tuesdayfic | Supernatural: Five Lessons Dean Tries Teaching Castiel for Winchester Family Bonding

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Supernatural: Five Lessons Dean Tries Teaching Castiel for Winchester Family Bonding

Title: Five Lessons Dean Tries Teaching Castiel for Winchester Family Bonding (And One Castiel Figures out on His Own) [at AO3]
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Castiel, Dean Winchester, John Winchester
Pairing: Castiel/Dean
Rating: R
Word Count: 1759 words
Summary: In a world where John Winchester is the righteous man, Dean Winchester still gets ~~the girl~~ the angel.
Notes: This started as comment fic for

scaramouche and then hit 1,700 words. It is set in her lighter universe of John Winchester as the righteous man (less fluffy version here), though I guess this may count as an AU of an AU (of an AU), because apparently I lean more towards accidental rom-coms than the average person. So, uh, hi, new friend! This is apparently a danger of randomly subscribing my main fandom journal: I may wander over, see how amazing you are, and promptly write you fic.

1. Respect the Impala.

"No, really," Dean said, crowding into the back with Castiel and ignoring Sam's look of astonishment that he'd ceded shotgun without a fight. "You want to get on Dad's good side, you've got to get on the good side of the car."

Castiel tilted his head and said, "But I could take us there nigh instantly."

"It's not the destination, it's the journey. And this is journeying in style." Dean reached across Castiel and buckled him in, hands brushing Castiel's hips.

For a moment, Dean worried he'd gone too far, but Castiel just said, "If you say so, Dean."

"I do," Dean said firmly.

Of course, this was kind of ruined when John came back, took one look at Castiel, and said, "Who let him in the car?"

2. John likes people, and people eat food.

Specifically, pie.

"I don't require nourishment," Castiel said uncertainly, but he went willingly enough into the booth under Dean's insistent hands, and Dean slid in next to him, pressing their thighs and shoulders firm together.

"Nourishment isn't the point," Dean said, handing Castiel a menu. "Food is awesome, and if you're going to be part of this family, you need to join in the family dinners."

"Your family isn't here." Castiel stared at the menu as if it were written in some strange unknown language even an angel of the Lord couldn't speak. "John and Sam went to the library. We should join them."

"This is a practice run," Dean said, "and they've got the research for this job covered. Your research project is how to get in good with Dad, right?" Dean shot Castiel his most charming smile. "This is me helping you out."

When the server came over, Dean put his arm around Cas and said, "He'll be having the pie."

"What flavor?"

Delighted, Dean said, "Every flavor you've got."

By the time Castiel had made it through all fifteen—he preferred Key lime and cherry, and he'd made the best disturbed face ever upon discovering he hated the texture of almond—Dad was calling to say they had a lead.

"Be right there," Dean said. He snapped the phone shut and dropped it in his pocket, then turned to Castiel, who was still learning the art of napkins. Dean leaned even further into Castiel's space, because it wasn't like Castiel would think there was anything weird about it.

"You've got a—" Dean said before chasing the whipped cream with his thumb, the tip sliding against the corner of Castiel's mouth and slipping the tiniest bit in.

"Got it," Dean said, voice gone a little rough, and he was having trouble removing his hand.

Castiel stared back at Dean with steady eyes, and how awesome was this? It was like having a super power, this freedom to touch Castiel without anyone but the server getting weirded out.

Said server cleared his throat and said, "I brought you the check." Then he leaned in and said, "I think it's cute, really, but this is a small town. Be careful," so it seemed even the server was okay with it.

"Dean," Castiel said after Dean dropped his hand, "why would we need to be careful?"

"Who knows?" Dean said. "Small towns, they're all different. All sorts of strange quirks. Speaking of, we figured out the ghost—"

And they were off and running, and after that, Castiel had to take care of some angel business. The next night, though, the family Winchester was catching a quick dinner at some tiny diner off Route 6, and—though the burgers were greasy to the point that even Dean was hesitant, the salads were so limp Sam looked like he might cry, and the booth was so worn Dean could feel the coiled springs digging into his ass—it was really, really nice. John was actually smiling as he recounted a hunt with Bobby from back in the day, using the salt and pepper shakers as props, and Dean wished, ignoring a dull ache in his chest, that it could last forever. When the smile slid off John's face like it had realized it had the wrong man and a stormy look took its place, Dean followed his gaze to Castiel, hovering uncertainly next to the table. Dean really hoped he'd remembered their whole talk about not scaring the locals and walking in by means of the door instead of that magical angel appearing act.

