Chapter Text
Professor Fields, who taught creative writing, gave him a strange look and a tentative wave. Several students stopped and stared, then grinned. He even heard a ‘way to go, teach’. He unlocked his office and plugged in his external hard drive. He had just enough time to print out the assignment for his eight o’clock class. He had to bypass Sweet Java this morning and the coffee he’d gotten at the drive-thru was barely tolerable. Kevin came in and tossed his backpack on the floor and froze. “Castiel?”
“Yes? Where you expecting someone else to be in my office?”
“Dude. Wow. You look freakin’ sick.”
Castiel’s face fell. “I thought this would be acceptable if I wanted to relate more.”
Kevin laughed. “No, sick is good. Real good.”
“Sick is good?”
“See, this is why you’ve got to talk more about real stuff in class. Open up about things and they’ll open up to you. Your students can teach you things too, like current slang.”
When he walked into class ten minutes later, he was met with silence and then the class erupted in applause. He looked at Kevin. His assistant was grinning from ear to ear. His choice of a pair of jeans that were just shy of being too big for him that he’d found in the back of his closet and one of his t-shirts he used for running seemed to be okay with his students. The jeans were riding a bit low on his hips and he had to remind himself not to keep pulling them up. The t-shirt had a sock monkey on it and for the life of him, he couldn’t remember where he got it. Black boots completed the look. The ink on his arms was visible. This class wasn’t there for his unveiling yesterday and they didn’t know about Dean and the alleged nooner in his office.
“Okay ladies and gentlemen, today we are going to change things up a bit. Before I hand out our new reading assignment list, I want everyone in here to tell me something about yourself…it could be a hobby, a hidden talent, a dream or aspiration…anything you want to share. I’m going to start us off.”
He waited until all the whispering to stop. “I have a seven tattoos. My boyfriend, Dean is currently working on my eighth.” In that one sentence, he gave his students two pieces of information. He had more ink and he was gay. He wanted to see what they did with it. “Mr. Tran, why don’t you go next.”
Kevin stood up. “My secret guilty pleasure is reading…” he hesitated and then thrust his hands in his pockets, “…romance novels.”
“Miss Brewer?”
“I was anorexic when I was in high school and still worry about my weight.” Castiel smiled at the slim girl and vowed to talk to her about that the next time she came to his office for her term evaluations.
“Mr. Davis.”
“I have two moms,” the baseball team’s pitcher said softly.
And so, around the lecture hall, students revealed things. Some were funny, most were not. Cas was made aware he had a transgender in his room. He found out two more girls struggled with their body images. When everyone had their turn, Cas moved right into his lesson plan. It wasn’t until after the class was over that he found out he’d made an impact. Instead of crowding the exit, the students gathered around him, asking questions about his ink, his boyfriend, his new tattoo. He responded by asking questions himself. His students weren’t just last names anymore.
He followed them out. “Miss Brewer? Amy?” The girl turned. He leaned over and whispered so only she could hear. “Kevin and I run on the school’s track after lunch most days. Why don’t you join me?”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind?”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
“That was nice,” Kevin said once they got back to his office.
“I thought it turned out okay.”
“Yeah, the whole getting to know you thing was cool, but I was talking about what you said to Amy.”
“Body image is a delicate subject. Boys aren’t as prone to obsessing over it as girls and young women. Telling her she was skinny or trying to dissuade her own thoughts wouldn’t help. By inviting her to run, I am proposing a healthy alternative to maintain her body. Running and working out will cause her body to crave more calories and she will see that all food isn’t bad.”
“Did you minor in psychology or something?”
“No. I just read a lot.”
He did a similar exercise in his next class and the one after that. All with positive results. When he got back to his office after his last class, he sent a text to Dean about their plans for the evening. Dean called right back.
“Hey, Babe, I’m between appointments, so I got a few minutes. Why don’t you meet me at my house and I spring for pizza.”
“No anchovies.”
“As if…fish on pizza is gross. And no pineapple. Fruit doesn’t belong on pizza either.”
“I hate mushrooms,” Castiel contributed.
“You can pick them off,” Dean offered.
“No.”
“Just like that. No. No compromise. Nada. Zip. No.”
“Exactly,” Castiel held his ground.
“Fine. I’ll do without,” Dean said petulantly.
“Oh, you won’t be doing without, Dean.” Castiel dropped the tone of his voice to barely above a whisper. There was absolute silence from Dean’s end. Did he lose him? He took his phone away from his ear and then he heard Dean.
