#ten points if you can name either they're not especially predictable ones

[brobonebang]

Just to flag for those of you who missed our reblog of the Round 3 announcement post with this addition... we have a Spotify playlist running with all of the song prompts for this round. So if you’re seeking inspiration you can have it running on shuffle and see what comes up (as it were) (oo-er). Disclaimer, mods are not responsible for the extremely eclectic nature of the songs included, you gotta be prepared to go where the playlist takes you...

[mageofseven]

Part 3! This is the last part, containing Beel and Belphie's sections below the cut. Please enjoy~

Part 1 | Part 2

~

Beelzebub:

Things were peaceful with the pregnancy for a while.

Even in the beginning, when MC was barely showing and faced very little issues, the sixth brother was waiting on her hand and foot

And he almost always had a smile on his face. He was just insanely happy about becoming a dad, about having a baby with MC.

He handled every thing more or less with stride.

When she started showing and the woman felt self-conscious about the fact that she was losing her figure, he'd hold her close and kiss her, telling how beautiful she was, that the belly she was growing made her no less so. In fact, it made her even more beautiful because to him, what her body was doing was a beautiful thing: growing and carrying his child, something that meant the world to him.

Yeah, he was a bit anxious about how things would go since Lucifer told them the pregnancy could become dangerous for her, but he was still truly happy for the two of them to become parents.

Unlike his siblings in the other timelines, Beel had no fears about how he'll be as a dad; he knew he had so much love to give their son or daughter and was ready to give it.

It wasn't until MC's fourth month when some concerns were raised.

MC's belly had grew at an unusual rate. Despite just entering her fourth month, her belly was roughly the size of what it should be in her sixth or even seventh month of pregnancy, according to Satan.

Beel didn't really know anything specific about pregnancy so he didn't see it as anything to worry about. I mean, he was the Avatar of Gluttony and this was his baby. MC developed quite the appetite because of this and was eating at least twice more than she used to. Surely that's all this was? And if so, the man couldn't see it as anything dangerous, at least.

Still, MC's anxiety grew over it, causing him talk over it more with the blonde to figure out if there was anything he could do for her.

And so the time came; the rune! Satan drew the rune over the human's belly to collect the data they needed.

After a minute or two of absorbing the data, the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" MC asked.

"It... well, I suppose for a start, Beel is correct that his sin is part of the reason for the growth spurt." Satan began. "But only partly."

Beel leaned towards his brother, listening closely.

"However, there are some more difficult elements at play here." The fourth brother continued. "The most pressing being... the number."

"I... what?" The woman stared at the demon in front of her.

"It seems you two are having twins. Two girls, in fact."

Beel immediately pulled MC in for a hug. The woman cried heavy tears, but they were paired with a smile. The big guy teared up as well.

"Twins. Beely, we're having two little girls." She said from inside his arms.

"I know." The man pulled back and gave her a sweet kiss before laying both hands on her belly. "Our little girls--"

"I hate to interrupt," The Avatar of Wrath said, but of course, did so anyway. "But... do either of you realize the danger this poses to any degree?"

Beel turned back to his brother, furrowing his brow.

Satan sighed.

"Beel... one baby was going to be rough on her body, but two?" He pointed out. "Honestly Beel, she'll likely be eating at least as much as you, if not more, and that still might not be enough for her body. It's manageable now, but once she enters the last trimester, it'll be very difficult to keep two gluttony demon children fed as well as the mother they're siphoning nutrition off of faster than she can get it."

Basically, MC was going to be eating an extreme amount of food and still literally be starving. That's how Beel understood it at least.

The man looked at his girlfriend and frowned in worry. He hated feeling hungry and didn't wish that on his Muffin, but knew she'll end up feeling even worse than that.

"Is there anything I can do for her now?" The redhead asked.

"Right now... all we can do is stock up and hope for the best." The blonde answered. "Lucifer should probably be informed so things can be planned out."

And so he did. He walked his girlfriend to their bedroom so she could lie down for a bit while he went to Lucifer's study to inform him. The older brother was instantly stressed out, but let out a sigh and told him that he'll handle it.

Lucifer did warn Beel though that he probably won't be able to eat as much as he's used to because of this. The Avatar of Gluttony only nodded. If he had to go hungry to keep MC fed and alive then so be it. It was worth it to him.

As the months went by, Satan's predictions were proven true. By half way through her seventh month, MC was bedridden. Her belly had grown so big that she literally could not get out of bed on her own.

The woman was never alone though. She constantly had either Beel or Belphie or both with her to bring her food or carry her to the bathroom or cuddle her so she didn't get lonely.

What was equally as worrisome as her gravid boulder of a belly was the rest of her. The woman had lost so much weight in her thighs, arms, and face that she looked like she's been starved for years.

Each touch of Beel's was extra gentle because his girlfriend looked so fragile like this. He was afraid to hurt her even more, especially because of their girls' kicks.

The twins had inherited their daddy's strength. Occasionally, one or both of them would kick their mama a bit too hard, causing a bruise to form on her belly.

This led to lots of belly time. Beel would kiss and rub his Muffin's belly while talking to his girls, telling them how loved they are, but how they need to be more gentle with their mama.

Despite how difficult the situation was, both Beel and MC kept positive, smiling through it. After all, this was all for their little girls so of course it was worth it.

Good End:

Oh this poor woman. It took ten months of pregnancy, being a full month over due, but her twins were finally ready to come out into the world and meet their parents.

It was a long twelve hours for the couple; after all, these were two very big, overdue demon babies of gluttony being pushed out by a mom they've seriously weakened for months now. Yet despite the odds, both Mama and babies made it out okay.

