Work Text:
The new interns always brought fresh scents into the stale, stuffy rooms of the archive. Castiel was sad to see Kevin go, but at the same time he was excited to meet a new face. And with that would also come a new scent. His office was in the basement and it constantly smelled like the archive because, as tidy as he kept his space, the manila folders towering high on his shelves didn’t smell all that pleasant. Some even had the mold to show just how little people cared about the things that got tossed into the archives.
He pulled aside the curtains of the small window, which let him catch a glimpse of the cobble stones of their backyard. He saw a pointed boot a moment before it kicked against the thick glass. He frowned in irritation.
“Hey Clarence,” he heard Meg say and he reached up to open the window. It provided no relief for the musty smell, as the cold air that streamed into his office wasn't particularly fresh either. Most people used the backyard to have a quick smoke.
“I don’t like talking to your boots,” he admonished and after having heard Meg’s laughter he closed the window again. He sat down at his desk and returned to the document he was reviewing. He never knew what kind of intern he’d get because Hannah up in HR did all of the approving of applications. Usually they were high school kids, alphas or betas even though Castiel always asked for an omega. He was working for the office of omega equality after all. Not that anyone seemed to care. His complaints usually were met with a careless assurance that beggars couldn't be choosers. And if that wasn't an uplifting affirmation what people considered Cas to be or how much value they attributed to his work.
Almost nobody cared to review the City Hall’s old files, not even City Hall. It was frustrating work, but it was the best he had found straight out of college. He had told himself that he’d just do it for a year. Now he had celebrated his 10 year anniversary among the dusty folders not too long ago.
He looked up the moment he smelled something fresh. It was a wonderful smell, earthy and grounding, but hidden underneath something flowery. A moment later a young woman peeked into the open door, rasping her knuckles on the door frame. She was tall and had a beautiful face, framed by blonde hair. There were some freckles on her cheeks. The scent, Castiel noticed, was clearly coming from her, but it wasn’t her own.
“I was told to come down here. I’m Emma Winchester…,” she said and Castiel smiled at her, pointing an open palm towards the empty seat opposite him. Emma strolled into the room, confident and with a pleasant smile. They shook hands and then Emma handed him a thin manila file with her name written on it in Hannah’s script.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emma. I’m Castiel and we will be working together for the next three months.” She seemed excited enough, even though she hid it under a polite smile. “You still go to high-school?”
“Yes, I’m 16. I heard about this from Kevin Tran. We have some AP classes together and he sometimes accompanies his girlfriend to the Omega League meetings. I’m vice-president,” she told him with a smile. “This is also why I really wanted this internship. I want to be more involved in omega rights.” Castiel smiled at her. It was rare that his interns were actually interested in the topic. Usually they were bored assisting him in his project, merely going through these internships because they looked good on a CV.
“I’m happy to hear that,” he said and Emma nodded, “is there anything in particular you’re interested about? You’ll have to write a report at the end of the three months after all.”
“Yes!” Emma spoke up. “I'm interested in the early omega rights movements. Do you have anything about the Amazons? I know people don’t like to talk about them because they’ve got lots of issues, but I wanted to know more.” Castiel blinked in surprise, but soon he got up from the table, Emma following suit at once.
“Of course! I’ve been meaning to get to that. Follow me.” Emma’s scent was very pleasant, but Castiel couldn’t help but to wonder who had left that amazing scent mark on her.
--
“So you’ve got a new kid.” Meg’s boots were polished today, though she still needed to get her heels fixed.
“Emma. I like her,” Castiel replied, looking out over the cobble stones. There were some dried up leaves scattered over their little yard and the air that came in through his window was biting cold. It was the beginning of December and the temperatures had taken a nose dive over the weekend. “I’m glad that Hannah finally approved an omega intern. I resent that even here alphas and betas are still prioritized.”
“Wow, Clarence. You resent. Strong words,” Meg sneered and her heels clacked against the ground. “Ever thought that maybe Omegas just don’t want to work in your unimportant little office?” Castiel couldn’t reply because Meg gave the window a tap with her boot and it fell shut, effectively putting an end to their conversation. Castiel looked at the window with dismay, then he turned around in his chair and returned to the coffee stained report about an incident of public omega indecency in 1954.
