Work Text:
1. Dick
“Dude, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a dick.” Dean’s tone is amused, but there’s also a touch of fear, like he thinks Cas will smite him. Cas cocks his head to the side, because he’s had his moments, but he’s not THAT petty.
And Cas has to admit - yeah, he is a dick sometimes, and he’s done some very dick-ish things. He’s working on it, honest.
Later, it becomes a term of endearment, almost. Like Dean and Sam’s bitch and jerk exchanges.
“Dick,” Dean mutters over the sound of the Impala’s idle. But they’ve both got smiles on their faces, Dean’s gentle smirk a sharp contrast to Cas’ sheepish grin. (This is usually followed by bedroom eyes, a look like Dean wants to jump Cas’ bones, or vice-versa, because apparently Dean is turned on by dickishness. Sam makes sure to keep his distance those nights.)
It gets to the point that, sometimes, Sam just rolls his eyes. He sees it for what it is. Foreplay. Not that Dean and Cas will ever admit it.
2. Cas
“What d’you think, Cas?”
It’s the first time anyone has called him anything other than Castiel - well, except the litany of insulting things Gabriel comes up with on a regular basis. The angels have used his full name for all the centuries, millennia that he’s been alive; then this human, this flawed, mortal, hairless ape of a creature gives him a nickname. Dean acts like it’s not a big deal - which, to him, it isn’t, not really. But to Cas, it’s a sign of acceptance. He’s one of the guys, an integral part of what they’ll later call Team Free Will. And after that, it will represent his newfound humanity.
“Uh… Cas?” Dean is waving a hand in front of his face, and he suddenly realizes he’s been staring blankly at the wall for a while now.
“I’m sorry, what were we talking about?”
Dean and Sam exchange a look, then continue discussing their plan as if Cas had been listening the whole time.
3. God
It’s not a time anyone really likes thinking about. Especially Dean and Cas.
He only says it once, all bitter sarcasm, and in that one word is all the anger and pain and betrayal he feels. It hurts Cas, somewhere deep inside where all the souls from Purgatory have crushed his former self into a mere shadow. He brushes it away like a fly buzzing in his ear, but later, thinking of it will break his heart.
They only talk about it once, after he’s back to himself. Cas’ face is twisted into a terribly sorrowful expression and he apologizes over and over and over, until finally Dean kisses him just to shut him up. It’s their first kiss, and Dean hates that this is what it took, but afterward he wouldn’t exchange it for the world.
Then they pull apart, foreheads pressed together, breathing each other’s air. Dean’s hand is firm on Cas’ neck, holding him in place, and their eyes meet with almost unbearable intensity, like they’re searching the depths of one another’s souls. Cas can barely hear Dean’s response. “Water under the bridge, okay, Cas. It’s over now, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Dean kisses him again, and everything but his taste leaves Cas’ mind.
4. Pookie bear
It started as a joke. Honest.
It doesn’t take long for everyone in their little group to find out about their… relationship, if you can call this unorthodox thing they have going the R-word. And Sam doesn’t care that his brother is apparently into guys too, or that he’s dating one of their mutual friends, or that he’s with an Angel of the Lord or fallen angel or whatever he is now (which makes it interspecies, maybe? He shoves that thought away with all his being and vows to never go there again). He really doesn’t. But Dean is still his brother, which means that when they get all gooey-lovey-dovey, it’s just GROSS.
Which, in turn, means that Dean loves to make Sam as uncomfortable as possible. It’s his duty as a big brother, after all.
“Hey, pookie bear, pass the salt?”
Cas furrows his brows, because he really doesn’t get it. But then he sees Sam’s face, which somehow looks red and green at the same time, and Dean’s, which is plastered with a devilish grin, and he understands.
“Of course, sugar plum.”
It takes all of Dean’s self-control not to laugh out loud, but he manages. By the end of dinner, they’ve called each other punkinbutt, shnookums, love bug, honey bunny, kitten whiskers, toots, smoochie poo, sweet cheeks, and doll-face. Sam leaves, looking extremely nauseous, when Dean really outdoes himself with ‘big daddy.’ (Kevin gives up around shnookums and just brings his dinner into his room. Charlie sticks around until they start making out, and would’ve stayed longer if it wasn’t for the pointed g-t-f-o look on Dean’s face.)
5. My Angel
The first time he says it is in bed.
“Come for me, my angel.”
And it doesn’t matter that he’s not an angel anymore, because he’s Dean’s, and to Dean he is an angel. Not in the real-life-dick-angel way, or even in the popular connotation way. He’s the kind of angel that Dean’s mom told him were watching over him every night until she died, his guardian angel who protects him at all costs. That’s what pushes him over the edge into a mind-blowing, star-seeing climax like nothing he’s ever experienced.
It’s never said jokingly, only in those moments that are so full of emotion that they feel like their bodies can’t contain it, like when Dean is doing everything possible to reassure an upset Cas, or when they’re in the throes of particularly emotional love-making. And it’s never said around others - it’s their private thing, Dean’s way of making Cas understand how much he means to him, because Cas is everything to him now.
1. Castiel
The one thing he never calls Cas, since their first meeting, is Castiel. It’s so formal and stiff, and not at all who he is anymore. It represents everything that he used to be, before he met Dean. That soldier of Heaven with no emotions who obeyed unconditionally and without a thought, who made a deal with the King of Hell, who let himself be broken by Naomi, who destroyed Heaven and let Dean down time and time again. In that name is all the mistakes Cas has ever made, and they throw them away by never saying it again. It’s Dean’s way of showing his forgiveness and acknowledging that Cas is a completely different person, that he’s changed for the better.