FIC: "To Be a Winchester" by shadow_artemis - PG - (3/14)
Title: To Be a Winchester: Diner Food (3/14)
Author: shadow_artemis
Characters/Pairing: Dean, Castiel, Sam (pre-Destiel if you want it to be)
Rating: PG for language
Summary: It had all started out so simply: “If you’re gonna be apart of this family, you’re gonna have to start acting like a Winchester.” Now Dean wasn't so sure.
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I'm just a college bum. I owe more than I own.
Notes: Takes place early in season 5, but still chronologically after the first two chapters. Obviously, this is kind of alternative to how things went in season 5, at least with Cas' characterization. It kind of evolved into my own personal version of events, without changing too much that happened.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
It had been a long time since a hunt had gone this well. Really, saying the hunt had been successful was like saying that Led Zeppelin was just a decent band. They had flat-out kicked ass, from the research to pumping the shtriga full of iron. All the kids were out of their comas and home safe with their families once again; Sam, Dean and Castiel hadn’t even been injured. It was nice to know that even in the midst of the Apocalypse, something could go right.
While their usual course of action would have been to celebrate with drinks at the local dive bar, Dean had been extra vocal about how they had to miss dinner to finish the hunt. Sam and Cas had agreed, and a quick drive around town revealed a mom and pop diner that was still open.
Inside, the waitress, who was barely over thirty and still rocking it, brought them three menus and black coffee, not that they needed it after the excitement of a great hunt. The Winchesters flipped through the small menus, but they already knew what they wanted; Castiel, on the other hand, was completely out of his depth. He’d only recently begun eating regularly, and in these recent forays into eating, the food had always been provided by one of the Winchesters. He’d never had a choice in what he ate, and never questioned it.
Now, all on his own, there were too many choices. Hamburgers, salads, pork chops, mozzarella sticks... He had no idea what to do or where to begin.
Dean must have noticed his blank look, because he raised an eyebrow and a small smile appeared on his lips.
“You doing alright, man? You look like you’ve never looked at a menu before.”
Still looking at the innumerable options, Castiel replied, “I haven’t.”
Dean blanched, the idea obviously unfathomable to someone who had grown up ordering off a menu. “Not once, ever? You’ve been on Earth for, what? Two years now? And you’ve never actually ordered food?”
“When I was still connected to the Host, I could maintain my body’s needs through will alone,” he answered flatly, unwilling to delve any further into the subject at the moment. His disconnection from Heaven was something of a sore spot, and not anything he was willing to discuss when he was so uncomfortably hungry. “What did you bring to the motel last night?”
“The fish sandwiches?” Sam asked, trying to remember what he’d bought the night before while Dean and Cas had researched. While the angel nodded affirmatively, Dean wrinkled his nose.
“Those sucked,” he griped. Castiel shrugged.
“They were passingly edible.” The elder Winchester’s eyebrows shot up at this, but Castiel didn’t notice. He was now engrossed by all the different flavors of milk they could shake together.
“Passingly edible? Dude, that’s seriously fucked up.” When Cas finally looked at him, Dean just frowned disapprovingly. “Those things were one step above hot garbage, man. You need to broaden your food horizons if ‘passingly edible’ is all you’re aiming for.”
“They provided nutrition and sustenance,” Castiel replied, not quite clear on where the man was going with this. Dean, though, just snorted in what was most likely derision.
“Nutrition and sustenance are all good and well when they’re the only options, but you’ve got the entire menu. Food is like music-the good stuff really gets you going.” Sam chuckled at the comparison, earning an offended look from his older brother. “What?”
“Nothing,” Sam laughed. “You just almost sounded deep there for a minute.”
“I can be deep,” Dean snapped defensively; the younger man just smiled and nodded.
“Sure you can.” The older hunter started to quip back, but Sam cut him off. “Just help Cas out.”
Dean glared at his brother for a moment before looking back to his angel friend, who had resumed poring over the food options.
“Have you ever had anything that was more than ‘passingly edible?’” Dean asked, peeking at Castiel’s open menu. The angel’s eyes hesitated, brow furrowing slightly as he thought.
“The hamburgers you bought last week were good,” he replied. Dean nodded with approval.
