The heartbreak prince

Nate hadn’t been exactly avoiding Cas, after all it wasn’t as if they ran into each other all that often really. Nic had been exaggerating a lot of it, and it wasn’t as if Nate wasn’t fine hanging around friends and other people. Besides, he would talk to Cas eventually. 

He just hadn’t expected to hear the other’s voice behind him as he was trying, and failing, to win a game. He hadn’t put that much into the game if he was being fair, but still. 

He could feel a blush filling his face as he turned around slightly to see it was in fact Cas. After all, his voice was - at least to Nate distinctive. He’d probably figure out the other in a crowded room. 

He froze for a split second before he laughing. “No - well I was trying to win a stuffed animal. I don’t think anyone is going to want to win one for me - I mean I’m pretty sure I can win the game you know.” Still as easy as it was to talk to Cas there was an anxiety with it. Nic was around, he was sure and he didn’t want Cas to end up accidentally on fire. He didn’t think Nic would do it purposely, but that didn’t really matter when your hair was singed did it. It didn’t feel right to keep it in, and so he followed the urge to just tell Cas so he didn’t have to waste his time or get hurt just because Nate wanted to talk to him. 

“Hey - I. I’m not trying to be rude or mean, but you know my brother? He uh -he’s around here I’m pretty sure and he really doesn’t want us to be around eachother. I’m not sure how he quite figured it out but he did. I’m sorry.” Nate said softly his face still red as he wasn’t quite looking at Cas. “He’s just over protective, and with everything going on right now he’s just more anxious than normal.”

.

Aw, how cute, the baby boy was blushing and Cas hadn't done anything yet. Things like that were what made Nate so fun to tease and Cas didn't know what had Nate so sensitive, but he wasn't going to complain about it. "I'm sure you could, too," Cas said, which was the same thing he would have said even if he didn't believe it. "But you're cute, which means it would be easy to talk someone into winning a prize for you."

Hint hint, Cas would do it and then Nate could be cute and warm and grateful for it. Sometimes it was so easy to get points and worm your way under someone's skin and in this case, there was the bonus stroking to Cas' ego in proving that he could win the game.

Considering that Cas had about the next half hour of their interaction planned out in his head, he didn't understand what Nate was going to do that was rude or mean because that wasn't in his script - of course, neither was a sibling. Great. It wouldn't be the first time that Cas talked his way out of sleeping with someone's sibling, so he was getting up for that, readying his usual ploy, only to once again be knocked off course.

What. The. Fuck?

Some guy that never met him wanted him to stay away from Nate for what? His own safety? If they'd met, Cas could understand a brother taking up the protective role, but they were strangers and Cas had even helped Nate out of a few situations, so really, having him around was protecting Nate.

And besides that, he wasn't done playing with Nate yet, so like hell was he going to give him up just because big brother say playtime was over. That was Cas' choice.

"That doesn't seem very fair to me." Cas finally said slowly. "What's he going to do about you talking to me, huh? We're already talking right now and that's not your fault, he can't get onto you for it, can he?" It wasn't like Nate was a child, after all. "But if you're really going to ditch me, I think the least you could do it let me win you something to remember me by."

Contrary to popular belief, Sofiya didn’t instantly melt into a puddle of goo whenever a man spoke to her in a suggestive tone. But if she was awkward about wanted advances, she was a disaster around unwanted ones. She’d gone as far as to bark at a muggle man, once, and to be honest, she was so pleased with how smoothly that worked it didn’t even occur to her to be embarrassed until she shared the story with a friend. So, when she thought the guy had only replied to be annoying,  she was completely prepared to aparate somewhere else and start over. 

But he continued talking, so she decided to listen, and he didn’t seem too bad. He was overconfident, but. No. He was just overconfident. Not the worst possible trait to have. Not a likable trait, but barking dogs don’t bite. 

“It’s hard to explain, but something bad is going to happen tonight. So, the campaign to shut the fair down is mostly so people won’t get too mixed up. My location choice is mostly to get snacks, it’s pretty sunny.”

.

"Aren't you just a good Samaritan?" Honestly, it didn't take a psychic or whatever it was she claimed to be to know that the odds favored something bad happening at the event since something bad always happened when people gathered in large numbers these days. "You'll get mixed up in it if you're here as well, you know. Maybe that's what triggers it, your presence starts a panic."

What did they call that, a self-fulfilling prophecy? A paradox? A piece of washed-up nonsense? Cas couldn't deny that he was a blatant non-believer, but he was willing to at least make some vague appearance of humoring her if she managed to at least be an entertaining basket case.

