FF – Supernatural

Of apples, harp-tuning and cloud fluffing

Warnings: Complete and absolute blasphemy, I think, in the dictionary definition sense.
Characters: Castiel, Balthazar, cameos of Gabriel and the other angels.
Summary: Angel school was not as easy as it seemed. In which Castiel and Balthazar take the same flying class, Michael receives apples and Gabriel plays pranks on his own students. Drabble-like. Barely canon-compliant, AU.

A/N: Inspired by the answers provided by Misha and Sebastien regarding the fan question "How did Castiel and Balthazar meet?" at one of the cons. And angel school sounds like a good deal of fun. And gah, I know this could have been better, I'm sorry. Cas feels too OOC.

The general assumption for most people was that angels simply popped into existence. Ready with their fluffy wings and magic in their white gowns and robes from Day One of living. Some others imagined that there was some kind of copulation going on and little baby angels were born like human babies were and went to angel school like human kids before eventual graduation and becoming fully-certified soldiers of the Lord.

The truth though, was actually a mix of both. Angels were moulded by Him from cosmic dust, divine grace and brought to life with a touch of His breath.

Step two was dropping them into angel school for a time period that's equivalent to three human-years at least, because, really, they're only fledglings then. Some prefer to build up a diverse skill set, while others seek to specialise in certain areas. Fundamentally though, all of them go through several classes of basic, important subjects, such as healing, combat and lore.

The Celestial Academy was where angel education took place. It was a vast institution of intertwined trees that spread across stretches of land and reached high into the cosmos. Skinny towers were scattered across the campus and patches of canopy were a favourite for lounging and basking in the warmth of the sun.

One of the largest patches was where Castiel stood now. It wasn't by choice, but rather, Brother Joshua had the new angels gathered around for their first practical lesson for flying class. Castiel didn't really know why they needed flying class; most of them could take to the skies as soon as they could walk. He supposed that, ultimately, the Father had his reasons for implementing them, but it was mildly frustrating when Brother Joshua was nowhere in sight.

It unnerved him to watch his classmates stand around, comparing and showing off their wings during the wait, because while he was proud of his own pale wings which he knew had a good, decently large span, unlike his brothers' and sisters', there were smudges of dirt and ink and the pale feathers were clumped and messy. Not at all like the sleek, pristine white wings of the others that were carefully groomed with every feather neatly in place.

He pulled his wings close to himself in embarrassment, hiding himself in a wall of feathers as he desperately tried to comb through the lumps with his fingers. It did no good, and all he ended up with was a fistful of feathers that he pulled out by complete mistake and it hurt and for a short moment tears welled up in his eyes from the shock.

"Hey!"

He whipped around in surprise, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Another angel, male with cropped dirty blonde hair that was styled haphazardly stared at him curiously with dark-grey eyes.

"Are you crying?" The other angel smirked playfully. "Terrified of flying?"

Castiel scowled. "No." The other angel didn't look like he believed him, but he didn't feel like explaining the whole ordeal with the wings; it was too embarrassing. Plus, the other had perfect wings, like the other angels, so he tried to shrug nonchalantly. "I just poked my eye with a feather, that's all."

The other angel laughed. "Really?" He extended a hand. "Balthazar. And you?"

"Castiel." He took the hand and shook it, feeling a little odd.

Balthazar beamed at him happily, and Castiel wondered if he should start worrying.

Apparently, he ought to, because Balthazar declared loudly, "I've decided, you shall be my best friend!"

Castiel didn't like school very much. It felt too rigid sometimes, and even Balthazar agreed with that point. It made him feel like an object on a factory line, about to be hammered into exact expectations.

He did like his class on lore, though, and Brother Michael, who taught it, because he was kind and knowledgeable about many things. Castiel thought Michael probably knew everything, because he always had an answer and would turn things around to ask Castiel questions to make him think.

Balthazar didn't like Michael much, and said that no one, not even angels, were that perfect, and that he probably had some kind of terrible deep, dark secret that no one knew about.

On the other hand, Balthazar usually remained quiet when Castiel leaves an apple on Michael's table, so Castiel doesn't try to refute him.

Balthazar had a bit of mischievous streak, and was occasionally inclined to pull a prank on another. In general, Castiel was more interested in staying in line, but whenever Balthazar revealed his plans, he couldn't help but be intrigued because they were very much ingenious.

Like the time with Sister Anael and the giant goose.

This time, however, was a little different. Brother Gabriel had gone and dumped piles of dried autumn leaves that were enchanted to attack unsuspecting angels, and both Balthazar and Castiel had been caught in them. Twice.

Balthazar had decided it was payback time, and recruited a couple of other angels and went on a massive prank fest against him, the first of which involving permanently fixing all of the furniture in Gabriel's room on to the ceiling, as well as hiding all of his clothes in various places around the school.

Brother Gabriel only became actually pissed when he found out dessert was cancelled for a week.

Balthazar later referred to the incident as a failure to remember. Castiel was just amused.

The Heavenly Symphony consisted of the Divine Choir, as well as the Holy Orchestra.

Music was also a compulsory activity by the school's standards, making it a fixed subject in their curriculum. Castiel was assigned the harp, and he hated it.

For one, he was expected to practice, which was troublesome enough. The harp was aso a massive instrument that demanded careful handling, which made carrying it around even worse, because there was some kind of rule around that 'your instrument is as important to you as your wings, and you wouldn't simply "snap" your wings somewhere, would you?'

All in all, music class was a chore, and he didn't fancy himself as being particularly musically-inclined anyway.

Balthazar was different though. He loved the harp, and cared for his very carefully, which rather annoyed Castiel to no end because he thought Balthazar was doing it on purpose.

Other times, he's just glad that Balthazar would offer to tune his harp for him on occasion, because Balthzar was really good at that.

One of their classes was Landscaping Art. Brother Raphael went on about the importance of the specifics of cloud fluffing, and the relation between its weight and mood. Castiel doodled carelessly on the paper, and beside him, Balthazar made occasional remarks about Raphael's everything, from his hair to his feet.

"His nose looks a bit like a potato, if you ask me." Castiel whispered back conspiratorially, and they burst into controlled fits of giggles.

Raphael noticed anyway, and yelled at them for a while, before setting the class to work on their stratocumulus clouds.

Castiel was growing satisfied with his cloud, until Raphael came over and complained that it was too heavy and qualified as a cumulus cloud and that he had to start over, just as the school bell rang. In his annoyance, he set a cumulonimbus cloud to follow Raphael around all day to rain on him.

Brother Gabriel found out and congratulated him on a job well done. It was odd, really.

Upon graduation, they were split into different garrisons, and by a stroke of miraculous luck, Castiel and Balthazar ended up in the same contingent. One of their first tasks was to watch over a human named Leonardo da Vinci.

It was interesting to watch him paint, and even Balthazar would admit that he was talented, but it was all a bit boring because other angels like Uriel and Camael were out having exciting missions like being punishing criminals that found their way to the List. Castiel and Balthazar spent most of their time watching Leonardo go about his business, and took to hiding his paint or brushes once in a while, or distracting him with new ideas and inspiration.

It wasn't like anyone found out anyway.