“Good man. Burgers are always a good option. Here, they’ve got an entire section of them.” He flipped the menu in Cas’ hands to the next page, pointing to the top section. A flood of possibilities became apparent, only slightly narrowing the presented options. Dean, thankfully, didn’t appear to be done. “Now, those burgers were decent, but if you really want something special, try a bacon cheeseburger. If they do it right here, it’ll be the best thing you’ve had yet. Not that it could be hard to top that.”
Almost on cue, the waitress appeared, a notepad in hand.
“You boys ready to order?” she asked perkily.
“Yeah,” Sam replied. “I’ll have a grilled chicken sandwich with a side of cole slaw.” She scribbled his order down and turned to smile at Dean.
“And for you?”
“I’ll have the pimento burger and fries,” he grinned back, garnering a coy smile as she recorded his order. She looked to Castiel next, who only blinked back.
“What do you want, hun?” she said after a moment, smile not faltering. Dean nudged Cas, snapping him back to life.
“Ummmm... I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger,” he replied, emulating the brothers. “And fries.” The waitress smiled despite his apparent awkwardness with ordering, took down his request, and tucked the pen behind her ear.
“I’ll be back with those in a bit.” She turned and headed toward the kitchen; when she was gone, Dean smiled at the angel.
“See, not too hard,” he said, coming dangerously close to sounding like a parent encouraging his kid. Castiel nodded, nothing to say that wouldn’t be redundant, and leaned back in the booth as Sam and Dean began to chat. They mostly talked about the next job, interspersing the conversation with brotherly banter and offhand remarks about other things, and easily whiled away the time until the waitress showed up with their food.
The burger in front of Castiel was nothing short of intimidating. Four thick strips of bacon poked out in each cardinal direction, while a bright golden piece of cheese half-melted over the fresh beef patty. Other things garnished the burger, but nothing was quite as intriguing as one simple fact, which he made known to Sam and Dean a moment later.
“This sandwich is far too big to eat. I can’t get that all in my mouth.”
“That’s what she said,” Dean snickered. Sam raised an unamused eyebrow.
“Really, Dean?” The older brother just gave his usual broad smile, and Sam shook his head. “You’re fine, Cas. Just eat it.” Again, Dean sniggered, though Cas was only vaguely aware why-he assumed it was some sort of sexual innuendo that was better left unexplained. He looked to both Winchesters, but they had already moved onto their own meals; Sam took a bite of his cole slaw, while Dean took a huge bite of his burger, pimento sauce dripping down one side of his mouth.
Finding no further support in his friends, he picked up the daunting burger and, warily, attempted to take a bite. Just like Sam said, it wasn’t as difficult as he’d imagined, and a hundred times better tasting than the fish sandwiches they had eaten last night. A hundred new flavors he had never experienced filled his mouth as he continued to chew; the bacon crunched in his mouth, while the beef was softer once he got through the grilled outer layer. He took another hungry bite, drawing a grin from Dean.
“Good?” he asked simply, mouth half-full of his own burger. Cas nodded enthusiastically, chewing another bite with passion.
“It’s delicious.”
“Try the fries,” Dean suggested, popping a few of his own into his mouth. Castiel did as he was told, eyes widening at the crisp saltiness.
“These are amazing,” he espoused, eating more in between bites of his cheeseburger. “If they served food in Heaven, surely these would be there.” At this, Dean chuckled.
“They probably would, man. And these aren’t even the best fries I’ve had.” If it was possible, the angel’s eyes grew wider; Dean just smiled. “It’s true. We’ll see if we can make it there sometime.” The implication of making it there after they’d averted the Apocalypse hung in the air, but no one mentioned that.
“I would like that,” Castiel said instead, taking a quick drink of his water. Dean nodded and went back to his own food, leaving them all to eat quietly. The angel looked between his friends, a ghost of a smile playing across his lips. It was difficult, rarely rewarding work, and the threat of the End of Days still loomed over their heads, but Cas realized now that these were the moments they were working toward, the quiet, happy moments that made rebellion worth it on so many levels. He may have lost one family, but he knew now that he had gained another in the Winchesters. For the first time since he’d come to Earth, he truly felt like he had a family he belonged with.
