Song Remains the Same

Chapter 99: Cabin Fever

"There's only me," the standing Cas said, and as if on cue, dream-Cas dissolved into nothingness in Alex's arms, leaving her alone and cold in the bed. Disgruntled, Alex tugged a handful of blanket against herself even though she was clothed. Upon closer inspection of the intruder, Alex realized the remaining Castiel wore white pants and a white shirt underneath his trench coat. Oh. Wait. Was this actual-Cas? "Did you know a female ferret will die if she doesn't have sex in a year?" he asked pleasantly.

Oh. With a sigh, Alex realized what was going on. "Cas, what are you doing in my dream?" she asked tiredly, a little upset to be robbed of her nice fantasy.

"I missed you," he answered sweetly, smiling at her in a way that made her feel guilty for not feeling totally the same. He began looking around at the vague, dreamy, glowy scenery surrounding the area. "This is the attic, isn't it?" he asked, his voice soft with pleasant surprise. "Our attic." He paused. "I miss this place." His statement stilled her and saddened her, took her back to a time that was gone now. He walked around the bed, touching the wooden bedposts with interest, his eyes on the knob his finger brushed. "You're very sexually frustrated right now," he said factually.

"Wh—no I'm not," she protested immediately.

"Your tone indicates embarrassment and defensiveness," Cas observed mildly.

Sputtering a little, Alex got more defensive. "No it doesn't!"

Cas gave her a somewhat coy glance. "Now you're just being stubborn," he said flirtatiously, then bent and picked up a volume off the floor. "Look, a book about wraiths!" he exclaimed, opening it only to quizzically frown. "It's empty."

"Hadn't read that one yet," Alex said, sobering a little further as she thought of the burned down house so much of her life had taken place in. The attic that had been a haven for them was now ash and ruin, much like everything else. "Now I never will."

Cas set the book down onto the stack of boxes beside the bed thoughtfully, his eyes on the volume the entire time. "Did you know the amygdala, the part of the human brain triggering fear and anxiety, shuts down when women have an orgasm?" His eyes slid to hers and the way they regarded her was a little unnerving. He seemed almost suggestive, and it was disconcerting especially when paired with what he kept talking about and referencing.

"Oh, that's... you're just full of sex facts, aren't you?" Alex asked, a little flustered. She tried to put the attention onto him. "You sure you're not the sexually frustrated one?" He was, after all, the one who couldn't stop talking about it in the car a little while ago.

"That is of not of import," he said in a tranquil tone, then adopted an overly-helpful tone and facial expression. "I know other things too," he insisted, then spouted yet another strange fact he must have picked up along the way. "Ketchup was used as a medicine in the eighteen hundreds to treat diarrhea, among other things."

Alex's face fell marginally in chagrin as her nose wrinkled slightly. "Maybe you should stick with the sex facts, they're a little less... eugh."

He apparently took that statement as an invitation. Cas sat down on the bed, and turned towards her, his growing nearness making Alex nervous. His voice grew low, husky, suggestive, his eyes looked at her thoroughly. "Did you know a sperm whale isn't actually made out of sperm?" he murmured ever so softly, and the way he asked he could have been trying to seduce her. But the question was outright ridiculous.

Mimicking his murmur helplessly as the moment got more intense, Alex's gaze held his even as a slightly-confused smile spread on her face—was that an actual question? "Yeah, Cas, I did know that."