#supternatural

 ~~~~~

“Hello, Dean,” Cas said later that afternoon, when they met for their weekly coffee date after work. 

“Heya, Cas, have a good day?” replied Dean, taking off his jacket to sit at the table.

“Numbers are numbers, every day is the same,” countered Cas, “reports, accounting ledges, auditing, it never ends.”

“Same can be said about sales,” Dean looked down and groused, “product, pricing, place, promotion, people, it’s just one big wheel that never ends client to client.Yada, Yada, Yada. And we are the ones continuing to drive the company revenues that you have to keep track of.”

The waitress showed up just as the duo were starting to turn morose about their jobs with coffee and sweets orders. Cas enjoyed his Latte and Danish, while Dean his black, drip coffee and pie. They ate in silence.

Before things could get too stale, Cas looked up from his place and used his fork to point at Dean, “I’ve got an idea for an evening together if you’re up to it?”

“Sonofabitch, put that thing down before you poke someone’s eye out with it!” Dean exclaimed. “You, an idea for a date?” He grinned, “I’ve got to hear this, a museum?”

“No, I took your tastes into account. I know you don’t like all the documentaries I choose on movie nights.” Cas retorted.

“How about we get out of here and go back to my place?” Dean asked. “We can talk freely there, put on a movie, and put our feet up now that the work day’s over.” He motioned with his head to the parking lot.

“Lead the way,” Cas answered and reached to grab his coat off the back of the chair.

~~~~~

Once back at Dean’s house, Cas hung up his coat, put his keys in the bowl by the front door, and toed off his shoes. Dean came back out of the kitchen with two beers. One for each of them, and gestured toward the sofa. 

“So what’s this date idea you have? Dean prompted Cas quizzically.

“There’s a lantern stroll at the nature park. I saw it on facebook,” Cas told him “it’s after work, they advertise cocoa, a bonfire, decorations along the trail made by locals to support a charity, and one of the wildlife rescues will be there with a few of their birds. It looks like a nice evening out.”

“That actually does sound fun, when is it?” Dean inquired.

“Next Friday and Saturday evening,” Cas told him. “I was hoping since it’s just Wednesday, we could go Friday?” He asked hopefully.

“Sure thing! What time do you want me to pick you up?” Dean asked, as he put his feet up on the coffee table. 

“How about 5 o’clock? I’ll leave early to go home, so we don’t have my car left in the parking garage over the weekend. You can just come over as soon as you finish for the day,” Cas reasoned as he relaxed back into the cushions, thankful that Dean seemed just as excited about his idea as he was.

“I’ll message you the event page so you can take a look at it,” Cas said with a finality that ended the conversation.

They settled in to eat delivery pizza and watch Game of Thrones. Cas hadn’t seen the series before and the men were taking their time with it only watching one or two episodes a night. Cas was very emotional, behind his stoic looks he took the scenes to heart. He became very invested in the characters. When Dean had told him George R.R. Martin loved to torture just about every character, Cas hadn’t believed him. He did now. 

On GoT nights Cas always ended up snuggled under Dean’s arm, squished right into his side, sometimes hiding his eyes in Dean’s shirt. Tears were not uncommon. Unlike some men, Cas was fully accepting of his range of emotions and not afraid at all to display them. 

After the episodes were finished for the night and the popcorn, pizza, and beers were consumed, it was time to say goodnight. Cas finished putting on his shoes and jacket, then Dean pulled him by the labels into a tight hug, kissed his forehead, and wished him a good night. Cas was pleasantly pleased by the kiss and gave Dean a thousand watt smile. They have been hugging for a few weeks now, but this was their first kiss of any kind.

