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Mistletoe and Holly Deck the Halls…
But you don’t come around and you don’t call.
Well it’s just not the season to be lonely
And my heart is beating for you only…
“I’m gonna break the radio,” Dean growls.
“It’s not a radio, it’s an iPod,” Sam replies, ever the annoyed teen.
“Well, I’m gonna break your iPod.”
“I’d just hook something else up.”
“Then I will smash the iPod and the speaker using your stupid shaggy head!” Dean snaps. Itt’s bad enough you’ve got me in this outfit, but does there have to be a fucking jolly holiday soundtrack?”
“It’s Santa’s house, Dean. There’s supposed to be music,” Sam sighs. “Now get your pointy shoes on.”
“How much extra credit are you getting for this?” Dean asks, plunking down on a folding chair. The copy room of the Lawrence Humane Society is cramped and smells like wet dogs and kitty litter. It a generally shitty place to change but Dean will be damned if anyone sees him walking from his car dressed liked an elf. He shoves one foot into a green, curly-toed monstrosity and swears under his breath as the bells on the shoe jingle.
“It’s not extra credit; community service is just something that colleges really like. This is for Bobby and Jody anyway.” Sam straightens his fluffy white collar and green tunic. The yellow belt is fake but the red tights are real and Dean doesn’t want to know what drag queen Sam robbed to get ones that fit. Dean’s in the same get up, except his belt looks like a candy cane.
“You know, they let me into college, you don’t have to try this hard,” Dean mutters. “KU isn’t bad at all. Lots of smarties there. At least half of them aren’t dumb enough to get roped into shit like this.”
“You mean like Cas?” Sam sings the name, a smug grin on his face and Dean decides that having a little brother was nice for a little while but sadly, he’s going to murder him after this is done.
“Shut up.”
“Come on, you went the whole morning without talking about him, I was getting worried about you.” Sam gleefully sets his red, pointy hat on. Dean doesn’t know how it can even fit over the mane.
“I just think he’s-”
“Cool. You’ve said so. And smart and, what was it? Devastatingly handsome?” Yup, fratricide at ten. “Oh and my favorite: ‘Funny! Like, weird funny, Sammy, but the smart kind like HRRRPH.” It’s much harder for Sam to mock him than with a candy cane shove in his pie hole.
“Go find Bobby and make sure he hasn’t gotten into the egg nog,” Dean orders. Sam crunches the candy cane and rolls his eyes, but he does as he’s told. Dean follows him out of the copy room, hat in hand and yells after him. “And you tell him we better be getting free parts and service on the Impala for a years for doing this for him! And that Jody better be putting—”
“What was that Dean?”
Dean spins to see Jody Mills giving him her best ‘I can kill you and make it look like an accident’ smile.
“…be putting up with us for New Years?” Dean squeaks.
“That’s what I thought.” Jody looks him over and Dean. “Why aren’t you the picture of Christmas cheer.”
It takes all of Dean’s considerable willpower and sense of self preservation not to tell her to eat him. “Any thing for the animals,” Dean says instead.
“Let me just…” Jody pulls a tube of lipstick out of her pocket and before Dean knows what’s happening she’s smudging red onto his cheeks. “There. And now the hat…” Jody takes the offending garment from Dean’s hands and fits it snuggly onto his head, with a definitive jingle. “Perfect. And your ears are already elf-y. This is great.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“So much.”
Jody straightens Dean’s collar and pats his now very rosy cheek. “I need you to go and see if the photographer needs any help. Five minutes until I open the doors and letting the kids and puppies in. Your brother’s got our good ol’ Saint Nick ready?”
“As he’ll ever be,” Dean mutters. At least Bobby’s the one that will have to have the snot-nosed terrors on his lap, and Dean and Sam just have to wrangle folk and keep the pets in line. Dean shuffles into the humane society lobby. The tree and backdrop behind Santa’s chair still look good, as does the huge “Santa PAWS!” sign he made last night. The photographer is rearranging some of the decorative presents and Dean momentarily distracted by his hideous sweater before he bends over and Dean’s focus turns to his extremely nice ass. A strangely familiar ass.
