DeanCas Coda to 13x19: Funeralia

my baby’s got anxiety, which means I’VE got anxiety

If you’d like to be added to or removed from the taglist, drop me a line!

Urban Legends

• So the Novaks and the Winchesters are old friends; their kingdoms have never fought or been in a war against each other, although they’ve allied together several times.
• Growing up, Cas was just the nerdy kid from the kingdom next door; he liked to read history books and study entomology and create model battle fields from throughout history. Dean liked to ride horses and hunt and practice fighting, like any good knight in training would. It’s not that he ever held Cas’s oddness against him; no, he liked that Cas was a little different. They were essentially best friends, he, Sammy, and Cas. They were always together, always visiting each other’s kingdoms, and each time, Dean couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to have a friend like Cas, even with all his little quirks that Dean couldn’t help but like. But he didn’t realize how much he liked it until they each presented.
• Suddenly, Cas was just so much more interesting with his big gummy smile and his crinkly blue eyes and his dorky jokes and his nerdy pastimes. It didn’t hurt that he smelled amazing, all soft and warm like an omega should. And just like that, Dean knew that he was in love with his best friend. And, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, Cas suddenly loved him back, too. Well, apparently, he’d been in love with Dean for a while, but he’d been so careful about hiding it, not letting it show. But the second that Dean sneaks him away from the others and takes his hand and smiles that special way at him, Cas’s smile blossoms even more beautifully than before, because he doesn’t have to hide it anymore. And as Dean claims his first kiss from his beautiful omega, all he can think is how lucky he is to have a love like Cas.
• Now, if only his father saw it the same way.
• Dean tries to come up with some way to present it so that the king will allow them to mate, because it is coming to that time in Dean’s life. Within a year, he’ll have to wed, and John’s looking to make some strong political connections. So over dinner, John is tossing out names and kingdoms that would be advantageous, when Dean, oh-so-casually, throws out Cas’s name, and says it would be good to cement the friendships between their kingdoms. But John counters that they already have a firm relationship with the Novaks, they don’t need to cement anything. And then he goes right on listing other kingdoms.
• Dean tries to hide his disappointment; Mary tries not to beat the shit out of her dumbass husband.
• No matter how they present it, John will not budge, not when Mary threatens to withhold *ahem* special privileges, not when Dean pleads and begs, not when Sammy gives him the famous puppy-dog eyes. He’s firm in this, and they can’t understand why. Until news comes of an uprising to the east, in the opposite direction of Cas’s kingdom. There are dark forces on the rise, a former prince named Lucifer who broke away from his family and seems bent on destruction…and he’s coming right toward their kingdom, right toward the Novak kingdom, too. And suddenly, Dean realizes why he needs to marry into another kingdom. The Novaks, they’ll stand by them and fight with them through thick and thin, but they’re going to need so much more than just their two kingdoms if they’re going to protect themselves…if Dean’s going to protect Cas.
• So he agrees to marry the daughter of the king of Milton, a beta named Anna.
• Of course, his father joyously announces the news before Dean has a chance to explain to Cas. So when Dean goes to try to explain himself, Cas won’t see him. Instead, he sends out one of his servants, some catty girl named Meg, with a note saying that it’s probably for the best that they don’t see each other again. Dean returns home, heartbroken and alone, but his resolve is firm; he needs to protect the Novak kingdom, needs to protect Cas, and if marrying Anna is the way to do it, so be it.
• John also arranges a marriage for Sam to the Moore kingdom, to an omega named Jess. They won’t get married for a few years yet, since they’re still young, but the tie is there. Dean can’t help but feel happy for Sam, who’s obviously head over heels for the omega from the moment he meets her.
• John, busy as ever wheeling and dealing and solidifying alliances, convinces Charles, king of Novak, to arrange a marriage for Castiel. So Castiel gets promised to the prince Michael, solidifying ties with yet another kingdom for their alliance.
• And of course, what better way to celebrate all of these alliances than with a giant, two-week-long festival held right within the Winchester kingdom (a festival that may or may not be just a front for the alliances to begin planning their defense and attack strategy).
• When Dean sees Cas across the ballroom at the ball they hold on the first night, he can’t help but stare. It’s been months since he’s seen his omega, months, and he looks so much better than Dean even remembers. Of course, there’s an air of sadness about him, a frigidity that has nothing to do with the temperature of the room. He won’t even look at Dean (it hurts too much. He hadn’t even wanted to come, but his father had forced him, pointing out that the festival was to celebrate his arranged marriage, and he had to be there). Dean tries all night to catch his eye, but to no avail. If he weren’t so sure of the omega’s feelings for him, he might think that Cas hated him. But he knows Cas, he knows his omega. And he has to see him, to talk to him. He has to explain why he’s doing this, explain that he’s doing it for Cas.
