Rain laughed more as Jeckle flushed, taking his hand gently, admittedly getting a dusting of red on their cheeks as well. She sipped more of her cup with their other hand. “Besides, I think we also have a right to privacy. As do you.”
Alex giggled softly. Even now, little by little, he was getting his focus back. He remembered his friend smiling and blushing at her phone when they were in their dorm together.
Soon enough he looked at Jeckle, and his face fell slightly. “Oh… Yeah. It’s alright, really. There was probably a, um, a better way to go about the situation, but you didn’t ruin anything.”
“Just his grades,” Rain remarked, and Alex grinned nervously. He leaned on Cas and pet his head.
Jeckle sat in awe as he watched Rain take his hand. In the past few months he had been trying to help Alex and and Cas, he had pushed his own relationship off to the side, trying to text or call every night but it hadn't been the same attention he had been giving. He gently brushed a calloused thumb over the back of Rain's hand, testing the waters as he slowly came back to his senses. "And I'm sorry for pulling you along in my little plan, Rain." He said softly, arching an eyebrow as an easy smile appeared on his features. "Privacy?"
Cas could have sworn it had Jeckle who had taken the potion with the way he was looking at Rain, his sharp eyes going soft and compliant as he looked at his partner. No matter how tough and independent Jeckle tried to be, Cas could see the puddle Rain made him become everytime they were close.
Cas knew a similar feeling, though he wouldn't consider himself as cocky as Jeckle, he was equally enamored by the vampire beside him. Cas shifted slightly to accomadate Alex, leaning heavily into his hand while he traced little patterns on his hand, small protection sigils and spells for luck, useless without the right incantation but it was a habit of Cas'. "We'll definitely help with your grades, especially after that test." He agreed
The small smile on Rain’s face grew. She squeezed his hand lightly and let out a breath. “Don’t be. I wanted to. I thought it was just a funny prank to help them out, I guess.” Their gaze fixed on the cup of blood in their hand as she swished it around absentmindedly. Then she glanced at him and chuckled, shaking their head. “Privacy, yes. Cas here is basically asking us to be honest about our feelings right in front of everyone, isn’t he? We don’t have to do that in public. And neither do Cas and Alex.”
“I don’t mind being honest in front of people,” Alex said, perhaps a little too emphatically.
Rain just laughed. “Go off then, I guess?”
He smiled and kissed Cas’s head. He drank more blood and tried to finish his cup when his love spoke. “I’d appreciate that,” he murmured sheepishly.
Cas raised his hands in defense for a moment "I completely agree with Rain, but seeing Jeckle a blushing flustered mess is a rare treat." He teased, sticking out his tongue when he saw the vampire's glare. "But of course you two deserve a nice night out together, especially after having to worry about us." Cas continued, leaning into Alex's affections.
"As much as I want to spend every waking moment with you, you really need to focus on studies for a bit." Cas encouraged gently, running his finger's through Alex's hair. "We're going on our double date and then you're hitting the books and I'm finding a bed to sleep in for a day or two." As excited as Cas was for the the date, he had spent a lot of energy and magic on the potion and desperately wanted the weekend to come sooner so he could sleep in.
“Can’t argue with that.” Rain smirked softly at Jeckle.
Alex sighed. “I know. It’s hard.” He pouted, but quickly smiled as Cas combed through his hair. “Awww, but I wanna sleep with you.” He giggled, biting his lip a little. “Let’s just focus on the date for now. When are we going? Where are we going? I still don’t know.” He bounced a little in his seat. “I’m pretty much done drinking so I’m ready.”
It was then he felt a buzz from his pocket. He reached behind to grab his phone. On the screen a little notification popped up.
Brook: Enjoy your date /gen
He smiled softly, briefly wondering if James and Sam made her say that. He put the phone back in his pocket.
"remind me to never be emotionally open with any of you." Jeckle pouted, toying with Rain's hand.
Cas blinked and brushed his thumb over Alex's cheek. "You can't say things like that and expect me to move on." Cas kissed Alex's hair, having wanting to keep the date a surprise but e knew he couldn't do that with everyone else leaning eagerly.
"I'm taking you to the botanical garden. Usually it's more of a witch hang out place but there's no rules against Vampires going. There's some great little restaurants I thought you guys would like if you're still hungry we could stop by later." He explained, catching a glimpse of Alex's phone and giving his arm a gentle squeeze. "You're friends are more than welcome to join. It's been a while since you talked or been around them for more than five minutes." He encouraged gently, gathering his bag and plate.
Rain just smiled, taking Jeckle’s hand and kissing the knuckles.
