It was that boring time when he had to wait all day for the next piece of his prank. The timing was critical, and he couldn't make his move even an hour early. So he was waiting. The problem was that his patience was- limited. Not nonexistent, just small.

So he was trying to come up with something to do while he was waiting. He just needed an idea. Ice cream sounded good, but he wanted something more. What went with ice cream?

And then he remembered that the apocalypse was coming up in just five to ten years, depending on how things went. It could be averted, but since Michael and Raphael apparently wanted it, that seemed unlikely. And there were vessels for the apocalypse. He could go see them while he waited for the prank to get ready. They were separated, so he'd probably only have time for one, but it could still be interesting.

Michael's vessel was working with his father as a hunter, and Lucifer's vessel had run away to college. That was such a Lucifer move.

Gabriel didn't want to have to handle hunters, so he headed for Stanford, where Lucifer's vessel was a freshman in pre-law. He landed neatly on an abandoned section of elevated walkway and snapped up a strawberry ice cream cone.

It was so early it wasn't bright on a Saturday, so Gabriel wasn't surprised that the campus was practically abandoned. Most of the students were in the dorms, sleeping off the effects of whatever they'd done Friday night. But Gabriel's instincts had told him Lucifer's vessel would show up here in a few minutes, so the human must be on his way.

Sam was desperately excited to be at Stanford, and working terribly hard to prove that John had been wrong. A former hunter really could go to school and join civilian life. Sam just wanted to stay out of hunting, become a lawyer, and do something meaningful with his life.

So he was walking down the sidewalk on the way to the library from his dorm. He wanted to get a head start on the homework he needed to do over the weekend. It was only two days, after all.

Gabriel sensed someone coming. It was Lucifer's vessel, he could tell. The sense he got from the human was like Lucifer had felt before he went dark and fell. It was shockingly attractive. He looked over, and saw the most adorable human with the loveliest soul he'd ever seen. Yes, there was a taint from Azazel's blood, but it acted as a foil for Sam's natural beauty and purity.

Gabriel had been planning to stalk Sam for a little while to get an idea of what he was like and then leave, but he suddenly didn't like that plan anymore. He wanted to talk to Sam. He wanted to see if he could get Sam's soul to light up with happiness, maybe even see it reach out for him. He was totally hooked.

It was a dumb plan. Gabriel didn't think it through first at all. Sam's presence was so dazzling Gabriel was having a hard time with any kind of coherent thought.

Gabriel 'accidentally' dropped his silly, rainbow colored flip-flop through the gap between the stone edge of the walkway and the metal railing. It fell down a story towards Sam.

Sam still had a hunter's instincts and reactions, and his first reaction to an unknown object flying toward his head was to duck sideways and take a defensive pose. He blinked at seeing a flip-flop and straightened up.

The gears turned in his head for a moment, and he looked up. A stranger was standing on the walkway, smiling sheepishly at him.

"Hey, sorry," Gabriel called down. "I can be kinda clumsy sometimes."

"That's alright," Sam said with a dazzling smile that lit up the whole block. At least, Gabriel thought it did. He had the most beautiful hazel eyes... yeah, Gabriel was in so much trouble. He wasn't supposed to fall for Lucifer's vessel! It just couldn't happen.

Sam was reevaluating his assumption that he was straight. His dad had taught him that hunters couldn't be gay, and he'd never felt strongly enough romantically about anyone to bother questioning it. He just wasn't interested in romance. But now the adorable little golden haired man up on the walkway was making him question those assumptions.

He was just so cute, holding his ice cream sideways, seemingly unaware that it was dripping onto his hand. A blush gave color to his cheeks, and his shimmery hazel eyes had an enchanting glow to them.

"I could throw you your flip-flop," Sam offered. He knew it wasn't really his problem, but he liked helping people. And it might give him a chance to talk more with the guy, maybe even get his phone number.

"Really?" Gabriel asked gratefully. "Thanks so much." Internally he was dancing with excitement. That had been exactly what he'd hoped Sam would offer.

