Title: a thousand things I'd never done before
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: takes place during season 5
Pairings: maybe some implied Castiel/Dean
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 230
Point of view: third
Prompt: Castiel, There isn't a handbook on how to fly
Angels are created knowing everything they will ever know. From the first moment they awaken in God's palm to the last moment of their existence, they never learn anything new.
That is why Lucifer's rebellion came as such a shock to his siblings. (God knew, of course.)
And as Castiel loses more and more of his Heavenly abilities, as his Grace fades down to a pinprick of divine light, he notices that while he still knows everything he ever knew, he knows other things, as well. He knows what rain feels like, how blueberry pie tastes, the noise Metallica makes when played at full volume with two brothers singing along, the scent of blood and gunpowder and a burning corpse, and how bright the sunrise glows.
And finally, when his Grace is all but gone, when he can no longer carry anyone but himself, Castiel stands atop a mountain and spreads his wings. Soon enough, he won't even be able to do that.
He knows the secrets of creation, but they are leaving him in twos and threes, all the knowledge an angel possesses. He is more human than angel, now.
He wants to fly once more before even that is lost to him.
(And he knows, in that place within brimming with the touchscentsoundsighttaste of humanity, that all the things he's forgotten are worth the things he's learning now.)