Public Displays of Affection

By CastielLovesDean

For MedicalNonsense, who gave Cas's Logical Suggestion its 50th review (yay!) - MedicalNonsense requested an established Destiel story about what would happen if Castiel observed how other couples behaved in public and tried to do the same thing with Dean, so credit for the general storyline goes to her. Also established Sam/Gabriel.

Once upon a time, sitting against a wooden fence along a country road across from Crater Lake, Dean Winchester confessed to his little – no, younger brother that he wanted to do some sightseeing. "All this driving back and forth across the country... you know I've never been to the Grand Canyon?"

Sam had shrugged him off as being nostalgic after a really bad couple of days... years... decades, really. It took them five years to finally go, but there they were, on January 24th, 2012, the Winchester boys and their angelic boyfriends, spending Dean's 33rd birthday in a glass horseshoe nearly seventy feet out over the largest canyon in the United States.

Standing next to Dean, Castiel was in chronic awe at his Father's landscaping. He'd seen the magnificent chasm from Heaven, but it had never seemed more beautiful than it did now, here at the crossroads of God's creation and mankind's architecture. He marveled at the fusion of stone and glass and sky and steel beside his charge and knew he'd never been happier. Of course, before he met Dean, he'd never been happy. Or sad or jealous or angry. Or in love.

His focus shifted easily back to Dean for a moment, then to all the tourists around them. It bewildered him that they could stand to look at what amounted to a crack in the ground compared to his breathtaking lover. Did they not realize they were in the presence of greatness? Couldn't they feel the awesome oozing out of him? Apparently not, he decided as he watched them mill about, some couples kissing or holding hands. He looked down at Dean's right hand, dangling absently beside him, and got an idea.

Trying to be stealthy, he slowly pressed his palm against Dean's and entwined their fingers, then immediately averted his gaze in an attempt to appear casual. He wished he knew how to whistle. His grip tightened when he felt Dean move their hands forward, and he knew the Hunter had noticed what he'd done.

"Cas?" Dean whispered in his ear.

Castiel took a moment to savor Dean's hot breath against his ear before innocently responding, "Dean."

"People are staring," Dean complained, sounding nervous. He didn't try to separate their hands, though.

"So?"

"So, they might think... ah, you know what? Nevermind."

Cas spent the rest of the day holding Dean's hand, and Dean spent the rest of the day letting him.

ACDCACDCACDC

The next morning, all four of them went out to breakfast at a small but busy waffle house near the Canyon. Neither Castiel nor Gabriel needed to eat, but the latter still seemed to be stuck on a Trickster's sugary diet, and Cas just liked to be with Dean. As they walked in, Castiel observed more couple-friendly interactions that he wanted to try on Dean and made a mental note of what they were.

He got his first chance shortly after they sat down, when Dean propped his right elbow up on the back of the booth they were sharing. Cas slowly leaned closer to Dean and, in what Cas thought was a smooth move, tugged his hand down so that Dean's right arm was around his shoulders. Sam and Gabriel immediately gawked at him in shock and amusement.

He could feel Dean's arm stiffen around him as the waitress stopped at the table to take their order. "Hello," she greeted coolly in a deep, unenthused monotone. "My name is Liz, and I'll be your waitress this morning." Even though she didn't acknowledge Dean and Cas's intimate positions, the Hunter's arm remained anxiously stiff through the daily specials and beverage list. "Are you ready to order, or would you like a few more minutes?"

Gabriel jumped in before anyone else could, loudly volunteering, "Sasquatch'll have the scrambled eggs, hold the yolks, and a bran muffin; I'll have the strawberry crepes with the chocolate sauce and a whole lotta whipped cream; and Batman and Robin would obviously like to share an order of banana-nut pancakes," he finished, waggling his eyebrows at banana-nut. "They love them some bananas and nuts."

Despite Gabriel's juvenile outburst and flagrant innuendo, breakfast went smoothly. Waitress Liz was very professional (and no one even knows she did something to Gabe's crepes), Sam got to order his own damn food, Dean successfully ate his entire breakfast left-handed, and Castiel spent the morning enjoying his Hunter's unspoken agreement to cuddle in public.

ACDCACDCACDC

Later that day, the foursome went out for another meal: lunch. Castiel chose not to foist cuddling upon Dean lest he push his luck. He sat there, on Dean's left this time, sipping coffee he didn't really want just so he could be less conspicuous and once again studying other couples in the diner. One of them was a young couple who hand-fed each other everything and drank from the same glass with two straws. He glanced sideways at Dean and knew that was something to be discussed in private first. After all, what could he do? Pick up an onion ring and shove it in Dean's mouth? The only purpose that would serve would be to amuse Gabriel.

There was something else food-related he saw some people doing that was a little more subtle and a little less subject to cooperation on Dean's part. Now that he thought of it, it was something he'd seen couples at breakfast do. As a matter of fact, Sam was doing it to Gabriel right now!

He maneuvered his hand above Dean's plate, pilfered an onion ring, and ate it in one bite. While the searing heat of the fresh onion ring didn't bother him, he quickly discovered that he happens to hate them. He made a face.

Dean turned to face him, clearly amused, and asked, "Not a fan of onion rings?"

Cas shook his head as he struggled valiantly to swallow the onion ring.

"Here," Dean offered, "try a French fry." He held the fry out for Cas to take.

Cas scowled at it warily, confident one new food was enough for the day. But then, Dean held it up to Cas's mouth to convince him further, and at that point it could have been an onion ring for all he cared – nothing would stop him from eating directly from Dean's hand. Instead of biting part of the fry off, which is what everyone expected, he got the whole thing in his mouth – and part of Dean's fingers. He looked into Dean's eyes as he did this.

Dean blushed.

Cas smiled gently. "I like fries," he stated.

Dean spent the rest of lunch hand-feeding Castiel french fries, and Castiel spent the rest of lunch fantasizing about all the other foods he couldn't wait to try.

The end.

A/N(1): For those of you who don't remember, Dean talked about the Grand Canyon in Croatoan.

A/N(2): In case you were wondering: For breakfast, Sam ordered a vegetable and mushroom omelet with cheese, a seasonal fruit plate, hash browns, a whole wheat English muffin, and a glass of orange juice; Dean ordered fried eggs (4 of them, sunny-side up), bacon, both kinds of sausage, toast (which he over-buttered), a flaky biscuit (also over-buttered), and black coffee. For lunch, Sam got a BLT Club, steak fries, a grilled chicken salad, and strawberry-mango smoothie; Dean got a double cheeseburger (hold the vegetables), onion rings, crinkle fries, and a large cola from the tap. For the record, I don't hate onion rings. I love them. Especially from White Castle. They're so worth 3 days of diarrhea. … Was that TMI?

A/N(3): This may make me a bad person, but there's a story behind the banana-nut pancakes: I went to breakfast with a gay friend, and that's actually what he ordered. I managed to keep quiet, but it was all I could do not to die laughing. How demented am I?

A/N(4): This would have been up sooner, but I've been playing a lot of WoW. To those of you who follow Cas's Logical Suggestion, the next chapter should be up around/by this weekend. To those of you who don't... why not? O_o;;