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It had been a quiet few weeks. After curing Cas of the attack dog spell there hadn’t been much. A ghost here and there, some hyper vigilant old ladies who were convinced demons were stealing their lawn gnomes. Which had turned out to be some weird teenager hazing thing that Dean wanted no part of. Things had been slow. The boys knew the Darkness was brewing somewhere, they just didn’t know where. The big bad had been silent. As a result, the Impala had never been in better shape. Neither had Sam. The brothers had their habits to keep them busy, and Cas? Well he had been trying to absorb what Sam had called ‘pop culture’. The third day of his People Magazine binge, Cas emerged from the library running into Sam.
“Have enough of the tabloids for the day?” Sam asked. Cas frowned ever so slightly.
“The rate at which your “celebrities” go through relationships astounds me,” he replied.
“Come on, I’ve got dinner cooking. You can help me get it served,” Sam clapped a hand on the angel’s back.
“Of course,” Cas said following Sam into the kitchen. “Sam, do you have a favorite film?”
“That’s one of the hardest question to answer, Cas,” Sam laughed, tossing a salad in a large bowl. “But at the end of the day, if I had to have one movie playing on repeat in the background, it would probably have to be The Princess Bride .” Cas nodded as Sam spoke, as if he had any idea what that was. Sam regarded the angel, as he quietly pulled out dishes, glasses and silverware, a content smile on his face.
“Hey, Cas.”
“Yes, Sam?”
“What if after dinner, I show you the masterpiece that is The Princess Bride .”
“Yes Sam, I would enjoy that. Thank you.”
“Of course, buddy. Now, you mind setting the table while I run and grab Dean from the garage? I don’t know what else he has to fix on the Impala, but he’s determined to find something.” With another clap on the back, Sam bounded out of the kitchen. Of all the small, human things Cas had picked up with his boys, he very much enjoyed setting the table. Which was good, because the boys didn’t understand the concept of placemats and had made more of a mess than needed at times. Sam returned with Dean in a few minutes, Dean grumbling something about rabbit food, that Cas didn’t quite understand.
Dinner was a pleasant affair. Cas could tell the boys were getting restless, not that either of them wanted a big bad to appear but they had been raised to chase the dark and shadows. Though Dean was starting to lose the deep circles under his eyes, for which Cas was grateful. Restlessness was something Cas was willing to handle from his boys in exchange for their safety.
“Thanks for actually adding some meat to dinner tonight Sammy,” Dean said, finishing off his dinner and rising from the table. “I can’t do much more of just rabbit food. Though some red meat would be nice.”
“A salad isn’t going to kill you Dean,” Sam replied without looking up from his plate.
“You’re right, a ghost or demon is bound to gank me before my heart ever goes out,” came the reply, a fight that they clearly had been through before.
“Okay Dean. Go clean your baby and leave Cas and I alone,” Sam looked up at Cas and smiled. “I’m gonna introduce him to a classic.”
“ Star Wars ?”
“No, though we should add that too,” Sam replied, standing to add his dishes to the sink. “I was thinking The Princess Bride tonight.” Dean hummed in acknowledgement, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
“Well enjoy your date boys,” and he sauntered out the door.
“Dean’s aversion to anything you like will never cease to amaze me,” Cas said, joining Sam at the sink to do the dishes.
“Oh no, don’t let him fool you. His favorite musical is Fiddler on the Roof . Dude is as big of a dork as I am.” The two finished washing dishes in comfortable silence, something Cas appreciated about Sam. The silences with him were easy. Silence with Dean made him nervous. Anything with Dean made him nervous. With all the dishes drying, he followed Sam into the main room and settled next to him as Sam pulled out his laptop and brought up something called ‘Netflix’.
“I don’t know if you’ll like this at all, but it’s one of my favorites,” Sam said as he got the movie set up. “One of the most quotable movies of all time. And don’t let Dean tell you he doesn’t like it, because he does. It’s one of his favorites too.” The movie started and Cas leaned in, closer to the screen, ready for whatever Sam was showing him.
The first time it happened was a few days after Sam and Cas had watched the movie. Dean and Cas were on a grocery run, something else Cas had grown to enjoy. Each brother had their different methods. Sam stuck to his list religiously, while Dean may get everything on his list, but would also pick up a few extra things. They walked into the store and Cas picked up a basket, settling into the bustle of people around.
“Alright, Sam wants some eggplants,” Dean said wrinkling his nose. “Can you go grab those, lettuce and tomatoes?”