"So tell me, are you doing anything besides warning people away like a member of a picket line? Maybe doing palm readings to let them know the end is nigh? Or tarot cards to tell them just what's going to go wrong in their world? Crystal ball so they know how the day goes?" He asked, carefully watching his tone to keep it teasing when his words might indicate mockery. "I'm sure you have a skillset, what is it?"

“I think everyone with a secret family and a mid-life crisis would deny it.” Mirek replied firmly. He was starting to wonder if he would manage to get anything out of Cas, or if he’d have to give up and just hang out like he was supposed to. Really, this spy thing wasn’t half as heroic as it sounded. It just meant teasing Cas about his dick for half an hour and hoping he’d act suspicious in return.

“This is… strangely supportive.” Mirek said with a tinge of feeling in his voice, as he held up the drawing. Skeletons were to him what cat cartoons were to people, and Cas seemed to have taken notice. “how …gay.” He added, not sure about showing any non-satirical emotion around Cas.

"I don't have any kids running around, cross my heart and hope to die." Because that's what Mirek really meant, little mini runcorns running around and in a sense, there were, but Cas wasn't responsible to them. He had a father out there, he knew he had half siblings, but Cas never talked to them and he didn't tell anyone about them, so that family was staying firmly a secret. If they count as a family.

A corner of Cas' mouth quirked up in amusement at Mirek's reaction, feeling rather pleased with himself. "I just implied I'd yank down your pants and spank you and it's a drawing you're calling gay? Either you have an odd perspective on things or I need to up my game."

Nate titled his head slightly at the thought and nodded. “I hadn’t heard that, but it is kind of soothing isn’t it?” Maybe Sophie had said something about it, but he couldn’t remember what lavender was supposed to do.

However the thought didn’t stay for very long as Nate got pulled out of the thought with Cas kissing him. Giving a soft smile he laughed and said, “Okay I’ll take them off then.”

Usually he might at least try and be graceful like he was on stage but if he was honest he just wanted the clothes off anyway. They were sweaty and he’d rather be in the nice warm tub. At the suggestion Nate laughed again and said, “I’m not sure that would be open right now would it? Also isn’t it usually grapes? Not that I’m complaining I like both.” Moving so Cas could get in while he was still getting his clothes off he continued. “I mean if your hungry we can try too. They’ve got to have snacks somewhere in this room if it’s a penthouse.”

"If you ask me, good room service is never closed." Cas responded, certain that the hotel wouldn't risk losing someone rich and important because they didn't want to deliver fruit late at night. It just wasn't good business sense, but Cas wasn't hungry and it was more the aesthetic of decadence that made him suggest it. "Picky, picky, sweetheart." He teased, despite the fact Nate specified that he wasn't complaining.

Stripping off the last of his clothes, Cas sunk into the tub with a quiet sigh as the water engulfed him, warm and fragrant. "I'm not going to starve. Not from lack of food, at least," He murmured, flicking his eyes along Nate's body while waiting for him to finish undressing. It wasn't as if he'd never seen Nate naked, but it was still a pleasant image.

Darling, if you wanted an invitation to look at you, you only needed to say so. No need for these games and trying to trick me into letting you see.

Nope, not every conversation. Sometimes people need a break from dick jokes, just like sometimes they need a break to recover from my dick.

Oh, certainly, the music and the rides and all that were a distraction, but they weren’t really on par with the events going on lately, were they? It was shockingly sedate, pleasant in its thrills instead of terrifying, and Cas knew that this meant he likely needed a break from the louder distractions, but the trouble was, he found it difficult to focus on any of them. What was the point, exactly?

There was something missing from the experience and Cas thought it was possibly human interaction because you were supposed to play at a fair, but he didn’t have anyone to play with, that was the problem. It was an easily solved one, at least, Cas didn’t think he’d have any trouble finding someone to pick up while he was around. Fine some unaccompanied lady looking doubtfully at a ride, offer to go with her if she was scared, and boom, that would be entertainment for at least a few moments.

Cas had seen on a documentary before that attending things like this caused people to bond and while Cas highly doubted he would bond with anyone, he thought it would certainly help people be blinded to the way he toyed with them.

