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Dean walks into Johto on aching feet, his beloved Eevee, Impala, by his side. He was issued a motorcycle by Nurse Joy in his home region of Unova when he first started as a maintenance tech for the various Pokémon Centers all those years ago, but he left it back at the inn he’s staying at. There is nothing more important to Dean right now than getting his adorable little buddy all evolved up to a sleek, black murder machine. Not that Dean ever actually battles anyone, he just likes the aesthetic.
People are often confused by Dean’s unwillingness to enter into a battle, but he doesn’t care. He’s been hit with too many attacks, he knows that shit HURTS. He doesn’t want to subject his buddies to that! Physically shaking his head to get rid of the memories of the awful night he told his father he wouldn’t become a trainer, Dean squats down and picks up Impala. The little Eevee might be too heavy to carry around once he turns into an Umbreon, so Dean wants to hold him as much as he can right now. Ignore how cuddling Impala close helps to dispel the bad feelings Dean's memory brought on. That’s irrelevant - at least according to Dean.
Walking around with a Pokémon to get them to evolve is old hat to Dean now; he’s done it dozens of times. If Sam were around, he would tease Dean about his propensity for letting his Pokémon go, because he doesn’t understand that great opportunities keep coming up, and Dean just wants them to be happy. People (like Sam) and Pokémon always seem a lot happier after they leave him, so he’s used to it.
The new part for Dean in this Pokémon evolution adventure is the Eevee himself. Dean’s never had one before, and he was just given one back at the Hearthome City Pokémon Center. He knew immediately that he wanted an Umbreon, so he got started right away. Someone told him once that he would need to evolve Impala at night if he wanted an Umbreon, so that’s when he does most of his walking.
It’s dark outside now, and Dean has been walking around for quite some time already, but he wants to visit the late-night jelly doughnut shop that wasn’t open yet when he finished up his work at the Pokémon Center earlier. He waves to Officer Jenny, who clearly thinks she’s hiding in the bushes, so she knows that Dean can, in fact, see her. She nods back at him and rolls her motorcycle further into the shadows. Dean gives her a thumbs up when she is out of sight and keeps on walkin’.
Impala gets restless in Dean’s arms, so he puts him down. “I’m gonna pick you right back up again if you don’t behave in the shop,” Dean warns him. The trill Dean gets in response is sufficient acknowledgement. Impala is an incredibly well-behaved Pokémon - until he isn’t. Dean can understand. He often gets bored and does stupid, impulsive stuff just to soothe the weird itch in his brain that demands novelty. Bad attention is still attention in his book, so he tries not to be too harsh on Impala. He usually just ends up putting the little guy in air jail and does his best not to laugh at the way Impala moves his tiny paws like he’s swimming.
It’s not long before the two of them reach the doughnut shop. Dean’s mouth is already watering before he even opens the door and is full-on assaulted by the scents. There are more people inside than he would have expected, but it looks like they are all wearing matching badges, so they probably just got done with some event and came here. All of them look so young. Too young. Maybe Dean is just getting old.
Once Dean is done judging people’s parents, he looks around at the shop itself. The walls are all a vibrant neon green with a black swirl pattern. It’s almost too much to look at.
“Welcome to The Mystery Spot,” a deep, delicious voice greets from behind the counter area. When Dean looks over, nobody is there. “I’ll be just a moment.”
Dean walks up to the counter and finds that he can see a small glimpse into the kitchen if he strains his head forward over the register. He hears a crash, then a loud “Lickilicky!” The source of the outburst, a particularly rotund Lickilicky, moves into his line of sight to throw a smoking substance into the trash. It looks at someone else in the kitchen, probably the owner of the wonderful voice Dean heard earlier, before angrily pointing right at Dean and letting out another disgruntled cry of their name.
“Okay, okay!” The gravelly voice says, sounding defeated.
Dean hears shuffling, so he stands up straight like he wasn’t just rubbernecking.
The most gorgeous man Dean has ever seen walks out from behind the wall. He’s about Dean’s height with dark, unkempt hair and eyes that remind Dean of the ocean in Alola. It takes Dean a full second to see the flamboyantly purple apron and chef’s hat the man is wearing over a dark, ill-fitting suit and a tan trench coat. Even the stupid shop uniform over a bizarre outfit can’t take away from the man’s attractiveness.
“My apologies on the wait. Uh, what can I get for you?”