Oh no.
“Dean?”
Cas Novak stands up, squinting at Dean with those stupid, perfect blue eyes and Dean wonders how easy it would be to actually move to the north pole. He’s wearing tights and what’s basically a dress and pointy shoes and Cas is still waiting for him to talk oh jesus.
“Hey, Cas.” His voice comes out about two octaves higher than normal, strangled and hoarse. “Wha-what are you doing here?”
Cas looks towards the camera set up. Fuck. Dean knew that. “I’m taking the pictures.”
“Oh. Yeah. I mean, uh…”
“I volunteer here when I can. I take the shelter animals out for walks. Jody knows I’m studying photography and asked if I’d help.”
“You know Jody? Cool!” Cas’s eyebrows go high. Smooth, Winchester, super smooth.
“Well, she is the director. How did she rope you into this?”
“She’s kinda dating my kinda adoptive dad.”
“How does one kind of date someone?” Cas asks. It’s totally sincere and cute and reminds Dean exactly why he has a massive crush on this guy and god, he wants to die.
“Well, they’ve been having dinner for a few years and, also some sleepovers, but no one ever calls it a date so…” Dean shrugs and the bell on his hat jingles. Cas looks at it and smiles.
“This is quite an outfit. I’ve never seen you out of jeans,” Cas comments. His eyes rake over Dean, from hat pom-pom to toe-bells and Dean feels himself turning red enough to match the make-up on his cheeks. “Your legs are thinner than I thought they’d be.”
“They – what?” Dean chokes out.
“The bowing is still nice. Oh, I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t comment on that.” Cas’s cheeks look slightly pink now too, but it’s gotta be second-hand embarrassment on Dean’s part.
“You look at my legs?” Dean asks, dumbfounded.
“I look at all of you."
“What?”
Dean and Cas both jump as a door slams. They turn to see the world’s grumpiest Santa striding towards his throne with murder in his face. “Alright, Buddy, Hermey, let’s get this sleigh on the road. We good to go?”
Dean jumps to attention. He was supposed to actually be doing something instead of embarrassing himself. “Yeah. Uh. I think so.” Dean looks around, everything looks festive and fine. “You ready and set up, Cas?”
“Cas?” Sam echoes and Dean turns to him in time to see his teenage face fill with utter delight. “As in Cas?”
“Do I know you?” Cas asks, looking so confused and so cute Dean might explode.
“I’m Dean’s smarter, cooler brother, Sam,” Sam grins. “I'm sure Dean’s talked a lot about me.”
“Maybe I mentioned that you’re only getting coal this year,” Dean snarls. It’s extremely lucky that Sam is not within punching distance.
“Dean’s mentioned me?” Cas asks, smiling slightly and Dean’s heartrate skyrockets. Does Cas look…interested?
“Oh yeah, he won’t shut up about you!”
"Sam," Dean warns.
"Apparently you're the smartest, cutest, nicest guy at KU. Also the dorkiest..." Dean forcibly frags Sam away to shut him up.
“Okay! Let’s get this party started!” Dean yelps. “Camera is set up, Sam and I are on rugrat and mutt duty, Jody’s collecting the money and…uh, Bobby did you put flour in your beard?”
“It’s talcum powder, ya idjit,” Bobby grumbles. He actually makes a pretty convincing Santa, thanks to some extra padding in the costume and rosy cheeks to match Dean's. It would help if he smiled, though.
“You look very Jolly, sir,” Cas says, all sincerity and care. Bobby glares but Dean shakes his head with a plea to go easy. Bobby shakes his head and looks past Dean to the door.
“Let’s get this over with,” Bobby mutters.
Dean steels himself. He can see the silhouettes of waiting families outside and, well, now that the guy he’s into has seen him in this get up, it can’t get worse. So that means it’s time to get some motherfucking Christmas spirit going. “You ready, Cas?” Dean asks voice strangled again, watching as Cas fiddles with his nice big camera one more time.