Beel kissed his girlfriend's head and watched as she fed their girls. Their girls. This was really happening. Beel was a daddy. His sweet Muffin was a mama and those sweet girls feeding from her chest were their daughters, sporting his hair, eye color, horns, even delicate versions of his wings, but still had all of their mother's facial features. They were identical, unlike him and Belphie, but the demon truly hoped the two could forge just as strong of a bond together as he had with his twin.

When the two were done drinking, Beel took the one from MC's left arm and brought her into his own. Just then, a knock came to the door and it clicked open to reveal Belphie, who Beel texted a few minutes ago; he wanted his twin to be the very first one to see his daughters.

The couple smiled at him.

"Belphie, come see them." MC invited him to come closer.

The seventh brother approached the bed and gave a small smile.

"So... whose who?"

MC looked up to Beel, letting her boyfriend introduce them. The man smiled.

"This is Arsenia." The redhead stared down at the little girl in his arms, kissing her head before looking to the one in MC's arms. "And right there is Anais."

The three talked for a bit and watched the babies before MC needed to sleep. Beel laid the twins in their cribs before giving his Muffin a quick kiss on her head.

"Sweet dreams, Muffin. Thank you for everything." He smiled.

Bad End:

Twelve hours. Twelve hours of labor that seemed like it was going no where. The first baby was barely even crowning after all this time and MC was losing what remained of her strength. The woman honestly didn't know how much more she could take.

Beel felt so helpless as he watched her struggle. He was so hyperfocused on his Muffin that he hadn't even thought of food once during these twelve hours and even a non gluttony demon would be getting hungry right then.

It took another hour, but MC eventually got the head out and then the shoulders. But that was it. That was as far as she made it. She had lost the last of her strength and just... faded away at that moment. Beel couldn't accept it at first and just kept calling her name and shaking her shoulder, begging her to wake up. But she didn't. The man let out a howl of pain before collapsing on his knees in sobs. He cried for a minute before remembering his girls.

Beel quickly shot up and freed the first baby, Arsenia, from her mother's body. Anais... Anais, he never got to save. They never knew it, but the cord had been wrapped around her neck for most of the labor and she left them before even MC did.

And just like that, the Avatar of Gluttony lost his Muffin and one of his daughters. As he held tightly to Arsenia though, he vowed that he would never, ever let any harm come to her.

Beel was a loving, but fiercely protective father. His daughter handled it in stride for the first twelve years of her life, but after that, grew to really resent him. He never let her truly live her life. By fifteen, she actually ran away to the Human realm in search of what was left of her mother's side of the family, leaving a note saying that she couldn't handle him suffocating her anymore. Arsenia had succeeded in finding her grandma and Lucifer convinced Beel to just let her be for a few days. Then he came to get her and the two had a heart to heart talk.

The man didn't know how he could grow to let go more; all he knew was his fear. This was his daughter. His worse nightmare was losing her just like he did with MC and Anais. But he knew if he didn't learn then he was just going to lose her in another way. The man just didn't know what to do anymore. Not without MC, who kept him grounded. Not without MC, who he sees everytime he looks at his daughter's face. And so he was stuck feeling desperate and lost and just wanting his daughter to understand him and be happy.

Belphegor:

After the two's three month fight, Belphie was dedicated to taking care of MC.

He was an ass to her when he found out of she was pregnant and he knew it, never even denied it, but it came from a place of fear and love for his human.

Seeing just how important this baby was to her though... it was enough for him to bury his fear deep inside of himself for her. He had to; she needed him and he was not going to abandon her again.

Her second trimester was... well, let's just say he stepped in to support her at just the right time.

MC was always so exhausted and went through her days in almost a daze.

She even passed out at the dinner table one evening, face falling straight onto her plate.

Normally, the Avatar of Sloth would find this funny, but the pregnancy had him on edge.

She woke up fairly easily though. Just a couple shakes of her shoulder and the woman was lifting her head, wondering why there was mashed potatoes in her hair.

That was enough for him though. Belphie picked his girlfriend up and carried her to his room. He cleaned the food out of her hair before laying her back on the bed.

"I'm sorry..." She mumbled.

"Don't apologize, Butthead." He said softly, pulling her to his chest.

He knew she couldn't help it. In general, pregnancy could be tiring, but when the baby daddy is the literal Avatar of Sloth? Yeah, that made things harder.

The human fell asleep, barely staying conscious long enough to hear his response.

Belphie leaned in and kissed her forehead.

Even after such an early bed time, MC didn't wake up in the morning. Or the afternoon. Belphie was tense as hell, but tried to be patient.

Around 3pm, after sleeping for about twenty hours straight, the man tried shaking his girlfriend awake. But she wouldn't.

Belphie started freaking out and shaking her harder. She still wouldn't wake up.

He had to triple check that she was alive. And she was; the woman still breathed slow, sleepy breaths and had a calm pulse like any sleeping person would.

But she wasn't waking up? Why?

At some point, the younger brother wasn't sure when, but Beel had gotten up and rushed to Lucifer.

The oldest brother put a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder, stopping him from shaking the human anymore.

Belphie instantly shook the oldest off and gave him a glare.

"Stop, she's not waking up!"

"Shaking her is not going to help the situation."

Belphie was frustrated with the Avatar of Pride, but knew he was right. But what else could he do?

Lucifer did most of the talking with Beel after that. The two went back and forth on different things as Belphie simply held his girlfriend close.

Eventually, the two left the room and came back with Satan, book in hand. Belphie growled as the blonde approached the bed.

Satan sighed.

"Enough with that. I believe I know a way to figure out the problem."

And with that, the fourth brother explained step by step everything he was going to do.

The boyfriend scowled, but let the blonde do what he needed to do.

Satan opened his book and laid it on the bed. He gave a glance at the page before pulling down the blanket and raising up the woman's shirt.

