Work Text
Castiel looked down at his textbook and took detailed notes, trying to remember what he had learned last chapter. With everything we was doing, from Host Club to class to home, his mind was filled with miscellaneous things that made him fear he wasn’t going to graduate. He sighed and leaned his head on his hand, glancing around the room. The other members were talking at a table, laughing and joking around. He redirected his attention to the book, since he couldn’t buy his way to the next grade if need be.
“How is this relevant to everyday life?” he mumbled to himself, using his left hand to turn the page and wrote with his right. By now he had filled about three pages on that chapter alone. He redirected his attention to them again, knowing he had to study. Still, he really didn’t want to. “Mother and father would be mad at me. Right? Yes.” He nodded to himself but his strategy still failed. His father had told him to live life to the fullest, and didn’t specify how one would do that. His mother was a bit strict but lax in other areas, so maybe studying could wait. He was thinking when he heard someone calling for him and he looked up.
“Cas?” He stood and closed his book, walking over to the two couches.
He clasped his hands behind his back. “Yes?”
“Sit down.” Dean smiled and patted the space on the material next to him. He did so obediently, quiet. “Why so quiet? Cat got your tongue?”
“Hm?” Cas blinked as if he had been deep in thought. “I don’t believe felines are able to ‘get’ one’s tongue.” Everyone laughed. He realized everyone was trained on him and he stared into his lap.
“Seriously, something wrong?” Michael and Lucifer asked. They snapped their fingers in front of his face when he didn’t answer.
“Oh, sorry.” He chuckled nervously. “I’m fine, just… busy.” He focused on the floor, zoning out.
I need to go home, do the dishes, prepare tomorrow’s lunch, clean, laundry, possibly go to the supermarket and get some food, see if we have anything to spare...
“Wow, you really
are
busy,” Gabe said. He furrowed his brow.
“I was saying that out loud, wasn’t I?” Cas questioned. He was met with nods. “Sorry, I’m just slightly, I don’t know, overwhelmed.” He cleared his throat and tried to make eye contact. “Really, I do apologize. I seem to do that a lot, don’t I? I can’t keep track, honestly.” The club exchanged a knowing look.
“Cas, you need to unwind,” Sam stated. Cas tilted his head a fraction to the left and in Dean’s direction. Dean smiled softly and tried to put an arm around him, though Cas seemed a bit stressed. He started to slip into his own thoughts, thinking about making Cas feel better by massaging all the kinks out of his back and around his wings… He shook his head.
“Really, you gotta,” he said quickly.
“What d’ya wanna do?” Gabe took a bite of a candybar. “We can go to an amusement park, a store, a small vacation?”
“Hm.” Kevin looked down to his computer screen. “What about a sleepover?” They all turned their heads toward him. “It’s lonely in your house, isn’t it? We can all come over beforehand and help you with your things, then have time to come to one of our houses. You can bring your textbooks too, we can all use it. Besides, tomorrow’s Saturday.”
“But my mother-” Cas began. Kevin laughed a little and half-smiled.
“I can call her right now and explain everything to her. She’s a very kind woman.” Cas’ eyes widened for a moment before turning to confusion.
“Thank you. She’d be happy to hear that.” He lapsed into his to-do list again and the humans agreed.
“Tonight it is.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Cas walked back to his home, his arms laden with plastic bags from the store. Gabriel was walking beside him with a few more, talking about different sleepover games and activities. Cas didn’t understand much of it, but now he had less to worry about: Michael and Lucifer had cleaned, Sam did the laundry, Kevin made the plans with his mother, and Dean had washed the dishes. He wished he had some way to pay them back, even brought up the subject at one point, but they had said it was their pleasure. He decided not to lose the fortune fate had given him - and he would know, considering he knew fate herself - allowing them to help. When he got back into the house the others were waiting, snatching the groceries and putting them away within seconds.
“We’ll help you get your books,” LM offered. Before Cas had a word to say they came out with a duffel bag.
“I believe you should’ve said ‘we
helped
you with your books,’” Cas said with a smile.
“We didn’t find a sleeping bag,” Sam added, “so we all chose to go to our house. We have a ton of blankets, we could even move an entire bed if you want.” He shrugged. “Whatever you want for your wings, I guess.” Cas nodded and looked blankly to the floor.
“I don’t have a sleeping bag because…” He closed his eyes. “I’ve never… I didn’t have time, I mean, so…”
“You’ve never been to a sleepover?” they asked in unison. They all laughed a bit. “But really?”
