Beneath the Spotlight. A Destiel Story

bare necessaries

The next week flies by, and Castiel hardly registers that it's Friday, until Inias is clapping him on the shoulder as he walks out of the studio, leaving his wooden sculpture (more like disaster) behind him.
"So I heard a rumour," Inias greets him.
"Oh boy," Castiel replies flatly. "How riveting."
"I haven't even told you yet."
They walk towards the bus stop at the end of the street, and Castiel glances across the water at his apartment. A boat really would be nice, he thinks. He sighs and refocuses his attention onto his best friend.
"What rumour did you hear?"
He kicks at a rock and watches as it flicks into the street.
"I heard," Inias starts, "that you're dating the hottie with the body, also known as Dean Winchester."
Castiel stops walking.
"Where the fuck did you hear that?"
Inias turns around with a smug grin on his face. Castiel rolls his eyes.
"Gabriel?"
His friend starts walking again and Castiel has to jog to catch up.
"Tell me, was it Gabriel?"
It couldn't not be Gabriel. He's the only other person besides Inias who knows about Dean.
"Yes, it was your brother," Inias answers. "Are you happy?"
"Not entirely." He pauses when they make it to the stop. "What all did he say?"
"That you guys are getting pretty close. So how was brunch?" Inias teases.
Castiel shoves him with his elbow and smiles.
"It was good. And we're not dating. I don't know what we are at the moment, but we haven't talked about it, and I'm fine with the way things are right now."
"Speaking of the way things are," Inias deters. "Gabriel also told me the news. Have you thought about what you're going to do? About Michael?"
Castiel looks away from him and tries to come up with a non-vague answer, but he comes up short.
He shrugs his shoulders and grunts, "I don't know. I guess we'll see what happens."
"Don't you think you should file a restraining order or something?"
"What's a piece of paper going to do, Inias? It sure as hell wouldn't stop me if I was desperate enough."
"Okay, sorry. No need to get all pissy with me."
Castiel frowns. He looks up when he hears the familiar hiss of the airbrakes as the bus pulls into the stop. He gets on without saying anything to Inias, nor when Inias sits down next to him. They ride the rest of the way in silence, and Castiel hopes that Michael won't be in the forefront of his mind for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, Gabriel and Inias leave to go out, while Cas decides to stay in. He's exhausted from every class this week. Painting was horrendous, as they did critiques on all of their midterm assessments, so that took up both Monday and Wednesday's classes, as well as getting their next assignment; Castiel stayed late to get ahead on it, considering he's been behind in most of his classes lately. He also had his Art History midterm on Wednesday, which was easy enough, but the material he picked up after he was finished hasn't been touched yet. Drawing was strenuous. The quick gesture drawings were nice and easy, but Castiel found it troubling to draw a live model for an entire session. He was happy that he decided to draw on toned paper, which made it easier to only have to focus on the light and darks of the model. He managed to finish the drawing, carefully placing it in his portfolio and bringing it home to further work on it more-adding minor details from memory. Sculpture was, as to be expected. Kevin helped him a bit, but Castiel was so worn out by Friday, that he didn't put much effort into his work, which had his professor yelling at him from across the studio to try harder.
Because that always works.
So instead of being social, Castiel is wrapped up in his bed with his MacBook on his lap, looking at his next semester of classes coming up. He's got the second part of his painting and drawing classes, as well as Art Philosophy and an English course. He's happy that he doesn't have to take another sculpture class, since the one he's in right now is only an intro course, and does not have a requirement for continuation-even though at this rate, he's unsure if he's even going to pass the class, which would be worse because then he'd have to take it over again.
He's got two more months left of classes until winter break, and Castiel is anticipating it greatly. He rubs his face with exhaustion, sighing as he runs a hand through his hair. His phone buzzes beside his thigh and he pulls it out, smiling to himself when he sees Dean's name pop up.
Dean: What does this look like to you? (8:18 PM)
Castiel opens the picture Dean sent him and makes a face.
"What the fuck?" he says out loud.
Castiel: It looks like a rat. Is that suppose to be art? (8:19 PM)
Dean: Hah. Benny owes me ten bucks. (8:19 PM)
Castiel: What is it? (8:19 PM)
Dean: We don't know! Benny picked it up at some junk yard today and we've been sitting around the table trying to figure out what the hell it is. Thought I'd ask you. Bet him ten bucks you'd say it was a rat. (8:21 PM)
Castiel: And how would you assume that's what I would say? (8:21 PM)
Dean: Because that's what I thought it looked like. (8:22 PM)
Castiel shakes his head. He puts his phone down and goes back to scrolling through his emails and schedule. His phone buzzes again.
Dean: You coming out tomorrow night with us? The band's playing at the Lounge again (8:24 PM)
Castiel forgot that Dean had mentioned the band had a performance this weekend. Since he doesn't have much to do, he doesn't see why he couldn't go. Although Gabriel and Inias will tease him about only going out because Dean asked him. Which totally isn't the reason, Castiel denies himself. He likes hearing the band perform. Not because Dean gets all hot and sweaty, which in turn makes him hot and sweaty. That's not the reason at all.
Castiel: What time? I don't know what my plans are yet but if they're as boring as tonight, I'll probably come out. (8:25 PM)
Dean: Cool. What are you up to tonight? (8:25 PM)
Castiel: I'm sitting in bed looking at university stuff. (8:26 PM)
He cringes at himself.
Dean: Wow. Sounds like a ball of fun. If you feel up to it, you're welcome to come here. We're just sitting around having a couple drinks and playing some card games. (8:27 PM)
Castiel smiles at his phone. It's still technically early. And he's not doing much.
Fuck it.
He gets up and closes his MacBook, placing it on his desk. He looks down at himself and realizes that he's already in his pyjamas so he raids his closet for something else. His hair is flattened from his shower earlier, so he tries to fluff it up a bit without putting pomade in it. He doesn't feel like putting his contacts back in, so he keeps his glasses on. He throws a shirt on and grabs his keys from his nightstand, shoving them into his pockets before grabbing his phone.
Castiel: I'll be there in twenty. (8:35 PM)