“Easy, Tiger. I’m still at work, remember? I can’t be walking around with a freakin’ boner.”
“That didn’t seem to be an issue when you were at my place of employment. I showed up in class like I’d just been fucked against the wall of my office. It was embarrassing, Dean. Perhaps turnabout is fair play.”
Dean laughed out loud. “Your students give you a hard time, Cas?”
“Let’s just say that I prayed for a hole to swallow me up.”
***
After they hung up, Dean went back to work with a smile on his face. All was right in his world. When he got home, Cas was in the driveway, leaning against his car. He was dressed damn sexy. Dean was glad he’d changed out of his suit…even if the thought of Cas’ ties made his dick twitch all day.
“You look hot, Babe.”
“Thank you. My students seemed to like it as well.”
Dean almost dropped the pizza. “Wait…you wore that to work?”
“Didn’t you say I should dress down in order for my students to relate to me better?”
“Yeah…I guess, but maybe I meant like khakis and a polo…not…damn it, Cas, I can almost see your…” Dean saw the thin line of hair that led to Cas’ happy place. The idea of young co-eds looking at that made him uncomfortable.
“My what?” Cas looked down self-consciously.
“Never mind. Just from now on, wear mom jeans or something.”
“Mom jeans? I don’t understand that reference, Dean.”
When Friday afternoon rolled around, Cas showed up at the shop after he finished his last class. He was wearing jeans again, but at least they fit better and didn’t hang so low. This t-shirt was one he’d stolen from Dean…a Metallica concert tour shirt.
Dean greeted him with a kiss and introduced him to Charlie and Ash. All three of the artists had clients, so Cas sat down on the couch out front. He was drawn into their conversation by Charlie. “Dean says you have some awesome work, I’d like to see it.”
“Okay.” Cas gave her a tentative smile and went back to the book he’d brought to read.
“Like now, Big Boy. Lose the shirt.”
Dean had to laugh at Cas’ expression of sheer terror. “It’s okay, Babe. I won’t let them hurt you. Besides, Charlie and Ash both like girls, you don’t have to worry about your virtue.”
“I like boys,” Charlie’s client, a petite brunette called out and everyone laughed.
Cas stood up and he looked so shy that Dean wanted to…okay, he needed to stop thinking about getting Cas naked… He pulled the t-shirt over his head and let everyone admire his ink. He turned so they could see the work Dean had started on his back.
“Impressive,” Ash said with a nod.
“Surely that’s not all you have?” Charlie teased.
“No, he’s got two on his calves and one on his…” Dean stopped abruptly.
Charlie crowed with laughter. “The prim and proper Professor has an ass tat. That’s great…wait, it is on his ass, right? He doesn’t have a dick tattoo…”
“No.” Dean and Cas both shouted at the same time.
“Thank God,” Charlie said. “Okay then, drop the pants. I want to see.”
“I don’t think that would be appropriate…” Cas started.
“Come on, don’t be a tease. Drop the pants.” Ash chimed in.
Cas looked at Dean for help. Dean shrugged. “They’ve seen all my ink. It’s only fair.”
Hesitantly, Cas unbuttoned his jeans. Dean had been teasing. He didn’t expect Cas to really do it. But then Cas’ jeans were around his ankles and the entire shop was staring at his boyfriend’s legs. Charlie even went so far as to go up to him and touch the work. How could Dean be jealous of Charlie, for God’s sake. He was being ridiculous. They had half naked people in the shop all the time. But this was Cas…his Cas.
And then Charlie pulled out the elastic on Cas’ boxers and peered down at Celtic dragon. Dean growled. Charlie looked up and gave him a raised eyebrow. “Territorial, aren’t we?”
“That one’s for my eyes only,” Dean said fiercely. “Pull up your pants, Cas. Show’s over.”
For the first time, Dean regretted Friday Movie Night. He wanted to get Cas alone and show the man who he belonged too. He wanted to mark him, so there was no doubt. Instead, he watched from the kitchen as Cas threw back his head and laughed at something Jess was saying. Everyone was here except for Benny. Dean still wasn’t sure if he was going to show up or not. They’d talked on the phone and Benny had good news about the divorce. Apparently, a private detective got pictures of the wife blowing some guy in a parking lot. Benny wasn’t going to have to shell out money for alimony and he was going to have visitation with his son.