Sam knew how to throw. He'd learned to make much more difficult shots with harder-to-throw objects when he was only seven. So he knew it wouldn't be a problem to get the cute guy's flip-flop up one story and over the railing. At least, it shouldn't have been.

Maybe Sam was paying to much attention to making sure his muscles were visible while he was throwing, because the flip-flop bounced off the top rail and fell back down. It had been a decent throw, so he wasn't sure what had gone wrong.

Gabriel watched Sam's confusion and quietly hid his smirk. He didn't want his chance to connect with Sam to be over that quickly, so he'd used magic to alter the flip-flop's flight. He almost hadn't done it in time because he'd been so distracted watching Sam throw, but he'd managed.

"I guess it's higher than it looks," Sam said, blushing.

"Surprised it's hard for you," Gabriel noted. "You're like, almost as tall as the walkway."

"Maybe compared to you," Sam threw back. "You're what, five foot zero?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes for dramatic effect. This was fun. Maybe he could come back to Stanford and talk to Sam more when he finished the other prank he'd had brewing. "I'm not that short, Godzilla," he said.

Sam laughed. "Godzilla?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Moose?"

"Just call me Sam," Sam said.

"OK, Samsquatch," Gabriel said cheekily. "Call me Gabe." Why had he given his actual name? He should've used some random name, just in case. It wasn't safe. He never went by Gabriel anymore.

Sam tried throwing the flip-flop again. Ridiculously, he missed again. This time it went too high and soared over the walkway, landing on the grass on the other side. He really needed to work on his throwing. How had he gotten this bad?

"I guess I overcompensated," he said. He had to run under the walkway and through a flower bed to find that pesky rainbow flip-flip. At least the vibrant colors made it easy to spot.

"I'd probably have missed by more," Gabe admitted. "You were close." He was pretty obviously only trying to make Sam feel better. It wasn't very helpful.

Gabriel carefully watched Sam set up the new throw, waiting for the right moment to mess with the sandal and make Sam miss again. He didn't wanna risk Sam making the throw or realizing that someone was messing with him. Sam's hunter training was still in effect, and he'd need to play his cards right to be sure Sam wouldn't catch on. The last thing he needed was his new crush trying to hunt him. That would just be a disaster.

"I'm supposed to know how to throw," Sam joked.

"Were you in track and field in high school or something?" Gabriel asked innocently.

"Nah," Sam said. "My dad was former marines. He insisted I learn all sorts of army stuff as a kid."

"That sucks," Gabriel said sympathetically, or as close to sympathetically as he could get. He had caught the dark look on Sam's face. Sam clearly hadn't wanted to train as a hunter. Gabriel couldn't blame him, and it made him more curious. Sam was an interesting person.

Sam threw the shoe again, and it bounced off the side of the walkway. He groaned. "Are you sure there isn't a hex on your shoe?"

Gabriel laughed. "I think it's just that flip-flops aren't aerodynamic- like, at all."

Sam was too busy trying to recreate Gabriel's laugh in his mind to throw very well at all. It was so beautiful, and horrifically distracting. He would've compared it to a chorus of angels, but he wasn't quite that gone yet. OK, so maybe he was. And Gabriel was staring down at him with those gorgeous, sparkly gold eyes...

Gabriel didn't even have to use magic on his flip-flop that time. Sam's throw naturally bounced off the rail like his first throw had with help.

"Sorry," Sam said, flushing. "I'm not sure what's going wrong."

"Am I distracting you?" Gabriel asked suggestively.

Sam blushed again. "No, no of course not," he said too quickly.

Gabriel's smirk widened.

Gabe's pleased smirk gave Sam a little extra courage. He wasn't a complete novice at flirting, sort of, and Gabriel was clearly interested. He could do this.

"Maybe my shirt's restricting my shoulders," Sam suggested. "That could be throwing off my aim." He tugged off his shirt. It wasn't really the kind of shirt that messed up movement, but Gabriel didn't look like he was complaining. His eyes had gone a little wide, and he was very obviously checking Sam out.

