Work Text:
*Click*
Castiel blinked in confusion. He looked away from the crime scene ahead and glanced around until his gaze fell on the source of the noise.
“Dean, are you- taking pictures of me?”
“What- No- I’m-“ Dean lowered his phone, staring blankly at Cas before swiftly looking away. He rubbed the back of his neck as he did so. He’d seemingly given up on finishing his sentence.
Cas tilted his head questioningly when the silence stretched out and no explanation came.
“I- I just thought you might want a picture of you in the hat.” Dean finally responded, sheepishly. His voice was strained, and the embarrassment flooding off of him was palpable. Though Cas didn’t completely comprehend its source.
“Dean someones dead.” Cas chastised, giving him an incredulous glance.
However, he softened his gaze a little when the disgruntled response seemed to heighten Dean’s embarrassment. He sighed lightly, feeling bad. Dean had clearly just been trying to do something nice for him, though why he thought Cas would need a picture of himself he did not necessarily understand. Perhaps since Dean was particularly fond of anything cowboy related, he thought Cas would share the enthusiasm too, he reasoned to himself.
He looked over at his friend with a small smile.
“Well, show me.”
“Huh?”
“The picture.” Cas clarified.
“Oh- Uh.” Dean stepped up to Cas as he clicked on his phone. Eventually, standing in front of him and holding it forward.
Cas looked down at the image. In it he stood, looking up with a slight frown he hadn’t realised was there. And on top of his head was the cowboy hat. He still thought it was slightly ridiculous, but Dean said it looked good, and since Dean had one too it meant they matched. He couldn’t quite place why, but both of those things made him happy.
He glanced up to see Dean smiling down at the phone, a distant look in his eyes, and something else too. Something he couldn’t quite place dancing behind the viridescent pool. After looking at the picture again for a moment and then back up, Cas finally spoke.
“I like it.”
That snapped Dean out of his trance, his eyes snapping up, locking onto Castiel’s. They remained for a short time until Dean's gaze flickered away quickly, as if it were strenuous to keep looking.
“Well, I’ll send it to ya buddy.” He responded, patting Cas’ shoulder with almost too much force. His voice sounded slightly thicker than usual. Cas couldn’t tell if he was purposefully trying to make it sound gruffer all of a sudden or if he was just hearing things.
As Dean began to walk towards the Impala, a thought crossed Cas’ mind.
“What about you?”
Dean's stride faltered and he looked back. “What about me?”
“Don’t you want one of yourself?” He questioned, enthusiasm trickling into his voice.
He liked having pictures of his family, Dean in particular. Some candid, some posed - when he could convince Dean to actually let it happen that is - usually with Sam next to him. He’d scroll through the images when he wasn’t with them, which was a more common occurrence than he liked. Being useful to them took him away quite often; it was bittersweet.
“Ahh n-” Dean began to refuse.
Cas tilted his head with a frown. At that, a hint of a smile graced Dean’s face, his eyes brightening at the expression, and his initial words trailing off.
“Fine- Enough with the puppy eyes, you’re worse than Sam.” He muttered as he stepped back up.
Taking that as a yes, Castiel took out his phone and waited for a few police officers to pass them, sensing they might find their picture-taking at a crime scene strange. Then he held up his phone.
*Click*
“Okay, we all done?”
“Wait you blinked.”
Dean sighed dramatically but stayed where he was, waiting for the picture to be taken.
*Click*
Cas evaluated the image. He kept his expression neutral as he looked, though something fluttered in his chest, a warmth of sorts.
“There. That’s better. Look.” Cas held up the phone to Dean, who smiled faintly, pursing his lips in approval.
Cas decided he would save it as his contact picture later. It was a nice image. The hat seemed to suit Dean in a way Cas wasn’t sure it did himself.
At that thought, another idea crossed his mind.
“Should we take one toge-”
The loud vibrating noise of a phone cut him off. Dean patted the pocket to which he’d returned his phone earlier.
“One sec- It’s a text from Sam. He says to meet them back at the motel, they’ve got something.” With that, he started shifting towards the car again. “Let’s go.”
Forgetting his earlier train of thought, Cas followed.
***
His eyes scanned over the room. The guns on the walls, the book on the dresser, the vinyl collection, the pictures of family on his desk. It was as meticulous and clean as ever but still lived in, with a few items scattered haphazardly on the desk next to which Castiel stood.
“Okay I got everything, let’s go.”
As Dean spoke, Cas’ eye caught something sticking out of a lore book on the desk. The top of a familiar image peeked out, light reflecting off it slightly. Ignoring Dean for a moment, he stepped forward and pulled it out. Recognition immediately flooded him.
It was him. The photo from Dodge City.
He inspected it, remembering that day. Memories of how that case had ended tinged him with sadness, memories of Jack. Nevertheless, the image itself; that moment; was a pleasant memory.
When his eyes finally pulled away from the item, he saw Dean staring at him, his eyes wide and face flushed.
Dean glanced between the photo in his hands and Cas several times, gulping slightly. Cas wasn’t sure whether he should ask about the picture or Dean’s seemingly startled reaction. Before he could make a decision, however, Dean began to speak rapidly.
“Oh good! You found it. I’d been meaning to give that to you. Thought you’d want it. I don’t know, you don’t have many things so-“ He paused to catch his breath.
Before Cas could cut in to respond, he continued.
“You could put it in your room if you want, I know you don’t have much stuff in there. I mean unless you think it’s weird to put a picture of yourself up in- But yeah I thought you’d want it so-“ He swallowed “Good. Now you have it.” He finished abruptly, patting Cas on the shoulder and moving through the doorway.
Cas stood in place for a second, caught off guard at Dean's swift exit.
Finally, he took out his wallet, folding the photo and placing it in there for the time being. With that and the mixtape, he now had two possessions Dean had given him, he thought fondly to himself as he followed Dean's trail out the door.
***
As he crouched at the crossroads; with Jack a distance away behind him; he observed the photo in his hands for a second. He was glad he’d forgotten it in his wallet as they now had a picture for the ritual. He smiled at the memories it conjured. A movie, a hat, the click of a camera, a room, an image tucked away inside a book, a man.
A gentle breeze washed over him, reminding him of where he was, and the task at hand.
As he placed the photo in the box, he made a mental note to himself to have the one of Dean printed. It could take the place of the old image in his wallet. Having it around would fill him with some contentment.
He understood better now why that was.