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Castiel had always been a little… unkempt, for a cat. His long black fur persistently windswept, even when indoors. It gave him a charm of sorts, admittedly. And despite the fact that he never seemed to groom himself, his fur was always perfectly nice and silky (nothing like Dean's own, rough and lackluster).
But whatever angelic mojo kept Cas clean didn’t extend to his plain feline self. When they went to regroup to Dean’s motel room, and while Cas was rooting through Dean’s toiletry bag, Dean was observing his friend. Staring at a dried smear of ketchup matting Cas’ neck. Their lunch didn’t even include ketchup… who knew how long that had even been there.
“That’s it,” Dean slapped his knees. Cas twitched, lifting his head - eyes big, ears trained forward. “Come here,” Dean gestured at the bed and Cas frowned, flattening his ears in disagreement, the little shit. “Nuh-uh,” Dean patted the bed. “Come. Sit.” Cas obeyed, eyeing him suspiciously all the way.
Dean grabbed Cas’ neck and felt the fur rise under his paw, relishing how Cas couldn’t help but react to what Dean was doing, now. Not like his old, stoic angelic self. “Lookit,” he scratched the ketchup stain with his blunt claw - the stain didn’t budge.
“Oh,” Cas said, ears relaxing minutely. “I didn’t notice that.”
“Didn’t notice?” Dean could really feel himself get worked up. “Dude, do you even look? How much time do you spend cleaning yourself, per day?”
Cas’ ears flattened defensively again. “I don’t like it.”
Dean snorted. Typical Cas. He could be a real specimen of felinity if he wanted, with his regal build - wide face, big paws, majestic ears. And with his really beautiful, thick fur - cats had an inbuilt excuse to get a little vain with it. They were supposed to spend hours maintaining their bodies. But it was all lost on Cas. If it were Dean- Never mind.
He considered his next course of action. They were buddies… and Dean always felt sort of responsible for Cas, for showing him how to be a regular guy. No one could really begrudge Dean that, right? And as to how he chose to go about it… well, it wasn’t like anyone could see them.
Decision made, Dean buried his snout in Cas’ neck. Most cats smelled like nothing or, or- really pleasant, like sunlight and fresh air. Not stinky, like Dean and the other dogs. Cas, for what it was worth, seemed to have soaked up his environment and smelled faintly of the gas’n’sip hotdogs - meaty and greasy. Dean took a deep whiff, and felt Cas stiffen.
“Dean?”
“Shh,” he said, and opened his mouth to take a broad lick of Cas’ neck fur.
It wasn’t quite right - his tongue was too wide and too sloppy, lacked the rough surface that made cats so good at cleaning themselves, but Dean was determined. He licked the ketchup stain with vigor and where bits of it were too stubbornly caked on, he employed his front teeth, delicately chewing on Cas’ fur until it was clean.
Wet, and covered in gross doggy slobber, but clean. Somewhere during this process, Cas started purring - a sound so low that it almost resembled his growl, climbing from deep within his throat. Dean couldn’t recall hearing it before.
Dean didn’t stop there - he snuffled through the thick fur on Cas’ neck, seeking out lost bits of food and dirt, making short work of matts - either combing them out with his teeth, or chewing off the ones that were too stubborn.
He wasn’t sure how long he spent on this - when he was done, Cas looked nice and brushed out. Covered in saliva, but quickly drying out. And- smelling like Dean. Cas was almost limp in his arms, his paws at Dean’s sides closing and opening, sharp claws shredding the air, sometimes catching on Dean’s flannel.
Cas’ face was braced against Dean’s chest and when Dean withdrew a little, he realized Cas had latched onto the edge of his t-shirt, mouth lightly open, tongue pushed against the roof, suckling on the fabric.
It was kind of cute. Obviously, Cas had never really been a kitten, but somehow, his body still associated the action with comfort. Dean could feel his ears and tail perk up - it seemed he did a pretty good job being a cat, for a big smelly dog.