#and hey i do look a little dorky cause I’m wearing gloves and a short sleeved shirt in the winter but eh

[truth-01001001-liar]

i.. can’t believe it took me until today to figure out that when the sensory texture problem is upon me i can just ….put ..gloves.. on .. about it?

[martianmaddie]

Month of Prompts

December the Sixth prompt: Cold / Cozy

Pairing: Destiel, Dean Winchester/Castiel

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 1779

“Son of a bitch.”  Castiel griped, peeling his gloves off and ripping his hat from his head as he entered his tiny, two-man dorm room.  “I walked all the way across campus, got out of bed, only to find out classes are cancelled.”

“Could you hold your complaints?”  Castiel’s friend and roommate, Dean, asked from under a pile of blankets.  “I’m still asleep.”

Castiel continued to grumble, albeit quietly, as he threw himself into his computer chair and unlaced his snow-covered boots.  It was Thursday, two weeks before finals, and he’d stayed up until three studying.  He’d barely rolled out of bed in time to wrap himself in as many layers as he could and trapse to his freshman comp. class by eight a.m.  He’d lost feeling in his face and toes from the biting wind and what was building up to be three feet of snow.  He should have known that classes would be cancelled in a blizzard.

A soft, pale light lit up their room from the small window that separated Castiel’s bed from his roommates’.  Though the sight of the snow was hidden behind the yellow curtains Castiel had hung up, he could hear the wind whipping outside and howling through the seal of their window.  Even in the safety of their room the air was chilled, the slight tickle in Castiel’s nose from the cold reminded him of childhood snowball fights with his brothers.  

Castiel loved winter; he loved Christmas, the snow, baking cookies, and spending time with his family.  Now that he was away at university, though, Castiel was having a hard time feeling his usual joy about the holiday season.  Maybe it was the stress of upcoming finals, maybe it was the complete lack of decorations in his dorm room (they didn’t even have a tree).  Or maybe it was the knowledge that now that his parents split up he’d never have another Christmas with his whole family.  They’d waited until all the kids left the house to get a divorce, Castiel was the youngest, so they’d been waiting on him, he hadn’t been at university for a month when his mom called and told him the news.  Whatever the reason, Castiel felt a distinct lack of holiday cheer, an emptiness that left him in a foul mood.

He started shivering as he pulled his sweater over his head, throwing the formless lump of knitted fabric onto the foot of his bed and crawling under his covers.  The soft cocoon of his blankets had already lost his body heat since he’d rolled out of bed, and Castiel continued to shiver, tossing and turning and trying to rub some warmth back into his limbs.

“This is ridiculous.”

Castiel picked his head up, peering at his roommate from under his blankets.  “What?”  Castiel asked grouchily, squinting in the harsh light that the curtains didn’t keep out.  He hadn’t fallen back to sleep yet, he hadn’t been able to get warm.  He’d spent the past hour with his head under the covers, curled in a ball and willing the howling of the wind to stop.

“I said this is ridiculous,” Dean repeated, grabbing a towel from a hamper on his side of the room and shoving it into the bottom of the windowsill.  “Our damn window is letting cold air in, and the heating in this building sucks.  I’m freezing.”

“Me too.”  Castiel moaned, tucking his face back into his blankets again, only to have those blankets jerked off of him.

“Hey!”

“Move over.”  Dean commanded, already half into Castiel’s bed.  Then Castiel’s knees were being crushed by Dean’s ass.

“Get off, you assbutt!”  Castiel objected, shoving at his roommate with little effect.  Dean collapsed on the bed, pulling the covers over both of them and curling into Castiel’s side of the bed.  No, not his side of the bed, the whole bed was his.

“What do you think you’re doing?”  He demanded, shivering again from the blast of cold air he’d received when Dean pulled his covers to the side.

“Not cuddling.”  His friend replied sharply, pressing icy fingers against Castiel’s shoulder, making the dark-haired boy yelp.

“It sure seems like cuddling.”  Castiel accused, slapping Dean’s arms away as he tried to pull Castiel into his chest.  Castiel was trying very hard not to think about how he was only wearing a tee shirt and thin pajama bottoms, or how Dean was only wearing boxers, or how he’d had a crush on his football-player roommate since the start of term.

Castiel didn’t have any hope with Dean, though, the guy had gotten in on a full scholarship for football, had an amazing season despite being a freshman, and had ladies tripping over themselves to be with him.  Just because Dean hadn’t gone out with any of them didn’t mean that he wouldn’t, Castiel had seen first-hand how big of a flirt his best friend could be.  Castiel had also gotten in on a full scholarship, but it was for math.  And skinny, dorky college Castiel was shaping up to be as big of a dweeb as high-school Castiel.  In short, Dean was out of his league.  Miles outside of it, actually.