Belphie growled again, but stopped as Beel laid a hand on his arm. The man then took a deep breath and just sat up, watching the blonde's movements carefully as he guarded his girlfriend. Yeah, Satan was his brother, but more importantly, that was his girlfriend the blonde was messing with. Whatever he does, he better be gentle.

The three other men watched as the Avatar of Wrath drew a rune around MC's navel. The woman stirred, making some noises in her sleep, but didn't awake.

When the blonde finished the rune, it glowed a very bright purple. The fourth brother raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's... not supposed to do that." The blonde picked up his book, rereading the passage once more.

"What did you do?" Belphie immediately jumps to the worse scenarios.

Satan waved off his words and continued to read the passage.

"It's suppose to glow green since I am the rune's scripter... however, it shows itself in your color."

The Avatar of Sloth didn't say a word; he didn't understand what was going on. He looked down at his human, whose sleep had turned a bit restless since the other man drew the rune on her.

The fourth brother finally sat down the book and reached out to lay his hand on the rune

...and was immediately shocked.

Satan cursed and pulled his hand towards his chest.

"What happened?" Lucifer asked.

The fourth brother just shook his head and breathed for a minute in order to keep calm.

"It... I seemed to be locked out." The blonde answered in a controlled voice.

"What do you mean, you're locked--"

"It means I don't have control over the rune!" The Avatar of Wrath snapped at the oldest before taking a deep breath. "Belphie, you do it."

"Do what?"

"Just put your hand on the rune; it'll do the rest."

Belphie stared at his brother for a minute before slowly laying his hand on MC's belly, right above the rune.

Suddenly, his eyes glowed as his brain was flooded with information.

Okay, first off, he learned the rune was purple because of the baby. As soon as they sensed the rune intruding on their safe place, the baby locked Satan out... apparently to protect themselves and their mother. Belphie only has access because they seem to trust him.

It also seemed that the baby has inherited their dad's protective instincts. Belphie approves.

That's not the only thing they got from him though.

The reason MC has been out cold for past twenty hours is because they inherited their dad's miasma powers, the ability that he uses with his aura to weaken people and put them to sleep

The very same power he used the night he killed MC.

Belphie wanted to curse, to scream, to aim all his anger at the little being doing this to her

But then he discovered why.

The baby... they sensed their mama's great distress, something MC had been trying so hard to hide from him.

It all went back to the first revelation; the baby was protective of their mother. They weren't just protecting her from outside forces, but from herself too.

Lastly, he learned learned that there was no single baby; there was two

Twins. A boy and a girl.

Belphie pried away his hand so quickly that he almost fell off of the bed. If it wasn't for Beel being right behind him and catching him, he would have.

"What is it?" His twin asked.

Oh dear devil, where should he even start? The seventh brother didn't even know if he wanted to say anything; he just wanted time to let it all sit within him, but he had three pairs of eyes trained on him at the moment.

Belphie glanced down at MC's sleeping face and a fresh wave of guilt washed over him. She was essentially being drugged into sleep by his kids. Once again, this was his fault.

Sensing how overwhelmed his twin was, Beel turned to Lucifer and said some things that the younger twin didn't even try to hear before the oldest and the blonde left the room, leaving the twins alone.

Belphie sat with his knees to his chest and hid his face in his arms.

Beel came up and hugged his brother.

"It's my fault..." Belphie's voice cracked.

The younger twin told the redhead everything, who listened patiently to all of it.

Beel's arms tightened around his brother.

"You know she wouldn't blame you for it." Beel told him.

"Doesn't change the fact that it's my fault..."

The twins talked together for a little over an hour. After that, Belphie fell asleep next to MC and Beel left to update Lucifer.

The conclusion? Wait. All they could do for now is wait. Satan looked into some human-safe potions that would be strong enough to wake MC if she took too long, but otherwise, waiting is all they could do.

Two days later, MC woke up in severe need of water. Beel ran to go get some for her as Belphie held her close, relief washing over him.

A few bottles of water later, MC asked what happened.

Belphie didn't know what to say. Or rather... how to tell her.

But he did. He admitted everything with a heavy heart and actually apologized to her.

Wide eyed, his girlfriend pulled him in for a hug.

"Hey... none of that." She told him. "I'm fine, I-- it's okay."

The two laid there and cuddled for a while. Belphie laid with his head on her chest, feeling it rise and fall with each breath (and being incredibly grateful for each one) as his girlfriend stroked his hair.

"So...twins?" She asked softly. "How...how do you feel about that?"

Belphie let out a sigh. How could she lay there and worry about him despite the situation she was in?

It didn't help that the demon honestly had no clue to how to answer that. How did he feel about any of this now?

He hated all of this in the beginning and he resented this baby for even existing. Since his experience with the rune and getting the chance to understand the babies inside of her... he really didn't know.

They seemed... anxious and overall just wanted to protect their mother. That was no different from Belphie himself.

His twins just... devil, he could feel his heart softening for them as he thinks over everything.

He didn't resent them anymore, but how did he feel about them? About there being two of them?

Honestly, it sounded like a hassle. Even once this whole pregnancy is done with, MC and him will have twice the responsibility; he was exhausted just thinking about it.

Still, he accepted it all.

"Dummy, you shouldn't be worrying about what I think." Belphie shook his head. "...How do you feel about it?"

Silence.

"A bit... scared." She admitted. "I don't want you to get overwhelmed again and... and leave me."

Belphie sat up and stared down at her.

"I'm not leaving you. Ever." He said firmly. "I know I was a dick in the beginning, but I'm staying with you. Period."

MC looked away.

"Y-Yeah, but..."

Devil, he had to keep her stress levels down or their twins are gonna drug her again. The demon leaned in and kissed his girlfriend before laying his head back down on her chest.

"I love you, Butthead." He mumbled. "I'm not leaving you or our kids so stop worrying."

