Winchester Ghost Tours

Seance

Dean cleans the apartment. Then he sanitizes. Then he cleans again.

It shouldn't be a big deal. This isn't a date, and Castiel has already seen his apartment in a state of sickness and disarray.

But Dean cleans anyways.

After the room is shining clean and smelling faintly of bleach, Dean pulls out the brand new Ouija board. It's the cheap variety available anywhere with a tan background and black lettering. All the letters are present, in alphabetical order, as well as some simple phrases written in the corners. The planchette is shaped like an oversized arrowhead and made of beige plastic.

Dean pushes the couch and chairs out of the way, creating a small clearing in the middle of the room and places the board in the center. The look he's going for is mystical.

Next, Dean finds a package of tea lights, sets them around the room, and lights them. He turns off the lights in the main room and kitchen; the living area glows from the candles. The usual furniture casts sinister shadows on the walls that flicker and morph with each passing breeze. It's perfect.

The fridge yields two cold beers which Dean sits on the ground next to the board. He's standing back, admiring his handiwork when the doorbell rings downstairs.

Castiel's on the other side of the door and Dean almost trips on the doorstep when he sees him. No trench coat or suit this evening. Castiel wears a button-down gray shirt over form-fitting jeans. Without his layers, Dean gets a much better idea of Castiel's physique and finds he hasn't been giving the man enough credit.

Castiel could give Thursday a run for his money.

"Hello, Dean."

"Uh, Cas," says Dean, holding the door open. "Come in, I got everything set up for us upstairs."

After closing the door behind Castiel, they both walk up the stairs and stop.

"Will Sam be joining us?" asks Castiel as they plod up the stairs.

"Nah, he's been spending more and more nights out," says Dean, stifling a yawn. "Sorry, he's been leaving me high and dry on the tours more and more because of this chick. I have another helper, Garth, but...well, he's no Sam, so I end up doing most of the work."

"If you're too tired we could reschedule?" asks Castiel. Does Dean detect hopeful notes in Castiel's tone? Almost like he doesn't want to do the seance.

Maybe he's afraid.

"Nah, I'll be fine," says Dean as they reach the top of the steps and look across the room.

The dim lights. The candles. The beers. Oh, shit.

It definitely looks like a date. And not just a date, it looks like some kind of Hallmark movie disaster of a date. "Uh, sorry, I didn't realize how um, datey, this would look."

"I don't know, it looks like a seance to me," says Castiel, peering around the candlelit room. He hones in on the Ouija board and walks into the clearing in the room. "Did you buy this for the occasion?"

"Nah, I just keep ouija boards lying around the house."

"I honestly cannot tell if you're joking."

"Yes, I'm joking, we sell them downstairs in the shop, I grabbed one for the occasion," says Dean.

"Ah...interesting," says Castiel, nodding.

Dean sits down first, crossing his legs under himself as he takes a seat where the lettering will be upside down for him. Castiel follows his lead and sits opposite, frowning down at the board.