Author's note: Thanks so much to Treeni for beta-reading!

Shoulda put a ring on it

It was a bad day for Sam Winchester.

It wasn't that his latest client was most definitely not as innocent as he had first appeared and was turning out to be a sleezebag Sam would much rather see behind bars than keep out of prison. Cases like that happened every now and then. It was the downside of being a lawyer, really.

It wasn't that Becky, the overenthusiastic intern, somehow managed to water Sam's cell phone instead of the small palm tree while she had been busy staring at him. Sam had a phone in his office and there weren't many people who called him privately, anyway. Not to mention that the lawyer had his eye on a new phone for a while now. So maybe he was a bit of an enthusiast when it came to new technologies, sue him.

It wasn't even that his boss had yelled at him for lazing around on company time when Sam dared to get himself a cup of coffee and not sprint back to his desk. Calvin Bellum was an asshole and everybody knew it -there was a reason why everybody called him 'War' behind his back. Thankfully, he was usually much too busy to hang around the lower level lawyers. Sam could deal with his jerk of a boss every now and then, it really wasn't a big deal. If he was lucky he'd be transferred to the fourth floor and work under 'Death' soon, anyway. It might not sound like and improvement to most, but the man had gotten his nickname because he was so good that his opponents might as well just roll over and die rather than get into a legal argument. Besides, it seemed Death had some respect for Sam and his performance at the office. It would be nice to work for somebody like that for a change.

The reason for Sam's bad mood was actually much pettier. It started when Ruby walked into the office with a huge bouquet of roses. Up until that point, Sam had successfully ignored the fact that it was Valentine's Day. He could have pushed that aside quickly enough, if it wasn't for the delivery boy walking past his small office with another huge assortment of flowers. Judged by the squealing and the ensuing chatter, the flowers had been for Anna.

Sam didn't expect anybody to send him roses, but the reminder that he had nobody to spend Valentine's with was unwanted. It was a stupid holiday florists had pulled out of their asses to make money and society had put those stupid expectations of romance especially on that day into everybody's heads. Still, it would have been nice to have somebody to get roses from or even send roses to. Dammit.

As if Sam's mood wasn't bad enough, he had to walk through a traveling carnival to get back to his apartment. Usually, he was one of the people who smiled back at strangers just because it was nice to see friendly faces, but that day Sam held his head down and sulked silently. He was 28 years old and mildly successful, but he felt more like that sixteen year old nerd who had troubles getting a prom date again.

"Hey Gigantor, catch!" a voice broke through Sam's inner pity party just a second before a red plastic ring came flying at him. The lawyer was too baffled to glare at the grinning guy or do anything other than walk up to the ring tossing booth to return the ring.

"Hit one of the poles for a prize!" Gabriel explained patiently, still smirking then crossed his arms in front of his chest as a sign that he wasn't going to just take the ring back. Now that he had gotten those mile long legs to walk into his direction, he had no intention of letting that walking wet dream leave again.

"I'm not paying for this," Sam stated suspiciously, eying the carnie in front of him warily. The man seemed kind of short standing that close to him, then again most people were kind of short compared to Sam.

"It's on the house," Gabriel shrugged lightly, ignoring the way Castiel looked at him from the side of the booth. His little brother was welcome to voice his opinion on any decisions Gabriel made, but since he had completely left it to Gabriel to get people to play all day, Gabriel wasn't inclined to let Castiel criticize his decision to give the gigantor a free game.

"Uh... okay," Sam replied, smiling slightly. Chances were the golden-eyed carnie only wanted to get him to spend an unreasonable amount of money on additional ring tosses, but for a moment Sam allowed himself to only focus on the gift he had been given.

"Woah, talk about crappy aim," Gabriel chuckled when the taller man made the ring fly far past the poles. Before Sam could glare at him for laughing, Gabriel picked up another ring -green this time- and held it out for Sam to take. "Try again."

"Seriously?" the lawyer asked with a small frown. He didn't see why the smaller man would give him another chance without asking for money first, but it wasn't unwelcome. Sam had to admit that he hadn't thought of how crappy his day had been since the carnie had first made contact with him.

"Look, nobody's wanted to play for like the past half an hour," Gabriel explained seriously, fixing Sam's green eyes with his own golden-brown ones, "I'm bored and just want a customer."

