-o-
Play Fair
"Trick or treat?"
Dean's eyebrows lowered into a frown. Staring with what he assumed was a rather idiotic expression at the person who'd spoken, Dean let his gaze roam over Gabriel for a moment or two.
Although the archangel was wearing the jacket and shirt that Dean had grown accustomed to seeing him in, there was something that was off about his appearance that Dean couldn't quite work out. Scrutiny of Gabriel's body, from head to toe, gave no clue as to what the sense of wrong could be, and Dean found himself becoming slightly irritated by the notion that Gabriel's image was different in some way, and he was unable to spot the change. He was supposed to be excellent at figuring out subtle edits on a person or in a location, because not noticing certain changes could cost him or his brother their lives. Knowing there was something different and not being able to gain knowledge of what that specific alteration could be was truly enraging.
"And here I thought you only saved eye sex for Castiel."
The comment tore Dean from his thoughts. Blinking rapidly to regain his focus, Dean realised that he was frowning as he contemplated the meaning behind the words. What the hell was Gabriel talking about? Eyes narrowing a touch, Dean's confusion slowly seeped away, only to be replaced by embarrassment and annoyance as he realised he'd been staring directly at Gabriel's eyes while he'd been trying to figure out his little problem.
Feeling the heat rise onto his cheeks and praying it didn't show in the dark light, Dean rolled his eyes and moved back from the door, allowing Gabriel and Castiel - who'd been standing there quietly the entire time - to enter the room.
Slamming the door shut once the two were inside, not caring about the loud thud it produced, Dean let his attention fall on Castiel. Grateful that the difference in his friend was utterly obvious, Dean couldn't prevent the small smile that made its way onto his face. Sporting a dark cape, Castiel was dressed in a black suit, had his hair slicked back, and had fangs sticking out of his mouth.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Sam asked. Dean turned to his brother, unsurprised by the fact that he'd closed his laptop and was glancing at Castiel with bewilderment. Sam really did have a bad memory when it came to activities not associated with hunting.
"Our bet, Sammy."
Dean grinned. Waiting for the realisation to dawn on Sam's features, Dean felt his lips lower into a satisfied smile as Sam closed his eyes and sighed.
It had been a quick and easy bet, one that Dean had known he'd win from the get go; once victory had been accomplished, he had happily stated his demands. Regardless of Sam's - or his own - feelings towards Halloween, the two were going to celebrate this year, in style, and they were going to have fun while doing so. Of course, he hadn't planned on Castiel or Gabriel finding out about it, but as soon as Gabriel had become privy to their deal, dismissing the two from joining the celebration had been nigh on impossible.
"I still fail to see why I had to dress up."
"It's part of the tradition, bro. Plus, it gives us the opportunity to see how the other side lives," Gabriel said, patting Castiel on the shoulder a couple of times.
"Other side?"
Dean could imagine the speed that the cogs in Sam's head were spinning at. He couldn't make sense of Gabriel's comment, but wanted answers, and Dean couldn't blame him. Were angels cryptic by default, or was it just the ones that liked to pester them that seemed to be?
"Vampires," Castiel responded, and when two sets of eyes landed on him, both lacking signs of understanding, he looked to the floor with a tiny frown. Bringing his gaze back up, he locked his eyes with Dean.
"Gabriel thought it would be funny if we dressed as fictional vampires, rather than real ones, so we could see why your kind enjoy it so much," he elaborated, though the words sounded awkward coming from his mouth, almost as if they were scripted.
Befuddlement coursing through him immediately, Dean glanced at Gabriel, wondering what the guy was thinking. Dress up as fictional vampires? Sure, Castiel was in a costume, but Gabriel wasn't. He'd put no effort into it whatsoever, had he? He was in his usual clothes, didn't have fangs - fake or real - protruding from his mouth, his skin...
And then Dean finally realised exactly what had been bugging him about Gabriel's appearance.
It was extremely subtle; if he hadn't been looking for it, he would have had no hope of picking up on it. Eyes going wide, Dean stared open mouthed at the archangel, disbelief radiating off him in waves.
In the artificial light of the room, it was clear that Gabriel's skin was far too pale. The natural amber of his eyes was much duller than normal; Dean figured that the reason he'd been so transfixed with Gabriel's eyes earlier was because he'd known, subconsciously, that they were one of the things that had been edited. Despite having no evidence for it, Dean suspected that, had it been day time when he'd opened the door on the two angels, the freakin' douchebag would have been sparkling.
Gabriel was dressed up as a vampire, the same as Castiel. Only, he'd chosen the stupid piece of crap book Twilight as his source for a costume, rather than a movie like Castiel.
What on Earth was he thinking?
