Perception

The Flask

Castiel had followed the two men for about 45 minutes before he was pinned to a wall in a secluded wing of the hospital by the smaller one. He blinked owlishly at the taller man, his pills making his reactions sluggish. By the time his brain caught up with the situation, he dubbed his reaction unnecessary and merely smiled dopily at the man.

"Who the Hell are you?" the man snarled, pushing his forearm across Castiel's throat.

Castiel nodded slowly. "Good question. I like that question. I think I'll use it too. Who are you?"

The man twisted his face in momentary confusion before he spat, "I asked you first." The tall man behind him looked to be suppressing a laugh.

Castiel looked thoughtfully at the man. His voice made him feel fuzzy, like his radio station did. His eyes were bright green, but harbored the weight of a thousand worlds. He had smile lines in his face, as well as deep frown lines, yet he still looked young. His stance was well practiced, standing just in front of the taller man defensively.

Conclusion: older brother, abusive/absent family. Trustworthy. Dangerous.

So Castiel told him, "My name is Castiel. You may call me Castiel." He cocked his head to the side when Dean loosened his grip. "What may I call you?"

The man looked amused. He called back to the taller man, "We got a loon following us, man. Think he's cool?"

The taller man shrugged. "Test him."

Abruptly, a flask was pulled from inside the shorter man's pants and water was splashed in Castiel's face. He blinked again, vaguely surprised, before taking the flask from the man's hand and marveling at it.

"How did you get this in here?" he murmured, twisting and turning it in his hands. He flicked it with his nail and sniffed the contents before taking swig of it. Just water, was all it was.

The two men blinked, before the shorter one murmured, "I guess he's cool." He retracted his arm and took a step back. Castiel didn't want him to.

The tall one finally said, "I'm Sam, and this is Dean, my brother."

Castiel nodded. He was right. He held up the flask. "May I keep this?" he asked, looking unabashedly into Dean's eyes. He decided he liked Dean's eyes. They were very pretty.

Dean looked at Sam strangely, then nodded. "Sure Cas, sure." Castiel grinned thankfully and held the flask to his chest. It was a gift he was going to savor.

...

Castiel followed the brothers for the rest of the day, toddling after them with a childlike wonderment. Dean looked back at him fondly every few minutes, and Sam looked positively amused by the entire situation.

It didn't take long for Castiel to catch on to what the brothers were doing.

"Take me with you, please," he requested suddenly, taking both men by surprise.

Dean turned to look at Castiel. "What are you talking about, Cas? Where are we going?"

He was lying, of course. Castiel could tell. "You are going to leave. I want to come with you. Can I?"

"I- what- I mean- no, Cas, you can't come with us. I'm sorry man, but you need to stay here," Sam said gently, looking down at Castiel pityingly. Dean had turned his head, biting his lip and refusing to look at Castiel.

The smallest man shuffled in front of Dean, gazing up at him with shiny eyes bigger than the moon, and Dean melted. "Goddamnit, Cas! Fine, sure, we'll see. One week, okay? If you still want to come with us in one week, we'll take you."

Castiel grinned and nodded eagerly. Wonderful.