--
Work didn’t feel less tedious and gloomy as winter progressed. It got darker and darker, the light bulbs the only glimmer in the dark when the day was dull and over far too soon. It was also cold down here and the radiator almost drowned out Emma’s music with its clicking and puttering.
But Emma. Emma made it all better. Castiel was heartened over how quickly she became protective over him. While she was sweet most of the time, she was fierce enough to complain about how terrible Castiel’s place of work was and that they could at least have invested in a proper office for him. And she mouthed off to pretty much every alpha that crossed her path. She even barely tolerated Meg and Meg was a woman. Unsurprisingly, Meg has started calling the teenager “Amazon puppy” and made fun of Castiel that an omega teenager made herself his protector.
Emma’s calming scent was also a reason why Castiel looked forwards to the teenager’s arrival after her classes.
This particular evening was especially wretched because the heating had gone out and Castiel kept himself warm with coffee and anger at maintenance for being slow to fix it. Emma came with a box of heavenly smelling pecan pie and Castiel could have wept with gratitude.
“My dad made it. When I told him that you were probably shivering down here without heat – and I was right – he made us a pie.”
“He took his time to do this?”
“Any excuse to spoil me is welcome to him,” Emma said with a laugh. Castiel had heard that before. Mr. Winchester was, according to bits and pieces of information that Emma shared, a wonderful father. To be completely honest with himself, Castiel had a bit of a crush on him. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that the scent mark that Emma carried with her, was her father's. That amazing scent wrapped around Emma and the image of Mr. Winchester he had put together out of Emma’s tales had become the champion of Castiel's day dreams. Of course, it would never be any more than a crush and not only because Cas wasn't exactly good at flirting or taking the initiative. No, the reason at the forefront of Castiel's mind was that he was pretty sure that Emma’s father was an omega too. Emma was a champion of presentation neutral language, so she had never mentioned her father's designation. But he knew that he was a single father. Statistically, alphas were unlikely to raise kids on their own. He also knew that Emma barely tolerated the Alphas in Castiel's vicinity but only had the highest praise for her father. So he probably wasn't an alpha. On top of that Mr. Winchester seemed to be very kind, attentive, a great baker and a general homebody. In general, he just gave off the vibe. And that… was a bit of an issue.
Same-designation omega relationships weren’t unheard of, but they were vaguely disapproved of. Castiel wasn't usually a prude or sat on a high horse of moral indignity about other people's love lives. But he had never been interested in a same-designation relationship. Besides, Castiel had nothing to offer to a man as brilliant as Mr. Winchester. The only thing he could do was to make sure that Emma learnt everything she wanted to learn and that he opened as many chances for her as he could. Of course, he did that for every intern, but he had even reached out to his sister to inquire about an internship at her clinic when Emma had implied that she was interested in becoming a doctor specialized in omega health.
"I'm glad to hear that," Cas said, finally connecting back to the conversation after his mind had spiraled to Mr. Winchester again. He took the plate with the pie that Emma offered him. He took a bite, aware of Emma's eyes on him. "It's amazing," he said, taking another bite. Emma grinned widely.
"Right? Dad's really good at cooking and baking," she said and took her seat at the other table, happily eating her slice while she opened up the folders. Cas spent the rest of the afternoon fantasizing about wonderful Mr. Winchester. At least that chased away a bit of the cold. Meg would call him pathetic, but she didn't have to know.
--
Not long after the incident with the broken heater and the heavenly pie, Emma descended into the archive with an expression as ominous as a black rain cloud. Cas wasn't a stranger to moody teenagers but he still raised his eyebrow at her when she tossed a bag down by the door with a disgruntled huff. He wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat when the scent clinging to her reached him. He managed to bite back on a groan when he breathed that perfect, intoxicating scent in. Two things were obvious to Cas; one, Emma was too young to have full heats and two, the scent was an imprint. That meant…
"Yeah," Emma said, recalling Cas out of his embarrassing open-mouthed staring. "It's that time of the season," she said and exaggeratedly peeled off her jacket and the scarf and any layer she could that had her father's scent cling to her. Cas wasn't easily embarrassed, but he still felt his face heat up. Because this meant that Mr. Winchester was in heat. There was very little Cas could do not to at least think about some borderline inappropriate thoughts.
"I see. There's scent neutralizer in the cupboard where the first aid kit is," Cas explained because Emma's discomfort with the scent was more important than Cas' desire to bottle it up and keep it under his pillow.
