Ice of Oblivion Chapter 4
Title: Ice of Oblivion Chapter 4/24
Author: zoomzoomzoomzoo
Fandom/Genre: SPN AU Romance, Drama, Action
Pairing (s): Dean/Castiel
Rating: T
Word Count: ~82,000
Warnings: Underage, Mild Sexual Situation, Violence
Summary: AU. In a time of great tragedy in the lands of Mamot, the human race and the angel race are forced to form an unbreakable union that will bind them together for twenty seven lifetimes in order to stop the uprising of the demon race. In bargain they offer Castiel, one of the most powerful angels in the entire world to marry Dean Winchester, the young crown prince of the human world. The typically detached Castiel winds up falling in love with the Prince. The only problem is his brothers don’t expect Dean to live through the war. Will Castiel stay and support the man he loves despite the heartbreak that might accompany his passing or will he fall back in line with his brothers, becoming numb to all human emotions once more?
Chapter 4
Castiel ended up going back to Inim less than a year later.
He’ll be the first person to admit that when he told Dean that he would be back soon, he meant on the day of their marriage ceremony. It would be an injustice to Dean but Castiel was sure Dean would have forgotten about him and their friendship by then.
Unfortunately, Castiel was not so lucky. Every day that he spent in Himmel, whether he was reading books, writing papers on human minds, or giving lectures to curious angels, Castiel could not get the little human boy with the big green eyes out of his mind. He missed him.
He’d only spent a week with the boy and yet he was the child’s best friend - Dean had called him his best friend had he not. And Castiel could almost agree that Dean was the closest none family member that he had. His contact with humans was scarce and he rarely saw any one of them more than once or twice in their lifetime and angels were all way to impersonal to have close friends anywhere outside of their families.
It wasn’t a lonely life. Castiel spent his time studying, training and fighting; all things that entertained him in their variability and excess.
And he still had his brothers to keep him company and the many hungry minds that craved the knowledge that only Castiel could give them. Not to mention his father, who was always with him.
But, somewhere inside of him he knew that something was missing; something crucial and indefinable.
So here Castiel was, in front of the castle of Inim with his hands deep in his white robes and the rosy sun shooting past his eyelids. He didn’t know what he expected to happen today; he knew he’d been gone a while and that’s what scared him most.
Dean was so young and a year was a very long time to humans. There was a large chance that Dean would not remember him when he saw him.
Castiel promised himself that if Dean did not remember him he would leave and come back at his designated time. And at that point he could renew his friendship with Dean and possibly fill in this hole.
As soon as Castiel set foot in the castle, he was surrounded by a variety of human guards. Within seconds, their guns were inches away from Castiel’s face and they were firing questions at him. Castiel felt a burst of irritation before it simmered away with the realization that he helped heal some of these people barely a year ago when they were inches away from death. And yet, they did not remember him.
He’d miraculously saved their lives and they had no idea who he was. And then there was Dean, a young boy with a tiny brain who he spent a week with watching him play in the gardens. There was no way Dean would remember him.
It took no time for one of the guarding angels to identify him as one of the five angelic elites, Castiel. The men pulled back quickly and apologized until they were purple in the face, but Castiel could not offer them so much as a reassuring nod because of the glaring fact that they helped him discover.
He was escorted to the Advisors Room, where there was a meeting going on with the King and his many advisors. Castiel could have waited patiently, but he knew he would be excused if not welcomed into their meeting.
Pushing open the door, Castiel noted with severe distaste that the room looked nothing like it had merely a year before. There weren’t obvious flaws, but for Castiel, who had fully examined this room for hours while allowing Dean to play in it one day. The tables had triangle-shaped chips on all of the edges and vaguely conspicuous rings throughout the clear table that all looked to come from wet beverage cups. The walls were not as properly furnished and seemed to
“Castiel,” An advisor, Castiel recalls her name being Ellen, piped up as soon as he entered.
“Did something happen?” Another advisor, Bobby, asked.
Castiel’s eyes widened to an unnoticeable extent. Of course humans must deem every visit from an angel as an alert that something dire was about to happen; and from their anxious faces, Castiel almost wished he had something important to tell them.
“No, nothing’s happening; I just was just looking for Dean.”
The advisors all nodded and turned to John Winchester, The King. Castiel hadn’t noticed the man at first, but he was pretty excited to see how the man was faring after he’d last seen him.