The voice is even better the second time Dean hears it. He tries to say words, he really does, but nothing comes out of his mouth. He just stares, like an idiot, at the man in front of him. This never happens to Dean. He prides himself on being smooth, charming, and easy.
“Are you in distress?” Blue eyes asks, not like he’s concerned, but like he’s already over whatever problem Dean is about to drop on him.
“No, sorry, uh…” Dean looks at the gaudy golden name tag the man is wearing, “Castiel.” Dean flashes a winning smile. “Long day fixing up the Pokémon Center, I just sorta spaced there.” He never misses an opportunity to tell people what he does for a living. It’s an impressive job to have landed, and it’s gotten him laid more than once.
“Ah, I see.” Castiel nods. “What can I get you?”
Okay, so maybe Castiel isn’t into dudes. That’s usually the only explanation for a lack of interest when Dean dials up the charm. He is usually much better at finding, uh, other guys like himself, but he is so worked up over how gorgeous Castiel is that he must have missed the vibe.
“What’s your favorite thing to have here?” Dean asks, trying to smooth over his earlier blunder. And also flirt some more. Sue him, Castiel is hot! And maybe Castiel needed to get past Dean’s stupefied state earlier.
“I don’t eat here,” Castiel says.
From the kitchen comes a thunderous, chastising, “Lickilicky!!”
Castiel sighs. “I recommend the sampler box if you are unfamiliar with our various flavors,” he is obviously reciting a sales pitch.
Dean finds it endearing.
“I’ll have that then,” Dean says.
“Your Eevee looks hungry.” Castiel casually points to where Impala is chewing on a chair leg. “May I also suggest the Berry Blitz?”
“Yep! I’ll take one of those too, sorry!” Dean says in an embarrassed rush as he marches over to Impala and scoops him up.
“Buddy, we talked about this,” Dean says to the Eevee in his arms as he walks back over to the register. Impala just blinks up at him with his big, guilty eyes. Ugh, Dean can’t ever stay mad at him!
Dean balks at the price of the doughnuts and berries when Castiel tells him, but he forks the payment over without a fuss. He watches as Castiel goes about pulling the purchased items and placing them haphazardly in the black to-go boxes. It really is a shame that Castiel wasn’t interested in anything more, but at least this has all been entertaining.
With the bag of food boxes in one hand and Impala in the other, Dean walks out of The Mystery Spot. He saw a little park earlier with a bench he plans to park his keester on while he eats and watches Impala run around and tucker himself out. Dean locates the bench and plops down on it. He lets Impala wiggle away and onto the ground while he sets the bag of boxes next to him so he can dig inside. He debates for a moment about giving Impala berry treats after he chewed on the furniture, but he’s a sucker, so he ends up pulling a couple out.
“Go play,” Dean says once the berries are gone.
Impala doesn’t hesitate for a second before taking off like a rocket. Dean wishes he had even half the energy that Impala does. He used to have more before he went and got old. To distract himself from that thought, Dean fishes out a jelly doughnut at random. He was surprised to find that they looked a lot like rice balls in the display cabinets, but what does he know? He’s from Unova. Dean takes a bite.
It is, in fact, just a rice ball with some sort of fruit mash inside.
Before the disappointment can really settle in, Dean hears Impala make a strange noise, and his eyes snap to him. Instead of seeing an Eevee, Dean’s retinas get blasted with a blinding, white-hot light.
It’s happening! Impala is evolving!
Dean stands up, because even though he can’t see, he is too elated to be sitting down right now. He paces around; sometimes the process can take up to a minute in his experience, and patience has never been his strong suit. When the light FINALLY dies down, Dean looks over, blinking the spots in his vision he got from the blight lights away. He can’t believe what he is seeing when his vision rights itself.
A Sylveon.
WHAT?!
The Sylveon rushes over to Dean and tackles him to the ground, licking his face and putting those weird… tentacles? all over him.
Where did Dean go wrong? How did he end up with, like, the gayest Pokémon? This is a disaster. Sylveon doesn’t fit him at all! Okay, yes, Dean isn’t discerning when it comes to the gender of his bed partners, but that doesn’t mean he wants to walk around with a friggin neon sign!
The Sylveon pulls back and looks down at Dean, a look of concern on his white face. Dean makes the mistake of looking into the giant, blue, expressive eyes and feels like he’s been punched in the gut. This is still Impala, and he is very clearly worried about Dean. Can he feel Dean’s disappointment?
Shit.