Emma was quick to get the spray bottle and dispel the scent.
"I usually spend the week with my uncle but he's out of state visiting his girlfriend. And Dad's best friend is at a convention," Emma said when she was seated, her expression still grouchy but slightly less thunderous.
"Are you staying with a friend?" Cas asked, eying the bag by the door that had gotten an extra dose of neutralizer.
"No… Dad booked me a bed in a daycare," Emma grumbled.
"That's good." Castiel was unsure what to say, but that seemed like the safest course of action. Emma narrowed her eyes at him. Or maybe not.
"Being stuck in a room with kids who are going to ask you why their parents dropped them off and what heats and ruts are? And all the following awkward questions? And even worse! The akward silences? No thanks." Cas had to laugh at that.
"Maybe it'll be inconveniencing, but daycares are a good institution. The parents don't have to worry about who will take care of their children," he argued.
"But I'm not a child anymore. I'm 16! Why couldn't he book me a hotel room or an Air B&B like a normal person?" Emma argued. Castiel knew that there was no point in getting her out of her huffy mood, so he nodded at her.
"I don't get why he's not on suppressants! I made him get me suppressants the moment I had the first signs of pre-heat," she complained. "I know they're expensive, but dad could afford them. I guess he's just too old school to bother!"
"Old school?" Cas asked with an amused upwards tilt of his lips.
"No offense, but your generation isn't going with the times. Especially you men. There's nothing bad or emasculating about getting on the pill."
"I know that," Cas told her.
"Well, you're the exception to the rule, Cas," she told him with an appreciative nod. "If only dad could be like you."
"Maybe he'll figure it out too eventually," Cas said with an encouraging smile and while Emma seemed doubtful, at least her bad mood had mostly lifted. Time to steer their conversation to work, so that Cas' treacherous thoughts wouldn't endlessly circulate around Mr. Winchester.
--
Cas came to work on the next day with the remnants of a guilty conscience. He had been steadfast for the entire previous work day, not allowing his thoughts to stray to Mr. Winchester. When he had gotten home, however, into his small, empty apartment after he had been around the last stubborn wisps of Mr. Winchester's scent, he had caved. He had no face to go along with that scent, but his imagination had still run wild when he pleasured himself that evening. Admittedly, Cas didn't really know what to imagine when it came to having a fellow omega man as a lover. Cas had never been interested in a relationship with another omega and he had certainly not been interested in checking out pornography of the omega on omega kind as they tended to be mostly for an alpha viewership. He was ill prepared, even for something as simple as masturbation.
But he was clearly attracted to Mr. Winchester's scent and the man himself – or the man as presented by his daughter.
It felt unfair to even consider asking him out (not that this opportunity would ever arise) if Cas was uncomfortable with the idea of having sex with another omega. Not… not all of it of course. There was plenty of intimacy he would be willing to try out. But would Mr. Winchester feel the same? Or would he be put off by Cas' insecurities?
Thoughts running wild and fantasies being chased by shame plagued Castiel the entire night.
As became clear on the following day, Cas wasn't the only one who had had a bad night though. Emma came into work even grouchier than she had been the day before.
"I cannot stand the daycare!" she exclaimed, before she let herself fall into the chair, wheeling it around and groaning dramatically. But she quickly pulled herself back together and got to work. Cas could see her tired look, her miserable frown and he could smell just how unhappy she was. He had no solution for the issue. He had baby-sat for omega friends before, so he knew how little the kids were pleased about their parents' heats or ruts. But there was no way through but, well, through. They just had to wait it out.
"Cas, can't I stay with you for two days?" Emma's question took Castiel by surprise and he looked up from his notes with a wide-eyed stare.
"Your father wanted you to stay at the daycare," he started after a long-drawn moment of hesitation. Emma rolled her eyes in exasperation. He should probably say no as this wasn't professional at all and what would Mr. Winchester say to a stranger offering to have his teenage daughter stay over? But Emma looked so miserable that he had a hard time denying her anything. "I have a guest room, you'd be welcome to stay with me, but it's your father's call."
"Can I call him??" Emma asked right away, pulling out her mobile phone.