Dean took the pigs-in-a-blanket out of the oven and when he turned around, Benny was in the living room. Cas’ posture was rigid. Dean dropped the pan on the stove and took off, oven mitts still on his hands. “Benny…hey…glad you could make it. This is my boyfriend, Cas. Cas, this is Benny. Cas is a professor at the university and he writes books. Ami James read his book. Ami is the one who told him about me. If you ever need anything to read, The Guardian is awesome…really awesome…”
Everyone in the room was staring at Dean. Dean stopped talking, realizing he’d had diarrhea of the mouth. “Uhm, well, foods ready.”
Cas stepped forward and held out his hand. Benny took it and they shook. Dean winced, it looked painful and both men tried to hide the fact they were rubbing their hands afterwards.
The movie played and Dean had given up his recliner to Charlie, while he and Cas leaned against the coffee table, using pillows from Dean’s bed to be more comfy. Cas acted all possessive when he thought Benny was looking at Dean. Secretly, Dean thought it was cool.
When they stopped the movie so everyone could refill their glasses and plates, Dean slipped out to the bathroom. When he came back, Benny and Cas weren’t in the living room. He rushed to the kitchen. They weren’t there either. Panic set in. Were they fighting in the front yard, rolling around like thugs? He grabbed Ash’s arm. “Where’s Cas?” he hissed.
“Your boyfriend and Benny went out on the back deck.”
“Son of a bitch.” Dean hit the back door so hard, he stumbled through it. Cas and Benny stopped talking and stared at him.
“See what I mean,” Benny said.
“Preaching to the choir,” came Cas bland reply. The two men clanked their beer bottles together.
Despite torture, Cas would not reveal what he and Benny talked about, but he got his revenge. He was pleased when Cas walked gingerly the next morning.
***Four Weeks Later***
Dean wiped away the last of the blood and ink. He sat back to admire his work. The wings were gorgeous, if he did say so himself. He gently rubbed the ointment around the newly tattooed skin and placed the bandage over it. Then he left a trail of kisses down Cas’ spine.
“Hmmm,” Cas murmured from his position on the table. “Do you kiss all your clients, Mr. Winchester?”
“Only the sexy blue-eyed ones.”
“That’s good to know.” Cas sat up and stretched. “So, we’re done then?”
“Yep.” He held out a mirror. “Go look.”
Cas took the mirror and walked back to the wall mirror in the back of the shop. He stared at it for a long time. So, long that Dean began to worry. “It’s okay, right?”
“Beyond okay, Dean. You are a gifted artist. The feathers look almost real.”
Dean preened a little. He couldn’t help it. “Come on, get dressed and let’s go home.” Dean still liked hearing that. Home. Cas moved in last week. He got a lot of teasing from his friends. Benny especially gave him a hard time about Dean’s new habit of getting up early and making Cas his lunch.
Cas introduced Benny to one of the other professors at the school and they seemed to be hitting it off. They had a double date planned for the following Friday. Dean remembered bitching about the fancy restaurant they were going to, because he didn’t want to wear a tie. Cas reminded him about how much fun ties could be.
Cas finished his latest book a week ago and it was on its way to the publisher. He’d let Dean read it. And yeah, he cried at the end…so sue him. It wasn’t his fault his boyfriend…fiancé was freakin’ talented.
Fiancé…now, that was taking some getting used to…he always thought he’d be the one to propose. Cas beat him to it. He’d created a monster when he advised Cas to dress more casually to relate to his students. Now, students were calling him or even stopping by the shop. The worst…okay…the best thing about Cas’ students… the proposal.
Cas invited Dean to sit in on one of his classes. So, he’s sitting there feeling self-conscious and clueless while Cas is waxing poetic about some author when he stopped talking and looked at Dean. Dean thought his fly was open or something.
He’d called him to come to the pulpit…whatever that thing was he stood behind…to help him with something. Dean stood there feeling like the biggest dork in the world with all those students staring at him and then it happened. They all stood up and held up signs. While Dean was staring, stunned, at the students, Cas got down on one knee.
Dean had to threaten every student there with death if they told anyone he cried. Somehow it got leaked to some student website and Charlie got a hold of the picture. He was going to kill them all…in their sleep…or maybe he’d tattoo the word asshole on their foreheads. That was better than death.
***
His students were in on it. He innocently mentioned in class that he wanted to propose and suddenly, it was out of his hands. He was told to buy the ring and get Dean to the classroom. He wasn’t prepared by what they had done. Dean cried. It was a good day.