Alex stuck his tongue out and grinned playfully. “Well I was being a little silly.” His face then relaxed as Cas kissed his head, and he leaned into it, holding the witch gently.
“A garden?” He tilted his head. “I don’t think I’ve really ever been to a place like that.” He brought a hand to his chin. “Sounds romantic though!” He chuckled. He blinked as he felt Cas touch his arm.
“My friends?” He frowned a little. “But this is a date. I… I don’t know if that would make things more enjoyable. They haven’t even properly met you yet, and…”
“At least one of them is gonna say something insensitive,” Rain huffed. “I think that would be awkward for you, Cas. Already, you’re the only witch with three vampires, do we really want to add like five more?”
“I do want to talk to them though…” Alex’s brain paused for a bit as his focus gradually shifted to something other than Cas. “Damien’s still sick, isn’t he? And Sam and Brook have work around this time…”
“Yeah. It’s alright, there’s always another time.”
Cas watched as his friend, if possible, fell even more for the vampire beside him. It was the small gestures no one thought a guy like him would crave that made his heart flutter, even more so coming from Rain, someone Jeckle had thought for the longest time out of his league. He brushed his thumb over Rain's cheek and dropped a kiss to their brow before returning to the conversation. "Finally! I've been looking for an excuse to go to the witch's botanical garden. Obviously, we're allowed in but it always feels like we're breaking some unspoken rule when we get too close."
Cas nodded "Yeah, it's mostly witch territory. But I'm hoping we won't have too much trouble if I'm bringing you guys in. It is really nice around sunset, and I want to show you it all."
Cas thought for a moment and gave a slight shrug. "What better way for us to get to know each other? Besides, any reservations they have about me, I've probably heard worse." He stood with the empty plates and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Hae your friend drop by the shop after, I can probably whip something up to help if he wants. If not today, we should meet up with your friends another time. I think we owe them an apology and an explanation as to why you weren't around for a month."
“Not today,” Alex insisted. Ever since Cas brought up the idea, he had it in his mind that it would be just the two of them, plus Jeckle and Rain having their own date alongside them. That’s what double dates were, right? And including more friends felt wrong, somehow. Perhaps he would feel differently if he wasn’t at least partially under the potion’s influence, but he knew because of that he would not be able to give everyone the attention they deserved.
He stood up after Cas and picked up his cup. “Yeah, sure. I’m all for that.” He went to put his cup in the trash before coming back.
Rain was still working on her drink, so she held onto it as they stood up. They knew that even if Brook had the time for something like this, she’d say no if asked to join. If they were going to explain things to the rest of the group, they would need to go slow.
Cas nodded slightly "Well, if they ever want to join us, don't hesitate to invite them." He reassured, glancing around the dining hall for Alex's friends as they headed out, wondering if they were close by and if they seemed to know about the date. He didn't want Alex to separate from his friend just because he was dating a witch. He knew even now, witches and vampires kept to themselves, not trusting the other even after decades of peace for some prejudice or another. Cas was ashamed to have felt fear sometimes around vampires, especially when they outnumbered him. There was a certain look in their eyes, a deep-seated hunger that, while rationally Cas knew they could control, sent a chill up his spine. He assumed similar whenever they saw a witch.
Apparently, one of the only ones not to get the memo of witches staying with witches and vamps with vamps was a certain vampire who seemed to keep getting hurt and finding his way to his little shop on the other side of campus. It was a pleasant and confusing surprise back in freshman year when Jeckle dropped by his shop for a cut, a bruise, or some sort of injury that a nurse could clearly handle, but the stubborn yet oddly charming vampire went to Cas instead. Since then, they've been an odd duo but friends nonetheless.
The young vampire nudged Cas' shoulder "Hey, you have nothing to worry about. Once they see how much you care about Alex, they'll ease off the hostility. You're dating one of their best friends, of course, they're gonna go into parent mode." He smirked, rolling his eyes teasingly. "Give em a chance to know the Cas that Alex fell in love with before the potion. They'll love ya!"
As Cas glanced around the area, he might have spotted a familiar face or two in the crowd, but they seemed pretty preoccupied with their own business. Alex noticed and followed Cas’s gaze, recognizing the two individuals as James and Cameron. They were the more academically inclined of their group, James being more nerdy and studied diligently, while Cameron made good grades with seemingly little effort. James had his nose buried in a textbook and Cameron was drinking blood and doing something on their laptop; Alex guessed it was something for one of the clubs they were part of. Since they were both busy, Alex just smiled to himself and continued on.
“Yeah, they’ll definitely warm up to you once they sus you out first. But I think we need the right environment for that.”