"You can't even let a man eat in peace with his sons?" John growled, and Castiel threw Dean one of his more helpless looks, his eyebrows actually furrowed and chapped lips slanted the slightest bit. "What's so important it couldn't wait ten more minutes?"

"Never mind," Castiel said, expression gone cool and distant again. "I was mistaken."

And it seemed they needed to have that talk about appropriate and inappropriate times for teleportation again, because Castiel just disappeared.

John shook his head. "Angels," he said, sharing a sympathetic look with Sam for once.

That was that for angelic attempts on intruding family dinner.

3. Do not bring up Mary. (No, really. Do not bring up Mary.)

"Seriously," Dean said, holding the back of Castiel's head with one hand and using the other to hold an ice pack he was pretty sure Castiel didn't actually need against his bloody cheekbone. Angel or no, John Winchester in a rage could do some fucking damage. "You deserved that."

Castiel said, "I only told him the truth. If Mary Winchester had not made that deal—"

And okay, Dean liked Castiel, but—

For the second time that evening, a Winchester broke his hand on Castiel's altogether too pretty face.

"Do you need me to take you to the emergency room?" Castiel asked.

"No," Dean said. Then, "Fuck, yeah, okay."

Pretty face or no, this shit was totally not worth it.

4. The Yellow Eyed Demon is serious business.

"You were in danger, Dean," Castiel said, implacable, and Dean had to roll his eyes or he'd punch Castiel (and that was not an option considering the last time).

"It was our first chance in fucking forever," Dean said, "and we had the Colt. I'd take that risk again for just a shot at him. That's all we needed. Next time? Forget about me. Focus on taking Azazel out."

John, however, didn't seem to be getting with the program here, because instead of chewing Castiel out, he put a hand on Castiel's shoulder, which was like a full on hug and effusive words of praise from John. "You made the right call." He looked at Dean, eyes hard, and said, "He made the right call."

Castiel looked at Dean with that I see you down to the soul stare and said, "You're worth more than you believe."

Dean shook his head, throat clenched tight, enraged beyond all attempts at speech, and he walked out the motel door before he could give in and break his hand again.

5. John likes people, and people sleep in beds.

"It's a great idea," Dean said, using Castiel's chest as a pillow. This absolutely was not cuddling, because Dean Winchester did not cuddle. Besides, Castiel was lying stiffly under him like he didn't quite know what to do with his arms or hands, and unless Castiel decided to take part, it couldn't be anything even remotely like cuddling, because cuddling required two people. Dean was pretty sure there was a rule about that. "Trust me."

"I do," Castiel answered. "Though I'm not certain why."

"Hey!" That would hurt more, but Dean had to admit he wasn't exactly batting a thousand here.

"I meant," Castiel said carefully, "that not all of your observances regarding your father have been correct."

"Like?" Dean asked accusingly. He propped himself up to stare with righteous fury from barely three inches away, as if daring Castiel to answer—though he just knew Cas was going to bring up the dinner thing, or maybe the thing with the Impala, or—okay, there was a lot of ground to cover here.

"John Winchester does not actually like most other people," Castiel said promptly. "Also, as an angel of the Lord, I don't require sleep, and—"

It was at this point, John and Sam walked into the motel room. From the (actually incredibly hilarious) expression on Sam's face, Dean was abruptly reminded of three things:

One, he was pressed full length along the top of Castiel's body. Two, they were dressed for sleep, which is to say he was wearing only boxers and had talked Castiel down to the same. Three, from their position under the covers, it probably looked like they were wearing even less.

John's face had gone still, and he wore the utterly blank expression of a man biting back his first five responses. "And suddenly," he said slowly, "I begin to understand. C'mon, Sam, we're getting a different room." Sam preceded him out the door, and John paused before leaving to turn back and tell Castiel, casual and almost offhand, "You break his heart, I find a way to tear out your grace and bury it and you in fifty separate places."

