If you only knew
How many times I counted
All the words that went wrong
If you only knew
How I refuse to let you go,
Even when you're gone
I don't regret any days I
Spent, nights we shared,
Or letters that I sent
.
If you only knew – Shinedown
The next Message was silver, and its recipient was inside the snooty palace beyond them.
Gabriel was about to zap themselves in when a guardsman suddenly slapped handcuffs onto his and Castiel's wrists.
"Whoah, buddy, what gives?" Gabriel asked.
"I am no 'buddy' of yours. And 'what gives' is that you two have crushed the emperor!" he yelled.
Simultaneously, both angels glanced down to find that, indeed, there was a guy underneath them, twitching and moaning in agony.
"Huh, would you look at that," Gabriel remarked. This was the first time angels poofed on top of someone. The man seemed familiar though – what was his name? Something-Caesar?
The guardsman ruthlessly tugged at their chains and Castiel stumbled into Gabriel helplessly. "You two are under arrest! You are to serve time in prison until the day of execution arrives!" he barked, pulling them into the palace.
"And that would be…?" Gabriel pressed.
"At sundown." he sinisterly answered. "You can join the rest of the prisoners in the coliseum; I'm certain the lions would be most pleased by your addition."
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Course they'd be pleased. After seeing mooks like you all day, I'd be pleased to see anybody else too." he jibed.
At that, the guard pulled out a whip and stepped into Gabriel's personal space to glare. "Watch your mouth, cretin, or I'll slash you open like a fruit." he snarled.
"I'm quaking with terror." sighed Gabriel.
As they were dragged deeper into the palace, Castiel sidled as close as he could to Gabriel and whispered, "Why are you letting him make captives of us?"
Gabriel smirked. "'Cuz our next client's in one of the prison-cells of this dump anyway; might as well get there the old-fashioned way. "'Sides, wouldn't it be cool if you got to tell your pals back home that you went to jail?" he replied.
His brother fearfully looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
They went down a winding, narrow staircase where the light got dimmer and dimmer. Within minutes, the three of them were walking along dank corridors with cell after cell passing them by, and every cell, as it seemed, already had occupants. The guard led them to the cell at the end of the line, where only a man was there, curled up on the floor and sleeping.
The guard opened the cell, undid their cuffs and boorishly kicked Gabriel in first. While hitting his head on the stonewall will not grant him a bruise, it still kind of hurt. He turned around in time to see the guard lift Castiel off his feet and throw him to the cell's floor like trash; Gabriel quickly caught his brother before he totally went sailing.
"How're you doing, small fry?" he asked.
Castiel blinked up at him for a moment, still a bit shocked. "I think I'm bleeding." he murmured.
Normally, something as physical as bleeding was no biggie for angels, but Gabriel decided to check anyway. "Alright, where is it?" he asked.
Avoiding his gaze, Castiel muttered an "I'll heal it." under his breath.
Gabriel raised a suspicious brow. "Sure. Heal away. Now where is it?" he pressed.
Castiel shifted uneasily and the slightest whimper was heard.
"Castiel, if you don't show me where you're hurt at the count of five, I am full-on stripping you in front of all these other prisoners. One... Two..." Gabriel threatened.
At three, very slowly, Castiel lifted the bottom folds of his robe away to reveal an extremely nasty scrape across his leg. It was still bleeding and did not look like it was healing. Gabriel realized that, since the meat-suit Castiel was wearing technically was not a real vessel, Castiel was not really all that 'connected' with it, which meant healing it was next to impossible for him to do.
Gabriel placed his hand on the wound and when he pulled back, the skin was as good as new. He had to be more careful with his brother from now on.
Setting Castiel aside, Gabriel stood up and walked over to the bars of their cell. Just a few meters away, their ever-chipper guard was arguing with a janitor who held an upward mop in his hands, about 'keeping the place dirty so the wretched scumbags here can wallow in their godforsaken filth'.
