A/N - So recently, I found out that the universe has a colour, and that this colour is called Cosmic Latte. Being just way too cool, I immediately thought about Dean asking Cas about it. And thus, this fic was born :D
A/N2 - I'm not that sure whether the stuff in this fic is accurate, because in England it's bloody impossible to find the S6 Supernatural episodes. If there are any discrepancies, please tell me... I don't mind spoilers.
Having finished his prayer, Dean cracked one eye open and looked around cautiously. For a moment, nothing happened. Then there was the rush of wingbeats and Cas materialized looking tired and disheveled.
'Yes?' Cas said wearily, straightening his tie.
Dean opened his mouth to ask for Cas' help, but something inside him wrenched painfully to see his angel so worn out. Instead what he said was, 'You look like crap. What's going on up there?'
Cas sighed. 'It's been difficult, to say the least. Raphael is gathering strength, and in the most recent battle we were utterly defeated.'
'Right.'
Dean shuffled awkwardly. There had been a time when he and Cas had been pretty close, but since the Apocalypse ended and the war in Heaven had begun, they had spent hardly any time together. Now, things between them were more complicated.
If it hadn't been so painful, Dean would have laughed. It was almost ironic that he'd been less alone facing the end of the world than he was now, what with Sammy acting so weird lately and Cas gone most of the time.
'Do you want to get some coffee?' He blurted. 'Sammy's disappeared somewhere, and to be honest, you look dead on your feet.'
Cas' eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded. 'I think I should like that. Thank you, Dean.'
Dean grunted and forced back a smile. Until now, Dean hadn't fully realised how much he had missed the angel's carefully correct speech and direct manner. 'There's a place just nearby that's pretty good. It's called Tinto.*'
Cas nodded and stepped forwards, reaching towards Dean.
By the time Dean realised what he was going to do, it was too late. They had already arrived.
'Cas, you idiot! You can't just teleport in public!' He hissed, looking around anxiously to check if anyone had noticed. Luckily, the angel had taken them to a relatively inconspicuous table in the corner of the cafe, and as far as Dean could tell, no-one had seen.
'Of course. Sorry,' Cas replied, gravel voice laced with exhaustion.
Dean immediately felt sorry for berating Cas, who obviously wasn't feeling brilliant. He caught the waitress' eye, and she scurried over guiltily.
'I'm so sorry, I didn't notice you there! I hope you haven't been waiting too long?'
'Don't worry about it. I'll -'
'Of course, I'll just get you a menu. I'll be right back!'
As the waitress became more and more cheerful, Cas seemed to look more and more tired. Dean felt a wave of irritation towards her. It was strange - she was cute and chatty, and normally he liked that sort of girl. Now, however, he just felt annoyed, and inexplicably jealous about the way she was looking at Cas.
'No, it's fine.' He said quickly. 'Can we order straight away, please?'
'Certainly! What would you like?'
'An espresso, please. He'll have a café latte.'
She nodded and hurried off, and Dean turned back to Cas.
'You remembered?'
'Yeah.'
There had been one other time when they'd went for coffee, all three of them, Sam, Dean, and Cas. Cas had ordered about eight different drinks to try and find one that he liked, and eventually he'd discovered café latte and fallen in love. It had been one of the few times when they had all been together and happy, and normal.
It was one of Dean's favourite memories.
Cas smiled brilliantly. 'Thanks.'
Dean felt a warm feeling well up inside of him at seeing his angel smile. It had been so long that he'd almost forgotten how happy Cas could make him by something so simple.
'Here you go.' The waitress returned with their coffees, startling Dean out of his train of thoughts. 'Would you like anything else? We have some freshly baked -'
'No thanks.' Dean hastily cut her off, ignoring her wounded expression and the flash of guilt that accompanied it.
There was silence for a while as the two of them drank their coffees, then Dean remembered something Sam had told him about a while ago, before he lost his soul.
'Cas, what colour is the universe?'
Cas stared uncomprehendingly. 'Huh?'
'A while ago, Sammy told me something kinda stupid, and I was wondering whether it was true. He said that the universe was café latte colour, and that there's this special shade called Cosmic Latte.'
Cas looked down at his coffee thoughtfully. 'I suppose it is, seen from Earth. But it looks very different from some other places.'
'Huh. I always thought the universe was just black and empty. But then again, I always thought that angels were like unicorns.'
'Like... unicorns?'
Cas' bewildered expression really was so cute, Dean thought. 'They're like lame ass horses that can shoot rainbows from these horns on their heads.'
Cas looked offended. 'Angels are infinitely more powerful than horses. Nor do we shoot rainbows from our heads.'
Dean laughed. 'No, I didn't mean it like that. Unicorns don't exist, and I always thought angels didn't either.'
'Oh, I see.'
Suddenly, Cas sat up straight, tilting his head slightly as if listening to something.
'Your angel radio acting up?'
'Dean, I have to go.'
Dean nodded and tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment. 'Yeah, sure.'
'Can I...' Cas faltered. 'Can I come again sometime? It was nice to see you.'
'Sure.'
Cas smiled again and Dean's heart skipped. On an impulse, he leant forward and lightly pressed a kiss to Cas' warm lips.
Cas' eyes fluttered shut, and he sighed contentedly. Dean could feel the soft breath skim across his cheek.
When he drew back, Cas was looking at him unfathomably. He shuffled awkwardly, realising that kissing an angel of the Lord was probably one of the quickest ways to go straight to Hell. The fact he hadn't yet been smitten were he stood was probably a good sign, though.
Then Cas touched his lips lightly, an expression of awe on his face, and gave a tiny, secretive smile. 'Thank you, Dean.'
Dean shrugged self-consciously.
'Let's do this again soon.'
Then there was the rippling of wings, and the angel disappeared.
Leaving Dean with a confused whirl of emotions and the faint taste of café latte on his lips.
*In case anyone was wondering/cared, 'tinto' is coffee in Columbian slang. This fact is neither useful nor important, it's just one of the many pieces of crap that I know.