The plan had been to find someone new and enjoy messing with an unknown subject, but that plan changed the moment Cas recognized a mess of curls near one of the games, some sort of throwing event, it looked like, and Cas didn’t hesitate to sneak up behind him. “Waiting for someone to win you a toy?” He teased, grinning. @nathan-chastain​

Anyone with an ounce of common sense (maybe even less, maybe a gram. Was a gram less? Sofiya had no idea how the metric system worked.)  would skip the carnival. But it looked so fun that she’d done a little card reading, just to check. If it was an ambiguous reading, she was willing to get there early and leave before lunch, terror liked the night shift best. But she was not prepared for the results she got. On a ten card reading, eight were reversed, and all ten were trying to indicate something bad. 

Now, she wasn’t one for heroics. But some some dumb parents were probably taking their dumb kids to the dumb fair, and if she woke up to shitty news in the paper, she’d feel bad. So she made it her purpose to eat cotton candy and lurk by the stand, wearing her “The End Is Near” Sign and hand-made flyers detailing the meaning of every card in her reading, and why that meant they should be at home. It wasn’t illegal. Or at least not illegal enough that she’d get arrested-arrested. It didn’t even appear illegal enough to get her kicked out. Thus-far. 

“Do you have a minute to be strongly advised to leave the fair?” She said, to a passer by who seemed to find her amusing. It didn’t matter, this was more for her peace of mind than his sake, anyway.  @casruncorn​

Crazy was, in general, something to be avoided, but that was the same thing that religious groups said about certain substances, so Cas didn't always stick to that particular suggestion. Crazy could be entertaining and if you didn't use real names or were on unusual stomping grounds, then chances were that it was safe enough to indulge in a brush with crazy for just a night.

That said, it wasn't night and Cas didn't think 'crazy' was actually the right word to fit the wisp of a woman that kept trying to hand out fliers from her place next to the cotton candy, not unless you meant it in the crazy cat lady sense. Eccentric seemed too casual, but perhaps kooky worked and she didn't seem dangerous as she advertised the end of... something, maybe the fair or maybe the war or even the end of the world, so Cas didn't see any harm in watching her make a spectacle of herself, undeniably amused and willing to play along when she acknowledged him.

"Depends, is it with you?" He asked, using his usual flirty tone as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and walked up to her, an easy smile on his face. "Any reason why you're trying to shut the fair down? Or is this just an excuse to stake out the front of the cotton candy line? I won't tell if you are, you just need to share with me."

Compliments had always been her weakness.  She still remembered her first time pulling on the Death Eater mask – in Malcolm Greengrass’s basement and the screaming Muggle man, trying and failing at using an Unforgivable.  In that moment she had been absolutely certain she had made a mistake.  But every single person on her side she had met after had been far kinder, far more willing to help her get where she needed to be.  It was almost embarrassing how well she responded to compliments and understanding what she was good at – hopefully this was just how Cas always was and not that he saw right through how much she craved approval.  “Always has seemed a bit overeager to me.  Either a rule follower or someone ready to curse you the second you turn your back.”

She leaned in to look, but as soon as he did a loud thud sounded above them.  She jumped back and craned her neck to see, getting a face full of dust.  “G-gross,” she coughed, waving her wand to clear the air.  “It sounds like it, but it sounded pretty isolated.  Unless you want to defend the shop from the roof we might be better off down here.”

Glancing quickly to Miriam's face, Cas didn't spare her reaction much thought because while dust wasn't exactly pleasant, it was better than a face full of glass. Or blood, if they did end up in an altercation with anyone, which Cas wasn't about to count out as a possibility. "I don't think defending the roof would do much good, but there's an upstairs. If someone decides to come in through the roof or an upstairs window, we're going to have a problem."

An attack from above wasn't any better than an attack from your front because it was still an attack and it seemed to Cas that the angry mob gathering in the streets didn't care just who they took aim at as long as they were venting their anger at someone. "I'd say listen for footsteps, but I don't think you'd hear anything over the racket outside." Cas added, hearing the sound of something breaking outside. While he doubted their shop was going to attract that much attention, a bonus to having a boss that kept a low profile, he wasn't going to risk someone getting the wild idea that the shop would be a good target.

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“Not allergies.” Kirsi shrugged, not quite sure how to answer that question. She’d always been open about her ancestry before, but the stories of what happened in Britain had made her more hesitant lately. “I’m, um, my mother’s veela. I heal different sometimes.” She wasn’t sure how that would affect a tattoo, but she didn’t know how tattoos worked at all. 

"Ah. Trying to keep that flawless skin, huh?" Sometimes there were people that healed so quickly that the ink didn't take right, so he understood why she wasn't sure if tattooing would work, just like he was sure he knew why she'd hesitated to admit she was a veela. "Some people say you need to be more careful with creatures, others say that you should be rougher so it's harder for them to heal and more likely to stick. All depends on what kicks your healing into overdrive, I suppose."