As the argument dwindled down, Gabriel beckoned Castiel over before snapping his fingers. Suddenly, the guard slipped on the wet floor and crashed face-first into the mop-head, which caused him to further lose his balance and he ended up having his bum into the bucket. Throughout that fiasco, the guard managed to knock over one of the torches and it landed by his sandals… sandals made of apparently very flammable material.
Gabriel snickered to himself as the guard ran away, shrieking like an old lady, with a clueless janitor and an uproar of laughter from the cells in his wake.
"My work here is done, or most of it, I guess." said Gabriel.
The man in the far corner of their cell began to stir, probably woken up from all the commotion outside. Castiel broke away from Gabriel and gradually approached the man, curiosity getting the better of him. He was about to put his hand on the man when Gabriel cleared his throat.
"Castiel, what did I tell you in these kind of instances?" he nagged.
His brother stared at him for a while, nodded then conjured a stick, which he used to poke at the man.
This was one of the proudest moments in Gabriel's life.
Eventually, the man showed promising signs that he was not on the road to the afterlife when he grabbed the stick from Castiel's hands and threw it to the other side of the cell. "What?" he grumbled.
"Rise and shine, pal! You got two new roommates and we're itching to know the neighborhood." said Gabriel merrily.
The guy muttered irately and curled into himself more, like the two of them would go away if he ignored them long enough.
Gabriel walked over to the opposite wall, picking up Castiel along the way, then plopped down to sit. "So, what're you in for?" he casually asked, because they might as well talk while they were in here.
At first, the man did not seem keen on answering. "I declared so-called 'blasphemies' that upset the government and society, as well as questioned the emperor's dictatorship." he replied.
"Nice." Gabriel remarked. "Me and my bro got turned in for squashing Caesar in public!"
That finally got the man to sit up and turn to them. "How did you – ?" Upon getting a decent look at them, he fearfully scrambled further into the corner. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no! No! Motherfu– !"
"Hey!" Gabriel interrupted, placing his hands over Castiel's ears. "No cursing around my little brother. You can do that when it's just the two of us, but I can't have you traumatizing him."
The man stared at Castiel disbelievingly for a long time, as if just noticing he was there. "Traumatize him? What about me? I'm scarred for life!" he screamed.
"Please, you're over-exaggerating, Luke." dismissed Gabriel.
"I'm in here because of you! You and this brainwash you've been administering! Horrid, senseless pieces of shi– !"
"Which reminds me," Gabriel stuck a hand into his satchel and fished out a silver Message. "Time for your daily dose of the future!" he said in a singsong voice.
Luke was distancing himself from them, albeit his eyes remained on Gabriel. "NO! Not again! These are my final moments of sanity and I will not have them wasted!" He scurried to the bars and started throwing himself at them like some deranged mudskipper. "Guards! Guards!"
Eventually, Luke became a cross between a mudskipper and a really awkward orangutan. It was not a pretty sight.
Gabriel stood up and went over to Luke. "Come on, Luke. Here comes the yummy prophecy; open up!" he coddled, waving the Message around like a treat and placing his hand on Luke's shoulder.
Luke aggressively shrugged him off. "Don't touch me you…!"
Gabriel snapped his fingers and made Castiel deaf, then made him face the wall in case he read Luke's lips.
Luke's swearing lasted for five straight minutes. Gabriel was impressed.
"You done or are you getting your second wind?" asked Gabriel, returning Castiel's hearing.
Still recovering, Luke glared at him before letting out a frustrated yell. He ran to another corner where there were a discarded bowl and spoon and picked them up.
"Stay back! Back!" he shouted as he brandished the objects like a sword and shield; except, that method would have been slightly more effective if he did not treat the bowl as the sword. "Don't test me. I'm armed with a bowl! I… I know basic trigonometry!" he spouted.
Suddenly, Castiel snuck up beside him (probably wondering what Luke was doing so he got a closer look) and startled Luke so much that he stumbled, slipped, knocked his head on the bars and collapsed to the floor in an unconscious, bloody heap.
