Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 176

A/N Not very spoily spoilers: Jack is an adorable lil shit! And Cas taking off his trench coat was the best part of the episode don't @ me

There's a brief commercial break, mostly because last chapter was getting really long and might as well just be broken into two chapters because this chapter is also long because the author wasn't paying attention and is too lazy to delete stuff.

Because this is a live tv show, the commercial break is also a break in filming the show, giving them time to chat amongst themselves. The only real notable topic of conversation is how Dean managed to snag tickets here, because apparently , Jody and Bobby were old friends who fell out of touch, but she's always glad to see his nonbiological children.

Eventually, the show is back on, and after a reintroduction, Jody says that they're going to play a "game," where she asks the pair questions from the audience — apparently the crew was aware that Dean was going to join before Dean and Castiel were themselves — to see how well Dean knows Castiel. They're supposed to write their answers on a small dry erase board, but there seems to be an issue getting them.

"Okay, well, while we wait for someone to find them," Jody says, "Dean, have you listened to the album yet?"

Dean nods. "Some of it, yeah."

"What do you think?"

"Even if you hate it, say something good," Castiel whispers loudly, earning a laugh from the audience.

Dean chuckles. "Well, I've only heard, like, half the album because I haven't had the time or equipment to actually sit down and listen to it, but so far, I think it's awesome. Cas always sees to be in the mindset of 'This isn't good enough, my fans deserve better,' and I think you can really see that, because every album gets better and better. It's cool that it's not like the generic techno-pop stuff that all sounds exactly the same with lyrics that sound like someone puked up a dictionary. It's got substance."

The audience laughs at that, even though Castiel knows that there are going to be a lot of people who trash that line, claiming he's dissing their favorite artists, which, honestly, he probably is, and their music probably deserves it.

"I don't know how valid that is for someone who hates basically all pop music, but thanks," Castiel says.

"I get more Led Zeppelin vibes with your stuff," Dean tells him. "Which, obviously, is way better than pop music."

Someone finds the dry erase boards, and one of the behind-the-scenes people brings them out, handing one to Dean and one to Castiel, as well as a black Expo marker and a small towel to erase it with. They also give Jody a small top hat full of small papers containing audience questions.

"Starting it off easy," Jody comments as she reads the first question to herself, then reads aloud, "How many albums does Castiel have?"

Castiel doesn't hesitate to write down "6," because, obviously, he knows his discography like the back of his hand. Dean mouths something to himself, counting on his fingers, then writes down his answer, shielding his dry erase board from view.

"Dean first," Jody says.

Dean flips around his whiteboard so it faces the audience. "6?"

Castiel does the same, confirming his answer. "I know you weren't saying album names, so what was that?"

"Well, I know you were 16 for your first one and you're 22 now, so I was counting."

Castiel just stares at him for a moment before saying slowly, "You realize that was a second-grade-level subtraction problem, right?"