( CHAPTER SEVEN! )

( FINDING THE OTHERS WEARING THEIR CLOTHES )

.
.
.

Fashion was an odd concept for Nathan.

It was logical to seek the warmth of a coat, it made sense to him when clothes was as simple as wearing animal's furr to stay warm. Even though the concept of being cold was foreign once when he was an angel, survival was an understandable concept.

Centuries had passed and humankind had evolved along side with the concept of fashion. Now the clothes they wore was more than a basic item of survival. It was a way to express themselves, every style told something about that person, every choose of color every desicion to match that shirt with that shoe mattered. Nathan realized that a lot of conclusion could be drawn from just by lookig at someone's clothes. (He was even able to draw that conlusion in the first weeks of his human life.) How much did they pay attention to the way they looked? What were they trying to say with the way they choose to present themselves?

From the months he had lived among them as not just an observer but as a part of them, he had concluded that clothes was a way to express yourself. Regardless of that, he still didn't quite get what would thw clothes he picked would mean to another person. Nathan was vell aware that pretending to be (even becoming) one of them didn't mean he understood every little thing he had to do to appear ordinary.

That's why his closet was simple, dark shade of jeans that he found comfortable and plain v necked shirts. He avoided shirts with texts or images, the message they would be giving to the others was confusing. Maybe if he was one of them, his clothes would mean that he was a simple man.

Until the day he met Dean Winchester, he didn't get the appeal of clothes either.

Humans loved to adore the unknown. He had observed that, in some cases an attractive piece of clothing was much more appealing than bare skin. It was the anticipation, it was the desire to discover what was underneath. Nathan had observed these things but never exprienced it to understand it fully.

"I look ridiculous."

Yet Dean was standing in his kitchen, wearing his clothes. For the first time in his existence, he understood the meaning of possesions. Nathaniel always had a mission and he didn't own things, he didn't claim nor he desired to have something of his own. He had been a servant to a bigger cause, only beings simple as humans had the luxery to own things.

Even the sight of Dean so off guard, squirming under Nathan's gaze, avoiding him by looking at his barefeet made him feel something. He didn't know what exactly. Maybe it was pride, after all, one of the notorious Winchesters was a young coy man at Nathan's presence, all because he was wearing Nathan's clothes.

"Quite the opposite," Nathan started once he had throughly checked the other man out. "You look great." At this point he wasn't even doing it to get a rise out of Dean. He was speaking the truth as he felt like it. He was growing to enjoy that feeling.

"Shut up," Dean muttered and rolled his eyes but didn't protest further as he moved into the kitchen.

It was all feeling surreal as he handed Dean a cup of coffee with cream and he made one black sugar free one for himself. This was so ordinary that it could've been a normal day, two men enjoying a lazy morning while they also enjoyed each other's company. He couldn't help but stare at Dean as he sipped on his coffee without paying much attention to Nathan, enjoying himself in the moment. Nathan had discovered that Dean was grumpy without his morning coffee awhile back and he had learn to make coffee just for this purpose.

It was paying off judging by the calm and pleased expression on Dean's face, so it was worth his efforts.

Yet again, there was this unsettling feeling inside his stomach because this was not an ordinary situation.

He had woken up with Dean by his side, standing way too close for an awake Dean to approve. Regardless they were that close and Dean was looking so young without any trace of worry or anger or tiredness on his face. He had looked so peaceful and naive (and Nathan was never going to watch romcoms again, it was getting to his head).

Nathan just wished he could forget and let go, even for a day. He wanted to enjoy a simple moment, enjoy the simplicity but his mind never let him rest, all those plans and-

"Earth to Nathan? Hello, are you there?"

Dean's voice brought him back to the present and his nose crinckled with confusion. "I am pretty sure I'm also on planet Earth," he muttered without thinking much. As it was clear by the way Dean was tilting his head with raised brows, he was sounding weird and angelic again.

"Okay, alien. You zoned out there for a second," Dean said with a smile on his face. Huh, he was smiling more often now.

"Smiling looks good on you." Nathan was feeling bold today and he liked the way Dean reacted when he complimented him. Regardless he decided to take pity on the poor man and didn't press any further. "Sorry, there is still a lot on my mind. What were you saying?"

"I just asked: you gave me the pink shirt on purpose right?"

He had thought about that at some point. And it had turned out even better than he imagined. Despite being taller, Nathan's body was rather slim compared to the hunter's thus his pants was a little tight around some places and a bit short on his ankles. The shirt was the best part though, the light shade of pink was complimenting Dean's cheeks at that moment and honestly, v necks should've been the only type of shirt that Dean was allowed the wear. Indeed he looked great, he hadn't thought something like this about a human before.