"Well, that's one way of knocking him out." commented Gabriel.
A snap of his fingers and Luke was patched up, although he was still out. Gabriel knelt down and slipped the Message into his noggin; when he got up, Luke's eyes started to flicker under their lids and his fingers twitched. Another snap of Gabriel's fingers and Luke was zapped back to his house, tucked in bed and safe.
Gabriel caught Castiel's wide-eyed expression. "What? He'll be fine. One time, Luke ended up being trampled by cows – a very miserable death, if you ask me. And reviving him wasn't so glorious either." he said.
Castiel still had that unnerved expression on him.
"How 'bout we split already?" Gabriel asked.
O_x
They landed in a remote valley on a remarkably cool afternoon.
"Hmm… I know our next guy's around here somewhere," said Gabriel, scouring the fields.
"Is that him?" Castiel inquired, pointing.
Gabriel followed the direction he was indicating; sure enough, he could make out the top of a man's head peeping out of the bushes. "Good job." he said, ruffling Castiel's hair, and this time he appeared to enjoy it.
He got his brother's hand and they went over to their next client, who happened to be a passed-out drunk with half a bottle of wine spilling from his hand. It seemed like someone partied real hard last night, if the bottle, black-eye and hickeys were anything to go by. And now he was going to get a Message from God that would go along with his psychedelic-booze dream. Awesome.
Gabriel was struck with a thought. "Hey, wanna jam the Message into his skull?" he asked his brother.
Castiel stared at him for a second before shyly turning away. "The task of an archangel… I couldn't possibly besmirch…" he muttered.
"I told you that you can help and that's what you're going to do." said Gabriel. "Now you either ram it into his brain or I'm dumping his drink down your throat."
The terrified look Castiel had on was absolutely priceless.
Gabriel burst out laughing. "I'm kidding! No one's dumping anything down your throat." he chuckled.
He got the last silver Message from his bag and gave it to Castiel, who regarded it like it would eat his face or something. His brother glanced at their conked out guy then at Gabriel with extremely worried eyes.
"Go on! In this condition, it looks like he can sleep through Raphael's hissy-fits. He won't bite." placated Gabriel. He pushed Castiel a little and he nearly staggered into the man; his brother squealed at that.
After calming himself down, Castiel spared a last glimpse at Gabriel before cautiously approaching the man on his own. Very timidly, he lifted the Message as high as his arms could and inserted it into the man's head bit-by-bit. Despite that Castiel was being seriously slow in doing this, Gabriel noticed that he had a nice steady hold. Maybe with a little more practice, Castiel can become a messenger too.
A minute later, the silver Message was gone and Castiel stood back to marvel at his accomplishment. It was actually kind of a heart-warming sight.
"Hey you hear that?" asked Gabriel, attention moving onto something lively. Even Castiel heard it and his focus also shifted. "Let's check it out!"
Gabriel scooped Castiel into his arms as they went deeper into the woods, until eventually they found a very interesting, energetic clearing. There were (really hot) nymphs dancing everywhere, satyr-bands playing music in random spots, and people gulping down food and chugging down wine like the liver was a figment of the imagination. And the best part was that there were a hundred tables all over the place – very long, very wide and very heavy with the huge cakes on top of them.
"Sweet!" exclaimed Gabriel.
"Look, everyone! New faces!" declared a nymph.
There was an explosion of applause, followed by humans and nymphs running over to greet them. They each presented jugs of wine in their hands and Gabriel thought that it was a welcoming gift.
Then they all threw the wine at him and Castiel and cheered louder.
Best. Greeting. Ever!
Castiel wrapped his purple-red arms tight around Gabriel's neck as a dazzling figure stepped out of the crowd. "Welcome to our festive gathering! It's always a pleasure to have more people join in the merry-making! I'm Dionysus." he introduced, placing a hand on top of Gabriel and Castiel's shoulder. "That's quite an energy you two have in there, too much to be human." he observed.
