Rubbing your eyes, you stumble your way towards the bunker kitchen, only a few dim lights guiding your way. A stubbed toe, and a newly frozen pair of feet, you had finally made it to the kitchen to get a bottle of water that your parched throat demanded. Easily twisting the cap off and chugging half the bottle, you instantly felt better and, unfortunately, more awake. Exhaling slowly, you make your way towards the main area. Maybe you'd watch some Hulu or something until you felt sleepy enough to go back to bed.
As you walk out of the kitchen, you immediately almost collide with a body. "Gabriel?!" you gasp, eyes widening slightly. You didn't even know that he was in the bunker. The last time he hung around was about a month ago, and he had been gone since then. It wasn't unusual to see him around, but it was odd that he was just wandering through the bunker at night. Even Cas watched TV if he happened to stay.
"Hey," he grumbled, looking strangely irritable. Absently, he reached behind him to scratch at his back. He was in a nice pair of jeans and a dark shirt, and his hair was slightly disheveled.
"What's wrong?" you ask, trying to inspect him in the dim light.
"Nothing," he answered absently, like he wasn't quite paying full attention to the conversation. "Why are you up?"
Crossing your arms and narrowing your eyes at him, you mutter out a quick "Got thirsty" to him. The two of you go silent, the energy turning slightly awkward. Shifting your weight, you wait for him to say something, but he never does. He just keeps glancing around and looking at you from the corner of his eyes. "Want to watch a movie or something?" you offer, unsure if he'd actually want to.
"What?" he mumbled, blinking at you to focus. "Oh, yeah, sure," he answered, scratching at his back again. "After you, Milady," he smirked cheekily, regaining his usual composure. He swept his arm in a graceful arc, letting you lead the way and following closely after.
"Action, comedy, sci-fi...what do you want to watch?" you ask, sitting down on the couch, grabbing the remote to flip through different channels.
"Whatever you want," Gabriel smiled, plopping down and wriggling his back against the couch slightly.
Picking a movie from a random channel, you curl your legs underneath you to keep your feet warm. Gabriel went silent again, still trying to scratch his back against the couch. "Ok," you tell him, turning to face him directly. "Do you have fleas or something?" You had barely made it ten minutes into the movie, and you had been jostled for nearly every single one of them.
"Fleas?" Gabriel asked, sounding distracted again.
Using your hand, you turn him to face you. "Seriously, Angel, what's wrong?"
In the TV glow, he watched you closely, no longer distracted. His usually golden eyes were nearly a dark caramel color in the dark, and he was watching you like he was looking at your soul. Hell, he was an archangel, for all you knew, he could see your soul. "It's just...itchy..." he grumbled, barely moving his mouth and looking away again.
A smile curves your lips at his child-like tone. "Turn around," you tell him, twirling your hand away from you. He looked back at you but didn't do as you instructed. "Turn. Around," you frowned slightly. After another couple seconds of hesitation, did he finally turn his back to you, now sitting sideways on the couch. "Where's the itch? Everywhere?" you ask, smiling in triumph that he actually listened. While Gabriel was more easy-going than most angels (and even most humans) he was also stubborn when it suited him.
"Yes," he answered quietly, looking straight ahead of him still.
The random movie continued to play, the volume still turned down low so the two of you could hear it, but not loud enough to wake Sam or Dean. You reach your hands out, making a long sweep of your nails down his back. The reaction was immediate; He sighed and his whole body shuddered. Taking that as a good sign, you continue to scratch your nails over his shoulders and back, massaging in some spots as he tensed randomly a few times. Whenever you massaged his muscles, he instantly relaxed and let his head hang forward with a small groan.
Smiling now that he wasn't fidgeting every second, you turn your attention back to the movie, even though it wasn't holding your attention like it once was. You weren't ashamed to admit to yourself that the archangel under your hands held all your focus.
Gabriel's vessel was surprisingly muscular beneath your massaging fingers. You had long suspected Gabriel pciked a vessel who wasn't intimidating at a first glance. It was easier to blend in and hide from the Heavenly Host if he didn't stand out. You wondered who his vessel once was, or if he was even still in there locked away within his body or mind.
After another sigh from Gabriel, you lean forward a bit. "When exactly did this turn into a massage, huh? You're one lucky angel I hope you know."
You could hear a responding chuckle, "In my defense you offered to scratch and did this all on your own."