Of course, the full truth wasn't quite as simple as that, but Sam would find out about that soon enough. It wasn't like Gabriel intended to be anything besides forward and frank here, but that didn't mean he had to kick in any metaphorical doors before it was time.

"I'm not really your customer, if I don't pay," Sam pointed out, his tone more lecturing than he had meant it to be.

"Are you a lawyer or something?" Gabriel asked in an amused tone, using the chance to give Sam a thorough once over again, "I mean, you look the part. Lawyer, banker, undertaker..."

"Undertaker?" Sam couldn't help laughing, if only because the comment surprised him. He had been told before that he was a typical lawyer and it wasn't hard to guess his profession correctly once he started speaking, but nobody had put it quite the way the shorter man just had.

"You sure look strong enough for digging graves and a suit is a suit," Gabriel explained with a grin, before he amended, "Though, some are sexier than others."

Maybe Gabriel had a thing for men who looked good in -somewhat cheap- suits, sue him. If he played his cards just right he might have a lawyer on his side soon enough anyway. It was quite likely it'd only last for one night, but Gabriel was sure he could get the Sasquatch to give him some... legal advice.

"Uh... thank you, I guess?" Sam cleared his throat noisily, already feeling his ears heat up. The way the carnie was looking at him left very little room for doubt that the man was in fact flirting with him. Truth be told, Sam wasn't completely sure how to feel about that. The guy sure looked nice enough, he actually was pretty damn sexy. His golden eyes were intriguing, his honey colored hair looked like it would be soft to the touch and he had that kind of age-less face that made it hard to tell how old he really was. The shorter man might have been somewhere between his late twenties to early forties for all Sam knew.

"Ha, made you blush!" Gabriel chuckled, clapping his hands gleefully before he reached for a yellow ring and handed it to Sam, "One more for the blushing. Very endearing."

The lawyer groaned silently, but took the second plastic ring. All in all, the conversation with the short carnie was doing wonders for Sam's mood. Being flirted with like that was stroking his ego just the way he needed after the day he had before. Embarrassing blushing was a side-effect Sam could live with.

"Alright," the lawyer stated a moment later as he put one ring down and tightened his grip on the second he asked, "Is there like a special pole I should try to hit?"

The various prizes that could be won were on display and Sam thought he had figured out how many points he'd need for things off the various shelves. What he didn't know was which of the prizes were actually worth winning. As typical for a carnival everything looked cheaply put together. Actually, Sam doubted that there was anything he even remotely needed, but asking the other man for his expertise should help them keep up the conversation.

"Red one in the middle for the big prize," Gabriel replied casually. His seemingly ever-present smirk grew a bit brighter as he put his elbows on the wooden board that separated him from the lawyer, "On second thought, you might've come straight from your wedding too."

"Because of the suit?" Sam frowned, before he chuckled and added, "Right, a suit is a suit."

The green ring sadly missed its mark again, but this time Sam managed something that could be called a near hit. It was doubtful that the lawyer had gotten enough of a feeling for the game to win something with his one remaining chance, but winning some prize wasn't what this was about, anyway.

"Yup, you're smart Sasquatch," Gabriel grinned, pulling a piece of candy from a box under the counter and putting it into his mouth before he went on talking, "But I'm smart too. You didn't come from your wedding."

"Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"No ring," Gabriel explained, winking at Sam. The smaller man decided to take a chance and ran his fingers over Sam's to emphasize his point. There was no ring to be seen and no pale spot where one might have been. Not that Gabriel was all that worried that the Sasquatch might be taken. He wouldn't still be here if there was something serious.

"Maybe my partner and I just don't believe in rings?" Sam suggested, giving the carnie a challenging look. As a matter of fact, the lawyer had been single for a long time, further explaining his beef with Valentine's Day, but the shorter man didn't have to know that.

"This is getting really interesting," Gabriel exclaimed happily, leaning a bit closer to Sam before he added, "You're at the very least bi-sexual."

"Woah, excuse me," Sam replied, clearly taken aback. The lawyer didn't make it a habit to go around announcing his sexuality to everybody, so he was uncomfortable with the thought that he was so easy to see through. Sam realized early in life that he was in fact attracted to girls and boys alike, but in his experience a lot of people didn't react well to that and thought he should choose one.

