Honey Apple Pie

Chapter Nine

 By the time Wednesday rolled around, Cas was running on two hours of sleep in total. His limbs felt like lead, but he trudged on anyway, making it through the morning with several burns and a small cut on his thumb. He closed just after lunchtime and Dean was waiting for him outside, leaning against the side of his car. Cas smiled and packed his bags and a couple of coolers in the back seat, then climbed into the passenger side.

Cas thought that the dashboard looked like it had been polished, and everything was slightly less dusty than the last time he'd been inside it. He sunk into the comfortable seat and sighed.

Dean got into the driver's seat. {Buckle up} he signed to Cas before putting the key into the ignition. The car purred and Dean smiled, pulling out of the space and out of town.

Cas stared out of the window for the first hour or so of their journey, only glancing over at Dean to watch him expertly manoeuvre the car. He seemed to be in his element, his fingers lightly flicking the indicators when needed, and firmly gripping the wheel when not.

Dean caught him staring out of the corner of his eye, and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Cas blushed slightly and looked away.

'So, how do you and Sam talk while you're driving?' Cas asked.

Dean glanced at him and used one hand. {F-N-G-S-P-L}

'What?'

Dean repeated the letters, but slower.

'Oh! Like a shorthand version of fingerspelling?'

Dean grinned and nodded. {S-M T-L-K, I S-P-L}

'"Sam talks, I spell". Wow, that's really smart.'

Dean just chuckled, but didn't sign anything else. Cas again sunk back into his own thoughts until they arrived at the market.

Rows upon rows of market stalls and food trucks had been set up in a large field, with all their owners' vehicles parked in the next field. A few people dressed in flourescent orange vests were directing the visitors into another part of the field to park.

Cas made for the fruit stalls first, with Dean trailing behind him. He became quite interested in a stall that was offering several kinds of homemade jelly in jars, as well as their selection of fresh fruit. He examined them closely.

'How long do these keep for?' he asked, holding a jar of strawberry jelly.

'Well unopened they can last for months,' the vendor said. 'But I probably wouldn't give it more than a couple of weeks once you open it.'

'Hmm, could be good for some jelly rolls,' he muttered. 'I'll take a few of these strawberry ones and that blackberry one looks interesting.'

'Awesome.' The vendor wrapped them in a paper bag, which Cas then placed in one of his own bags.

{I thought A-l-f-i-e or C-h-a-r-l-i-e did this for you} Dean signed.

'Looking for interesting ingredients is a lot more fun than grocery shopping,' Cas explained, picking up a shiny red apple at another stall. 'Besides, I have to look for ideas at some point.' He took some of the apples, then moved on towards the honey stand.

'Why don't you pick one, Dean?' said Cas, adjusting his bags.

Dean bent down and looked at all the jars of honey, eventually choosing one that said 'Orange Blossom' on it.

'That's a good choice,' said Cas, putting it in his bag. 'Do you want something to eat? There are some food trucks over that way.'

Dean nodded.