Status: Another short story for NaNoWriMo. Also, wildly unedited.
Bookwarm
Peppermint
Fall turns into winter. Halloween and Thanksgiving pass. They go through nine novels throughout the time. Castiel prefers fantasies and complicated romances, and Eyebrows usually picks science fiction and almost-horror stories and modern fiction that often leaves Castiel in mourning or bursting with joy.
One week before Christmas, he’s only halfway through their current novel, when Eyebrows enters the train. Instead of walking directly to the other side of the car, he drops a little package in Castiel’s lap. From the girl who sits next to him, Castiel hears a small surprised gasp. He feels twice as surprised as she is. For the rest of the ride, Eyebrows pointedly does not look up at Castiel.
He’s not sure what the gift is, though he has a guess. It’s book sized and book shaped and wrapped in kraft paper with a peppermint patterned string crisscrossing around it. There’s no tag attached to the front, no note on the outside. He’s anxious to see what it is, but he wants that feeling to last, so he waits until the end the week, for after work, once he’s cleaned up his house and washed his hair and eaten dinner. He waits until he’s brewed his hot chocolate (sweet like he likes and with a candy cane added because the gift’s wrapper reminded him) and is tucked neatly in his bed, before he carefully unwraps his present.
As expected, but still it delights him, a hardcover book is revealed. It’s called The Wild Things and along the front cover, written in neat handwriting, is a small note from Eyebrows, whose name, Castiel finds out, is actually Dean.
One week before Christmas, he’s only halfway through their current novel, when Eyebrows enters the train. Instead of walking directly to the other side of the car, he drops a little package in Castiel’s lap. From the girl who sits next to him, Castiel hears a small surprised gasp. He feels twice as surprised as she is. For the rest of the ride, Eyebrows pointedly does not look up at Castiel.
He’s not sure what the gift is, though he has a guess. It’s book sized and book shaped and wrapped in kraft paper with a peppermint patterned string crisscrossing around it. There’s no tag attached to the front, no note on the outside. He’s anxious to see what it is, but he wants that feeling to last, so he waits until the end the week, for after work, once he’s cleaned up his house and washed his hair and eaten dinner. He waits until he’s brewed his hot chocolate (sweet like he likes and with a candy cane added because the gift’s wrapper reminded him) and is tucked neatly in his bed, before he carefully unwraps his present.
As expected, but still it delights him, a hardcover book is revealed. It’s called The Wild Things and along the front cover, written in neat handwriting, is a small note from Eyebrows, whose name, Castiel finds out, is actually Dean.