Chapter Text
Dean has had a pretty good day. A couple of people came in to get some vehicle repairs, all pretty quick. Two oil changes, windshield wipers needed installed and new wiper fluid, and three brake checks. One had an issue, but he could work on that after lunch with his crew.
Winchester Motors’ current staff is Dean, the owner, Sam, his little brother who manages the legal stuff Dean couldn’t care less about, Castiel, this buddy from high school who handles the accounting crap, and Garth, who is a mechanic with Dean. Other people have come and gone, but these are the main guys.
Sam and Dean are still pretty young, so obviously they engage in their prank wars and challenges. They're at a draw right now, and Dean is desperate for a tie breaker. But he wants to get something out of it. Like a sandwich or a beer or something.
Dean opened his mouth to speak up, but Sam beat him to it. “I’ve got a challenge for you.” Sam said with a slight grin, the intention and meaning behind it barely noticeable unless you were close to him. And Dean knew what it meant. It meant war.
“Alright, let me hear it.” Dean leaned forward on the table and sipped his drink, a warm and mostly flat cherry coke from the busted vending machine.
Sammy’s smile had grown to a shit-eating grin. “First to get a partner wins. Not just a date, a full on girlfriend or boyfriend. Commitment and all.” Partner? Boyfriend or girlfriend? Commitment? Who does Sam think he is? Dean doesn’t do dates let alone a significant other.
But then he realized that was what Sam’s cockiness was for. Sam knew he would win because Dean didn’t know to have a serious relationship. There was Lisa, but that ended in tragedy and a few broken hearts.
“You’re on like Donkey Kong, Sammy.” Dean returned the grin as he finished off his soda.
Castiel and Garth watched the interaction between them with exasperated amusement. They’ve witnessed every one of these things, and usually get caught in the crosshairs.
The two shared a knowing look. The night before, Cas and Garth had promised each other to do anything they could to make the two brothers lose the next challenge and end the games forever. This was either gonna be really easy or really difficult to accomplish. Cas had Dean since they were closer, and Garth had Sam.
Sam and Dean shook hands, and lunch went back to normal. They talked about random things, as per usual. Like Garth’s wife and how she just got a promotion, about how Charlie and Dean went to Comic Con last week and there was a dude dressed as a dolphin, about how Sam had become known as a regular at the local salad and smoothie place. They enjoyed talking to each other, and a 45 minute break was never long enough to catch up.
The rest of the day was more stressful; the second half always is. Dean finished up that brake issue from earlier, then found a problem with the alignment. He did that for a discounted price since it wasn’t what they came here for and would feel like a scammer if he didn’t. Someone had completely totaled their car after hitting a deer. The person was fine, just a couple bruises, but this vehicle was beyond repair. For anyone normal, it was nothing but scrap metal. But for Dean? That was just a normal Tuesday. A lot of accident wreckage in the area came to him because of his can-do attitude and stellar reputation. He’d fixed up his own Baby from nothing but debris not too long ago.
Even if the day was moderately stressful with a few handfuls of car repairs, it was an overall good day. Dean adored working on cars. It reminded him of the good parts of his childhood. The parts where his father wasn’t screaming or absent or otherwise occupied with anything other than Sam and Dean.
But did that mean he forgot the challenge? Hell to the no. He actually got a number from a client. Her sister was looking for a new guy, and that opportunity was just too perfect. Well, until Cas came in and started blabbering about his extravagantly long list of ex lovers. Then she wanted Dean far far away from her sister. Dean didn’t question it, Cas liked talking to people even if he was awkward about it. Probably the first thing that came to mind.
After the last repair was done, everyone had already gone back home. Except Castiel. The guy usually stayed after hours with Dean to help clean up and get ready for tomorrow. He appreciated the help, to be honest. It’s easily become their ritual. Cas swept and scrubbed at any spillage or gross stuff on the floor, while Dean put the tools and materials away.
Sometimes they worked in silence, sometimes Dean would put on some tunes, sometimes they talked until they parted ways for the night. Tonight was the ladder.
“Sam has had no luck finding a date, as far as I am aware. So the competition seems tied.” Cas said. They were continuing a topic from lunch, and then it veered into dating history. Which Dean supposed is how they got here.
“Good, I haven’t either.” Dean replied as he picked up a couple wrenches from under a car. Garth was usually annoyingly tidy, so this was his own mess.
“I thought that you had a date with that one woman’s sister?” Cas furrowed his brows and you could hear the tilt in his head. Dean found that little quirk of his weirdly endearing.
