A/N: So here it is, the extended version of my earlier challenge story, Three Wise Men. This is in fact the original, but to meet the challenge's 500 word needs, I had to do a lot of hack-and-slash. It was a fantastic exercise, but this one will remain my favorite. It's nearly the same thing with a bit of extra dialogue and a lot of extra description! Please enjoy and let me know what you think. :)
"So what are you going to get him?" Sam asked his brother as they wandered shoulder to shoulder through the packed mall.
Dean eyed the hordes of people somewhat nervously. He always felt like an outsider in these places. "Get who?"
"Castiel."
Dean raised an eyebrow, throwing his brother a quick glance before being forced to bring his attention back to a baby stroller he nearly tripped over. "Nothing. What are you on?"
Sam sighed. "Dean, it's Christmas!"
Dean frowned at the thought. His eyes flashed over the obscene mall decorations that hovered nearly everywhere they looked. Obviously. "So?"
Sam shook his head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Dean, he's an angel, and it's Christmas."
Dean longingly eyed their destination written on a sign that was shrouded in holly. Why did the closest groceries have to be in the mall? Damn it, they should have just driven further.
"Come on, Dean... we should get him something. I got you something."
Dean froze in mid-stride and turned to look at his brother, who was now ducking his head. "What?" Dean asked with a confused frown. "I thought you didn't like all this Christmas stuff. Last year you were the boy who hates Christmas."
Sam shrugged as they started walking again. "Well, I didn't but..." He paused, and they were both left to their thoughts for a moment before he continued. "I just don't want to take this kind of stuff for granted anymore."
Dean kept silent at this, fearing both a chick flick moment and his own slip of emotions as Sam barely dodged a mom on a mission, dragging her four-year-old kicking and screaming.
Dean chuckled, thankful for the distraction. "Thank God we didn't have to worry about this kind of chaos as kids."
Sam scoffed at his older brother's comment in disbelief. "Right. Like Shtrigas benevolent spirits weren't chaotic enough."
Dean shrugged. "I'd take them any day over drunk, fake-beard Santa." He pointed at the mall's central Christmas display, complete with a miniature faux-snow clad village, jailbait Christmas elves and the chance to have a Polaroid with Saint Nick. "Why'd you have to park all the way at the other end of the mall anyway?"
Sam sighed, hands in his pockets. "It was the only parking spot, Dean. It's Christmas."
"Yeah, yeah." The eldest Winchester found himself getting frustrated with the multitude of mall patrons, and continued speaking to keep them distracted on their suffocating walk through Hell-on-Earth. "So... what do you get an angel for Christmas anyway?"
"Huh?" Sam almost halted in surprise.
"An angel, Sam. Castiel. What do you get him for Christmas?"
"Um..." The younger Winchester fumbled for words, caught off-guard. "I... don't know actually."
"Well you gotta know something... it was your idea!"
"Yeah, I know... I... an ornament?"
Dean gave Sam an incredulous look. "Dude, an ornament?"
Sam shrugged helplessly.
"Do angels even celebrate Christmas?" Dean questioned as the two of them stepped out of the way of a very large, overflowing shopping cart that probably was being pushed by some sort of human being.
"Of course they do Dean, they're angels."
"Well... what if they celebrate Hanukah? Or Solstice? Well it's not like they've come out and said that they're Christian."
Sam opened his mouth to comment, but shut it with a frown. He hadn't thought of that. "Well I guess not... but... most of the angel and demon lore we know we've drawn from the Christian Bible. They have to be Christians, right?" The last was said mostly to himself.
"How about a sweater?" Dean stopped suddenly, holding out the arm of a bright, ultra-festive knit sweater at one of the shops.
Sam laughed. "He does need new clothes."
Dean was about to respond when he was distracted by something over Sam's shoulder. Confused, Sam spun around.
There, across the corridor, stood a man with tussled hair and a rustled suit and trench coat, staring in what seemed to be awe at the over-sized, twinkling stars that hung from the mall ceiling. Large, illuminated white snowflakes turned slowly there, mimicking a fall to the floor but never getting any closer. The halogens in this area were dimmed, and mechanical colored lights that simulated sparkling splashed over the man's face, illuminating dark blue eyes and tired-looking features.
Dean and Sam both looked at each other before making their way across the mall to the man, or rather, the angel they knew as Castiel.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, confused.
Castiel slowly turned his eyes from the large stars to settle on the younger Winchester with a confused look of his own. "I came seeking you two."
"So what, you have another job for us?" Dean asked with a frown.
"I came to tell you that things have been quiet." He gave the Winchesters a grim smile.
"I guess even evil need a break." Sam said, trying to make light. Castiel's presence always seemed to make things more solemn than they had to be.
Castiel's deep blue eyes turned back to Sam. "We think that there is a plan in the works. But for now... you should rest."
Dean grinned suddenly. "So... you're saying we get the holidays off, boss?"
The corners of Castiel's own mouth turned up slightly, as if enjoying Dean's joke. He nodded.
"And that's it?" Sam asked, incredulously.
Castiel shook his head, and both boys waited in silence for him to continue. "I have an answer to your question."
"What question?" Sam asked, confused.
The angel's eyes turned to Dean. "We do celebrate the holidays."
The Winchesters' eyes widened. "You mean Christmas, right?" Sam asked.
"We celebrate the holidays." Castiel repeated. He then turned and began to walk away in his usual casual but determined pace.
"Hey!" Dean shouted, pointing at Castiel's back just before the holy tax accountant was lost in a swarm of shoppers. "You know what you get with that attitude, buddy? Fruit cake. Fruit cake!"