Story by @almaasi
Art by @deancebra-art
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Rating: Explicit
Length: 92,000 words
Pairings: Dean/Castiel (Past Dean/other; NO past Cas/other. Background Charlie/Billie and Donna/Jody. Rowena flirts with both Charlie and Sam; past minor Rowena/Gabriel; implications that Sam and Gabriel are endgame soulmates even though we never see them interact.)
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Warnings:
No major warnings. One bit where Dean and Cas think they’ve lost a duckling (but the duckling is fine!!). Dean wears panties (as underwear, not for sex appeal) and is covered in scars and tattoos.
Multiple sex scenes: intercrural sex; rimming; switch!Cas and switch!Dean (but leaning towards submissive bottom!Dean). Light comeplay (plus swallowing). Tantric lovemaking (suuuuper slow, deeply intimate sex) featuring both top!Dean AND top!Cas, plus some, uh… emergency problem-solving?? when ~nature calls~ a few hours in. (“Wet & Messy Sex” tag.) Again, intensely intimate, so potentially a second-hand embarrassment trigger.
Recurring themes of impotence, as well as overcoming trauma, loss, anxiety, and depression - all in a hopeful, encouraging sort of way. Past minor character death (post-surgery; non-explicit mentions of medical things). Questionable methods of obtaining questionable drugs for medicinal use. And Cas has manipulative con-artist siblings, thus inviting talk of money, debt, mortgages, fraud, and theft.
But I swear… this is a fluffy story about ducklings, friendship, and soulmates…
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Summary:
Castiel doesn’t do one-night stands. Once he hit forty, he figured his time was up, his life had pretty much come to a halt, and there was nobody out there for him. He lives in a cute little village, riding his bicycle between his vet clinic and his cottage; that’s his world, and he’s given up on expanding it. But in one last, desperate attempt to find someone, he contacts Rowena, the local witch, and asks her to summon his soulmate. Rowena brings a storm. The storm washes up a trio of ducklings, huddled for shelter inside the rainboots of the new-to-town kindergarten teacher (and retired motorcycle daredevil), Dean Winchester. Ducklings in hand, Dean seeks out Castiel’s veterinary expertise. Somehow, in a flustered, spontaneous burst of attraction, they spend the night together. And just like that, Castiel’s life starts again. With every passing week they become better friends, sharing deeper intimacies, caring for their duck babies as well as each other. But staying together requires taking risks which neither of them planned for. Dean’s risk puts him in extreme physical jeopardy. And Cas? He has to overcome fifteen years of emotional hurt, just to follow where Dean leads.
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I AM SO EXCITED OKAY