“Ready.”
“Okay. Time to let the dogs…in.” Sam gives him a 'how do you ever expect anyone to date you' look the moment he says it.
Jody opens the doors and the first family comes in. It’s a mom with dark hair and a little boy along with a basset hound whose jowls just about drag on the floor. Dean and Sam guide them to Bobby, with Sam paying extra attention to the mutt. Dean takes that as a cue to make sure the kid is okay. He’s a little nervous but Bobby gives his best “ho ho ho!” and gets a smile out of him. Dean stands next to Cas while he takes the picture and Cas shows his the preview shot. That means he gets to lean close to Cas and he’s so distracted by the proximity that he almost forgets to give them a big thumbs up.
One down, a hundred to go.
It’s not as much of a stampede as Dean feared, with Jody monitoring the door and her co-worker Donna getting the print-outs done. Dean’s pretty amazed by the variety of pets that kids bring along to get pictures with Santa. There’s dogs of course and some cats that make Dean sneeze (Cas hands him a tissue), but there’s also at least two rabbits, one parrot, three snakes and a guinea pig that Cas is particularly taken with.
About halfway through the morning, after two moms and a blonde toddler finish their picture with their slightly plump corgi, a dad approaches with a red headed little girl clinging to his hip. She looks extremely dubious of the whole set up and there’s no pet in sight.
“It’s okay, Rowena, the elves will tell you what to do,” the dad says, prying the girl off him and scooting her towards Dean. He can feel Cas watching him from his spot behind the camera.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Dean says gently, kneeling down so he’s at eye level. “Welcome to Santa Paws. Do you want to tell Santa what you want for Christmas?”
The child looks over Dean’s shoulder towards Bobby and gulps.
“Don’t worry, he’s not as scary as he looks,” Dean says, but Rowena does not look convinced. “But if you want you can tell me what you want and I’ll tell Santa for you.”
The kid nods enthusiastically and leans in towards Dean. She cups her hand around her mouth and whispers into his ear. “I want a Tea set for me and Olivette. And she wants a new big wheel.”
Dean draws back smiling. “That sounds great. Who’s Olivette though? Little sister?”
“No!” The girl squeaks. She digs into the pocket of her coat and pulls out a shell-shocked hamster. “This is Olivette!”
“Wow! Well, hello, Miss Olivette,” Dean smiles and he swears he hears the sound of the camera shutter. “Why don’t you let the the big elf over show you and Olivette where to sit and I’ll tell Santa what you want, okay?”
“Okay!” Little Rowena says and rushes to Sam, who maneuvers her into Bobby’s lap with Olivette clasped in her tiny hands.
“We’ve got an order with a tea party set and a new big wheel for Olivette here,” Dean says to Bobby.
The old man grins at Rowena and nods. “We can do that, if you’ve been a good girl.”
Rowena nods in a way that makes Dean think it’s not entirely true, but she’s had fun anyway.
The rest of the morning goes well, except for a close call where Dean thinks Sam might actually steal a golden retriever from a nice family. Dean doesn’t get much time at all to talk with Cas but he does get a few smiles and only once is it so distracting that he trips over a chihuahua. At least three times kids tell Santa that they want a second pet – usually the ones that come in with cats – and Bobby gently tells them to talk to Jody because she knows a bunch of critters looking for new homes.
Finally, Jody closes the doors and Dean is able to rip off his stupid elf hat. There must still be cat in the air because he promptly sneezes into it.
“Great work, everyone,” Jody says. “Looks like we exceeded the goal, which will make a lot of animals very happy this holiday. You’re all free to return to your regularly scheduled flannel and plaid.”
“Thank God,” Dean groans. “I think I’m starting to chafe.”
“You too, Cas,” Jody adds and Cas tilts his head.
“This is one of my favorite sweaters.”