He could feel her body relax underneath him.

Months went by with very little issues. She went through somedays with a really froggy mind and that was concerning on it's own because she was extra clumsy like this, tripping over furniture and starting little fires in the kitchen.

Belphie and Beel were always hovering around her because of this, ready to catch her when she tripped. They also took over her cooking duty and took turns. MC felt bad and said she should be contributing more, but Belphie would always silence her with a kiss and tell her she's contributing enough by carrying his little gremlins.

This made her smile because she knew he was joking. If he was able to joke about them like that then there must be affection for them underneath it all. And she was right.

Her coma-like sleeps were rare but they did happen twice more in her pregnancy. Luckily between Belphie and Beel, they were able to keep her stress down enough to where it usually wasn't an issue.

Good End:

MC had woken him up in the middle of the night. Her contractions started while she was asleep and woke her up when they got too strong for her to sleep through. Belphie woke up to her crying and clinging to him.

From 3am to 9am, a long six hours, MC labored hard till she pushed both twins out. Their son had his dad's dark hair while their daughter had MC's hair. Both had Belphie's purple eyes though. Their daughter had their dad’s horns while their son had their dad’s tail.

MC held their son close to her chest as Belphie held his daughter. He stared down at the little girl, who lightly squirmed in his arms and let out soft cries.

"Belphie..."

He looked over to his girlfriend, just to notice that he himself had been crying as he watched his daughter. The demon looked away, blushing. After a moment, he spoke.

"I know we really didn't talk about this beforehand... but I want to name her Lilith."

His girlfriend gave him a smile.

"Of course."

The two discussed it for a few minutes and decided to name their son Judas.

Bad End:

Things fell apart early in MC's eighth month. The woman suddenly just collapsed where she stood, seconds after whispering Belphie's name and trying to reach out to him. The man caught her before she hit the floor. She had suddenly fallen into one of her comas. But why? He thought his girlfriend was okay, but apparently she had been bottling some feelings up. She would have had to have been or otherwise their children wouldn't be doing this to her.

It was three days later that Belphie woke up in the night to feel that the bed was wet. Very wet. MC's water broke! She was still in her coma though so how did this work?? Even with the contractions, could she birth the twins if he she wasn't awake to push?? Belphie quickly woke up Beel who in turn rushed to Lucifer. The oldest called a doctor, who had Belphie stay outside of the room.

The youngest brother paced back and forth in the hallway, cussing, and overall more awake then he has been all of his demon life.

In the end... MC didn't make it. But the twins did. The twins survived even when his girlfriend didn't and that fact destroyed him.

For the first two years of their life, Belphie had absolutely nothing to do with his kids; Beel raised them for him. It wasn't because of what you might think. Belphie didn't resent his kids or blame them for their mother's death like he thought he would. Belphie was drowning in self-hatred because it was his fault. He believed this with every fiber of his being. He couldn't even look at his children, especially Lilith, who he saw both MC and his sister within her whenever their eyes met.

Eventually, he got his shit together, at least somewhat. He always needed help though so Lilith and Judas were raise by both their father and their Uncle Beel. Belphie was pretty laid back as a father so between him and Beel, the kids had the freedom to do just about anything. However, they grew to be a bit bratty. Good hearted, but bratty. Any time anyone other than he or Beel tried to discipline them or said anything awful to his kids, Belphie was ready to murder a bitch and slowly at that; it was a lot easier to set this man off now as a parent. Luckily, Beel was always able to drag him away and calm him down.

Those around them were always put on edge by the Avatar of Sloth's presence because of this; even the other brothers weren't sure how to interact with him somedays. Still, his kids were safe and between himself and Beel, they never went without anything. They grew up loved and protected... just like MC wanted.

He sometimes got into these depressive moods when he thought of her and couldn't leave his bed. At first, Beel would try to occupy the kids elsewhere so he could have his space and the twins didn't have to see their daddy like that. One day though, when they were five, they snuck away and into the attic room that he hid in. Wordless, the two just climbed into bed with him and he held them close to his chest.

As much as he missed MC... he loved his kids and moments like that reminded him just how important they are to him. There was once a time where he told himself that if he had to choose between MC and their kids, he wouldn't hesitate to choose her; he simply couldn't imagine how he could care about anyone as strongly as he does her. Now that they're here though, he doesn't have to imagine it; it's his reality and though he missed MC with every fiber of his being, he wouldn't trade his children for anything in the three realms.

~

Part 1 | Part 2

[thebloggerbloggerfun]

Hello! I have an idea for the ficlet (feel better btw!). Okay: HS AU with popular!Dean and popular!Cas, they're those two annoying guys who make funny (but also obnoxious) comments in every single class, and make stupid, flirtatious remarks to each other like "Cas looks pretty hot today guys" or "I'm totally dating Dean, everyone" etc. Only thing is, they're secretly in love, but neither will admit it. I've had this idea for a while and I'd LOVE for a talented author to execute it.

Aaaahhh it’s been too long since I’ve done a High School AU and I’ve missed it. Thanks for this one and thanks so much for asking me to fufill the prompt! I hope I do it justice :)

AO3

“Please take your seats quickly. I want to discuss your quiz scores so we can go over any questions you may have before the final test.” Ms. Mills said with a stack of papers clutched against her chest.

Dean stretched his arms above his head as he flopped into his usual seat on the third row, next to the wall so he could lean up against it in times of extreme laziness. He sprawled out accordingly, dropping his backpack to the floor and draping his letterman jacket over his seat until the air conditioning kicked in during the middle of class like it usually did.

“Hey, hot stuff.” Dean said with a nod as Castiel sat down in the seat next to him.

“Good morning, Dean.” Castiel said, barely looking up as he aligned his binder and world history book neatly on the small desk in front of him.

