Ain’t It Good Being All Alone?
“Good morning, San Franciscoooo.” Sam grunted as he reached over to slam the snooze button on his alarm clock.
He stared at his handprint covered ceiling for a while before heaving himself out of bed and padding over to his bathroom. He grabbed one of his many multi-colored hair-ties and pulled his long brown hair into his signature ‘messy bun’.
“Sammy! Coffee’s ready, let’s go!” His brother hollered from the kitchen.
Sam had received a full ride scholarships to one of the city’s premiere art school and graduated top of his class. Dean had worked as a mechanic, paying for their essentials when both brothers had the bright idea of opening a tattoo parlour.
You know that saying “Your body is a temple”? Well, the Winchester boys that a temple has the right to be decorated.
As time passed, their parlour-Dean won a bet between the two of them and was allowed to name the shop Tattooine (“It’s a pun, Sammy. Get it?” “Yeah, Dean. I get it. You’re an idiot.”)-had generated a lot of attention from college kids to businessmen alike.
Tucked away in a small corner downtown sat the shop, black bricks with a sun of Tattooine on either side. The brothers walked in to find Charlie already sat behind the counter.
“Good morning, comrades.” She greeted them, placing two muffins on the desk “One chocolate for Deanathan and special blueberry bran muffin for the Samanator.”
Sam had met Charlie during their orientation, they both had obviously shared a mutual passion for art and cemented their friendship over Harry Potter and LOTR marathons, which eventually included bringing Dean along.
She scratched the shaved side of her head as she searched through her seemingly endless mounds of paperwork on her desk. Creative chaos, she calls it. “Looks like it’s gonna be a slow one today, boys. Ash is gonna be at the Roadhouse tonight, so’s Jo.” Charlie let out a cheer of triumph as she found the appointment book “Sambert, you have just two appointments today. You’re finishing up Jess’s lotus and then a guy called last night wanting to book a double; one for him, one for his brother, which is what Dean will be doing.” Dean opened his mouth to protest-probably with some bullshit excuse, but Charlie silenced him “Before you speak, Deanton. The brother just wants some typography done.” Portraits were usually Sam’s domain, along with Ash. “And you’re finishing Pam’s tat on her arm.”
Jo and Dean were wizards with calligraphy and typography. The only employees that didn’t tattoo were Charlie and Crowley. Charlie would rather her art be on actual canvas than human skin, but that didn’t stop her from drawing up templates and pieces for other people. Crowley was their resident piercer. He was a shit most days, but the man had a way of making holes in people.
And that made up their crew, they’re small and they constantly bicker, but it’s home.
“Does the guy say what he wants?” Sam asked, organizing his area before customers arrived.
Charlie shook her head “Nope, just said he wanted a portrait.”
“He’s a linguistic major, so brush up on their foreign languages.”
The door chimed as Jess walked in, her blonde curls bouncing everywhere “Good morning, guys!” Jess had been Sam’s girlfriend during their first two years of college. During that time, Sam had gone through the revelation of being bisexual and Jessica had been accepted to an internship in Thailand. Their relationship ended, but their pair remained just as close.
“Good morning.” Sam greeted her with a kiss on the cheek “Ready to finish this beauty up?”
“Aaaaand I think we’re all done here.” He turned off the equipment, handing Jess a mirror and guided her to the larger mirror on the wall.
Jess angled herself to see the tattoo properly “Oh my god!” She squealed “Sam, this is amazing! Thank you!”
“I’m glad you like it.” Sam grinned, hugging her just as tight, but trying to avoid the fresh artwork. “You better bring me back something from India for that.”
Jess rolled her eyes “They sent me from Thailand to India for work, not vacation.”
“Only you would call a two month long yoga retreat work, Jess!” Dean shouted from across the room.
The blonde simply laughed and kissed the brothers goodbye.
The rest of the day went by slowly, but not boringly. A few touch ups here and there, a simple walk-in wanting a silhouette done, and some minimalist work for Dean.
Sam had his back to the door when he heard someone speak behind him.
“Cassie. Look at that lumberjack demi-god. Holy shit, dreams do come true.”
