Summary: In an attempt to stay awake after a long day at work, you engage in conversation with the stranger next to you on the subway with striking blue eyes.
Word Count: 1414
Warnings: Absolutely none
A/N: Okay, so I got inspired by this post (the one with all the pictures of people falling asleep on other people on the subway) and I wanted to write something like how that made me feel, but writing it with Sam or Dean didn’t feel right and I’m rewatching season 9 with my roommate and human!Cas has made me feel things and so that’s how I ended up actually writing a Cas oneshot. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get another Cas oneshot out, but there’s just something so pure about human!Cas, don’t you think?
Version en Español: Maravilloso
“Don’t forget to be back here by six tomorrow morning. We’re meeting with the Senator then with some of our regular clients. Can’t let our regular work slack off just to get the Senator’s event going,” Claudia reminded you as you trudged toward the front doors of the office building, seventeen hours after arriving for the day.
“I’ll be here,” you replied offhandedly. As soon as you were out on the busy Manhattan street, you groaned and pointed yourself toward the subway station. Mumbling to yourself like some lunatic was the only way you were going to be able to stay awake, so you decided to hell with what people thought of you.
“Don’t forget about the meeting, Y/N. That meeting that you set up with the Senator yourself, Y/N. Y/N, I’m out of coffee and tape. Go get me a vegan, gluten-free sandwich, Y/N. I need those reports in an hour, Y/N. Why isn’t everything done, Y/N? God, I hate that woman. One more week of this stupid Senator’s party then I’m getting that promotion and I’ll never have to worry about her again. She’ll be getting me coffee. Ha! I’ll show her what it’s like to work for some insufferable, condescending, know-it-all with a god complex.”
“Uh, ma’am? You okay?” An older woman asked. She was obviously a tourist. New Yorkers never asked about someone else’s well-being.
You forced a smile. “Just great. Tired, but I’m fine. Thanks.”
A glance at your phone told you that you would have to hurry to catch your train, so you rushed off without another word. Out of breath, you made it onto the platform just as the train pulled up. In the mad scramble of people going their own ways, you managed to snag a seat. As soon as you sat down, you knew that you made a mistake. Your fifteen to eighteen hour days for the past three weeks caught up to you and falling asleep on the train was more tempting than ever. At least you would have had a fighting chance if you stayed standing.
Somehow, though, you managed to stay awake for three stops. Your eyelids were being pulled down as if weights were attached to your eyelashes by the time a handsome man with alarmingly blue eyes sat next to you.
Conversation. That would help keep you awake. And this newcomer didn’t strike you as the typical walled-off New Yorker. So you shifted in your seat and smiled at him. When he looked at you, it was as if everyone else on the train was gone. You’d never had anyone pay so much attention to you before, and you hadn’t even said a word.
“Hi, I’m Y/N.”
“I’m— I’m Cas.” He hesitated briefly before holding his hand out for a handshake. His clumsiness was endearing, and staying awake wasn’t as difficult as it had been thirty seconds before.
You took his hand, giving it a squeeze rather than a shake. “Nice to meet you Cas. Is this your first time in the city?”
He cast his eyes around the subway car and a small, not-quite smile twisted his lips. “Yes. It’s quite marvelous, isn’t it?”
Marvelous. That wasn’t a word you heard people use every day. He was still looking away, so you took the time to trace his profile. The way his five o’ clock shadow framed his lips, then gave way to some of the most amazing cheekbones you’d ever seen. “Yes, I suppose it is. I guess I get caught up with everything else that I forget.”
“Forget what?” Cas asked, turning his piercing eyes on you again.
“Forget to stop for a minute. Forget what it was like the first time I came here.” Five years ago, you’d left your small town with dreams of making it big in the city. Everything was surreal. You could have taken just one New York Skyscraper and broken it down floor by floor, and it would still have more rooms than every building in your hometown combined. It was… well, it was marvelous. “What brings you to the Big Apple, Cas?”
Insecurity flashed in his eyes and he glanced away. Ah. So Cas was one of those people. He was running, hiding from something in his past. New York was a popular place to get lost. After all, everyone got lost at some point or another in New York City. He fiddled with his hands and you got the overwhelming urge to take his hand in yours, but managed to refrain. “I, uh. I was cast out of… of my home.”
“That’s horrible. I’m so sorry.” Don’t dwell on the past. That was the number one rule in your life. Keep moving forward. “But hey, you came to a great place. New York is a hell of a place to start over.”
“And what brought you to… to the, uh, the Big Apple, Y/N?” His eyes were trained on you, locked into your answer, whatever it would be. This wasn’t just a question to be polite. He genuinely wanted to know. Where the hell had this man come from, and why in the world would anyone kick him out? There wasn’t a fake bone in his body.
“Big dreams and a small opportunity. I got an internship a few years ago in my dream field and now I’m slotted for the big promotion everyone dreams of in a few weeks.”
A gentle smile crinkled Cas’s face and his head tilted adorably. “That’s wonderful, Y/N.”
“What about you? What are you going to do with this new opportunity and a clean slate?”
That was the wrong thing to ask. Cas’s face clouded. “I’m not sure.”
Something about the lost look on his face made you want to make everything better. You had to help this man. It physically hurt you to look at the pain etched just beneath his skin. “And that’s the beauty of it. You can do anything you want here. So, Cas, the mysterious stranger on the subway with the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen, what do you dream of doing? The one thing that you’ve constantly wanted to do?”
He raised his eyes to yours and the pain slowly faded away as he became thoughtful. Every hesitant action and word from the past few minutes were gone the instant he spoke. “All I’ve ever wanted was to help people.”
Those words and the absolute sincerity behind them struck a chord within you that you’ve never felt before. This man wasn’t just one in a million. This man was, without a doubt, one of a kind. Reading people came easily to you, and every fiber of your being was screaming that Cas was one of the best men you’d ever had the opportunity of meeting.
“Then you will,” you replied confidently, promising him with your eyes.
The insecurity flooded back as if he were remembering something. “It’s… it’s not that easy. I try to help, but every time I think I am doing the right thing it turns into one big colossal mess.”
Your stop was called, but you couldn’t leave Cas on that note. Crossing the distance between the two of you, you laid your hand on his arm and waited until he looked back at you. “You will help people, Cas. It doesn’t have to be this big production. Little things help much more than you think. Just smiling at someone can change their whole day. Helping someone if they drop something. Talking to someone on the train.”
There was a small flame of hope in the back of his eyes. You squeezed his arm once before gathering your things and getting ready to stand. Just before you were going to go to the door, you made a decision and pulled out a business card. “Cas. You’re one of the good guys. I just know it. If you ever need anything, here’s my number. It was really nice meeting you.”
“Thank you,” he whispered reverently, staring at your card then up at you. “Really, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now go help people. You’ll be great at it.”
The train pulled to a stop and you got off with a backward glance at Cas. He smiled as the doors closed between you two and you tucked that memory away for safe keeping. Rarely did you meet anyone who made such a good impression as Cas had. You knew you wouldn’t be forgetting him anytime soon.