And there he was, at the very end of the table with a beer in one hand and a pile of papers in the other. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was pallid, his clothes were in complete disarray, as if he decided not to open his eyes when he was getting dressed. It was interesting… but Castiel could already see where this path was going to take John and he knew the effect it would have on his children.
“Dean’s… uh…” John cleared his throat and wiped his eye brow before continuing with a deep frown on his pale face. “He should be in the library with Sam.”
Castiel nodded and turned to leave when he was stopped by John.
“Do you want me to call somebody in here to escort you?” John’s speech was slurred and impossibly stagnant, Castiel didn’t want to hear it anymore.
“No.” Castiel replied before leaving the room.
He walked down the hall quickly, wanting to get away from that man and his problems before tried to help. He did not have time for that right now; he had to find Dean. It was not difficult to get to the library and finding Dean was even easier.
As soon as Castiel walked into the room, he saw Dean on the floor looking at picture books with Sam in a small chair beside him. The boy’s legs were in the air and his pointed finger was lodged firmly in his mouth as if mimicking his little brother, who was doing the same thing.
He was not much bigger than he had been a year ago, but he did seem older in some ways. The way that he laid, the expressions he made and the concentration on his face was nothing like that of a four year old that he knew one year ago.
Dean looked up from his book as soon as Castiel entered. The look in his eyes when he saw Castiel actually scared the angel at first; he was obviously confused. He didn’t remember him.
“Cas?”
Castiel frowned and then nodded slowly.
Before he knew it, Dean was on his feet and hopping over the head of his baby brother just to get in front of Castiel. He threw himself into Castiel’s stomach, his arms wrapped tightly around the man’s waist. Castiel reluctantly wrapped his arms around Dean’s shoulders and back. He never thought he would fall in love with hugs like he has; but every time Dean wraps his body heat around Castiel, Castiel feels warm not just on the outside but on the inside as well.
Dean pulled away from the hug quickly, but he did not take his hands away from Castiel’s waist. His face was bright and beaming as he clung to Castiel’s waist with all that he had inside of him, as if Castiel would disappear again if he so much as loosened his grips.
Castiel, trying his hand at small talk, told Dean how big he’d gotten and how big Sam was now; which Dean only waved off with short ‘I knows’ and then commented on how Castiel looked no different than he did one year ago. After that was over, Dean pulled Castiel back to where he and Sammy were sitting and yanked him down to the ground; making Castiel experience for the first time having to sit down on a stone hard wooden floor, one that was a killer on his backside.
“Look Cas!”
When Castiel looked down at the picture that Dean was pointing to he was only a little surprised at what he saw. In front of his little friend was a highly elaborate picture of a gun and gun parts; inappropriate for any other five year old, of course, but not for this five year old.
“Isn’t it great?”
Castiel cleared his throat and leaned over, observing the graphic picture with a critical eye. He recalled studying these exact photos almost fifty years ago when the concept of guns was first introduced to the world.
“My daddy says I’ll be king soon. So, I have to learn about guns and stuff, or I won’t be a good warrior like him.”
Castiel made a noise of agreement and nodded, placing his hand on Dean’s shoulder he smiled. “You’ll make a wonderful warrior, Dean.”
Dean smiled at Castiel and rested his head on his lower arm. “I have to be so I’ll be the perfect King.”
Castiel did have a problem with this “king” notion. He very often observed children’s behavioral patterns as they grew from childhood to adulthood and very rarely did children have such broad expectations in themselves. And if they did, except for concentrating like Dean is doing, they often reverted to even more childish behaviors and mannerisms. Castiel was proud of him, but at the same time, it was disheartening to watch.
“Castiel you’re a king, right?”
Castiel, a king? Of course not, the only true king of Mamot was his Father. “No.”
Dean took his head off of Castiel’s shoulders and looked at him with wrinkled eyebrows, confused. “But, Dad said you and your brothers control everything in the whole world.” Dean waved his arms high in the air to accentuate the ‘whole world’.
“No Dean,” Castiel said, chuckling. “My brothers and I are of course looked upon with more respect than anyone else because we were the First.”
“First?” Dean cocked his head to the side in a manner that was very reminiscent to Castiel.
“We were the first beings on Mamot, placed here by our father many years ago and were here to bear witness to the birth of man, animal, demon and every other angel in existence.”
“So… you’re like gods?” Dean reasoned with an excited pep.