• Without any pomp or fanfare, without any warning, he steals Cas away from Michael’s side for a dance. It’s supposed to be a waltz, nothing too fancy, but suddenly Cas finds himself breathless as he’s whisked around the floor. He has no choice now; he has to look at Dean, at his alpha, and Dean sees it then. Cas still loves him, so very much. To most observers, it looks like just another dance, a waltz between old friends. But to those who know—Dean’s mother and brother, Jess, Cas’s cousin Gabriel—it’s painful to watch. They can practically see Cas’s heart breaking with every step, see the way his blue eyes fill with tears as Dean speaks softly to him. As soon as the dance has ended, Cas rushes from the ballroom with no more than a whispered plea for Dean to stop tormenting him.
• That should be the end of it. Dean’s had his dance; he’s had his chance to explain himself to Cas. And yet, it’s not. Every time he sees Cas and Michael standing together, the few times Michael wraps his arm around Castiel or takes his hand, Dean has to rein his alpha in with extreme force of will. He wants nothing more than to rip Michael’s hand, the hand that’s touching his omega, away and steal Cas back. But he can’t. He knows that Castiel and Michael haven’t solidified their bond yet; even back when they believed that their bond was a sure thing, Cas wouldn’t let Dean take him because of his devout religious beliefs. Even knowing that, Dean needs the affirmation that Cas is still his, that he still loves him. Luckily, he knows where to find Cas in the few private moments they’re afforded.
• He sneaks into the library, day after day, stolen moments between all the other festivities and events, just to catch glimpses of his omega curled up with a book in front of the fireplace, just to catch a whiff of that wonderful scent, sad and resigned though it may be. He thinks he’s being careful, sneaky even, until the fourth day when Castiel sighs heavily and tells him to come out of hiding. At first, he plans to just sit across from him, to look at him and talk to him, but when do things ever go according to plan? They end up sitting on the floor in a darkened corner, Cas curled into his side as they whisper soft apologies and regrets. Before he leaves, Dean claims another kiss, this one broken and sad.
• The next day, they sneak into their back corner of the library again, and Dean takes another kiss. And the next day another, and the next day another. Each is just as wonderful and terrible as the one before, and somehow even more still. For Cas, it’s the only truth he has left, the only bit of sanity for him to cling to. He finds himself in Dean’s kisses, loses himself to the alpha’s mouth, drowns in his scent. Every desperate press of lips is an invisible brand he leaves on his alpha, hoping that Anna won’t ever be able to truly wash them away. He can’t help but wonder what would happen if he just offered himself up to Dean, went ahead and mated with the man he loves despite everything. But he can’t; he can’t do that to their kingdoms and their families. He’ll just have to keep smiling and allowing Michael to wrap his arm around him; he’ll have to keep pretending that he’s not dying inside every time he sees Dean and Anna together.
• They’re so busy sneaking off together, they don’t notice Anna and Michael’s increasingly long absences. If either of them had taken the time to notice, they probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it. In fact, no one suspects a thing until one of the maids walks in on their betrotheds in bed together…and not just in bed, but tied together, fresh mating marks on their neck.
• At first, all is in an uproar. John wants to seek recompense for the broken agreements, demanding for things to be made right. He brought these families to his kingdom to help them, not humiliate them. All seems lost; the alliances won’t happen, and they’ll have to stand alone against the coming evil. But Dean knows that they still need these alliances, that they can’t afford to make enemies out of these kingdoms, so he offers an alternative option. He can see that Michael and Anna love each other; he recognizes the symptoms easily, having experienced the same with his omega. He proposes that Michael and Anna mate, joining their two kingdoms, but that the overall alliance of kingdoms still remain intact. They’ll all still be allied, just not through marriage. They’ll stand together, a unified confederation against Lucifer and his forces. 
• Michael and Anna, along with their families, readily agree. They know that it’s only a matter of time before Lucifer defeats the Winchesters and Novaks and heads for them next, and they’re wise enough to realize that Dean’s offering them a solid out, no strings attached. So they draw up new contracts between the kingdoms, contracts that don’t involve marriages but are still just as binding. 
• Cas tries to hide his elation as their fathers all sign the contracts that free him from his oppresive farce of a marriage and open up a world of possibilities for him and Dean. 
• Of course, this leaves both him and Cas without mates, and oh no! what are they ever to do about it? 
• After seeing the wisdom Dean exhibited with the situation, John realizes that Dean will make a great king someday, but he also knows that a great king needs a supportive mate, and he can see that there will be no one more supportive of his son than Castiel. He finally agrees to the mating and gives his blessing.
• The two are married within a month. It’s not that they mean to rush, but they both feel that they’ve waited long enough. Dean finally claims Cas in their large, warm bed, their scents blending and bleeding onto the sheets as he takes him again and again. After, as they lie there sated and panting, Cas smiles dopily, that big beautiful gummy smile that Dean had fallen in love with so long ago, and whispers that this is everything he’s ever wanted.
• Dean can’t help but agree.