“Look at you, buddy! You did it!” Dean praises. He feels a wave of fondness when Impala lights up, tail wagging. This is still the little guy Dean has spent hours upon hours traveling with. Just because Dean is disappointed in the end result doesn’t mean he can’t be happy for his friend. Dean wouldn’t know, but he imagines that the process of physically evolving is hard, and maybe even a little scary. That deserves some praise, even if Dean messed up somehow.
“I think you’ve earned some more berries,” Dean says, and laughs when Impala scrambles off of him to go over to the boxes on the park bench.
Dean gets up and delivers on his promise, still unsure about how he feels and what he plans to do about the situation.
“Dude, you didn’t check if he had a Fairy-type move?” Sam scoffs.
Dean is sitting at one of the rentable computer terminals in the Pokémon Center, Impala in his lap. The little, now bigger, guy has always been fascinated by the video call screens, so every once in a while he will try to bap the image of Sam on the monitor.
“I don’t have one of those fancy-schmancy pocket computers, and I don’t battle, so how was I supposed to know?”
“If you had just registered as a trainer, you would have had a Pokédex, and it could have told you.”
Dean has heard this argument so. many. times. He’s tired of it and tired of repeating myself. “I ain't takin' something from the kind of “professor” that sends ten-year-olds out into the great unknown.” He knew that was a crazy idea when he was a kid himself.
“Yeah, and how did that work out for you?”
Sometimes Dean wants to hit his brother.
“Can you just help me come up with a solution?” Dean pleads.
“Just let this one go like you do all your other Pokémon and go to Kanto to see if you can catch another wild Eevee. Or find someone who has an Umbreon that wants a Sylveon. Those are your only two options.”
Dean doesn’t have it in him to explain for the thousandth time that he doesn’t just set his Pokémon free out in a field somewhere. Well, he did with that Rattata, but she was clearly unhappy being a kept Pokémon, and it was the same field he found her in! Dean just always finds himself in situations where his Pokémon would be happier doing something else. Some of them get fulfilling jobs; others find more of their kind and want to stay with them. A couple, like the Rattata, simply don’t want to be kept Pokémon. It’s complicated. He would never just abandon someone. He’s not Sam.
Looking down at Impala, now trying to flick the screen with one of his ribbon tentacles, he makes a choice. He is just going to have to learn to love Impala’s new form, because he loves Impala. Dean doesn’t think he’s ever been this attached to a Pokémon before, and he’s not letting go of that special bond unless a better opportunity for Impala comes along.
“Yeah, that ain’t happening,” Dean says decisively.
“Why would you keep a Pokémon you don’t like?” Sam asks, exasperated.
“Obviously, I do like him. You said yourself that Sylveons require a high friendship stat to evolve,” Dean argues.
“You liked the Eevee that had potential to be an Umbreon,” Sam says, like Dean is stupid.
Dean goes to respond, but something catches Sam’s attention off-screen. After a second, Sam looks back at the monitor and tells Dean he has to go.
“Later, bitch.”
“Bye, jerk,”
Sam ends the call.
“Well, that went well,” Dean tells Impala, who looks up at him and puts a little pink paw on his face.
Dean wonders for the millionth time just how much Pokémon understand.
“Thanks, buddy.”
Dean gets the automated voice message that tells him his rental time is almost up. That’s okay, he needs to head to the post office to send off his maintenance report forms and pick up something to eat that isn’t a “jelly doughnut” before everything closes.
The post office is the size of a postage stamp, but Dean can’t find an “outgoing mail” slot, so he has to go inside. There’s a guy with ginger hair in dirty jeans and a stained T-shirt at the counter, talking loudly and animatedly to the worker Dean can’t see behind a display of decorative envelopes and packages. Loud guy has a Houndoom that Impala seems very interested in, but Dean tells him to keep close. The last thing Dean wants right now is the guy trying to goad him into battle. Impala doesn’t seem to care about the Wooper, or the blonde-headed kid in a yellow dress standing next to it, thank goodness. Kids are often the most pushy about battles. Dean puts himself in the corner, waiting for his turn in line. The Houndoom guy is getting pretty heated, heh, with the worker behind the counter, so Dean thinks he might be here a while.
Nope, screw it, he will just come back later, maybe even tomorrow. It will make his report late, but he can’t just stand here and listen to this guy have a tantrum. As soon as Dean makes his decision to leave, a man in a trench coat walks in to occupy the last sliver of freed-up floor space. Great. Dean looks over the guy and realizes that trench coat is familiar.
