Chapter Text
“Prepare yourselves,” Dean had said just before he left Castiel in that cave where they had mated for the first time. “Prepare for the squid. Me and Sammy take on Amara tonight.”
Castiel had watched him leave with mounting apprehension. He wanted so badly to come with Dean, to protect him and to be a part of his world. Castiel loves his Naga kin, loves the sea, but it’s nothing like the yearning he feels pulling him towards Dean and, if he’s being honest, towards something, anything, other than the familiar.
But of course he hadn’t followed Dean. He’d watched until the person he has come to think of as the love of his life was out of sight and then he’d slipped into the water, hurrying back home and here he is now, spear in hand and waiting for Michael’s orders.
Younglings and elders have been shuffled deep into the biggest caves, out of sight and hopefully harm’s way. Nets have been suspended and cleverly hidden in the middle of their marketplace so that they can be raised and maybe help tangle the squid’s tentacles. Spears have been handed out and even a few tridents, one of which Michael wields proudly.
Every able-bodied Naga has gathered around the perimeter and the wall of stones that have been erected in the last few cycles. They huddle behind it, watching the squid watching them, stomachs in knots.
“It knows,” someone mumbles. “It sees us.”
“I don’t think they’re wrong,” Gabriel mutters, so low only Castiel hears him.
Castiel doesn’t say anything, just nods quietly, eyes trained on the squid. Every part of him is tightly strung, painfully so, and he can’t believe that it was just a cycle ago since he held Dean in his arms. Since he was inside the human.
Dean had been perfect, everything they had done was absolutely exquisite, and in a way Castiel would die a happy Naga if he died in the fight here but at the same time he has never wanted to live more. Life before Dean had been fine, of course, but it seems gray compared to how it has been since Castiel met the human and he longs for more of the brightness Dean brings into the world.
He loses himself in dreaming about a life with Dean but is jolted back into reality in the harshest of ways.
“It’s moving,” Michael snaps, streaking past them, past the line they’re prepared to hold. “Stay sharp, everyone. It’s moving.”
He keeps repeating this, getting the message across to them all and Castiel’s heart aches when he sees fear and determination mix on his fellow Nagas’ faces. They’re all scared, most of them having feared this exact scenario, but Castiel has to believe this is for the better. None of them want the squid still around when hatching season comes, which is starting to draw uncomfortably near, and all of them are tired of living under the pressure of the false queen Amara.
Things were bound to come to a head one way or the other, Dean and the hunters’ involvement only sped the process along. And now suddenly it’s here, they’re staring the crazed squid right in its bulbous, blood-shot eyes, and Castiel would be lying if he doesn’t feel the icy grip of fear wrap itself around his heart.
Especially when the squid looms over them like this, its hulking form moving with odd spasmic jerks, eyes rolling.
“What’s happening?” Samandriel asks, fearful, his voice shrill but barely heard over the ruckus the squid is making.
Castiel wishes he could answer, wishes he knew, but all he can do is stare as the squid stirs up the mud on the seabed. It engulfs him, making the scene more grotesque with its tentacles snapping and slamming against the seabed and rocks, smashing them, while partially concealed in an opaque veil of sand and muck. Suddenly it’s like a giant shadow, bellowing as if in agony, making more than one Naga drop their weapon to instead cover their ears.
But through it all, through the fright he feels, one thing stands out to Castiel.
“It’s not attacking,” he mumbles, amazed, and then louder, “It’s not attacking, stay your arms!”
Not that any of them aside from perhaps Michael and Uriel were really prepared to charge the squid. But at his words, more of them lower their hands and their weapons and stare in amazement. Because Castiel is right. The squid isn’t attacking at all, it’s writhing in actual pain.
The jerky movements are completely involuntary and they subside slowly, the whole squid’s body seeming to move. And then the sand settles, the water becoming clear again, and suddenly Castiel and his tribe find themselves staring at a regular squid. Big, yes. Giant? Possibly. But monstrous and ominous? Far from it.
“Her magic,” Gabriel mumbles. “She used it on the squid.”
“It was a victim like us,” Naomi exclaims and the sudden loudness of her voice seems to scare the poor squid.
It startles, spraying a burst of ink their way, and zips out of sight so fast they blink and it’s gone.
