Happy Thanksgiving, Castiel
- or - Armageddon Myself Another Slice of Turkey
by Darklady
(Who claims ownership of bupkis - so no smiting or suing - ok?)
G - Sillyfic
No spoilers, I don't think. Well, not unless you haven't watched the show AT ALL.
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"Say Happy Thanksgiving, Cas." Dean waved a fork of cornbread dressing in the angel's direction.
"I had thought to find you on your journey." Castiel stood, an uneasy figure at the open end of the scratched plastic table. "There is a seal in danger."
"Human." Dean grunted. "Gotta eat."
Dean - with his brother Sam were currently seated behind platter-sized plates laden with all the traditional holiday foods. Turkey, mashed potatoes, two veggies, and even a basket of dinner rolls. Everything that was guaranteed to bring back childhood memories - at least for those with more conventional childhoods. If Dean had been inclined to count - and he determinedly wasn't - the common Winchester holiday dinner was takeout burgers and cold fries. Didn't matter what holiday. Didn't even matter if it was a holiday. Until low-end hotels had started putting microwaves by the snack machines - and that hadn't been until the nineties - the family menu had been whatever John Winchester could grab at the drive though. That - or Raman noodles. Dean was good at getting the bathroom tap hot enough to cook Raman noodles.
This year, however, Sam and Dean were eating Thanksgiving dinner in style. Or at least in quantity.
"But what of the cheeseburger?" Castiel's confusion was understandable. He'd been following after Dean long enough to have a fair idea of the Winchester family cuisine.
"It's Thanksgiving, Castiel." Sam looked up from his journal. He had been making notes with one hand while forking up peas with the other. "A day when we all count our blessings. Plus, you know, eat turkey." Sam nodded down at this own plate.
Actually, they hadn't had a lot of choice. The truck-stop dinner they sat in was the only restaurant Dean had spotted with an open sign in two hundred miles of two-lane asphalt, and the only thing offered by the one-cook kitchen was the turkey plate special.
It came with three choices of pie, so Dean wasn't complaining. Plus the coffee was fresh, so Sam was good.
"This is a ritual of gratitude?" Castiel frowned at the over-filled plates, generous themselves and flanked with smaller plates of breads and desserts. "It more resembles gluttony"
" Exactly." Sam smiled up, all mocking innocence. "And that's what we're thankful for."
"You are thankful you can mock Gods will?" Castiel's voice took on the halting tone of one who might - just might - be rethinking Uriel's opinions as to the value of mud-monkeys. At the very least, might be seeing the brighter side of Zachariah's constant petition to just smite the half-demon Samuel and be done with it. Not that either Sam or Dean - or for that matter any of the other angels - expected that Castiel would. For one thing, it would piss off Dean. For another, he didn't have his father's permission. Third, it would *really* piss off Dean.
"It's a family thing." Dean patted the next seat, indicating Castiel should sit down. "The turkey is nice - but that's not what matters."
"You understand symbolic ritual, right?" Sam set down his pen, large eyes focused on the angel. "Large amounts of turkey are just our symbol of the generosity we feel towards our family and our neighbors."
"But you have no neighbors." Cas was sounding just as hesitant now, but less inclined to the wrathful. "Plus all your family is dead, except for the two of you, who are destined to end on opposite sides of the final battle."
"Don't count on that." Dean snagged Castiel a slice of pumpkin pie. It should be noted - Sam's pie. "I'm not fighting Sam, and I am double not letting Michael up my ass. No chance."
"Even if we do end up fighting…" At Dean's snarl Sam quickly added, "Which I am not at all saying will ever happen." As a distraction, Sam passed Castiel his spare fork. "But even when families fight, they try to get it aside today. The rest of the year it's all Uncle Bill the drunk and Aunt Sadie who married the creep, but it's traditional to do better today. For one day we give up the bitching and the snarking. We try to come together and at least share a meal because…well, because it's *Thanksgiving*."
Castiel bent his head, giving Sam the angel's familiar sideways expression. "So you express gratitude by the sacrifice of dining with your disagreeable relatives."
Dean shook his head, but then nodded. "Better than no family at all."
"Very well." Castiel raised one hand. "If that is the human way."
There was a flash of light. When it cleared, Gabriel filled the seat on the other side of Sam. Past him sat Anna, and across from her Zachariah. Uriel and - Dean almost slid under the table - the Morning Star sat at the farthest end."
"My brothers, I ask you to join in this traditional celebration."
"But he's…." Sam pointed to the fallen end of the table.
"You said this was a day for family to put aside such matters." Castiel waved to the waitress, who had evidently spotted the arrivals ( if not their nature) and was already rushing over with more food. "My brothers are my family. All my brothers." Looking at the other angels he added, "So there shall be no smiting over the pie, are we agreed?"
"You got me there." Dean laughed. "Family is family. I just hope to hell the credit card holds out."
The End