Chapter Text
At this time of the year, the Garden flourished. All the seeds had long ago taken root; the rainy season had passed, and the soil was left rich with life-giving nutrients. The plants grew strong, shining in marvellous greens, with no need to stretch for the light, as there was light in abundance. The sparrows and magpies still came down to visit when it rained on occasion.
The blossom in the trees had fallen away, but Dean kept patches of colour growing bright in everyone’s yard, and in all the shared spaces. Three dozen kinds of flowers opened up each and every morning, perfuming the air in the Garden and turning it into a gorgeous Summertime sanctuary. The world seemed to hum a pleasant tune.
Well... that humming could be the bees. They were happy bees.
Not too far from the main part of the Garden, a five-minute sleigh ride Southwards, Dean and his friends had found a flat grassy area and had lain out their picnic blanket – a checkered item Sam had owned forever and never used until now. Two sleighs were parked side-by-side next to it. There were no mice under the reins.
On the blanket, the tiniest wicker basket lay open, and a satisfied-looking bee perched on its handle, smoothing bee feet over bee fluff, trying to get the sticky candy off. (Maybe they’d indulged a little too much.)
The fairies’ picnic had been eaten up, floral-painted plates left sparkling clean. Even the end crusts from a fresh loaf of bread were gone. An empty jar of blackberry jam was covered by a cloth. A pie tin contained nothing, except a curious ant, who grabbed the last crumb and scarpered before anyone would notice.
On one empty plate rested a set of cutlery: a spork, a spoon, and a knife, all engraved with Castiel’s name. They were used often, but they were still in perfect condition. They were very well-loved items.
Although the picnic blanket had recently been crowded, there were no fairies there now. The tiny imprints of little bare feet led away from the space. All together as a group, the fairies had followed a path made by much bigger animals.
Along the path they’d gone... past a rockery with a tumbling, cool-watered stream, just dipping into the shade, with a leaf floating on the surface. Past a warren in the ground that housed a family of young rabbits and their mother. The fairies had climbed up, over the mossy top of a log from a fallen tree, which was still growing even though it lay sideways.
Aha! There they all were.
Out in the sun, in a field growing with short grass, all the fairies tried to burn up their extra energy (they’d eaten lots of treacle tart), passing the time with a game of tag. Even grumpy old Bobby puffed and panted, tail swishing as he tried to outrun the not-much-faster Missouri.
Up above, sparkling in the blue sky, butterfly sprite Gilda danced to no music, hand-in-hand with Charlie. They spun around, fluttering their wings and twirling like fairies used to do in the old days. Nobody could tag them while they were in the air.
Or so they thought!
Up flew Castiel, who’d been flying low to the ground, trying very hard to be caught by Missouri. Finally it was his turn! He flap-flap-flapped up to meet Charlie and Gilda, and once they realised he was coming to get them, they shrieked and laughed and flew away as fast as they could. Castiel was faster, but he couldn’t make up his mind which friend to chase. He tried to chase them both, and got nowhere.
“Get me, Cas!” yelled Sam, down on the ground. “I haven’t had a turn yet!”
Castiel turned in mid-air and swept in a dive towards the ground, heading straight for Sam – only to discover he’d been tricked, and Sam had no intention of being caught. Everyone laughed and scattered, watching Castiel helplessly try and fail to chase each of them. Eventually Castiel got tired, and he flapped slower, looking dejected. All at once, everyone felt bad for him, and rushed to offer themselves as bait.
Castiel perked up immediately, and tagged anyone he could reach – Dean, Gilda, Kevin, Jody – then zoomed off into the sky, cackling to himself.
Sneaky lil’ bat sprite, Dean thought fondly.
With four fairies tagged ‘it’, the party descended into chaos, with everyone screeching excitedly as they tried to get away from everyone else, unsure who else was safe and who wasn’t. In moments, everything fell apart, as Kevin tried to slap anyone who came near him, and essentially rendered the game incomprehensible.
At this point in time, Dean wasn’t even sure if he was ‘it’. Everyone was ‘it’. Squishbeans and Bumble, who’d joined the fray, were both also ‘it’.
In a mostly dignified manner, Castiel landed in the centre of it all, looking pointedly innocent.
Grinning a sideways grin, Dean offered Cas a high-five. Castiel fistbumped his hand. Dean rolled his eyes, then slung an arm over Castiel’s shoulders.
“All right, that’s enough excitement for me,” Dean said to the group, most of whom were teetering on their feet. “Juice break!”
