#engineer!dean

Honey Pies by whichstiel || @whichstiel Rating: Mature Word count: 49k

Once upon a time there was a boy who did something good for a stranger…and was cursed for his kindness. When Castiel was young he gave a hungry traveler pie. In return, she bespelled him: whenever he spoke, fresh mini-pies fell from his lips. From that day on, he never spoke lest he reveal the forbidden magic that inhabited him. Now Castiel sells pies from his food truck, Honey Pies, and silence is second nature. One day he meets Dean Winchester, an engineer who promises a miracle. After years of solitude and secrets, can Dean pull Castiel from the shadows? Castiel signs on as his test subject and hopes for normalcy; the last thing he expects is to fall in love.

Right off the bat this fic introduces its fairy tale inspired world with a magical (and beautiful) description of the setting of Maltese City. The prose employs folktale-like writing and draws the reader into the enchanted— he would say cursed— life of Castiel. 

This fic is magical. That is the best word for it. Everything in this world has a sprinkle of fairy dust and makes the reader want to live in it. Told through Cas’s eyes as he tries to carry on a relationship with Dean while attempting to navigate his secret curse, this story is a treat to read. Dean and Cas are as sweet as pie together. 

Also, the character of Charlie is well used. She is Cas’s best friend and supportive of him, but she also has her own life to deal with. The friendship is well written and will warm your heart.

Raining at Sunset

fic by livinginthequestion  |  art by maiglöckchen

Saturday at the Public Market always means street musicians. Strolling through the market listening has always been one of Dean’s favorite post-lunch pastimes, and when he hears the siren call of a cello ripping out hard-rock licks he can’t resist following the sound. It’s amazing, and the fact that the cellist is the hottest-looking guy he’s seen in along time is a bonus. So naturally, Dean’s first move is to plant his foot firmly in his mouth.

Somehow, after that rocky start, Dean and Cas find themselves becoming friends, then more than friends. Every time they come to a challenge along the way, they lean on the trust that’s grown between them - until a tragedy upends the life they’ve built and leaves everything in shambles. How can they ever find their way back?

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

Anon, I gotta tell you, this one was a tricky little beast. I hope you like it, it’d be great if you could let me know! Thank you for sending it in :) Written for “I didn’t ask for any of this ! But do you know why I put up with it? Because I love you!”

The dormroom is a fucking mess.

Castielpushes open the door to find the floor nearly covered with papers and variousmechanical paraphernalia, obscuring the well-worn carpet to the point where heisn’t even sure if he could make it over to his bed. In the centre of it all,the epicenter of the explosion, sits his roommate. Dean’s black-framed readingglasses are perched on his nose as he peers at a set of blueprints in one hand,then looks over to the half-constructed somethingin his other.

WheneverDean has a big project due, this is inevitably what ends up happening. Theirdorm room is transformed into his ‘workshop,’ despite Castiel’s numerousprotests, and his normally patient roommate becomes a snapping, snarlingmonster. Stressed Dean is Castiel’s least favourite type of Dean.

He clearshis throat from the doorway and tries to avoid stepping on a thick report witha title so full of engineering jargon that there’s absolutely no hope at all ofdiscerning its subject. Dean doesn’t look up, just bites his bottom lip andexchanges the blueprints for a screwdriver.

“Dean,” Castiel tries, more forcefully.This time, he gets a reaction.

Dean’s handjerks, and the screwdriver scrapes along a metal side. His roommate twists fromhis seat on the floor, and green eyes glare up at Castiel.

“Cas, whathave I told you about interrupting me while I’m in the middle of importantshit?” Dean snaps, running his thumb along the piece of metal to check that thescrewdriver hadn’t damaged it. Thankfully, it appears that Dean’s projectremains intact – if it hadn’t, this conversation would have escalated to afight very quickly.

As it is,they still need to talk.

“This is myroom too, Dean. I don’t mind you working here if you have to, but occupying itto the point where I can’t reach my own bed is a little excessive.”

Deangestures vaguely at the floor in front of Castiel, his gaze still fixed on hiscreation. “Just move the papers on friction and resistance, and the bag offlange nuts, and you’ll be fine.” He carries on tinkering with his project, andCastiel can feel his frustration welling up in his chest. It’s not helped bythe fact that he has no idea what on earth a ‘flange nut’ is.