There’s a moment of stunned silence and then the Nagas erupt in cheers. They hug, clap hands, kiss cheek, and Castiel would have sagged to the seabed under him if Gabriel wasn’t holding him up.
“They did it!” he screams, elated and grinning ear to ear. “They killed the witch!”
“Oh,” Castiel says, dumbfounded. It’s a fair assumption, that all of her magic would cease to work as soon as she stopped living, but somehow Castiel hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Come on,” Michael says, waving at all of them to follow him. “Let’s tell everyone.”
Castiel watches after the squid as Gabriel drags him along into their dwellings. It’s barely visible in the dark water, clearly doing its best to put as much distance between itself and them. Castiel’s heart aches for the poor creature. If only they hadn’t let fear guide their actions, then maybe they could have discovered its suffering earlier. He only hopes it will go on to live a good squid life now, free from any more pain.
The recounting of the supposed fight is brief, though Michael spares no details and several of the Nagas chime in on how it felt being there, watching the squid as it coiled around itself.
“It makes perfect sense,” old Joshua says when Gabriel proposes his theory that Amara dying would lift her magic. “How can she control anything when she hasn’t got a voice anymore?”
“We need to thank them,” Michael says, turning to Castiel. “The hunters. They have truly saved us.”
A murmur of assent rises, the Nagas nodding and smiling. Someone suggests a gift of some sort, which is greatly encouraged.
“It’s a perfect idea,” one of the elders says with a big smile. “We need to show our appreciation.”
“Something light,” old Joshua advises, eyes glinting as he looks at Castiel, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “That Castiel can take when he joins his mate.”
Castiel jolts, staring at the old Naga with wide eyes, which only makes old Joshua grin like a youngling.
“Yes exactly,” Michael says. “How about we—what?”
All of them are staring at Castiel now, curious and open expressions watching him intently and Castiel can barely find his voice. Except it’s not that hard after all, not when he thinks of Dean and his radiance.
“I wish for Dean to be my mate,” he says and feels pride swell inside him, the act of saying it out loud to his family making it real. “I don’t know how it would work, since we can’t live in each other’s worlds, but…” he trails off, a faltering smile on his lips. “I want to.”
“Oh, I’m sure there are ways to work around that, little tadpole,” old Joshua says just as Gabriel throws himself around Castiel’s neck, hugging him tightly, and Michael claps Castiel on his shoulder. “If a human can come down here and fool us into thinking she’s a Naga, then a Naga should have to problem pretending to be a human.”
Castiel’s eyes snap up to the old Naga’s wise ones. The necklace. The one Dean claimed to be an artifact that could change Amara’s likeness. Did they destroy it or did they simply take it away from her? Castiel’s mind is reeling with the sudden possibilities and he can barely hear his fellow Naga talking excitedly around him, congratulating him and planning for the gift they will prepare for the hunters.
Old Joshua nods at Castiel, clearly pleased that he has understood. Before he can say anything, Gabriel pulls out of the hug and kisses Castiel on his cheeks.
“Go,” he says, grinning widely and looking a little misty-eyed. “Meet up with him. Tell him.”
“Yes,” Michael agrees just as Samandriel sneaks in a hug himself, squeezing Castiel tightly. “You go, we’ll join you in a cycle or two.”
Castiel nods once, sharply, and then sets off in the direction of the mainland, hoping against hope that Dean will be waiting for him or at least join him quickly. Castiel can’t wait to see him, hold him, can’t wait to tell Dean everything he is feeling and his wishes for the future and all he can do is hope the human will accept all of him and love him as fiercely in return.
It’s an anxious walk for Dean over to the cove where he hopes to meet Cas. He has the support of Sammy ringing in his ears, not to mention how Bobby seemed to oddly relate to Dean’s fascination with the Naga, but he still feels unsettled. Not because he’s regretting his decision to tell his little family, to make every feeling real and vivid, but because what if Cas says no after everything?
What if Cas really, really likes Dean and wants a relationship with him but doesn’t want to become a human, even for a day, and doesn’t want to come with Dean into the human world. Will Dean be able to follow Cas into the dark water? To live with him as a Naga, to never eat pie again in his life? He wants to say yes, but that seems like such a huge step. And since he hesitates, what’s to say that Cas wouldn’t do the same? Would any decision any of them make eventually poison the relationship?