“No, I haven’t,” Cas sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you since I-” He didn’t have time to finish before he was being ushered out of his house. “What?”
“We’re gonna show you,” LM stated, opening the door to the limo. Kevin gave the driver the directions before they were all packed into the back.
“You honestly all surprise me on a daily basis, you know.” The car began to speed away. “I don’t understand why you insist on all this.” He leaned back against the upholstered seats.
“It’s no problem, really,” Kevin assured him. “So why didn’t you want to tell us?” Lucifer handed Cas his bag, the angel taking it gratefully.
“I thought you’d all have done it many times. With me being so inexperienced, at times I feel like a burden.” He pulled off the jacket of his suit. “I feel as if I’m dead weight, in a way.”
“What?” Dean asked.
Gabe looked disgusted. “No!”
“What the hell?” LM nearly yelled. Cas stared into his lap again.
“I’m sorry.” The two next to him - Gabriel and Sam - gave him half hugs.
“Don’t be sorry, you’re our precious angel.”
“Don’t ever think that about yourself, alright?” Dean ordered. “Never. You’re too good for that crap. Now lighten up a bit, we’re here.” Cas looked out the window, his lips parting in slight surprise. Before him stood a large mansion with hundreds of windows and what he could only guess was a gigantic chandelier. He got out of the car and stood, gaping up at the large estate. “C’mon, Cas!” He was being pulled inside, seeing everything in awe.
Grand staircases led up to another floor, where winding hallways and many doors were positioned. He couldn’t even imagine what the ground floor would look like. Finally they burst into another room, one wall nearly filled with a flat screen TV, a giant bed and plush carpeting. Clothes were being shoved into his arms and he snapped out of his shock. “What?”
“Go change,” Gabe said, “we’ll set up everything.” He went to where Dean pointed, finding a bathroom. He locked the door and pulled off the rest of his suit, folding them up and changing into his pajamas of sweatpants and a shirt with holes for his wings. He walked out and saw everyone lounging on the floor, some against the bed with blankets over them. A movie was on the TV screen, though the club forgot about it when Cas reentered the room.
“Hey, Cas,” Kevin said with a small wave. He sat down on the floor and opened his bag. “What d’ya wanna do now? You hungry?”
“Well, a little,” he confessed, “a burger would be amazing right now.”
“You want anything else?” Sam got up and went over to a phone, pushing a few buttons and putting it to his ear.
“Hm? Oh, that’s all, really.” Sam nodded.
“Okay, we’ll have about fifteen burgers, a few sides of fries, two pies - flavor? Surprise us - some more cake, surprise us there too…” Sam laughed. “We
like
being surprised, Ellen. Um… D’ya know what angels like? Yes, there's an angel here. Why do I have to tell you his wing color?” Cas blushed. “Look, I'll talk to you later. Okay, thanks.” He turned to everyone. “On its way,” he stated proudly.
“Why did she want to know my wing color?” Cas asked quietly.
“‘Cause people are like that, I guess. I don’t know.” Cas leaned against the bed and looked for a blanket. “Um, are there any spares?”
“Oh, sure.” Gabe handed him one and he wrapped it around himself.
“It’s quite warm.” There was silence for a second.
“So… What d’ya wanna do? It’s gonna be a while until the food comes up.” Cas shrugged.
“Well, I’ve always… Nevermind, it’s silly.”
“What?” Dean asked, curious. Cas sighed.
“I’ve always wanted to make a pillow fort.” Everyone erupted in laughter and Cas was afraid he said something wrong. “Did I… It really is childish, I shouldn’t have-”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Michael said soothingly.
“We’re laughing ‘cause we think it’s cute,” Lucifer said. Cas nodded and smiled.
“Shall we begin?”
The boys nodded to each other. “Hell yeah!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It took a while for the fort to be built - about an hour, since they had to add in a wing factor and one of them decided to push over a pillar - but it was eventually finished. Cas was snuggled, laying on his stomach, under a canopy of blankets. It had grown dark by then, the only light coming from the TV. Gabriel and Sam had managed to fit in next to him, the angel deciding to drape his wings over them carefully. “Your wings are pretty comfortable,” Sam complimented.
“Oh, thank you.” Cas looked up to the television, trying to pay attention to the movie, or was it a show? He read the title. “Um, how does orange correlate with black in a way that is new?” A few eyes went wide, someone finally changing the channel.