Being in Cas’s presence was sort of like looking at train wreck – when she left him last time she realized he was a lot of something, but back in his presence and she couldn’t quite manage to look away.  “Um –” maybe.  Most of the other people in this particular circle seemed to, if not for her lack of experience than for her blood status.  “no?”

See, he knew the power behind a good potion.  It was so often overlooked because it wasn’t as flashy as other forms of magic – but it could be just as lethal, something most would do well to remember.  “From what I remember we made a pretty good team,” she shrugged, turning away so he couldn’t see the fact that she was blushing. 

“No, I was just around the corner when people started tossing spells around with no sense.  I was going to go see –” she tripped over the word sister.  Walden told her weeks ago that she should distance herself from Edith, and while that wasn’t advice she was necessarily taking, she didn’t need to advertise it.  “a friend, but I ended up in here instead.  You’re good too?”

She didn't sound too convinced, but that was fine because Cas didn't expect her to. In fact, it was even better that she wasn't confident because that meant that not judging her would mean more to her and likely make her softer towards him. Not that he could just offer her blanket trust and faith, no, he had to make her feel like she earned something, that would do more to have her on his side in case he ever needed something.

"And I seem to recall a girl that could think and improvise on her feet. Seems like a good skill to have right now because I don't trust any of those people to obey by the rules and bow before asking to duel, do you?" Cas replied, putting just a hint of laughter in his words to make sure it sounded like a tease and not him snarking at her.

Shrugging, Cas lifted up his arm to show the singed fabric of his sleeve. "Got hit by a spell, but nothing I need a healer for and - shit." Cas' words cut off abruptly as a loud noise sounded above their head, prompting him to look up. "Did something cave in?"

Nic’s grin widened. He’d been called charming many times in his life, sincerely and in anger and with sarcasm, but for the first time he enjoyed it for the genuine compliment it was. He tucked the bank notes back away and pressed his lips together, which only pursed Madelaine’s red-painted pout, as he considered the question. Pretty. It was a teasing question based on the body he wore; Nic honestly couldn’t think of what to do with it, except give it to Nate for groceries or to pay rent, or maybe get his brother another sweater, or some theatre tickets. Nic didn’t really spend on himself besides cigarettes and the occasional nice piece of clothing. He spent most of his time destroying or stealing things, not legally acquiring them. 

“If I want pretty, I do not need to pay for it,” he settled on, eyes glinting. It sounded better than “I need grocery money.”

Cause a scene. Nic shivered again, ghostly fingers tripping down his spine. This was dangerous. Magic and potential hummed beneath his skin, perfectly under control now that he was exercising them, but he still had a penchant for getting carried away. It was so rarely that he felt this good, this uninhibited, this free to be himself. He couldn’t say no. 

“I was told I’m addicted to trouble, once,” he said, eyes darting around once, quickly, to make sure they were still in the clear. “I’m made of it. What are you thinking?”

Originally posted by alicesmiths

Laughing, Cas supposed the other had a point. Their light fingers proved that they could easily take what they wanted and likely not get caught, but it was more than just that - if they were as attractive in their own body as they were in Miss Wayne's, then chances were that they could also just bat their eyelashes and do that little pout of theirs to have someone halfway convinced to gift them whatever they wanted. It wouldn't work on Cas, of course, he didn't fall for those sorts of tricks, but he could still recognize them and their value.

Cas had to admit that he was impressed by this stranger's disregard for the rules, their willingness to cause a bit of mayhem simply for the sake of entertainment. They both have a mission that night and yet instead of being overly serious and dour, here they were trying to find ways to throw the room into chaos.

"I bet this room is just filled with people willing to rush to someone's defense. It's amazing how many people secretly want to be the hero, especially for someone pretty. If you shriek and say your jewelry's been stolen, how many people do you think would come rushing to your side? And if I, as an honorable man of the law, ask if anyone else is missing something, how many do you think are going to be outraged by their theft and start pointing fingers?"

They'd want to blame someone, after all, and they'd want someone to pay for making them look foolish, but they wouldn't look at the people who raised the alarm.

St. Mungo’s was always busy, as the biggest magic hospital in London, walls were always brimming with patients and people with injuries that went from stupid to serious. Today though, was a slow day. Nobody dared to say that word, slow, out loud, because that was just calling for it, so the healers and staff just wandered around happily, catching up on paperwork, having a cup of coffee, loving the twenty minutes of peace before the next ambulance showed up with something new for them to discover.

