Hello everyone,
back with another small one-shot for Supernatural.
When I was writing yesterday at some point I had enough of hurt/comfort, angst and so on, so I tried humour. But the only fandom I was in the mood for was SPN. The problem was, I couldn't come up with anything... ^^' Supernatural and humour aren't easy to put together.
In the end what came out was this. Just some angel fluff, because I like them so much. It's not humour but nothing sad either. Task accomplished.
Enough talking, let's continue on to a big brother Gabriel and a cute Castiel.
Disclaimer: Every right to the fluffy wings belongs to their creators not me.
Sun is shining. Birds singing in the trees around the meadow. The scent of flowers and grass surrounds him. Ah yes, life is good like that. He stretches his arms above his head slightly. His wings twitch softly in contentment at the same time as he releases a silent sigh in relaxation.
Yes, the archangel Gabriel is happy right now.
Just laying in the grass, simply relaxing in the sun. Okay, maybe he might be shirking his duties a bit but his father doesn't really have any messages lately. Heaven is peaceful as well so he has practically nothing to do. Not that he doesn't enjoy it. The only thing that is missing is some tasty fruit.
He is so absentminded that he doesn't even really notice the soft footsteps and the rustling of grass. What he does notice when something suddenly bumps against the edge of his wings. Only to stumble over it and land on his massive, golden feathers with a small squeak.
He shoots up but doesn't get far. The unexpected weight on his wing, comparatively light as it is, throws him enough of balance to tip over. So he flops back on his side clumsily. A slightly annoyed furrow comes to his brow. But before he can snap at whoever this is he hears a light giggle that derails his annoyance.
So instead of trying to get up, he looks down at what disturbed his rest. And is surprised to see a fledgling, a very young one at that. He can't be much older than the equivalent of a two years old human child. The little boy has the most dishevelled head of hair he has ever seen. A few twigs and leaves are stuck in his pitch black strands. From a happy, childish face stare two big, bright blue eyes at him. The fledgling is grinning widely, apparently very content where he is, on Gabriel's wings. His own small wings are of a deep dark blue, ranging on ebony. They are fluttering excitedly on the young one's back, but not yet strong enough to actually carry the child.
But what is he doing here? The fledglings are kept a good deal away from where he was taking his nap. Not to mention that a child this young lives in a group that usually has several attendants to keep them safe. How did the little thing get here? And he doesn't even look lost, in fact he seems gleeful about his discovery of the archangel.
Said angel stretches out his arms at a slightly awkward angle to lift the fledgling off his wing and position him on his lap, sitting up in one fluid motion. The little being giggles happily and still tries to grab at the golden feathers.
"So, little one. You quite startled me," he grins, poking the fledgling's side in retaliation and earning a loud giggle for it, "What's your name then, little one?"
"Castiel," the fledgling's voice is high but filled with a happy excitement the archangel hasn't heard in far too long.
"And what are you doing here, little one? Shouldn't you be with your flock?"
"They weres boring," the raven grins, managing to get a hold of a bright golden feather, causing Gabriel to twitch his wings away from the fledgling's hand, "Wanna play with big bwother."
"What about your attendants?" the archangel frowns, wondering which incompetent angel was put in charge of Castiel's flock. The fledgling could have hurt himself running around on his own like that.
"Didn notice. I'm too good," the blue eyes shine proudly, dark wings fluffing up on his back, "Sneaked away. No one saw."
"How did you find me? You're far away from the fledgling station, little one. You must have come across other angels on the way here. Why come to me?" the smile stays on his face though.
"Like your wings," Castiel shrugs, grabbing at the golden feathers again, which the older has cautiously moved out of his reach, "They beau… betiful. Nice colour, so warm."
"You mean beautiful, I guess," the archangel corrects with a chuckle, "Well, I'm glad you like them," he stands up with the fledgling still in his arms, "And as cute as I find you, you can't stay here. You're still too young to be out on your own. I have to return you to your flock and attendants."
Immediately a sad and annoyed pout comes to the young one's face, "Don't want!" he protests, "Theys boring and mean."
"Mean?" Gabriel frowns.
Castiel suddenly avoids his eyes and starts to squirm in his arms. Deep furrow settling in his brow, the archangel pulls the other's face to him, staring straight into those intense blue eyes.
"What do you mean with that, little one?"
Finally the raven answers though not without some more squirming, "Some say my wings is bad. Is black. Too dark, so is evil. Call me evil."
"Oh, little one," Gabriel pulls the now sniffling fledgling to his shoulder, wrapping his huge, golden wings around the small being. He strokes the quivering dark blue wings, cursing whoever is in charge of this flock even more, "Don't listen to them. Your wings aren't evil. There is no such thing. They are just a different colour. And I think they are beautiful with all those different tones. Much nicer than just some dull white if you ask me. And the last thing you are is evil, little one. You are the sweetest fledgling I met in a long time. Most fledglings would scare away from me, but you just smile at me. Just don't listen to the lies they tell you, okay?"
Castiel nods, rubbing his face in the golden wings. The archangel doesn't even care that he might be getting snot or tears on his feathers. Instead he just bounces the little being in his arms a few times. Once he is sure the other has calmed down he starts to tickle his sides. The little hiccups soon dissolve into crazed giggles as the fledgling squirms in his older brother's grasp.