"Oh, I guess I'll just stop then," you tell him flippantly, removing your hands from his back and leaning away from him.
"No no no," Gabriel whined, turning quickly to catch your hands. "Please continue. Your hands are like magic," he declared dramatically. "I may die without them."
Rolling your eyes, you can't help but smirk at the angel. He always did have the dramatic flare that made you laugh. "I think you've been taking lessons from Sam, Angel. You've got the puppy dog eyes going for you." And dammit, did they work on you!
While lost in your thoughts, you miss the flash in Gabriel's eyes as you avoid looking at him directly in the eyes. He still hadn't let go of your hands, and being so close didn't help your pulse from racing excitedly. Forcing a calm over your body, you turn back to him. "Turn back around, Angel. I'm sure you wouldn't turn down a free massage from my 'magic hands' as you put it," you tell him, wiggling your fingers.
He studied you for another moment, still holding your hands, before he exhaled slowly and turned back around.
"Don't look so upset," you teased, poking him in the back. "You don't see me complaining when I'm not getting anything in return." Well, that wasn't strictly true. You did get to rub your hands all over the usually sassy archangel. That definitely wasn't nothing.
"What do you want?" came his instant reply as he turned back to you slightly. You shook your head, digging your hands back into his shoulder blades. He nearly melted at your touch, mumbling something under his breath. After a couple moments, you feel phantom hands press into the muscles in your shoulders. Now, you've had enough creepy shit happen to you to know that invisible things touching you was usually not a good thing. Immediately, you flinch and swing around to look behind you.
"Sorry, sorry! It was just me. My grace," Gabriel explains, catching your arm gently as you turned. "I thought you'd like some reciprocation for the massage. I didn't mean to scare you. I should've let you know."
Releasing a sharp breath, your heart began to calm again. "Don't worry about it," you tell him. "I offered because I wanted to, not because I wanted anything in return." Self-indulgent thoughts aside.
Gabriel nodded after a moment. "Alright," he sighed, once again letting his head fall forward as he got his massage. Not long after that, you began to grow tired, your body reminding you that you had been asleep not long ago. Slowly, you relax your hands, letting them lightly scratch their way down Gabriel's back one last time. The angel turned once you were finished, watching you lean sideways into the couch, eyes slipping shut. "Go back to your room and sleep," he tells you gently, pushing some hair from your face.
Your bed sounded amazing, but your body was already heavy and you didn't want to move. "I can sleep here," you mumble quietly. The couch, while slightly small, was still comfortable. It would be no hardship to just curl up and fall asleep.
A quiet chuckle cuts through the air. You feel Gabriel pick your hands up again, placing a tender kiss to each of them. "C'mon, Magic Hands. I'll carry you," he tells you, easily scooping you up in his arms. Once again you were reminded that Gabriel was a freaking archangel instead of the slightly goofy guy he pretended to be. Effortlessly, and quietly, he carried you through the bunker, the TV turning off as he stood. It didn't occur to you until after he placed you in your bed (he did ask permission before going into your room), that he could've used his grace to teleport you to your room. Instead he had carried you the whole way and tucked you in.
"Rough hunt?" a voice asks behind Sam and Dean as you three sat at a long wooden table at the bunker.
"Yeah, no thanks to any angelic help that would've been handy," Dean snorts, taking a swig of his beer.
Gabriel rolled his eyes at that, walking closer to your side of the table, looking you over quickly. "Unlike you two, I don't go looking for trouble actively."
Sam's face scrunched up slighlty. "There were three of us there, Gabriel."
"Yes, I can see that," Gabriel said slowly, like he was talking to a child. "But she doesn't seem to be worse for wear like you two meat heads." As he spoke, he walked up behind you and placed his hands on your shoulders.
You groan slightly, relishing the gentle and warm pressure on your tense shoulders. Ever since you gave Gabriel a massage/scratch, he had begun to return the favor anytime you were tense or needed to relax. After this last hunt, you definitely needed to relax. While you were still learning the ropes of hunting, the brothers usually left you behind for research. Every once in a while, they'd let you go on an easy hunt. You didn't just want to be a bookworm, but you also lacked the experience and the toned muscles it took to hunt. Usually, you offered to be the bait if the situation needed it. You trusted Sam and Dean completely, and you knew the risks. Since you had been the bait for a small nest of vampires, you had been clumsy and awkward and tense, only reaffirming that you needed to train more.
