. “Mmm. I believe that was the single most enjoyable activity I have ever experienced.”
The sheer absurdity of all of it stole every possible response. In lieu of words or coherency, Jimmy swallowed thickly and blinked back.
“You seem… stunned,” Cas noted.
Jimmy huffed a laugh, flabbergasted by the entire experience. “You could say that,” he muttered.
“Was it enjoyable to you?” the angel wondered, staring inquisitively at him.
Rolling his eyes, Jimmy said, “Uh, yeah. I would definitely call that enjoyable.”
Castiel smiled wide, beaming with pride in such an innocent way Jimmy’s heart fluttered. Or perhaps the coronary gymnastics were a result of Cas was moving towards him again, intent very clear.
The second kiss was wilder than the last, fast and eager. He felt Cas’ hands shift from his cheeks down to his neck. Even as his brain was screaming about how weird this should be, his body was leaning back, letting Cas fall towards him in the hopes of feeling the angel’s strong body laid out over him.
They were halfway to horizontal, hands grasping and moans beginning to create serious noise in the room—when the door flung open with a bang.
“Hot damn!” yelled Charlie.
Cas’ incredible warmth disappeared, leaving him chilled. Jimmy opened his eyes to find himself leaning back on his elbows with Cas suddenly standing stiff as a statue in the middle of his room, wings deep red and spanning from wall-to-wall.
“I believe there is such a thing as knocking in this realm,” Castiel said in a biting tone.
Jimmy chuckled to himself. What other response could he even drum up at this point. “Yeah Charlie, try knocking next time.”
She threw her head back. “Well, excuuuuse me, for assuming you wouldn’t be getting hot and heavy with your freaking angel twin. How terribly rational of me. Anyway—I have acquired myself a date—” she looked expectantly at Cas.
The angel, by all appearances, had settled. But Jimmy saw the faint linger of red in his feathers and couldn’t hide his smile, he had a feeling he knew what that beautiful crimson colour meant.
“Yes. Of course,” Cas replied. “Let’s go.” Moving towards the door, Castiel stopped and glanced back at him, a brief flash of longing passed through his gaze.
“I’ll be here,” Jimmy told him.
“I’ll be only a moment.”
Jimmy nodded, and let his back drop back to the mattress. He listened for the door closing and finally let his eyes slip shut.
It was a short fifteen minutes before he heard a whoosh disrupt the quiet of his room, and air ruffled his hair. He smiled but didn’t open his eyes. Jimmy felt Cas’ presence like a nearby wood stove, welcoming and hot.
The bed creaked as the angel climbed up. Displacement of air around him, and the telling dips of the mattress, informed Jimmy that Cas had settled above him.
Only then did he open his eyes, finding Cas’ curious stare focused on him. “I will need to retrieve your friend around midnight, but until then… I am yours.”
Staring into Cas’ depthless eyes, he wondered how naive it was for him to assume Cas would actually stay much longer than that. After tomorrow, his assignment would be officially submitted.
“Mine?” he repeated. “What about after that? What about tomorrow, and this weekend…” he trailed off when he felt the heat creep into his cheeks.
Not one readable expression came across Cas’ face. For a very long few seconds, all they did was stare. Jimmy couldn’t believe how badly he wanted the angel to stay. It was ludicrous. What would his doppelganger even do? Live in the dorm room? What were they? How could they even—What would people—It didn’t make—
“James,” Castiel spoke his real name in a thick voice. “There is no cause for worry. I am interested in this world, and in you. I have no immediate plans to go back to my realm. Whatever details we must figure out, it can be done another time.”
Jimmy gave a brief nod.
Castiel continued, “I cannot explain what draws me to you, but I see no reason to fight it.”
It was hard, but Jimmy needed to say it, “But it’s… weird, isn’t it? I mean we look the same. That’s kind of… messed up. Isn’t it?”
His expression softening, Castiel replied, “Perhaps to your eyes we appear the same. But I see so much more. If you would prefer I leave, I—”
“No!” Jimmy cut in. “No, I want you to stay. I do.” The thought of being in this room without a half-naked man sporting wings seemed like a terrible prospect.
“So I’ll stay,” Castiel surmised, now looking unsure.
“Yes.” Jimmy smiled and threw his arms around Cas’ neck. “You are definitely staying. But, um, you might consider trying to fit in. The whole half-naked wings thing—as much as I like it—might not go over very well with everyone else. I mean, not right now or anything. Now, you can totally stay this level of naked.”
Relieved, Castiel smiled wide. “Is it alright if I kiss you now? I haven't stopped thinking about how you taste.”
Not bothering to answer, Jimmy raised his upper half off the bed and stole a kiss, pulling Cas back down on top of him.
Jimmy’s life as a student at AA’s had always been less-than-appealing, spells usually nothing more than parlor tricks. But as he felt Cas smile against his mouth, and a hand caress his jaw, he decided that maybe life at AA’s wasn’t so bad afterall.