"You said 'partner'," Gabriel explained with a shrug that was meant to get across that he couldn't really care less, especially if it meant that he had a shot with the taller man, "In my experience, only people who can't attach a definite gender to their lovers do that."

Sam wanted to tell Gabriel how flawed his logic was. There also were people who simply felt too old to call their significant other 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend', but he never even got to open his mouth to articulate his thoughts before the carnie spoke again.

"Also means you don't have anybody right now," Gabriel concluded. To him it was only logical that they had to talk about relationship statuses eventually, if they continued to flirt around, but it looked like he had pushed all the wrong buttons with his comment. The downbeat expression on the taller man's face had been one of the reasons why Gabriel had first made contact -the other one being that the Gigantor was pretty damn sexy- and although it had been gone for a while, it was back with a vengeance.

"Sore spot? Sorry, Gigantor," Gabriel backpedalled immediately, giving the taller man his most sincere and apologetic expression, before he nodded toward the plastic ring the lawyer still had, "C'mon, any pole for the big prize."

"Leave me alone with your rings and your poles," Sam muttered bitterly, before he made the conscious decision to speak. Sometimes, the lawyer had to admit that his older brother had a point when he called him bitch.

"There's only one pole of mine I'd like to introduce you to," Gabriel replied without missing a beat, waggling his eyebrows at the taller man suggestively. Apparently, the gesture had the desired effect on the lawyer, as he blinked a couple of times and looked at Gabriel clearly flabbergasted. Startling the Sasquatch out of his negativity obviously had been as good of an idea as he hoped.

"Did I forget to mention?" Gabriel added completely seriously a moment later, "Big prize is me."

Sam looked even more baffled for a long moment, before he couldn't help laughing. The lawyer had heard a number of pickup lines over the years, but that one was new. Sam did his best to put a serious and somewhat uninterested expression on his face as he retorted, "We have different opinions of what constitutes bigness then."

"I refer you to my former comment about you getting acquainted with my pole," Gabriel quipped, not even trying to sound business-like or serious anymore. It would have been a lost battle anyway, especially after Sam started to smile again. Unfortunately, it didn't last. Gabriel could practically see the moment when the taller man's brain kicked into overdrive.

"I don't even know your name," Sam stated with a slight frown. The lawyer couldn't help thinking that the fact that he was spending Valentine's Day alone which society made him think was worse than the end of the world was what made him susceptible to the kind of flirting he would have shot down after the first two or three innuendos at the latest usually. Even worse, Sam had considered taking the carnie up on the offer of a private pole showing. Dean was right, he needed to get laid more often... but absolutely not by random strangers he met at the carnival. Right?

"I'm Gabriel, that's my brother Castiel, he'll be on booth-duty for the rest of the night, should I be elsewhere for some reason," Gabriel quickly introduced to get their conversation back on track. Startling the lawyer out of his too deep and dark thoughts had worked before, so the smaller man decided to go for it again. "You can tell me your name on the way to wherever your bedroom is."

Unfortunately, Sam couldn't stop thinking about the possible consequences of the spur of the moment decision his gut feeling was telling him to go for regardless. He didn't know anything much about the other man and what he did know should have spoken against taking him home. Sam was protective of his privacy and letting somebody he had only just met into his apartment would violate a lot of his personal rules. Granted, Gabriel didn't know that Sam wasn't a crazy axe murderer any more than Sam knew that Gabriel didn't really want to get him somewhere alone and stab him, so that was a risk they shared. The risk of theft and vandalism was one only the lawyer had to shoulder though. Not that Gabriel looked like he wanted anything other than a one-night stand, but Sam knew from lots of experience that looking and being harmless were two different things entirely.

"I don't do this sort of thing," the lawyer finally replied, though a part of him -his libido to be exact- raged against him for the decision. Sam's thoughts and feelings couldn't seem to find common ground when it came to the question if he was being reasonable or taking an opportunity away from himself.

"Okay, Sasquatch, let me put it like this," Gabriel said with a nice smile, giving the lawyer a little more space than before as he reached for the plastic rings again, "Five rings, you hit any pole with any of them, this is going to happen."