“As you wish,” Cas nodded and headed off towards the produce. Dean looked up from his list, an eyebrow raised. Shrugging it off as a Cas thing he headed towards the meat section, determined to get something more than chicken and salad for dinner this week.
It happened again the next day. Dean was in the garage working on the impala, having found a new leak, determined to get her in mint condition.
“Come on Baby,” he gritted out through the wrench in his mouth. “I know your brakes are old but I need you to cooperate with me.” He heard someone enter the room and slid out from under the car to see Cas standing in the doorway.
“I just...uhm,” Cas cleared his throat. “I just wanted to see if you needed anything,” he said taking a step into the garage. “You’ve been out here all day and, well, Sam said you didn’t eat lunch.”
“I guess I lost track of time,” Dean said swiping the back of his hand across his forehead. “Listen I’m almost done and could use a hand, if you’re up for it.” Cas smiled and walked towards the impala.
“As you wish,” there was that phrase again. “Where would you like me?”
“Uh,” Dean swallowed and broke eye contact with the angel. “I need to make sure the brake line isn’t leaking when pressure is applied. Could you hop in the driver’s seat and pump the brakes a few times?” Cas tilted his head slightly at him.
“Pump the brakes?”
“Uh, yeah just hit the brakes, let ‘em up, and do it again,” Dean said not looking at Cas. “Pump ‘em.”
“As you wish,” Cas said sliding into the driver’s seat. “Let me know when you need me to…pump it.”
“Oh jesus,” Dean muttered as he slid back under the car. “Okay go ahead.” He could see the lines working, and no leaks.
“Okay you’re good,” Dean said sliding out one last time, getting up off the floor. “Thanks for helping.”
“Anything you need Dean,” Cas replied a hand on Dean’s shoulder. Before Dean even had a chance to react to his touch, Cas was out the door.
“Son of a bitch.”
Dean figured it out a few days after the garage incident. There had been one or two more soft smiles than usual from the angel. Smiles that already made Dean’s heart tighten a little, in a way that no one had in years. He’d holed himself up in his room and tried not to notice the footsteps belonging to his angel paused ever so slightly in front of his room. He tried not to notice the Zeppelin CD he had leant Cas drifting softly through the walls of the bunker. When he finally heard the CD end, Dean slowly slipped out of his room and into the kitchen. Pulling out a beer, he settled in at the table. When had Cas become…well more than Cas? Or when had he become Cas and not just the angel with personal space issues and a tendency towards staring.
“Son of a bitch,” he mumbled downing half of his beer.
“Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?” Sam asked from the door.
“Don’t you think you’re a little bit of a bitch?”
“Dean come on,” Sam said sliding into the seat across from him at the table. “You’ve been holed up in your room since 2pm, and I know you get hangry. Eat something.”
“I’m fine Sammy,” he said finishing his beer. “Just fine.” Sam looked at him for a moment from across the table. He sighed and stood from the table, unfolding himself from the chair.
“Okay, well I’ve got a research rabbit hole I can get back to,” he headed towards the door, long frame casting a shadow across the table.
“As you wish.”
“What?”
“As you wish,” Dean sighed. “It’s from The Princess Bride right?”
“Only one of the most iconic quotes, yeah,” Sam turned to look at his brother. “Why?” Dean ran a hand through his hair taking a deep breath.
“Look we watched a lot when I was with Lisa, Ben loved it and he had a crush on this girl and he would say ‘as you wish’ when she asked him to do anything. It…the characters meant I love you when they said it didn’t they?”
“Dean, you would watch that movie any time it was on cable at the motels we stayed at,” Sam crossed back to the table, perching on the edge. “You know damn well it was Westley and Buttercup’s thing. So why are you asking.”
“Because Cas is saying it okay? He started saying it a few days after you guys watched it. And I just…”
“Dean, he’s been saying it for years.”
“What?”
“’Of course’ was his ‘As you wish’,” Sam laughed a little. “You just weren’t listening for it. Took a special level of dork to make you hear it.”
“Would’ve been better if it was Star Wars ,” Dean mumbled.
“Yeah well we can’t all be a walking cliché. Get some sleep, you look like shit,” Sam nudged his brother gently and headed towards the door.
“I look better thank you.”
“Not possible,” Sam shot over his shoulder. “Night Dean.”
“Night Sammy,” Dean regarded the bottle in his hand with a frown. Well shit. Now what was he going to do.