Castiel recoiled outraged. “No!”
Dean shrank back from his friend with a pout and a small shake. “…sorry…”
Shoot… he hadn’t meant to yell, but the idea was so ludicrous and outrageous. No able minded human being would ever assess that an angel was like a god; it was like saying that they were on the same level as their father. It was blasphemous and offensive. But, looking at Dean’s quivering lower lip and the foolish way that he clung to that large book like it was the key to the universe, Castiel realized that though the small boy beside him was smart for his age and would one day be a wonderful warrior, he was still a child.
“Uh- no Dean, we’re not like gods,” Castiel said. “I’m sorry by the way.”
Dean’s lips immediately stopped quivering and his pout morphed into an excited smile. He patted Castiel on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry its okay. But, why aren’t you king of the world anyways, you’ve been here forever.”
Castiel sighed, realizing that rational conversation was not good for someone like Dean and started rubbing small circles on the child’s back. “I just didn’t think it was the right job for me.”
Dean nodded as if he understood exactly what his friend meant and he leaned back into Castiel’s soft touch. “Its okay, the job isn’t for everyone.”
“But it’s for you?”
Dean nodded. “It has to be. If I’m King, I’ll be strong enough to take care of Sammy and Dad. Then you can move in with me and be my most trustful servant.”
Castiel huffed a chuckle. “… servant?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of you too Cas.” He throws himself into Castiel’s arms.
From beside them, they heard a soft whine that prompted Dean to pull away from his friend quickly and console his little brother. He placed his finger on the boy’s bottom lip and Sam immediately started sucking on the bony finger of his brother.
“ ’ungry!”
Castiel almost jumped when Sam finally spoke; he’s expected it to happen by now. But, it was a shock to hear the youthful voice of the baby he’d known not too long ago.
Turning to Castiel Dean said, “I think he’s hungry.”
Castiel’s head cocked to the side as he stared at his little friend; and exactly what was he supposed to do with that information?
Dean dramatically rolled his eyes to the back of his head and sighed. “Can you get his cup for me? It’s on the floor beside Sammy’s books.”
The library was as a whole, one of the neatest places in the whole castle. Every book stacked in perfect alphabetical order by genre and writing style; the floors were neatly polished and gleaming while the tables and chairs were neatly positioned in row that reminded Castiel of the most perfect alignment of ant species when they made camp. But, the area that Dean and Sam took over was not as… well… blended as the rest of the room.
In their little area, there was a wide array of books scattered all along the floors some were picture books while the rest were highly elaborate books about war and fighting… books that Castiel kind of knew Dean could not understand. Also, not in par with typical library rules, there were scones and cups of juice all over the floor. Some were on the floor while some were on the tables. There area was a complete mess, but low and behold, right next to the largest assortment of colorful picture books was a the smallest cup of red juice.
Castiel picked it up and grimaced at how wet the outside of the cup was. He carried it to Dean and grabbed a small scone along with it.
Dean took them both from him and silently thanked him before stuffing the cup into Sam’s mouth, followed by the scone.
Castiel sat back down next to Dean Winchester and frowned. He would make an amazing warrior one day; he was caring, strong and already had the easy personality that people so often looked upon in their leaders. Yes, he was going to be amazing. His father made the right decision when he choose Dean as their champion. But, Dean wanted to be King too. Castiel couldn’t help but feel that was too much for one person to handle.
“Dean, why do you want to be King?”
“I told you.”
“You know, you don’t have to be King. Your little brother here can be King too; you could just live your life.”
Dean shook his head and somberly peered down at his little brother; petting him on the top of his furry head. “No, Sammy shouldn’t have to worry about that stuff. That’s not his job, it’s mine,” Dean said. “Sammy’s a genius! He’s going to be a healer, right Sammy?”
“Right!” The one and a half year old stood on his bony legs and jumped onto Dean, who was on his knees at the time. Dean wrapped his arm around his baby brother and smiled at Castiel.
“Don’t worry Cas, it’s the job is right for me.”
Castiel wanted so badly to argue and combat the decision, at least for now, while Dean was still a child. But all he did was force a smile and nod. Dean will be fine, he’ll outgrow this dream and decide to be warrior only, like Father intended.