“Dean,” hegrowls, not moving from the doorway – because he’d probably only step onsomething important, and then Dean would yell at him, and they’d fall into anargument anyway. “I’m serious. Clean the floor, one of us is going to hurtourselves, and I can’t get to my fucking bed.” He makes no attempt at hidingthe anger and frustration in his voice, and Dean definitely hears it, becausewhen he turns back to face Castiel, there’s a sharpness and a fire in thosegreen eyes.

“I’mworking on a project, Cas, deal with it.”

Castielflinches as though he’s been slapped. For all the nights that they’ve hung outtogether, laughing and talking about nothing in particular with Castiel slowlyfalling further and further, this is the nasty side of Dean that rarely comesout to play, and it’s like being stabbed in the gut.

He’shurting; his first instinct is to lash out in retaliation.

“Deal withit? Are you kidding me? This is my room, Dean, I have just as much right to thespace as you do, now clean it up, orI’ll—“

“You’llwhat?” Dean growls, setting the contraption aside, rising to his feet andpushing his heading glasses up on top of his head. He’s way too attractive likethis, fierce fire and barely-contained thunderstorms, and Castiel clenches histeeth so hard that something in his jaw pops. “You’ll complain about me to theRA? Request a room swap? What, Cas? You got a fucking problem?”

And that’sjust a push too far, to suggest that Castiel would throw away their wholefriendship over a silly argument.

“I didn’task for any of this! But do you know why I put up with it all? Because I loveyou.”

Then again,he might’ve just thrown away their entire friendship anyway.

He slaps ahand over his mouth, his eyes going wide and mortified in an expression that heknows must mirror Dean’s own. The room is silent.

“You loveme?” Dean whispers, his green eyes still wide with shock and arms hangingloosely by his side. Castiel wishes that he could turn back time, unsay it,unsay all of it. He’d put up with the bombsite of a room if it just meant thathe and Dean could be okay.

“Please,just forget about it, it’s not – I don’t want it to come between us.” His ownvoice sounds tremulous, sad. Dean just stares at him.

And then he’smoving, delicately picking his way over his various piles of paraphernaliauntil he’s standing in front of a shocked and immobile Castiel. The pile ofmetal directly behind Dean means that they’re forced close together, Dean’ssocked feet almost on top of Castiel’s tennis shoes, barely any space betweentheir chests.

Castielonly has a second to register the closeness of those green eyes before there arefirm, calloused engineer’s hands cupping his cheeks, and warm lips pressingagainst his own.

Dean is kissing him. He must be hallucinating, surely, but when helifts one hand to brace himself against Dean’s chest, his roommate feels warmand sturdy and real. To hell with it,he thinks, and melts into the kiss.

It feelslike it goes on forever, but it must have only been a few seconds before Deanpulls back, his cheeks flushed and a slightly goofy smile on his lips. “Youreally meant that?” he asks, and Castiel is too stunned to do anything but nodbefore Dean reels him in for another kiss. This one lasts significantly longer,and by the time they break apart, they’re both breathless and grinning.

Dean islooking at him like he hung the sun and moon and all the stars, and Castielknows he must look the same.

“I stillwant you to clean up the floor,” Castiel tells him, his voice soft.

You wanted devastation? Nice try, pal, think again. Written for “You need to wake up because I can’t do this on my own” and “I just don’t know how to look forward anymore.”

Dean is afantastic sport. When he walked in the door after a long day of work to findCastiel with dinner on the table and a new game downloading on the TV, he justsmiles, drops his bag by the door and pulls Castiel in for an ‘I’ve missed you’kiss. It’s one of the things Castiel loves about him, and he makes sure topress his gratitude into Dean’s lips as they stand in the doorway.

Eventually,though, he hears Dean’s stomach rumble, and pulls back from the kiss. “Did youeat anything at work today?” he asks softly, and Dean’s sheepish grin is enoughto have Castiel shaking his head and pushing him over to the lasagna cooling onthe table. For someone who decimates the kitchen whenever he’s at home, Deanoften gets caught up in his work and simply forgets to eat.

They swapwork stories as they eat – Dean spent his day chasing down his misplacedblueprints and organizing the list of parts needed for his prototype, Castielhad a meeting with the principal about possibly becoming the head of theEnglish faculty – and then settle down onto the couch together after clearingup.

