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Sam and Castiel were sitting together talking. Castiel has a book of phrases that either confuse or annoy them or are simply confusingly annoying. They were going through them with Sam.
"It is a terrible phrase," Castiel said, very sincerely, even shaking their head in disapproval of it.
Sam's face scrunched up in confusion, "How so?" He looked back at the book to make sure they were looking at the same phrase.
"Nipping it in the bud," they are referring to when something is about to bloom," Castiel started to explain.
"Right," Sam agreed. So they were on the same page, good to know. Sam liked doing this because, while Castiel did take them literally, for the most part, it means Castiel has a very interesting point of view of these strange sayings.
"At that point, it is too late." Castiel said, their lips moving to the side with a sigh, "If you truly want to prevent something from happening, you should get it at the root."
Sam was nodding a bit, he was starting to see where Castiel was coming from.
"Even if you take the bud, it can regrow. And it's always multiple buds, not one. Have you ever seen only one bud bloom?" Castiel asked and Sam sighed, shaking his head.
"I can't say I have," Sam answered honestly. Maybe a potted plant. A solo one. Then again, even then there could be more than one part of the plant that blooms.
"Exactly." Castiel said, "Getting the root would be the smarter and easier thing to do."
"Huh, that's true," Sam said with no rebuttal. If you are trying to stop a problem before it blooms into a bigger one, you would have had to catch it earlier on than the bud.
Castiel frowned at the phrase on the page, "I also don't understand why you would want to stop them from blossoming in the first place."
"It is kind of odd." Sam said thinking more about it, "I guess a better phrase is, "Getting to the root of the problem."
Castiel nodded in agreement when they heard footsteps coming out of the kitchen. It was Dean.
He looked up and down at the two confused, "What are you two talking about?" They had a book open that they were sharing, but it was Castiel's handwriting. They didn't have anything they needed to research, it was their day off.
"Phrases we don't like," Castiel explained looking for the next one to pick apart. There were just so many that they disagreed with. Then again, every language has strange phrases. English ones are simply a good start.
"Ah," Dean said, gesturing to the two, "so nerdy stuff." He popped some popcorn in his mouth and frowned. It didn't have enough butter.
"Says the guy watching a scary movie marathon," Sam retorted at him.
"That is not nerd stuff," Dean defended with a point. Nerdy stuff is whatever he walked into, not blood and guts on a tv screen.
Sam pointed up and down at Dean, "If you're wearing that, yes, it is."
Dean looked down at his outfit, he had a graphic t-shirt with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Maybe the matching sweatpants didn't help. Or the socks.
"Whatever," Dean said trying to move on, "I only came over here for popcorn." He looked at the two and decided if Sam was going to poke fun at him, he could do the same.
"Hey, quick question before I go."
"Shoot."
Dean licked his lips, pointing at the two as he was trying to hold back a chuckle, "Who is more clingy, you or Sam?"
"Dean," Castiel said, "that is obviously Sam." They shook their head annoyed. Dean is not the most observant Castiel decided.
Dean blinked quietly looking at Castiel who was sitting on Sam's lap, one hand holding a book, the other behind Sam. As they cuddled, Castiel was practically rolled into a ball on Sam's lap. But Sam is the clingy one. Okay.
"Yes, what was I thinking?" Dean said still blinking in disbelief.
"You were thinking, and I quote, "Who is more clingy, you or Sam?" Not "you" as in you," Castiel had set their book down to point at Dean, "you were referring to me, Castiel." Castiel then pointed to themselves.
"Again, I was quoting you directly," Castiel explained and picked their book back up, Sam was holding back a smile and Dean glared at him.
"Thanks, Cas." He said not taking his eyes off Sam. Blinking faster. For no particular reason.
Castiel smiled, "You're welcome." Which just made Sam look fondly at Castiel.
Which made Dean want to gag, instead he rolled his eyes. They were so in love it's disgusting.
"This guy?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow and a thumb pointed at Castiel, "You chose this guy?"
"I am not a guy." Castiel frowned, "Angels don't have genders." They are sure they've explained this before. Again, Dean is not very observant.
Before Dean can ask the question again, his mouth was already open to talk, Sam waved him off, "Go watch your movies."
"Don't gotta tell me twice," Dean said, leaving immediately. Those two are too strange for him sometimes. Mostly Cas, sometimes, Sam, but mostly Cas.