Work Text:
It was a long day, one you were supposed to have off no less, but your boss had called at the last possible second for you to come in. Something about your co-worker being sick.
Yeah right. Sick my ass.
Of course, everyone knew better. He was probably out chasing skirts. Even then, your boss just couldn’t have said no. He simply couldn’t have respected the fact that you’d just worked eight days in a row and this would make nine. He couldn’t get his head out of his ass to see how badly he was being played.
So here you were, working on Valentine’s Day, on a Tuesday no less. Meaning that the only people who would come into a convenience store in the middle of nowhere, in a nowhere town were a) people on their way home from work, which were few because people had been advised to stay home due to the weather, b) people who were lost and couldn’t see the street signs through the blizzard, which were also few because not many people came through here anyway, and c) douche-canoes who needed to buy flowers and chocolates and condoms just in case.
God, I hate Valentine’s Day, you thought to yourself.
Cue King Douche and his douchlings walking in, one wearing plaid and one looking kind of sad. Perhaps douchling number two hadn’t managed to get laid yet.
“But, Dean,” you heard the sad-looking one say.
“No, no, no, no… Cas, I told you. These things always work. If you put ‘em all together, even you should be able to pick up,” the guy first guy replied.
The freakishly tall one wearing plaid just looked on in what appeared to be disapproval. Well… Perhaps Dean was the only one here trying to get laid - or get his friend laid.
“Dean, I really don’t-”
“Nonsense,” Dean grinned and put a hand on “Cas’s” shoulder. “It’s easy. You get flowers or chocolate. You find someone pretty. You say something nice, maybe add a proposition or two. Buy them some drinks and offer to take them home. It’s a piece o’ pie, Cas.
You shook your head in exasperation. Guys like this, they were the reason you had such a hard time putting yourself out there to find a date in the first place. This guy was completely outrageous. Clearly his friend wasn’t interested, or way too shy to ever actually go through with any of what Dean was feeding him. Despite that, this Cas guy kept going along with it, although reluctantly.
Cas’s eyes looked like they would bug out of his head when they checked out the chocolate display. There are too many different ones to choose from, he had muttered, and immediately moved on to look at the flowers, which Dean had agreed to, as they were "more Cas.”
By the end of it, they’d spent more than 30 minutes looking at flowers, only for him to shake his head and claim that the flowers were precariously matched and unhealthy. Dean rolled his eyes and threw his arms up. For a guy at least in his late 20s, he certainly didn’t seem to act it, though he did give in to Cas eventually. They disappeared from your sight for a few minutes, heading deeper into the store. You had half a mind to follow them to make sure they didn’t ruin the display anywhere else, but despite being somewhat obnoxious, they hadn’t made a mess in the chocolate or the flowers so you let your mind rest.
They were back soon enough and ready to pay, Dean with a large box of condoms, and the other two with bashful looks on their faces. Dean grinned at you and winked as you scanned his purchase, yourself with a skeptical look and a raised brow. He was hardly worth paying attention to. He’d probably have someone else on his arm by the time you finished work anyway. Cas, though…
You glanced past the tall one to Cas, partially hiding behind him. Well, not hiding but…
Damn, that is just…
His eyes were so blue. That kind of blue people usually would believe was edited in pictures, but his eyes were clearly actually that colour. Despite seeing them in person, even you found it hard to believe. His eyes widened when he noticed you staring and took the chance to escape when Dean began to walk away. This wasn’t love at first sight, but it was probably as close to it as you believed it could be. And now this beautiful man was just going to walk out the door and you’d be stuck there until midnight with nothing to do but watch more of the same.
xxx
With a heavy sigh, you heaved your bag higher up into your shoulder, and pulled your keys out of your pocket ready to lock the door. You listened for the heavy sound of the tumbler before giving the door a tug to make sure it was, in fact, locked. Then, as you turned around, you noticed you weren’t alone.
God no, not another one to argue with… You had a bus to catch, the last one of the day, and the only way for you to get home. Needless to say, arguing with a customer about closing hours that you had no control over was not something you wanted or had the time to do. Deciding to ignore the whoever-it-was completely, you simply shrugged and prepared to make your way down to the bus stop, only to be interrupted by a low e-excuse me.
Fuck.
“I’m sorry, sir,” you begin as you turn to face them, “We’re clo…” The words fell from your lips. There he was. Cas. With a small pot of flowers - healthy flowers this time, you noted - and a shy smile on his face. “How can I help you?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, you look like you were in a hurry, but…” Cas trailed off. He seemed so lost standing there alone in the dark with nothing but a handful of flowers for company. His breath coming out of his in small clouds of dense air from the cold. “My name is Castiel.” He said his name like he was used to it being forgotten or mispronounced - like he wanted you to remember it.“ I think you may have heard what my friend was talking about earlier. I would like to reassure you that my intent is not so crass, but I was wondering if, perhaps, you’d like to go get a coffee… With me?“
Your eyes widen at that one. Coffee? Me? Since when do people invite me out to coffee?
"Um…” Unsure of how to respond, you simply waited. Perhaps he would speak up again and explain further.
He did.
“These are for you,” he said as he stepped forward, “I picked them personally. They don’t like being grown indoors. They don’t get enough sunlight and it dims their colour and prevents them from developing their proper scents. They are also properly transplanted and should last much longer like this, given the proper care.”
“I, uh… I didn’t know that,” you tell him honestly, unsure of exactly where he’s going with that.
“So, I picked these from outside, because,” he paused as if trying to remember something, “I was trying to find flowers as pretty as you.”
Ah… That ass probably fed him those lines, you snorted. It seemed so out of place for him to be saying those words. The smile that was slowly growing on your face fell once again, only to be replaced with a light grimace, the effect of which was seen immediately.
Castiel’s own tentative smile fell and he did that thing you do when you sort of bend at the knees and half turn away, leaning back like you want to shout at the top of your lungs at whoever’s living in the clouds. Is there a term for that? A grim look crossed his features as he mumbled to himself. Something about humans and complicated and never listening to him again.
You huffed in laughter, hiding your mouth behind your hand. It was funny but that didn’t mean laughing to his face about it. He’d probably change his mind about going out for coffee pretty quickly if that was the case. And so, taking some pity on the poor guy, and realizing how close you were to not going on that coffee date, you spoke up, “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”
He looked back at you in surprise, and after some hesitation seemed to come back out of his shell, “So, about getting coffee… If you’re interested…”
“I’d love to,” you tell him, and finally approach him to shake his hand and introduce yourself. “Where to?”
“There’s a nice place on main,” he pointed over his shoulder, “It’s open all night.”
“I think I know the place,” you nodded. “You driving?”
“Yes. This is my car,” he vaguely gestured to the car parked next to him in that Will-Smith-move that had gotten popular on the internet recently.
Trying to hide a smirk, you answered, “Alright then. Let’s go get that coffee.”
He held the door open for you and handed you the flowers, making sure you were seated properly before closing the door behind you and making his way to the driver’s seat to start the car. He drove in silence, with some music playing, but too low for you to hear properly.
When he parked in front of the cafe, he exited the vehicle with a quiet "please wait a moment," before coming around to open the door for you and once again take the plant from you so you could get out of the car safely.
Yeah... Maybe there is hope after all.