"Dean, I want a cat."

Castiel's request rose above the noise of the not-so-well-functioning air conditioner. The thing had broken three times that week, leaving him and Dean in a miserable state of intense and sweaty heat in the bunker. It was hot as hell outside,and one would think the bunker would be complete with ac or some other cooling system, but, it was not.

Dean stirred from his spot on the couch, leaning over to look at Cas, who was currently lounging in a reclining chair, a book in his lap. "What, a cat? Seriously that''s what you're thinking about right now?"

Cas shrugged. "Yes. It gets lonely when you and Sam are not here."

"Buy a goldfish." Dean's voice was muffled when he stuffed his face into a couch cushion.

"I don't think fish would provide the same kind of company and companionship a cat would,

Dean." Castiel objected.

Dean sighed. "You know I hate pets, Cas."

Even though Dean couldn't see him, he knew that Cas was pulling off his puppy dog eye face.

"But Dean, I've always wanted one."

"Too bad." Dean grunted, clearly trying to end the conversation.

Cas was quiet until about two hours, the two barely even switching positions for the entirety of the time. "Dean I'm getting a cat." He stated.

"No we're not, Cas." Dean groaned.

Cas continued with his pleading. "I promise, Dean, I'll take care of it and everything and you won't have to do anything to provide for it."

"I'm allergic."

"No you're not, Dean."

A moment later a pillow flew across the room, just barely missing Cas.
Dean made one final statement. "No cats. No dogs. No pets. Okay? Honestly Cas, we just can't have one. We move around too much and can't just leave it here in the bunker."

Castiel was silent again, and didn't bring it up directly.

But that didn't stop him from looking at Dean with wide pleading eyes every time they drove past an animal shelter or pet store. It didn't stop the guy from asking Sam questions about caring for a pet or constantly pointing out stray cats they ran across on hunts. Dean grew annoyed whenever Cas did so, and would shoot him a pointed glare that would be greeted with an innocent stare. Sam, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice and would happily answer any cat-related questions Cas had.

Dean snapped after the three of them went on a normal vengeful spirit hunt, and Castiel had been especially obnoxious.

Him and Cas went to question a woman whose daughter had been killed a week ago, and naturally, she had at least fifteen cats. Castiel had a freakin' field day. While still keeping his composure, Castiel just had to pet every cat that came up to him and his face lit up every time one of the creatures approached him. Of course, these events included an all too purposeful look in Dean's direction. Dean would reply with an eyeroll, then continue on with the investigation.

"That lady was very nice, Dean." Cas had reported after they left the cat lady's house.
Dean snorted. "You mean, her cats were very nice. You were hardly even paying attention to her."

They opened the doors to the Impala and slid in, the engine roaring to life after Dean stuck the keys in the ignition. The hunter spoke before Cas could. "My answer's still no, Cas. No cats."
Castiel slumped in his seat for the entirety of the ride.

Of course, there just had to be a pet shelter in the town.

Dean was going to drive right on past it, pretending it didn't exist, when Cas just had to point it out. Dean would have drove right on past it if Sam wasn't in the car. "Come on, Dean, let's just visit it. As a small break. We don't have to get anything."

Giving up, Dean turned harshly into the parking lot, mumbling under his breath. "We're not getting anything." He repeated, making it clear.
Castiel nodded enthusiastically, practically sprinting out of the car and bouncing on his heels like a five year old. Un-admittingly, Dean did think that was kinda cute, and tried his best to hide the small smile spreading onto his lips.

Castiel went straight to the cats. No surprise there. Sam smiled at him as he poked his finger into their cage and gazed at the creatures curiously. Dean tried his best to remain unamused, and stood stoic in the corner with his arms crossed. Eventually Sam grew bored of the felines and decided that he'd go to the kennels and play with the dogs. This left Dean and Cas alone in the room. Normally, this would have made the older Winchester uncomfortable, but at the moment Castiel was too intrigued with the cats to even pay attention to the hunter. He seemed especially interested in one cat with a bottom cage in the far right corner.

"Dean, this cat reminds me of you." Cas stated, pulling his finger back from a sandy brown cat who had been swatting his paw at Cas's hand.
Dean rolled his eyes then made his way over to the cage, bending down to get a look at the cat.

Bright green eyes greeted him back, an almost playful gleam glinting in them. He stuck out his paw and swat in Dean's general area, and the hunter had to stop himself from reaching a hand out and petting the cat. He cleared his throat the stood up. "Real cute, Cas. We still can't get him."

Castiel frowned, but didn't press forward.

After the shelter, opportunities for Castiel to bring up owning a cat popped up everywhere. When their hunt ended in them saving some unlucky felines from the ghost they had been hunting, that decided it. Dean was going to buy one of the damn things.

Once they returned to the bunker, Dean went out to the nearest shelter he could find and looked around a bit. The shelter definitely hadn't been nearly as nice as the one they had visited on the hunt, and Dean almost felt proud about rescuing one of the animals from that stinkhole. First he had found a kitten that he had really wanted. It had been a calico cat with no tail (a manx, the enthusiastic women at the counter had informed Dean), but Dean quickly figured that a kitten really would not be a good idea to drag around or leave at the bunker and left it behind. He quickly found another cat that suited fit, and filled out the paperwork, actually bought the cat, then left the shelter. Using a good majority of the money they had gotten from the hunt (it was a rare occasion where the women insisted in repaying them, not that they complained), Dean went out to petsmart and bought the necessities for the cat. The shelter had already given him a cage, so Dean just had to get some food, litter, and a few toys for Axl (no he had not named the cat, but then again he got the cat so he should be able to name him...right?).

Dean tried his best to look annoyed when he brought the cage into the bunker, but secretly he was dying to see what Cas's reaction would be. His brother and Cas were both in the living room area when Dean waltzed in. He set the carrier onto the coffee table, and both of the men looked at him with quizzical expressions.

"Got you a little something, Cas." Dean fell down into the only free chair, watching Cas with interest as he slowly unlatched the cage door.

Castiel's face broke into the most uncontrollable smile when a black furred head poked out. The cat crawled into Cas's lap, blue gleaming eyes staring up curiously.
"Dean, I didn't think-"

Dean cut him off. "Don't thank me. His name's, uh, Axl, by the way." He suddenly sunk into his seat, tearing his gaze away from the sight. "He reminded me of you."

Castiel blinked at Dean, and Sam cleared his throat, aiming to end the awkward silence that had overtook the room. This caused an adoring conversation about the Axl to take hold, both Sam and Dean standing up to praise the new pet. The brothers negotiated how they'd take care of him, and worked out they could bring the cat with them or leave Kevin to watch over it. Eventually the black cat leaped out of Cas's lap and began to explore the bunker on it's own. The excitement in the room died down, and Castiel gave Dean a present of his own. Dean was just about to exit the room, when Cas engulfed him in a hug. Dean was taken back from surprise, but hugged him back.

"Thank you, Dean." Cas said.
Dean smiled back at him. "No problem, Cas."
Perhaps this whole cat thing really wasn't that bad after all.

Author's note; I know it's really short, but I wrote it for a tumblr user that had requested some fluff and with he fact I was writing this in my living room with family, I couldn't get above the pg (or teen, I guess) rating. So hope you enjoyed the ficlet! ^-^