Dean’s eyesare already drooping as Castiel sets up the game and hands Dean a controller,but he insists he’ll be alright to play. The game is called ‘Human: Fall Flat,’Castiel explains, and spends the next five minutes glaring at Dean as hisgleeful boyfriend attempts to throw Cas’s little blobby human off the platform.

He’d figuredthat this would be a fun game for Dean, what with his combination of ananalytical mind and his penchant for rushing into things with littleconsideration. Instead, he finds himself attempting to fend off Dean’scharacter – who grabs Castiel’s on the ass and then refuses to let go. It takeshalf a minute for Dean’s laugh to die down to a gentle wheeze, and only once he’spulled Castiel over the edge with him one last time does he give in and agreeto tackle the puzzles.

They makeit through the first level or two easily, their two little blob men working intandem. Dean is watching the TV screen sideways with his head in Castiel’s lap,but most of the time he’s able to co-ordinate his character pretty well.

Until theyget halfway through the next level, and suddenly Cas’s little blob man is theonly one jumping up onto the platform, having left Dean’s behind.

A glancedown confirms what Castiel had already expected: Dean is sound asleep, his lipsparted and his fingers loose around the controller.

“Dean,”Castiel tries, poking his boyfriend in the shoulder. Onscreen, both characters swaysslightly, but otherwise don’t move. “Dean, I need you to wake up, because I can’tdo this on my own.” Sure, the levels are designed so that one person couldhypothetically complete them by themselves, but Castiel is definitely not atthat stage yet.

Still, whenDean doesn’t wake, Castiel soldiers on, leaving the immobile figure on theright side of the screen behind and concentrating on his own odd little avatar.He manages to get a decent way through the puzzles in the level, but then heturns his avatar, and… the camera doesn’t turn with him.

Dean wouldbe able to fix this easily, but Castiel has always been pretty inept at fixingtechnical difficulties. Still, he’s not going to wake Dean up just to help withthis. He looks far too serene, asleep with his head in Castiel’s lap, hislashes resting just above freckled cheekbones. He must have really needed a sleep.

The extentof Castiel’s technical problem solving abilities is to mash at the sticks andbuttons on the controller and mutter to himself in the hopes that that will fixhis problem. “I just don’t know how to look forward anymore,” he grumbles underhis breath as he tries to swivel both sticks at once. “Why does this have to beso hard?”

When hisblobby man walks off the edge of the level for the sixth time, Castiel pinchesthe bridge of his nose and gives up.

They bothhave the day off tomorrow; surely he can persuade Dean to fix the controller.

Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: Supernatural Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester Characters: Castiel, Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury, Bela Talbot, Benny Lafitte, Sam Winchester, Mary Winchester, Naomi (Supernatural), Rachel (Supernatural), Michael (Supernatural), Alfie (Supernatural), Tessa (Supernatural), Kevin Tran, Jo Harvelle, Donna Hanscum, Pamela Barnes, Eileen Leahy, Original Characters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Political AU, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Kid Fic, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Art By Marietwist, Dean/Cas Big Bang Challenge 2016, Other: See Story Notes Summary:

Summary: Dean and Cas are childhood best friends who lost touch when Cas moved away. Years later, through a chance encounter, they find their way back - just in time for Christmas.

Keep your head in the game, Winchester, you have a job to do and jail bait twinks are not part of it. Dean had been repeating this mantra to himself over and over as he spliced wires and checked components. 

Anna was a friend, so he had no problem checking the studio’s sound system for free. He just wished she’d have warned him about the two dozen male dancers prancing around, all flexible and in shape. 

Jesus he was not going to make it out of here. He was going to end up cutting off part of his finger when he was clipping wires, or electrocuting himself. Probably the worst of the dancers was one of the junior instructors, Castiel. A college student like Dean, so he wouldn’t get Dean on any government watch lists. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to get Dean in trouble, though.

Castiel was observant, which was a given for someone teaching ballet, but it meant that Dean had to be twice as careful checking the guy out. He was just an inch or two shorter than Dean, almost six feet of smooth, tan skin and lean muscle. His thighs, too, Christ. Dude could probably kill someone with them.

For fuck’s sake, Winchester, you’re a fucking professional. 

Dean stole another glance in Castiel’s direction, his eyes following the curve of Castiel’s ass, up his back, along his shoulders and shit, shit Castiel was looking right back at him. They held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Castiel’s eyes slowly trailed down Dean’s body. He offered Dean an almost shy smile before going back to dancing.