Astronaut3 : Shake it off (the mark of Cain)

"... What do I look like?" Castiel asked, bewildered, as he shifted closer to Dean, to actually snuggle against him.

"Hot", Dean answered without thinking. Then mentally slapping himself for the involuntary pun. "Well, you're cute, alright?", he added defensively, wrapping an arm around Castiel's waist, to keep him closer.

"... I don't know how to welcome that thought," Castiel confessed, as he relaxed slowly against Dean. He'd rather take advantage of the closeness, since he didn't know when his body would start to burn up again.

"Yeah, me neither", Dean grumbled, deeply embarrassed. "For how I am, I'd probably find you cute even with a raging cold." And those made nobody look remotely pretty. "Forget about it. Try to rest, alright? And if you feel too warm, tell me, and I'll go. The cover stays on, though."

Castiel nodded absent-mindedly. He actually fell back asleep for the rest of the night. And did not part from Dean.

Somewhere else, far, far away, another angel was actually distressed about the fact that Cas was no longer on angel radio. And that angel was not Hannah: it was Hanakael.
Hanakael who desperately wanted advice with that so called desire growing in his guts regarding his own soulmate, which felt way, way too right to his poor mind.

On his side, Crowley had hoped that time would have been a key ally of his in the seemingly desperate courting of his so-called soulmate. Of course he had no idea about how Hanakael felt. He had an idea about himself, though: the teensy tiny bit frustrated. That's how he felt. But, seen as playing poker face was the way he had decided to die, he intended on keeping that for himself. And he did, as he knocked on the angel's bedroom door after straightening his jacket a bit.

Hanakael did not take long before opening the door. He was wearing a white shirt as usual, with this time a grey, sleaveless overcoat. "Oh. Good evening, Crowley," he told the demon. He was a bit startled. A bit happy too.

Crowley simply shot him a smile. "You look surprised. Hadn't I told you we had a date for dinner?", he asked, while his eyes admired the way the overcoat suited Hanakael. "You got all dressed up for me? Darling. You shouldn't have", he drawled maliciously.

Hanakael held back a soft snort. "I'm always dressed up, Crowley," he told the demon, as he walked out of his room. "I wasn't expecting you so soon. But I'm ready."

"I know. But by now I think you'd know how much I enjoy to point things out, especially if you are involved", Crowley answered, offering him his arm. He always did that with the excuse that they had to teleport. "Shall we?"

Hanakael sighed, but nodded, and took Crowley's arm. "With you, everything is an excuse for flirting," he replied. He actually wondered with how many people Crowley flirted on a daily basis.

The answer to that question would have been 'countless'. But the light, trivial flirting he indulged in on daily bases was nothing if compared to the genuine effort he put into flirting with the angel. "What can I say. Maybe I am trying to give you an excuse to flirt back", Crowley quipped back, smirking at him as they materialized in his favourite, secluded dinner place - a completely isolated room, one table only, nice view and all. "And don't lie to yourself. You know you love it", he concluded, guiding him to the table.

Hanakael held back a smile, following Crowley to their table. He sat down at his usual place, though, and briefly looked at the view. "I do wonder, though. Would you have truly began to flirt with me if we had not been bound to each other?"

Crowley sat down at his own place, adjusting the chair. He crossed his arms on his chest, raising an eyebrow. "Probably. After all, you are my type." He smiled at Hanakael, then he sighed. "But if we weren't bound, you wouldn't be here. You would have acted as all your stuck up brothers and sisters do. Disgusted and high-and-mighty, telling me and my... unique brand of flirting to get back to the pit. Am I not right?"

"Well-" Hanakael took a deep breath, and sighed. "I think we would have never met, had our bound not existed at all. My task was to guard a remote door to Heaven in the Middle East. Although people never wandered by, I had to stay put at all costs."

Crowley seemed to think it over a little bit. "And you... never felt like going somewhere else?", he asked, actually curious. "Anywhere else? Doing something else? Staying still in one single place for all eternity, especially for a nearly eternal being, sounds like, for lack of a better word... well, Hell", he concluded with a smirk.

Hanakael actually smiled at that comment, and looked at Crowley straight in the eye. "I thought about it, of course. But it was my duty. I had no right to fail Heaven. Yet- I have to admit that exile came like a relief to me. For all the things that it brought me."

Crowley hummed, apparently satisfied with that answer. He made a gesture, and drinks appeared on the table. "Are you talking about freedom?", he mused, leaning on the table, not looking away from Hanakael's eyes for one second. "Or am I missing something?"

"There's that, of course. And I would lie if I didn't say I appreciate your company," the angel confessed, as he grabbed his drink.

Crowley had to hold back a smile that threatened to appear a bit too menacing for the occasion. "Is that so", he purred, grabbing his own glass. "Well, I do appreciate your company as well. Even if I must say you still hold yourself back a little too much. But there's... a lot to counterbalance that small detail", he added, after taking a good look at Hanakael, before settling on his eyes again.

"... What things could counterbalance that?" Hanakael was actually... amused by that thought. After all, he knew that according to their deal, Crowley would ty anyhing in his power to woo him."

Crowley took a sip from his glass, as if he actually had to think about it. "You are a good conversationalist. You have the wits. You are clever. ... which makes me wonder why your brothers decided to place you in front of a door, instead of giving you a more fitting job." He distractedly played with his glass a bit, before raising his eyes up to meet Hanakael's again. "And no matter how well you think you hide it. I know that under all those layers of superiority, you have the kind of fire that I just love", he concluded, lowering his voice a bit.

Hanakael looked down into his glass when he heard that last sentence. He was actually dreading that fire inside of him, which is why he would have liked advice from an angel bound to someone as well. "Do you really think I try to look superior to you? I've considered us as equals for a long time now."

Crowley observed Hanakael carefully, taking in his reactions. "Well. It's not a matter of how you behave now, you see. It's more of a... general aura all of you winged people have. It screams that you are too high up for any of us." He smiled at him. "But I appreciate what you said, darling."

"Thank you sweetheart," Hanakael replied without thinking about it. He did smile, though. Being around Crowley for so long had changed his way of talking and thinking a bit, for the better. "About our dinner. What have you ordered for tonight?"