Beneath the Spotlight. A Destiel Story

Out of Order

It’s been over a week since Castiel last heard from Dean and he tries to pretend that it doesn’t bother him. He’s not your boyfriend, he has to remind himself. Which is true. They’re not together, they’re not boyfriends. And even though he spends nearly every waking moment thinking about Dean and when he’s going to be able to seem again, it doesn’t do any good for Castiel.
It’s DAY ELEVEN when Cas wonders if something really terrible has happened, and Dean doesn’t want to share it with him because they’re not that close. In fact, the only things Castiel really knows about Dean is that his father was abusive, his brother is a drug addict, and he plays the drums for a band that is completely underrated. He also knows that Dean fixes boats, plays guitar, and went to the same high school as him, but other than that, he really doesn’t know a whole lot about the guy.
So it’s understandable if Dean doesn’t want to talk to him.
He sighs to himself as he sits in his Art History lecture, only half paying attention. He’s ahead on his readings for this course, since he didn’t have a green eyed drummer to distract him this past weekend, so he spent most of it catching up and surpassing all the stuff he was starting to get behind on. He’s actually kind of grateful for it. He wouldn’t want his grades to start slipping.
He yawns and stretches his arms back, leaning against the back of his chair. Looking at the artwork on the projector screen, he half smiles to himself. The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch—a very peculiar painting (a triptych, actually) that Castiel finds very amusing. Enriched with visual detail and obvious religion, it tells an interesting story.
On the left side, there’s the Garden of Eden, and within it is Christ, between Adam and Eve. It shows the beauty of the land untouched by sin, where God is delivering Eve to Adam. In the middle, it is perceived as Earth—the life of mankind, where they indulge in pleasure and sin amongst each other. On the right, is Hell—representing the humans succumbing to temptations that inevitably lead to evil. The contrast between the first two and the third is so stark, one would think that it didn’t belong to the painting at all in the first place. Filled with blacks and reds, it juxtaposes the light airy greens and blues of Eden and Earth.
But Castiel’s favourite part of the painting, is when the triptych is closed, and the backside of the panels are painted as the earth imagined from above; only it’s not astronomically correct. It’s a sphere, which is correct in a sense—and also very ironic—but the painting was done in the age of the world is flat, so naturally, the singular plane of the world is very flat, but still very much spherical. Above and below are homes to Heaven and Hell, and hover—creating an atmosphere that makes the shape look like a globe.
Cas doesn’t know why he likes the painting so much. Probably because it contradicts everything about itself, and he finds that funny. His professor lets them leave class early today and for that Castiel is grateful. He drags his ninety ton text book back to his locker and when he closes it, he finds a familiar face smiling back at him.
“We missed you this weekend,” Inias greets him. “Gabe and I went out to the strip club.”
Castiel rolls his eyes. “Yes, I know. He wouldn’t shut up about it.”
They start walking down the hallway towards the exit and Castiel pushes the door open with his shoulder.
Inias laughs. “It was fun. What did you do all weekend? See Dean?”
Cas frowns. “No. I stayed home and I caught up on my reading and I prepared some stuff for finals.”
“Uh oh, trouble in paradise?” Inias teases, bumping his elbow against Castiel’s.
The wind is a little chilly today, and with the autumn sun setting much quicker these days, Castiel suppresses a shiver as he wraps his trench coat around himself a little tighter. He does give a side glare to his best friend as they walk towards the bus stop.
“There’s no paradise, Inias. I already told you we’re not together. We’re just friends.”
Inias shrugs. “Whatever you say man. Have you talked to him?”
Castiel shakes his head.
“No.”
Inias pauses for a moment.
“Do you know why?”
“No.”
“Just text him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
Castiel doesn’t respond. He just looks up the street, wishing the bus would get here faster because he’s actually quite cold at the moment, and wants nothing more than to get back home and curl up in a blanket on the couch. His teeth are almost about to start chattering when the bus rounds the corner and parks in front of the stop. They get on, and Castiel pretends that he doesn’t wish there was an actual paradise with Dean Winchester.
When Castiel and Inias walk through the front door, Gabriel is awaiting their arrival.
“Good evening, gentlemen.”
“What are you doing?” Castiel asks him.
“We’re going out!”
Castiel rolls his eyes. “No, we are not. At least I’m not. I have stuff to do.”
He places his bag on the kitchen table and pulls out his MacBook. He doesn’t really have a lot to do, he just doesn’t feel like going out.
“What, like wallow in the fact that you haven’t talked to your boy toy in over a week?”
Cas makes a face. “That’s not—no, Gabriel. That’s—”
“Save it brother, it’s Wing Wednesday and we’re going out and stuffing our faces.”
“I’m down,” Inias says. Castiel glares at him from the side.
He sighs. “Fine. But I’m not staying out late. I have a paper to start for my Art History class and I—”
“Yeah yeah, we get it. You have more important things, Hermione,” Gabriel says.
“Don’t call me that.” Castiel makes his way down the hallway and into his room where he discards his clothing in exchange for some fresh ones. He doesn’t do anything with his hair, and he decides to keep his glasses on this evening. He follows his brother and best friend down and outside the apartment building where they get in a cab and make their way downtown.