Sam bit his lip, suppressing the urge to slap the guy. He turned around and was met with a blonde with the goldest eyes he had ever seen “I’m Sam, co-owner. Can I help you with something?”
“Gabriel Novak.” He shook Sam’s hand with a stronger grip than the man had expected “This is my brother Cassie.”
“Castiel.” The dark haired man corrected “We’re your five o’clock.”
This is going to be fun, Sam thought to himself. “Dean! Appointment’s here!”
He heard Dean grunt all the way from the office. His step stuttered a little when he saw Castiel.
“This is my brother Dean, he’s the other owner” He turned to Dean “These are the Novak brothers, Gabriel and Castiel.”
“I have heard wonderful things about your work, Dean.” Castiel stepped forward “Shall we start?” He asked over his shoulder as he walked over to Dean’s station, removing his shirt and laying down on the table.
Dean just stood slightly, gobsmacked before quickly following behind him.
“Cas likes to get right to business.” Gabriel chuckled.
“I noticed.” Sam commented as he led him to his own station “You wanted a portrait?”
Gabriel nodded “S’not really a person portrait; I want the solar system right here.” He held out his forearm for Sam to examine.
Gabriel nodded “ Color, please. I’ll leave it to you to choose which ones. You are the artist after all.”
Sam looked at him with bemused skepticism “You’re trusting me with something permanent, man. You sure?”
“You have a trusting face. Maybe it’s the puppy eyes or those dimples, who knows?”
Sam felt a small heat rise up to his cheeks “So why the solar system?” He asked, quickly changing the subject. “You work for NASA or something?”
“Nah, not enough brains for that. I’m a children’s author, who focuses on the wonders of galaxies far far away.” Gabriel grinned “Nice pun on the name, by the way.”
Sam snorted “You can thank Dean for that. What made you want to write children’s books?” Sam’s hands worked quickly on transferring the outline he drew onto Gabriel’s freckled skin.
“My dad, actually. He’s an author too; guess it runs in the family.”
“Charles Novak, but his pen names are Chuck Shurley and Carver Edlund.”
Sam’s hands stilled for a moment “Your dad is Carver Edlund? As in the guy who wrote the Supernatural books?”
Gabriel grinned “You know ‘em?”
“Charlie’s obsessed with them, she reads them all the fuckin’ time. Ever since then, we’ve seen them everywhere. Dean and I get stopped regularly because people say we look like Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.”
Gabriel looked over at him, his golden eyes studying him carefully “You’re like his hotter, punk doppleganger.”
Sam barked out a laugh “That’s a first that I’ve heard.” He observed the stained outline on Gabriel’s arm “Alright, you ready?”
Gabriel leaned his head back against the headrest “Hurt me real good, Bullwinkle.” He winked before closing his eyes.
Castiel settled himself against Dean’s work station, the maroon vinyl felt cool against his skin.
“Sooo….what can I do for you, Cas?”
Castiel reached into his pocket and handed Dean a paragraph of fine, neat writing “I would like for you to tattoo this onto my skin please.”
Dean looked over the script “This French?”
Castiel nodded “Yes, it’s a verse of one of my favorite songs; the first I learned to play.”
“Yeah, you got good fingers.” Castiel quirked his head at him “Piano fingers, I mean.” Dean felt his face flush “When did you start playing?”
“Around the ages of 7 or 8. Our family is very artistic. Father is an author and my mother was a dancer as well as a musician.” Castiel spoke while Dean wrote up an outline “She signed us all up for music lessons and let us choose our own instruments. I picked piano, Gabriel picked the cello.”
“So it’s just the two of you?”
Castiel chuckled softly “Oh no. Michael and Lucifer are the eldests” Dean almost asked about the name, but refrained “Then there’s Balthazar, Gabriel, myself, and lastly my sisters Hannah and Anael, but we just call her Anna. That’s the Novak clan.”
Dean let out a low whistle “And here I thought having just one brother to raise was hard, you have to deal with a whole flock.”
“Seems like you did just fine.”