“Cas? From The Mystery Spot?” Dean asks excitedly. “I’m Dean by the way.” Ugh, he is being very uncool right now.
“I hope you enjoyed your jelly doughnuts,” Cas says, and he actually sounds sincere about it.
“They were a lot like rice balls,” Dean says with a laugh.
“My brother thought that by rebranding them and only focusing on dessert varieties, he could gain a wider following,” Cas explains.
“Your brother?” Dean wants to get Cas to talk as much as possible. He loves his voice and is genuinely fascinated by the man.
“Yes, The Mystery Spot belongs to my brother. He has been out traveling for ‘more exotic flavors,’” Cas makes quotes with his fingers, which Dean finds delightful, “but he should be back within the next few days.”
“I would have guessed that big LickiLicky owned the shop,” Dean jokes.
“She is Gabriel’s second in command. I am unsure why he even asked me for help. I am not a good cook, my ‘people skills’ are ‘rusty,’” there are the finger quotes again, “and Lint Licker is great at both of those things.”
“Yeah, but not everybody wants to see a Pokémon in charge, especially one like a Licki… wait… her name is Lint Licker?” Dean laughs.
“Gabriel assures me that it is a joke I do not understand. I don’t care to.”
Dean can’t help but laugh hard.
He doesn’t get to do it for long. The Houndoom must sense its trainer’s rising anger, because it becomes agitated, and the barest hint of flames comes out of its mouth. Small as they are, they are enough to catch the stack of decorative envelopes on fire. Two things happen at once after that: Impala jumps in front of Dean, putting himself between him and the Houndoom, and the Wooper puts out the fire, somehow managing to douse everyone in the process.
“You’re gonna pay for that, kid!” The man shouts at the literal child.
Dean watches in horror and awe as Impala moves to stand in front of the clearly terrified girl and her Wooper. He sees that there is real fear on the man’s face when he notices Impala, and Dean feels a swell of pride. Fairy beats Dark, bitch! There’s no way Dean is going to let Impala fight that Houndoom, though, not when he’s got two good fists, and the guy has one punchable face. Dean steps forward to let his hands do the talking, but Cas holds up something that causes him to stop. It’s a badge. Not a gym badge, but a law enforcement one.
“You need to leave,” Cas says, full of authority. It makes Dean feel all tingly.
“You don’t look like no Officer Jenny,” the man snarls.
“No. I am much worse.”
Dean didn’t know that he needed to hear Cas speak menacingly like that, but it’s a great addition to his life.
The guy looks between Cas, Dean’s fighting stance, Impala, and even the little Wooper. He seems to come to a conclusion.
“Whatever, I’ll come back tomorrow when someone competent is working,” the guy says to save face. He walks out with his Houndoom trailing behind him.
Dean looks down at Impala to see that he is petting the child and her Wooper with his ribbon tentacles comfortingly. Yeah, Dean would definitely die for this Sylveon.
“You okay, kid?” Dean asks as he bends down to her level.
“Yes, sir,” she says, but Dean can see she’s still shaken.
Cas comes over and stands next to her, putting him dangerously close to Dean.
“You have a very smart Wooper there,” Cas says and tilts his head towards the empty-headed little blue blob.
“Thank you! We are going to be firefighters when I’m old enough, and he’s a Quagsire!”
“A noble profession,” Cas nods.
“You guys are already awesome at it,” Dean adds. He regrets squatting down, his knees hurt.
“If you ever change your mind and decide you would like to become a Ranger, we would be happy to have you,” Cas tells her.
Ah, that explains the badge Cas was holding. When he isn’t filling in for his brother at The Mystery Spot, he’s out there fighting poachers and problem-solving ecological disasters.
Hot.
“Do they get to fight fires?” The girl asks.
“Yes, amongst other things.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Please do,” Cas smiles down at her, and Dean thinks he might melt.
Ugh, it should be illegal for uninterested guys to be so desirable!
It should be even more illegal for uninterested guys to help Dean up when it’s clear the squat has left him achy and stiff.
It only takes about three minutes for Dean to be able to drop off his letter and get a receipt that it was received. Seems kind of weird, but it makes the lack of a drop-off slot make sense. Dean spends almost the entire time petting and/or praising Impala for his bravery and willingness to protect not only Dean, but the little girl and her Wooper.
Dean walks out of the post office, holding Impala, but hovers by the door. He is hoping Cas might like to hang out more or something.
Cas walks out of the post office almost right after Dean, as if he didn’t have any business to do there at all.