The closing of the door was loud in the silence that descended.

Castiel turned to Dean and asked, "What exactly is happening here?"

"Um," Dean said. "You're right, I am terrible at this. Maybe we should've brought in Sam for help with my dad after all." Actually, Dean was pretty sure that would've gone a hell of a lot worse considering Sam's track record with their dad, but Castiel didn't have to know that.

"I meant," Castiel said, just as slowly as John mere moments before, as if he were giving Dean time to follow his thoughts to their natural conclusion, "what is happening here?" To emphasize his point, he drew one hand along Dean's side to rest gently over the elastic of his boxers.

"Oh," Dean said weakly. Apparently after several months, even angels caught on that this wasn't human normal.

"Dean," Castiel said, "I'm going to kiss you now."

"Okay," Dean said hoarsely.

For once, their Winchester bonding lesson of the day did not end in disaster, though Dean immediately needed a completely new lesson set, starting with the wonders of lube and nudity. Castiel proved himself to be a very dedicated student.

And the one Castiel figures out on his own:
1. No Winchester has ever liked his son in law.

This didn't stop Castiel from trying.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I didn't know it was going to be shippy!

This is so MAGICAL. Dean thinking that he has the upper hand because of Castiel's cluelessness, not realizing how utterly clueless he is being about the whole thing! John's reactions! Sam's reactions! Castiel following Dean's lessons despite himself! Just, OMG, the mental image of John walking in on Dean and Cas like that -- it's a bonus that I didn't realize I wanted until I got it.

I just may exclamation mark myself into a tizzy. ♥ ♥ ♥ Thank you!

AHAHAHAH John's FACE. OH MY GOD. *SQUEE HANDS AT YOU*

I know I'm a mod for

genspn, but that is what is so intrinsically hilarious about it: my default is shippy. I assumed you would not mind.

Dean should really know better by now: it is his lot in life to never have the upper hand. I'm so glad that you enjoyed this! I spent way more time than I probably should have laughing to myself about John's face. *grin*

Thank you for writing the original two and encouraging others to play in your sand box. It was fun. ♥

Hahaha, I know. I am glad that my own amusement over that wasn't entirely unjustified. *grin*

Also, YOU MADE THAT ICON AFTER ALL. *stares, mesmerized*

\o/

Because, of course, most of that list is about Cas fitting in with the family. Which means they were married long before Dean realized. XD Which is so Dean.

Sam will /never/ let it go.

And John is going to be the scariest, hardass!father-in-law. ntil Sam reminds Dean that his father-in-law is GOD.

*LAUGHS* This is fantastic!

Your icon is so relevant to my interests it is not even funny. "Up Against" was nearly titled "Up Against the Wall." Clearly you are awesome.

They even had their two big relationship fights before Dean caught on. You'd think he'd have noticed, but apparently not so much. Clearly the way to get Dean into a relationship is to let him accidentally sneak you into one.

Wrt Sam, I imagine it going something like this:
Sam: An angel, really?
Dean: Shut up, you're half-dating a demon.
Sam: Shhh, we don't talk about Ruby within Dad's hearing anymore.
John: Are you talking about one of the worst decisions of your life again? >:|

*laughs* Yes on John as the scariest hard-ass father in law.

Thanks for reading!

Sorry, not adding anything useful except that I keep coming back to re-read this fic and squee.

I think in part my craving for John as the father-in-law from Hell (literally, hah!) may have been kick-started after reading

trinityofone's Christmas fic Good Things Do Happen, where John is present but there was very little interaction between him and Castiel.

I just. Um.

Following the tone of your rom'com:

Normally, John would declare upfront that it’s all going to end in tears, but he’s certainly not going to be the one doing the crying and the angel doesn’t look like he has functioning tears ducts, so that leaves the manly weeping up to Dean, and John’ll be damned thrice over before he’ll even mentally acknowledge the possibility of such a thing happening.

John doesn’t even pretend not to glower when Dean enters the diner, hand tight around Castiel’s forearm like it’s his job to drag the angel everywhere. Castiel sees them first, and starts to move towards their table until Dean stops him, smile on his face fading a little when he sees the look on John’s face.

Then Dean shrugs and pulls Castiel to another table.

“Ugh,” Sam mutters.

