Chapter Text
Dean was as nervous for this date as he’d been for his first night with Cas. Maybe more so. It was ridiculous. They’d already had sex – really, really good sex – so it wasn’t like that was even part of the equation.
Then again, maybe that was the problem. Dean couldn’t remember the last time he was on an honest-to-goodness actual date. He’d had plenty of one night stands and even repeat hook-ups, but a date? With someone he thought he could like out of the bedroom? Yeah, he thought it might have been high school.
Cas, though, he was…Damn. That surprising shyness which was such a change from the commanding presence he exuded in the bedroom. Outside of sex, he was vulnerable and smart and sweet in a way that his Dom persona didn’t even hint at.
Not that there was anything wrong with his Dom persona, either. That Cas was great in his own way, too. He wouldn’t be on the date, though. At least, not until they left the restaurant. Right? Unless Cas decided to do some freaky exhibitionist stuff where he made Dean all hot and bothered and – Dean jerked himself out of those thoughts abruptly.
If he was going to get hot and bothered, he was going to wait for Cas to make it happen in person. Dean wasn’t going to get himself all riled up on a fantasy when he was about to see the real person. He straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath as he pulled the car to a stop outside Cas’ house.
“Be cool, you got this,” he pep-talked himself as he walked toward the door. He had a single daisy he’d plucked up from his neighbor’s yard on the way out. It was cheesy as hell, but why not, right? It was a real date, with a guy he actually like - may as well go all out.
“Hello, Dean,” Cas said with a warm smile as he opened the door.
Dean presented the daisy, which he had removed from the damp paper towel before he got out of the car. “This is for you,” he told Cas with a grin.
He was glad he’d gone with his instincts, as Cas clearly didn’t think it was cheesy at all. “Oh, Dean, that’s so sweet, thank you! I actually love daisies. Let me put it away and we’ll go.”
To Dean’s surprise, after Cas motioned him inside, he didn’t put the flower in water. Instead, he hung it upside down by a clothespin attached to a hook on the wall. When Cas looked up, he caught Dean’s look of confusion and smiled, embarrassed.
“It would only last a short time in a vase. This way, I can dry it out and press it later. Keep it for pretty much ever.” He held up a hand as if Dean were protesting his sentimentality. “I know this is only a first date and I’m not reading into it, but no one has ever brought me a flower before and I want to preserve it.”
Dean wasn’t sure what to say, so he just smiled. It made him sad that no one had ever brought Cas a flower, but he wasn’t that surprised. Dean was a little old fashioned and flowers were a little old fashioned. Still, he was more glad than ever that he had done it. Cas seemed like he might be a little old fashioned, too.
“Shall we?” Cas asked, moving toward the door.
Dean unlocked his door and opened it, for which he earned an indulgent smile and a headshake as Cas got inside. He let Cas close it himself. When he got around to his side, he was pleased to find it was unlocked already. Nice.
Dean had picked a place that he knew had good food but that didn’t require reservations. That was too pretentious and wasn’t a trend he wanted to start. Thankfully the place wasn’t packed yet, so they were able to get a table with no waiting. Dean supposed it would have given them more time to talk, but if the ride over was any indication, he could use a beer to calm his nerves before they tried much more conversation.
As soon as the hostess seated them, the waiter was right there to take their drink orders. They ordered the same brand of beer – and since Cas ordered first, Dean knew the guy hadn’t just copied him – which made Dean smile. He realized he was doing that a lot tonight already. He kinda liked it.
Might as well jump right in. “So I don’t, uh, I don’t date much, really,” Dean admitted. “I’m usually a more casual sex kind of guy.” He hated the look Cas got, but Dean needed to know upfront if the guy was a judgmental prick or not. Unfortunately, Dean wasn’t sure how to interpret the look. Was it disappointment? Or something else.
“I don’t know whether to feel inferior at my comparative lack of experience or special that you actually agreed to a date,” Cas confessed, toying uncomfortably with his unopened menu.
Thankfully for them both, this was a question Dean knew how to answer – and his answer was honest to boot. “Definitely special, Cas. I wouldn’t have said yes, otherwise. I don’t know, it’s crazy maybe, but I feel like we…connect. I mean, you know…more than just…physically.” It was Dean’s turn to fiddle nervously.
“Yes, that’s how I feel, too. I – well, to be honest, I felt it the first time we met. When I asked you to meet outside work, I really wanted to ask you to dinner, but it seemed ridiculous then.”
At the confessions, something between them settled. Before their beers even arrived, Dean was feeling relaxed and it seemed like Cas was, too. His shyness was still there, but he was gradually becoming more at ease, Dean could see.
“So, how’d you get into, uh, you know, the paid thing?”