Gabriel was trying to remember why he couldn't gawk at Sam's bare chest like an idiot. It was well worth looking at, and not looking like an idiot was surely unimportant. It certainly didn't seem crucial in the moment. He was so thoroughly distracted he almost missed Sam's next throw, which would've easily landed on the walkway. That would've been bad. Sam had no reason to stick around yet, so Gabriel had to keep him stuck here and interested for longer. Hopefully he wouldn't get frustrated and give up on getting the flip-flop where he wanted it.

Sam sighed resignedly and went to pick up the fallen flip-flop. "I don't think your sandal likes me," he complained.

"Sorry," Gabriel said. "She can be a bit cantankerous."

"She?" Sam asked.

Gabriel nodded over seriously. "Rainbow's definitely a she," he said. "My other flip-flop, Strap, is a he."

"You named your flip-flops?" Sam asked, amused.

"Of course," Gabriel said. "All creatures deserve names."

"Sure," Sam said, trying not to laugh.

"Hey!" Gabriel protested. "Don't hate on my flip-flops."

Sam choked with laughter. "Your- your- flip-flops-" he started, but he was laughing too hard to finish.

Gabriel yanked off his other flip-flop, Strap, and chucked it at Sam's head. He missed by about as far as it was possible too, but he got his point across.

Sam raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not picking on your flip-flops," he reassured. He was still trying really hard not to laugh.

"Humph," Gabriel complained.

Sam tossed both flip-flops up to the walkway at the same time. Strap landed neatly, but Rainbow bounced off the lowest rail and dropped back down. Sam groaned. "There. Proof your flip-flop hates me," he complained.

"Well, you did just insult her," Gabriel said. "Maybe you should apologize."

"Seriously?" Sam asked.

Gabriel shrugged. "Stranger things have worked."

"Huh," Sam said. He smiled. "Guess it can't hurt."

He walked over to the brilliant rainbow striped sandal. "Rainbow, I'm sorry I laughed at you," he said. He felt very silly. But it was Gabe's idea, so he couldn't pick on Sam for trying it. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Can you let me throw you onto the walkway? I'm sure Gabe has someplace he needs to be."

Gabriel was so busy watching Sam be adorably cute and apologize to a flip-flop that he missed with his magic and Rainbow landed on the walkway. "Huh," he said. "I guess it worked."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure it was the apology that made her land on the walkway that time," he snarked.

"Maybe a placebo effect," Gabriel suggested. "So, I guess-" he stopped. He didn't want to say the logical words that would end the conversation and let him hurry back to his almost forgotten prank to finish it. He didn't want to leave Sam.

"Maybe we could go out for coffee sometime?" Sam asked shyly. He was looking up at Gabriel with those big hazel puppy eyes that would've made Gabriel give in, even if he hadn't wanted to in the first place.

"I'd like that," he said, grinning.

Sam's answering smile was dazzling, like the first glimpse Gabriel had seen of his soul had been.

Sam suddenly realized that he didn't want to leave Gabriel, not even for a few hours. "Um, I was just headed for the library. I was thinking, if you don't have anywhere to be-" He trailed off, awkward and hopeful.

There was no saying no to those eyes. Not that Gabriel really wanted to. Forget the prank he'd had planned. Sam was much more interesting.

"I don't usually frequent the library," he admitted. "But there's a first time for everything, y'know? Let's go."

"I'll meet you at the stairs over there?" Sam offered, pointing.

"Sure thing, Samshine," Gabriel agreed, pulling out his brightest smile. "See you in around two minutes."

About two minutes later Gabriel ran down the stairs and found Sam already waiting at the bottom. He looked up at Sam, wide eyed again. Sam had put his shirt back on, but he still managed to look more beautiful than Gabriel remembered. How was that possible?

"Hey, Gabe," Sam said. His soul instinctively reached towards Gabriel with all it's light, pulling him in. Wow.

"Hullo, Sam-a-lam," Gabriel said. He took a step towards Sam. It was impossible to stay away from a soul like that. Sam was just amazing.

Their fingers somehow linked together on the way to the library. Neither was sure which of them had reached out first, and it didn't seem to matter. They were together.