Sam starts to snicker but luckily this time he’s in range so Dean sends an elbow into his ribs and he dissolves into coughs. “It’s great, Cas,” Dean says and the pleased smile Cas gives him is worth all the shit Sam and Bobby (and Jody) are gonna give him later. He stares at Cas for maybe a little too long, until Bobby clears his throat, and his face heats again.
“Thank you, Dean. Would you mind helping me get my equipment packed up when you’re done?" Cas says and Dean's heart leaps.
“Oh I can do that for you, hon,” Jody pipes in. “Dean’s probably itching to get out and do something with machines and grunting after such a warm and fuzzy morning.”
“I don’t mind warm and fuzzy if—” Dean stops himself at the interested look Cas gives him.
"If Cas is around," Sam snickers and Dean looks down. His face is probably red enough to guide Santa’s sleigh through the fog.
“Never mind. I’m uh, gonna change. Like Jody said to. Into pants. Which I own. Manly pants. Sam. Uh, let’s go," Dean mutters.
“I’ll be right there,” Sam says. Dean doesn’t pay him much attention. He rushes back to the copy room and changes quickly only to wait behind the door for five minutes hoping Sam will get back and give him the “Cas is gone” all-clear. Or more specifically the “Cas hauled ass out of here and away from your embarrassing ass” signal. It doesn’t come.
Finally, Dean sneaks out of the office, so happy to be in jeans again. He has to walk through the set up to get out and of course Cas is still there. Turning around and running would be suspicious but Dean considers it.
“Hello, Dean,” Cas says before Dean can bolt.
“Hi. Again. Where did Jody and my family go?” Dean looks around but there’s no one lurking anywhere to jump out and embarrass him more.
“They left. Sam somehow convinced Jody that Bobby and him needed a ride home immediately and that you wouldn’t want to do it because he wanted salad for lunch. It was very confusing, but he seemed adamant about letting you help me get my things together. He told Bobby this was what you wanted for Christmas.”
Dean smiles ruefully and shakes his head. “Did he now? That’s my little brother for ya.”
“I’m glad he did, I wanted to tell you that you were wonderful today,” Cas says and Dean looks up in confusion.
“In my tights?”
“In how kind you were to the children. And the animals. And just for doing this when it’s clearly outside of your comfort zone.”
“That’s what you do for family,” Dean shrugs.
“Ideally.” There’s something sad in the way Cas says it that makes Dean want to hug all the melancholy out of him, especially this time of year. “I also liked photographing you.”
“Wait what? There’s photo evidence of me in this get up?” Dean’s mind is racing to what Sam would do if her ever got a hold of those pictures…
“Just a few candids, I won’t share them. You’re just…” Cas looks down at the floor. It might be his hideous sweater is radioactive, but it looks like he’s blushing. “You’re very attractive.”
“Huh?”
Cas swallows. Dean blinks. Cas digs his toe onto the floor. “I’ve been wanting to ask if I could photograph you for a while.”
“…a while?”
Cas sighs and looks up, mildly annoyed and clearly affectionate as well. “I’ve also been wanting to ask you out, but I wasn’t sure you liked me.”
“I do.” Dean says it before he can think and Cas smiles.
“Yes, your family made that very clear.”
“I take back what I said about loving them.”
“It’s okay. They made it possible for us to go to lunch before your drive me home."
“That kinda sounds like a date,” Dean says, smiling tentatively.
“No, kinda, it is. The first of many, I hope.”
“Hell yeah," Dean grins.
"I'd ask you too keep the shoes and hat on, but I want to be able to hear you talk," Cas says slyly.
"Wouldn't be louder than that sweater."
Cas smiles, not offended at all. "And usually I don't think about getting some one into tights until at least the third date..."
Dean stops dead in his tracks, mouth hanging open. Cas turns around and gives Dean a wink. "Shit."
"Come on, Dean, I'm eager to find anyway to see those bow legs in more detail.
It's going to be a merry Christmas indeed.
Take my heart this Christmas
I'll wrap it in a ribbon and a bow
Yes, take my heart this Christmas
Take it wherever you go.