"Yes, I did. It's my favorite shirt, I was wearing it the time I met you."

His lips curled into a cheeky smile, tilting his head and taking another look at his masterpiece. Dean was so flustered by this point that he looked slightly annoyed by him. "You're such an asshole, jesus."

"You like that about me though. And I like that you look so cozy with my clothes." Like you belong here. Like you trust me.

"Haha," Dean said with a dry tone but he was still smiling a little. "Enough is enough you weird little alien. You know you say the most pretentious and bold things, right?"

"Its how we communicate on Mars," Nathan said. And judging by the way Dean laughed (laughed! it was even rarer than a smile) he was getting the hang of this joking thing.

"Whatever you say weirdo.Give me somethin to eat and I migh forgive you for tourmenting me."

Nathan had learned to make coffee for Dean but breakfast was still a work in progress. It was going to be a wild ride for the two and just for this morning Nathan decided to let go.

.

Even after Dean left, Nathan was filled with a sense of security, as if he was finally able to feel at ease.

That being said, he had made his peace with the fact that life always liked to have its twists and turns for him (his father had a wicked sense of humor, huh?), therefore he wasn't  shocked the moment his tranquility was broken. It was too good to be true anyway.

As he was walking back from the kitchen to the livingroom, he wasn't even able to feel sadness or disappointment when a familiar sound reached to his ears. The sound of the wings of an angel.

Castiel was standing in his livingroom with his blank face and stupid trechcoat. Well, at least it was Castiel, Nathan tried to find some solace in that, it could've been worse.

"I think I gave you enough time to processes your human emotions."

"No chit-chat? So business like, Castiel, I'm hurt," Nathan said. His brother's response was a slight tilt athis head with his freakishly blue eyes staring deep into his soul. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're worse than me at having a normal conversation, aren't you?" This rage inside him, it was familiar. Surely, it waa hidden behind sarcastic comments but it was there and it was an emotion he actually knew before as well. Even angels got angry sometimes, not likes this and not everyone but Nathaniel used to feel this rage building up somewhere deep within.

And now it was directed at Castiel, more to Heaven but at Castiel since he was right there infront of him.

"This is not a game Nathaniel, do I need you to remind that I can force your grace back in and drag you to heaven right now? Do you know how much I'm risking by trying to keep you out of this mess?"

Wait, what?

By that time, Nathan had been sure that Castiel had told his superiors about him. That was interesting. "Why didn't you?"

"You don't know how Heaven is like at the moment. They will punish you if they learn that you are trying go behind their backs, your motives will not even be taken into considiration. Uriel and Raphael... They have a plan and they will not have anything standing on their way."

This was not news to Nathan. Fuck it, he even had been expecting one of them to come and drag him back to heaven. But it was surprising that Castiel was actually not being the good soldier that he is. He was disobeying simply by not reporting him. Huh.  "Do you want me to bow down to you for protecting me? Take orders from you instead of them?"

Some emotion on Castiel's blank face. Frustration perhaps. Despite having a head shorter vessel, it was feeling as if Castiel was towering over him though, looking down at him with that determined stare of his. "I question my orders lately. It is... foreign to me. I cannot and will not explain myself fully to you but get this, stay away from Dean Winchester. If you cannot, you have to play along and convince him to fullfill his destiny, convince him to become Michael's vessel, if it comes down to it."

Nathan was about to protest, his hands were starting to shake with the intensity of his emotions, his heart was racing and his head hurt- he had never felt more human before. He felt desperate.

As if Castiel was able to read his mind (he would be, if it wasn't for the spells he had cast months ago) he took a step closer and spoke once more. "There is a war coming and you are standing in the middle of it. Please, be careful.And don't make me speak to Raphael, I will if you keep disregarding my words."

With that, he was gone.

His mind raced with several different thoughts, Castiel was actually looking out for him in his own damn Heaven's soldier way. Nathan felt repulsed and angry at the order Castiel had given him and felt a sense graditude towards him for keeping his secret at the same time. Even though Nathan didn't ask him to, even though he didn't have to.

Maybe he was not the only angel feeling a little out of line and that was actually comforting for once.

.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

let me know what you think! comments help me write faster ;)

and i have to admit that i've been writing on my phone and despite checking it several times, there is always spelling errors etc so i apologize. if you see something really disturbing your reading flow, let me know! and the minor mistakes... try to roll with it? i will try to come back and fix it later.

next chapter will just be dean and nathan, some heart to heart, fluff, and slow dancing <3

take care!