“Nah, after you talked about my mile long sexcapade rap sheet she didn’t want me within 300 yards from her sister.” Dean chuckled, the sound following the clink of metal as he put them in their proper place. Dean might be messy at work, but he had organization.
“Oh. I apologize, Dean. That wasn’t my intention.” Dean shook his head and brushed Cas off.
“No worries, bud. I still have several opportunities.” Dean grinned and faced his concerned friend. “With a face like this, getting a date’ll be a piece of pie.”
“Cake.”
“Cake?”
“The saying is a ‘piece of cake’, I thought? Unless I am wrong.” Cas tilted his head again, now genuinely wondering if the saying was ‘a piece of pie.’
Dean laughed. “It is. Pie is just better than cake. Cake is all dry and has that icing. Pie is more rewarding.” To that explanation, Cas nodded and continued sweeping the concrete floor.
It was quiet from then on, other than Dean humming along to the tune of Master of Puppets by Metallica that played in his head and Cas’ occasional mutter of thought. It was a comfortable silence, one they shared often. Dean has had friends, but never any quite like Cas. Well, he meant that because of their closeness. But also Cas was a strange guy.
They went their separate ways after Dean locked up for the night. It wasn’t late enough yet that all the stars were in the sky, but you could see a couple of the brighter ones. They lived in a small town with low pollution, so that was nice when you wanted to watch the stars. Date idea.
Dean got home and rid himself of his boots, jacket, and the portable foot prisons people called socks. He wandered to his room to change out of his greasy clothes and into a well-loved Led Zeppelin shirt and plaid pants.
Now came his favorite part of the night. Dinner.
He got leftovers from a burger place he went to with Sam, Cas, and Garth and he’s been waiting for it all day. He means leftovers as in Cas’ leftovers, not his own. Dean ate his until the plate was squeaky clean, and the other man always ordered food Dean would like. Cas preferred to fill up on appetizers. It was a system, and it worked well.
Now that Dean thought about it, they had a lot of systems and habits and rituals. Their routines were ruined if the other was absent. But that was a friendly thing, a lot of people had one night a week where they would go to a diner one-on-one with their buddy and eat dinner together.
Dean joyfully shoveled the food into his mouth. A burger and fries. The fries were both stiff and soggy at the same time from them sitting in the fridge for a day, but with some salt and ketchup, they were edible enough to enjoy.
After a delightful dinner, Dean padded upstairs. A full belly after a long day at work always made him a nice peaceful kind of tired. His dog, Miracle, followed him up and sat at the foot of the bed like she always did. He gave her some attention before turning in for the night.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand almost as soon as he threw the covers over his body, and Dean immediately knew who it was.
Cas: Goodnight, Dean.🥱😴 I will see you in the morning.🙂
Dean smiled and started typing a reply when he got another text notification. He furrowed his brows and opened it. Lisa.
Lisa: Hi, Dean. Uhm.. this may be weird, but I wanted to know if you would like to meet up soon? I miss you.
Dean stared at the words for a moment, reading them several times over. Last he checked, Lisa hated his guts. They ended on bad terms. Dean was a drunk, and she accused him of cheating. He wasn’t, he had morals. Which is why it pissed him off so much.
Dean almost ignored it, but then remembered the challenge. Maybe this could work in his favor.
Dean: Sounds fun. Where and when?
Lisa: That old cafe on 3rd. Thursday at 2?
Dean: See ya then ;)
Dean put his phone down, too tired to check his other notifications. He fell asleep pretty quickly.
~
Castiel stared at his phone, his mind racing faster with every second that passed. Dean left him on opened. Did Cas do something wrong? Was it what he did earlier? But Dean said it was fine. Dean was also known for brushing off his own feelings. He was mad at Cas, wasn’t he? They said goodnight every night, it became a habit after Cas accidentally texted Dean instead of his then partner, April.
In a moment of overthinking and panic, Cas called Garth. He told him about what he did to prevent their challenge from succeeding, then the conversation, then Dean leaving him on opened. Garth attempted to soothe his worry, which didn’t help much. Castiel was a chronic overthinker.
But he had to get some sleep, so Cas took some melatonin that he was prescribed from his doctor for insomnia, and laid down for sleep.
Garfield (Castiel’s cat that Dean named. He didn’t understand the reference, and Dean made him read some of the Funnies in the newspaper and watch The Garfield Show) was purring softly beside his head. It helped calm and lull him into sleep. He dreamt of Dean pushing him into a bottomless hole while he talked to his other faceless friends.