* jay / data 🌟

[PT : Otherkin regressor flags ! ⚝

Otherkin age regressor (left) and otherkin caregiver (right) ↝

Otherkin flip (left) and otherkin babysitter (right) ↝

Otherkin pet regressor (left) and otherkin age dreamer (right) ↝

requested by wing anon ! End PT]

Dean, who’s usually the driver, was now the passenger of Castiel’s car. How the angel learned how to drive was beyond him.

It had been a few days without a hunt meaning the three were spending a lot of time in the bunker. Sam had insisted someone go to the grocery store since the bunker was become sparse with food.

But since Baby was getting some work done in the garage, Castiel suggest they take his car. Under normal circumstances Dean would insisted they wait till he fixed his car. But the food was getting low…and Castiel said he could put his music on…

So here the two sat, driving to the grocery store closest to the bunker. Since they were out in the middle of no where, the grocery store didn’t see many people and was more low key. That’s what made this store Dean’s personal favorite.

When Sam suggest a trip to the grocery store Dean was all for the idea. They had been in close quarters to each other for a while now and it was starting to show. Some fresh air and alone time was just what Dean needed to rest himself…expect Castiel invited himself to come along.

That under normal circumstances would’ve been fine, but this wasn’t normal circumstances. Since the three had been working long and hard hours on this hunt Dean’s had little to no time to regress. He would sit at one of the tables all day researching along with Sam.

Eventually he would either retire to his bed and be too exhausted to regress or simply fall asleep at the table on top of all his papers.

As the research dragged on into the late night hours he could feel himself getting more frustrated and annoyed by tiny things, add on fighting his regression and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

It wasn’t like he could tell Sam or Cas about it…they wouldn’t understand…or at least that’s what Dean reasoned himself to think. He was the tough one of the group. The badass hero with a cool car. How would even begin to explain to Cas or Sam that sometimes he’d like to cuddle up with a stuffed animal and fall asleep with a pacifier in his mouth?

For Dean it started long ago, back when Sam had moved out and went to college and he was alone with an occasional visit from his father. The loneliness started to eat away at him but regression saved him, finally giving him the childhood that was stolen from him.

He was good, very good at hiding his little gear. Not that he had much, just a stuffed animal dog and a pacifier he bought online. Other than that had nothing. But he was fine with that. He loved to sit in front of the tv and watch Scooby-Doo for hours. Man, that dog is hilarious!

But getting back to the present, he wasn’t too thrilled to have company on this shopping trip. Not when he was already so stressed out because of the case and not with his regression eagerly waiting to take over.

He would be fine, just a little shopping trip and then they would head back to the bunker. Maybe he could say he wasn’t feeling well and take the night to himself?

They parked the car and the two stepped out, looking at the grocery store.

“Do we have a list or are we making it up as we go along?” Dean ask.

Cas dig around in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, “Sam gave me a list of essentials we needed.”

Dean rolled his eyes and smirked. Of course Sam gave Cas the list, knowing full well he would follow it to the T…unlike Dean.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” With that the two walked into the grocery store. Both of them grabbed a basket and started making their way to the produce section.

Cas went over and started putting some fruit in his basket while Dean went over to the apples. As he was putting some in his basket he noticed the display next to it, caramel dipping sauce for the apples. Now that sounds nice! Cut apples with caramel to dip it in!

He reached and grabbed the container, but was stopped before putting it in his basket. Castiel held Dean’s wrist stopping him from getting he sugary goodness.

“Cas? What the hell?” Dean tested his strength, trying to pull his arm back.

“This isn’t good for you. What’s the point of eating something healthy like an apple if you ruin it with something unhealthy like caramel?” Castiel explained.

“What are you some sort of health freak now?” Dean asked but only received the same plain stubborn look from Castiel.

“Alright,” he said giving up on the caramel dip. “You know I’m an adult that can buy something unhealthy if I so please.”

Castiel didn’t say a word, he just gave Dean a look and placed the dip back. Dean didn’t know what was worse, him saying something back to that or him not saying anything at all. But there absolutely no way Cas could ever know…right?

No, there was no way. Dean was wayyyyy too good at hiding his regression and his two little items. Yeah…no way…no way at all…

The shopping trip continued, only Dean was getting more and more bored with the mundaneness of the trip.

Castiel lead the way through the store picking and choosing things to put in both his and Dean’s basket. Occasionally Dean would add his two cents to the choices. But as the shopping trip dragged on longer, Dean felt his fight against regression slipping away.

“Dean,” Castiel said breaking Dean out of his thoughts. “Could you go to the next aisle over and grab the white bread? We must’ve passed it.” Castiel asked as he looked over the list.

“Yeah of course.” Good, some time away to recollect himself and get his regression under control. So with a deep breath Dean made his way through the aisle.

