Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 78

A/N The song's not actually relevant to anything I'm just kinda obsessed with Varian's verse (the first verse) (no I have not seen this show and no I do not know anything about him) (it reminds me of Morro from Ninjago tho and I would die for him) (okay enough parentheses have a fic)

"Hey, Cas." Dean puts his phone on speaker and drops it on the couch by his side. "How's Wayward going?"

"That's exactly what I was going to monologue about, actually, if that's okay with you," Castiel tells him. "Although now I'm slightly concerned because you sound like you're dying."

Dean chuckles. "You caught me right after I finished a workout. I was just about to go take a shower, but this sounds way more interesting." The extent of his experience with film sets comes from music videos and the occasional visit to Jo's movie sets, but he will gladly listen to any story involving the stars of the greatest TV show of all time.

"Can I make a joke about wishing I could watch, or is that too much?" Cas asks.

"Hey, if you wanna fly halfway across the continent, I'll be here waiting," Dean says. A month ago, he never would have thought Cas would be the type of guy to make lewd jokes like that. Hell, even after he came out — after that first blowjob — he still wouldn't have expected it from the guy. It really goes to show how far they've come lately. "Now, feed me your stories. How's it going? Have you met the girls yet? What's going on now?"

"Well, first of all, Patience is my favorite," Castiel tells him. "Alex is a close second. Kaia's quiet so I haven't gotten to talk to her much."

"And Claire?" Dean asks eagerly.

"Claire hates me with a burning passion."

Dean scoffs. "What? Dude, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" Castiel says. "I think she thinks I'm a horrible person for swooping in and stealing your girlfriend? 'Cause she made sure to let me know that I'm not picking her up like I did Jo and Meg."

Dean snorts. "She's a child!"

"I know, right?" Castiel practically yells. "She's, what, 18? 19? Something like that? I mean, I know Jo's kinda young, too, but at least we're in fairly equal standing. I still think of these girls as 16-year-old kids."

"Then tell her that!" Dean says. Lack of communication is the root of way too many otherwise-avoidable problems. That's, like, the entire plot of Wayward Sisters.

"That would just make things worse," Castiel says. "Because then I'm still a creep who dates my younger costars and I'm calling her a child. I really don't see who wins in that scenario."

Dean purses his lips. "That's a fair point." So maybe sometimes lack of communication is a good thing. "Kinda blows that your PR relationships are the reason she doesn't like you. It's kinda counterintuitive."

Castiel chuckles dryly. "Any publicity is good publicity, I guess. But wait, it gets better. Can I spoil something? It's a big something, so feel free to say no."

Dean hesitates. He really does want to be able to enjoy the show like any other fan would, but Cas seems more animated during this phone call than Dean thinks he's ever seen him and he just has to know what's going on behind the scenes.

"Spoil away," Dean says.

"Apparently — and I won't go into too much detail — but Lucifer is Kathryn's love interest."

Dean's jaw drops. That doesn't even make sense! That's the type of crack ship he'd expect to see discourse about, but to actually happen in the show? What the fuck is this?

"Are you still there?" Cas asks.

"Physically, yes," Dean says. "Mentally, I'm in another universe where this is not true." He runs a hand down his face. "That's... no! I don't like that!"

"I know, right?" Castiel says. "I typically try not to pass judgment on my characters' actions but this makes me very uncomfortable."

"Is there someone you can talk to about changing that? Because I think there are gonna be a lot of complaints when that airs, age gap-wise."

"The whole season revolves around it," Castiel says. "They wouldn't remove the whole plotline because we didn't like it — and judging by Claire's reaction to it, she's already tried."

Dean lets out a low whistle. "Damn. I'm glad I don't work in television, then." He has people he has to answer to, sure, but he's essentially his own boss. He'd never survive with someone else making all the creative decisions for him.

"Sometimes I wish I could relate," Castiel mutters. "Oh, in other news, I talked to the girls and Patience and Alex are down to livetweet the first few episodes with us. Kaia said she'd think about it, so I have a feeling either she and Claire will both join us or neither of them will."

"It's gonna be a whole party!" Dean remarks. Granted, he can't really join the party; he has to passive-aggressively blow it off because Cas and Jo are going to sponsor it. There goes his chance for a Wayward notice. "Hey, speaking of things that are fun, I'm gonna be in Toronto next Saturday for an interview, but I gotta be back in LA by Monday." They're finalizing album details, which is unfortunately something he has to be there for.

"But Jo's gonna be here all of next weekend," Castiel reminds him.

"Well, I couldn't exactly explain that to my agent," Dean says. He tried a few excuses. None of them stuck. "You can't get away for an hour?" An hour might be underselling it a little, but come on. It won't be too long.

"Where would I tell her I'm going?" Castiel asks. "I mean, she's only coming up here to see me. I don't want to just tell her I'm leaving and have her ask to come with me."

"Just tell her it's somewhere she can't go."

"But I don't want to make her feel bad."

Dean lols his head back in exasperation. "Okay, fine. What are you doing on Friday?"

"Probably filming," Castiel says. "Why?"

"Friday night?" Dean tries again.

"Sleeping."

Dean snorts. "Okay, fair enough. What time do you wrap on Friday and how long after that are you planning on sleeping?"

"I don't know how early you think I get my schedules, but I promise I do not have any answers," Castiel deadpans.

"Well, when you get your schedule, tell me," Dean says. "Maybe we can meet up next Friday night and blow the weekend off entirely."

"As long as I'm not shooting until midnight, I would like nothing more," Castiel says. "But now we have, what, nine days to wait?"

Dean chuckles. "You've waited this long; I think you can wait another nine days."

"Fine," Cas says, "but this better be everything I've ever wanted it to be and more or I'd like my money back."

"I would mention that you haven't spent any money on this," Dean says, "but I don't think that matters because no one has ever left unsatisfied before, and I expect you to say the same." If their misadventures during Christmas week were anything to go by, he already knows it's going to be worth the wait.