Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 53

Castiel is woken far too early the next morning by the sounds of talking and laughing. That's what he gets for going to bed so late when he's sleeping in the living room of a very crowded house. He suppresses a tired groan and sits up, rubbing his eyes. God only knows what time it is, but he has to assume it's a time that any reasonable person would be awake. He glances around the room, but it seems to be mostly empty...

Except for Charlie and Dean, who are sitting on the floor together and laughing their asses off.

Castiel has a feeling that doesn't bode well for him.

"Ah, sleeping beauty awakes," Dean says teasingly.

Castiel offers him a tired smile. "'Morning."

"Hey, Cas, guess what?" Charlie says, but she's too eager to tell him that she doesn't wait for a response. "Dean ships Dreamhunter."

It is far too early in the morning for Castiel to process that, never mind for him to think of an adequate response, so he just says, "Oh, cool." He thinks he already knew that. In fact, he thinks the only reason Charlie didn't know that was because he didn't want Charlie to make any assumptions about Dean's sexuality based on a ship.

Wait.

Assumptions about Dean's sexuality.

They were talking about that last night, weren't they? But why...

Ah, shit.

See, conversations at 2 am have two problems. The first, as Castiel realizes now, is that they're very easy to forget first thing the next morning. They're easy to dismiss with the faint memories of the night's dreams, and it can take a minute or two to remember them.

The second problem is that they can be very impulsive. Being tired is a lot like being drunk, at least in Castiel's limited experience with drinking and vast experience with being tired. It's easy to let your guard down when you probably shouldn't. That can manifest itself in many ways, including (but not limited to) sharing embarrassing old poems or coming out to someone for the first time in almost a decade.

And now it's time for the best part of late-night conversations: the intense regret you feel afterward!

But, of course, Castiel can't say that, so he tries to put last night out of his mind for the moment. "What did I miss?"

"Uh..." Dean glances at the kitchen. "Jess is making cookies? I don't know. Charlie and I have been talking about Wayward Sisters for..." He pulls out his cellphone to check the time. "Almost an hour and a half."

Castiel gapes at them. "An hour and a half?"

"She is very invested in this show," Dean says. "I've learned more about this show today than I did the entire time I watched it."

"Oh, yes, she is an encyclopedia of fandom information," Castiel says. It extends into a multitude of fandoms, too, but he doesn't mention that for two reasons. One reason is that it's entirely possible Dean is also part of those fandoms and that would just result in another 90-minute conversation about Marvel or Star Wars. The other reason is that Castiel is feeling very uncomfortable talking to Dean after last night, and though he's usually good at ignoring when he's uncomfortable, his ability to act like he's okay doesn't make him feel okay. It's going to take a hell of a distraction for him to forget about last night, and he's praying they give him one.

"Damn right I am," Charlie says proudly.

"I do have a little bit of a grudge against you now, though," Dean tells him.

"Oh, god," Castiel mutters. With Charlie as his source of information, this grudge could be about anything.

"Why did I have to find out that you're going to be on Wayward Sisters from Charlie?" Dean asks.

Oh. Yeah, maybe that's a valid reason to hold a grudge.

"Not gonna lie, it totally slipped my mind," Castiel says. "If it makes you feel any better, I have my first couple scripts on my laptop. I can give you a sneak peak."

Dean shakes his head. "I am all for spoilers -- not that I've gotten any; Charlie refused to tell me anything without asking you first -- but I don't want the exact script or it won't be as fun to watch."

Castiel shrugs. "To each their own."

"But I do need to know who you're playing," Dean says. "Charlie wouldn't even give me your character's name, never mind, like, species or if he's good or bad or --"

"I'm playing the devil," Castiel says simply.

Dean's jaw drops and he just stares at him, speechless.

"Oh, this is fun," Charlie says with a grin.

It takes a few moments for Dean to regain his composure. "So they don't stop Lucifer from rising?"

Castiel shakes his head. "Nope."

Dean scoffs. "I was so sure they were gonna stop the demons from breaking the last seal!"

Castiel chuckles. "Yeah, no, I was definitely surprised by that, too, but hey, at least it means I got a role, right?"

"I take it you're the bad guy, right?" Dean asks. "There's no big plot twist where Lucifer turns out to be the girls' friend?"

"Not that I know of?" Castiel says. "But I only have the first few episodes' scripts, so who knows how it's gonna end?"

"If it gets picked up for another season, are you gonna stick around?" Dean asks.

Castiel shrugs. "I have no idea. I don't think they'd even ask me about it until after the show's been renewed and after they see how people respond to my character. Plus, I don't even know if I'm gonna like working on the show. I mean, I can't wait to meet everyone, but they're also a bunch of teenage girls and I'm a 28-year-old guy, so..."

"Fair point," Dean agrees. "So, who are you most excited to meet and why is it Claire?"

Castiel laughs. "I don't know. I'm definitely excited to meet her, but I'm also half convinced that she could beat the shit out of me if she wanted to so I'm a little nervous." He's been watching these girls on tv and YouTube videos of comic con panels for years. The fact that he's going to be meeting them soon is a little daunting.

"The fact that she could beat the shit out of you is the best part," Dean says. "How many 18-year-old girls do you know who could beat the shit out of a grown-ass man?"

"Which I'm sure sounds very cool from far away," Castiel says.

"Hey, as long as you stay on her good side, you should be fine, right?" Dean says with a shrug. "I mean, call me crazy but I don't think she's actually gonna beat you up."

"But if she does," Charlie adds, "I will laugh at you and I will not apologize for it."

Castiel just rolls his eyes. "Trust me, Charlie, I know that."