Shaking his head to try and wrap his mind around Gabriel's bizarre way of doing things, Dean's gaze was drawn to Gabriel's features. The bastard was looking at him, and that all too familiar smirk was plastered on his face, almost as if he knew that Dean had just put the pieces of the puzzle together. Allowing his expression to drop in disgust, Dean drew out a snort.
"Didn't know you were a fan of sparkly dicks who like knocking up teenage girls, Gabriel," he commented, letting a smirk of his own rise onto his lips.
Gabriel's expression didn't falter, though his eyebrows did lift up a minuscule amount. "The boning doesn't happen until the last book, bucko. But, you'd have to have read them all to know that."
Dean's smirk disappeared instantly.
"You've read Twilight?" Sam asked, in the tone he usually saved for when he thought Dean was being a colossal idiot.
"No!"
It was the truth. He'd heard of the books, had even looked them up on the internet, but after a minute or two of skimming over the summary of the series, he'd quickly slammed his brother's laptop shut in disgust.
"That came out a bit fast, don't you think?"
The problem was, Gabriel almost certainly knew that Dean wasn't lying. In all probability, if the smug tone emitting from the archangel was any indication, Gabriel was just mocking him, and trying to make Sam think he had read Twilight while he was at it. The guy really was a dick.
"Go to Hell, Gabriel."
"So, have you?" Turning to give Sam his best 'I am going to kill you if you utter another word' expression, Dean had to hold back on the gesture he wanted to manouevre his hand into. Swearing at Sam wasn't going to be of any help, nor would it improve on his chances of getting Sam to believe him.
"No, Sam, I haven't," he stated.
"What is Twilight?" That was Castiel. He appeared to be rather confused by the direction in which the conversation had turned, although he wasn't tilting his head.
Yet.
Dean had the sneaking suspicion that, given the night continued on like it had been for the past couple of minutes, Castiel would indeed be doing the action Dean was far too used to seeing come from him.
"It doesn't matter." Holding up his hand when both Sam and Gabriel, the bastards, opened their mouths in the attempt to protest, Dean glanced around the room.
"Now, like I said, our bet..." It took a few seconds, and some quick darting of his eyes over the two beds, but Dean easily found what he was looking for. Allowing a grin to lift in place where, moments ago, a scowl had been marring his features, Dean stepped over to Sam's bed and grabbed the bag that was resting on the floor beside it. Without warning, he threw the bag at his brother, and couldn't quite contain his chuckle when, after the bag collided with Sam's head, his brother proceeded to mutter a questionable insult.
They were going to have a good time tonight, whether Sam liked it or not.
-o-
The small fair-like park was just as Dean had suspected it would be. Tatty decorations were hooked around every available surface and tree, lights were placed at strategic points to make sure every detail could be seen properly, and almost everyone was dressed up in some sort of costume.
Glancing over at his brother, Dean let a smirk rise onto his lips. Sam was wearing fake bandages that covered practically every visible part of his person. His mouth and eyes had been left unwrapped, obviously, as had his fingers, but everywhere else had been put under the cheap material Dean had found in one of the local stores that had been selling stuff for Halloween. Glad that he'd made it so he could opt out of wearing a costume if he won their bet, Dean adjusted his customary jacket and lifted his chin slightly when Sam sent a glare his way.
Taking his eyes off his brother, Dean took a good, proper look around at the people who'd decided to come to this place. Scrutiny helped him come to the conclusion that, actually, he was the only person not wearing anything out of the ordinary. Although, thinking over it, all the people here would assume that Gabriel wasn't dressed up either, considering his outfit was pretty much impossible to identify without sunlight.
Dean's smirk lowered into a scowl. Wasn't that just peachy? Was it so hard to ask for one night where he could mock Gabriel mercilessly? If he were to even make a passing comment about Gabriel's costume, someone would point out to him that there was nothing about what Gabriel was wearing to take the mick of, and that'd make Dean look like the idiot. It wasn't fair.
Blowing out a sigh, Dean turned his attention back to his brother and Castiel. The two were currently in a heated discussion about something Dean really wasn't interested in, and they had been for the past 20 minutes. What was so fascinating that it could take their focus from all the food and games surrounding them?
"Want to go another round?"
Gabriel sounded just as bored as Dean felt. The question brought Dean from his thoughts, and he found himself nodding in spite of the fact that, in reality, he just wanted to get back to the motel. This place wasn't even half as fun as he'd hoped it would be. Though, he had to admit, the competition he and Gabriel had started the moment they'd arrived had been rather interesting, if not downright enjoyable.
So far, Gabriel had won each of their little games, but Dean wasn't going to let his earlier defeats get him down.
"What do you have in mind?"