Then again, like Sam had pointed out, it’s not like any transformation is permanent. One of them just has to put on the necklace, speak the activation word conveniently sussed out by Bobby, and then they would transform, free to take the necklace off until they’d wish to transform right back again. And the necklace doesn’t seem like it’s bound to one person either, meaning that Cas and Dean could share the necklace’s powers so that they could take turns transforming from human to Naga and from Naga to human.
It all sounds so easy in Dean’s mind, the conversation flowing calmly and the words being all logical and shit. But Dean knows how he works and as he climbs over the rocks to the cove’s little beach he starts getting scared he will choke and say something stupid, or nothing at all.
And when he finds the cave deserted a new fear grips him. Because what if the squid did attack the Naga tribe? Dean had told Cas to be careful as a precaution but the truth is no one really knows what the squid’s involvement in all of this is, or was.
He stands for a moment, indecisive, and just as he’s about to start calling out for Cas, there’s movement in the water. The tip of a fin is visible just over the waterline and as it draws closer, Dean sees the outline of a Naga’s body shifting from side to side, gliding through the water.
His throat seizes, the morning light barely enough to break through the murky water to give him an indication of scale color. It doesn’t take long for the Naga to swim up to the cave, though, and fuck—fuck, it’s Cas. It’s Cas in all his fucking glory and Dean is not prepared. He should be, and he should be confident, but now he’s suddenly a shaking mess and he flings himself at Cas, uncaring of how wet he is.
Cas makes a soft sound, a little hum at the back of his throat, and buries his nose against Dean’s hair, hugging him back and inhaling deeply.
“Cas,” Dean murmurs, fingers slipping on bumpy scales, body shaking as Cas lines his body up with Dean’s. “Cas, you’re okay.”
“You’re okay,” Cas shoots back, making Dean chuckle.
Hell, he has done so many hunts in his life that he has stopped considering the possibility of his death. It was present for a while there after Sammy actually died, and before they managed to get Dean’s soul out of the contract with Hell, but it faded fast enough. But of course Cas, who doesn’t know much about hunting, would be scared for Dean.
“How did everything go?” Dean asks when he starts getting embarrassed about his own emotions. Cas looks disgruntled when Dean pulls out of the hug but doesn’t say anything about that.
“Better than expected,” he answers, voice soft as he looks at Dean with too much fucking affection. “There never was any fight, the squid simply left. We believe it was a victim of foul magic.”
Dean nods. “Probably,” he mumbles. Bobby had also suggested such a possibility after reading about the Arcane Focus. It seems the necklace combined with Amara’s powers could do a whole lot more than simple transformations. “So no one was hurt?”
“Not a one,” Cas smiles, brushing his fingers down Dean’s arm, clearly unwilling to stay apart, which feels like great news for what Dean is about to propose.
“Listen, Cas,” he swallows hard, the words feeling big on his tongue. Looking into Cas’ shining eyes, feeling the intensity of the stare, almost like Cas is anticipating something to be said. Dean tries to gather his courage but it’s tough as fuck. “I, um, we…” he sighs, shaking his head at himself. “We’ll be leaving Fisherman’s Cove soon,” he tries to smile, to make light of the situation, but it’s tough when Cas looks crestfallen. “We kinda need to since we killed someone. I mean, we tried to cover our tracks this time in case we wanna come back in the future for like…” fucking hell, Cas’ stare is intense. “Reasons.”
“Dean…” Cas murmurs, voice dipping low, and Dean panics.
“Come with us, Cas,” he blurts, grabbing Cas’ wrist. “Come with me.”
Cas’ eyes seem to shine. “I would…” he starts and Dean’s heart lodges in his throat. He feels woefully unprepared for a rejection, even though he just went over the possibility in his head before he got here. But then Cas turns, gesturing to his tail, the tip of which lifts and thumps against the sand. “But I can’t, can I?”
