Work Text:
Things were going alarmingly well for a Monday. Gabriel had completed his morning jog in record time, there hadn’t been a queue at the coffee shop, and he’d come away from his early-morning grocery run with a couple of unexpected little gifts in tow.
Cas was hunched over a bowl of cereal when Gabriel arrived back home, scrolling idly through his phone. He shot Gabriel a sleepy grunt by way of greeting as he set the bags down on the kitchen counter. The morning sun slanted cheery and gold through the open window, bringing with it the smell of fresh spring pollen and the droning buzz of bees.
Content, Gabriel stole a moment to inhale the sharp scent of the freshly roasted coffee beans he’d picked up. He flipped the coffee machine on to heat, and began to unload the groceries.
‘They were out of hot sauce, darling.’
‘Fucking again? Arson.’
Gabriel shook his head in fond exasperation. ‘They said it’d be back in stock next week.’
Cas grumbled, low in his throat like a churlish cat. ‘…Less arson.’
Gabriel laughed. He loved hearing Cas like this; all snarly and husky, his voice deep and gravelly with sleep, yet light and unburdened of anything but the most mundane of trifles. Cas deserved mundane. He deserved domestic and peaceful and happy. Gabriel could listen to him grouse about grocery stores forever.
Even after years of waking up next to Cas, it never got old.
Huh, Gabriel thought, bemused. That’s vampirism for you.
Mellifluous laughter filled the room as Luca bounded in from the hallway.
‘Less arson, huh? However will you cope?’ Dropping a kiss on Cas’s cheek as they passed, Luca skidded into the kitchen, their threadbare socks slick against the linoleum, sliding along until they bumped cheerily into Gabriel’s side. ‘Good morning gorgeous!’
‘Good morning to you too, mi corazón.’
Gabriel dipped his head to meet him; Luca’s kisses tasted of peppermint toothpaste and pure adoration.
‘I come bearing carbs,’ Gabriel said, handing them a greased paper bag, laughing at the muffled “oh my god, I love you” he managed to decipher from a mouth somehow already crammed full with an over-ambitious bite of cinnamon roll.
Luca leaned against the counter, eyes sinking closed in sugary delight.
‘And gifts!’ Gabriel added, eyeing his two loves carefully.
Cas was barely awake, slouching about in his favourite sweatpants and one of Gabriel’s bathrobes, knuckling the sleep from his eyes. Luca’s hair stuck up at awkward angles, a smear of frosting clinging to their lip.
The pair of them were far too cute not to tease.
‘I got you a little something,’ Gabriel said carefully, casually, his mouth twitching at the corners. ‘Just there on the counter.’
He nodded at a small white box he’d set down on the counter, tucked between a potted plant and a carton of eggs. Cas shambled up to join them, slumping into a seat on the barstools with a jaw-cracking yawn. He stole a bite of Luca’s cinnamon roll as they plopped down beside him.
‘Wait, “you”, who?’ Luca asked.
Gabriel shrugged evasively, already enjoying himself far too much.
Cas’s eyes narrowed. The pair shared a suspicious glance, before Cas flipped the box open, pulling out the white ceramic mug inside.
He barked a laugh.
‘“Cute but dumb”?’
Luca snorted. ‘Well, that’s obviously for me,’ they said, reaching for the mug.
Cas jerked it out of Luca’s reach. ‘Well, hang on just a goddamn minute, O'Rinn. Who’s to say it’s not for me?’
‘Since when have you let anyone call you “cute”?’
‘Wha— I’m cute,’ Cas pouted. ‘I’m fuckin’ adorable!’
‘Cas, you’re six foot three, you’re covered in tattoos, and you threatened to fistfight a vending machine yesterday when it chewed up your dollar.’
‘Exactly.’
When Luca broke into a peal of derisive laughter, Cas cocked his head.
‘What makes you the default cute one in our relationship, huh? Being two foot tall?’ Cas crossed his arms, fixing Luca with a smug grin. ‘I’m surprised you can even see over the counter from all the way down there, New Kid.’
‘Oh! Short jokes now!’ Luca snarled. ‘Very funny. Ha ha.’
‘Yeah, I thought so.’
‘Won’t be laughing when I headbutt you in the dick,’ Luca muttered.
‘Woah, hang on a minute.’
Cas set the mug down, raising his hands in gentle placation. Gabriel allowed himself a small moment to be impressed — Cas, done with goading Luca after a bare few minutes?
That had to be some kind of record.
‘…let me find you a stepladder first.’
‘Oh, fuck you, Harlow!’
Ah. Apparently not.
Gabriel sorted some lettuce and avocados into the vegetable crisper, stowing away groceries while Luca attempted to shove Cas directly off his bar stool. He turned and fixed Gabriel with a bargaining look.
‘Gabe. Tell him it's mine. You think I’m cute, right?’
‘Of course I do.’
Gabriel’s smile turned coy as he poured the fresh coffee beans into the grinder and flipped it on, plucking up another bag of groceries to unload. The kitchen was quickly filled with the aromatic, chocolatey smell of his favourite arabica blend.
‘I think you’re both cute.’
‘Ha!’
‘Yeah, but— oh, shut up, Cas. Oi!’
Luca smacked Cas’s arm as he tried to steal a triumphant bite of their cinnamon roll.
‘But,’ Luca pressed, ‘out of the two of us, only one was so invested in a conversation they were having this morning in their own head, with themself that they walked head-first into a fucking doorframe, ergo—’
Luca snagged the mug, holding it proudly next to his face.
‘—I have clearly achieved peak idiot and this mug is mine. Hey!’
Gabriel stifled a laugh as Luca gaped at their now empty hands. He hummed idly to himself as Cas and Luca sprang from their seats, wrestling with each other in a desperate bid for "Cute but Dumb"-mug-ownership rights.
He passed a pleasant few minutes as the coffee brewed and Cas tried to stuff Luca inside his bathrobe — he was usually more of a tea drinker, in all honesty, but as this morning was proving, sometimes it was nice to indulge in the things that made you smile.
Love burgeoning in his heart, Gabriel finally deigned to unpack the second mug he’d purchased that morning, right as the coffee was done.
‘Gimme the mug,' Luca hissed.
‘No.’
‘Ass. Gimme the mug!’
‘Fight me!’
Gabriel cleared his throat, his expression carefully neutral. ‘Coffee, anyone?’
Cas and Luca froze mid-grapple, eyes locked on the second mug on the counter.
“Cute but dumber”.
Moving in tandem, they rounded on each other, challenge on both of their faces.
‘Well that one’s obviously for me!’