Castiel's grip around Gabriel's neck became tighter and Gabriel could not blame him.
"Name's Loki." replied Gabriel smoothly. It was the alias he was using increasingly lately. "And this is Byleist." he added, pointing at Castiel, who gaped at him incredulously.
"Ah, northern gods. It's such a delight to have you here!" said Dionysus, clapping once.
"So, uhh… What's the occasion?" Gabriel asked, gesturing at the area.
"Anything you want! Birthday, wedding, a successful hunt… The point is to be happy and wash your sorrows away." chirped Dionysus.
"I hear that." agreed Gabriel.
Castiel shifted in his hold. "Gab–" he began, before Gabriel covered his mouth with his hand.
"Play along." whispered Gabriel. He returned to Dionysus and abruptly changed the subject to derail his suspicions. "Say, how's about a couple of gods like us have some friendly competition?" he proposed.
Dionysus seemed intrigued. "Of what sort?" he prompted.
"Wine-drinking, food-eating contest. The guy who packs down the most, wins. Just harmless fun." said Gabriel. Really, this was merely an excuse to indulge in as much junk as he could on a limited time.
"You are aware that I'm the god of wine? This hardly counts as a competition." Dionysus remarked.
"So I guess you have nothing to worry about." retorted Gabriel.
Castiel was dreadfully looking at Gabriel then Dionysus alternately as if he was watching a death-match unfold.
"Very well. Harmless fun. I'll meet you in the center table." said Dionysus, clapping Gabriel twice on the shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.
"Brother," Castiel whimpered.
That was the first time he called Gabriel brother, and it stopped him from following Dionysus for a second. "Don't tell me you wanna leave now," he sighed. He wiped some wine off Castiel's face in an attempt to soothe him. "This isn't blasphemy, alright? I'm not upstaging Dad or anything; we're still incognito. If I'll make my round with Dionysus quick, will it make you feel better?" Gabriel asked.
Castiel nodded deliberately.
"Okay. In the meantime, loosen up! Have fun! Make friends!" exclaimed Gabriel as he started walking.
Castiel tensed at those words. "But I – "
A slice of cake was promptly stuffed into his mouth and shut him up. Castiel blinked in shock for a moment before he slowly began to chew on the cake. It did not take long for him to stuff his face into the frosting and make very satisfied noises.
"That's better." said Gabriel, patting Castiel on the back. "Make the most of your time here. When's the last time there's a party at home?"
Castiel looked up from what remained of his cake to reveal his face covered in frosting. "Heaben nehber – " he started with a mouthful of cake.
"We never get parties, exactly! All the more reason to be here." Gabriel pointed out.
By the time Castiel was licking his fingers, Gabriel spotted a group of kids playing nearby. They would do. When Castiel sensed Gabriel was about to put him down, he reached for his neck again and held on for dear life. Gabriel sighed and tugged at his brother, but Castiel refused to budge. Gabriel pulled harder yet Castiel remained firm. Finally, Gabriel made his neck ghost-like so when he pulled at Castiel, he just helplessly went along with it.
"You be good now. There's a law here about underage drinking, but I think you'll slide. Barely." joked Gabriel as he placed Castiel on the grass. He tousled his hair twice as vigorously before turning tail to find Dionysus.
Vaguely, he heard Castiel stumble after him. Then he heard a much louder sound from some of the kids:
"Hey! It's a new kid!"
"Let's throw cake at him!"
Splattering noises followed afterward.
"And no smiting anybody!" Gabriel added over his shoulder.
O_x
"You're a highly worthy adversary." Dionysus remarked. He finished off another keg of wine and threw it to the rest of the pile.
"Not so bad yourself, hotshot." said Gabriel, eating the last of a cake.
Dionysus regarded the cake and wine yet to be consumed. "This could go on for days." he stated.
"I'm so fine with that."
"I concur."
As Gabriel was about to start on another cake, he looked around to check on his brother but found no sign of him, visually or with his Grace.
