Chapter Text
Chapter One
Enter Castiel Novak, Stage Centre
He was a little timid, and that’s what first drew me to the black haired, blue eyed boy in the drama department. It was my first day on the stage and the director was giving me instructions on what he wanted where. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don't act in the slightest. No, I built the set. It was supposed to be done long before the cast started blocking their roles, but the director, Gabriel, didn't get his ass in gear until the third week of rehearsals. It didn't help that Bobby was supposed to help me build, but he bailed on me for one of Sam's big projects. I wasn't going to complain; Sam was priority. He always had been. It was fine.
But anyway, back to the blue eyed (even from that distance, I could tell that they were startlingly blue) boy. He was petite and had long, lithe fingers. Why was I thinking about his fingers? His outfit was stereotypical for a slightly hipster college student: Sperry's, straight leg jeans (the atypical), and a cobalt blue cardigan pulled over a maroon, collared, button down shirt. Maybe he's gay, I thought, my lips twitching uncomfortably. I didn't have anything against gays, but something about them always hitting on me made me uncomfortable. I shook my head clear and focused on Gabriel again.
"You want what?" I asked, thinking I hadn't heard the man correctly.
"I would like," Gabriel began again, and I could tell that his impatience was beginning to thin. Not only because of me, but also because of a certain red-headed girl who was getting touchy with the blue-eyed boy.
Gabriel lost his train of thought to yell, "Miss Masters! Personal space with Castiel!" So now I had a name for the mystery. An odd name, too. He must be close to this Castiel to call him by his first name.
The two split apart, Castiel blushing a vibrant shade of red. (Maybe I was wrong. That reaction isn't for a homo.) A sigh came from my left and Gabriel continued, stressing the first three words, "I would like," he paused, glancing around to see if someone else would cause him to interrupt. He smiled a little when no one did. "A set of stairs, probably seven or so steps, and a revolving platform with supported flats on both sides." He handed me a piece of paper with dimensions and colours on it.
My eyes widen faintly, surprised. "A problem, Mr. Winchester?"
I shook my head but was unable to get a word in because another voice interrupted mine.
"Winchester? You're related to Sam, are you not?"
I looked up quickly from the page and felt my face go red. I hadn't heard him come up beside Gabriel. Usually I had impeccable senses. Up close, Castiel's eyes were an even vivider blue, with specks of cerulean and silver. They were expressive, and at the moment, they showed interest and curiosity. Castiel was only a smidgen shorter than myself and his nearly black hair was tousled like he'd just gotten out of bed—which was quite possible, as it was nine in the fucking morning. I had only just finished my coffee and I was still partially asleep. Somehow, though, Castiel had a charm about him that caught my attention, though I was still hoping that he wasn't gay so I could actually be friends with him.
I had no idea why, but I was oddly relieved when no one noticed my blush. I nodded quickly and a smile broke across my lips. "Yeah, Sam's my kid brother."
I was proud of Sammy. Always had been. He was a good kid, with a full ride to Stanford when he graduated in the summer. I said as much, and added, "He's taking courses here this semester to get a jump start."
Castiel nodded, his eyes trained on me like I was the only thing that mattered. It was slightly unnerving. "Yes, he is in my advanced Latin course." A pause, and then a look crossed Castiel's face and his brow wrinkled. He held out his hand abruptly. "I am Castiel Novak."
It was a weird kind of politeness, one that you would think was proper unless you watched him. And I did. Castiel Novak had trembling fingers and he had a nervous sort of smile on his face. It was as though he had just remembered that he didn't know who I was, and tried to smooth it into the conversation. "Dean Winchester," I replied, taking and shaking the hand that Castiel had thrust out.
"Yes, yes." I heard the impatience in Gabriel's voice as he waved his hands. I dropped Castiel's hand. "You have met, now back to work." He gave a pointed look at Castiel and then to the Master's girl, then turned to me. "You looked hesitant, Winchester. Too much for you?" A smirk twitched Gabriel's lips up and for a moment, I thought of him as a fellow student instead of the director, aiming a challenge to me.
"Hm?" I aimed a look at Gabriel and then inspected the set, visualising what he wanted. I shook my head again. "I was thinking that seven steps may be too many for the height of the curtains." I reached into my memories of past performances that Bobby and I had constructed for and nodded. "There's a five-stepper back in Bobby's garage that we can reuse." Challenge accepted.
It wasn't like Gabriel was new, but he had taken off a couple years for so-called "family issues". Hey, I wasn't complaining. A break from the intense, sweets loving man was a needed breather.
Gabriel clapped his hands together and nodded, grinning gleefully. "That will be perfect." He turned to the cast and clapped his hands again, twice, to gain their attention.
I rolled my eyes. His over enthusiasm was exhausting, to be frank. I just wanted to get my job done and get out of here.
As he spoke to them, I made my way onto the stage and pulled out my tape measure and masking tape to mark off areas that the set would go, and set a pencil behind my ear. I whistled an underlying tune to keep myself distracted and set to work.
In the middle of marking a line for the stairs, a pair of Sperry's clad feet interrupted my tapping of Kansas on the floor. I glanced up quickly, quickly enough to realise that it was Castiel, and stood. "You're messing with my groove, man." God, that line sounded so hippie, I thought, but ignored it.
My statement sat stagnant in the air for a good minute before Castiel spoke. "Your brother is a bright young man," he said, as if our conversation hadn't ended nearly an hour ago.
I had to quickly swap tracks of thought to follow what the guy was talking about. "Oh." I answered stupidly. Really Dean, I chastised myself, you've had smoother lines. The other half of me fought with that statement; I wasn't trying to get him in bed. For Christ's sake, I was straight. "Yeah, I'm real proud of Sammy. All that Latin shit, it's going straight into law school." I rolled my eyes, pretending to not care.
But to be honest, I was jealous of Sam. He was the smart one: getting a full ride to a prestigious school, going in for law of all things, and he was in college courses his senior year of high school. I knew what was in my future, had since I was young. I was gonna graduate and go straight to Bobby's garage. It wasn't like I didn't want to do that; cars were my passion. But I was going to stay in this town and work on cars for the rest of my life. I had worked to push Sam through school and was still going to have to work to pay for his college; the scholarship simply lightened the load. But I didn't need help from anyone. So yes, I suppose you could say I was proud of my little brother.
"He's really very well versed in Latin, Dean. I am sure that he'll do well in law school." Castiel still seemed polite and proper, though I could infer that it was forced. He was uncomfortable, but not of me. I, of course, wasn't going to press someone I had just met.
I just got a stupid grin on my face—like I always did while talking about Sam. Yes, he'd go far in life, maybe even marry his high school sweetheart Jessica.
We spoke for a little while longer, until Gabriel reined him back in for rehearsal. Castiel gave me a hesitant, apologetic smile before skittering back to the group.
I smiled to myself, still thinking of Sam, and turned back to my work. Maybe we'll be friends, I thought vaguely. I wasn't one to make friends, but with Castiel I was comfortable already.