Beneath the Spotlight. A Destiel Story

Something Different

Castiel wakes up at 6:00 AM on Mondays to start his day. The sun is hardly rising, with it being early October. He’s in and out of the shower, shaven, and dressed by 6:30, finished his breakfast with a packed lunch by 7:00, and ready to leave by 7:15, the time Gabriel is usually waking up—if not later. He catches the bus by 7:20, and is at his 8:00 AM painting class on time.

He sits in his studio space and takes out his brushes. He’s working with small details, so most of his brushes are tiny and rounded at the tip. He fills his cup of water and sets it next to his easel. His painting is still the same as he left it on Friday which makes him frown. He looks around the studio and sees that many students are nearly halfway through their paintings already.

He puts his headphones on and selects his ambient playlist on his Spotify and gets to work.

He mixes titanium white and dioxazine violet together, adding a tiny fleck of raw umber to darken it slightly; it’s still lighter than his base. He sweeps the small brush in tiny strokes, the paint is thick and it gives the textured affect of real petals on the canvas. He leaves some spaces dark to create the illusion of depth and shadows. Some of the petals are more of a blue tone due to the light, so he parts some of his paint off on his palette and adds a smidgen of cobalt blue. He paints some petals on the left, and already it’s making a difference. He deepens his blue slightly to add more shadowy tones.

Castiel paints nearly every petal by the end of class, but it’s only the first layer. He’ll need to add another layer tomorrow to add a bit more colour depth and contrast, but he’s satisfied with the work he’s done today. He goes to his Art History class for 11:20 and sits near the back. He cleans his glasses off with the corner of his shirt and opens his MacBook.

He notices a text notification come up on his iMessage that he missed on his phone. He opens it on his computer.

Inias: Hey. I’m bringing the boat in to get tuned up before I give her back to my uncle. Want to join? (10:53 AM)

Castiel: What time? (11:24 AM)

His professor walks into the auditorium and sets down her briefcase and pulls down the screen for the projector. Castiel opens his notes on his computer and takes out his gigantic textbook that is the cause to most of his back problems, he thinks.

He sees Inias replying.

Inias: Appointment is at 2:30.(11:25 AM)

Castiel: Sure, I’m done class at 12:50. (11:25 AM)

Inias: Wanna meet at 1:00 for lunch at the Lounge? (11:26 AM)

Castiel: Sure. (11:26 AM)

Castiel closes his iMessage app and pays attention to his lecture. Today, they are continuing their lecture on the Baroque period and Castiel knows he doesn’t like it as much as the Renaissance period, but he still enjoys artists like Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, and of course, Vermeer. He smiles to himself when he thinks about Gabriel drunkenly quizzing him and thinks of Dean suddenly. He takes a hand away from his keyboard to rub at his eyes underneath his glasses. He shakes his head and goes back to his notes, even though he already knows everything.

When he leaves class, Castiel texts Inias and tells him he’ll be at the Backstage Lounge in fifteen minutes. He trudges down the hall and finds his locker at the end. He doesn’t associate with many of the students that bustle behind him as he places his ten tonne Art History text book inside and shuts his locker.

He makes his way out of Emily Carr and turns right to walk down the road, walking past the market, and towards the Backstage Lounge. The weather outside is a little cool, humid as Vancouver always is, and Castiel half regrets not bringing a jacket.