Equilibrium
A Supernatural Fanfic
By VG Jekyll

The angel was not certain what it was exactly about the room he was currently in, that appealed so greatly to him. For some sort of reason, he kept seeking it out.

Today was no exception.

Castiel sat stiffly in one of the uncomfortable plastic chair. It was bright orange and attached to the floor with heavy bolts, as if someone had been afraid that the chairs one day might try to lift up their metal legs and stroll out onto the street.

The floor was gray of color and made of one slate. There were many white and gray dots on it. Castiel doubted that they were originally part of the linoleum.

There was a black pantyhose beneath the chair next to him, or so Castiel observed as he stared down his knees. He wondered if anyone was missing it. It wasn't covered with dust yet, so it couldn't have been there for a very long time.

The hum of the machines around him was comforting and the slight chatter-of the elderly women some seats away-familiar. A man next to him was rusting exaggerated with a newspaper, but he was not reading it. Castiel noticed how the man's eyes kept straying to a young woman with blonde hair.

She was standing next to one of the machines and peering inside. The form of her body seemed to please the man besides him, and he rustled even more with the newspaper when she leaned over the machine to peer behind it. Something bright pink stuck out above the line of her tight jeans.

Castiel turned his attention to the machine in front of him. He watched the water and clothing inside go round, lulling him into a state not unlike equilibrium. This was comforting.

He was brought out of that blissful state when the man besides him suddenly stood up and threw the paper down on his seat. He stalked away and disappeared behind a door of which Castiel knew led to a toilet.

As Castiel glanced around, he figured the reason why the man had left was because the blonde woman was now crouching down low to the ground, displaying an ample amount of her bosom. She appeared to be searching for something.

Castiel thought it would only be helpful to ask her if she needed some assistance.

"Madam, can I help you?"

The woman seemed startled to suddenly hear his rough voice and gazed up at him. Her eyes dilated slightly as she appraised his face and then body. She then smiled sweetly before standing up, making Castiel-who was still seated-stare inquiring up at her.

"I seem to have lost a pantyhose," she told him with a small, regretful smile.

"Is it black?"

"Yes it is."

Castiel leaned forwards and plucked the black pantyhose from underneath the chair next to him. He presented it to the woman.

"Is this it?" he questioned, holding it with only his fingertips. The woman laughed delighted and reached out for it. As she took it from him, her fingers brushed intimately over the palm of his hand.

"It is!" Her eyes seemed to sparkle when she smiled. They were brown.

"You're an angel!"

Castiel blinked for a moment at the right assessment, but then gave a quick nod. "Yes I am."

This silenced her for a moment, but then she laughed again. It was the same sort of laugh Dean had when he thought Castiel had said something obviously funny.

"No, I mean it. You're a life saver!"

Castiel nodded again and wondered how she knew that. The man from the newspaper returned from the toilet. He came to a sudden stop when he saw the blonde woman standing in front of Castiel.

The woman quickly threw the black pantyhose in her machine and turned it on again. She then came to sit besides Castiel and threw the newspaper dismissingly to the side. The man from the newspaper hesitated and then opted to go sit near the old ladies.

For a moment both Castiel as the woman stared at the washing machines.

"My name is Leona," she suddenly introduced herself.

"I am Castiel," Castiel answered. He let out the 'Angel of the Lord'-part, since Dean always forbade him to do so. And the lady already seemed to know he was in fact an angel. He should ask her how she knew.

"I like your name," she stated, before he could form the question. She angled her body so she could face him better and Castiel leaned back his chair to give her more room. According to Dean, personal space was very important to humans.

"So... your girlfriend doesn't do your washing for you?" She inquired with a small smile.

Castiel tilted his head slightly to the side as he considered her question. He had no idea how she came to the conclusion that he had a girlfriend nor that said girlfriend didn't want to wash his clothes. Leona giggled, seeming to like the way he moved, and crossed her legs so one leg was softly touching his.

"I do not have a girlfriend," Castiel answered her honestly. She seemed to like that answer.

"I see. And apparently you don't have a washing machine either." She tossed her hair back over a shoulder.

"Mine is broken. Otherwise I would really not go to a place like this to wash my underwear. I mean, you never know what kind of perverts hang around places like this."

Someone near the old ladies seemed to choke on their spit and coughed loudly.

Her intense gaze on Castiel started to make him feel uncomfortable.

"But I'm glad I had to, otherwise I wouldn't have met you," she continued talking. Castiel gave her a quick nod. He supposed he agreed with that sentiment. He always enjoyed meeting new people, specially when they were not possessed.

He was not a social person and could hardly get any practice with demon possessed humans. So what now? Ah, a topic. He needed to talk about something that they could have in common. He nodded to himself as he thought of something and turned towards Leona.

She now had her elbow resting on the back of his seat and leaned towards him. Dean called this invading someone's personal space and that it was not something he should do. But Leona was doing it now and when women did it to Dean, he never seemed to mind it much.

So maybe only women were allowed to invade ones personal space.

Castiel wet his lips as he tried to phrase his question and her eyes strayed to his lips. She was apparently really eager to hold a conversation with him.

"What would you do if it was the last day of the world?" Castiel finally asked.

She blinked startled and leaned slightly back as if to appraise him. "As in, the world explodes tomorrow?" she questioned him.

Castiel nodded gravely. "The Apocalypse."

Leona laughed again and leaned closer. "I would take you home and have my wicked way with you," she whispered in his ear. Her breath was hot and tickled slightly. She leaned back.

"Actually, I don't need the end of the world as an excuse to take you home."

The angel titled his head to the side again and was about to ask her to clarify what she meant with 'wicked way', when his phone went off. Castiel picked it up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Cas? Where are you?"

"I am at the laundromat, Dean."

"What the Hell are you doing there?"

"Washing."

"Well get your winged ass over here! I need your help!"

Castiel frowned. "Where are you?"

"Jane's Dinner in Maine."

"I'll be there in a moment." He hung up the phone and looked back at Leona.

"I have to go," Castiel told the blonde. The look on her face was disgruntled and she had turned away from him so their legs were not touching anymore.

"So you come whenever your boy calls?"

"Yes, Dean wants me to come."

The blonde sighed, the tossing of her hair over a shoulder again was distinguishably different from earlier. "Figures, of course he's a fag. Why can't the cute ones ever not be gay?" she muttered to herself.

Castiel was not stupid. He knew the words were idioms for people who enjoyed sexual relations with those of the same gender, and not that the woman wanted a cigarette or him to not be happy. He didn't know what to answer though.

This sort of miscommunication had happened before and Dean never seemed happy about it. Specially since it was always with him who people thought Castiel was in a sexual relationship with. So he didn't say more to the blonde woman, who appeared have lost total interest in conversing with him.

Castiel got up and turned his machine off in the middle of it's cycle. He took his dripping wet beige trench coat out of the machine, gave it a quick shake and it looked as if it had been in a drier and ironed too.

He put it on, ignoring the silence and incredulous looks from all the people present in the laundromat. He wondered if they never had seen a trench coat before.

He said his goodbyes, but no one in the room replied.

Nevermind. Dean was waiting for him.

The End

VGJekyll: 10 January 2012 - I changed the name from 'Ablution' to 'Equilibrium'. The original name just didn't seem right to me. Changed British spelling to American. I also can't stop giggling over 'Dean wants me to come'.