“Cas, I’m cold, you’re cold.  Neither of us slept last night and I can’t sleep ‘cause my fingers are about to freeze off.”  Castiel’s breath hitched as Dean managed to arrange them so that Castiel’s back was nestled into Dean’s chest, his butt was pressed against his roommate’s hips and their thighs touching as Dean curled around him.

“Dean,”  Castiel protested weakly as his roommate wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

“Go to sleep, Cas.  It’s not weird if you don’t make it weird.”  Dean murmured, and Castiel felt goosebumps rise on his arms and back when Dean’s hot breath ghosted over the back of his neck.

Castiel bit his lip.  It was weird, despite what Dean seemed to think, and a little awkward.  But he was warm, and he hadn’t been warm since sometime yesterday.  Castiel felt himself relax into Dean’s arms, wiggling closer a bit and sighing as Dean held him just a little tighter.  

Maybe not weird, but still awkward.

But nice.  Cozy, even.  Castiel hugged his chest, and Dean’s arm with it, and tried not to feel silly about the small smile that was lifting the corners of his mouth.  It wasn’t Christmas with his family, and it still kinda sucked that it was so cold, but cuddling with Dean was almost enough to lift his bad mood.

Any awkwardness fell away once Dean started snoring.  The sound wasn’t obnoxious, Castiel found it endearing, and he wished he could see Dean’s face.  Dean mmm’d in his sleep and squeezed Castiel tighter when the dark-haired boy shifted onto his back.  Castiel watched Dean’s relaxed face for several minutes, until the warmth of his and Dean’s combined body heat pulled him into unconsciousness.

“Do you have plans for the break, Cas?”  Dean asked.

Castiel finished fastening the front of his jeans before looking up at his roommate.  Waking up had been awkward, as had dressing afterwards.  Which was weird, because it’s not like either of them had been particularly modest around the other all year, Dean sat around their room in boxers all the time.  It wasn’t like they’d done anything, they’d just fallen asleep.  But honestly, (and Castiel had no experience in this area, he was just drawing conclusions from movies) it was a bit like waking up the morning after a one night stand.

“No, I told my mom I’m taking a winter class.”  He didn’t say that it would be downright depressing to go home, to spend time with his now-broken family.  He didn’t like to talk about it, about how his dad was probably happier now that he was out in the world doing god knows what.  Dean knew, to a certain extent, because Castiel didn’t have to say anything for Dean to know.

“Do you want to come with me?”  Dean asked, not looking up at Castiel as he sat on the edge of his bed and laced up his boots.  “I’m just going to my uncle Bobby’s, but he’s going to wait for me to get there before going out and chopping down a tree.”

“Your family chops down their own Christmas tree?”  Castiel asked, surprised.  That sounded like fun.

“Yeah, it’s a Bobby tradition.”

“I’d like that, Dean.  Thank you.”  Castiel exchanged a smile with his roommate, and watched as Dean pulled his coat on.

“Do you want to go to dinner with me?”  Dean asked, pausing by the door.

“Sure.”  He said lightly.  “Where do you want to go?”

Dean’s face pinched as he studied Castiel.

Castiel ignored is roommate, Dean was always staring at him all intense-like.  At first, it had confused him, made him think that there was something going on between them, but now he knew his attraction to Dean was one-sided.  Dean’s staring just meant that Dean was just especially deep in thought about something.  

“Do you want to make it-.”  Dean started, but cut himself off.

“Wherever you want to go is fine, Dean.”  Castiel said after a moment.  “You’re driving, anyway.”  Those were the rules: Dean’s car meant Dean’s music, Dean’s choice of restaurant, ect.  Castiel didn’t question it anymore, he was just glad he didn’t have to eat at the buffet on campus.

“We should go on a date.”  Dean said confidently, making Castiel hurt his neck from looking up at him so fast.  “Maybe not tonight, but we could get coffee or dinner, and I could take you to the movies, and-.”

“You want to go on a date with me?”  Castiel interrupted, half to shut down Dean’s rambling, half because he was pretty sure he’d completely misunderstood his roommate.

Dean’s usual cool-guy facade faltered a bit.  “I, uh, yeah.”  He said lamely, and Castiel felt his jaw drop as he stared at his friend.

Dean took in his disbelieving look, and his lips pulled down at the corners.  “Sorry, that was stupid.  Forget I said anything.”  Without another word, Dean bolted, making for the door of their dorm room.  Castiel only just managed to catch Dean’s wrist before he disappeared down the hall.

“I’d love to go on a date with you, Dean.”  Castiel said earnestly, looking up at his roommate with wide eyes.  “I’d love to.”  He repeated.  

Castiel saw Dean examine his face carefully, as if looking for any indication that Castiel was joking.  After a moment, Dean broke into a smile.  His happiness was blinding, and Castiel guessed that he hadn’t been the only one crushing on his roommate all year.