"Uh, sure," he said and Emma did so, her hand flying up to her ear. Castiel felt his heart hammer in his chest at the thought of speaking to Mr. Winchester on the phone. His face heated up and he hoped that he wasn't as red as a tomato already. Emma waited for a while, then she rolled her eyes, removed the phone from her ear and dialed again.
"Emma, I'm sure your father's busy," Cas started, when he recalled that Emma might catch her father at a very unfortunate moment. Surely, Mr. Winchester didn't care to pick up a phone while in heat…!
"He can deal with it," Emma muttered and then apparently her call was answered. "Hey, Dad!" Castiel couldn't hear the other end of the conversation but he watched Emma close her eyes and lift her free hand. "Everything's alright! Well, not everything. Because daycare sucks!" She put her hand into her hip, listening to her dad. "No! They suck." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah I know. Which is why I wanted to ask if I can stay with Cas." At the mention of his name Cas tensed. "He said I could. He has a spare room." There was a lengthy pause in Emma's conversation, then she rolled her eyes and all of a sudden Cas found himself staring down at the phone she held out to him.
"Uh… Uhm, hello," he said into the phone, swallowing past the first nervous crack of his voice. He cleared his throat. "This is Castiel Novak."
"Hey," answered a deep voice. A shiver ran down Castiel's spine. What a voice…! He heard the man breathe in deeply. "Look, no offense man, but I'm not super sold on letting Emma stay with you."
"I understand. It is hard to say no to her though, which is why I offered the spare room. I've babysat in such situations many, many times."
"I'm not a baby!" Emma interjected and Castiel heard Mr. Winchester groan in irritation. But then a sharp hiss followed in the groan's wake and Castiel was definitely sure that his face was tomato red now. Mr. Winchester huffed and Cas held on to the phone with a grip far too tight.
"I thought daycare was the best option."
"It is a good option, but your daughter is 16 years old, it's understandable that she feels a bit out of place in a daycare," Castiel said. Mr. Winchester was quiet at that but Castiel could hear the sound of sheets rustling as Mr. Winchester moved around. He made another low sound of discomfort, followed by a sigh.
"Yeah, okay… Are you sure you can take her?"
"Absolutely, it's no issue," Castiel assured him, but he felt pretty guilty about it. It was clear that Mr. Winchester was too tired or otherwise occupied to argue his point about Emma's safety. Maybe he should talk Emma out of it…
"Fine… But if anything happens to her you're in deep trouble," Winchester warned sharply and Castiel straightened up in reflex.
"I promise I'll watch over her! I… I mean, I'll make sure she's fine."
"Relax, dude… Just don't let her wrap you around her finger," Mr. Winchester said and then he rushed his way through a good-bye (without further threats, which was good) and the line went dead. Castiel handed the phone back to a smiling Emma. He heaved a sigh.
"I hope you like take away, because I'm ill-prepared for a guest," he said and Emma grinned brightly. "Just don't get me into trouble by me allowing you to do things your father doesn't allow."
"Nah, I promise I'll be good! Thanks, Cas! You're my savior!" she chirped, then she let herself drop into her chair and spun it around in celebration. Castiel shook his head, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face.
--
Castiel couldn't help but feel nervous when he let Emma into his apartment. It wasn't all that big, considering the limited salary, but it was clean and had the promised guest room. Emma followed him on his little tour wordlessly, but she gave him an appreciating smile when he guided her to the spare room.
"I'll let you do your homework now. I'll order dinner for later," Castiel told her and she nodded.
"Hey, Cas?" she called when he was about to close the door. He looked back into the room. Emma pursed her lips, then she fiddled with her fingers. "Thank you, by the way. For letting me stay here."
"It's my pleasure," he assured her with a smile. When she nodded he closed the door.
He went to his bedroom, to get out of his suit jacket. He felt a bit weird to dress down when Emma was around. He was still her boss, no need for her to see him in his sleep wear. His phone pinged with a new message and he fished it out of his discarded jacket. He did a double take when he saw Mr. Winchester's text. Mr. Winchester! Texting him!
"Can you make sure Emma does her homework? Thanks – Dean" Castiel felt butterflies alight in his stomach and a silly grin took over his face. So his name was Dean? That sounded nice.