Dean feels out of breath for some fucking reason, heart beating faster than ever before. “Can’t because you don’t want to, or because you can’t physically stay away from the ocean for too long?” he moves in closer, taking Cas’ hand in his. “Or because you don’t wanna leave your tribe? Because I’m not asking for you to leave and never come back, we could, I dunno, go visit and,” he has to clear his throat, the nerves getting to him. “And stuff.”
Cas looks like he’s fucking vibrating. “Are you saying you want me in your life?”
“I do,” Dean rasps. They’re standing so close they’re almost sharing breaths and Dean feels those restless vibrations in his body too, the need to be even closer somehow. “I don’t know what a future together would look like, but I’m willing to fucking try. I want you, Cas.”
“I want you too, Dean.”
So close now that Dean imagines he can feel the thrum of the words in Cas’ chest as he speaks.
“I told Sammy and Bobby and they gave us our blessings,” he smiles when Cas looks both surprised and pleased. Digging a hand into his pocket, Dean produces the necklace for Cas to see. “I kept this, it should work for us too. We can use it to change appearances and anatomy so we can visit each other’s worlds.”
“I want that,” Cas says immediately, eyes on the necklace. “It would be really nice to show you my home and the spots I like to visit, but I really would like to come with you. I want to experience…” he gestures above their heads and to the south, to Fisherman’s Cove. “The world. And I want to do it with you.”
“Fucking hell, Cas,” Dean murmurs, turning his face into the touch when Cas puts a hand on his cheek. “You really know what to say to make a guy fall for you, huh?”
“Please,” Cas begs softly, leaning in to brush their lips together. “Let me be a part of your world, if only for a day.”
“How about forever?” Dean asks and Cas answers him by capturing his lips in a deep kiss.
And standing there, on a rocky sand beach in the early morning hours, accompanied by the sounds of tired gulls and the gentle ocean waves, Dean has never felt so fucking satisfied in his life. This, he knows, is the true reason he ever came to Fisherman’s Cove, and he suspects there will be many trips back here in the future. But for now he’s content with simply standing here, in the arms of his Naga lover, and feel the absolute adoration pour through him from the way Cas kisses him, hoping to give at least a tenth of what he himself feels in return.
It for sure takes Castiel a lot of time to get used to the myriad of strange human things, like walking and using a bathroom, but he loves it. The experience of the completely new world and having Sam and Dean by his side to teach him everything he needs to know is overwhelmingly exciting and Castiel isn’t the kind of person to let failures turn him off trying again.
Truthfully, one of the hardest physical adjustments is the loss of his darkvision. Everything becomes very dark in the absence of light and it unsettles him for a long time. Thankfully Dean has found various ways of distracting Castiel, some practical like the introduction of night lamps, and some fun like exploring Castiel’s new body.
That has taken some getting used to as well. The fact that his dick now is on the outside at all times is kind of scary, truth be told, and even more so that his testicles are also so exposed.
“You can say balls, Cas,” Dean laughs one night as they lay tangled together on a motel bed.
Dean and Sam are free spirits, roaming the land and hunting for monsters, only occasionally going to the house where Bobby lives, so Castiel has gotten well-acquainted with the concept of motels and their beds’ varying degrees of comfort. That’s just another thing Castiel has had to get used to, how different a tired human body feels to his Naga body, and how that aches can be alleviated. Sometimes he does miss the ease of sleeping suspended in the water, floating in his cot, but there are so many other great things about being human.
Like the food in all its variety, not to mention human sex. Dean is very good at it, knowing the exact ways to touch Castiel now. Of course, he’d loved everything they did together in his real body, but this is something different.
“Probably because it’s your first time experiencing some of it,” Dean suggests and Castiel doesn’t think he’s wrong about that.
For instance, who knew it could feel so good to have his whole dick engorged and completely stiff? Castiel was in ecstasy the first time Dean stroked him to completion, coming much sooner than he had anticipated or even hoped. He does miss the use of his tentacles sometimes, especially when Dean is being cheeky during sex, but he thinks he makes up for it in other ways. The sensation of being that hard does feel very rewarding and he can’t wait until he is sheathed inside Dean’s body once more.
For all the weeks — time and how to count it, yet another human concept Castiel finds amusing — that he has spent as a human, they have yet to have what Dean calls “going all the way” sex. Sure they have done things, Castiel has needed to explore his body in all kinds of ways, but they have been saving that act for when he feels more certain of himself. Wouldn’t want to hurt Dean, or himself, in the act.