Cas silently loved Dean’s hugs. It was like he was the only one in the universe for those few moments. All Dean’s attention was focused on him. He always let himself melt while being held. He kissed Dean on the cheek in return, and with his keys in hand, turned and went out into the night to bide his time until their date on Friday.

~~~~~

Cas was waiting on his porch at 5pm on Friday when Dean’s impressively loud, purring V8 engine pulled into the driveway. It wasn’t particularly cold out, but it was the season for warm jackets, scarves, and gloves if you were going to be out for any length of time. Cas hadn’t been waiting long when Dean drove up.

“Heya, ready to go?” Dean asked after he stepped out of the driver’s door, “I think we’ll probably beat the crowds by going when it opens rather than waiting until later in the evening.”

“It’ll still be pretty either way, but I do like the idea of less people around,” Cas concurred, “I think the lanterns along the trail will give the trail a glow we won’t see when trees are full of leaves.”

“When have I ever turned down a bonfire and cocoa?” Laughed Dean.

“We haven’t known each other that long, Dean, but from what I can surmise of your character, I believe the answer would be never,” deduced Cas.

It was just a short drive across town to the park. Honestly, Cas didn’t even remember if the heater was blowing hot air out of the vents. Dean always had the windows rolled down just touch to keep the insides from fogging up. They were able to get a spot in the park’s visitors lot, which was surprising. Both men knew how popular events were here. But they did notice there was already quite a line. It was moving, meaning the event had already opened, but they weren’t the only ones to have the idea to go early in the evening. 

As they started along the path the run started to dip below the trees meaning soon it would be dusk. The lanterns were always giving the paved hiking trail an ethereal glow. Every 15 ft or so a decorated wooden Christmas tree shape was decorated by different groups or organizations in the community. They raised money each year for a qualifying charity. 

One of the first stops on the trail was a hot cocoa station. The men greedily took their cups as Cas took a small candy cane to put in his, while Dean took a small packet of marshmallows. 

“Just hits the spot!” Dean hummed happily while holding the cup and bringing the smell of warm cocoa to his nose. “You heathen! A candy cane! In your cocoa? How could you?” He looked at Cas appalled.

“I like the peppermint flavoring the candy cane adds to the cocoa,” replied Cas shrugging his shoulders, “what's wrong with that?”

“Let’s keep walking,” Dean started down the trail again.. Cas was always so logical. Dean sometimes just wanted to play and have fun, but Cas didn’t get the jokes. It was sorta endearing, when he thought about it, frustrating, but endearing.. Dean mentally sighed and reminded himself that’s what movie nights were for, pop culture education.

They walked side by side, sometimes their hands or sleeves would brush. They enjoyed seeing the decorations provided by the community for a worthy cause and commented on them as they walked past. Ones they liked, a Nutcracker themed Christmas tree and a tree made of wrapped presents. On the other end of the spectrum, the ones they just didn’t like or plain didn’t understand. They guessed one was supposed to be a modern art take on Christmas, but none of it made sense to either of them. So they just kept walking. The next tree was made out of women’s shoes. At least that one was funny and made sense. Both of the men thought women wore too many different kinds of shoes. 

“Who needed a dozen pairs of shoes anyway?” Cas just threw it out there while investigating the tree.

“Nobody I know, Dean answered, “not even the women in my family.”

Just at around the corner of the bend in the trail was the wildlife rescue tent. The rescue has brought three birds of prey, each damaged in some way and unable to return to the wild. A Barn Owl, that was hit by a car; a Great Horned Owl, also hit by a car; and a Harris Hawk, who had imprinted on humans, plus a wonderful interpreter discussing the breeds and all their different aspects. Cas was fascinated.

Cas was so intrigued by the information he didn’t notice that Dean had wandered over to the bonfire which was set up about 100 ft away from the rescue tent. The fire was roaring, warm, and with plenty of seating. 

Dean was sitting on an empty bench just staring into the flames finishing up his cocoa. Cas came over and sat down, scooching up next to him for warmth. He noticed how much chillier it had become since they had arrived. The day had been cloudy, but he didn’t think anything of it.

Just then, as both men stared into the fire, their arms curled around each other and they intertwined fingers, a few single stray fluffy snowflakes started to fall out of the sky. They swirled in the air currents surrounding the fire. Dean looked over at Cas, who was laying his head on Dean’s shoulder. The white of the simple snowflakes in Cas’ hair was such a contrast that it gave the evening an even more magical feel.

Cas noticed the snowflakes gathering in scattered patterns on Dean’s green scarf, which stood out over his brown jacket. He too was thinking that the evening seemed more enchanting.

Right there, in front of the bonfire, Cas cupped the back of Dean’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. At first Cas meant for it to be a chaste, we’re-out-in-public-type, kind of kiss, but that decision was overruled by the warmth in his gut to kiss the man more passionately. Dean responded quickly, following Cas’ lead and then running his tongue over the seam of Cas’ lips asking for entry to explore his new boyfriend’s mouth. 

The snow started to come down a bit more persistently  and they broke the kiss. Snow was getting in their eyes, ears, on their pants, and filling in their hair more. The evening had gained an ambiance neither of the two men expected. The lanterns were pretty, listening to the rescue and seeing the birds of prey was awe-inspiring, laughing and pointing at the inventive decorations was a nice touch to the walk, but it was the bonfire, cocoa, and the snow that really turned this date into something more.

Dean and Cas both thought the snow brought out the handsome features of the other and made them want more. Cas beat Dean to the punch in taking their relationship to a new level with the first real kiss. But it was Dean who asked to take Cas home to continue what they started at the bonfire.