"I'm on it. You have nothing to worry about. I hope you'll get some rest," he typed but then he stalled. How should he end it? After far too much consideration he chose to simply copy Mr. Winchester and added a simple "Cas". He didn't expect an answer, but was pleasantly surprised to get one anyway:
"As they say; no rest for the wicked. ;)" Cas stared at the message. Sure, he had absolutely no clue about things like these, but was this flirting? Or was Mr. Winchester - Dean - just being funny? Probably… Could he at least fantasize about it being flirty?
Eventually Castiel decided to let it be, it wasn't like he had anything at all to offer as an answer (though he did send back an appropriate emoticon) and set himself to the task of ordering food.
--
Emma gave her word that she had completed all of her homework.
"It's just like Dad to ask that… Does he think I'm a kid?" Emma muttered, then she bit into her slice of pizza. "Do your homework, Emma!" Castiel had to laugh at her imitation of her dad, both the grimace she made but also how she chose to pitch her voice up, instead of down.
"I'm sure that's not how he says it," Castiel said with a smile to which Emma huffed. She propped her elbow up on the table and stared at her slice of pizza with a small frown. "Uhm," Castiel started up again, taken by surprise by her suddenly serious expression, "I might not know much about parenting, but it seems normal to want to make sure that you complete your tasks so that you will do well in school."
"Yeah, yeah. I know that. Dad just wants what's best for me," she said and then she took another big bite of her pizza. With her cheeks comically stuffed she added: "even if it means math homework."
"I know math homework is a great injustice," Castiel agreed. Emma giggled at that even though Castiel himself knew that this wasn't a great joke.
"You don't have kids, Cas?" Emma asked out of the blue. Castiel put down the soda he had just brought to his lips.
"Uh, no. No, I don't. I… never had occasion," he said. Over the years of being asked this he had developed quite a repertoire of half-truths about why he – an omega blessed with fertility that other more deserving people were so cruelly denied – never settled down. "Or… well… actually, it's never been a priority in my life…"
"Yeah, I don't want kids either… You've got to be all in or don't bother at all," Emma said pensively. "I mean… don’t get me wrong, I love my dad and I never missed anything in my life. But you can't really hide from your kid that you simply messed up and were in a too conservative environment to consider an abortion. Dad was 16… I mean, what the hell do you do with a baby when you're 16? I wouldn't know!" Castiel nodded. Teen pregnancies, especially with omegas involved, were still pretty common.
"And your… other parent?"
"Doesn't even send a Christmas card," Emma said with a bitter smile. Castiel was all too familiar with that situation.
"Well, their loss," Castiel told her gently. At that Emma perked up. She huffed, then she nodded and grabbed another slice of pizza.
"Absolutely! I'm a delight!" she exclaimed and Cas was glad to see the cheeky grin return to her face. "But because I don't have two parents, my dad feels like he has to put in twice the effort to make me happy. And he gets overprotective…," she said after a while, now picking capers off her pizza and popping them into her mouth. "And I'm kinda protective of him in turn…"
"Oh?" Castiel felt a small pang of fear at that, but he pushed it all the way down right away. He didn’t stand a chance with Dean, so him not being up to Emma's standard wasn't something he should worry about. But still.
"Yeah. But that's also because Dad doesn't date a lot, being a working single dad. And whenever he did bring someone home, they were douchebags… He's just too good looking, that probably attracts a lot of superficial idiots. Especially idiots that run for the hills after they get that 'hey, I have a kid' means that he actually has a kid. And not just one that that he sees once every two weeks." Cas winced at that.
"I'm sorry, that must be hard."
"It's fine. It's not like dad would ever pick a hook-up over me," Emma said with a confident shrug. "Though I do sometimes feel bad for him. He tells me he's happy with how things are, but I think he is a bit lonely…" Castiel knew that feeling…
"I'm sure a man like your father will find someone that's good enough for the both of you," Castiel told her gently. Emma's answering smile was almost shy, but certainly happy.
"Yeah, I think so too."
--
"You're screwed Clarence." With a groan, Castiel turned away from Meg's taunting boots. The small window out into the courtyard was letting in its usual chilly air that smelled like stale cigarette smoke. He would prefer to be anywhere else but here, with his back pressed against the wall and Meg stomping out her cigarette with a sharp clacking sound.
"I'm not…"
"Yeah, I suppose that's the issue here," she answered cheekily.
"A real friend wouldn't enjoy this situation," Castiel snapped, but only got Meg's laugh in return.