But honestly, Castiel really can’t wait and Dean seems to be yearning something fierce too. These last few days he has been touching Castiel a lot more and behaved very testily towards Sam, to the point of Sam snapping back at him.
“Just get a room already,” he’d exclaimed, making Dean pout. Castiel doesn’t really know what that particular idiom means, since they already have a room at the motel where they’re staying for this hunt.
So far, Sam has been great with teaching Castiel both to read human text and to help with hunts. Dean doesn’t allow him to come along for what he deems is too dangerous but Sam has promised Castiel that that will change with time.
“He’s just worried about you,” Sam said comfortingly, patting Castiel’s arm. “And who can blame him? Don’t worry, though, you’re doing us lots of favors just helping with this stuff.”
Stuff like looking up lore, calling Bobby for help when looking up lore goes beyond Castiel’s comprehension, and preparing things like cleaning weapons and fixing spell ingredients. Castiel enjoys it a lot, and he’s very grateful to Sam for showing him how he can help both brothers.
“I like showing you,” Sam says happily when Castiel mentions this. “You’re a great student.”
Castiel really likes the friendship he feels growing between him and Sam and he is keen on getting back to Fisherman’s Cove to visit his family and brag to them, and especially Gabriel, who seemed so infatuated with Sam.
After he and Dean made plans to be together, Castiel had gone back to his tribe to tell them his decision, and to gather some personal things. They had all been happy for him and a whole bunch of them had tagged along with him when he swam back to the mainland and the cove, bringing the woven kelp bowl filled with pearls the tribe had picked for the hunters as thanks.
Dean had called over Sam and Bobby by the time the Nagas returned and it had been a joyous occasion out there in the hidden cove. There they had shared stories and food and in the end it was sad to see his family leave — especially Gabriel who will always be Castiel’s best friend, although he seemed more sad to see Sam go than Castiel — and they wouldn’t do it until Castiel and the hunters had promised dearly that they would be back to visit. A promise easily kept because of course Castiel will be coming back. With the necklace he is free to transform as much as he likes, and though the process is kind of painful, it’s relatively short and something he definitely can deal with.
With the blessing of his Naga kin, and the supporting love from Dean and Sam, Castiel feels he can do most anything.
And what he really wants to do right now, is press into Dean’s tight heat. Because just as Sam had suggested earlier in the day, before the recent hunt ended successfully, he and Dean are now alone in their shared motel room and Castiel has had the pleasure of watching Dean stretch himself in preparation of taking Castiel’s hard dick.
He loves stretching Dean, loves fingering him even though they haven’t had sex in that sense since he became human, but for tonight Dean had wanted to put on a show and what a show it is.
Dean is draped over Castiel’s legs, mouth hanging open and eyes glazed over as he fucks himself slowly on his own fingers. Castiel is sitting up, leaned against the bed’s headrest, cradling Dean’s body and stroking his hair, cooing at him.
“You look so good, beautiful,” he rumbles, having figured out long ago that Dean really enjoys being praised. “All delicious, all for me.”
His dick is so hard it’s hurting but the ache is good, somehow, grounding and pleasurable, and made even more so when Dean moves lazily against him. For all his bravado before sex, Dean usually turns into a mess during it and Castiel loves that. He finds such immense pleasure in watching and experiencing Dean coming apart in his hands, because of him.
Seeing Dean hump the bed, the arm he has bent back to reach into himself shaking, has Castiel’s pleasure spikes alarmingly and he can’t help but bend over Dean to touch him too.
“How does it feel?” he murmurs, dipping his fingers into Dean’s heat. Dean moans loudly when he feels Castiel’s fingers joining his. “Are you loose enough for me, hm?”
Dean moans again, something incoherent, and Castiel feels his body flare hotly. They’re both so hot, sweaty and trembling, and Castiel feels glorious. They shift so that Dean is on all fours in front of Castiel, head bent down so that he can suck Castiel’s dick into his warm mouth while Castiel fingers him instead. Just for a little while, the pleasure Dean’s mouth is giving him soon proving to be too much.