Cas frowned slightly and sipped his freshly arrived beer as he perused the menu. “Well, as you’ve seen, I’m quite shy. However, I realized quite a number of years ago that being a Dom was something I would enjoy.” He smiled slightly and glanced up at Dean. “It was during one of my only relationships.” He dropped his eyes to the food listings again. “However, given my social ineptitude and lack of general skill at meeting people, I surmised I would be better off finding alternative ways to indulge that proclivity.”
Dean frowned, closing his menu. “Ok, dude, I get that you’re shy, but you’re also smoking hot. How could you not get dates just by walking in a place?”
Cas looked up, eyes surprised and delighted, but then went back to scanning the menu. “I got a number of offers, yes. Not as many as you seem to imagine,” he said with a small quirk of his lips. “But a few. Still, the type of men who were asking me out assumed that shy meant submissive and things did not go well from there.”
Dean nodded, lips pursed. “Yeah, I get that. I hooked up with quite a few people early on who expected me to be the one in charge. I learned how to spot the difference a little better I guess, and only go for the ones I thought would prefer control, but…”
“That clearly didn’t work out quite as successfully as you’d hoped or we’d never have met, am I right?” Cas asked casually as he set his menu aside and sipped his beer.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Dean said with a small chuckle.
“I suppose I’m grateful to your failed suitors,” Cas said with a small smile.
Dean grinned and lifted his beer. “To our many failed suitors,” he said, taking a long drink.
A little while later, as dinner was drawing to a close, Dean felt bold enough to ask, “So, sex for you. Does it always have to be Dom and Sub?”
Cas pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in contemplation. “Hm. That’s an interesting question. I would say that, in a relationship for instance, it wouldn’t necessarily be as extreme as what we’ve done together so far.” He finished the last sip of his beer. “However, I do always feel the need for a certain amount of control, I suppose.”
Dean nodded slowly, finishing his own beer. “So you wouldn’t expect an actual lover to call you Master, but you wouldn’t want to take orders, either.”
Cas’ eyes lost their squint and he smiled. “Exactly. It doesn’t always have to be a scene, but I still prefer to direct the proceedings,” he agreed as he polished off the last of his food. “This was very good, I’m glad you chose this place.”
“Yeah, man, their burger is definitely top 10. We’ll have to come back here sometime.” Dean froze with his French fry halfway to his mouth. “Um. I mean - hey, would you like to go out again sometime?” Dean asked with a sheepish grin.
Cas appeared to consider. “Hm, if the date is about to end already, I feel cheated.”
Dean grinned more confidently. “Oh, no, we’re just getting started, but I wanted to lock down date number two before I bother pulling out the big guns,” he teased.
Cas leaned forward and whispered drily, “I hope you know I’m too much of a lady to put out on a first date.”
He gave himself away with the twitch of an eyebrow and Dean burst out laughing. Cas grinned back at him, obviously pleased with his joke. Dean signaled for the check, still chuckling softly.
Next up was the carnival, which Cas had to be dragged into. “It looks very unsanitary and unsafe, Dean,” he complained more than once.
His posture was very tight, as though he thought if he compressed himself enough the germs couldn’t touch him. He also looked around like he expected a mugger to come from every corner. In the end, all it took was another beer and a funnel cake to make him relax and enjoy himself.
As they stumbled out, laughing over the way he’d screamed on the last ride, he bumped shoulders with Dean, and said, “I’ve changed my mind, Dean.”
“Oh, yeah? Not as unsanitary as you thought?” Dean asked with a chuckle as he unlocked the car.
“Oh, no, I’m reasonably certain we both have hepatitis and possibly food poisoning,” Cas said with a serious look on his face.
Dean laughed as they got into the car. “Ok, then, smartass, what did you change your mind about?”
Cas’ grin was predatory. “I’ve decided to put out, after all. Wanna head back to my place?”
Dean’s bark of laughter was almost drowned out by the roar of the engine as he started the car. “I assume we’ll be showering to remove the hepatitis residue first?”
“Or we could just have sex in the shower,” Cas mused.
“And have to rush not to run out of hot water? No thanks,” Dean said drily.
"Hm, I seem to have overestimated your sense of adventure and your interest in having sex," Cas told him, a bit of his Dom tone slipping into his voice.
Dean's voice was a husky whisper when he assured Cas, "Oh, trust me, sir. I am interested. And I'll literally try anything else you ask me tonight."
He could hear Cas' breath quicken. "Anything at all?" Impossibly, his deep voice had dropped even lower in pitch.
"I've got a safe word, don't I? Anything I don't like, I'll say it. Otherwise, you can do whatever pops into your head, Cas."
Cas just smiled silently as they drove on.