"Oh come on. You're having a crisis because you're lusting after another omega. Is that the only issue you have in your life?"
"I've never been interested in it!" He argued back, not liking the patronizing tone.
"Well, congrats on expanding your horizon then!" Meg laughed. "And what's so bad about it? So, the guy doesn't have a knot."
"And neither do I!"
"You do know that omegas are perfectly capable of pleasuring other omegas. And they can get them through a heat comfortably," Meg told him and Cas' face heated up. "It's not rocket science, Clarence. If you don't want to use your dick there's plenty of toy options. All good sex needs communication and exploration of boundaries. Don't believe all that porn tells you."
"I…," Cas started, but there wasn’t really anything else he could say.
"That's what I thought," Meg chuckled. "Just relax."
"It's not like I'll ever meet him anyway," Castiel muttered, which Meg answered with a groan and then her heels clacked away. Clearly, she had reached her tolerance level for Castiel's moping. And to be honest, so had Cas himself. There was simply no point in driving himself mad with this.
Spending time with Emma had been nice and he had sent one or two texts to Dean to update him on Emma. But he had yet to see him or even speak to him on the phone again. Cas would treasure the memory of his raspy voice and the short call he had received when Emma had been successfully dropped off. He had assured Dean that hosting Emma had been a pleasure, but it was clear to him how tired Dean was, so Cas hadn't even attempted to expose Dean to his awkward conversation skills.
So Castiel was back to pining. And soon Emma's internship with him would come to an end and that wonderful scent and his flimsy connection to Dean would fade. It hurt even thinking about it, but Cas had to be realistic. This was what it was. His underground office, his chats with Meg's boots, his lonely apartment… That was his life.
--
With Christmas came the usual surge of activity at City Hall, as they prepared for their annual end of the year events. Castiel always looked forwards to the Christmas concert, even though he was tasked to organize the traditional cake and cookies sale they did. Once upon a time someone had decided that as the resident omega, he would be perfect for the job. It was annoying, but he had been far too shy and far too scared of losing his job to protest, so he simply accepted his fate.
He adjusted the arrangement of goods at the tables to keep himself busy while people mingled, his nose full of the scent of sugar cookies and the mix of bodies all around him. Lost in thought and scents as he was, he gave a start when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around, finding Emma before him, a grin on her face. He barely had time to register her presence, least of all greet her, when that scent reached his nose.
Dean was here! Castiel's spark of joy at that was quickly doused when he realized what that meant. Dean would see him! Had he even brushed his hair?!
"Hi, Cas! Can I get a cookie?" Emma asked. When Cas didn't react at once, she lifted her eyebrows and inclined her head towards the tables.
"Oh… Oh yes," he said and stepped aside, so one of the girls behind the table could give Emma a cookie. "Mm! It's good!" Emma said, chewing happily. Castiel only made an absent-minded noise, trying to let his eyes sweep over the mass of people without being too obvious about it. Who could be Emma's dad? He had no idea what Dean looked like.
A chuckle at his side made him turn his head. Emma was shooting him a grin. He didn't know how to interpret it, but then Emma lifted her hand to wave.
"Dad, they've got pie too," she said and Cas spotted a man making his way through the people.
There he was. The elusive, wonderful Mr. Winchester. And he was nothing like Cas had imagined. Cas knew first hand that lots of things being said about omega men wasn't true, but he still had completely overlooked the tall, handsome man walking up to them. Dean wore an easy smile, his short, light hair slightly tousled from the wind outside.
"Hey," he said when he was next to them and Cas had no idea what to do.
"Dad, this is Cas!" Emma said. "Cas this is my dad!" Dean's previously charming smile became wider in recognition and he held out his hand.
"Oh! Nice to finally meet you face to face!"
"Likewise," Castiel managed to say, shaking Dean's hand with a firm grip. He was aware that neither of them was letting go of the other's hand. Emma finally cleared her throat. Dean let go of Cas' hand, though Cas was pretty sure he hadn't imagined the reluctance.
"I thought it would be nice for dad to meet you," she said and then she dashed off, leaving Dean and Cas standing there.
"Uh…," Dean started, but then he laughed, scratching the back of his head. "It's good to be able to put a face to your scent," he continued after a while. "It was always clinging to Emma when she came back from work. It's nice." Castiel couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"The feeling's mutual," he said, still incredulous.