~*~*~
It was less than a month later when Castiel decided to return home. He told Dean that the only reason he had to leave was because he had to write something; apparently, while he, Dean and Sammy were walking through the gardens one day, Castiel saw the most peculiar breed of plant. In fact, it was so peculiar that Castiel had to stop their walk for one whole hour just to further examine the tiny blue plant; which was much more than Dean’s tiny attention span could take.
Sam took interest though and listened to everything Castiel had to say, even when he didn’t understand half of what the angel was saying. It was annoying and eventually Dean got so fed up that he just picked the flower out of the ground and shoved it into Castiel’s hands, and then proceeded to pull him and Sammy along so they could finish their walk.
The next day, Castiel remarked with excitement that he was going back home to finish write a paper on the blue plant and possibly find copies of them; and if there were none then to definitely make them. He was so excited to leave that he didn’t even notice Dean cry… well, he didn’t cry. His dad told him he was way too old for that; but he did feel his eyes water and he was pretty sure something wet slid down his cheek. Maybe it was rain.
Dean followed Castiel outside when he was ready to leave. His father didn’t come along; he was uninterested in seeing Castiel off, just like he was uninterested in everything else lately.
Dean sighed and reached up, gripping Castiel’s hands into his own. Castiel looked at him with a mixture of worry and amusement and gave Dean’s hand a slight squeeze when they made it outside. He unlaced his fingers from Dean’s and stood in front of him, placing both of his hands on Dean’s shoulders he offered him a small smile.
“I’ll be back soon Dean.”
Dean didn’t say anything; he only turned away from the man and looked instead at the swaying trees that stood at the end of the yard.
“I promise when I come back I’ll tell you all about the plant, what it means and what it does. It’ll be an interesting story.”
Dean still remained silent.
“Tell your father and Sam I said goodbye.”
Zip.
“Okay…” Castiel cleared his throat and moved away from him. “Goodbye Dean.”
That got Dean’s attention, his wide tear-filled eyes snapped toward his Castiel and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but quickly shut it. Walking towards his friend, he encased him in a hug and buried his face in Castiel’s stomach. He rubbed his tears away on the man’s still white robes and mumbled,
“I’ll miss you.”
If Castiel heard him, he didn’t say anything in response. He only patted the boy on his back and after a couple of minutes, stepped away and frowned.
“Goodbye.”
“Bye, bye.”
There was a flash of light, a fluttering of feathers, and he was gone.
Next
Author: zoomzoomzoomzoo
Fandom/Genre: SPN AU Romance, Drama, Action
Pairing (s): Dean/Castiel
Rating: T
Word Count: ~82,000
Warnings: Underage, Mild Sexual Situation, Violence
Summary: AU. In a time of great tragedy in the lands of Mamot, the human race and the angel race are forced to form an unbreakable union that will bind them together for twenty seven lifetimes in order to stop the uprising of the demon race. In bargain they offer Castiel, one of the most powerful angels in the entire world to marry Dean Winchester, the young crown prince of the human world. The typically detached Castiel winds up falling in love with the Prince. The only problem is his brothers don’t expect Dean to live through the war. Will Castiel stay and support the man he loves despite the heartbreak that might accompany his passing or will he fall back in line with his brothers, becoming numb to all human emotions once more?
Chapter 4
Castiel ended up going back to Inim less than a year later.
He’ll be the first person to admit that when he told Dean that he would be back soon, he meant on the day of their marriage ceremony. It would be an injustice to Dean but Castiel was sure Dean would have forgotten about him and their friendship by then.
Unfortunately, Castiel was not so lucky. Every day that he spent in Himmel, whether he was reading books, writing papers on human minds, or giving lectures to curious angels, Castiel could not get the little human boy with the big green eyes out of his mind. He missed him.
He’d only spent a week with the boy and yet he was the child’s best friend - Dean had called him his best friend had he not. And Castiel could almost agree that Dean was the closest none family member that he had. His contact with humans was scarce and he rarely saw any one of them more than once or twice in their lifetime and angels were all way to impersonal to have close friends anywhere outside of their families.
It wasn’t a lonely life. Castiel spent his time studying, training and fighting; all things that entertained him in their variability and excess.
And he still had his brothers to keep him company and the many hungry minds that craved the knowledge that only Castiel could give them. Not to mention his father, who was always with him.
But, somewhere inside of him he knew that something was missing; something crucial and indefinable.
So here Castiel was, in front of the castle of Inim with his hands deep in his white robes and the rosy sun shooting past his eyelids. He didn’t know what he expected to happen today; he knew he’d been gone a while and that’s what scared him most.
