4 - Calm before the storm

Things were going pretty smoothly, at Corvus' place. Castiel even finally managed to relax a bit, thinking that maybe, angels and demons had lost his track.
In the main room, he went to sit with Horknath, since he hadn't chatted with him in a while.
"Hello, Sus," he told him with a soft smile. "How are you doing?"

Meanwhile, Sam was - for once - sitting in the main room as well, although he still had books and notes with him.

Horknath blinked, a bit startled by the sudden notion that someone was talking to him. He turned around though, and smiled at his friend. "Hey", he greeted him. "I am alright! I was just, um. Exercising my writing", he said, awkwardly trying to hide his badly written words.

Corvus entered the room, swiftly and gracefully as always. She soon flopped down next to Sam, going probably unnoticed until she purposefully made a noise by shifting the chair around.
Dean almost had a heart attack, and glanced at her, squinting a bit. He made a greeting gesture, that was soon mirrored; however, all her attention was focused on Sam.

Castiel tilted his head. "Oh. Is there anything that triggered your will to practice?" He asked him, not realizing that this was both pretty blunt and clueless of him to ask.

Sam was startled at first, but he beamed as soon as he saw Corvus. "Hello," he signed to her. "How was your trip outside?" Corvus was probably the only one of them who went out sometimes - along with Pica, maybe - since they had to lay low a little bit.

"Oh... uhm... well, you see, I am writing letters to- to someone, and I don't want her to think I was raised by a bunch of goats", Horknath tried to explain after a couple of seconds of astonished silence (Castiel could be so blunt sometimes!), his cheeks getting darker with embarrassment.

Corvus crossed her legs, assuming a more relaxed pose as she leant against the armchair. "Not very interesting", she simply signed. "Happily boring. No demons, no angels, no monsters around. Just the post office and a letter from my psychic friend, saying she will be here in three days or so." She smiled behind her mask. "And how was your day?"

Castiel paused, but then nodded. "Oh. The family of goats was a metaphor. I see." He actually even held back a chuckle at the thought. He was a little so, but that was part of his personal charm!

Sam nodded, and signed to her that he had mostly been reading, and what he read about. He glanced quickly at Dean then, and hid a bit his next signing. "I've missed you."

Horknath chuckled. Yeah, that was part of what made Castiel pleasant to be with - he was odd, and a nice person. And Horknath liked people that weren't purposefully mean spirited! "Yeah. I just meant that I don't want her to think I am a savage, or someone who never learned how to read and write." He paused. "Do you like to read, Alaskan?"

Corvus let out a chuckle. She threw a quick glance at Dean too, and she noticed he was pretending really hard to be concentrated on his own book - but truth was, he kept raising his eyes to try and catch glimpses of their conversation. "I was right about to ask", she signed cheekily. "And what could you miss about me when I am gone? Because I am pretty sure the answer won't be 'your eyes'", she added, gently bumping her foot against Sam's leg.

Castiel pondered over the thought for a moment. "I don't know," he genuinely answered. "I can read, and I do read a bit, but I suppose you're talking about books, if I am not mistaken. In that case- I've never given it a try."

Sam held back a chuckle. "That's true, but I do wish I'll be able to give you such an answer someday," he signed to her with a fond smile. "I've missed a lot about you, in fact. Your conversation, your wit-" He paused. "Yours kisses," he added, trying hard to not be too obvious in his signing in case somebody was watching.

Horknath hummed, scratching his bearded chin. He didn't look too surprised. "I can get why. I mean, books are pricey", he observed out loud, thinking that most likely that could be the reason why his friend had never read an actual book. "Especially novels. Manuals and that kind of things are really affordable, on the other hand." He sighed. Then he beamed, turning again towards Castiel. "Would you like for me to find you a book? ... well, that is- if you'd be ok with reading one of mine", he added immediately, a bit awkward. "It's mostly adventure, and romance, but I don't know if that could be your genre-"

Corvus hid a smug smile. "I see", she signed quietly, shifting a bit to bend towards Sam. Dean, sat in front of them, kept pretending nothing was happening, trying desperately to guess what they were saying. "What about my skin? My touch, my hair..." She paused meaningfully, to lightly run her fingers over his arm. "My warmth."

