#uhhhhhh tagging is stressful. I say this every day. what is wrong with meeeeeee

[one-more-offbeat-anthem]

roadside picnic

The sticky Formica of a diner booth’s table is worse on a hot day like today, so they opt for getting their burgers to go and driving about half an hour down the road.

Dean pulls over at the first rest stop they see, just off of I-25, and he sets up shop at a picnic table while Cas goes to steal some paper towels from the bathroom--someone (Dean) forgot to get napkins.

By the time Cas gets back to their table with a stack of paper towels, Dean is already a quarter of the way into his burger. He sets it down and gladly takes a paper towel to wipe his mouth before saying, “We keep going after this, we should hit Buffalo by nightfall, and tomorrow we can just jump on I-90, easy.”

“Mmm,” Cas says noncommittally, picking up his own burger. He himself pays less attention to the road and more to the books they’ve brought with them--he’s still not sure if Dean is correct in saying that there’s a rugaru waiting for them on the outskirts of Seattle.

Dean tangles their feet under the table and they eat in comfortable silence, listening to the slight breeze ruffling the trees and the rush of cars on the interstate. In another time, they probably would have eaten on the road, Dean’s foot bouncing on the gas pedal, going at least ten over the speed limit, but they’re getting older.

(Cas, especially. That’s a new one.)

“After we take care of the rugaru--”

“Or whatever it is,” Cas interjects.

Dean rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, okay. After we take care of ‘whatever it is,’ let’s take a trip down the west coast. Just to see what we can see.”

Cas doesn’t appreciate Dean’s mocking air quotes, but he does appreciate Dean, so he grants him a smile. “That sounds nice.”

“Could go to the beach,” Dean adds. “Warm sand, one of those silly cocktails with the umbrella in it, and--”

“Turtles,” Cas says. “All kinds of wildlife.”

"Absolutely. You done with that burger?”

Cas nods, reaches across the table for Dean’s burger wrapper and crumples it along with his own before trying to lob them into the trashcan and missing by a solid foot. 

After he’s actually thrown away their trash and they’ve taken a trip to the (grimy, but Cas has seen worse, and so has Dean) rest stop bathroom, they’re back on the road. Cas decides to abandon his research for a little while, content to slide across the bench seat and rest his head on Dean’s shoulder. 

With the quiet undercurrent of the engine and Zepp playing softly on the radio, Cas drifts off and doesn’t wake until they pull into Buffalo, just as the sun is setting. The dying rays glint off the buildings, bathing the streets in soft light, and for a moment, Cas wonders if he’s suddenly become an angel again, but no--this is just what the world is like.

And it just so happens to be a lovely place.