For Derek

[godless_son]

Derek says that the appointed time is 9pm, at his cabin and that for the third time, no Derek will not be in costume and yes, Castiel can call him Derek in public.

This still, after the third explanation made no sense to Castiel but he'd gotten the impression that if he kept pushing, Derek would not allow him to come. He wants to better understand, he needs to if he is to stop making Derek's lover so angry by asking questions. He thinks it is curiosity but according to reliable sources, it often presents as incredulity. He shrugs on his leather jacket, Dean insisting that he at least look semi cool if Castiel insists on his favorite, lavender sweater vest underneath and grabs his blade.

He flies into Derek's cabin at precisely 9pm, taking a moment to look around before opening the refrigerator, wondering what sort of food Derek stocks. He imagines Derek's kitchen to contain mostly meat and he wants to know if he is correct. Dean has always taken umbrage at Castiel's own organization and stocking of their own refrigerator and he's keen to see who is correct.

Comments

[triskehale]

Derek is curled up on the sofa with a book when there's suddenly a rush of air and the scent of ozone. Barry and Castiel actually have similar entrances at times, but Barry smells like crackling electricity, and the air around him is warm once he's done speeding. Castiel smells a bit different and leaves the air momentarily cold.

He doesn't even react for a moment, and instead calmly licks his finger and turns the page. It's when Castiel pulls open the refrigerator that Derek finally lifts his head to look at him.

"For some reason I thought you'd at least land on my porch and knock," Derek says dryly, placing a bookmark into his book before standing up and stretching. "Don't touch any of Barry's lunchables."

[godless_son]

"What is a lunchable?" he asks, even as he immediately identifies one and lifts it up, flipping it over to look at the nutritional contents.

"I have seen these in the supermarket and on television. They are for children. Why does your lover eat food for children? I'm not sure this is enough food for a grown man."

[triskehale]

"I don't think you have any idea of just how much Barry eats. It's even more than me, I'm pretty sure," Derek says as he comes over into the kitchen and snatches the Lunchable out of Castiel's hands. "And don't call Barry my lover."

Derek wrinkles his nose and puts the Lunchable back in the fridge on top of the rest of them, wedged in near all the steaks and veggies. Derek's refrigerator was always pretty well-stocked, but now with he and Barry's appetites combined, it's stuffed to the brim.

[godless_son]

Castiel thinks that Barry must eat a startling amount of lunchables, then, and frowns as the snack is taken away from him.

He starts to rummage around on the next shelf, deciding whether or not Derek eats more vegetables than Dean. It seems likely, which is pleasing and he thinks he will point this out to Dean, later. Derek's impressive muscles cannot be from steak, alone.

"Why can't I call him that? That's what he is. You are having sex. There should be a distinction between boyfriend which is a term I have heard children use and what a grown, sexually experienced adult uses."

[triskehale]

"Why are you touching all of our food?" Derek asks, nudging Castiel out of the way and replacing Barry's snack before shutting the door. He turns to look at Castiel again and barely resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Lover is just... weird. And I agree, boyfriend seems juvenile."

Derek thinks on it a bit, and smiles slightly to himself as his cheeks go slightly pink. "Partners. We're partners."

[godless_son]

"Dean thinks that our refrigerator and meal plan includes too many vegetables and I countered that I believe it is closer to average so I am comparing," he informs him, frowning as he is moved away from his inspection. "I may have mentioned that I noticed your physical fitness and argued it was partly due to vegetables. I'm not sure how he took that."

He takes a step to the side, trying to decide if Derek would let him look in his cabinets before deciding it is probably not conducive to their purpose, tonight.

"You should get married," he advises. "I enjoy saying husband, now."

[triskehale]

"Tell Dean that vegetables are good for him, and to shut up and eat them," Derek says with with a smirk, snickering to himself as he imagines the look on Dean's face during that particular conversation.

Derek's eyes widen a bit at Castiel's suggestion, and he clears his throat before replying. Marriage is something so far beyond anything has ever considered possible for himself that it's never really entered his mind. "Slow down, Cas. It's been seven months. We don't even live together."