Castiel felt genuinely happy that Horknath would wish to share one of his books with him. He smiled kindly, and nodded. "If that doesn't bother you, it would be my pleasure. Perhaps I might even come to enjoy it, if it's a book that you liked."

Sam licked his lower lip, and bit on it, trying hard to repress a smile. "I've missed all of you," he replied, before he laid his hand over Corvus', the one which was brushing against his arm.

"Oh- well, that's nice of you to say", Horknath answered, a bit uncertain. "I don't think there are a lot of men who like romance novels. From what I hear when I am out and about in libraries, it's considered strictly a... girly interest." He frowned at thought, maybe also a bit afraid of being made fun of. 

Corvus let out a low hum. "Does that mean you aren't against having me, you, losing our clothes in my bedroom, and me on top of you, pinning your wrists to the mattress..." She paused, then rested her free hand on Sam's thigh. She slowly caressed it, getting dangerously close to his crotch before she started signing again. "... maybe with the lights on?" WELP.
There was NO WAY Dean had misinterpreted all of that. In fact, he was staring at them now, not even bothering to hide himself, his mouth hanging open with outrage.

Castiel frowned a little. "Why so? Men are also capable of love. At least, so do I think. Don't you?" He had a very pragmatic way of thinking.

Sam licked his lower lip, clearly growing quickly aroused by Corvus' implications, and her signing. He took a deep breath. "Do I have to keep the blindfold on?" he joked kindly, completely unaware that Dean was staring at them.

"Well... yes, but..." Horknath sighed. "For some reason that I don't understand, men that show affection, that show a 'softer' side, or make romantic gestures, are seen as... unmanly, by other people. As if the only thing conceivable for a man is just to behave like a brute and just take whatever he wants. Romance novels for men are..." He shivered, grimacing. "Disgusting."

Corvus tilted her head, as if she was thinking over it a bit. "Well. That will depend on you." She leant more towards him, signing again. "Are you bewitched by my awesomeness enough not to go around and spew my secret? But, more importantly..." She paused, allowing herself to run a gloved hand over his cheek, her thumb ghosting over his lip briefly, before adding, "... have you been enough of a good boy?"
Dean made a strangled sound. Corvus still ignored him.

Castiel had frowned slightly through Horknath's explanation, although he understood what he was talking about. That is- until he mentioned 'men's romance novels'. "Really? How could they make romance look disgusting?"

Sam felt positively, very positively thrilled by Corvus's question. He was about to answer to her before he heard Dean's strangled noise and turned towards him. Then both sort of blushed and frowned, as if to say- no, actually, he went for it. "Stop watching!" He urged him in a whisper, while quickly signing to Corvus, "Let's talk elsewhere."

"Well, they're... usually the women that should be the romantic interest, so at least co-protagonists, are clearly just put there to be pretty and nothing else. They are there to be saved, they have no life outside the male main character. They aren't people, they are there just to be pretty things. And-" Horknath took a breath. "And the implications of a woman not being interested and saying 'no', and the man pursuing her insistently and almost violently anyway, being seen as romantic... it just rubs me off the wrong way."

Corvus turned to look at Dean, noticing his face. She chuckled, finding that sight honestly funny - almost as much as Sam's flustered expression. "Alright", Crovus answered, getting up from her seat.
"HEY", Dean finally managed to blurt out loudly, getting up as well. "Oh- c'mon, at least let me know something! Like- who is topping", he said, without even managing to think about what he was asking.
Corvus turned towards Sam, curious to see the answer.

Castiel nodded, still frowning. "It does sound wrong. But I'm glad to learn that you're the kind of person people call a gentleman, these days." He smiled at Horknath. "I'm sure whoever you must be writing to is lucky to have you."

"... Really, Norway?" Sam arched a brow, squinting at his brother. "You're eavesdropping on our conversation and all that matter to you is 'who tops'?" He seemed somewhat angry. Frustrated, mostly, and he stood up, not intending to answer to his brother. Buuuut maybe Dean would get him to snap.

Horknath stuttered, suddenly looking embarrassed. "I... I don't think I am special", he blurted out, looking away. "I like to think my ma grew a decent person. That's all. And about the person I am writing to..." He sighed. "I don't know. I don't think I am what she is looking for in a man."