Then, he saw one of the kids he left Castiel with walk by. "Hey, you! Where's Ca – Uh, Byleist?" he asked.
"The new kid?" the boy inquired. "Maenads took him some time ago."
Maenads. Not good.
Gabriel stood up. "Sorry, pal. We'll have to cut this short." he said.
Dionysus shrugged. "More wine for me then." he said, working on another keg.
Gabriel's search started off on a brisk walk, then eventually a fast run that knocked down a lot of humans (and a wall) in the process. Dad was going to kill him if he lost a fledgling to maenads.
"Hello there. Is this bundle of sweetness with you?"
He stopped so hard he upturned a big chunk of earth. Gabriel sought out the source and was met with a group of ladies under the shade who were either swigging wine or dangling on trees. In their midst was Castiel, who Gabriel hardly recognized since he was coated in frosting. But the weirdest thing about him was that his brother seemed… way too relaxed and happy around the maenads. Usually in these situations, Castiel would be scared-stiff and run toward his savior of a big brother.
"As a matter of fact, yes." said Gabriel guardedly. When a maenad picked up Castiel and alternately kissed his cheeks and tummy, Castiel just giggled and did not protest. "What did you do to him?" Gabriel asked seriously.
"He was so tense before." said kissy-maenad.
"Nervous." said another, twirling a lock of Castiel's hair.
"Jumpy." Another maenad.
"Scared."
"But with a little wine," Or more like a whole mountain of wine judging by how many kegs they 'hid' in the bushes.
"Funky incense," The same amount went to the incense. A maenad held Castiel up by his feet like a baby monkey and started swinging him back and forth.
"And lotus-flowers," A maenad produced a lotus-flower from her bosom.
"He's better, better, better! Wheee!" A maenad hanging upside-down on a tree grabbed Castiel's ankles and, with another maenad in the next tree, began playing a combination of trapeze artist and catch. Castiel had a dreamy smile on his face.
"You fed him lotus-flowers?" Gabriel practically yelled. Angels normally did not have to worry about suffering from their effects since they have immunity to things like that; however, Castiel was still a fledgling, and his immunity system had yet to fully kick in.
"They don't grow here locally."
"They're presents from a friend."
"Rarities. Delicacies. Emergencies only."
Castiel fell from the trees but a maenad thankfully caught him. "He's such a precious emergency." she said, smothering more frosting on him. The maenad beside her leaned in and tried to offer Castiel a lotus-flower.
For the first time, Gabriel felt something he never thought he would around women: disdain. "Much as I appreciate dragging my bro outta his shell, I'd rather he do it on his own." Gabriel gathered a now dazed Castiel into his arms before he got fed again. "We're leaving."
Simultaneously, the maenads got to their feet and dropped their carefree demeanor.
"We can't let you do that." one of them said forebodingly, showing bloodstained claws.
Gabriel and Castiel were surrounded now. Suddenly, monstrous clouds rolled overhead and it became dark; lightning tore through the sky and Gabriel's wings – huge enough to cover the whole clearing – flashed threateningly to the maenads, but a source of wonder to Castiel. The maenads drew back in fear, to which Gabriel just smirked.
"Kiss my smokin' hot ass, bitches." said Gabriel.
After a powerful, blinding strike of lightning, both angels were gone.
O_x
Gabriel landed in a dim alley. It was obvious that the effect of the lotus-flowers was wearing off on Castiel when clarity reentered his eyes. Gabriel placed his brother on the ground. "You holding up there?" he asked.
Castiel stared at him with too wide, too glassy eyes until he looked down to where his feet were uneasily shifting. His shoulders began to quiver and it was not long before Gabriel noticed he was crying.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" he asked, kneeling down to level with Castiel. Gabriel gently lifted his brother's chin so that they were face-to-face; tears were rolling down Castiel's cheeks and he was doing everything he can to avoid eye contact.