"How about we make it simple? I choose a girl for you, you choose one for me. Whoever gets the phone number of their girl first wins."
Dean smiled. Now that was more like it. Forget apples, pumpkins and stupid carnival type games, this was something he could claim a victory at. Thankful that, for whatever peculiar reason, Gabriel's mind seemed to work in a strangely similar way to his own, Dean nodded his head once more.
"You're on."
-o-
"What is he doing?"
Sam was confused. He was, truthfully, feeling quite a few emotions right now - annoyance at how uncomfortable his costume was, anger at Castiel's vague but logical arguments in retaliation to his own opinions about Halloween, weariness at having been on his feet for far too long - but bewilderment was the one currently taking precedence right now.
Gabriel allowed a grin to form on his face. "We're playing."
Sam shook his head and sighed. Watching as Dean continued to chat away, making wild gestures with his arms as he spoke to a woman wearing what Sam thought to be a Darth Vader outfit - it was hard to tell with the mash up of materials that she'd somehow thrown together to make her costume - Sam felt his weariness grow all the more. What could his brother and Gabriel possibly be competing over now? In all honesty, he was too tired to ask; he didn't know if it was because he was afraid of the answer, or if it was due to him not really caring.
It took a moment, but Dean flashed the woman a blinding smile as she slipped him a piece of paper, before giving her a quick goodbye. He then proceeded to head back over to Gabriel, Sam and Castiel, waving the paper around in triumph as he did so.
"Why do you feel the need to keep competing against each other?" Castiel asked, voicing Sam's feelings. It appeared that Castiel was just as frustrated with his brother's antics as Sam was with Dean's. Sam felt a swell of glee wash through him. Having an ally was nice.
"Because, Cas, I need to show sparkles here just who he's messing with," Dean replied cheerfully, before turning his gaze to Gabriel. "Care to back down, save you the humiliation of losing?"
Gabriel snorted. "Stand back and learn, chuckles."
Sam stared, never letting his eyes leave Gabriel's form as the archangel sauntered over to one of the many 'zombies' in the area. Almost immediately, before half a minute had gone by, the woman was responding in a very positive way to whatever Gabriel was saying to her, and it was no wonder as to why. Gabriel's body language screamed confidence - every movement he made was like a more professional, polished version of what Dean would do if he were in Gabriel's position. And, judging by the way in which Dean had gone stiff beside him, his brother was well aware of this fact. Whatever their bet had been this time, from the looks of things, Gabriel was going to claim an easy and fast win.
"Are you well, Dean?"
Attention shifting to Castiel when he spoke, Sam's eyebrows lowered into a frown as he took in the angel's expression. Castiel looked genuinely concerned, as though he believed that Dean wasn't okay. Sure, Dean's pride would probably be hurt by this, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing - when it came to seducing women, Dean had enough of an ego to spare.
"Yeah... Yes."
Startled by Dean's answer, Sam's gaze moved to lock onto Dean's form. Dean was... smiling? The expression wasn't friendly, in any sense of the term, but it was a smile regardless. What on Earth was his brother thinking?
"There's no way in Hell I'm letting him win this one," Dean stated.
"Dude, how do you plan on stopping him?"
Dean turned to Sam, narrowed his eyes, and, if it were possible, his smile became that much more devious. "Watch and learn, Sammy."
Staring dumbly as Dean practically stalked over to Gabriel and the woman, Sam felt a sudden sense of foreboding wash through him. He needed to stop whatever it was that Dean was going to do, but he couldn't - or perhaps, subconsciously, didn't want to - move his legs. He was stuck, and it was probably due to curiosity. How on Earth could Dean manage to stop Gabriel from gaining victory? What method could he possibly use to...
And then Sam got his answer.
-o-
Dean was not self-conscious when it came to women. Hell, flirting was almost certainly one of the actions he was best at, and he was not ashamed to admit it. He could take rejection, he could take being hit on by an unwanted source, and he could take being stood up. Yes, it was definitely better when he managed to get a true night of fun out of his attempts at seduction, but that couldn't happen every time, and Dean was okay with that knowledge. He had enough experience to not let anything get him down.
As he walked over to Gabriel and the woman Dean had pointed him in the direction of, Dean tried to keep his nerves in check. All he had to do was treat this like any other moment in which he'd flirted with someone. Determination was also an emotion he could use to help push him forwards to do what he wanted to.
Coming to a stop beside Gabriel, he was acutely aware of the archangel hushing all speak so he could glance at him with a raised eyebrow.
When Dean failed to say anything, Gabriel asked, "Yes?"