“Sorry, it ain’t something an angel should see.” Dean smiled. “So, anybody wanna watch anything in particular?” Michael and Lucifer, who were propped up against the wall with their blanket over them, smiled devilishly.
“We got one,” they offered, “but let’s wait for the food first.” At that moment there was a knock on the door. “Speak of the devil.” Cas chuckled slightly at the expression. Kevin, Lucifer and Sam, who crawled out of the space carefully, all went over and opened the door, ready to receive the package.
“Where’s the angel?” the blonde woman asked, “I wanna meet him.” She stepped inside and saw Cas under the blankets. “So this is him?”
“Yep. Cas, meet Jo. Jo, this is Castiel,” Dean introduced with a grin. Cas waved.
“Hello. Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand but I don’t know if the fort would fall.” The girl laughed. “Oh, and, by the way, my wings are black. For whomever wanted to know.”
“That’s my mom, I’ll be sure to tell her. Okay, eat up. Nice meetin’ you, Cas.” She closed the door on the way out. Cas glanced at the large trolley carrying the food and his eyes grew wide.
“That’s a lot,” he breathed. Kevin chuckled and handed him a burger.
“There’s pie and cake too, have whatever you want.” Cas opened the wrapper and looked at it for a moment before taking a bite. He closed his eyes and let out a pleased sound, almost like a muffled moan. All attention turned to him and he opened his eyes again, blushing. For a second everyone seemed to be in a trance before going back to their own food.
“So, um,” Cas said when he had swallowed, “what did Michael and Lucifer want to watch?” The pair grinned mischievously and pulled out a tape.
“Here, watch.” They popped it into one of the many players and a movie came on. Cas didn’t recognize it at first, but then he heard his own voice. He looked to the carpet and his face grew even more red. Dean finally realized what was on and gave them a glare before standing up and turning it off.
“Dammit, you guys! I thought you said you sold them all off!” he said, waving the tape around.
“We did,” they said innocently, crossing their arms, “we bought a copy.” Dean put his hand to his face for a moment before taking the tape and locking it in a drawer.
“Sorry, Cas. Uh, let’s do something else.” He nodded quickly. They all began to think of some games.
“Monopoly?” Sam suggested.
“Nah, too kiddy. What about Seven Minutes In Heaven?”
“Gabe!” Dean scolded, “we can’t make Cas play
that
!”
“I’d rather not,” Cas whispered in agreement. “Perhaps Truth or Dare?”
“We do have our own version of it,” LM added.
“No way, not after the stunt you just pulled,” Kevin said with a shake of his head. They sighed.
“It’s not bad. Look, just get in a circle.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“So instead of regular spin the bottle, the person who it lands on is asked truth or dare by the person who spun it. Then the person who answered spins. Get it?” Cas looked at the empty beer bottle that sat between them all. He had managed to make his way out from under the fort without ruining it, his wings now folded carefully behind him. Kevin sat his left and Sam on his right, though they gave him some space. “Who wants to go first?” Lucifer elbowed Michael lightly and pointed discreetly to Cas. “Know what? Cas, go first.”
“R-really?” he asked, surprised. “I didn’t think you’d want to choose the one who’s so inexperienced.” They all cheered him on so he quickly took a bite of his - what, fifth? - burger and then spun it. After a few seconds it landed on Gabriel. Cas swallowed, both nervously and to finish his burger, and tried to think. “Truth or dare?”
Gabe smirked and leaned back cockily. “Dare, Cassie.”
“Oh, um…” He looked up to the trolley and saw a cake fit for three. “Attempt to eat as much cake as you can within a minute.” Gabe nodded and stood, taking the challenge. They all watched in awe as he ate the entire thing in fifty seconds. “Oh. That must be detrimental to your health.”
“Not really,” Gabe said with a shrug, sitting down and wiping icing from his face, “my family makes candy and I usually taste it all, so I’m used to eating so much. That’s pretty much all I live off now.” Cas nodded.
“Well, if you require healing from any injury, I will be happy to help. All of you, actually.” The humans chuckled.
“Okay, my turn.” Gabe spun it and it pointed toward Sam. Gabe smirked. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Sam responded with a smirk of his own, “try me, Gabe.”
“Alright,” Gabe said, a dark glint in his eye, “I dare you to… Kiss me.” Everyone either erupted in gasps or ‘oohs’. Sam pulled on the front of Gabe’s shirt and kissed him for a moment, pulling away. They all clapped, Dean slapping his shoulder.
