Blue Eyed Stranger [COMPLETE]

Chapter 9: The Cat Chase

Castiel screams as his fingers graze Mittens' tail. He's so close it hurts. Mittens only runs faster as soon as he clears the gate through tot the park, speeding into the open space.

At first, his cat only runs in a straight line making the competition a no-chancer. But Mittens begins to bend and turn, locking eye contact with Cas as he does so as if he's doing all of this on purpose.

The cat tricks Cas into thinking this is it — that he's caught him only to slip through his fingers in seconds. He makes a sharp turn round a thorn bush and Castiel goes skiing on forwards.

He holds his hands out as his legs split and he almost falls in the mud for the second time today, but he comes to a safe halt. Or so he thought.

His stranger comes sliding behind him, crashing his chest into Cas' back, surprisingly making a huge slap sound.

Castiel swings around looking at him. To be fair they look as equally surprised to see each other. The stranger has wide eyes and an "oh" look on his face. Castiel is just shocked that he's here with him, chasing down Mittens.

Mittens, he thinks, looking to locate the cat again.

But the cat is just sitting 10ft away, swishing his tail playfully where he's sat. He knows Cas is a sucker, and Castiel knows his cat knows he's a sucker.

"You..." Cas squints his eyes.

Mittens waits for the two to rebalance themselves on their feet and start making their way to him again before he darts off in a different direction across the field.

Castiel can hear the stranger curse from behind him.

The cat runs straight across the grass, not scooting into the bushes, as if it's just a game. Castiel is yelling the cat's name, often sliding in the mud but not going completely over.

Cas can see his stranger slipping through the grass acknowledging that his work shoes weren't exactly made for this.

As Cas looks at the man, the Cat performs a fancy U-turn, suddenly scooting through Cas' legs and running straight at the man.

"You, uh! He's - He's!" Cas blurts awkwardly, remembering that he still doesn't actually know his stranger's name. He makes more odd noises, gesturing to the cat wanting the stranger to catch him, as if he can't see Mittens bolting his way.

He stops immediately, but his heels skid through the mud. He tries to crouch to catch Mittens. However, the cat looks smug as he goes through his legs too, tactically missing the hands diving for him.

The man, in a very inelegant manner, falls over. He unbalances and topples backwards, sliding through the mud on his ass, making an imprint in the grass. His heels then dig deep into the ground, halting him with such force that he then smacks his back flat onto the dirty floor. He shudders his shoulders and tries to sit up as quickly as possible, but it was too late.

Cas comes, uncoordinated, and staggers over his feet as he's blindly aiming to catch his cat. He falls onto the stranger, slamming his shoulders back into the mud and face planting into his chest.

In a panic still wanting his cat, Cas sits up and begins to look around but is reassured when a big, wet cat comes to his side.

"Oh, Mittens!" He gasps, thankful for his cat returning to him. He swoops the cat in his grasp, complimenting the cat even though he's been an asshole.

"Uhm, Cas?" The man shuffles under Castiel's straddle, feeling ever-so-slightly awkward.

"I'm sorry!" He apologises after realising what he's doing. He'd love to straddle him under certain circumstances — but not this one.

He gets to his feet, cradling his huge monstrosity of a cat.

"Don't worry about it," He murmurs, getting to his feet, ensuring he doesn't fall over. "You have good old Mittens." His eyes set on the cat, who's staring back with a seemingly arrogant expression.

He looks unamused as he looks over his suit, overcome by dirt.

"I'm sorry, I, I can get you a new one." Cas says apologetically, meaning it but knowing he can't afford it.

The man laughs it off. "No, I, I have too many navy suits anyway." He laughs awkwardly. "It needed... redesigning."

"Right." Cas says, a small smile comes over his lips as he looks at him before looking lovingly at his cat.

"Oh, we should get you home." He says to his huge fur-ball.

The cat meows in Cas' arms and Cas fills with relief as he squeezes him and hears the purring. He's unbelievably happy he's got him in his arms and looks back to thank his stranger for tallying on.

His face looks soft and not clenched for once, maybe even subtly happy. His eyes meet Cas' once more and they stare for a moment.

"I..." Cas says, knowing that it's his queue to leave. "I never got your name." He says again after being interrupted earlier.

The man scoffs, nodding. "Right," He looks away for a moment before glancing back. "My name's Dean."

"Dean." Cas repeats, letting all of the lines and imaginations add up in his mind. "It's good to finally point a name to you too."