Dean grinned. It was now or never. He needed to do this to throw the girl off and make her completely forget about wanting to give Gabriel her number. Bringing his arm up to curl it around Gabriel's shoulders, Dean turned to lock his eyes with Gabriel's bright, befuddled gaze.
"Just wanted to see what you were doing, honey," he exclaimed; he did an excellent job of halting the grimace he wanted to produce when those words left his mouth.
Before Gabriel could ask him what the hell he was talking about, Dean, falling back on all the backbone he could muster up, brought his head down and kissed Gabriel square on the lips. To his credit, Gabriel didn't seem the least bit surprised. Despite that, the way his eyes widened, if only a touch, indicated that he had not been expecting the action.
Keeping their lips pressed together for a moment longer than was necessary - the woman had rushed off rather rapidly, but not before letting out a small, almost squeak-like noise of shock - Dean revelled in the warmth emitting from Gabriel's skin. It was a wonderful heat in comparison to the harsh cold of the October air.
Pulling back reluctantly after a few seconds, Dean absently trailed his tongue over his lips. He realised that he was probably smirking like a buffoon, but he felt he was entitled to be smug right now. The girl had vanished, and, even if Gabriel could convince her to give him her number, there was no way in Hell he'd be able to do it fast enough to win.
Dean was victorious, and there was nothing Gabriel could do about it.
-o-
Sam couldn't quite figure out which he wanted to do more right now: get drunk from alcohol, or drown his brother in a tank of the stuff. In all honesty, the latter was looking to be the more desirable option, but Sam knew that it really wouldn't buy him any peace. Somehow, in some way, Dean would find a way to either torment him from beyond the grave, or come back to life and murder him. Neither of those were very appealing.
That, obviously, left him with idea number one, but he had a problem pulling that one off. Considering they were in the middle of nowhere, in God knows which state, with their only way of getting back to civilisation by the night's end being useless - Gabriel and Castiel were not with them - getting any kind of alcohol would be a miracle.
Regardless of the fact that it was Gabriel who'd moved them here, Sam still blamed the entire thing on Dean. Everything about this screwed up, irritating predicament was all on his brother's shoulders.
If the idiot hadn't insisted on attempting to outdo Gabriel at every little thing - candy consumption (like that would ever be possible), pranks, even bobbing for freakin' apples - then Gabriel wouldn't have got pissy because Dean had decided to try and cheat an archangel, and they would not be here right now.
"I didn't cheat!"
Apparently, he'd been muttering to himself, rather than keeping those thoughts private, yet Sam couldn't bring himself to care. Glaring, he wasn't at all surprised when he felt his face heat up in frustration and anger.
"If you hadn't made that bet in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess, Dean!"
"You know, for brothers, you really do fight an awful lot."
Rounding on Gabriel when he appeared out of nowhere, Sam seethed.
"What, so your brothers are peace keepers of the century?" Dean barked, also turning his attention on Gabriel. Happy that the target of their fury could be directed at a single source, Sam gladly let a snort escape at Dean's comment.
"Maybe you should calm down."
The new voice - familiar, yet incredibly unwanted at this very moment - made Dean pause for a second in complete shock. Then, as Sam watched his brother's mind catch up with the fact that Castiel, who was now standing in the field too, was talking to him, the rage Sam witnessed flash through Dean's eyes was not unexpected in the slightest.
"You want me to calm down? He's the douchebag that teleported us to who the hell knows where, because he can't take losing a goddamn game!"
"You cheated," Gabriel said, tilting his head slightly as his lips drew into a thin line; although the expression was supposed to show disapproval, Sam got the feeling that Gabriel was more amused than anything.
"Oh, shut up."
"But you did cheat, Dean."
Sam laughed. It couldn't be helped, nor was it something he regretted. The look on Dean's face after Castiel's words was hilarious. It was as if Castiel had just kicked the Impala, followed by throwing it off a cliff. Sam was unable to distinguish whether the utter horror was in regards to Castiel betraying Dean by agreeing with Gabriel, or if it was simply due to having been called out by his supposed friend. It didn't matter either way, because the expression was something that Sam hadn't seen on his brother's face before, and it was glorious to witness.
"Whose side are you on?" Dean asked; accusation was evident in his tone.
Castiel frowned. "I'm not on any side, Dean. I don't understand why you're getting upset by this."
Dean practically growled. "It's not like we made any rules."
"I didn't think we'd need to. But, apparently, you need to be told you're not supposed to kiss me while I'm talking to a girl," Gabriel commented, and although his tone was serious, his expression was anything but.
This only increased Dean's rage, if his snarl was any indication.
Sam could do nothing but continue to watch on in amusement. His brother really did do some odd things at times, but, on nights like this, Sam couldn't complain; not when it was providing him with so much teasing ammunition to use on another day.
-o-