“How was that student council thingy yesterday?” Dean asked, popping a piece of gum into his mouth.

“Absolutely dreary without your shining personality to brighten all of our days,” Castiel murmured, completely straight-faced.

Dean winked as Ms. Mills began talking again.

“Some of you need to look at your notes from the beginning of the year again,” she said as she began passing back the quizzes. “And some of you need to remember that - if you want full credit on the final test - the answer to ‘What are the seven wonders of the ancient world’ is not ‘Castiel Novak’s Ass’ written seven times.”

She frowned when she got to Dean’s desk, dropping the paper on his desk as the rest of the class laughed.

Dean clicked his tongue and made a finger gun at Castiel with another wink.

“Really, Dean? Don’t be childish.” Castiel said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “We all know that’s not true. I haven’t done any squats in at least a month.”

Dean hummed as he leaned back in his seat, obviously inspecting Castiel’s rear end. “Hmmm. Doesn’t show.”

“If you two are quite finished -” Ms. Mills rolled her eyes and made her way back up to the front of the room and rested a hand on her hip. “Now, did anyone have any questions on anything that you’d like to go over?”

Dean leaned forward and raised his hand.

“Besides you.”

Dean let his hand drop to rest above his heart in a faux-wounded position.

“Ms. Mills. I’m shocked and offended that you would deny me my right to receive an education. I wouldn’t dare waste your time with trivial questions.”

Ms. Mills raised an eyebrow.

“Mmhmm. What’s your question.”

“I noticed that you maked me down on question twelve? We had to name one of the causes of Enlightenment?”

“Again, the answer is not ‘Castiel Novak’s Ass’.”

The class broke out into laughter again as Dean leaned back in his chair and did - yet another - finger gun at his best friend.

“You can pay me after class,” Dean said teasingly.

Castiel nodded seriously.

“Cash or credit?”

The laughter finally died down, ending with a long sigh from the front of the classroom.

“… anyone else have any questions?”

***

Dean leaned back against the wall with the rest of their gym class while Castiel and Meg, who had been elected by Bobby (who’d be damned if any of the students called him Mr. Singer) stood up front, picking teams for dodgeball.

“Ruby,” Meg said with a lazy wave, and Ruby skipped over to stand next to her.

Dean smirked as Castiel pretended to survey the rest of the group before pointing at directly and predictably at Dean.

“I guess I’ll take that fine specimen over there.”

Dean flexed as he practically pranced over to his friend, posing next to him while the rest of the class either chuckled or rolled their eyes.

“Raphael.”

“Anna.”

“Abaddon.”

“Jo.”

The choosing continued until there was no one left and both teams had made their way over to their prospective sides for a pre-game huddle.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Dean said in as loud of a whisper as he dared. “When the whistle blows, Cas, you stay behind and I’ll run ahead so that you can stare at my ass.”

Jo snorted.

“C’mon, Dean. Be serious -”

“No, no,” Castiel interrupted, holding up his hand. “He has a point. I think it’s a worthy sacrifice.”

“You guys are ridiculous.”Jo said, shaking her head. “Anyway, I think we should all run for it and damn the consequences.”

Castiel nodded along as Jo spoke.

“Yes. In all seriousness, Jo’s correct. As team captain, I think that we all should do whatever we can to get our hands on those balls.”

“Cas, you know you can always get your hands on my -”

“Shut the fuck up, Dean,” Jo said in exasperation.

***

Dean stripped off all of his football gear and took a quick shower before running back outside to the bleachers where Castiel usually met him after practice. He didn’t always stick around after school, but when Cas had student government stuff after, he’d watch what was left of Dean’s practices as they tended to go longer.

“How was practice?” Castiel asked, snapping his book closed and hopping off the bleachers to fall in step with Dean.

“Same old, same old,” Dean said, tugging up his shirt to rub at his damp hair. “Coach yells, we run, Lucifer trips Michael, and Benny tries to set me up on a date.”

Castiel tucked his book under his arm and nodded. “Sounds exciting. And you said?”

“That all a man will ever need is a cool drink of water like yourself.” Dean placed a hand over his own heart, bowing his head in reverence.

“A good answer,” Castiel said, nodding in his approval as they neared Dean’s car. “So, what’s your mom making for dinner tonight?”

“The best goddamn mashed potatoes you’ll ever have.”

“Wonderful.” Castiel grinned as he opened the Impala’s passenger side door and slipped inside. “I’m starving.”

They drove the ten minute drive to Dean’s house with the radio turned all the way up, singing the lyrics of various love songs to each other as dramatically as they could, with Castiel reminding Dean to watch the road as needed.

“Mom!” Dean shouted as he opened the front door. “Do we have enough food for a plus one?”

He dropped his backpack and stripped his shoes at the front door, watching Castiel do the same.

“Of course!” he heard from the kitchen. “Who’d you bring?”

“Adonis reincarnate.”

“Dean, you know Castiel is always welcome.” Mary said, and poked her head out from behind the doorframe. “Hello, Cas.”

“Hi, Mrs. Winchester.” Castiel waved before turning to Dean with a raised eyebrow. “Adonis reincarnate, huh? That’s a new one.”

Dean grinned.

“Only the best for you, babe.”

***

“Listen, Dean.”

Dean looked up from where he was shoving all of his clean laundry into its respective drawers while Cas lay on his bed.

“Yeah?”

Castiel’s hands drummed on his stomach.

“I was thinking… what if we went on a date?”

Dean paused and turned completely around, a pair of boxer shorts still in his hand.

“What?”

Castiel propped himself up on his elbows and licked his lips.

“You know. A…. date. You and me. Doing something together.” Dean watched Castiel pause and clear his throat. “Would you want to?”

Dean tilted his head and let a slow smile creep across his lips.

“Cas, I think that’s an amazing idea.”