It takes Dean a full week after his revelation to do anything about it. Sam had gotten word of demonic activity the night before and before he could fill them in on all the details, Dean was in the Impala, waiting to go. It wasn’t anything the three of them couldn’t handle, but having been cooped up in the bunker for as long as they had been, it seemed to take it out of all of them a little more. The ride back to the bunker was quiet. The usual adrenaline-fueled energy was lacking, and they all stumbled quietly to their rooms at the bunker. Dean was sprawled face down on his mattress when he heard a soft knock at this door.
“What d’ya want?” He mumbled from his pillow.
“Hello, Dean,” he lifted his head from the pillow and saw Cas slowly stepping into his room.
“Heya Cas,” he said sitting up fully. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you had any more music I could listen to?” Dean then noticed the Zeppelin CD in his hand. “I’ve really enjoyed this one and was hoping to…expand my music knowledge?”
“Well you’ve come to the right place,” Dean stood and crossed to his bookshelf where he had managed to fit most of the records and CDs he’d gathered over the years. “We could continue with Zep or branch out a little bit. Kansas is damn good.”
“The state?” Cas asked, and Dean didn’t need to look at him to know he was tilting his head, trying to process.
“God no. There’s a rock band called Kansas. One called Chicago too. Not bad either,” he said pulling out a CD. He turned around, surprised to see how close Cas was to him. “Uh, here. This one is good.” He handed over the CD, Leftoverture, to Cas. “’Carry On Wayward Son’ is one of my favorites.”
“Hmm. Kansas,” Cas said with a small smile. “Thank you, Dean. I appreciate it. I may come back to borrow more, if that’s alright.” With that, Cas turned and headed back towards the door.
“As you wish,” Dean replied. Cas froze, and even Dean was shocked to hear the words actually come out of his mouth. Cas turned to look at him, a small smile on his lips.
“Excuse me?”
“That, uh…as you wish. It’s what you’ve been saying and, you know. Same,” Dean suddenly felt like his brain and mouth were no longer connected. ‘Same’? Who says that.
“Dean are you...”
“Look, I know what that means in the context of the movie, and I talked to Sam the other night, and he said you’ve been saying it for year, and I just…” Dean sighed and looked anywhere but the angel. “I’m not good at this and I guess I didn’t know what to listen for.” He finally looked up at Cas, who was fully smiling now. “Come on man, just say something please?”
“As you wish,” the angel replied, still smiling. “Thank you, Dean, for the CD.”
“Yeah, yeah of course,” the two stared at each other for a moment and Dean made a decision. “Look, uhh, since Sam showed you a classic I think it’s my turn right? You wanna watch Star Wars ?” Cas squinted a little at Dean. “It’s science fiction, not actual wars in space.”
“I would like that, Dean.”
“Oh, great. Yeah okay. I’ll get it set up, do you want to make some popcorn?”
“Yes, I’ll be right back,” Cas turned and walked out of the room, Dean watching him as he left. He grabbed his laptop and the original trilogy from the bookshelf and returned to his bed. By the time Cas got back with the popcorn, “A New Hope” was ready to go.
“Alright, you ready for one of the best cinematic experiences in human history?”
“I believe I am,” Cas said, settling back into the pillows against the wall, laptop and popcorn between them. The opening crawl started and Cas looked over at Dean, who was grinning ear to ear. He caught Cas looking at him after a minute and a blush crawled up his neck.
“Hey, pay attention, this is setting up very important info!” Cas smiled and turned his attention back to the screen. Dean reached over and took his hand.
They watched the entire original trilogy that night.
The next morning, they padded out of Dean’s room, having fallen asleep mid discussion of the movies. Sam was already settled in at the table, coffee in his hand and paper in front of him. He looked up as they entered, a small smile on his face.
“Morning you two.”
“Good morning Sam,” Cas replied smiling. Dean mumbled something and headed for the coffee pot.
“You’re gonna have to brew more, I already went through a pot,” Sam called to his brother. Dean turned and glared at Sam as Cas made his way over to him.
“I’ll make some more, Dean. Go sit down,” Cas nudged Dean out of the way to get the coffee going. Dean fixed himself a bowl of cereal and slid into a seat across from Sam, who couldn’t keep a grin off his face.
“Shut up you sasquatch,” Dean muttered through a mouthful of cereal. Sam just smirked and resumed reading the paper. Cas brought over two mugs of coffee and sat next to Dean.
“Black coffee for you Sam,” he said as he set the mug next to him, “And two creams and sugar for you, Dean.”
“Love you,” Dean murmured before taking a sip of his coffee.
“I know,” Cas said with a smile. “Now let me make you a real breakfast.”
“As you wish.”