"I'm sorry we had to leave because of me. I knew you like it there." he muttered. And though Castiel did not say it, Gabriel knew he also felt ashamed for getting entangled with the maenads.
"Yeah, well, I like my family better. And in the right head!" said Gabriel cheerfully, ruffling Castiel's cake-covered hair. This time, Castiel let out a squeal of laughter.
The moment was interrupted when a lump appeared under Castiel's robe and started moving around.
Gabriel sat back in surprise. "What's that?"
Castiel blinked and glanced downward, appearing as surprised as Gabriel was. Gingerly, he reached down into his robe and pulled out a small bunny.
There was a moment of silence, one that was too awkward for Gabriel.
Finally, he sighed. "I'll bite. What's a bunny doing under your robe?" inquired Gabriel.
Castiel and the bunny were having a full-on staring contest, and Gabriel had to remind himself to keep his brother away from small life forms for the time being unless he wanted staring contests to be a regular occurrence. It was amusing and disturbing at the same time.
"Maenads must've put it there." Castiel murmured distractedly.
He had his head tilted to one side, and strangely the bunny copied the action. When Castiel tilted his head to the other side, the bunny also followed. That time, Castiel's cake-smeared cheek was brought closer to the bunny, which the bunny immediately took advantage of by squeezing out of Castiel's hold a bit and nibbling on the sweet coating.
Castiel was thrown into a fit of giggles; either he was naturally ticklish or Gabriel had accidentally equipped his sorta-vessel with way too much human features. The bunny was squirming out of his fingers, almost to the point of popping out of his hold. Castiel hunched up his shoulders to sort of shield himself from the bunny, but the bunny still clung onto him.
"Gabriel's licking the frosting off me!" sniggered Castiel.
Gabriel raised a brow at that. "I'm doing what?"
Castiel quickly pulled the bunny away from him and it was like he realized that Gabriel was still there with him. "I… I named it Gabriel." he said shyly.
There was no reaction appropriate enough for this situation. Gabriel was caught between being offended or touched by it. However, as the bunny started licking at Castiel's neck and got his brother to laugh so freely, Gabriel smiled fondly and had to settle for the latter.
All of a sudden, a girl in pigtails ran toward them and plucked Gabriel-the-bunny from Castiel.
"My bunny!" exclaimed Castiel as the girl vanished into a crowd.
"No big deal. You can always get another." said Gabriel. Upon turning to his brother, he saw that Castiel was looking at him with dewy, puppy dog eyes. He sighed and wondered when he had become so weak. "Come on."
He snapped Castiel clean and placed him on top of his shoulders to get a better vantage point. Gabriel took them out of the alley and into a noisy marketplace. It was around midnight and yet the place was insanely packed with people; this was going to be a long search.
They dived into every crowd, passed countless stalls, but as the night went on, there was still no sign of their thief. Gabriel was already considering conjuring a fake Gabriel-the-bunny just so they could move on. They still had mail to deliver after all, and the stench of dead fish and yakking stall-owners were getting on his nerves.
A while later, he felt Castiel tugging at his hair. "What?" he asked.
He glanced up to see Castiel pointing at a stall they just passed, one that sold all kinds of interesting masks. The girl was not there, but Gabriel decided to humor his brother and retraced his steps; besides, some of the masks there looked pretty awesome, and there was no shopkeeper around so they could stay as long as they wanted.
Gabriel put Castiel down so he could pick out what he liked. At first, he just blinked and stared at the masks before selecting a butterfly-themed mask. He had trouble figuring out how to put it on so Gabriel had to strap it on him then take him to a mirror to study himself. The verdict was another head-tilt.
"Try these. They're way cooler." said Gabriel, giving him a wild, elaborate bird-themed mask with a beak, wings at the sides and feathers practically exploding everywhere. When the mask was on and Castiel was at the mirror, he let out a cry of shock and fell on his bum.
"Told ya." snickered Gabriel.