Though wasn't Derek just thinking that he'd like that to change, if it were something Barry wanted?

[godless_son]

"Then you should start living together," he says, easily solving that problem for Derek.

He gestures at Derek and then the door. "So tonight you are hunting as Derek, right? So I can call you Derek? And we are hunting something different than when you wear your costume?"

[triskehale]

"Cas, come on. It isn't that hard," Derek tells him as he beads back towards the sofa. "If I'm in the costume, or you're talking about something I did while in the costume, then don't call me Derek. If I'm not in the costume, then Derek is fine."

He flops down onto the sofa and then looks up at Castiel with a raised brow. "Wait, are we hunting something? What needs hunting?"

[godless_son]

"Well I don't know," Castiel huffs, flopping down next to Derek.

"You said you hunt different things as your different identities. So I assumed we were hunting whatever you hunt when you are not a superhero. What would you like to do? We can talk. We can talk about your relationship with Barry."

[triskehale]

"I don't really consider what I do hunting," Derek says after a moment. "I look for problems, and I take care of them."

His eyes narrow slightly as he reaches for his tea. "What is there to talk about? Things are good."

[godless_son]

"If things are good, and Barry keeps his children's snack here, then why aren't you living together?" he asks, not wanting to make Derek further elucidate on the different between hunting and what he just said when he still doesn't understand why the costume is only in play part of the time.

He's afraid Derek will kick him out.

"Barry would also be able to save money. And it doesn't matter where he lives because he can run to work."

[triskehale]

"I don't know, Cas," Derek replies, trying hard not to sound put upon. "It just hasn't happened yet, but he is here most of the time anyway."

Derek's brow knits slightly and he shrugs one shoulder, trying not to think about it too hard. "I'm new at this. I'm just sort of taking things as they come. But maybe."

[godless_son]

"If you don't know, you should ask him. Or tell him what you want. That is what I do with Dean," he points out, letting out a very human snort of mirth.

"If I did not do so, Dean and I would still be unmarried and living in the apartment. If I did not do so, Dean and I would likely not even be together. I recommend telling Barry what you want."

[triskehale]

"I don't have much of a problem talking to Barry about how I feel," Derek says in a tone that he's sure conveys just how surprised he is by that. It's hard for Derek to talk about his emotions to anyone, but with Barry it's always been easy. Barry knew his deepest secrets before they even started dating, because Derek knew early on that Barry was someone that he could trust. "When the timing's right, I'll ask him."

[godless_son]

"Hm, I've never understood how to determine that kind of timing," he admits, wondering exactly how someone would figure that out with Dean. Perhaps it is different with other people.

"Do you love him more than you loved the other people you have been with?"

[triskehale]

"Yes," he replies without hesitation, because that isn't even a question. Derek has been with very few people in any real capacity. He thought that he had loved Paige, and maybe he did in the dramatic way that teenagers without any real life experience love. With Kate, he was just a stupid, grief-stricken teenage boy and with Stiles, well-- it was important and real but it wasn't love.

He's never known love like this before Barry. The thought makes him smile, and he doesn't even mind that Castiel sees such a vulnerable moment. He can see into his soul, anyway. There's no real point in hiding.

"He practically lives here anyway," Derek says, looking particularly pleased by the thought.

[godless_son]

"Good," he says, as always baffled by the idea of loving more than one person and glad that Barry (for all Castiel seems to not get along with him) is Derek's best love.

He wouldn't be able to stand the idea of being a relationship that was otherwise.

"Well, then, it seems to be that cohabitation and eventually marriage would be the next obvious steps. I am glad for you. You smile much, much more than you used to."

[triskehale]

He flushes at the idea of marriage, something that for so long seemed wildly unattainable, and then flushes further still at Castiel's observation. He does smile more, and sometimes he feels like a whole new man entirely.

"I have a lot more to smile about," he offers, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. "Thanks, Cas."