Chapter Text
Castiel almost slammed his front door shut, when he realized the movers were still coming and going, so it needed to remain open. He groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. When he opened his eyes again, he was met with a very confused-looking Charlie staring back at him.
“So what the fuck happened there?”
Castiel shook his head and flopped onto his couch that had just been brought in. “I slept with him. The day I closed on the house.”
Charlie’s jaw hit the floor. “You slept with your neighbor???”
“I didn't know he was my neighbor!”
“How!??”
“I went to the bar downtown for a celebratory drink, and he was there. The bartender.”
His friend’s eyebrows shot up. “And what? He never called you back?” She meant it as a joke, but the look on Castiel’s face filled in all the blanks. “Oh, shit. He never called you back.”
Castiel shook his head and dropped it into his hands. “He left at 2am and ignored me when I called after him. I’ve been calling and texting him for the last week, but he’s never answered.” Tears threatened to spill over, but Cas suppressed them.
“And then he just shows up at your house with cookies???”
Castiel huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. He was welcoming me to the neighborhood, I guess. He didn't know it was me.” Castiel took a deep breath before lifting his head to look at his best friend, who was still standing in the mostly empty kitchen across from him. “I was going to ask him out on a proper date the next morning.”
Charlie smirked. “That good, huh?”
Cas chuckled. “You have no idea. He was incredible.”
Charlie sighed and came to sit beside him. “So you slept with him, caught feelings, and then… yelled at him when he showed up at your house.” Before Cas could object, she interrupted. “BUT! That was so shitty for him not to call you back. I’m sorry that happened to you.” She then stood up abruptly, a determined look on her face. “Actually! I’ll be right back.”
“Charles!” Castiel called, but it was too late. He groaned as he watched through his living room window at the small-but-mighty woman marching across the street and pound on Dean's front door.
He watched as Dean opened the door and proceeded to be verbally berated for several minutes before Charlie marched back over to Castiel’s.
The two spent the rest of the night unpacking, drinking cheap wine, and not thinking about Dean Winchester.
—--
Castiel awoke at about 8am to his doorbell ringing. When he answered the door, there sat a plate absolutely piled high with cookies sitting on his mat. The man frowned and picked the plate up and brought them inside, placing them on the counter next to the tin front the day before. When he was about to let go, though, a small piece of paper fell from between the layers of cookies.
Can we talk? -D
Castiel sighed. If Dean wanted to play this game, he could too. He quickly scrawled What do you want? -C on the same piece of paper, emptied out the tin, and placed the note inside. He then closed it and walked it over to Dean’s, ringing his doorbell and making a swift escape back to his own home.
A few moments later, his phone began to ring.
“Hello, Dean.”
“Hiya, Cas. Can I come over?”
“I would rather come over there.”
“Why?”
“That way, if I need to, I can storm out and slam the door behind me. I can't very well do that in my own home.”
Dean chuckled. “Okay. Come over, then.”
“Be right there.”
Ten minutes later found Castiel sitting on Dean’s couch, nursing a cup of coffee. Dean’s home was very lived-in and cozy. There were blankets everywhere, photos he supposed were of family and friends hanging on the walls, along with a display wall of classic rock-and-roll vinyls.
Dean rounded the corner from his kitchen with his own up of coffee and sat opposite Cas on the couch, angling his body slightly to look straight at him. “Cas-”
“Nothing you can say will make what you did okay,” Castiel hissed.
“Will you just shut the fuck up and let me say what I need to say!? Jesus!” Dean took a deep breath, eyeing Castiel to make it clear that he was not going to continue if he was going to be interrupted again.
Castiel motioned with his hand for the man to continue.
“Thank you. Now. What I wanted to say is that I’m sorry. I really am, man. I fucked up. I panicked, and I didn't know what to do, so I ran. That’s kinda what Benny was talking about when he told you that I'm a ‘playboy’. I’m usually a love-em-and-leave-em kinda guy, so… Yeah. I’m sorry. That sucks.” Dean clasped his hands in his lap and nodded, an indication that he was done talking.
Castiel nodded and set his mug down on the coffee table before turning his own body to face Dean. The younger man looked as tired as Castiel felt. The blushed cheeks and confident eyes from a week ago totally gone. Instead, there was a man who looked truly sorry, and above all… sad.
“Did I do something wrong that night, Dean?”
Dean frowned. “What? No! You were perfect. Everything was perfect.”
“Then why did you run away?”
Dean let out a shaky breath. “I dunno, man! I pulled out some kinky shit, and I didn't mean to, and it got in my head, okay?”