One moment to breathe is enough from the small raven to gasp out a question with shining eyes, "Big bwother playing?"
"Yes, playing, little Cassie," Gabriel laughs, "But in the evening I get you back to your flock, understand?"
For a moment the pout settles again but after a stern look from the archangel it changes to a nod. Gabriel smiles. Not how he planned to spend his day but he doesn't complain about the changes.
So when he flies back to the fledgling station in the evening with a sleeping Castiel in his arms, a soft smile is a permanent fixture on his face. The little fledgling has exhausted himself running around the whole day and is now sleeping happily snuggled into his brother's shoulder. When the archangel touches down in front of the fledgling station where the smallest are kept, it's already dark. It earns him a curious look from the female angel standing in the entrance hall. Her light brown wings bow in submission to his power.
"What can I do for you, archangel Gabriel?"
"At first, don't be so formal, please," he waves her off, "Secondly, I found a wayward fledgling wandering around the gardens today. I wanted to return him to the flock he belonged to."
"A wayward…" she frowns for a moment, then sighs, "Ah, is it Castiel again?"
"Yes," the archangel opens his wings to show the contentedly sleeping angel on his shoulder to the other, "How do you know?"
"Well, it's by far not the first time he managed to sneak out and there is only one fledgling who constantly does that," she sighs.
"He did that before?" he can't help an amused face.
"Yes, a number of times by now," she bows her head, "Thank you very much for bringing him back here. I am sorry for any inconvenience he has given you."
Gabriel laughs and waves her off, "Aw, no problem at all. In fact I had a happy afternoon playing with him. It was nice," then his face hardens, "But I would like to talk to the angel attending to his flock please."
"Of course. As you wish," she nods, "Please wait here for a moment," then she's gone, hurrying down one of the long corridors.
A few moments later in which Gabriel has been humming to his little companion, she returns with an annoyed looking male at her side, dirty grey wings held high behind his back. His face freezes when he spots the archangel. And anger flashes across his carefully blank expression when his eyes land on Castiel, which has Gabriel tightening his hold on the fledgling. The male angel steps in front of him, whole posture stiff, while the female melts into the background.
"And you are?" Gabriel asks, cold tones slipping into his voice.
"Zachariah, Sir, at your service," he bows his head, even he understands that he is probably in trouble.
"And you are the angel in charge of the flock which includes Castiel here? By the way, shouldn't there be at least two of you during the day? Where is the other?" he glares at lower angel.
"Sophia is unable to report to her post at the moment," the other answers with a face like he smelled something awful, "So I am the only caretaker during the day at the moment. But yes, Castiel is part of the flock which was put in my charge."
Golden eyes narrow, "So how did you not notice that he ran off today?"
"No offense, but there are ten fledglings in my group alone. I am on my own. It is not possible to keep an eye on all of them at the same time," Gabriel likes this angel and his condescending tone less every second he has to talk to him.
"No offense," he mocks the other's words, "But it has been hours since I found him and it must have taken him even longer to get from here to my location. How can you in all that time never have noticed that he was missing and sent out someone to search for him or something?" six golden wings flare out in anger, which have the other taking a cautious step back and grey wings dropping in submission.
"I am sorry. He is just badly behaved. If he inconvenienced you, I can – " he starts, biting his lower lip in clear anger.
"If you say 'punish him' now, I can't guarantee for my actions anymore," the archangel growls, "He doesn't need to get punished. He just needs someone who actually cares about him. Did you even noticed he was getting bullied by other fledglings?" At the wide eyed expression of the other angel he snorts, "No, of course not. You don't even notice when he's gone, how could you care enough to look at how he is treated," Gabriel sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "Alright, since I honestly don't trust you with him right now, I will take little Cassie with me to my nest for this night. Tomorrow I will talk to father about this. If he won't assign a new attendant to this flock, I will ask him to let me adopt Castiel, at least until Sophia returns. Should Castiel be returned to your care, treat him better. Am I making myself clear?" he growls the question.
Hastily Zachariah nods, annoyance the biggest factor in his expression. After a last glare at the grey-winged angel and a short blast of grace, just to enforce his words, Gabriel turns around again. He grips Castiel close to his body and spreads his wings again to take flight back to his own nest. Normally fledglings have to be kept in small groups and not alone. It's not exactly good for them. But since Castiel seems uncomfortable in his flock and apparently prefers to be alone anyway it should be fine. At least he will be safe from Zachariah in Gabriel's quarters.
When the archangel finally touches down on the edge of his nest, the fledgling has left a bit of drool on the shoulder of his tunic, but the older doesn't care. Careful not to jostle the little being he lowers Castiel into what he knows to be the softest part of the nest. The raven gives a contented sigh and snuggles his face into the feathers and silk against his cheek. Gabriel smiles a soft smile. Father, he hasn't been taking care of a fledgling since the time when it had only been the four archangels and the old man created the first lower angels. But it comes back pretty easily as he drops down to lay in the nest next to Castiel. He then spreads out two of his wings to create a blanket and a protective dome over the very young angel. A smile comes to the sleeping raven's face and he snuggles closer to his brother. The archangel smiles as well but soon he too starts to fall asleep. And eventually drifts off with knowledge that Castiel, the curious fledgling he came to know today, is safe next to him.
That's it. Thanks for reading.
I might write more one-shots like that whenever I need a break the next time.
Please review and maybe see you then.