Gabriel's hands paused as you groaned when he hit a knot in your shoulder, but quickly began again, using his grace to heat his hands to be perfectly heated against your skin. Shivering, goosebumps instantly cover your arms. Thankfully, you had showered and wore a tank top so you could enjoy Gabriel's hands on you.
"Why does she get a massage?" Dean complained, sitting back in his chair.
You could practically feel the sarcastic raise of an eyebrow from Gabriel. "Didn't know you wanted my hands all over you, Dean-O. I'm flattered, I think."
Dean made a face like he tasted a lemon. "Never mind. Forget I said anything." Sam chuckled, shaking his head, only to rise quickly after that to take a shower and sleep. Dean followed soon after, watching you and Gabriel suspiciously.
"Rough hunt?" he asked you gently, still massaging.
Lifting a shoulder languidly, you answer, "I was just the bait, but we each got a few good hits on us. I think I got in the way more than anything." His hands hesitated at the mention of you being bait, but he quickly resumed. "Ahh," you sigh contentedly. "Right there." Complying, he dug in with just the right amount of pressure.
"Oh, forgive me," Cas' voice interrupts suddenly, after a quiet sound of flapping wings.
You tilt your head up, nearly forgetting you had let yourself slump forward. "Oh, hey Cas."
"Hello," he greets somewhat stiffly. "Gabriel," Cas nods to his brother, looking at him closely.
"Cas," Gabe responds simply.
There was an awkward moment of silence as the two angels communicated slightly. "If you're looking for Dean or Sam, they're probably in the shower or in their rooms," you tell Cas with a sleepy smile as Gabriel hits another knot in your back.
"Thank you Y/N," Cas responds, before casting Gabriel another look. Then he disappeared with a flap of invisible wings.
As you cock your head to listen, Gabe asks you what you were doing. "Your wings don't make as much noise," you tell him. "You're much more...subtle I guess?...when you poof outta here."
"You listen to my wings?" he asks, a smile clear in his voice.
"Well I can't see them so," you shrug. "Besides, you angels always leave the sound behind as you vanish, so it's hard not to notice." Nevermind that you learned Gabriel's and Cas' wing sounds long ago. When you spent most days in the library with the angels as communication and company, you learn the little things.
"Hey," a voice whispers to you, as a hand lands on your arm to run up and down it. "Sweetness, wake up."
Groaning, you crack open an eye to look at who was waking you up. It was Gabriel. He's lucky he picked a cute vessel, you think inwardly. Then again, it was Gabe's expressions, his words. "What Gabe?" you ask. Your first instinct was to grab your knife and gun in the middle of the night, but you didn't hear Dean or Sam anywhere, and Gabriel seemed calm enough.
"I-umm... Need your help again," he says sheepishly, looking up through his lashes at you.
"With what?" you ask, yawning. You had fallen asleep on the couch while you had been flipping through a tablet of supernatural creatures that Charlie had been kind enough to lend you.
"My wings, actually," he tells you, still slightly hesitant.
"Your wings?" You blink at him, confused.
He nodded. "They need groomed, and they're getting...itchy."
"Like your back the other night-oh," you realise. His back hadn't necessarily itched, it was his wings. But maybe scratching his back had relieved the itch the last time, clearly it wasn't enough at the moment.
Gabriel smiled at you fondly as he nodded. "Would you help me?"
You sat there for a moment, still trying to process the request and fully wake up. "Sure," you tell him, still unsure as to how this was going to work. You knew looking at an angels true form would burn your eyes out, which is not something you wanted to experience. Only once, had you seen the outline of Cas' wings when they were shadowed across the wall during a hunt.
"You don't have to," he tells you, somehow deflating slightly.
"No, I want to," you assure him quickly. "I just... how's that going to work? No offense, but I'd like for my eyes to not be burned from my skull."
Gabe looked confused for a second, then horrified, then he laughed quietly. "I wouldn't hurt you," he smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it. As an archangel, I have a few extra talents." He waggled his eyebrows at you. He stands up in front of you, watching you closely for a minute. After a few moments of silence, two large, bronze wings unfold from his back. Eyes widening at the sight, you were speachless. They were unlike anything you had ever seen. Each feather shifted and rustled against the others quietly, twitching as they stretched out across the room. "Well?"
Oh, duh! You had just been sitting there not saying anything. "They're...incredible," you whisper, unsure if there was a word strong enough to describe them.