Moving in together wasn’t a smooth as Dean made it out to be. They fought. A lot. About everything. Finally, Dean’s house…their house…was a mixture of both their tastes. Castiel’s huge Kitchenaid Mixer stood next to Dean’s old coffeemaker. Castiel’s collection of rare books were on the bookcase that Dean made out of lumber from an old barn. Dean’s junk room that used to hold unused exercise equipment was now Castiel’s office.
Dean made him lunch every morning and Cas made dinner on weeknights. Weekends they shared kitchen duties.
Dean may have read the last book in the Angel Blade series, but he had no idea about the dedication. Castiel figured it would make Dean cry. It would be a good day. It was due for release in two months.
They did plan a wedding. It started out small, but grew as they added more people to the guest list. Castiel’s students and some of the faculty…people from Dean’s shop, including lots of clients…Gabe and some of the employees of Sweet Java…Crowley, who was now dating Alastair, who knew Crowley liked being bitten and whipped…Benny and the Professor of American History…Meg showed up with an underwear model…Ami James and Chris Nunez came with their wives…all in all, it was a lovely day. Castiel stood next to Charlie, beautiful in her long red gown, his eyes fixed on the ring on his finger. Dean was across the lawn with his arm around Sam. Dean held the newest addition to the Winchester family, Sam’s son Thomas, who was born on Castiel’s birthday. It was a good day.
Castiel had many good days since walking into that small tattoo shop.
***Three Years Later***
“Cas, she’s doing that thing again,” Dean called downstairs. Cas had been locked up in his office all morning and Dean had baby duty. Who knew a kid could poop so much. “Cas…” he yelled again.
“I’m right here, Dean,” Cas said from the doorway. His husband was wearing a pair of Dean’s ratty sleep pants and they were riding low on his hips. Dean forgot about Emma for a second to admire Cas’ body. Even after three years, he was still amazed at how gorgeous the man was. Emma’s whine brought his eyes back to their daughter. She was in her crib, legs kicking and fists shaking at Dean.
“She pooped again.”
“You called me up here to tell me Emma had a bowel movement?” Cas looked exasperated. Dean gave him what he hoped was his best sweet smile.
“It’s her third one today. It’s your turn.”
Cas exhaled in a huff. “Move.” He pushed Dean out of the way and looked down at their baby. “Hello, Precious. Daddy’s here.”
“Hey, Daddy is here too.” They were still arguing about what Emma was going to call each of them, for now, they were both Daddy.
Cas took Emma over to the changing table and took off her sleeper. Dean stood by him holding the baby powder. Cas unfastened the disposable diaper and both men cursed softly.
“Fuck.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Language,” Cas chastised Dean.
“You said ‘fuck’, why are you riding my ass.”
Emma gazed up at her fathers and giggled. Then her fist found her mouth and she was content for the time being. Cas cleaned her tiny bottom and Dean applied the powder. “Come on, Daddy is going to take you downstairs to swing.” Cas grabbed her favorite stuffed toy, a Grumpy Cat Cas had found at Hot Topic. He still snickered when he remembered Cas calling it Hot Topical.
He followed Cas downstairs and into his office. Emma’s swing was set up in there. Cas tucked her in and turned on the motor. The swing began to rock back and forth. “What are you working on?”
“I’m working on a story about two men and an angel who stop the Apocalypse. I proposed the idea to Meg and she was interested.”
“You should write a book about an inked up superhero who saves this mild mannered professor from the clutches of an evil warlord.”
Cas blinked at him like he did sometimes. Dean called it the ‘why did I marry this idiot’ look. “It could work,” Dean said petulantly.
“Of course, it could, Dean. Perhaps you should try your hand at writing.”
“Like I got time…but if I did write it, I’d win a Pulitzer or something.”
Cas gave him the look again, this time over his reading glasses. Reading glasses Dean found incredibly sexy. “Speaking of time, how are the renovations coming?”
“Good, we’re still set to have the grand re-opening next Saturday.” The shop outgrew itself. Dean bought out the space next door once the bookstore folded. They were doubling their space and he already had three new artists set to start. Not bad for a high school dropout, Dean thought. He knew better than to say shit like that out loud. Cas’ threat about beating his ass…well, turns out it wasn’t a threat.
Dean looked up at the framed dedication page hung above Cas’ desk. He cried when he read it.
‘To Dean, the ink to my pen, the blue to my sky, the apple to my pie, the love of my life.’