Twenty minutes of peace, that’s all Ellie wanted. Twenty minutes to catch up with her paperwork. But she saw his face and her blood boiled because she knew what was coming for her. “Cas… Shut up” She said with a sigh as he dragged out the one nickname she hated to hear from him. Actually she hated all that came out of his mouth, but this in particular. “You’re not injured, I’m not worried. Watch me actually injure you and spoiler alert, I’ll still not be worried” She said with a scoff, rolling her eyes as she closed the folder.

He was never gonna go away. Not until she gave him whatever it is he wanted. “Cas… Honey. What do you want?” Ellie asked, hoping this would mean he’d go away.

"If you're that desperate to get your hands on me, you could just say so," Cas declared with a grin, turning to peer over the other side of a counter after Ellie closed her folder, trying to see if there was a jar with suckers or any other candy tucked away on the back side since those always seemed to be popular to have on hand. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to see  anything of interest, which really seemed like something he should register a complaint about to the welcome witch.

Turning back to Iliana, Cas had an expression of undisguised delight on his face at the pet name, feeling as though he was doing an excellent job at trying her patience. "Brightening up my day with your light, of course." He said without missing a beat, resigning himself to needing to find the cafeteria or something like that to find a snack since it was unlikely Ellie would let him get away with nibbling on her.

"In this case, I thought I'd treat myself to asking a lovely lady out to lunch. That might be a balm to soothe my wounded heart since you're so callous about my injuries." He declared, as if Iliana was actually on the list of people Cas would confide in if he was actually injured.

“I didn’t know there was champagne, but I think I’m good with this,” Nate almost hummed thinking that it would be best not to drink to terribly much. He trusted Cas for what it was worth, but he didn’t really think Cas wanted to deal with him drunk. 

Nate turned slightly at the chuckle, although he didn’t turn to Cas as he felt his hands going down to his hips. For a moment he was distracted by the feeling and didn’t fully process what Cas was saying as the other moved on. Nate couldn’t help but shiver slightly as Cas spoke into his ear leaning back slightly. 

“Yeah I think that would be good,” Nate said softly as he tried to focus almost stunned by Cas again. Feeling the kiss and Cas moving away he couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he felt Cas pat at his ass. 

“Okay,” Nate said turning around slightly to give him a smile and then looking back at the tub. He shook his head slightly trying to get the stunned notion out of his brain as he went to turn on the faucet and ponder over the bath salts carefully choosing one he though might smell nice and unwrapping a soap. 

If he was also honest he downed the rest of the mixed drink, hoping that it would stop him from behaving like a school boy before Cas came back. It felt odd that Cas had this amount of sway over him, but if he was being honest Cas was absolutely enticing. Nate wanted to be around him, and there was an amount of giddiness there as well. Still he tried to steady his breath as he sat next to the tub and put his hand in to feel the water warm but not too terribly hot. Hearing footsteps Nate spoke without looking up, “I put in lavender if that’s okay.” 

Hearing Nate laugh behind him, Cas wore a satisfied expression as he wandered back to the minibar and pulled out a bottle of champagne, but he didn't immediately return to the bathroom. Instead he took a moment to draw his wand and cast a spell on the door so that anyone who went near it would suddenly remember something they forgot and wander off. It wouldn't really defend against wizards, but it would be a nice little deterrent for any muggles even if they were under the imperius.

Another protective spell went up and Cas, content with his efforts, took care of the cork in the bottle of champagne so he could drink directly from the bottle as he went back into the bathroom.

"Lavender's fine. It's supposed to be soothing and good for sleep." And he wasn't the sort of guy that was going to have a fit over a flowery bath because it would damage his masculinity. A few bath salts weren't going to make his dick shrivel up and fall off, after all, and Cas sipped at the champagne again before setting the bottle down next to Nate's hip and leaning in to kiss him. "You're wearing too many clothes."

He was pretty sure that Iliana was more likely to smack him and leave him more injured than she was to actually take sympathy on, especially since Cas wasn’t really hurt to any level that he found concerning.

“Besides, I came all this way just to see you, so it’s okay to be a little excited to see me. I know it made your day.” Actually, he’d dropped by St. Mungo’s to pester Mirek, who was apparently not working, that sneak. What was the use in Cas stealing his schedule if he went and changed things? It was utterly unfair, if you asked him, and it was just pure luck he had more than one healer he enjoyed pestering. @ilianasolace​