A feeling of contentment settled over the angel as he took another big bite of his cheeseburger. Being a Winchester was something he could accept.
Author: shadow_artemis
Characters/Pairing: Dean, Castiel, Sam (pre-Destiel if you want it to be)
Rating: PG for language
Summary: It had all started out so simply: “If you’re gonna be apart of this family, you’re gonna have to start acting like a Winchester.” Now Dean wasn't so sure.
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I'm just a college bum. I owe more than I own.
Notes: Takes place early in season 5, but still chronologically after the first two chapters. Obviously, this is kind of alternative to how things went in season 5, at least with Cas' characterization. It kind of evolved into my own personal version of events, without changing too much that happened.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
It had been a long time since a hunt had gone this well. Really, saying the hunt had been successful was like saying that Led Zeppelin was just a decent band. They had flat-out kicked ass, from the research to pumping the shtriga full of iron. All the kids were out of their comas and home safe with their families once again; Sam, Dean and Castiel hadn’t even been injured. It was nice to know that even in the midst of the Apocalypse, something could go right.
While their usual course of action would have been to celebrate with drinks at the local dive bar, Dean had been extra vocal about how they had to miss dinner to finish the hunt. Sam and Cas had agreed, and a quick drive around town revealed a mom and pop diner that was still open.
Inside, the waitress, who was barely over thirty and still rocking it, brought them three menus and black coffee, not that they needed it after the excitement of a great hunt. The Winchesters flipped through the small menus, but they already knew what they wanted; Castiel, on the other hand, was completely out of his depth. He’d only recently begun eating regularly, and in these recent forays into eating, the food had always been provided by one of the Winchesters. He’d never had a choice in what he ate, and never questioned it.
Now, all on his own, there were too many choices. Hamburgers, salads, pork chops, mozzarella sticks... He had no idea what to do or where to begin.
Dean must have noticed his blank look, because he raised an eyebrow and a small smile appeared on his lips.
“You doing alright, man? You look like you’ve never looked at a menu before.”
Still looking at the innumerable options, Castiel replied, “I haven’t.”
Dean blanched, the idea obviously unfathomable to someone who had grown up ordering off a menu. “Not once, ever? You’ve been on Earth for, what? Two years now? And you’ve never actually ordered food?”
“When I was still connected to the Host, I could maintain my body’s needs through will alone,” he answered flatly, unwilling to delve any further into the subject at the moment. His disconnection from Heaven was something of a sore spot, and not anything he was willing to discuss when he was so uncomfortably hungry. “What did you bring to the motel last night?”
“The fish sandwiches?” Sam asked, trying to remember what he’d bought the night before while Dean and Cas had researched. While the angel nodded affirmatively, Dean wrinkled his nose.
“Those sucked,” he griped. Castiel shrugged.
“They were passingly edible.” The elder Winchester’s eyebrows shot up at this, but Castiel didn’t notice. He was now engrossed by all the different flavors of milk they could shake together.
“Passingly edible? Dude, that’s seriously fucked up.” When Cas finally looked at him, Dean just frowned disapprovingly. “Those things were one step above hot garbage, man. You need to broaden your food horizons if ‘passingly edible’ is all you’re aiming for.”
“They provided nutrition and sustenance,” Castiel replied, not quite clear on where the man was going with this. Dean, though, just snorted in what was most likely derision.
“Nutrition and sustenance are all good and well when they’re the only options, but you’ve got the entire menu. Food is like music-the good stuff really gets you going.” Sam chuckled at the comparison, earning an offended look from his older brother. “What?”
“Nothing,” Sam laughed. “You just almost sounded deep there for a minute.”
“I can be deep,” Dean snapped defensively; the younger man just smiled and nodded.
“Sure you can.” The older hunter started to quip back, but Sam cut him off. “Just help Cas out.”
Dean glared at his brother for a moment before looking back to his angel friend, who had resumed poring over the food options.
“Have you ever had anything that was more than ‘passingly edible?’” Dean asked, peeking at Castiel’s open menu. The angel’s eyes hesitated, brow furrowing slightly as he thought.
“The hamburgers you bought last week were good,” he replied. Dean nodded with approval.