Dean was about to open his mouth, clearly intending on answering his brother, but surprisingly Corvus was quicker than him, tapping Sam's arm to get his attention. "Oh, c'mon Sam. You can answer him. I guess it is legitimate to have some degree of curiosity. We both know the answer to that question."
Dean blinked, and then smiled smugly as soon as he understood what Corvus had said. "See? C'mon - I swear I won't ask anyhing else."

Castiel tilted his head. "Why not? Did she write so to you?" He was a bit confused as to why Horknath seemed so flustered by that letter then. He knew he was bad at reading signals, but he had the feeling Horknath was really fond of that person.

Sam rolled his eyes. Sighed. And gave Corvus a short smile, before he said to Dean, "They top. Happy?" He arched a brow. He had signed his answer while talking, to show Corvus he really did say it, one way or another.

"Well... no, but..." Horknath sighed again, running his hand through his hair. "I know she had flings with other men and, since I know the type she went for, and I think I'm pretty far from that... you know, I don't think I am up to competition."

Corvus grinned behind her mask, and made a quick goodbye gesture to Dean - who was just there, standing on his spot, frozen and with an expression that said 'Oooh I see then' - and pulled Sam away with her, quickly leaving the room before she could burst into giggles.

Castiel frowned slightly again. "And- what is that woman's type, so it would be completely opposite from yours?" He had no idea he was perhaps being somewhat intrusive, with all of his questions.

Sam had to hold back a chuckle as well when he heard Corvus giggling, and quickly walked with her to her room. "I'm sorry about my brother," he signed to her.

Horknath shrugged. "I don't know. Someone more like Norway, I guess", he said - maybe just a bit bitterly - gesturing to the other man, who had sat down again and was now seemingly trying to make piece with that new revelation. "Good looking, confident, experienced. That stuff."

Corvus shook her head. "Don't apologize. It was fun", she signed, closing the door to her room when they got inside. "So fun you didn't even answer to my questions."

Castiel looked at Norway a bit. "I do think you're good looking as well. This is the first time I find you hesitating a lot about something, as well." He looked back at Horknath. "What kind of experiences do you value in your comparison?"

Sam smiled at her. "I feel I've been a good boy for a while. What do you think about it?"

Horknath grunted. "Trust me, no one could find this face 'good looking'. And I am always hesitating, I just... became very good at hiding it." He hesitated, though. He didn't know if he could answer the next point without flushing. "It's a bit more... well... I've never been with a woman. And she has been with other men, who probably knew what to do, and what to say", he tried to explain, avoiding accurately the mention of anything regarding sex.

Corvus seemed to think about it, making a scene about tapping her index finger against her covered chin. Then, she took some deliberately slow steps towards Sam, and only stopped when she was close enough. "I think you do deserve a reward." She tilted her head. It was her way to show him she was smiling. "Do you want to take my mask off?"

"... Is it sex you're talking about?" Castiel asked him, very bluntly. But he seemed somewhat... frustrated about something himself. "I'm not sure being experience can please everyone, Sus. I- couldn't properly explain why."

Sam took a deep breath, a bit nervous now. "May I?" he brought his own hands up to cup her cheeks, a bit shy still. After all, this was a big revelation Corvus was making for him. He was even thinking about returning the favour.

Horknath let out an embarrassed sound. "I tried so hard not to say it and yet there you go", he said, words muffled as he hid his face into his large palms. "I don't know how you can say that. It's impossible for me to do alright when trying something the first time, no one is."

Corvus waited patiently for Sam to go on and unmask her without hurrying him, her arms at her sides. No lie though, she did feel nervous about showing him her face. What if she wasn't like he had imagined? Would he be disappointed? In the end, she simply nodded.

"... I'm fairly sure I didn't do anything alright the first time I've been intimate with someone," Castiel answered bluntly. "But Norway didn't seem to mind it either. I think it depends solely on the bond you share with that person, and not on your experiences." YEAH NO. He had no idea he just dropped a bomb about his still-sort-of-secret relationship with Dean.

Sam nodded back at her, and slowly undid her mask. As soon as he caught sight of her, he beamed. He smiled at her and cupped her cheek, before he leaned down to kiss her lips, softly, with upmost tenderness.