He turned down the bread, grabbed the white bread Sam and him have been eating for years and walked back out, heading back to Cas. But there was a couple looking for something in the aisle, but being the annoying people they were, they decided to stand in the middle of the aisle blocking anyone from passing.

Of course Dean could’ve just asked them to move out of the way. But with his headspace teetering he didn’t feel like interacting with anyone. So he just turned around and turned down a different aisle.

But the aisle he turned down didn’t help his regression at all.

The baby aisle. Filled to the brim with toys, stuffie, bottles and more for infants. And while Dean wasn’t a baby physically, he definitely was one mentally. The sight of all the supplies instantly started to make him regress. He walked down the aisle slowly taking in the sight of everything.

He walked past the stuffies, admiring all the different animals. But he couldn’t bring himself to getting another one and hurting his dog stuffie Ozzy’s feelings.

He slowly walked past the toys, making sure he saw every single one incase there was a Scooby-Doo one. With no mystery machine toy in sight he continued his browsing. He walked past the pacifiers, they were too tiny for him anyway.

But what stopped him all together was the sippy cups. He eyed the different cups all different shapes, sizes and patterns. One stuck out to him the most, a blue sippy cup with a dinosaur pattern.

He could definitely drink out of one of these and it would be so comforting! He’s been spilling drinks on himself while regressed which was starting to become a problem but something like this would stop it. Plus it’s would be easy to hide with his other stuff.

“I think the fire engine one is nice.” Castiel said suddenly appearing next to Dean.

Dean jumped so badly he dropped his basket on the ground. A blush rose across his face as he scrambled to pick up the basket. He started fighting myself to sound and act like his normal adult self.

“I was just cutting through this aisle to get back to you,” he tried to cover up.

“Which one were you looking at?” Castiel asked not taking his eyes off the different sippy cups.

“I-I wasn’t looking at any one of them. I was just browsing on my way past.“

“Which one did you want?” Castiel turned towards Dean whose face was getting more and more pink with blush.

“I don’t want one. Why would I want one? I don’t have a kid that needs it.”

“Dean, you’re the kid that needs.” Castiel said so plainly as if it wasn’t a big deal. But his words struck a cord deep down inside Dean.

The world seem to freeze with that statement, so plain yet so true. The words seemed to hang in the air for a moment as the Angel and Hunter stared at each other.

The regression won against Dean as his eyes started to get red with tears, “No…No I’m not.” He tried to deny, so scared of anyone truly knowing.

Castiel put his basket down and closed the distance between himself and Dean. He pulled Dean into a hug. Dean didn’t reciprocate at first, too shocked by the gesture. But eventually he gave in, wrapping his arms around Cas. His head resides on his shoulder as the two just held each other for a moment.

Finally Dean broke the silence, “How do you know?” He asked softly breaking apart.

“When I brought your soul back from hell I looked into your past. I saw your childhood and your need for regression. I saw the few times you felt safe enough to actually regress. I even saw when you got your stuffed animal Ozzy.” Castiel explain causin Dean to blush even more and look away.

“But most importantly I saw how important regression was to you and how much it helped you through the years. Ever since then I’ve done my research on regression and have been watching out for whenever I could sense you were starting to regress.” Castiel said proud as ever.

“My guardian angel,” Dean said with a small smile.

Castiel smiled as well, “Well…yeah. Your guardian angel.”

He took one of Dean’s hands into his own, “I want you to know that your regression is such an amazing thing about you Dean. You should be getting yourself the things you want and need for when you’re feeling smaller.”

Dean looked up at Castiel, “But-“

“I won’t judge you Dean. I never have and I never will. It doesn’t make you weak or strange to need an escape. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it. I’m happy you have a healthy copping mechanism like this, rather than drinking yourself to death like you used to. I’m proud of you for regressing when you need.”

Dean just stared at Castiel in total disbelief. No one has ever known but now he knew and he was…so understanding. And despite knowing all this time he never once treated Dean differently, always still respecting him.

Dean had always been the one taking care of and protect those around him, especially Sam. But now it brought a warm comfort to Dean knowing all this time Castiel had been looking out for him.

Castiel leaned forward and wiped a few stray tears away, “Now, I want you to tell me which one of these cup you were looking at before.” He squeezed Dean’s hand in his.

Dean turned towards the cups once more. This big reveal and acceptance was great and all, but at the same time it was a bit overwhelming. With his headspace in full swing now he just pointed to the dinosaur cup.

“The dinosaur one?” Castiel asked as he pulled it off the shelf.

Dean nodded, holding onto his hand tighter. “I like dinos.”

“Then we’ll add it to our cart…or basket.” Castiel said realizing they didn’t have a cart. Dean giggled at his silliness.

Castiel looked down the aisle at the stuffed animals, “What about another one of those?” He lead the way, pulling Dean along.

“But-I can’t. Ozzy will get jealous.” He tried to explain.

Castiel smiled hearing the cute reasoning, “Ozzy won’t get jealous. He knows that he’s always going to be your favorite. It might be nice to get him a friend to keep him company when you’re not with him.”

