"This one? Do you know what it means? Dean unfolded the cotton shirt with a colorful design on the front.
"Well, the kids at school talk about it. That's Steve." Cas pointed to the cubic man running with an axe.
After stuffing themselves with Chinese food at the mall, Cas and his father had walked to the department store, Dean commenting on how Cas didn't have enough clothes to wear.
Dean chuckled. "Right. I didn't know you were into these games."
Cheeks slightly pink in embarrassment, Cas shrugged. "I hear about Minecraft a lot."
Dean raised an eyebrow. Those kids at school had told Cas about a lot of things Dean didn't like, such as that one time Cas got embarrassed when Dean kissed him because the kids at school told him that kissing was just for adults. "Yeah? Would you like to play it? That could probably be arranged." He re-folded the T-shirt and set it back on its display.
Castiel clasped his hands behind his back uncomfortably. He didn't like asking for things because it always made him feel somehow indebted. "Um, we don't have to..."
Dean guided Cas with a hand on his shoulder. "But there's gotta be some game you'd like to play. Maybe I could show you some." He suggested, navigating through the maze of tiny superhero and Mario shirts. So far he had convinced Cas to choose one light yellow dress shirt and one pair of pants. Neither of them really liked shopping.
A vibrantly colored shirt on the opposite side of the store's walkway grabbed Cas's attention. It was surrounded by sparkly and frilly pink displays of peace signs and bunnies, so he averted his eyes, not wanting to be caught showing interest in the little girls' section. However, Dean noticed his wandering eye.
"Do you like one of those ones?" Dean wasn't finding much potential with the boys' clothing anyway. Too much pixelated pick-axe game merchandise.
Cas stared at the floor, shuffling his feet, trying to hide his burning cheeks.
"Hey," Dean said softly, brushing Cas's elbow. "It's okay if you do. How about we at least take a look?"
Reluctantly, Cas followed Dean who took his hand and led him out of the boys' section and into new racks of, primarily pink, clothing.
Dean surveyed some of the shirts toward the back of one of the racks, pulling a few out for Cas to see. "This one's blue. You like blue, right?"
A little girl wandered down the adjacent aisle with her mother, and Cas was sure they could see him. They probably thought we was lost, a fool for ending up in the wrong section. But they kept walking, and all they were really concerned about was what color jeans the girl should get.
"Um," Cas squeaked, gesturing to the colorful shirt. "I kind of like this one. With the butterflies."
"Yeah? Me too." Dean didn't hesitate, grabbing the hanger and holding the shirt up to Cas's chest. "It looks small enough, I think. It probably fits."
Cas smiled. He eventually decided to take the light blue top, too, if it meant he could get out of this place. At the checkout, the lady didn't comment on it, just asked if Dean had a Macy's card and smiled politely.
Dean and Cas passed a Barnes & Noble bookstore on their way out of the mall. Cas glanced at the displays, checking for books he might like, but didn't see anything noteworthy. He scurried after Dean to the car.
Once they were home, Dean made him try on everything at the last opportunity before he took off the tags. Cas put on his butterfly shirt last and didn't take it off. Dean reached under the collar and carefully pulled off the tag, which tickled Cas's neck.