Out of breath and flushed in the cheeks, everyone ambled back to their picnic site. Dean had brought fresh blueberries in his sleigh, and handed them out, along with straws. Everyone stabbed their berry with their piece of hay, and took a long, refreshing sip of fruit pulp.
Dean swallowed his in one sip, and looked disdainfully at the sagging berry. He could’ve sworn these packaged drinks lasted longer when he was a kid.
“Who wants to play stuck-in-the-mud?” Kevin shouted, having finished his drink too. “Charlie, you’re it!”
Dean rolled his eyes when nearly everyone got right up and ran back to play again. “Sam, you’re a full-grown adult,” Dean called to his brother.
“So what?” Sam replied, walking backwards, all five mice scampering underfoot. “Who said you have to stop having fun when you grow up?” With that, he turned and threw himself into the game with great enthusiasm. So did Jody. Because Jody shared his opinions, apparently.
Only Missouri and Bobby stayed behind, sipping Summertime wine on the picnic blanket like mature, dignified folks.
But when Dean looked beside him to the other seat in his sleigh, he was surprised to find Castiel still here. “You, uh... too grown up to play, too?”
Castiel shook his head. “I’m tired.” He unclipped his prosthetic wing and folded it up. “Those special nuts do make a good replacement for bugs, but I can’t sssay I’m ever going to be a high-energy bat sprite.”
Dean reached to touch his hand. “No shame in admitting it, right?”
Castiel shook his head. “I’m not ashamed. It’s just how things are. I like to watch everyone else having fun, anyway.”
Dean cleared his throat. “If we’re being honest here – I’m kind of all tuckered out too. Just don’t want Sam teasing me about it.”
“So pretending to be ‘too old to play’ is ssssomehow the better option next to ‘too tired to play’?”
“I don’t claim it makes sense, okay, it’s just what comes outta my mouth,” Dean shrugged. “In case you hadn’t noticed, how I feel and what I say on the subject don’t always match up.”
Castiel scoffed. “I did vaguely surmise that was the case.” After a pause, he leant in, bumping shoulder-to-shoulder with Dean, headbutting him gently. “I’m glad you sssometimes express your true feelings. Those are very precious moments to me.”
“Yeah?” Dean raised his eyebrows interestedly.
Castiel nodded, gazing fondly at Dean. He leaned in and gave his nose a soft kiss. “Luckily I’ve gotten better at understanding what you don’t say. Like when you get all huffy, it probably means I forgot to do something I said I’d do. Although, Dean, I really wish you’d just say, rather than huffing and frowning and saying ‘Nothing,’ when I ask what’ssss wrong, and leaving me to guess at what slipped my mind.”
Dean pursed his lips. “Aw, hell. I do do that, don’t I.” When Castiel nodded, Dean sighed. “Well... if it makes you feel better, I could, uh... ‘share my feelings’ more often?”
Castiel beamed. “I would appreciate that. Preferably nice feelings, like ‘I love you’.”
Dean smiled at his knees. “Well, it is true, at least you know. I always love you. Even when I get huffy.” He slid his hand to hold Castiel’s. “Okay. I’ll grumble less and share the love more, how ‘bout that?”
Dean knew he only offered such a thing because Castiel never judged him for openness. He was a pure soul, that sprite. Dean would never talk like this with anyone else.
“What about now?” Castiel said, nudging his body up against Dean’s side. “What do you feel right this second?”
Dean barely needed to think about it. “Ahh. It’s a nice day, first off. Makes a flower fairy feel damn good. I’m grateful that we’re all here, and having fun.” He paused then, pondering. Then he took a breath to speak. “You know I—” he looked at Castiel, feeling shiny inside, “I feel like this every day. When I look at you. Life’s just better when you’re here. You don’t gotta do much but exist around me, and I do better for myself, you know? Since you decided to stick around indefinitely, suddenly I could raise shoots from a seed again, like no big deal. Dunno how, Cas, but somehow you give me that power. And I’m always proud of you. All the things you make.”
“Business does seem to be taking off, doesn’t it,” Castiel remarked.
Dean kissed Cas’ nose. “Heck knows what your singing lizard sprite friend does with all the things you paint for her, but I ain’t complaining. I think we’d both take you munching on her weird forest nuts over you scarfing down bugs any day.”
“She told me she traded a set of painted plates to a sprite who lives up in the mountains,” Castiel said.