“Good man. Burgers are always a good option. Here, they’ve got an entire section of them.” He flipped the menu in Cas’ hands to the next page, pointing to the top section. A flood of possibilities became apparent, only slightly narrowing the presented options. Dean, thankfully, didn’t appear to be done. “Now, those burgers were decent, but if you really want something special, try a bacon cheeseburger. If they do it right here, it’ll be the best thing you’ve had yet. Not that it could be hard to top that.”
Almost on cue, the waitress appeared, a notepad in hand.
“You boys ready to order?” she asked perkily.
“Yeah,” Sam replied. “I’ll have a grilled chicken sandwich with a side of cole slaw.” She scribbled his order down and turned to smile at Dean.
“And for you?”
“I’ll have the pimento burger and fries,” he grinned back, garnering a coy smile as she recorded his order. She looked to Castiel next, who only blinked back.
“What do you want, hun?” she said after a moment, smile not faltering. Dean nudged Cas, snapping him back to life.
“Ummmm... I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger,” he replied, emulating the brothers. “And fries.” The waitress smiled despite his apparent awkwardness with ordering, took down his request, and tucked the pen behind her ear.
“I’ll be back with those in a bit.” She turned and headed toward the kitchen; when she was gone, Dean smiled at the angel.
“See, not too hard,” he said, coming dangerously close to sounding like a parent encouraging his kid. Castiel nodded, nothing to say that wouldn’t be redundant, and leaned back in the booth as Sam and Dean began to chat. They mostly talked about the next job, interspersing the conversation with brotherly banter and offhand remarks about other things, and easily whiled away the time until the waitress showed up with their food.
The burger in front of Castiel was nothing short of intimidating. Four thick strips of bacon poked out in each cardinal direction, while a bright golden piece of cheese half-melted over the fresh beef patty. Other things garnished the burger, but nothing was quite as intriguing as one simple fact, which he made known to Sam and Dean a moment later.
“This sandwich is far too big to eat. I can’t get that all in my mouth.”
“That’s what she said,” Dean snickered. Sam raised an unamused eyebrow.
“Really, Dean?” The older brother just gave his usual broad smile, and Sam shook his head. “You’re fine, Cas. Just eat it.” Again, Dean sniggered, though Cas was only vaguely aware why-he assumed it was some sort of sexual innuendo that was better left unexplained. He looked to both Winchesters, but they had already moved onto their own meals; Sam took a bite of his cole slaw, while Dean took a huge bite of his burger, pimento sauce dripping down one side of his mouth.
Finding no further support in his friends, he picked up the daunting burger and, warily, attempted to take a bite. Just like Sam said, it wasn’t as difficult as he’d imagined, and a hundred times better tasting than the fish sandwiches they had eaten last night. A hundred new flavors he had never experienced filled his mouth as he continued to chew; the bacon crunched in his mouth, while the beef was softer once he got through the grilled outer layer. He took another hungry bite, drawing a grin from Dean.
“Good?” he asked simply, mouth half-full of his own burger. Cas nodded enthusiastically, chewing another bite with passion.
“It’s delicious.”
“Try the fries,” Dean suggested, popping a few of his own into his mouth. Castiel did as he was told, eyes widening at the crisp saltiness.
“These are amazing,” he espoused, eating more in between bites of his cheeseburger. “If they served food in Heaven, surely these would be there.” At this, Dean chuckled.
“They probably would, man. And these aren’t even the best fries I’ve had.” If it was possible, the angel’s eyes grew wider; Dean just smiled. “It’s true. We’ll see if we can make it there sometime.” The implication of making it there after they’d averted the Apocalypse hung in the air, but no one mentioned that.
“I would like that,” Castiel said instead, taking a quick drink of his water. Dean nodded and went back to his own food, leaving them all to eat quietly. The angel looked between his friends, a ghost of a smile playing across his lips. It was difficult, rarely rewarding work, and the threat of the End of Days still loomed over their heads, but Cas realized now that these were the moments they were working toward, the quiet, happy moments that made rebellion worth it on so many levels. He may have lost one family, but he knew now that he had gained another in the Winchesters. For the first time since he’d come to Earth, he truly felt like he had a family he belonged with.
A feeling of contentment settled over the angel as he took another big bite of his cheeseburger. Being a Winchester was something he could accept.