Castiel’s mouth fell open, and an even wider grin split his face.

“Wait - really? You think?”

“Absolutely! You’re a genius! People will think that’s hilarious!”

Dean burst out laughing at the thought of everyone’s faces at school when they found out. It would really be the icing on the top of the cake for a lot of people. Not only would they flirt with each other at every opportunity, but now an actual date? Incredible.

“Right. Yeah.”

Dean glanced over at Castiel, who was looking away, his smile nearly gone.

“No, it really will be funny! Jo will probably die laughing. It’s a great idea, Cas.”

Castiel chuckled, but even that sounded forced, like he no longer found his idea funny.

“Thanks,” he murmured, flopping back down on the bed and staring out the window.

Weird.

Still, even though it would be a joke, the idea of going on a date with Cas… it was nice. Nicer than he’d thought it would be.

Not that he’d ever…you know.

Thought about that.

“So, what did you want to do for it?” Dean asked, though he already had a list of possibilities that he was running through. Dinner and a movie was up there at the top of the list, just because of how incredibly cliche it was.  

“I don’t care,” Cas mumbled, picking up his book again and turning to his bookmark. “You decide.”

Dean tossed the boxers into his top drawer and rubbed his hands together.

This was going to be the best date of his life.

***

It was not the best date of his life.

It was…okay. Very average, if he had to make a guess.

Definitely by no fault of Dean’s, he finally decided. He was making sure to go out of his way to be especially flirtatious with Castiel on their date by holding doors open, being more touchy-feely than usual, and absolutely drowning him in pet names.

Cas, however, wasn’t playing off of him as well as he usually did.

“Here you are, sunshine,” Dean said, opening the passenger door for Castiel with a flourish. “I hope you enjoyed the meal.”

“Thanks,” Castiel said, sliding into the seat and shutting the door himself, nearly wrenching it from Dean’s grasp.

Dean pressed his lips together as he walked over to the other side of the car to let himself in.

“You doing okay?” he asked and started the car, sparing a glance over to Castiel.

Castiel let out a breath and shot him a quick smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Yes. I’m fine. Just a little tired, I think.”

“Oh, okay.” Dean drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as he drove, the silence making the drive a little more awkward than it usually was.

“And here we are,” Dean said cheerfully when they stopped in front of Castiel’s house. “Home sweet home.”

Castiel smiled and leaned his head back on the head rest. “Well, thanks Dean. It was a fun date. We should - what are you doing?”

Dean paused in the middle of opening the driver’s side door.

“Um, walking you to your front door, of course.”

“Oh,” Castiel ducked his head and the dim lighting made it almost look like Castiel was blushing. “Dean, you don’t need to do that. I think I can find my way on my own.”

Dean scoffed and shook his head, as if the very thought of such an act wounded his honor.

“What kind of gentleman would that make me? Please.” he winked and quickly shut the door behind him to get to the other side of the car before Castiel opened the door. “It’s my pleasure.”

Castiel looked up at him as Dean opened the car door, and Dean’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

Oh. Well.

He’d probably just had a little too much fun pretending to be on a date with him, is all. It was just muscle memory for him by now.

Castiel climbed out. Dean shut the door. The two of them walked up to Castiel’s porch.

Just like they would do on a real date.

“Again, thank you, Dean. It was fun.” Castiel said, smiling at him from just a foot away.

“Are you gonna leave me without a goodnight kiss?”

Dean wasn’t sure why he said it, probably because that’s what he did at the end of every date, but the moment it was out of his mouth he knew there was no taking it back. Part of him wasn’t even sure that he wanted to.

Castiel’s lips pulled into slight frown, and Dean realized that’s where he’d been staring for quite some time now.

“What?”

“You know. Goodnight kiss.” Dean pointed to his own lips with a smile.

“Why?” Castiel was squinting now, like he usually did when he didn’t understand something the teacher was saying or when he was working out a math problem.

“To like, make the date official. It’ll be funny.” Dean shrugged.

Castiel’s frown deepened.

“No.Goodnight, Dean.”

“Oh, come on, Cas!” Dean reached out and rested a hand on his forearm as Castiel turned away to open the door to his house. “It won’t mean anything. Just a kiss so we can tell people we did!”

Dean could see Castiel’s grip on the doorknob tighten minimally, and when Castiel looked back with a face full of hurt -

Dean took a step back.

“That’s why I’m saying ‘no’.”

And Dean was left alone on the porch.

***

Dean closed the door to his house as quietly as he could, and rubbed at his eyes in confusion. Something had gone very, very badly and Dean’s mind was experiencing a little too much turbulence for him to figure out what exactly that meant or where it had happened.

“Dean? Is that you?”

Dean rubbed at the back of his head as he made his way into the living room, following the sound of his mother’s voice.

Mary was sitting on the couch with a book in her lap; her hair was pulled back into a messy and reading glasses rested on the tip of her nose.

“Hey, mom.”

Mary looked up and smiled.

“Hey, hun. What were you up to?”

Dean sighed and flopped down on the couch next to her, resting his hands on his stomach.

“Went on a date with Cas.”

“Oh? And how’d it go?”

Dean shrugged and made a noncommittal grunt.

“Well, what did you do for the date?”

“Dinner and a movie.”

Mary raised her eyebrow.

“Really? I thought that was something you only did on first dates.”

Dean frowned and glanced over at his mother as she calmly turned a page in her book.

“It- it was a first date.”

Mary made a face at Dean and tutted as she shook her head in disappointment.

“You’ve never taken your boyfriend on a proper date? Dean.”

Dean sat up.

“Wha - but I - we’re not - it’s not like -” Dean steepled his fingers together and pressed them against his lips. “Wait, what…what makes you think that Cas and I are dating?”