Dean was so young and a year was a very long time to humans. There was a large chance that Dean would not remember him when he saw him.
Castiel promised himself that if Dean did not remember him he would leave and come back at his designated time. And at that point he could renew his friendship with Dean and possibly fill in this hole.
As soon as Castiel set foot in the castle, he was surrounded by a variety of human guards. Within seconds, their guns were inches away from Castiel’s face and they were firing questions at him. Castiel felt a burst of irritation before it simmered away with the realization that he helped heal some of these people barely a year ago when they were inches away from death. And yet, they did not remember him.
He’d miraculously saved their lives and they had no idea who he was. And then there was Dean, a young boy with a tiny brain who he spent a week with watching him play in the gardens. There was no way Dean would remember him.
It took no time for one of the guarding angels to identify him as one of the five angelic elites, Castiel. The men pulled back quickly and apologized until they were purple in the face, but Castiel could not offer them so much as a reassuring nod because of the glaring fact that they helped him discover.
He was escorted to the Advisors Room, where there was a meeting going on with the King and his many advisors. Castiel could have waited patiently, but he knew he would be excused if not welcomed into their meeting.
Pushing open the door, Castiel noted with severe distaste that the room looked nothing like it had merely a year before. There weren’t obvious flaws, but for Castiel, who had fully examined this room for hours while allowing Dean to play in it one day. The tables had triangle-shaped chips on all of the edges and vaguely conspicuous rings throughout the clear table that all looked to come from wet beverage cups. The walls were not as properly furnished and seemed to
“Castiel,” An advisor, Castiel recalls her name being Ellen, piped up as soon as he entered.
“Did something happen?” Another advisor, Bobby, asked.
Castiel’s eyes widened to an unnoticeable extent. Of course humans must deem every visit from an angel as an alert that something dire was about to happen; and from their anxious faces, Castiel almost wished he had something important to tell them.
“No, nothing’s happening; I just was just looking for Dean.”
The advisors all nodded and turned to John Winchester, The King. Castiel hadn’t noticed the man at first, but he was pretty excited to see how the man was faring after he’d last seen him.
And there he was, at the very end of the table with a beer in one hand and a pile of papers in the other. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was pallid, his clothes were in complete disarray, as if he decided not to open his eyes when he was getting dressed. It was interesting… but Castiel could already see where this path was going to take John and he knew the effect it would have on his children.
“Dean’s… uh…” John cleared his throat and wiped his eye brow before continuing with a deep frown on his pale face. “He should be in the library with Sam.”
Castiel nodded and turned to leave when he was stopped by John.
“Do you want me to call somebody in here to escort you?” John’s speech was slurred and impossibly stagnant, Castiel didn’t want to hear it anymore.
“No.” Castiel replied before leaving the room.
He walked down the hall quickly, wanting to get away from that man and his problems before tried to help. He did not have time for that right now; he had to find Dean. It was not difficult to get to the library and finding Dean was even easier.
As soon as Castiel walked into the room, he saw Dean on the floor looking at picture books with Sam in a small chair beside him. The boy’s legs were in the air and his pointed finger was lodged firmly in his mouth as if mimicking his little brother, who was doing the same thing.
He was not much bigger than he had been a year ago, but he did seem older in some ways. The way that he laid, the expressions he made and the concentration on his face was nothing like that of a four year old that he knew one year ago.
Dean looked up from his book as soon as Castiel entered. The look in his eyes when he saw Castiel actually scared the angel at first; he was obviously confused. He didn’t remember him.
“Cas?”
Castiel frowned and then nodded slowly.
Before he knew it, Dean was on his feet and hopping over the head of his baby brother just to get in front of Castiel. He threw himself into Castiel’s stomach, his arms wrapped tightly around the man’s waist. Castiel reluctantly wrapped his arms around Dean’s shoulders and back. He never thought he would fall in love with hugs like he has; but every time Dean wraps his body heat around Castiel, Castiel feels warm not just on the outside but on the inside as well.
Dean pulled away from the hug quickly, but he did not take his hands away from Castiel’s waist. His face was bright and beaming as he clung to Castiel’s waist with all that he had inside of him, as if Castiel would disappear again if he so much as loosened his grips.