His arousal threatens to burn him from within and he feels his dick hardening ever so slightly more, in a way he has learnt is a tell-tale sign that he will be releasing. And no matter how good that would feel, to come in Dean’s mouth while he feels Dean clenching around his fingers, it’s not what Castiel wants right now.
“Up,” he rumbles just before the pleasure overtakes him. Dean lets out a whine and oh, oh, it’s almost too much. “Up.”
A tight grip on Dean’s hair makes sure he lets go and the moan it pulls out of him confirms that Dean does like it when it gets a little rough. He has said as much before but Castiel is always careful with doling it out. The way he reacts to Dean’s reactions sometimes make him fear that he will be too rough without noticing until it’s too late and if there’s anything Castiel wouldn’t do, it’s hurt Dean.
“You won’t hurt me,” Dean has said when Castiel has voiced this. “I trust you. And I want you to fuck me up.”
Well, Castiel plans on doing exactly that tonight. Dick completely hard and Dean’s hole satisfactorily wet and loose, Castiel shifts on the bed, getting Dean on his back under him so that he can slot between Dean’s legs. It’s a position Dean favors since it allows for easy kissing and Castiel is apparently very good at kissing, according to Dean. For him, any position is a good position as long as it involves Dean, though he is partial to one Dean calls “69”. They have only done it twice, once because Dean was a little drunk and wanted to “play around” and another time when Castiel almost begged Dean because it was such a treat to be able to suck him off and see his tight little hole at the same time.
Now, however, Castiel feels content sliding against Dean’s front, feeling the human pull his legs up to give Castiel access to his ass, and kiss him just as the blunt and swollen head of his hard dick presses against Dean’s hole. Without the slick Castiel normally produces, they have had to make do with human-made lubrication, which Castiel thinks is funny while Dean laments the loss of Castiel’s slick.
“I could taste yours,” he’d said, voice husky. “It was okay. Lube is disgusting.”
The thought of Dean licking off Castiel’s slick is almost enough to send Castiel’s libido into overdrive, even with the possibility being robbed of them when he is in his human form. It’s a highly intimate act and Castiel can’t even begin to describe the arousal he feels while imagining it. So far that’s probably the only thing they haven’t tried yet aside from human penetration; Dean sucking Castiel’s Naga dick off. Not for lack of interest on Dean’s part, it’s just that Castiel has been so preoccupied and amused at playing human that he hasn’t thought much of it. But it will have to happen soon, he thinks. If not for his sake, then for Dean, who seems to want it almost more than Castiel.
“Yeah,” Dean moans now, body undulating beneath Castiel, arms coming up and wrapping around Castiel so that Dean can pull him down. “Yeah do it, fuck I want you in me Cas. Been too fucking long.”
Castiel can’t agree more but his breath is escaping him, leaving him a wheezy mess as he pushes inside Dean’s tight heat. It’s such a squeeze, such delicious agony to press something so hard into such a little space, and Castiel has to stop as soon as he bottoms out.
Dean is clenching around him, body trembling as he breathes shallowly, and as soon as their eyes meet, Castiel surges down to kiss Dean. It’s a slow start from there, bodies melding together and moving in sinuous waves. Dean bucks lazily as Castiel thrusts against him, into him, and the way they just fit is so incredible that Castiel can’t even wrap his head around the fact that he is allowed this, and allowed to feel such happiness.
The pleasure builds fast, though, getting sharper and sharper with every thrust, and Dean soon starts cursing under his breath. There are so many things Castiel wants to do, so many tricks he has learnt over time that will drive Dean to the brink of insanity, begging for release, but all of them elude him now as his body grows taunt from the onslaught of pleasure.
“Oh Dean,” he groans, pulling out of the sloppy kisses and hiding against Dean’s neck, where his scent is the strongest. “I-I can’t…”
“Do it,” Dean gasps, body tight around Castiel. “Fuck I want it. Come inside me.”
Next time, Castiel thinks as he allows his pleasure to overcome him, finding rapture in Dean’s pliant body, next time he will be better prepared for how this feels and he will do better. For now, all he can do is moan, body jerking as he empties all of himself into Dean, feeling the love between them right as Dean follows him over the edge, just as he will always follow Dean. For now and forevermore.