Work Text:
The 12th Shade
Castiel tried not to roll his eyes when he saw Dean walk into the office. He didn’t like Dean. In fact, he hated him. He was all smiles and flirting but when it came down to it, he never really did anything around his department. That didn’t stop his whatsoever when it came to taking credit for what his team accomplished though. Castiel firmly believed that being a leader meant being willing to do anything that you ask your team to do. So, Dean , just because your team is hardworking and consistently covers up your flaws doesn’t mean you have a free pass to slack all 8 hours of the day.
Dean noticed him glaring staring and waved. Castiel grumbled. Dean was handsome enough to flirt his way out of his problems, but why did he actually have to do it? Castiel smiled back to be polite, even if it was a little tight. Dean didn’t notice, Castiel assumed, because he just smiled and joined his team in the advertising department.
Unfortunately, Castiel could still see him from his desk. It’s unfortunate because he didn’t want to. In fact, Castiel spent many moments glaring at Dean throughout the day, not that Dean ever noticed. Working in the research and development department, Castiel had a real job. Technically, the two departments should work a lot more closely than they do, but Castiel wasn’t expecting much from Dean at this point. He never sent memos about tackling projects together, so it must be under control. Of course, Castiel never sent memos either, but that’s because he was actually busy all day. Sort of.
Castiel’s phone rang, making him jump.
“Research and development, Castiel speaking,” he answered professionally.
“Hey Cas, it’s Dean from advertising. You got a sec?”
Castiel recoiled at the nickname and looked up sharply. Dean waved from his desk. Castiel looked back down.
“Oh, hello Dean.” Castiel’s voice sounded uncontrollably stiff. Hopefully he could blame that on the phone. He switched the phone to his other ear and let out a small huff. “How can I help you this morning?”
“I just thought we should get started with our brainstorm as soon as possible. You saw the email, right?”
Castiel had not seen the email. He hasn’t seen any emails yet, actually. His dinosaur of a computer was still struggling to turn on.
“Um, just a second, let me pull it up,” he stalled.
Finally, he got his email opened up. There were several department-specific emails that Castiel’s eyes glanced over until he found the message from the boss man himself, which he assumed was what Dean meant. He opened it and read a few lines about the office party that was being planned, then went back and read them again. One line in particular surely had to be a mistake. There was just no way.
I’m leaving the organization to Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak in Marketing. They will instruct the rest of you on what to do from there with some exceptions, which will follow.
The exceptions were boring and inconsequential, and Castiel only skimmed them before jerking his eyes back up to the line about organization once more. Him? Working with Dean? Outrageous and improbable. He should probably email Michael back about it immediately.
“Hey Cas? Buddy, are you still there?” Dean interrupted. His voice sounded a little worried.
Castiel looked up from his email and made eye contact with Dean again without thinking. Dean gave him another small wave. Castiel rolled his eyes inwardly.
“Yes,” he said carefully, “we should get started on that pretty quickly.” He looked at the files piled on the edge of his desk. “You can email me ideas you have in the meantime. I have a lot to do this morning, but thank you for checking in. Please let me know if I can be of assistance in any other way. Thank you, have a great day.” Castiel hung up without giving Dean a chance to continue the call.
Satisfied, he continued working, making steady progress throughout the beginning of the day. Not even an hour into it, though, he heard footsteps near his desk and instinctively knew who it was.
“So listen Cas, for the organization I was thinking maybe—”
“Dean, please send me your ideas and I can look at them and get back to you much easier than if you interrupted my other tasks every time you thought of something new,” Castiel cut him off, not even bothering to look up.
Dean doesn’t say anything, probably pouting like he does when a girl in the office shoots him down. Castiel would not be reconsidering. Finally, Dean retreated.
After only a minute or two, Castiel’s computer dinged with an email. It was from Dean. Castiel opened it at once, surprised at how fast Dean had done it.
Hey Cas,
You’re leaving at 6 today right? We can meet right after. It can be a business meeting but doesn’t have to, since we both make salary anyway. Got dinner plans?
Dean
He looked up from his computer and saw that Dean was already looking at him expectantly. Ugh. He took his time writing back.
Good morning Mr. Winchester,
Under the guise of a business meeting, we can leave the office a bit earlier, which, I assume, won’t impact the productivity of your team whatsoever. Since you haven’t sent me anything else so far, I suppose I should expect many new ideas to be brought up at this meeting. Please fill me in on the details of the meeting as soon as possible.
Let me know if there is anything else and I will be happy to assist you with that. Have a great day,
Thank you,
Castiel Novak
Castiel read it over once more before sending it. Even he thought he was layering it on a bit much, but he sent it anyway.
