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Castiel has always prided himself on being difficult to read. It's an advantageous skill to have within his world, especially in his line of work.

He can easily conceal his emotions with a cool mask, a neutral expression and no one is any the wiser of his internal turmoil.

Or so he likes to think. His friends have always been different. So he is not so much surprised as exasperated when instead of greeting him Gabriel takes one look at his face and gives a low whistle "Trouble in paradise, bro?"

"Dean and I did have a disagreement, if that's what you mean." he admits after a moment, shutting the door to Dean's apartment behind him. The place is in even more chaos than when he left it, but at least there is a purpose behind it now.

New furniture is at odd angles around the room, waiting to be placed. Plastic is still spread on the floor, protecting the floor from splatters of the warm toffee toned paint currently drying on the walls.

"How can I be of assistance?" Castiel asks, before Gabriel has a chance to pry any further. The last thing Castiel want to do is recount his afternoon full of mistakes.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow and says "You're not getting off that easy, Cassie. What happened with you and closet lover boy?"

"Stop degrading him!" Castiel snaps fiercely and Gabriel steps back slightly, hands raised in surrender.

"Whoa, Okay. I was just messing around." Gabriel assures placating. Castiel is as surprised as Gabriel, he rarely ever lashes out like that. He cannot recall ever having done so to his friends. But knowing Dean, knowing his story and to hear him mocked again, it broke something in him.

He inhales deeply, narrows his eyes and calmly requests "Give me a task, Gabriel. What happened between Dean and I is not of import and we're running out of time."

Gabriel mutters something about Dean really getting under his skin, but reluctantly nods. "Okay, Cassie. You can sort out all this vinyl - I got that new bookcase over there for them" he gestures vaguely in the direction of a compact mahogany shelf.

"And look 'em over before you stack 'em on the shelf. I have a feeling Dean-o" he darts a glance at Castiel to ensure the nickname isn't an issue before continuing "Hasn't had good storage for them. Some might not have made it out unscathed."

Castiel purses his lips in exasperation at Gabriel's dramatics, but says nothing. Instead he simply hefts one of the boxes onto the stylishly rustic coffee table Gabriel purchased and begins his work.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Gabriel mutters, before heading off towards the bedroom.

Castiel leafs carefully through the records, the names on the familiar, though not those that would be found in his own music collection.

Several of them are in covers that have clearly seen better days. He pulls out the vinyl and carefully examines it, noting the number of scratches and even a few chips along the edge and one appears to be warped. Surely these are beyond playing?

He cannot simply dispose of them, however. They're clearly a piece of Dean, worn because they're well loved, like a favorite book that slowly falls to bits from overuse. He wonders for a moment if he can have them repaired, however they seem too far gone...

Abruptly the solution comes to him, leaving a smile in its wake. "Gabriel, I need to go out!" he calls.

Several Hours Later -

He hears the rush of footsteps just as he's finishing in the kitchen, assisting Samandriel in some last minute arranging.

Gabriel hadn't spent too much effort on the kitchen, because its state wasn't as dismal as the rest of the apartment, but he had purchased a few things to assist in it's organization.

"We have returned!" Balthazar unnecessarily proclaims, as he slams the door behind him.

"Dude, easy!" Dean snaps, then adds in a grumble "Are you gonna take this damn thing off of me?"

Ah, Balthazar has blindfolded him. Unsurprising, he's always been a fan of a dramatic reveal. There's a clatter of footsteps as everyone rushes back into the living room to see Dean's reaction.

"Hey, Dean-o!" Gabriel greets. "Let me just say, your place looks fantastic." Lucifer and Samandriel laugh in agreement.

"You've outdone yourself, Gabe." Balthazar murmurs appreciatively and earning an exasperated growl from Dean.

"Let him see." Castiel commands in irritation. Gabriel and Balthazar exchange looks, but comply.

"Welcome home." Balthazar cheers, as he undoes the black striped tie, that served as Dean's blindfold.

There's a long moment of silence as Dean takes in the change. Gone are the grungy off-white walls with faded posters. Gone are the haphazard piles of books, movies, cds and records that once littered the tables and corners of the room. Gone is the ragged couch, with ripped arms and the oddly colored love-seat with mismatched pillows.

"...holy shit." He finally says, taking in the toffee walls and tidy shelves. He wanders over to the large, dark leather arm-chair that has taken place of the love-seat and plops down in it. His gaze wanders back over to the new couch which matches and shakes his head.

"This... this is awesome." he proclaims, finally letting a grin show through. "I gotta hand it to you - asshats or not you sure now how to spruce up a place."

This earns him good-natured grumblings and curses. "You could say 'thank you'." Gabriel suggests and Dean nods in agreement. "I could."

Lucifer rolls his eyes and says "Right. Charming. Well I have to go sort out things in the bedroom. Our work isn't done just yet."

"I'll give you a hand!" they all chime in various ways, save Castiel, who is watching Dean out of the corner of his eyes. He's still smiling and he wanders to the shelves, examining their organized contents. "Awesome." he murmurs.