Sam looked at the rings in his hands for a few long moments before he nodded. In a way, Gabriel put the decision completely in the lawyer's hands and that made Sam feel more secure. He was the one who had the power to make this happen or call it off. Despite his aggressive flirting earlier, Gabriel seemed content to just let Sam decide.

The battle between the lawyer's rational thoughts and gut feeling was raging on for what might have been ages, but only was a couple of moments. Of course, going for what Sam had to admit he wanted was reckless and stupid. Allowing his brain to dictate his moves from here would leave him unsatisfied and most likely in a worse mood than he had been in the entire day.

In the end, Sam's gut feeling won. The lawyer could picture that part of him dancing on the grave of all rational thought as he quickly leaned forward -long legs and arms for the win- and placed all five rings over the closest pole he could reach.

Gabriel laughed and quickly grabbed the prize Sam just won, before he waved good bye to his younger brother and basically jumped over the wooden board separating him from the lawyer. Castiel could deal with the ring toss booth for a couple of hours on his own, especially since it looked like it was an extremely slow day. Besides, caring for business was as much Castiel's duty as it was Gabriel's.

"Sam," the taller man finally introduced himself, as Gabriel handed the red, glittery, plastic rose over, "My name is Sam."

The smaller man smiled and took Sam's hand as the taller man led the way toward the apartment buildings at the far end of the carnival area. All in all, Gabriel was very satisfied with the way his evening was going. He felt sure enough of his conquest to waggle his eyebrows and smirk before he replied, "Good to know, it's easier to yell out than Sasquatch for sure."

Sam quickened his steps a little after that. As annoying as it sometimes was to live close to the public space where carnivals and other events were held, that moment Sam was nothing but glad that they could easily reach his front door in less than five minutes of walking.

Gabriel was about to make a joke about how eager Sam was to get the door unlocked, but the smaller man didn't get a word out before the lawyer pinned him against the wall and pressed their lips together. When Gabriel finally got the chance to open his mouth, it wasn't to speak. Not that the smaller man was complaining when Sam's tongue mapped out his mouth like there was no tomorrow. Technically, there was no tomorrow for them, but the thought was pushed away as quickly as it had come when Sam honest to God lifted him off the ground.

"I thought for sure you were a bottom," Gabriel commented in a bit of a breathless voice, as he wrapped his legs around the taller man's waist. He was quite certain that Sam didn't intend to carry him to the bed and then just roll over and let Gabriel have his way with him. The way the taller man's hands gripped his butt spoke for itself.

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Sam replied dryly, though the corners of his mouth twitched traitorously. Judged by the way the smaller man was rubbing himself against him, Gabriel didn't have any real objections to the way Sam wanted the evening to go.

"Bitch please, mine is way more fabulous than yours!" Gabriel laughed, tossing his head to the side to show off his honey-colored mane. His laughter gave way to a drawn out moan when Sam took the opportunity to latch on to Gabriel's neck, sucking and biting at the skin, careful not to leave any marks though.

The smaller man retaliated by rolling his hips against Sam's, causing a noticeable reaction in the taller man. Gabriel didn't get to savor his little victory before he was unceremoniously dumped on the bed. Not that he was complaining when Sam followed him down a second later.

It was moments like these when Gabriel regretted wearing layers -it didn't help that Sam's suit added another three layers to be removed before they got to skin- but he had to admit it was all kinds of hot to be manhandled around until he was down to his boxers and once more blanketed by the taller man's body.

It was a bit of a struggle to get Sam's jacket, tie, shirt, undershirt and dress pants off all while trying to not let go of one another, but it was well worth the effort. Gabriel sent a quick thank you to the heavens that he had decided to chat this random stranger up instead of anybody else, as he let his hands travel over the planes of glorious, uncovered skin.

Gabriel used the moment Sam was distracted by reaching for the condoms and lube in his bedside table to nip on the taller man's chest. He had very little qualms about leaving hickeys, since they would be covered by Sam's work outfit anyway. Actually, that was too bad.

The reprimanding look the lawyer shot Gabriel until the smaller man laid back again made Gabriel shiver in anticipation. Every now and then he really enjoyed just leaning back and letting somebody else take the reins, especially if that someone was tall, sexy and touching him like he knew exactly what he had to do to give them both a night to remember.