The look on Castiel’s face went from angry to confused. “What the hell-”
“Uhm, hello? I called you ’sir’?”
Castiel’s jaw hung open, and then he just… burst out laughing. The laughter came from so deep within him, that it looks a few minutes to calm himself so he could talk.
“What the fuck, man!” Dean protested, and Cas held up a finger to silence him.
As he caught his breath, he said, “You ditched me in the middle of the fucking night because you thought calling me ‘sir’ during sex was too kinky?”
Dean crossed his arms over his chest, cheeks heating up noticeably. “Maybe so.”
Castiel shook his head and wiped a tear out of his eye. He then leaned forward and put his hand on Dean’s knee. “Please explain that thought process to me.”
Dean nodded and set his coffee aside as well. “I guess, when I woke up to go to the bathroom, I just felt like… I had kinda sprung that on you without talking to you first, and I felt…” He trailed off, now ashamed. It all sounded stupid out loud. “I felt like I had pressured you into something you didn't sign up for, I guess.”
Castiel smiled warmly at him now. “Well, I have good news. A) I need you to know that I was actually relieved when you called me ‘sir’ during our night together. B) There are boxes in my house, Dean, waiting to be unpacked, of some incredibly ‘kinky shit’.” Castiel smirked, and did the air quotes with his fingers. He always felt like a weirdo when he did that, but he didn't think Dean even noticed.
Dean’s eyes went wide. “W-what?”
Castiel now moved to take a hold of Dean’s shaking hands. “Dean, in the bedroom, I very much enjoy being the dominant partner. Do you think I would have done any of the things I did that night had I not wanted to?? I loved every last moment of you submitting to me.”
Dean looked into the other man’s eyes. “Yeah?”
Castiel nodded and smiled, a hand coming up to cup the younger man’s cheek. “Did you enjoy being my sweet boy, Dean? You were so good for me.”
Dean nodded eagerly. “Y-yes, sir.”
Castiel noticed Dean’s eyes dart to the floor in front of the Dom and back again. Following his train of thought, Castiel gripped Dean’s chin and squeezed slightly to draw his attention back. “I would love to see you kneeling before me, handsome boy. But right now, we need to finish our talk, alright?”
Den nodded and cleared his throat, but otherwise remained silent.
“Dean, are you familiar with what sub space is?”
The submissive man nodded. “Yeah. I experience sub space pretty intensely in the right conditions.” After a moment of silence, “I, uhm… I experienced it the night we slept together.”
Castiel nodded. “Thank you for telling me. Now, are you familiar with sub drop?”
Castiel saw Dean’s jaw clench at that. “Fuck you.”
Castiel raised his hands in surrender. “I’m just asking a simple question, Dean.”
There was a brief period of silence, where Cas could tell the wheels were turning inside Dean’s head.
“Come back to me, baby,” he breathed. “I apologize for mentioning it.”
Dean shook his head, as if to clear it like an etch-a-sketch. “It’s fine, just… Doms aren't typically too keen on their subs dropping.” He gritted his teeth and lifted his chin in defiance. “I’m not letting you fucking punish me because I dropped.”
Castiel’s heart sank. Oh. As if reflexively, his hands came up to cup both sides of the other man’s face. “Oh, sweetheart. I would never punish you for something like that. I need you to know that. Can you use your words to let me know you understand?”
“I understand.” It was only a whisper.
Cas smoothed his thumbs over Dean's cheekbones. “Punishment isn't even something I would consider without us having a proper contract in place that we have talked about in depth. Do I make myself clear?”
A nod.
“Good boy. As a Dom, it is my responsibility to make sure I give adequate aftercare to prevent a drop from happening. If anything, I'm the one in need of punishment.”
The corner of Dean's mouth quirked up into a partial smile. “Okay.”
“Okay.” Cas smiled, then let his face go for the second time that day. “See what we can accomplish when we talk to each other?”
Dean chuckled. “To be fair, you wouldn't talk to me, either.”
Castiel nodded. “I know. I'm talking to myself as much as I am you.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Now. I would like to ask you out on a date.”
Den’s eyes widened before he smiled. “I’m listening.”
“Dean Winchester, would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?”
“And then afterward we can christen your new house?”
Castiel rolled his eyes and chuckled. “My bed frame is still in several pieces, sweet boy.”
“Then we’ll have to get creative,” Dean said with a wink.
The two laughed and shared a sweet kiss before Dean followed Castiel back to his house to help him unpack.