Work Text:
Dean sipped his wine carefully as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the bunker, back leaning against the base of the couch. Claire and Kaia had asked if they could have a "ladies' night" with Eileen and Rowena, and Jack had asked if they could join the evening as well. Claire, never one to deny her adopted sibling anything, agreed immediately. Cas had also been intrigued, and asked if he could observe to better understand. Claire and Kaia, giggling like madwomen, agreed heartily. It was only then that Jack asked Dean if he wanted to join them. Dean, like Claire, was not one for denying Jack anything after what they'd been through. With the girls' approval, he'd begrudgingly agreed, keeping his mouth shut about how their 'ladies' night' had evolved to four women, a dude, an Angel, and a Nephilim.
Dean had been doing some growing since saving the world, especially after admitting his feelings for Cas to himself. John had been a stoic man's man, expecting Dean to be the exact same once he was old enough. Dean leaned into the charming ladies' man ego he'd concocted as a shield, and pushed down all his desires to focus on his family. Now that they were safe and Cas was there to stay, he'd had a lot of time to reflect on the way he'd been raised to think. The slap of realization that 'bisexual' was a concept had left Dean reeling for a solid 24 hours. He'd always thought his 'man-crushes' were borne of envy, not attraction, but after watching Cool Hand Luke again one afternoon, he'd quickly realized his love of the roguish Paul Newman was just that, pure attraction. Once the floodgates were open, Dean had experienced what Claire dubbed a "gay panic". And who could blame him? Nearly 40 years old and JUST putting the pieces of the puzzle together about his own sexuality. After that, he'd managed to come out to everyone important to him and get over himself enough to actually talk with Cas about their mutual feelings.
He'd also begun to learn more about the overall world of gender and sexuality, at Claire's urging. He was proud of himself for understanding Jack's pronouns now, and where he fit on the spectrum that was romantic versus sexual attraction. Dean didn't much care what his label was, he just knew he loved Cas (and his family) more than anything, but bisexual felt like it fit him best, so that's what he used. Claire had been instrumental in helping Dean undo the toxic masculinity (her words) he'd grown up around, and frankly, he was loving it. It was nice to not give so much of a damn what other people thought of him. His family loved him, and they wouldn't judge him for letting himself enjoy things.
So there he sat, a glass of sweet, fruity wine in his left hand as he waited for the holographic black nail polish on his right hand to dry. Jack had insisted they match, and Dean had agreed when he'd seen the cool rainbow shift of the pigment. Claire had gone nuts on Jack's hair, letting him pick from her collection of barrettes, clips, and scrunchies. They had several pigtails sticking up in different directions, and their eyes gleamed with joy as Dean nodded approvingly of the polish. Dean was struck at that moment with just how much Jack resembled Kelly, and he pulled them into a one-armed hug. Cas was sitting between Eileen and Rowena, being shown how to apply a sheet mask to his face properly. Eileen giggled as Cas blew the little flap off his mouth, sending droplets flying at them. "I like how this one smells," he commented as Rowena smoothed out the wrinkles of it on his face, smiling at the angel. "Lavender and Sage, dear. Two of my favorites!" She said, getting to work on her own mask. Eileen reached for the s'more dip at the same time as Kaia, and they gave each other warm smiles as Kaia signed "go for it," to Eileen. "We should do this more often," Dean said with a mouthful of homemade guacamole. Cas gave him an exasperated look as he talked with his mouth full, but Dean simply gave Cas a little wink. Jack nodded enthusiastically, their pigtails bouncing. "I agree. I like hanging out with you all," they said, using air quotes around the words 'hanging out'. Claire suppressed a laugh at the motion and Dean was reminded once again that Jack was indeed Cas's child. Rowena nodded, patting the Nephilim's cheek gently. "Jack, would you like a face mask?" She asked, gesturing to the packs sitting in front of her. Jack nodded, scooting closer so she could help with the application as she had Cas's. Eileen looked over at Dean as Claire and Kaia busied themselves with getting more wine. "You know, I think we might need to get Sam to come to our next one," she signed and said with a sly smirk. Dean matched it as he responded. "Oh absolutely. Claire can teach Jack how to braid on his hair and get Rowena to put that bubbling mask on him," he said, doing his best to sign back to her as he spoke. He wasn't as good as Sam but he was learning, and Eileen usually got what he was saying if he enunciated. She nearly collapsed into giggles with Dean as the image filled their heads. Toxic masculinity or not, Sam was still his little brother, and Dean would always tease him. Cas scooted over to them, leaning into Dean's side as he made himself comfortable. "Looking good, hot stuff," Dean said, smiling as he realized Cas's sheet mask had a penguin printed on it. Cas grinned. "You too handsome," he said, looking up at Dean's hair. He'd grown it out some in the year that had passed since Cas's return, and he hadn't escaped the clips and barrettes either. Dean laughed, leaning in and stealing a quick kiss from his lips. "Hey, I love you," he mumbled, nose nuzzling Cas's perpetually wild hair. Even under the mask, Cas's blush was evident as he all but melted under Dean's affection. "Love you too," Cas said softly, like it was a secret he didn't want the others to hear. "I love our family," Dean added, slinging an arm around the angel with practiced comfort. Cas nodded in agreement. "Me too," he said, checking to see if Dean's nails had dried. "So, what color do you want? I was thinking blue to match your eyes," Dean said, linking Cas's fingers with his. "I gotta practice my skills if we're gonna do this more often," he said, grinning at the little group gathered around them.
It was a good night, one of his best.