John looks across the table at his other son, who looks even more unhappy about the whole thing. Sam slowly meets his gaze, and for the first time in a long time, they exchange a look of mutual understanding.

John raises his coffee cup, and Sam clinks his own against it.

Edited (typo~) 2010-03-24 02:12 (UTC)

YOU ARE MY NEW FAVORITE. How can you say not adding anything useful, when clearly this is the most useful type of comment ever?

I love how John decides that logically it can't end in tears even though it really should (and subconsciously he thinks it totally will, except that involves Dean crying into the motel pillow, which just, NO, no father should ever have to contemplate Dean's teary face of doom (you just know that Dean pretty much never cried while Sammy locked himself into the bathroom to cry all the time, so John built up at least a partial immunity to Sam's sad face even if it still killed him, but he has pretty much no defenses against Dean's tears)). . . . I think my nested parentheses got a little away from me, but point being: this is amazing! I am all for more of John and Sam being the long-suffering in-laws making disgruntled but understanding faces at one another and finally finding one thing they can agree on, which would be this whole angel thing is really fucking weird.

SEE?! I'm becoming so addicted to this, I think I read 'Masquerading as a Man with a Reason' like seven times already.

Awesome squared, both of you.

\0/ this is clearly made of awesome, thank you!

I need a major *headdesk* icon or something because during my fight with the wireless I completely forgot about my reading list and look at what I missed; now I know what you reallyreallyreally meant and now I'm alternating between laughing myself hoarse and kicking my own ass.

You and

scaramouche are fucking glorious.

Seconded! Her 'verse is so awesome.

Thank you! \o/

*laughs* I'm guessing you missed that I meant I was posting fic every day currently? But hey, you found it eventually!

scaramouche's 'verse is so much fun.

Thanks for reading!

Better late than never, I say! <3

It's only a day after I posted. ♥

Close enough, XD What is this thing called a "calendar"? Time? What time? Is it Thursday yet?

Well, and I've posted another fic since then, so it seems longer to me, too. By the end of this, I'm going to barely remember the first couple fic.

That's happened to me before. I'd get confused over a comment I get for an entry I don't remember posting, and then I check and realize I wrote it yesterday, but I posted something else in the meantime that made me forget about it.

Going through the Archives is one big mind trip, imo.

I am torn between laughing madly (oh my god, Dean, you are such an adorable, clueless dumbass), and wanting to punch John in the face (YOU MADE CAS SAD, YOU BASTARD). Oh, crackfic. ♥

Haha, yes, exactly.

Dean is just so bad at everything he tries! You'd think, being the favored son, he would have the better idea what to do, but really, Cas should have consulted Sam. Then again, he got Dean in the deal, so it worked out. *grin*

You know, the funny thing is, despite what the show tells me I never got the impression that Dean was the favored son. Sam's relationship with John was definitely more tumultuous, and John's fear of Sam turning evil definitely didn't help in that respect, but at least up until Dean died I had always considered him the more emotionally fucked-up one of the two.

Oh, yeah, I would totally agree that Dean was the one more fucked up emotionally. After all, he modeled his reactions to things on his dad's, which was "You are a Winchester, so repress, repress, repress." What I meant by favored son was that he was the one who got on better with his dad, but it was because while Sam rejected their life and how emotionally unhealthy everything was, Dean embraced it and was the good little boy soldier. Where the problems come in with Dean trying to teach others how to get along with his dad is that this method can't work for anyone else. So while Sam is the one who got in screaming fights and finally got the fuck out, he still gets his dad and where his buttons are, partially because he hit so many of them.

... I have got to think that Cas really, really dislikes John and is just too politic to show it.

I have to admit that this made me laugh out loud. The pie and John getting a clue were both hysterical, and it was the last section, the one Castiel figured out on his own, that tipped me from the smile to the laugh.

Thank you! This fandom and its pie, they are a thing for me. *grin*

And the one Castiel figures out on his own:
1. No Winchester has ever liked his son in law.

This didn't stop Castiel from trying.

Best ending to a story ever.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Supernatural: Five Lessons Dean Tries Teaching Castiel for Winchester Family Bonding

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tl;dr: I agree with you

Re: tl;dr: I agree with you

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