So this was supposed to be a cute thing about Disney films and each Angels favourite... but apprently Sam wanted to know more about the whole Angel Touching thing and wouldn't give over. So here. Balthazar is probably OOC, but he's harder that I thought he would be to write. Don't worry Disney movies... will get to you at some point!

xxx

They still didn't know why it was so important to the angels that they be touched, hugged and lifted so often, but once it was pointed out to them they all began to notice how much they really did end up with an arm or lap full of squirming baby angel.

Cas, as Gabriel had pointed out, was the main one, he just seemed to appear, always useful and unobtrusive, but there. He preferred to find someone relatively stationary, and would sit for hours on their knees, contented, even more so if the person he'd chosen as his seat for the day wrapped an arm around him for safety's sake.

Gabriel was more of 'dash and grab', for seemingly no reason at all he would just launch himself from the back of the couch, or the stairs, or one of Bobby's book shelves, trusting whoever he was jumping to, to catch him, then small arms would wind round their neck in a hug before he was shimming down and away to make more mischief. He did crawl into their (usually Sam's) lap occasionally when he was feeling tired to just sit and let himself be cuddled.

Balthazar didn't. He'd cuddle up to his brothers happily enough, but the second Sam, Dean or Bobby showed up he would move himself to the furthest point away from them. If any of them went to touch him he'd hunch up and tell them he didn't want to be manhandled, that he wasn't a child, and couldn't they just give him a drink. But he'd lean into the touch and soak up whatever it was angels got from the contact.

It made Sam feel like they were neglecting him, because Balthazar never once asked for the affection Gabriel and Castiel took without question. And now that he was looking for it, Sam could see the signs in all of the angels. In the way a human child got tired because they were hungry or thirsty and would turn to their parents to supply them with what they needed to continue on their merry way, the little angels needed some form of contact, energy maybe, that only the 'Flock' could provide.

The idea that Balthazar was shy was a funny one, because the little angel seemed anything but shy, heck, he'd been anything but shy as an adult angel as well, but he was certainly more reluctant than his brothers to spend time with the adults of the house, and he did, generally seem to be the least energetic of the three once they really got going.

But once he'd noticed, Sam began to do something about it. It was an easy thing to pluck Balthazar from a scheming session with Gabriel, rest him on his hip, and whisk him off to do some mundane chore, like the washing, or cleaning the kitchen surfaces (that it also delayed Gabriel's pranks for a while was an added bonus). Balthazar would complain, but he never made any move to escape, so Sam took it to mean he was doing the right thing.

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"So tell me about this whole touching thing." He asked one morning, about a week and a half later.

He was folding the laundry, and Balthazar was on his shoulder, little legs curled round his neck and chin resting on his hair. The small hands, which had been tracing patterns around Sam's ears stilled suddenly and Sam wondered if he'd crossed some kind of a line, but he really did want to understand.

"I don't know why the idiots had to go and mention it in the first place." Balthazar finally sighed.

"Because they were worried about you." Sam told him, though Balthazar should already know that, Gabriel and Castiel had been unobtrusively reminding all of them to pay some attention of Balthazar, in their own ways.

"I was just tired." Balthazar stated petulantly.

"Gabriel said you were Pining." Sam mentioned.

Balthazar snorted. "Gabriel is an idiot."

There was silence for a minute and Sam was expecting the little angel to slither down his back and away, but was pleasantly surprised when the small fingers began tracing their patterns again.

"When we were first created we were full of love. Affection, from Father. We all felt it, it was constant and we thought it was never ending. Until Lucifer began to question, and Father began to withdraw. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael tried to stem it as best they could, but for the first time in our existence we weren't filled with Fathers affection for us.

"When the fall came we lost many of our siblings. Father still didn't… We did the only thing we could do, we turned to each other and began sharing Grace, soothing doubt and anger and fear away with affection and love for each other. That's when the Garrisons were formed, so that we would form bonds and could always be sure there would be someone who could share Grace with us.

"When an angel leaves heaven, like we did, there isn't that… support network anymore. By the time I left it was already breaking down in Heaven as well. You can live with it. It won't kill you, but it does make it harder sometimes."

Sam frowned. "Ok… But the three of you can do this 'Grace sharing' right? I just don't understand why touching us is so important."

"When we were adult, and had our powers, Grace sharing was easier. We don't have the same control of it… Me and Cassie, we can't even make it twitch anymore. Gabriel's doing what he can, but his Grace is limited as well, and he can't concentrate on us all the time. And you and the other two mud monkeys are part of Cassie's new Flock, and by default part of ours, so…"

Balthazar sighed. "It's hard to explain. Because you don't have any Grace, you can't feel us, and you don't know what we take."

Sam hmmed in agreement, because it was true, he didn't really understand, though Balthazar's explanation was at least less disjointed than Gabriel's and Castiel's. "So it's important, and our tiny human brains can't comprehend it." Sam said with a slight smile. "But if it is so important, and you obviously need it, for whatever reason. Why don't you take it? Do what Gabriel and Cas do? None of us are going to dump you on your ass and refuse you know."

Then Sam felt Balthazar slither down his back and land on the floor with a small thump and a rustle of feathers. "Gabriel's calling me." The little angel lied, and darted out of the room, leaving Sam frowning.

Maybe he needed to learn a little bit more about Balthazar, because there was obviously something more here than he could see.