Dean is enjoying himself for once today and Castiel hates to intrude on the enjoyment of his re-done apartment, but he also knows that soon Lucifer will need him for wardrobe and then Balthazar will have to work with him on food preparation.

"Dean, could I speak to you in the kitchen?" he inquires, wanting to be as far away from his brother's prying eyes as possible.

"Oh - uh - sure." Dean says, breaking out of his examination of the room. He suddenly seems a bit nervous, rubbing the back of his neck as he walks and Castiel represses a sigh.

It would seem he has marred whatever rapport they had. He just hopes Dean will accept his gift and they can part on amicable terms.

Castiel grabs the box containing his gift and follows Dean into the kitchen. "This is for you." he says, diving right in and handing the box to Dean.

Surprise flits across his features and for a moment he is silent and Castiel fears he will refuse. "Open it, please." Castiel prompts and he does so.

He pulls out a dark wooden frame, within it is one of his damaged records, neatly matted. He glances up at Castiel, more surprise in his features, this time it's nearly incredulous. Castiel winces internally, fearing his gift is not well received.

"Some of your records were badly damaged - beyond repair. I didn't want to simply throw them out, though. I could tell that they're important to you, so had them made into decor." he offers in explanation.

When Dean still doesn't speak, instead removing another from the box, Castiel adds "You can also think of this as an apology from me for overstepping my bounds earlier today."

Now Dean reacts, letting out a low barking laugh that seems to be borne of surprise instead of humor. "Dude, I should be the one apologizing." he says, the grin on his face bears a nearly contrite edge to it.

Castiel furrows his brows in bemusement, all his anxious thought patterns crashing to a halt. Dean was apologizing? For what? He was the one who had trespassed, not Dean. He bears him no ill will.

However Dean clearly doesn't see it that way and he continues "I - uh - I know you were just trying to help earlier - hell it's your job - and I kinda hulked out on you-"

"Dean, stop." Castiel interrupts, with a silencing gesture. "It's quite alright."

Dean shoulders suddenly drain from tension and he nods. "Good..." he falls silent for a moment, as if he wants to speak but is hesitant. Castiel waits quietly, not wanting to unnerve or push him into speaking and ruining the fragile peace they've just rebuilt.

"Oh screw it - Do you want to come tonight?" Dean asks suddenly. Seeing Castiel's look of befuddlement he adds "To the party I mean."

If there is one thing he can say for Dean it's that he always manages to surprise him. An invitation to the party is unprecedented, even as a gesture of apology, which is what he suspects. Dean, undoubtedly wants to emphasis that fact that there is no ill will between them.

Whatever the reason Castiel almost finds himself accepting the invitation, however they are not supposed to have an interference with their clients during the night after the transition.

Sensing his hesitation Dean adds "I want you to meet Sammy, I think you would hit it off. And I've kinda gotten used to having you around."

Castiel fights a smile at his words, realizing that the same is true for him, as preposterous as it sounds. After only one day, they've already become accustomed to each other's company.

"I would love to attend, however I am not sure it's allowed." he finally answers.

"What's not allowed?" Balthazar suddenly interrupts, sauntering into the kitchen. "Oh, Dean, Luci is ready for you in the bedroom. You boys have fun."

"One day I am going to kill you." Dean growls under his breath, before storming off to find Lucifer.

Balthazar gives him a cheery wave as he goes, then turns back to Castiel and prompts "Cassie?"

"Dean invited me to the party this evening. He wants to introduce me to his brother." Castiel answers, knowing that lying to Balthazar is a useless endeavor.

"Meeting the family already? He does move quickly." Balthazar quips with a grin.

"Balthazar, I would greatly appreciate it if you treated this matter with some degree of seriousness." Castiel remonstrates, though he'd predicted some sort of jest from Balthazar on the matter.

"Okay – okay." Balthazar concedes. "Do you want to go?"

"Yes." Castiel answers without hesitation. He would like nothing more than having time to mingle with Dean in a more casual environment and talk with Sam.

"There you go – problem solved." Balthazar answers with an easy shrug.

"You know it is not that simple." Castiel argues, growing frustrated with his friend's blasé attitude. "We're not allowed to interfere-"

"Then don't." Balthazar interrupts. "Leave with us, show up late so you don't get roped into helping and then just chat and hang about like the other guests. Enjoying a party is not against the rules."

"No." Castiel agrees "But it's certainly bending them." He counters.

Balthazar rolls his eyes and groans "Cassie, you deserve to have some fun. And all jesting aside, I think Dean is exactly the sort of fun you need."

Castiel searches his face, but finds nothing, save affectionate concern. Finally he concedes with a sigh "Very well, I'll go."

"The least you could do is seem excited by the prospect." Balthazar snarks.

"I am." Castiel insists, letting a slight smile turn the edges of his mouth. Too excited he thinks to himself, almost cursing Balthazar for talking him into it. His attraction to Dean has only been a hassle thus far, he can only imagine what might happen should a friendship develop.

"Cas! Save me!" A sudden cry from Dean comes from the bedroom. Balthazar shoots Castiel a grin before they hurry back to see what's going on.