“Your Eevee evolved,” Cas says as soon as he is outside.
“Uh, yeah, he did. Last night.”
“Was it the berries?” Cas asks.
“I didn’t think about it at the time, but, yeah, probably. I mean, I have been walking him at night every chance I get, so that played a big part.”
Cas cocks his head to the side, looking at Dean curiously. “Only at night? Were you hoping for an Umbreon?”
For some reason, Dean doesn’t feel compelled to lie to Cas and say something like, “Nah, that’s just when I’m free from work.” Maybe it’s because he’s already pretty sure Cas isn’t into him, or just because Cas is easy to talk to. Who knows?
“Yeah…” Dean spins his ring nervously. He puts his hand in his pocket when he notices Cas looking. “I’m not an official trainer or whatever. And I don’t ever battle, so I didn’t know Impala knew a Fairy-type move.”
Cas smiles brightly. Dean doesn’t think he is being made fun of, but he can’t be sure. He’s all discombobulated by Cas’ beautiful smile.
“You named your Pokémon, AND you don’t battle?”
Dean bristles. Shoot, maybe he is being mocked. “Uh, yeah.”
“I love that,” Cas says and practically leers at Dean.
Oh! Hope blooms throughout Dean’s body.
“Love it enough to go to dinner with me?” Dean asks, full of flirtatious charm.
“Yes, but we may want to choose a café with outside seating.” Castiel gestures to Dean’s wet clothes.
Cas is significantly less damp thanks to his trench coat.
“You know this place better than I do.” Dean holds out his hand in invitation for Cas to lead the way.
“What kind of food do you like?” Cas asks as he steps around Impala and walks up to the road.
“All of it.”
Cas laughs, and Dean knows he is going to do everything in his power to make it happen again.
They end up at a sandwich shop where they can walk up to a window and order outside. Cas gets some vegetarian option, while Dean gets an obnoxiously big monstrosity. He makes sure to put his money on the counter first to pay.
Dean usually feels the need to fill lulls in conversation with more chatter, but walking around with Cas is calming. Still, he has his limits, so about halfway through their sandwiches, he asks, "Why don't you have a companion Pokémon?"
Dean knows most Rangers don’t have a battle team, but a lot of them have at least one they hang out with.
"I do, but it is... difficult to bring her into town. She is quite energetic and destructive," Cas sounds both amused and put out.
"I'd love to meet her." Dean figures that’s a good way to see if Cas is down for more than just a dinner date. He’s also curious what Cas’ Pokémon will be like. He could ask what it is, but that would ruin the surprise.
"Are you free right now?" Cas asks, eager.
Dean grins. "I'll be free for you anytime."
"That sounds impractical," Cas says, "follow me."
Dean is so busy finding Cas' answer amusing and staring at his backside that he forgets to actually follow until Cas is far enough ahead that Dean has to jog to catch up. Impala is ELATED and takes it as a cue to run, too. Impala ends up running circles around them as they head out of town, finishing their sandwiches along the way.
They come up to a Clefairy sitting on a cliffside nearby. Dean would never admit it, but he thinks they're pretty cute. It’s odd to see one out here. They’re a Kanto Pokémon, right? Or they’re aliens from the moon if some stories are to be believed. Still, interesting to see one in Johto.
"Hello, beautiful," Cas greets the pink Pokémon as he walks up to her.
Oh! This must be Cas' companion. Dean has heard that they can be a handful, so he's not all that surprised by the reveal. It also explains why Cas seems to like Impala so much. There’s quite a bit of pink going on.
They must look SO Gay together.
Cas receives a head pat from Clefairy, then steps to the side and looks at Dean expectantly. "She gets upset if you ignore her."
Adorable! Dean moves so he's standing where Cas was. "Hello, darlin'."
Instead of the head pat Dean was expecting, he gets an excited trill. The Clefairy turns, grabs something, then rights herself to place the item on Dean's head.
It's a flower crown.
"Uhhh, thanks?" Dean says, because he doesn't want to be rude, but this has seriously upped the gay factor. If John could see him now, he'd be toasted by John's Emboar before he could even stammer out an excuse.
"She has bestowed a high honor upon you," Cas says, amused.
It knocks all the bad feelings out of Dean's body while the Clefairy chitters in agreement.
"I feel honored," Dean says to the Clefairy. He hopes Cas will like that. Also, it's kind of true, he does feel a little special that a possible alien gave him a crown.