Right after their lunch break, Dean called him again.
“Castiel spea-”
“Cas! Hey so I was thinking we could get a reservation for dinner and discuss this while we eat. I’ll probably be hungry”
Castiel ignored the fact that he had just been cut off, despite the flicker of annoyance he felt. “Dean we just had lunch.”
Dean laughed exactly like someone who didn’t have any work to do would. “Okay, I’ll get right on that then. I’ll make it for 5:30 and we can leave just beforehand.”
Castiel glanced at his schedule for the rest of the day. His team should be able to get everything done and still stay on target for deadlines later in the afternoon. “That should work. Thanks for taking care of it, Dean.”
“Great, it’s a date then. See you later.” The line clicked.
Castiel’s lip curled before he could stop it. A date. Dean was a hated man and he wanted a date . The audacity. But…
Maybe not as bad as it could be.
Castiel was, by no means, a quitter. Besides, Dean was a catch anyway, if he was honest with himself. It was a business meeting though, so first they’d have to focus on planning the party, then Dean could try to plan their lives together.
Castiel found himself a little more excited for the business meeting than he should be. His eyes kept slipping to the clock, and he ended up getting less work done than usual. Hopefully his team wouldn’t let him down. Finally, it was a quarter after 5. Castiel started packing his stuff up and shut down his computer.
“Heading out?” his coworker, Hannah, asked. She glanced at the time, eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“Yes, I’ve got a meeting soon so I have to head out a bit early today. A business meeting,” he clarified. “I trust that you’ll have everything under control for the rest of the day?” He hung his head. Was this not exactly the kind of thing that Dean did to his team every day?
Hannah nodded enthusiastically though. “Absolutely, I can handle it!” She clapped her hands in front of herself, like she had to stop herself from hugging him right then and there. “Thank you so much, I won’t disappoint. Have a nice evening.”
“You too, Hannah, I’ll leave it to you then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Dean beamed at Castiel when he came over to the advertising department. “Ready to go?” he asked, a little excitedly Castiel noted. He nodded but said nothing.
They drive together, but it isn’t that far. The restaurant struck Castiel as sort of fancy, but not too fancy. He assumed they were using company funds. After glancing at the menu briefly, he decided to order something more expensive than he normally would. Corporations were a plague on the economy. After Dean had ordered, they got straight down to business, notes scattered on the table.
“So,” Dean started, “I was thinking that we could do regular fruit punch made by that girl in accounting and then split into two containers so that we have one for each side of the table. That will keep the line flowing smoothly. But here’s the kicker: we’re going to spike one of them and not tell anyone which it is.” His eyes glinted mischievously.
Castiel nodded. It was a solid plan for a party that was actually enjoyable.
Dean continued. “For the desserts, I think the HR guy likes to bake, so we can get him to make some, and probably buy whatever he doesn’t have time for. No one is going to care about the difference anyway, let’s be real. We can order fruit and veggie platters ourselves, and that should cover food.” He flipped through a page over. “The decorations from last year can be put up by both of our teams together, that should be enough to cover both sides quickly enough. Is there anything else?”
Castiel was stunned. “Wow, Dean, you really thought this through. I have to say I’m impressed,” he admitted. What a time to be alive, Dean Winchester actually cared about something work-related.
Dean shrugged and grinned. “Well of course, how else was I going to impress my business partner?”
“Really? Who?”
“He’s a real uptight guy who takes his job too seriously. Sometimes I can see the lust for responsibility in his team’s eyes. He’s a good guy, though.”
“Oh, I suppose that’s me, isn’t it?” Castiel couldn’t help a small smile.
“Sure is, Cas.” Dean smiled widely, looking immensely pleased with himself.
Castiel smiled back, genuinely this time, without the urge to roll his eyes. Maybe Dean wasn’t so bad after all.
***
Castiel rubbed his eyes. It was early, but his team was handling the work efficiently from the get-go. He had taken Dean’s words to heart and shared a portion of his work with the rest of them, a challenge they gratefully accepted at once. Since then, the department had never run more smoothly.
From his desk, he saw Dean come in in his peripheral vision. Catching his attention, Castiel shot him a smile. A real smile. Dean did him one better and returned the smile with an extra wink. Castiel shook his head to himself, hoping his coworkers couldn’t see him smiling like an idiot to himself still.
His computer made a noise, signaling a new email. Castiel opened it immediately, eager for something to distract him. He was wrong but he smiled anyway.
G’morning Cas,
Our first business meeting was pretty success, right? What do you say we have another this weekend? Don’t worry, my treat.
Dean
Castiel scoffed to himself. Of course he was down. He happily hit reply and started typing quickly.
Dear Mr. Winchester .
-END-