Gabriel's red boxer shorts joined the rest of his clothes on the floor mere moments later. Sam gave the smaller man a challenging, but at the same time stern look, which made Gabriel first grin and then stretch his arms over his head demonstratively, putting his wrists together like the taller man had actually bound them. He could play it like Sam wanted, especially when his little show of submission made the taller man lean in once again to kiss him breathless.

The insanely focused expression on Sam's face when he reached for the lube and began to prepare Gabriel alone was enough to get the smaller man hot and bothered, but add to that what the lawyer was actually doing and it didn't take long for Gabriel to squirm, moan and beg for Sam to get on with it already.

Sam used the time it took him to open the condom wrapper to take a few deep, calming breaths. By the look of it, Gabriel was on the brink of what he could take and just one second from jumping Sam to get them to move on faster. Faster was something the taller man could work with. Gabriel wasn't the only one of them who was worked up after all.

Sam had to admit he was surprised -and a little impressed- that Gabriel managed to keep his arms over his head and out of the way, even as he arched his back to get as much contact and friction as he could. The taller man leaned in to kiss Gabriel, taking a firm hold of the smaller man's hips as he pushed in.

Sam wanted to set a slow pace and make the experience last, but Gabriel couldn't seem to stop squirming and making all the right noises to get him moving faster. The slap of skin on skin was positively obscene and added nicely to the sounds leaving both their lips.

In the end, Gabriel's orgasm nearly caught him by surprise, slamming into him just as hard as Sam. The taller man followed him over the edge just moments later. They were both still trying to catch their breath, when Sam rolled off Gabriel, though he nearly immediately reached out for the smaller man to pull him close and kiss him again.

"Wow, you're a neat freak!" Gabriel stated a few minutes later. His head was resting on Sam's chest as he took a closer look at the taller man's bedroom and it clearly was of the sort where everything had its own exact place. In fact, Gabriel was willing to bet that other than their hastily discarded clothes, there was nothing that wasn't exactly on the spot it always was. Hell, if he could find the will to move and open the closet doors he was sure everything would be sorted by color or something alike.

"No, I'm not!" Sam replied in a defensive tone. He liked his things organized and tidy, that didn't make him a neat freak! Maybe he had gone a little overboard when he sorted his socks and boxers by color -different shades of black and grey included- but he was a long term single and sometimes the evenings got lonely, so he needed to distract himself.

"Yes, you are," Gabriel laughed, turning his head to press a quick kiss to Sam's adorably pouting lips, "And a bit of a control freak, too."

"Am not," Sam retorted automatically, even though he realized that his recent behavior spoke another language entirely. So maybe he sometimes got a kick out of being in control. However, other times he very much enjoyed letting somebody else take charge. Gabriel might find out about that in the future. A moment later, Sam felt silly for the thought. There was no future in a one-night-stand with a member of a traveling carnival.

"Kiddo, I just witnessed that first hand," Gabriel argued good-naturedly, "But that's okay, I can deal with being bossed around a bit."

Sam forced a chuckle and a smile, trying to push his sadder thoughts aside. He had known what he was getting into taking a stranger home, there was no use getting melancholic about it now just because they made a better match than Sam would have thought.

"Must be a bit of a role reversal for you," the taller man said instead of voicing any of his dejected thoughts, "Pretty sure you're used to being the bossy one."

Gabriel's behavior when they met spoke for itself. In fact, Sam had been positively surprised when the smaller man let him take over control and set the pace without a struggle. The lawyer had only done what felt good and right to him and the fact that Gabriel went along with it without any troubles was another thing that made Sam regret that they had no shot at a lasting relationship.

"Kinda comes with the job, Sammy-boy," the smaller man shrugged, studying Sam's face to try and figure out what the hell was going on in that big head of his. Something was bothering the taller man that much was for sure, but he apparently wasn't ready to share with Gabriel. Then again, of course he wasn't ready. They only knew each other for a couple of hours and their arrangement was for a night and of sex, not for any deep conversations or more. Gabriel was nearly surprised when he found he wanted more. He sure hadn't started out wanting to find a potential boyfriend in the sexy stranger he tried seducing for his own amusement, but he might have done just that.