"I actually have six of them, but the two will do for now," he smirks at you before turning his back towards you as he sat down in front of you. You had nearly forgotten he wanted you to groom them.
"How do I-?"
"Just scratch along the muscle and bone, and run your hands down the feathers. Some might fall out, so don't worry about it," he instructs you over his shoulder, somehow already knowing you'd freak out if you pulled feathers loose.
Gently, you bring your hands to his wings to run your hands down them. Gabriel shuddered, stretching his wings further, the tips reaching almost all the way across the room. You weren't quite sure how you'd reach them all but you'd figure it out as you go. Running your hands and nails over the bones along the top, Gabriel sighs loudly and groans as you continuously make your way through the feathers. The ones closest to his back were soft and fluffy, and the ones furthest from his body were a bit more stiff, yet still soft.
Gabriel began muttering in some other language under his breath. You had already groomed the places you could reach and before you could ask him to bring his wings in, he had already begun to fold them back for you to reach. After about twenty minutes, Gabriel's wings were nearly quivering as you scratched gently along them.
"You awake there, Angel?" you ask with a smile. He hadn't said much of anything the past few minutes. Instantly, he responded in some other language again. "English, please," you tell him, secretly pleased that you had reduced the archangel to mush.
"I'm awake... Feels good... So good..." he mumbles, almost too quiet to hear. Another half an hour later, you were done grooming his wings and just ran your hands over his shoulders and in between his shoulder blades and wings. Gabriel shuddered and exhaled shakily, mumbling again. After your arms got tired, you slowly let your hands fall limply into your lap, watching as his wings still twitched every now and then. You lay against the couch, watching Gabe in the dim lights of the room. An ego boost wasn't something you particularly needed, but you were practically glowing with the knowledge that you had reduced Gabriel, a freaking archangel, into a statue next to you. You weren't sure if he had registered that you had stopped yet.
"Angel," you call out, poking him in the back. "Earth calling Angel."
Instead of responding, his wings folded in all the way and disappeared quickly. Then he leaned backwards, his head falling into your lap. "Thank you," he smiles up at you from your lap.
Picking up a stray feather from the couch, you twirl it in your hands, and tap him on the nose with it. "Anytime, Angel."
You yawn as you make your way to the kitchen. It was earlier in the morning than what was normal for you, but you couldn't help it. Your dreams had featured the very archangel you couldn't seem to stop thinking about. Absently, you twirl the feather from his wings in your hand. Gabriel had come to you a few more times to groom his wings, but the feather was from the very first time. He said it would keep forever. A smile pulled at your lips as you remember the slightly doofy, pleasured out grin splitting his face after the grooming.
"Hello, Y/N," Cas' voice called to you at the kitchen table.
His voice started you from your thoughts. "Oh, hey Cas!"
"How are you and Gabriel, if I may ask?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"Umm... good I guess," you answer, curious. "If you're looking for him, I'm not sure where he is."
Cas' head tilts sideways, his entire body radiating confusion. "I thought you two were mated?"
"Mated?" you ask incredulously, thinking you heard Cas wrong. "What does that even mean?"
Now Cas was even more confused, which only made you confused as to why he was confused in the first place. "You and him are so close," Cas stated quietly, as if he were talking aloud to himself. "And his wings are always around you when you're together. You've got his feather in your hand, which means he's let you groom them. He wouldn't unless-"
"Good morning, youngins," Gabriel calls out suddenly, singing the end of his sentence. You and Cas turn to him, startled by Gabriel's sudden appearance. "Did I interrupt something?" Gabe asks, raising his eyebrows in question.
"Kind of, maybe," you answer, looking at Gabriel. "What does Cas mean when he said that we're mated, you and I?" Mated sounded intimate, which you weren't against, but you'd like to know what the hell it entailed.
Gabriel whipped his head towards Cas, his jovial smile turning into a fierce frown. You notice the light bulbs in the kitchen blink sporadically. "A word, Castiel," Gabriel demanded, before disappearing in a ruffle of sound.
Cas looked a bit worried, but cast you an apologetic look before he disappeared with his own flap of invisible wings.
Your mouth hung open as you stared at the empty kitchen, wondering what exactly happened. Contemplating calling for Gabe to explain, but you had a feeling he wouldn't answer. Instead, you plop down into a chair and fiddle with the feather in your hand.
Comments or any kind of feedback would be so appreciated! Hope you guys enjoyed it! -K