“Good job, Sammy! I’m proud of you.” Sam winked before spinning the bottle again. It landed on Dean. “What’cha got, Sammy? Dare.”
Sam chuckled. “I dare you to… Cas, tell me, you like people touching your wings?” Cas was caught off guard by the question but nodded. “Okay. Dean, I dare you to massage them for five minutes.” Dean’s eyes widened in happiness and surprise. He was about to say, ‘that’s what I’ve wanted to do all day’, but bit his tongue. “If it’s okay with Cas, of course.”
“Um, yes, it’s fine.” Without hesitation, Dean moved behind Cas and helped him spread out his wings carefully.
“Ready?” Dean asked softly.
“Yes.” His fingers began to knead into his skin through the fabric and Cas sighed. “That’s wonderful, actually.” Dean smiled.
“Okay, someone spin for me.” Kevin did it for him and the neck of the bottle now was positioned toward Michael. “‘Kay, Mike, truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Michael said simply, shrugging.
Dean laughed a bit to himself. “Punch Luci.”
“Hard?” Michael asked scarily, making a fist. Lucifer only waited.
“Doesn’t matter, man.” Dean changed the area he was working on and Cas huffed out a breath.
“My father, that’s- it’s…” He closed his eyes and enjoyed it, hearing something land against something else. He looked up to see Lucifer grinning and rubbing his shoulder.
“My turn,” Michael taunted. He spun it and it pointed toward Cas. “Truth or dare?”
“Oh, truth.”
“Five minutes are up, by the way,” Kevin pointed out.
“Does he have to stop?” Castiel asked quietly. It took everyone by surprise.
“No, it’s fine with me, angel.” Cas blushed again and nodded.
“So… If we gave you the chance, would you sleep between me and Luci?” Cas glanced down to his lap, Dean’s hands stopping as he glared at the two.
“I suppose.” Again the bottle turned, stopping at Lucifer.
“Truth,” he said before Cas had a chance to ask.
“I’ve wanted to ask this for a while: is your name really Lucifer? And, if it is, why did your parents choose the name of the fallen angel?” He tilted his head to the side, then glanced down. “The fallen angel, um, it’s funny to think that he’s my brother.”
“He is? Awesome.” Cas narrowed his eyes and Lucifer responded with, “joking. We forgot to explain this to you. My name’s Levi. The thing is, the relationship between Mike and I draws in customers because our ‘romance’ is forbidden due to us being brothers. It also could rupture the friendship we have. The nail in the coffin, though, is the fact that we have the names of two angels who are enemies, making it even more tragic and beautiful.” Cas thought about that for a moment, then smiling in understanding. “Okay, now I spin.” He raised his eyebrows at Michael and he gave him an approving smirk. It went around and landed on Cas. “Truth or dare?”
“Well, I’ll do a dare. I also need to know, if I don’t want to do the dare, would it be alright if you were to pick another?” They all nodded. “Thank you.” He then turned to look at Dean, who was still behind him. “You can stop, if you’d like.”
“Whatever you want,” Dean said warmly. “But if you think I should, then I will.” He reclaimed his spot in the circle.
“Okay,” Lucifer said, “I dare you to sleep next to me and Mike tonight. You did say you would take it.”
“I’ll do it.” Dean grit his teeth and gave a fake smile, also while punching Michael’s leg as hard as he could. Michael winced and hit him over the head. Dean grumbled to himself, opening a beer and having a drink. Cas yawned and stretched, his wings spreading behind his arms. “Could we lie down now? I’m sorry, but maybe talking would be fun. It’d be nice to get to know each other.”
“Yeah, sure,” Kevin replied. They all went to their little beds of blankets and pillows, Michael and Lucifer lying next to Cas under the fort. Before Cas could put his wings back, they each wrapped an arm around him. He didn’t really mind, placing his wings gently over them. He thought he saw Dean crossing his arms and looking over, though disregarded it. He laid his head on top of his hands, closing his eyes. “So, wanna just… Talk?”
“I think we should get to know each other, like Cas said. Though, it’s going to be more like each of us explaining to Cas and him telling us. Still, it’ll work,” Gabe said with a shrug, eating another piece of cake. “Cas, wanna go first? I think we should start with family backgrounds.”
“Okay,” he said quietly. “I have my mother, Naomi. She’s very nice and kind and independent. My father, it’s an odd story.” He let out a soft breath. “Not many get to meet God. However, for some reason, he chose to stay with me for a time on earth. He had to leave to get back to Heaven, however what I did say was true. He’s a kind man, or God, I’m not sure. He’d always insist everyone call him Chuck, so I may get my love of being human from him.”