Sam tried to hold back his laughter as Gabriel continued on with his story “So there I am, running naked through Fenway park, my bare ass on full display on the Jumbotron as my sisters are ready to help me escape through the fence. And that’s the story behind this scar.” He pointed to the small, raised mark on his bicep.
“Christ, your sisters helped you plan this?”
Gabriel snorted “Oh hell yeah, Anna and Hannah might look like the two most innocent angels to grace the Earth, but they’re ruthless and conniving. Even more so than Balthazar, who once scammed himself into the Latin Grammys.”
Sam just shook his head, smile plastered on his face as he continued to shade more dimension into the design.
“How’d you get into inking?”
“I’ve always liked art, once I graduated Dean and I opened shop. There’s just something gratifying of someone proudly wearing your art on their skin forever.”
“You do give off that art school/punk vibe.” Gabriel smiled up at him.
Sam rolled his eyes “Don’t tell me, it’s the hair right?”
“Well, I was actually gonna say it’s the obnoxious pairing of man-bun, ridiculous hawaiian shirt, and studded combat boots with green military shorts.” He smirked.
Sam couldn’t even argue with him to be honest. His closet was just a clusterfuck of random articles of clothing he had acquired over the years. Growing up, most of their clothes were either from secondhand shops or hand-me-downs. Just one of those things they never really grew out of; old habits and all that.
“You aren’t very subtle about your profession either.” Sam nodded to Gabriel’s shirt which proudly had “Viva La Pluto!” emblazoned on the front and the various space-esque buttons that cluttered his shoulder bag.
“Who said anything about being subtle?” Gabriel winked.
“So, how does a piano prodigy become a linguistics major?”
“I never said I was a prodigy, Dean.” Castiel corrected, an amused smile tugging on the corners of his mouth “I’ve always liked learning other languages, speaking them; it’s very much like learning music. You have to listen to the tone of their voice, the flow of words, even the tempo sometimes.” Castiel explained “And to be able to communicate with people in a different variety of ways is beautiful.”
Dean finished the design and held it out for Castiel to examine “Whadya think?”
Castiel hummed in approval “Better than I expected.”
“Ouch, Cas. Going straight for the jugular.” Dean teased “Since you’re already topless, I’m assuming you want this somewhere on your torso?”
The dark haired man grabbed Dean’s hand and placed it on the left side of his ribcage “Right here will do.”
Dean could feel the flex of Castiel’s muscles as he breathed, he quickly withdrew his hand “Uh, sounds good. Le-let’s do this.”
Castiel watched the obviously flustered man with a small amused smile on his face “What I’d like to know how a former mechanic becomes the co-owner of a tattoo parlour?”
Dean hummed “Well, it was a long road, for sure. Sammy got a full ride to that schmancy art school, but that only covered tuition. So I had to bust my back working all types of jobs. Mechanic, janitor, and I couple of jobs that I’m too ashamed to mention. Uncle Sam wouldn’t be too happy about my resumes, let’s just say that. But it was all worth to see my brother graduate top of his class, debt-free. The tattooing was something he always wanted to do, and I found out I had a way with words, literally. So fast forward and here we are now. Plus it definitely beats being sweaty and covered with grease everyday.”
“Ah, well. I’m sure your customers didn’t mind the view.”
“Favorite planet?” Gabriel asked, suddenly.
Sam was quiet for a moment “Never really thought about it. Probably a tie between Venus and Neptune.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow “Why’s that?”
“Oh, I know shit fuck about planets, but I’m kind of a mythology nerd; both Dean and I are. Our father was really into monsters and things that went bump in the night.”
“‘Least you were honest about it.” Gabriel laughed.
“Lemme guess, yours is Pluto?”
“Close, but no dice. Mercury is where it’s at, man. Not only is i the smallest planet in the solar system, it’s also the second densest. Only two spacecrafts have ever visited. Marnier 10 flew by it in ‘74 and a messenger probe was sent in ‘04! I mean, the Summerians mentioned the planet in 3,000 BC, how fucking cool is that?”
Gabriel turned to find Sam leaning back against his chair with a bemused smirk on his face. “I got a little carried away, didn’t I?”
“Just a bit.” Sam teased.