Castiel, trying his hand at small talk, told Dean how big he’d gotten and how big Sam was now; which Dean only waved off with short ‘I knows’ and then commented on how Castiel looked no different than he did one year ago. After that was over, Dean pulled Castiel back to where he and Sammy were sitting and yanked him down to the ground; making Castiel experience for the first time having to sit down on a stone hard wooden floor, one that was a killer on his backside.
“Look Cas!”
When Castiel looked down at the picture that Dean was pointing to he was only a little surprised at what he saw. In front of his little friend was a highly elaborate picture of a gun and gun parts; inappropriate for any other five year old, of course, but not for this five year old.
“Isn’t it great?”
Castiel cleared his throat and leaned over, observing the graphic picture with a critical eye. He recalled studying these exact photos almost fifty years ago when the concept of guns was first introduced to the world.
“My daddy says I’ll be king soon. So, I have to learn about guns and stuff, or I won’t be a good warrior like him.”
Castiel made a noise of agreement and nodded, placing his hand on Dean’s shoulder he smiled. “You’ll make a wonderful warrior, Dean.”
Dean smiled at Castiel and rested his head on his lower arm. “I have to be so I’ll be the perfect King.”
Castiel did have a problem with this “king” notion. He very often observed children’s behavioral patterns as they grew from childhood to adulthood and very rarely did children have such broad expectations in themselves. And if they did, except for concentrating like Dean is doing, they often reverted to even more childish behaviors and mannerisms. Castiel was proud of him, but at the same time, it was disheartening to watch.
“Castiel you’re a king, right?”
Castiel, a king? Of course not, the only true king of Mamot was his Father. “No.”
Dean took his head off of Castiel’s shoulders and looked at him with wrinkled eyebrows, confused. “But, Dad said you and your brothers control everything in the whole world.” Dean waved his arms high in the air to accentuate the ‘whole world’.
“No Dean,” Castiel said, chuckling. “My brothers and I are of course looked upon with more respect than anyone else because we were the First.”
“First?” Dean cocked his head to the side in a manner that was very reminiscent to Castiel.
“We were the first beings on Mamot, placed here by our father many years ago and were here to bear witness to the birth of man, animal, demon and every other angel in existence.”
“So… you’re like gods?” Dean reasoned with an excited pep.
Castiel recoiled outraged. “No!”
Dean shrank back from his friend with a pout and a small shake. “…sorry…”
Shoot… he hadn’t meant to yell, but the idea was so ludicrous and outrageous. No able minded human being would ever assess that an angel was like a god; it was like saying that they were on the same level as their father. It was blasphemous and offensive. But, looking at Dean’s quivering lower lip and the foolish way that he clung to that large book like it was the key to the universe, Castiel realized that though the small boy beside him was smart for his age and would one day be a wonderful warrior, he was still a child.
“Uh- no Dean, we’re not like gods,” Castiel said. “I’m sorry by the way.”
Dean’s lips immediately stopped quivering and his pout morphed into an excited smile. He patted Castiel on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry its okay. But, why aren’t you king of the world anyways, you’ve been here forever.”
Castiel sighed, realizing that rational conversation was not good for someone like Dean and started rubbing small circles on the child’s back. “I just didn’t think it was the right job for me.”
Dean nodded as if he understood exactly what his friend meant and he leaned back into Castiel’s soft touch. “Its okay, the job isn’t for everyone.”
“But it’s for you?”
Dean nodded. “It has to be. If I’m King, I’ll be strong enough to take care of Sammy and Dad. Then you can move in with me and be my most trustful servant.”
Castiel huffed a chuckle. “… servant?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of you too Cas.” He throws himself into Castiel’s arms.
From beside them, they heard a soft whine that prompted Dean to pull away from his friend quickly and console his little brother. He placed his finger on the boy’s bottom lip and Sam immediately started sucking on the bony finger of his brother.
“ ’ungry!”
Castiel almost jumped when Sam finally spoke; he’s expected it to happen by now. But, it was a shock to hear the youthful voice of the baby he’d known not too long ago.
Turning to Castiel Dean said, “I think he’s hungry.”
Castiel’s head cocked to the side as he stared at his little friend; and exactly what was he supposed to do with that information?
Dean dramatically rolled his eyes to the back of his head and sighed. “Can you get his cup for me? It’s on the floor beside Sammy’s books.”