Impressed, Dean said, “That far?”
Castiel gave a humble nod. “Maybe someday my old tribe will happen to see something I make. I want them to know how happy I am now. How content. And how much stronger I am as an individual, as part of a supportive family – as opposed to a expendable drone, flying within a conformist cloud who compromise for no-one,” he said, rolling his eyes. He then let out a breath, and smiled at Dean with immense affection gleaming in his eyes. “I found my family here with you. It’s been almost a year since I met you, and I’ve never felt more at home than I do now. I’ve never loved anyone as fiercely as I love you.”
Dean glowed.
“Hm! You’re very adorable when you get flustered,” Castiel said, kissing Dean’s warm cheek. “You’re cute all the time, but especially when you turn pink.”
Dean mumbled something so incoherent even he didn’t know what he said.
Castiel hugged him, burying his face against Dean’s neck and breathing in.
Like Castiel, Dean also enjoyed watching the others have fun. He was also glad to have Castiel’s hand to hold, and his squishy hips to hug, and a wing to drape over his shoulder and stroke. He sat beside Castiel and listened to the simmering ambience of a Summertime in full swing, watching their family playing in the distance, and he was happy.
✿
That evening, Dean, Castiel, and Squishbeans traipsed back to their tree-stump home. Dean and Cas were still holding hands, loose belongings slung over their shoulders. A fun day with the family was all well and good, but they were so tired now that they could barely speak. Even so, they dawdled; they wanted to enjoy the gentle haze of sunset over the sleepy Garden.
Once home, they pulled the bathtub out under the kitchen sink and shared a cool bath, dozing as they rested back-to-back. When Castiel’s head started to loll, Dean chuckled, “All right, you. Think it’s time for bed.” He helped Cas up, though he was yawning himself.
They dried each other off – and only ate a little bit of fruit from the pantry before Dean shooed Cas up to bed. In the meantime, while wrapped in the towel, Dean did his nightly rounds: he checked outside to make sure nothing could get into their food storage – not mice, nor weasels, nor rogue bat sprites (he had enough bat sprites, honestly). Before he went back inside, he stood for a moment, taking a deep breath of fresh Garden air, sweet in the early night, and he appreciated it. The Night Sun was rising above the forest, casting a beautiful silver halo upon every plant its light touched, blessing them all. Blessing Dean, too.
Feeling warm and full of light, Dean shut his front door now, double-checking it was closed. He wandered between the couch and the armchairs – all of which he’d kept and traded for, after borrowing them over Winter Solstice. He liked them too much to return, purely due to their coziness factor. As testament to this: on one armchair, Dean found Squishbeans, curled up, sound asleep. Smiling, Dean stroked her head, feeling his already-soft heart melting a bit more as she twitched her ears and whiskers, peeking open one eye.
“G’night, sweetheart,” Dean whispered to her. He left her to sleep, and he went up the ladder to the bedroom.
Castiel was already in bed, squinting and blinking as he tried to read a book. Dean yawned just from looking at him, and Castiel yawned back for so long that the book slipped from his hands. Dean put it away for him. He found himself a mint leaf to chew, and popped another one into Castiel’s mouth before either of them forgot.
Frankly, Dean was too tired to find his pyjamas, so he snuck into bed wearing his towel, and didn’t mind when it slid off him.
Cas was so very warm. Good for snuggling.
“I hadda good day t’day,” Castiel slurred, wriggling himself and his one-and-a-half wings under the blankets, nestling up against Dean’s side. “A vrry good day.”
Dean gave his forehead a goodnight kiss. “Me too. Get some rest now, ‘kay? Love you, Cas.”
“Hmmm loveyoutoo...” Castiel smiled, and his smile faded as he fell asleep. Dean gazed at him, always in awe at how special this bat sprite was, and how lucky Dean was – not only to have found him, but to have kept him.
Dean was too tired to roll over and turn out the light, so he left it. He wrapped himself around Cas, and promptly drifted into a comforting, quiet sleep.
They slept on through the night, safe in their tiny home.
They’d been acquainted for nearly a full four seasons, now. The Summertime had fallen away to Autumn; they’d watched the Garden frost over in Winter. They’d watched the trees thaw, then bud, then bloom. Although they’d been apart as the Summertime leaves spread out, they were together as the branches strengthened. And they would be together as it happened all over again.
Each year, the cycle began anew.
And, along with their friends in their Garden home, they’d be together through all of it.
✿ THE END ✿
