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Dean startles when Castiel barges into the house and slams the front door. He lets out a loud groan that echoes all the way to where Dean’s all laid out on the couch in the living room.
"What happened to you?" he asks when Castiel lifts his feet, sits down in their place and puts them in his lap. He tries to pull away but Castiel doesn’t let him.
"Michael." He answers and groans again.
Dean’s brows pinch for a moment. "Not Gabriel?"
Castiel throws him a deadpan look. "Not Gabriel." He confirms.
"Damn." Dean curses. "I actually like Gabriel."
Castiel sighs and stares at the TV. "He’s visiting next weekend and expects to be taken out and shown around and…"
"And?"
"And he wants tickets to the game."
Dean gapes. "The one that sold out four weeks ago even when they added extra seats?"
Castiel nods and holds his head in his hands.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"When did he say he was coming?"
"This morning."
"And he expects you to have these tickets? That’s not fucking fair." Dean says, sitting upright beside Castiel.
"Michael doesn’t care about fair, he wants what he wants."
"What happens if you don’t comply with His Highness’ demands?"
Castiel’s lips curve up at that and Dean’s glad to see a smile on his face, but it drops as soon as it appears.
"Nothing will happen, but… it’s just easier to comply." He says, meeting Dean’s gaze with a tragic look.
They lapse into silence, eyes trained on the TV but Dean’s not really watching anymore.
-X-x-X-
The next week rolls around pretty quickly. Dean stands in his room beside his desk drawer with two flimsy tickets in his hands. Initially, he’d bought them as a treat for just him and Sam to enjoy.
He sighs and goes to knock reluctantly on his brother’s door; he doesn’t want to do this, doesn’t want to ask this of Sam. But Cas’ relationship with his brother is important, just like his relationship with Sam is important. His brother eyes him suspiciously when he walks in.
"What’re you lookin’ at me like that for?"
"You never knock."
Dean falters for a moment before stepping further into the room.
"I need to ask you something."
Sam moves his laptop from his lap to the middle of the bed and waits.
"I… got these for us." He holds out the tickets for his brother to take. Sam inspects them.
"This is for the game this weekend." He comments finally.
"Yeah."
"The game that’s sold out."
"…Yeah. I bought them a couple weeks back."
Sam looks up at him, a question in his hazel eyes.
"Cas’ brother is in town this weekend." Dean says.
Sam slides his legs over the edge of the bed and Dean sits down beside him, shoulder-to-shoulder.
"He wants tickets to the game."
"And Cas can’t get them?"
Dean shakes his head. They’re both staring at the tickets in Sam’s hands. Dean often teases his brother for being such a smartass, but when Sam looks at him with such understanding, he’s never been so grateful.
"I never really liked baseball anyway." He shrugs, then hands the tickets to Dean and shuffles to sit back against the headboard again.
"Thanks Sammy." Dean says with a hair ruffle that Sam brushes off expectedly.
"Don’t mention it."
-X-x-X-
"Tell me I’m amazing."
He can practically hear Cas narrow his eyes through the phone.
"What did you do this time?"
"Come over, I’ll show you."
He hangs up and goes to retrieve the tickets jogging up the stairs two steps at a time.
When he reaches the living room, he finds that Sam’s already let Cas in. He excuses himself when Dean enters the room, flashing him a knowing look on the way out.
"What was so important?" Cas asks. There’s a crease between his brows that Dean is looking forward to dissipating.
He wastes no time in holding up the tickets and spreading them between his fingers. Cas looks from him to the tickets twice before stepping forward.
"Is that…?"
Dean just nods, his grin growing wider by the second. He offers them to his friend.
"Take my seat. Well, our seats."
Cas’ mouth has dropped open and he’s staring at Dean like he’s just grown three heads. Then he shakes his head minutely, apparently coming to his senses.
"Wait. Were those for you and Sam?"
Dean shrugs. "Turns out, Sammy doesn’t even like baseball."
"Dean, I… don’t know what to say."
"Don’t say anything. Just take ‘em."
Instead of accepting the tickets from Dean’s hands, Castiel surges forward to wrap his arms around Dean’s neck. His thank you is muffled by Dean’s clothes.
"Don’t mention it."
Dean has no choice except to accept the hug. His heart goes a little gooey and he tries to hide the smile that pulls at his lips at the next words Cas murmurs against his skin.
"You are amazing."