The library was as a whole, one of the neatest places in the whole castle. Every book stacked in perfect alphabetical order by genre and writing style; the floors were neatly polished and gleaming while the tables and chairs were neatly positioned in row that reminded Castiel of the most perfect alignment of ant species when they made camp. But, the area that Dean and Sam took over was not as… well… blended as the rest of the room.
In their little area, there was a wide array of books scattered all along the floors some were picture books while the rest were highly elaborate books about war and fighting… books that Castiel kind of knew Dean could not understand. Also, not in par with typical library rules, there were scones and cups of juice all over the floor. Some were on the floor while some were on the tables. There area was a complete mess, but low and behold, right next to the largest assortment of colorful picture books was a the smallest cup of red juice.
Castiel picked it up and grimaced at how wet the outside of the cup was. He carried it to Dean and grabbed a small scone along with it.
Dean took them both from him and silently thanked him before stuffing the cup into Sam’s mouth, followed by the scone.
Castiel sat back down next to Dean Winchester and frowned. He would make an amazing warrior one day; he was caring, strong and already had the easy personality that people so often looked upon in their leaders. Yes, he was going to be amazing. His father made the right decision when he choose Dean as their champion. But, Dean wanted to be King too. Castiel couldn’t help but feel that was too much for one person to handle.
“Dean, why do you want to be King?”
“I told you.”
“You know, you don’t have to be King. Your little brother here can be King too; you could just live your life.”
Dean shook his head and somberly peered down at his little brother; petting him on the top of his furry head. “No, Sammy shouldn’t have to worry about that stuff. That’s not his job, it’s mine,” Dean said. “Sammy’s a genius! He’s going to be a healer, right Sammy?”
“Right!” The one and a half year old stood on his bony legs and jumped onto Dean, who was on his knees at the time. Dean wrapped his arm around his baby brother and smiled at Castiel.
“Don’t worry Cas, it’s the job is right for me.”
Castiel wanted so badly to argue and combat the decision, at least for now, while Dean was still a child. But all he did was force a smile and nod. Dean will be fine, he’ll outgrow this dream and decide to be warrior only, like Father intended.
~*~*~
It was less than a month later when Castiel decided to return home. He told Dean that the only reason he had to leave was because he had to write something; apparently, while he, Dean and Sammy were walking through the gardens one day, Castiel saw the most peculiar breed of plant. In fact, it was so peculiar that Castiel had to stop their walk for one whole hour just to further examine the tiny blue plant; which was much more than Dean’s tiny attention span could take.
Sam took interest though and listened to everything Castiel had to say, even when he didn’t understand half of what the angel was saying. It was annoying and eventually Dean got so fed up that he just picked the flower out of the ground and shoved it into Castiel’s hands, and then proceeded to pull him and Sammy along so they could finish their walk.
The next day, Castiel remarked with excitement that he was going back home to finish write a paper on the blue plant and possibly find copies of them; and if there were none then to definitely make them. He was so excited to leave that he didn’t even notice Dean cry… well, he didn’t cry. His dad told him he was way too old for that; but he did feel his eyes water and he was pretty sure something wet slid down his cheek. Maybe it was rain.
Dean followed Castiel outside when he was ready to leave. His father didn’t come along; he was uninterested in seeing Castiel off, just like he was uninterested in everything else lately.
Dean sighed and reached up, gripping Castiel’s hands into his own. Castiel looked at him with a mixture of worry and amusement and gave Dean’s hand a slight squeeze when they made it outside. He unlaced his fingers from Dean’s and stood in front of him, placing both of his hands on Dean’s shoulders he offered him a small smile.
“I’ll be back soon Dean.”
Dean didn’t say anything; he only turned away from the man and looked instead at the swaying trees that stood at the end of the yard.
“I promise when I come back I’ll tell you all about the plant, what it means and what it does. It’ll be an interesting story.”
Dean still remained silent.
“Tell your father and Sam I said goodbye.”
Zip.
“Okay…” Castiel cleared his throat and moved away from him. “Goodbye Dean.”
That got Dean’s attention, his wide tear-filled eyes snapped toward his Castiel and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but quickly shut it. Walking towards his friend, he encased him in a hug and buried his face in Castiel’s stomach. He rubbed his tears away on the man’s still white robes and mumbled,
“I’ll miss you.”
If Castiel heard him, he didn’t say anything in response. He only patted the boy on his back and after a couple of minutes, stepped away and frowned.
“Goodbye.”
“Bye, bye.”
There was a flash of light, a fluttering of feathers, and he was gone.
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