3k words later, when Sam comes striding into the library with his nose buried in his laptop, announcing that he thinks he’s found a new case. He looks up and sees the both of them standing there, Cas holding the ID that he’d helped Dean make, both of them looking so entirely flustered he’s amazed neither of them has actually burst into flames yet.
“Guys?” Sam says, hesitating about ten feet shy of the table, mentally kicking himself for not having run for his life before he’d stumbled into the middle of whatever the hell the two of them are currently being weird about. Then he spots the ID pinched between Cas’s fingertips, the edges of the card threatening to cut into his skin with how hard he’s clamped on to it. Sam frowns, because the level of tension in the library is practically smothering, and wonders how Dean managed to screw up what was supposed to be a gesture of welcome this badly, unless… no, he couldn’t believe Cas would actually refuse the official acknowledgement that he was part of the family, could he?
Dean awkwardly clears his throat and shoots Sam a panicked look. Sam had considered fleeing while he’d had a chance, but it was too late now. He glances over at Cas, who’s looking at Dean with a mix of confusion, resignation, and heartbreak.
“Um…” Dean tries, but his voice cracks and fades as he looks from Sam’s wary face back to Cas, and whatever he’d been trying to say dies on his lips.
Sam’s first instinct is crack some joke or tease the both of them, just to break the tension. He sets his laptop on the table, and has the good sense not to risk making whatever this is even worse. He decides to go with cautious friendliness. He can pull out the floppy, friendly puppy bumbling into things. Yep, that’s definitely the best way to bring down the tension.
He takes a deep breath and walks over to Cas, smiling fondly and nodding down at the ID card. “You like it?” Sam asks, adding an eager eyebrow raise into the friendly puppy face. “Dean thought it was about time we made you an official Winchester. Well, at least as official as anyone who’s been declared legally dead on more than one occasion.”
Cas blanches and frowns, tearing horrified eyes from Sam and looking down at the little plastic card in his hands. He speaks in a low, careful voice. “Is that all you wanted, Dean?”
“I, uh… “ A myriad of emotions cross Dean’s face, but when Cas looks back up at him, pinning him with the weight of hope in his eyes, Dean clears his throat and takes a deep fortifying breath. “Can you give us a minute, Sam?”
He doesn’t bother to wait for a reply before grabbing Cas by the shoulder and steering him through the door. Sam considers calling out and reminding them that they have a case, but he figures it can wait for a few minutes.
There’s some quiet mumbling in the hallway that he decides he definitely does not need to hear, followed by hurried footsteps and the slamming of a door. Against his better judgment, he goes to investigate. If his little family has just suffered some sort of emotional explosion, he figures it’ll fall to him to try and collect the pieces.
Sam cautiously approaches Dean’s door, one hand raised to knock. He hesitates when he hears a strange noise. Is that… is Dean crying? He’s about to knock when he hears what’s inarguably Cas moaning, followed by a lot of shuffling and a loud floomp noise as something lands on the bed.
Sam backs away from the door, turns on his heel, and then walks back to the library as fast as his feet will take him. Yeah, the case can probably wait a few hours… maybe even a few days…
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