Work Text:
It's weird.
It's not like Sam hadn't talked to Cas on the phone nearly daily when they were looking for Dean. And even before then, Cas would call Sam on occasion, though mostly the occasion was when Dean wasn't picking up.
But now.
Now Cas only talks to Sam. And Dean doesn't talk about it. He ignores Sam when he's on the phone with Cas, and he doesn't ask about Cas or try to talk to him, or even indicate that he's aware that Sam's on the phone with him.
It's unnerving.
He and Cas get along a lot better these days. It's taken them years, but they've finally figured out how to be something to each other that doesn't revolve around Dean; Dean's brother, Dean's angel. Now they're Sam and Cas, and… they're friends. Maybe family, even. Though Sam's not sure in the Winchester clan, it's a particularly good thing to be considered family. Charlie was the only one untouched by that curse, and now that's ruined, too.
They talk every day; Cas calling to check in most mornings and Sam calling in the evening if Cas missed a check-in. It's a habit leftover from Sam's search for Dean, and he doesn't realize how easy it is to chat with Cas until he catches Dean looking confused when Cas calls while they're hitting the books one morning. It's a short call, nothing more than "how you doing" and "nothing new" and "take care."
Cas always tells him to take care, in very precise diction, and Sam can tell it's more than a platitude. He likes it.
Dean seems to be unnerved by the ease between Sam and Cas now, and that would bother Sam more except he knows Dean's self-loathing makes him see all his relationships as damaged. Normally Cas gets over that with his amazing powers of complete obliviousness to Dean's jackassery, but the thing with Claire has really messed him up, and for the last while, he's preferred to stay away. Whether it's from Dean or from the bunker, Sam couldn't say. He doesn't like to dwell on how Cas thinks. It gives him headaches.
He'll be asking Cas to come back soon, though. Dean can pull away when he's wounded, and if you don't keep poking at him, it becomes tough to get him out of his shell. He doesn't want Cas to have to completely start over with Dean. They've had to do that too many times already.
Sam realizes he's been staring down at his phone for a good ten minutes. It's late and Cas didn't call this morning.
"Hey, Cas. Any news?"