He opted to leave his brother alone to do his own thing, which left Gabriel to browse the masks hanging on the highest shelf of the shop. His eyes landed on a brass lion mask; it was an excellent example of craftsmanship, but for kids who do not know any better, it was one scary piece of crap.
Gabriel snuck a glance at Castiel, and when he discovered that he was occupied with examining a turtle mask, Gabriel's mischievous attitude sparked back to life. Quickly, he put on the mask and crept behind his brother until they were almost touching. Gabriel tapped his shoulder, and when Castiel turned around, the expected scream-and-scramble result was met and signified a job well done.
Gabriel took off the mask, both to show Castiel that it was merely him and so that he can laugh properly. True, it was a bit cruel, but Castiel had that coming since that pillow-fight incident, and the look on his face was priceless!
His laughter ceased when he realized Castiel was crying. Not like back in the alley, but really crying, with big tears rolling down his eyes like they would never end, and he was shaking so hard it looked like he might fall apart any second.
"Take it easy, bro; it's just a joke. There's no need –" Castiel backed away from him the nearer Gabriel got, and the more he distanced himself, Gabriel felt something sink down further into his stomach, like shards of glass.
He felt like a total jackass now; he did not mean to get this far. At the most, he had assumed that Castiel would just be shocked for a few seconds then blow the whole thing off. Gabriel stared at the lion mask he still held in his hand, already having half a mind to incinerate it when suddenly it hit him:
Lion.
Zachariah.
Great; out of all the masks, he just had to pick that one. Gabriel threw the mask away and crouched down as near as he could to his brother. "He's not a fun guy, huh?" he asked, and without even specifying it, Castiel knew that he had caught on and slowly shook his head.
Gabriel sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. He needed a different tactic. Searching the area, he found a neighboring shop that sold musical instruments, and he figured that was a good way to redeem himself.
Luckily, the owner also was not there, which was lousy for the town but great for Gabriel. He snagged the least threatening instrument from the shop and slowly approached his brother. "They're called maracas. Humans use 'em to play music." he informed, showing the colorful pair to Castiel. Gabriel gave them a little shake and they made a friendly sound.
Castiel wiped the tears from his eyes as he studied the maracas, suddenly intrigued. Gabriel shook them a couple of more times, and eventually Castiel was comfortable enough to inch closer and reach for them. Gabriel placed them carefully into his hands and waited.
For an extremely long moment, Castiel merely stared at the maracas, as if doubting their harmlessness. Then, he tentatively shook them. When nothing bad happened, he shook them again, and again, and again, until he was smiling and laughing.
Gabriel took that as a good sign. He walked toward the edge of the crowd to continue searching for the bunny, wanting to let Castiel relax before joining him again. That pigtailed twerp was around here somewhere…
His focus was suddenly disrupted by loud crashing noises.
He turned around to see that Castiel had traded the maracas for cymbals, and he looked extremely happy with them. Castiel then made a louder, faster succession and his grin became wider.
"Glad you're not in the choir upstairs." chuckled Gabriel.
Castiel giggled and Gabriel was so glad that he was not crying anymore. Castiel was about to clash the cymbals again when he blinked and tipped his head upward. "Smells good." he said.
Gabriel sniffed the air and smelled the warm, tangy aroma as well; it did smell good. He had not realized he spaced out when he felt Castiel pulling at the end of his robe, urging him to let them investigate.
"I thought we're trying to find your bunny?" Gabriel reminded. Castiel had the puppy-eyes on him again, and something that smelled as good as that could only mean food…
"Five minutes tops, got it?" said Gabriel.
Castiel nodded. Gabriel grabbed his brother and they ran.
O_x
The good smell was apparently from a newly-opened noodle stand, and to celebrate its opening, it was giving away one free cup of noodles per customer. And the noodles tasted way better than they smelled.
Gabriel was sitting on a bench, enjoying his noodles. Castiel chose to sit on Gabriel's shoulders, using his head as a table to eat his noodles. Gabriel was fine with that; the only problem was that Castiel was a sloppy eater who kept spilling noodles and other stuff all over his hair.