“That’s pretty sweet,” Sam commented. “Dean and I have our dad, John, who owns a gigantic car manufacturing company, so that’s why we’re rich and have tons of cars. Our mother passed when we were young. Dean says she was nice, though.” He shrugged. “Our dad is kinda weird. He even jokes about us having a half brother sometimes.” Cas chuckled.
“We have our parents,” Lucifer muttered.
“But we don’t see them much,” Michael finished, “off doing who knows what. Their love of business variety makes living at home complicated.”
“I have my mom and step dad.” Kevin closed his computer and adjusted his pillow. “My mom is always pushing me to do better. My step dad, Dick, he has a company for sucrose and another for law. He’s kinda nice but weird at times. That’s what you get when your mom gets remarried after you're fifteen. I never understood him.”
Cas adjusted his wings. “There’s a reason why my mother and I work so hard. As angels, we don’t require what you all do, so we use our extra money to help orphan angels who can’t help themselves. We give whatever spare funds, food, or clothes there are. Some people think that, despite them being young, angels shouldn't receive as much as humans do. It's so unfortunate.” The others gave him smiles.
“So,” Dean thought, “what d’ya say we help you out?” Cas opened one eye slightly in question.
“With what?” he asked tiredly.
“We can find whatever we got. Outgrown but in good condition clothes, we have tons of food, and anything else. Lemme tell ya, Sammy has so many old books we don’t really need.” Cas chuckled softly.
“Thank you so much.” After that everything was silent, the entire club having fallen asleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
By nine in the morning, everyone had woken up except for Castiel. He laid there peacefully, his hair ruffled and lips parted slightly as he breathed. Michael, Lucifer and Dean couldn’t help but stare and smile. Cas opened his eyes slowly and smiled in return. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Mornin’,” they all happened to say in unison. Laughter filled the room.
“Want breakfast?” Gabe asked, leaning against a wall with his toothbrush. For once he didn’t have a lollipop or piece of candy.
“Yes, please.” Cas made sure not to ruin the fort, though it didn’t seem to matter when Michael took a pillow from one of the pillars and hit Lucifer over the head with it. Soon Lucifer had a weapon of his own and they were fighting.
“Team Michael!” Michael, on his side, had Dean and Kevin while Lucifer had Sam and Gabe. Pillows were smacking and some flying into the air, Cas watching in interest. “C’mon, Cas! Team Michael!”
“No, team Lucifer!” Cas felt someone pull his arm and a pillow was thrust into his hands, seeing both sides were fighting over him. He smiled and swung randomly, hitting Sam in the leg. This game went on for a few minutes before there was another knock. Everyone set the pillows down, Dean going to the door and opening it.
“Hey, Ellen,” he said with a grin. He looked to the breakfast that she’d brought up on a cart. He looked it over, confused.
“You like bein’ surprised, remember?” She laughed and brought it in, pancakes, eggs, cereal and assorted fruits as well as other breakfasts were on it. Cas had never seen so much, going over to it. He realized everyone else had cleaned themselves up, Cas using an extremely small ounce of Grace to brush his teeth and fix his hair. “So, this is Castiel.”
Cas looked up and nodded. “Hello,” he said with a wave. “You must be Ellen, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand and shook hers. “Your daughter’s a very kind young lady. It’s a pleasure to be acquainted with both of you.”
“Polite, huh?” She turned to Dean. “Keep this one.” She left the room and everyone took what they wanted from the cart. When Cas had sat down on the carpet, a few pancakes of different types as well as covered in flavors of syrups, an omelette, an orange, and a glass of milk was in front of him.
“I’ve never seen so much, I feel like I shouldn’t be spoiling myself,” Cas admitted, “I don’t want to desire something so expensive later on.” Sam chuckled.
“Typical Cas. Eat up, you can ask for fancy food whenever you want, man. It’s no problem. Oh, and what we don’t eat that’s still on the cart you can take to the other angels.” Cas had a bite of a vanilla pancake with raspberry syrup and strawberries, him smiling around the fork.
“I think it’s safe to say that my first sleepover was a success. Well, even though I didn't study.”
“You're too smart to have to study. Still, that means we gotta top this with the next one,” Kevin brought up.
“Next sleepover’s on us!” LM said loudly.
“What’re you gonna do, give him a pillow fort
room
?” Dean asked sarcastically. At that, everyone laughed again.