"What's her name?" Dean turns to Cas and checks that Impala is still within sight. He is, he's on his back in the grass, intensely watching a butterfly.
“I don’t know. The only information I have on her is that she favors this spot when the sun starts going down and that it is a bad idea to ignore her.” Cas explains. "My place isn't far." He turns and walks further up the path.
Interesting, Dean had been certain she was Cas' companion, given the familiarity between them. It's nice that Cas seems to just treat all Pokémon with respect. Dean will add it to the long list of things that make Cas attractive.
It only takes about five more minutes before they come around a bend to see a rustic-looking log cabin.
And a friggin Tyranitar.
"Dude!" Dean says before he can stop himself.
Cas stops and turns to him, face crinkled in confusion. "Is something wrong?"
"No, she's awesome!" Dean assures. He's never seen one in person before, despite all the times he’s been through here.
The Tyranitar doesn't wait for them to walk over; she excitedly waddles towards them. Poor Impala makes a frightened noise from where she's hiding behind Dean's legs.
"Amber means you no harm," Cas tells Impala just before the exuberant Tyranitar lets out an overjoyed, incredibly loud cry up into the sky.
Impala makes another pathetic sound, and Amber must actually register this time, because she stops and cocks her head curiously at Impala.
It reminds Dean of the way Cas tilted his head to the side earlier as he studied Dean.
"It's okay, buddy, you wanna go back in your ball?" Dean squats down to comfort Impala. He fishes his Poké Ball out of his jacket pocket and holds it out in his hand to show him.
Amber makes a mournful noise before moving around so she can lie on her front, head pointed towards them, eyes on Impala. She lets out a tiny, questioning noise.
Dean finds the display incredibly cute. "How ya feeling, Imp?" He scratches behind Impala's ear and is happy to see that it still makes his leg thump like always. Dean didn’t think to check after he evolved.
"My apologies, I didn't think about how terrifying Amber would be to Impala," Cas sounds miserable and won't look at Dean. It looks like he's digging in the pocket of his trench coat for something, probably Amber's Poké Ball. "She doesn't have a malicious bone in her body, so I forget she's quite intimidating."
"Hey, man, it's okay, look," Dean waits for Cas to look at him, then looks down pointedly to where his brave little Impala is creeping towards Amber.
Dean stands up straight, knees cracking, when Impala moves out of arm's reach. He moves to stand closer to Cas. They both watch on as Impala gently baps Amber's nose and gets a lick to his paw in return.
Apparently, that's all Impala needed to feel comfortable, because he immediately starts climbing all over Amber. Before Dean can tell him to cut it out, Amber makes a pleased noise and slowly starts to stand up so that Impala doesn't topple over. They end up with Amber on her feet and Impala standing majestically on her head.
"Well, that was fast," Dean says as he bumps Cas' shoulder with his.
"Almost as quickly as I became enamored with you," Cas responds with a nod.
Dean is caught off guard by the comment before the straightforward delivery even registers.
"And yet, I'm the one who made the first move," Dean says. It's all he can think to say through the butterflies.
"I'm the one who followed you into the post office to give you the opportunity." Cas takes Dean's hand, and Dean lights up inside.
"Yeah? How come you didn’t respond at The Mystery Spot?" Dean knows that his cheeks must be red.
"I do not always read signals well, and lots of people stare at me with confusion or contempt, so I was being careful."
Dean wants to take out whoever made Cas feel like he had to be wary.
"No bad intentions here, I just wanna see you naked," Dean assures jokingly.
Cas cocks his head to the side, much to Dean’s delight.
"Is sex all you're after?" Cas asks.
"It's usually all I'm good for," Dean chuckles and shrugs, trying to make a joke out of his self-deprecation. He learned a long time ago that he can never make anyone stay; he's just too much of a hassle. It's easier for everyone to lay it out as a hit-it-and-quit-it situation from the jump. "But I am REALLY good at it," he flirts.
Cas looks at Dean intensely, almost like he’s looking into his soul, for an uncomfortably long time before he speaks up.
“Good things do happen, Dean.”
“Not in my experience,” Dean counters. How else was someone supposed to respond to such a declaration? Weren’t they just flirting?
“I’ll change that.”
And he did. Our middle-aged heroes found themselves in the right place at the right time to form a profound bond and heal together. They spend the rest of their days traveling the land, saving Pokémon, and hunting poachers. If there is no “Next Time,” know this: what we have witnessed here today is the beginning of a true happy ending.
~Stay tuned for the Pokérap!~