"One day, I'm teaching you table manners." said Gabriel.
Above him, the slurping sounds continued, undeterred. The next thing Gabriel knew, a cup fell onto his lap and Castiel was virtually bouncing on his shoulders.
"My bunny!" he yelled.
Gabriel instantly stood up and scanned the area. In less than a second, he saw their pigtailed target. He placed Castiel on the ground and they swiftly made their way to her.
"What's the big idea stealing my brother's bunny?" demanded Gabriel. And that was perhaps the weirdest thing coming out of an archangel's mouth.
The girl flinched, holding the bunny tighter. The man beside her – her dad – turned around and regarded his daughter and Gabriel with the utmost worry.
"You stole that? Return it at once!" he exclaimed. He did not sound annoyed though, but concerned and scared. Gabriel did a quick background check on their family and learned that they were poor and had already lost the wife due to taxes. The last thing they wanted now was to cause trouble and be further broken.
Reluctantly, the girl handed Gabriel-the-bunny back to Castiel. "It's supposed to be my younger sister's birthday gift." she whimpered.
As if on cue, a smaller girl peeped out from behind the father's legs; she looked even younger than Castiel, or his sorta-vessel anyway.
"A thousand apologies. I won't let this happen again." said the man, and Gabriel noticed just how tightly he held onto his daughters, like they were everything to him.
Surprisingly, Castiel stepped forward to the girl in pigtails. "How much do you love your sister?" he seriously asked.
"Very much. I'll steal hundreds of other bunnies if I have to." she replied.
Castiel looked like he was thinking really hard about something. "You can keep the bunny." he said.
The whole family, plus Gabriel, was stunned. "Thank you! She'll be so happy!" cried the girl, taking the bunny and hugging Castiel at the same time. Castiel, of course, went completely rigid again.
Gabriel placed his hands on Castiel's shoulders to calm him down as both of them watched the small family have a group hug – older sister hugging little sister, dad hugging the pile of them. It was a nauseating, sentimental mush that Gabriel found himself yearning to happen to his own family.
Finally, the family broke apart and began walking. However, Gabriel pulled the girl in pigtails back before they got too far away.
"Before you run off, I've got another present." he said. He took a bronze Message from his satchel. "This time, it's for you."
Gabriel slipped the Message into her head, an idea for an invention that would help them get the good life. As the girl became dazed from absorbing the Message, the angels left.
O_x
"That was nice of you back there." commented Gabriel.
They were walking several miles outside the city they just left. Technically, Gabriel was the only one walking; Castiel was sitting on his shoulders, and the reason he was there was because he said he was tired. Gabriel did not blame him; they had a long day, and the little guy was probably still mourning the loss of his bunny.
"It seemed right." muttered Castiel hazily. He was holding his pinwheel up in one hand and snuggling his toy zebra in the other. Behind him, he had his wind-chimes attached to a long, sturdy stick, which stuck out of his backpack so whenever Gabriel took a step they would jingle.
Castiel placed his cheek on Gabriel's hair like a pillow. "What's Father like?" he asked.
Gabriel nearly tripped on a rock. What was Dad like? Aside from the cryptic answers, assigning angels a mega-crap-load of crap to do, the occasional 'selective hearing,' locking Himself up in His room all the time by Himself, the tendency to flatten archangels (mainly Gabriel) with a comet the size of Jupiter if they screwed up on a job, practically leaving the angels on their own…
"Dad's great. He'll never disappoint you." said Gabriel.
That seemed to satisfy Castiel since he remained quiet, nuzzling more into Gabriel's hair. For a while, it seemed the peace would last.
Then Gabriel smelled the scent of cake and heard Castiel munching carelessly above him.
TBC
Remember Luke? The "You should've seen Luke." Cas mentioned in 4x18? ;)
Also, 'Byleist' really is Loki's brother!
And for those who aren't familiar with the lotus-flowers, look 'em up! :D