"Clarence, who's this handsome alpha? Don't tell me you're cheating on Mr. dreamy scented omega!" Castiel flinched when Meg put her arm around his shoulders, pulling him in tight, almost in a choke hold.
"Dreamy scented omega…?" Dean asked and Castiel felt his face heat up and dread pool in his stomach. "I'm Dean Winchester, Emma's dad."
"Oh, so you are the dreamy scented guy."
"I am, but I'm not an omega," Dean said, perplexed. Meg looked Dean up and down, a grin on her lips.
"Oh I can see that," she said, then she let Castiel go again.
"Wait, what?" he managed to say, once he had righted himself again. Meg was already laughing at his confused look, while Dean went from concerned to amused as well.
"Poor Clarence. All that angst for nothing," Meg said, then she turned to look at Dean. "He thought he couldn't please you if you were an omega as well. You know, the boy's got no imagination when it gets to sex."
"Meg!" Castiel hissed, now starting to feel annoyance override the mix of confusion and mortification. Meg lifted her hands, almost spilling the contents of the flute she was holding, not that there was a lot of prosecco left in it.
"Fine, fine. I did my work. Now you can have your romantic alpha-omega meet cute moment," she said and then she winked at Cas. When she was gone, Castiel heaved a sigh.
"So," Dean started and Castiel was reminded just why he was so embarrassed. He looked up at Dean. "Was it wishful thinking that I'd be an omega?"
"No!" Castiel answered too quickly, but he stopped the rush of embarrassing babbling that might have spilled out himself. He lifted his hands in front of him, took a deep breath and exhaled to calm his nerves. "No," he repeated and lowered his hands. "It's embarrassing, but it seems I fell prey to stereotyping."
"Yeah, I know. Believe me, this isn't the first time this happens to me," Dean said with a laugh. "Single alpha parents are rare. Especially those who were the cause of a teen pregnancy and stuck around to deal with the consequences." Dean winked.
"I think it was mostly the way Emma talked about you, how nurturing and caring you are," Castiel admitted.
"And my good pie, right?" Dean asked with a wink and then motioned to the tables. "Speaking of which, Emma said there would be pie!"
"Oh… Oh yes," Cas said and held out a hand to the table. He let Dean browse the selection and took the moment to watch the man. Cas himself didn't come in the typical omega packaging, too tall, too scruffy, but this man did look all alpha.
"You know, despite people often expecting me to be an omega, they are usually quick to recognize their mistake. My brother always says I'm overcompensating." Dean said, turning to Cas with a generous slice of cherry pie. Castiel took this as an invitation to let his eyes travel over Dean's figure again, under the watchful eyes of Dean this time. Tall and broad and strong. And he did radiate that typical easy alpha dominance.
"But not you."
"I'm not that good at reading people," Cas admitted, then he gestured at himself. "And I try not to judge a book by its cover. People usually think I'm a beta." Dean chewed his bite of pie pensively.
"I'm glad you're not," he said after a while, more serious than he'd been before in their conversation. Castiel widened his eyes in surprise. "Because since we're alpha and omega, it's obvious to both of us that we're scent compatible."
"Uh, yes," Castiel answered, then he laughed. "I suppose that's true."
"And I can go straight to asking you out on a date without seeming like a creep." Castiel shook his head in amusement.
"I'm glad you think so," he agreed, feeling giddy with excitement. A date with an incredibly handsome alpha he had been pining after for months? He could barely believe how lucky he was! "And I would love to!" he added, suddenly worried that he wasn't being clear about it. "On a date, I mean. I would love to go on a date with you."
"Great, how about tomorrow? Text me your address and I'll pick you up at six," Dean suggested and Castiel nodded eagerly. Dean grinned. "Awesome." He turned his head to the side and when Castiel followed his line of sight, he saw Emma approaching. "Gotta warn you though, I have a kid." Dean said with a wink.
"Did you ask him out?" Emma wondered when she was within earshot.
"I said yes," Castiel said before Dean could answer. He felt warmth bloom in his chest when Emma shrieked in excitement and threw her arms around Cas.
"That's so awesome! I'm happy for you two!" she said and then she also gave her father a hug.
"Yeah, me too," Dean agreed and then he reached out to take Castiel's hand. He gave it a soft squeeze. "It's gonna be great."
Cas couldn't agree more.