“Well,” Mary pursed her lips thoughtfully and folded a dog-ear in her book. “Besides the intense amount of flirting that’s sort of a giveaway? Two things. One is the way that you look at him.”

“The way I….” Dean trailed off, a question in is voice.

“The way you look at him. Dean, the way you stare at Castiel reminds me of the way people stare at stars. It’s like there’s nothing else in the world you’d rather be looking at.”

Dean felt the a light blush begin crawling up his neck.

“Oh. Um. What’s the second thing, then?”

Mary smiled.

“The way he looks at you.”

***

“Cas! Hey, Cas!”

Dean shoved his way through the crowds of lunch period, trying to catch up to his best friend. Castiel had been extremely successful in avoiding him throughout their classes and even the teachers had noticed that he’d sat on the opposite side of the room from Dean instead right next to him as he usually did.

“‘Scuse me. Pardon me.” Dean used few well-timed elbow jabs until he could finally tap Castiel on the shoulder. “Cas. Hey.”

Castiel glanced over his shoulder and squinted.

“Oh. Hello Dean. How did everyone take the news about our date last night?” he asked, folding his arms in front of his chest and not bothering to hide the slight venom in his voice.

“I uh, I haven’t told anyone.” Dean said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Look, can we talk?”

Castiel shrugged.

“Sure.”

Dean grabbed Castiel by his hand and led him outside where there weren’t so many people surrounding them before.

He took a deep breath, quickly running through the major points of long speech that he’d prepared in his head. It was full of eloquent apologies and deep confessions that he hoped would help Castiel realize how he felt and maybe help him forgive what an ass he was.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Dean blurted, then slapped a hand over his mouth.

Castiel’s eyes widened almost comically.

“What?”

“Shit, wait. That was supposed to come last.” Dean licked his lips, feeling the panic set in. “Look, Cas. I’m so sorry about last night. I played it off like it was just a joke but…I don’t think it was. I don’t think any of this has been a joke for me and I’ve just been too much of an idiot to realize it. What I’m trying to say here is, I uh, I really like you, Cas. I don’t want any of this to be pretend anymore. I want you to be my boyfriend.”

Castiel continued to stare, and Dean didn’t blame him for taking his time while he digested the word-vomit that he’d just dumped.

“So…” he said finally. “The date was real?”

Dean shrugged, letting himself smile a little.

“It should have been.”

Castiel nodded to himself and slowly reached out to grab Dean’s hand, giving him plenty of time to move back if this wasn’t something he wanted.

He wanted it.

“Then I think I’d like that very much, Dean.” Castiel murmured, intertwining their fingers together with a grin.

“Awesome.” Dean breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed his hand tightly, not bothering to hide how giddy Castiel’s simple answer had made him. They were holding hands. Of course, they had before, but all of those times were just screwing around being funny.

This wasn’t funny anymore.

It was so much better than that.

It was real.

“So, uh, Cas?” Dean said, ducking his head a little to hide his playful grin.

“Mmmhm?”

“If that date was real, does that mean I can get a goodnight kiss now?”

Castiel raised an eyebrow, a teasing look on his face as he slowly leaned in, causing Dean’s heart to nearly burst from his chest in anticipation-

And pressed a finger against Dean’s lips.

“I never kiss on the first date. I’ll see you later, darling. ”

Dean laughed as Castiel slipped from his grasp and walked away, a slight skip in his step.

“Then I’ll pick you up at eight, hot stuff!” He called after Castiel’s retreating silhouette.

A few meandering students paused and stared at Dean curiously.

“That’s my boyfriend.” Dean said with a nonchalant shrug and the biggest goddamn smile that he’d ever had on his face.

[existentialstatesofmind]

Weekend Fun

Clare: smiled encouragingly at Stacy too. Song writing might not be easy but she didn't think it would take much for Dakota and Stacy to impress Peter. She giggled when Dakota kissed the side of her head. She was going to get spoiled with all of this affection. "I know but Josephine's not really your sister and you're not dating her. I just don't want my mom jumping to crazy conclusions. Especially since I am going to tell her the truth eventually. So not the kind of false first impression I want her to have of my boyfriend." Clare crinkled up her nose. "You really don't mind? I feel bad about dragging you and Josephine into this." Clare told Stacy. She barely knew Stacy and hadn't even met Josephine yet and here she was insisting she had to introduce them to her mom to keep a cover story going. "I'll make sure Dad isn't home when Josephine comes over. He's at work ninety percent of the time anyway and doesn't really care about meeting my friends as long as Mom knows who they are." Clare sighed. "Yeah, they believe teen parents who keep their kids are selfish. So I doubt they're going to be too thrilled with your situation either, at first. They'll come around." She knew kids with more rigid parents than hers. Her mom and dad just needed to learn how to stop making broad (untrue) generalizations. "Okay it would be better to wait until we're serious." Clare agreed. They'd just started dating. She finally quieted down when Kelly mentioned putting it off until they got engaged and everyone agreed that Kelly was good at predicting these things. Clare smiled a bit and went back to eating her salad, blushing a little. She nodded about Josephine. "It's really good she has you for a friend." She'd just finished her salad and started eating her coconut shrimp when she realized everyone else was closer to being done than her. Clare listened to Dakota talk without commenting much until she was through eating. "Emi will be a huge help, we can read the signs out loud and ask her what they mean." She grinned at the mention of summer festivals. "Do they have fireworks, or singing and dancing at them?" Clare asked excitedly. She'd love going to a festival. She was sure they had food booths and souvenirs to buy too. "Those are the really pretty colorful dress-like robes with the bows right?" Clare had seen pictures of Japanese women and children wearing them. Men too, just a different version. She listened Dakota describe who in his family had gone where. "I'd love to hear all about New York later. I dream about moving there sometimes but I've never been." Clare smiled at Dakota. "Uh-huh." She agreed not wanting to expose Emi to her mom anymore than he did. "We will have to set up. My own cheering section, yay!" Clare said pleased. "Perfect. Exactly what I was thinking." She leaned over and kissed Dakota's cheek. "I'd love to go on a date to the aquarium. True but it won't be a problem." She watched Dakota interact with Emi. When the chocolate cake arrived boxed up to go, the waiter brought the check too.

