"Dean, do you have the time?" Cas asked casually as they sat on the couch.
"Hmm?" Dean glanced at his watch, "Yeah, it's 3:15... Wait-" Realization lit up in Dean's eyes as it dawned on him that they'd just passed the final minute of Castiel's 24 hour promise to not tickle him, "H-Hold on a second- Don't-"
Cas was doing his best to hide a smirk; he crawled toward the hunter on the couch, eyes dark and devious.
"Don't? But I have to test out how well this works." Cas wiggled his fingers slightly, moving himself to hover over Dean, who was now backed against the corner of the couch.
"Y-You really don't have to." Dean laughed nervously, shrinking in on himself as his eyes shifted nervously between the angel's evil smirk and eager hands.
Cas raised a brow, "If our roles were reversed, I'm certain you wouldn't just stop now." He let his mouth curve up at its corners — rather than his smile coming off as cute, Dean thought it more resembled the damn Grinch — "Besides..." Cas continued, "Aren't you the least bit curious?"
"Not in particular." Dean grunted defiantly, trying to worm his way out from under the angel, who at this point had cut off any hope for the hunter to escape.
Mischief danced in Castiel's eyes, which were bright with excitement and curiosity. His hand moved quickly and squeezed once against Dean's side. Dean drew in a breath and glared up at the angel.
"I think that anticipation plays a key role here, don't you agree, Dean?" Cas spoke with a surgical, serious tone, one that made Dean's skin crawl with nerves.
"Don't know what you mean- I'm not nervous at all." Dean growled, watching the angel like a hawk for any sudden movements.
"I never said that you were nervous, Dean." Cas quirked up an eyebrow, "But now that you mention it... Your pulse is at an elevated rate, your eyes are following my every move, and you seem quite tense."
Dean glared daggers at the angel, who only continued his informative assessment.
"All of those signs seem to point toward the feeling of nervousness... anxiety..."
Dean tried to kick his legs but was rewarded with another squeeze to the side, and then Cas plopped down on the tops of his thighs, pinning him into place and trapping him between himself and the couch.
Cas looked Dean up and down slowly, "Perhaps you feel nervous because you know that there's no hope of you getting out of this. That I can keep you here, tickle you for as long as I like..." Castiel's fingers travelled slowly up the hunter's side and to his chest and eventually his neck. Dean's skin twitched along the trail of the angel's fingers.
"Cahas- don't." Dean whined, fighting the smile that threatened to sneak its way onto his face.
"Don't what?" Cas hummed, moving his fingers down Dean's torso to ever-so-slowly dance across the dark tee and tease the freckled skin beneath.
"I'm not falling for that!" Dean growled. He coughed to cover up a laugh, squirming noticeably.
"Oh, well that's too bad." Cas sighed, "I suppose we'll just have to start then." He immediately started scribbling over Dean's ribs and brought his second hand into play, prodding and tickling Dean's stomach with more purpose. Dean bit his lip, eyes squeezing shut as he focused on anything but Castiel's teasing fingers.
"Don't hold out on me, Dean. You know how much I love to see you smile." Cas grinned, amping up the speed of his tickling. Dean grunted and choked back a laugh when the fingertips skimmed over the litter of bad spots on his stomach. His mouth twitched up at the corners, but his resolve was hardened; he didn't want to give the angel the satisfaction of him falling apart just yet.
