Standing Together

Chapter 68

A/N: idk Iron Man spoilers I guess? I mean it's not huge but they're talking about Iron Man soooooo yeah its floofy but Iron Man

"The end," Dean says as the last Iron Man movie comes to a close. "Best movie marathon of your life, right?"

"Not really," Castiel says.

Dean scoffs. "What? Dude, that's the best movie series on the planet!" He pauses, then says, "Well, it's not as good as Thor and kinda the plot part of Captain America, but Tony's the best Avenger there is."

"I mean, he wasn't bad," Castiel says uncertainly.

Dean sighs. "And this is why you're a disappointment." He pats Castiel's head, then says, "Kidding, but he really is the best. I mean, Loki's better, but you didn't get any of the good Loki scenes."

Castiel sits up and stares at him in disbelief. "Every Loki scene in that crossover one was a good scene!"

"You clearly need to watch the first two Thor movies, because Loki gets way better than that," Dean says. "But that's not the point of our movie marathon."

"What was the point?" Castiel asks.

"Tony freaking Stark was the point," Dean replies, then elaborates. "I know you said you want to stay out of the public eye because you're scared of having a panic attack, and I won't try to change your mind about that because it's just not my place. I don't have them.

"But I wanted to show you the last Iron Man movie just because Tony's kinda going through the same thing, you know? He has PTSD, and it gets in the way of his normal life, but he's able to work around it when he has to. And yes, he's a fictional character and things are different in fiction, but I just wanted to throw that out there.

"You don't have to reroute your entire life because you have anxiety. You can still do whatever the hell you want. Maybe you'll want to plan ahead a little bit, give yourself an out in case something goes wrong, but you don't just have to stop everything. Does that make sense? I can't tell if that makes sense."

Castiel moves closer and gives him a hug. "I take back all my complaining about these movies."

"So, did they help?" Dean asks.

"Not really," Castiel admits. "But your pep talk afterwards, that was encouraging. I don't know if it'll change my mind, but it was encouraging nonetheless."

Dean chuckles. "So, basically, what you're saying is that I accomplished absolutely nothing today."

"Not quite," Castiel said. "It kinda made me feel better." With a grin, he adds, "Plus, not only did you get me to watch the Iron Man movies, but I'm kinda interested in what other movies Loki's been in."

Dean smirks. "Oh, Cas, you're going to regret showing any interest in my fandom."

~~

"So I just put them on the tray and they're ready for the oven?"

Castiel stares at the package Break and Bake cookies, trying to find the part he's missing. They can't be that easy. If they were, everyone would be making them.

"Exactly," Dean says from the kitchen table. "Well, you gotta preheat the oven first, but then you just put them in and let them cook."

"But that's so easy," Castiel says, confused.

"Exactly," Dean says. "That's why I bought them. And good thing, too, because god knows you don't know how to make real cookies, and I'm too crippled to help."