***Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or the characters. Obviously. Because if I did...


Candy Is Serious Business

There was a brief moment as Crowley opened the cabinet and salt water taffy rained out all over the counter, the floor, and him that he considered burning down the house and being done with it; except he had experienced that once before and really didn't want to repeat it. He also considered having a talk with Gabriel about the issue but he realized that it would be like talking to, well, Gabriel. He might have made more headway with a brick wall. Instead he gathered all the candy he could find (he was undoubtedly missing some) into a trash bag and put it in the bin then settled down with a scotch. The incident left his mind.

When Gabriel returned from where ever he had been, the second thing he did after kissing Crowley and grabbing him on the ass was to sauntering off to the kitchen. It crossed Crowley's mind that it was possible Gabriel would take issue to his cleaning spree but he was pretty sure that he could distract him.

"CROWLEY."

Maybe.

"Yes, darling?" he called, turning towards the kitchen doorway. The angel was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and fingers taping. He did not look pleased.

"Where's the salt water taffy I brought back from my trip to Gatlinburg?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Crowles," he said drawing out the last syllable like a petulant child. "I had a whole cabinet full of it!"

"Oh. I might have noticed that."

"And?"

"We need to talk about your habit of stashing candy to the point of excess, love."

"You're joking." The expression on his face said that he knew Crowley wasn't joking. "You heartless bastard."

Crowley sighed and stood back up. (He had just gotten comfortable again.) He walked over to Gabriel and slipped his arms around his waist, pressing close against him. Gabriel looked highly suspicious as he well should be; Crowley wasn't typically the one to initiate any type of affection. Even though he knew the game, he found himself relaxing into the embrace. The demon kissed him, sneaking a hand under Gabriel's shirt.

"How about we take this upstairs?"

They didn't talk about candy for the rest of the night.

It was a week later and Crowley had forgotten all about the incident. Gabriel hadn't mentioned it the next morning and it was business as usual. After all this time, the two of them had fallen into a sort of easy rhythm. Gabriel came and went as he pleased and Crowley often had some sort of minor scuffle to 'smooth' over in Hell. They usually spent the evenings together relaxing (as much as Gabriel would allow). Crowley cooked because Gabriel didn't really have the patience for it and he was much better at the tasting aspect, anyway. He was busy making lamb with a mushroom risotto, humming quietly to himself, and wearing the apron Gabriel had bought him.

When he went to open the pantry door, he wasn't expecting anything out of the normal. All things considered that probably wasn't the wisest thing.

Gumballs poured out of the pantry. Crowley stood there as they bounced around him. It reminded him of that scene from 'The Shinning'. After a moment, the last one rolled out of the pantry and Crowley started to pick his way around them back to the stove. In his mind he was thinking thoughts to keep him calm; hellhounds, screaming souls, Nat King Cole.

"Oh, hey! Gumballs." Gabriel bent down and popped one in his mouth. Crowley rolled his eyes all the way up at the ceiling, biting his lip.

"Gabriel."

"What?" he said with that grin of his plastered on his face. It took every bit of self-control Crowley had not to set him, and all the gumballs, on fire. Only the thought of having to clean up melted gum stopped him.

"Nothing. Just…clean up this mess, will you?"

"Sure you don't want to do it for me again?"

Crowley sighed. Of course that was what this was about. He glanced over at the stove. The risotto was a lost cause.

"And why don't you pick up some take-out while you're at it," he called back as he made his way out of the kitchen. He was pretty sure there was a gumball stuck to his Italian leather shoes.

That should've been the end of it. If Crowley had been dealing with a rational being, it would have been the end of it. There was nothing rational about Gabriel when he decided to hold a grudge, however. After the pantry closet, Crowley had found candy in the washer and dryer (luckily those weren't used very often) and in the bathtub. The final straw came when Crowley was trying to relax after a rough day and found the stuffing in the couch had been replaced by jellybeans. He responded in what he felt was a perfectly proportionate manner.

Crowley set the couch on fire.

"I should go get the marshmallows from the bedroom."

"The couch is on fire and you want to roast marshmallows?" Crowley shouted. Gabriel shrugged.

"You're the one who went all Drew Barrymore in Firestarter here."

Crowley opened and closed his mouth a few times, before giving up and just staring at the burning couch. The whole room smelled like burned sugar. And it all started because of some bloody taffy. He started laughing.

At first Gabriel looked at him as if he had lost it (a very real thought in the angel's head) before joining him. They stood there, Gabriel's arm around Crowley's shoulder, as the flames started to die out. Crowley rubbed a hand across his face that still had a grin on it. Gabriel cupped the back of his head and pulled it down so he could kiss Crowley's forehead.

"We should do this more often."

"Only if they give frequent buyer points at Ethan Allen," Crowley snorted. "You said there were marshmallows in the bedroom?"

Gabriel wagged his eyebrows.

"Come on, I could use something sweet."

"So could I, darling."