Kota: listened as Clare mentioned her parents and them lying to them too much and nodded. "I agree we shouldn't do more damage than we have to and we'll tell them about Emi when the time comes." he smiled and looked at Stacy. "I'm not really dragged into this. Kota is like my brother so to me I'm helping him. I really don't mind at all as long as it's beneficial in the long run and I don't think Jose will mind as long as your dad isn't around." Stacy assured and Kota smiled at Clare. "See no worries." he added. "You can say Jos is your sister. I'm going to adopt her one day." his mom said grabbing his attention. "What?" he asked. "I am, I've been trying to and I finally got an answer. They'll talk to Jos tomorrow night and see. I know she said no last time, but I think that's because she was here and less exposed to her dad. I mean I know more than you do, Kota, her mom is just afraid to tell you and Jos is too scared to. Don't worry she's alright. It's just the school can't keep her dad from calling and often makes her talk to him which is why she calls you at weird hours." she explained. "Yea I have my phone off during school because of that." he nodded. "Is that why the guest room is blocked off?" Ash asked. "Well the guest room needs to be built. I guess guests can sleep in my mom's room." their mom trailed off. "Clare, you're sleeping in my room when you stay, Emi will sleep in with Kelly." Kota stated. "Same with Stacy." Dallas said. "Grandmother's room is one place I'm not setting foot in. I like her and all, but she kind of creeps me out now." Stacy stated. "She creeps us all out like we'll go in there, water her plants and boom there she is demanding we do something about her cold feet." Dallas said and Kota laughed. "Yes, lets plan to exhume her and cover her feet up. Right up on the top of my to-do list along for going to jail for breaking and entering." Kota laughed sarcastically. "Not to mention, her TV works. I walked by the door was open for a change, Jeopardy was on and her rocking chair was moving. I said good night, heard her tell me she loves me and closed the door for her. I'm pretty sure if I can see her rocking chair move from her sitting in it, she can pick up a shoe. Beware of pissing her off. And I'm pretty sure Clare doesn't want to get woken up in the middle of the night by anyone let alone an old lady who haunts her bedroom." he added. "She gives me candy." Emi said softly. "Ew, Emi don't eat that." Kota stated. "You could get sick." he added. "No the candy's fresh. I refill it when it runs out." Ash added. "Right, like you have extra money to splurge on candy for a candy dish owned by a woman who died a few years ago and haunts her own room?" Kota asked. "I don't look at it like extra money, I look at is as helping the dead. Besides, she gets pissed when you lay in her bed and sleep without leaving her room. I fell asleep in there." Ash stated. "Me, too by accident. I went to dust and fell asleep on the chair. Grandmother woke me up though by running her hands through my hair." Kota shrugged and listened to Clare mention them reading the signs. "We can't read Kanji." everyone said at the same time and Kota looked at what Emi was drawing with a crayon the waiter left and the activity page for her. "Thank you." he whispered to her and took the page. "See this.." he said pointing to symbols that Emi drew on the page. "That's Emi's name in Kanji. I know because when I get her papers back from school, her name is at the top of the page in Kanji. They're fine with it because none of the other kids know how to write their name yet and since Emi likes to write her name they allow it. Besides no one else knows what that means. I didn't know it was called Kanji until Emi told me it was in Kanji." he chuckled a bit. "And I only know the sounds. I was learning the sounds in school back home. We don't get to learn how to write until second grade. Preschool is where we learn how to read sounds because they're our alphabet. I'm only able to write my name because it's in the alphabet, e and mi. I just put them together to get my name. It's written with about 30 strokes in Kanji." she explained and Kota looked at her, then to Clare. "Believe it or not the Japanese alphabet is 40ish letters and based off the vowels since they're the only thing in the alphabet by themselves." he shrugged and listened as Clare mentioned the festivals. "I want to go to the Fireworks Festival. They have games, booths, and food. Emi said during the festivals they have grilled octopus which I'm not eating." he said honestly. "But they do have other foods, grilled octopus seems to be a delicacy." he added. "There's no dancing at the Fireworks Festival, but I'll look up other ones tomorrow." he promised knowing he was curious about them too and listened when she asked about the Yukata. "Yes, they're the ones with the bows. I like wearing them too." Emi answered for Kota, she knew more about the clothing than he did. Hearing Clare ask about New York caused Kota to bite his lip. "I really don't remember it much, I was ten. What I do remember is going to Time Square and going to the massive Toys R Us, Disney Store, and bookstore and getting lost in them." he admitted. "They had to call my name over the speaker in each store." he added. Hearing Clare mention the robot wars caused him to chuckle a bit. "I'm not using pom-poms." he chuckled out. "But yes, essentially we will be your cheering section, minus the pom-poms, but we'll hold up a big banner with your name on it." he smiled and looked at her when she agreed to go on the date with him. "Great, I already have the tickets." he said honestly and kissed her chastely. Once the waiters walked out with desserts in boxes located inside bags, Kota took his bag along with Emi's and Clare's and put them inside his bag. Once the check was paid, Kota helped Clare up and watched Emi jump off the chair. "Off to home." he smiled and picked Emi up as she yawned. "Someone's tired." he said and kissed the top of her head as she rested it against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. Once everyone filed in the van, Kota put Emi in her car seat and looked at Clare. "Can you carry our desserts inside when we get home?" he asked curiously.