"I guess carnies would have to be demanding," Sam presumed, running his fingers over Gabriel's arm while he had the chance to. They might as well make the most out of the time they had. Heartbreak was basically inevitable at this point anyway.

"Huh?" Gabriel asked, clearly distracted by Sam's ministrations before his brain caught up with what the taller man had just said, "Oh, I'm not a carnie. It wasn't my booth."

The smaller man was a little worried about the reaction his confession might cause from Sam, but it didn't look like the taller man thought about kicking him out for being a liar. At least not that very moment. Maybe Gabriel would even get the chance to explain how he hadn't technically lied at any point and how there wasn't anything unlawful involved either.

"What?" Sam gaped at the smaller man for a few long moments. The lawyer was still trying to come to terms with the possible implications of what he just learned. Maybe it was too much to hope that Gabriel not being a carnie meant that he was in fact living somewhere close by, but Sam couldn't deny that he liked that idea a lot.

"I'm a kindergarten teacher," Gabriel elaborated with a small smile, "The booth belongs to Balthazar, my second cousin. He wanted some time off for a date, so Cassy and I took over for the evening."

"That... that means you're not..." Sam stammered, trying hard not to get his hopes up too much before he had all the information.

"Going to leave town in a couple of days? I gotta disappoint you there," Gabriel replied with a shrug. Chances were, the lawyer only jumped into bed with him as readily as he did, because he figured they weren't in danger of running into each other again on the street randomly. Gabriel wasn't sure why that thought left such a sour taste in his mouth. It wasn't like he didn't have one-night-stands quite regularly and them ending after the night was part of the definition.

"No that's... that's awesome," Sam exclaimed a little too happily for his taste, so he cleared his throat and physically lowered the tone of his voice before he reworded his statement, "I mean, good... it's good... maybe we could..."

"Date some time?" Gabriel suggested, grinning from ear to ear after hearing how enthusiastic Sam sounded about him not going away.

"I'd like that," Sam smiled back.

"Me too."

Dean Winchester made his way through the travelling carnival to get to his brother's apartment. His plans for Valentine's Day had been cancelled last minute, so he figured he might as well get his little brother to accompany him to the bar to make new plans. Dean didn't exactly need a co-pilot, but it never hurt to have one. Sam might even get a chance for a little romance himself there, who knew?

Besides, knowing his little brother, Sam would spend Valentine's on his own with a box of ice cream exactly like he had the last three years. Dean was going to save him from himself like the heroic older brother he was!

The older Winchester's resolution lasted until he passed by the ring toss booth and caught a glimpse of the dark-haired guy manning it. Sam liked eating ice cream and wallowing in self-pity anyway, Dean could always pay him a visit tomorrow.

"Hey there, beautiful," Dean greeted the dark-haired man, flashing him one of his thousand watt smiles, "Give me those rings, will you?"

The guy looked nearly confused by Dean's request which was strange, but the older Winchester was far too focused on the bluest eyes he had ever seen to pay it much thought.

"Five dollars for five rings," Castiel stated seriously, staring back at the green-eyed man with the same intensity he was being stared at. Truth be told, Castiel had been bored since Gabriel left with the tall man, but at the same time he was glad that business was extremely slow that day. The dark-haired man wasn't exactly a people person usually. There was a reason why he had passed up promotions that would take him out of the quiet archives he worked at.

Gabriel usually was the one of them who saw an attractive stranger and jumped at the opportunity to chat them up, Castiel was the one left behind to guard the booth. Then again, sometimes someone caught Castiel's eye enough that he considered jumping over his shadow and acting more like his older brother.

"Sure thing," Dean replied, still smiling as he handed the five dollars over and received the rings in return, "So, which one of those poles do I have to hit to take you home with me?"

Castiel might be socially awkward, but he knew an opening when he saw one. Blue eyes met green again as he answered, "Apparently, any one of them will suffice."

"Are you kidding?" Dean asked a little suspiciously, thrown off track by the dark-haired man's serious tone. The older Winchester wasn't going to complain if the guy wanted to go home with him that easily, but he had to make sure that there were no misunderstandings here. Dean couldn't help thinking that he was getting more than he had bargained for with this one.

"It is company policy, as established by my brother."