The rest of the time passed in easy conversation between the two men. They both found out about their mutual love for cult movies “Quick confession: I’ve never seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
Gabriel almost leapt out of the chair “What? What the actual fuck, Sam?! That’s like saying you’ve never masturbated before!”
Sam rolled his eyes “That might be a bit excessive, but okay. You’re lucky you and Castiel are the only customers in here.”
Gabriel shoved a finger in Sam’s face “Enough with the deflections. You are going to come home with me and we are going to watch this movie. You have absolutely zero say in the matter.”
“Even if I told you your tattoo is finished?”
“Even you told me my tattoo is-wait what?” Gabriel quickly looked down at his forearm “Christ on a tricycle. Sambo, this is amazing!”
Gabriel looked up at him, his amber eyes twinkling with joy “Samuel Winchester, you really are a master of your craft. I am very pleased and impressed.”
“Well, you better like it, since it’s permanently on your skin forever now.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes “I take it back. You’re an asshole.”
“So what do the lyrics mean?” Dean asked, watching the muscles underneath Castiel’s skin twitch every time the needle touched him.
“Des nuit d’amour a plus fini, un grand bonheur qui prend sa place. Des ennuis, des chagrins, s'effacent, heureux, heureux à en mourir.”Castiel sang softly “May the nights on which we make love never end. A great joy which takes its place, the trouble, the grief are removed. Content, content, to die of it.” He translated. “It’s my mother’s favorite song. I learned to play it for her birthday one year. She cried, so I considered it a success.” He smiled.
“I’d say so.” Dean replied “My mom’s favorite song was ‘Hey, Jude’. She used to sing it to Sammy and I when we were just babes. After she died, I learned to play it on the guitar when Sam had nightmares.”
“I’m sorry about your mother.”
Dean gave him a small smile “Thanks, Cas. I think your mom is gonna like this.” He leaned back after swiping the last bit of residue on Cas’s skin.
Castiel hopped off the work table to survey Dean’s work in the mirror.
“Yes, yes I think she will. This is beautiful work, Dean. Thank you.” He grinned.
“Come on, Cas. Let’s get you wrapped up.”
“I expect to have your number by the time you’re done bandaging me.” Gabriel’s eyes studied him.
“Well, aren’t you blunt.”
“Well, if I had waited for you to make a move, I’d be sprouting grays.”
“Looks like you already got some.” Sam teasing, ruffling Gabriel’s hir.
Gabriel guffawed at the insinuation “Rude. But seriously, Samquatch. I need those digits so I can properly school you on cult classics.” He waved his phone in front of Sam’s face.
“I’m so going to regret this, aren’t I?” He mumbled as he tapped in his number.
“Oh, totally. One hundred percent. But it’s a regret you’ll enjoy.” Sam escorted Gabriel to the front desk once he saw Dean do the same. “How’d it go, little bro?”
“Quite well, Dean has a gentle touch.” Castiel lifted his shirt to show his newly-healing tattoo to his brother.
Gabriel let out an impressed whistle “Ain’t that a beaut. Good choice on Piaf.” He showed off his own work “Sammy here is a natural Van Gogh.”
Castiel observed the tattoo closely before looking to Sam “You have a very detailed eye, Sam. I applaud your work.”
“Thank you, Castiel. It means a lot.”
Charlie came back from the back office “All ready, boys?”
Dean and Sam cleaned up their stations as the boys paid their fees.
“Remember, Samuel. You, me, and a sweet transvestite named Tim Curry.” Gabriel winked, popping a lollipop into his mouth - where the fuck did he get a lollipop?
Dean stifled a laugh at his brother. Castiel turned to face him as he handed Dean a card “If you’d like to contact me again, here’s my card. I’d like to play for you sometime.”
Dean turned over the card and felt his eyes widened as he read “Federal Bureau of Investigations - Special Agent Castiel Novak.”
“Night, lovelies!” Gabriel grinned, leading his brother out the door.
The Winchester brothers stood dumbfounded.
“Didn’t know you had a thing for shorties.” Dean looked at his brother.
“Didn’t know you had a thing for Feds.” Sam retorted.