Suddenly it was as if Cas turned on a light bulb, it all made sense. “Yeah…you’re right.” Dean nodded.

“Now who do you think would make a good friend to Ozzy?”

Dean turned and carefully browsed the shelves until he spotted it, a stuffie of a beagle. He picked up off the shelf. Her fur was super flat and the ear were long and flat. Upon feeling the ears they had something inside of them that made a crinkly noice. She was perfect!

“I think I’m gonna get her.” Dean said holding her out for Castiel to see.

“Wow! She’s beautiful. What a great choice darling.” Castiel praised, making Dean blush.

“All she needs is a name,” Cas pointed out.

Well if Ozzy was named after Ozzy Osborn then there was really only one name that made sense.

“Sharon.” Of course named after Ozzy Osborn’s wife.

Castiel smiled, the reference flying over his head. “Sharon’s a great name Dean.” He leaned down and shook the dog’s paw. “It’s so nice to meet you Sharon.”

Dean giggled again. Castiel really is the silliest.

“Alright, we have just a couple more things to grab and then we’ll head back to the bunker and get you settled for the night. Sound good?” Castiel asked.

Dean nodded his head and resisted the urge to put his fingers on his mouth. Thankfully holding Cas’ hand with one hand and holding onto the basket with the other prevented him from doing so. Castiel thought of that…didn’t he?

But what Castiel didn’t think of, was how bad of an idea it is to take a regressed Dean down the potato chip aisle, which also happens to be the candy aisle. Dean quickly let go of Castiel’s hand and ran down the aisle to the fruit snack. There he grabbed a box of his favorite, the Scooby-Doo ones of course.

“Can we get a box?” Dean asked bringing it over to Cas.

“These don’t look very healthy…”

Dean gave his best puppy dog eyes, “Please.”

Despite all the powers he had being an angel, even he was no match for an adorable face like that.

Castiel smiled, “Alright, put it in your basket.”

“Yes!!”

Castiel picked up some snacks Sam asked for off the list while Dean would bring him different candies and ask if he could have each one. It was a no most of the time, despite Dean’s best efforts.

After the snack aisle the two went down the paper goods aisle to grab some extra toilet paper and paper towels. As Cas was looking over the different selections, he could tell Dean was starting to get bored of the shopping trip.

“Are we done yet?” He asked with a little whine.

“Almost darling just two more things.” Castiel replied.

Dean’s head lifted up hearing the sweet nickname again. A small blush crept across his face once more.

“Hi, can I help you two with anything?” A store employee walking by asked the two.

Immediately, despite being taller than Cas, Dean almost tried to hide himself behind the shorter man, shy as ever. It was an adorable sight to Cas who never thought he’d see the day Dean of all people would be shy.

“We’re fine thank you.” Cas quickly replied.

“Let me know if you need anything.” And with that the employee left.

Dean let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding the moment the employee left. He looked over at Cas to see a smirk across his face causing the Winchester to blush more and look away.

“I think that’s it,” Castiel said looking over the list to double check. “Let’s go back home.” He could notice the small signs of Dean starting to get more and more tired. A nap in the car was definitely needed for the little hunter.

The two made their way to the checkout. The cashier immediately caught eyes with Dean. She started to trying to flirt with him but just like before he stayed close to Castiel letting him do the talking.

Finally they were out of the grocery store and back at the car. Before he started to unload the cart, Castiel first settled Dean in the front seat.

He buckled him in and handed him his dog stuffed animal, “Here Darling, we can’t forget Sharon now can we?”

He happily took it and smiled back at Castiel. “Cas,” Dean grabbed his hand before he walked away. He looked up at him and smiled, looking more relaxed than he has been in a very long time. “Thank you.”

Castiel smiled back, squeezing Dean’s hand in his, “You don’t need to thank me. I’m just happy to see you so happy and comfortable.”

Dean looked down, as if he wasn’t sure if he should ask something. But after a moment he looked back up at Castiel. “You’ve always been looking after me.”

“That’s right.”

“Could you keep looking after me? Even after today, when I regress again?” Dean nervously asked.

Castiel smiled and squeezed Dean’s hand reassuringly him, “I would be honored to.”

Dean smiled back and relaxed. All the pent up nervousness leaving him once more.

With one last squeeze Castiel reluctantly let go of Dean’s hand. “I’m going to pack up the car real fast and then maybe on the way home you can take a nap.” Cas said, caught Dean yawning and rubbing his eyes when they were checking out.

“I don’t need a nap,” he heard Dean call from behind him.

Castiel loaded the trunk up with their groceries. When he rounded the car to the front seat he could see Dean’s head bobbing as he fought against sleeping.

But once the car started up and the began their journey back to the bunker he eventually felt Dean’s head pressed against his shoulder. Castiel just smiled to himself and adored the little hunter sleeping soundly beside him.