A few days passed before he saw her again. This was done deliberately ... sort of. Initially, he intended his absence to last only a day, to evoke the illusion that he was "taking it easy" on his arm - which, incidentally, healed completely within minutes of fleeing the scene - but then a small duty that specifically required Castiel's assistance emerged onto his plate, and city of New York was denied the angel for a little longer.

Appearing back on site with a flutter of wings, he then adorned his supposedly wounded arm in neat bandages with a blink of an eye. Given Audrey's compassionate nature, he assumed she would want to examine his "injury" at some point. It was a strange thing to be near a person so touchy-feely; it was so unlike the boys (as much as Dean would like to argue that Sam actually was that way).

Waiting for her, again, at the Rockefeller Christmas Tree at night, again, got him thinking - why was he doing this again? She was not his charge, he was not obligated to her, and nor her to him. She hadn't any worth or value, she wasn't special, she wasn't significant, she wasn't skillful in any relevant way, she certainly was expendable ... well thank Heavens she wasn't around to read these thoughts, otherwise he would have been awarded a good slap in the face!

A gentle sigh spilled from Castiel's lips, expelling a ghostly puff of the winter air. The Tree did not captivate his scrutiny tonight; it was the ice-skating rink this time. It could simply attribute to the lasting impression elicited by the unfortunate episode on ice from a few nights before. From the boundaries that surrounded and overlooked the rink, he watched New Yorkers roam elegantly (and some, not so elegantly) over the ice. There were also couples and children chasing one another like over-caffeinated Benny Hill characters, just as he and Audrey had done.

Audrey, Audrey - how do you solve a problem like Audrey?

His little attachment to her, if you will, was unlike his attachment to Dean. Their relationship was rooted with their initial liability to one another, which had since developed into a friendship, an honorary brotherhood, over time. This all applied, though maybe to a slightly lesser extent, to Sam, too. It was different with Audrey, and the fact that it was different made the whole thing, whatever their thing was, seem a tad inappropriate. For one fact, charges should never go beyond being what they were: charges - a responsibility. And well, hello, she wasn't even that.

Of course, Castiel had moved beyond that and gotten the better of the initial controversy of breaching standard procedures for dealing with charges. Dean was to be thanked for that. Was Audrey the next step? The casual acquaintance? A traditional friendship established by curiosity? The natural human instinct? Human... he supposed it felt inappropriate because it felt human - something he was forbidden to have and to know. He didn't know whether to shudder in apprehension or relish with triumph over his progress.

Curiosity was a dangerous thing, especially for a being that was supposed to be confident with their own inherent tendencies. Castiel has seen what has happened when he pursues it ... so, he then decided, why stop now?

He spotted her in the corner of his eye and, with the intrinsic debonair sensibilities of an angel, he turned completely to address her. Her careful smile seemed to convey her greeting for her as she wordlessly joined him on the barriers overlooking the rink. Both were the very image of forced calm.

"Hello."

"Hi," she greeted in a cheerful tone that did not match her eyes. A beat passed, and when feverish interrogations never came, he frowned. Her brows knitted at this. "What? What's wrong?"

"I presumed you would..."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I want to ask about the other night."

Turns out she was on the same wavelength all along. Castiel nearly smiled.

"I'm curious but..." her lips pulled upwards sympathetically, "you're obviously uncomfortable with it." Castiel issued her a sheepish smile in gratitude. "I saw the way you ran away that night." Despite her slightly wounded tone, her tender regard remained. "On some damn figure skates! Clearly, privacy is what you wanted so I'm not gonna suffocate you." Her eyes flickered, very briefly, downwards at his arm. "Still, I think you should have calmed down and waited for help."

"No... it makes no difference since I eventually acquired the medical attention I needed." He nearly frowned at his own words; that sounded a little too mechanical. She either didn't notice or didn't bother.

"But for the sake of the people around you, you should have waited," she insisted sharply. "I don't think everyone and their mom appreciates seeing a grown man run off in the snow in a pair of ice-skates and blood dripping down his arm. You probably reminded people of Jason from Friday the 13th but with a few changes in the hockey costume."

Whoosh! That was the sound of another reference flying over his head. So he retorted with something deflective.

"I was under the impression that New York City was a hard-hitting place that does not pull its punches."

"Oh, pshh," she flourished a dismissive hand, "we talk big. We claim that if a person has a seizure in the bathtub, we're inclined to throw our laundry in --" At this, sheer incredulity washed over the angel's features. "-- but New York City isn't that bad! We're just... misunderstood. We're the rebellious American child that lashes out irrationally when all we want is as much love as San Francisco." Her pointed look that followed informed him that his deflection was known. "But that's neither here nor there. You shouldn't have run off like that, no matter how tough you think us New Yorkers are."

Castiel did his best to look apologetic without saying it. Her wry smile in response was brief, as she eventually assumed an expression that was less encouraging.

"Frankly I'm a little disturbed," she resumed in a suspicious tone that vividly hooked Castiel's attention so swiftly that it would only heighten her misgivings further. "Anyone else would have howled in pain, or at least winced. You looked as if a breeze had caught you on the arm."

He mentally groped around for an explanation. "My job requires me to be... disciplined."

He couldn't blame her when she frowned at the mention of his job. What a mystery his profession must be from her point of view. An important, secure yet thankless, supposedly unpleasant job where one is not allowed to express themselves in a moment of physical pain. Her frown was certainly a frown of disapproval.

"I had fun though," she said, shrugging, slipping into a more casual demeanor. And, with the ghost of a smug smile, she continued, "I'd like to think I succeeded in getting you to loosen up a little." Concern flickered over her face once more as her eyes drifted downwards. "Hopefully not too much."

He caught her drift and while he was sure she was still looking, made a very pointed move in burying his arm in the pocket of his trench coat until she looked back up at him.

"I assure you my arm is fine," he asserted. "Your concern is unnecessary."

"Well I'm just being considerate." Her tone was defensive.

"I know," he gently recovered in repentant tone. "I appreciate your concern very much."

They stared at one another as if they were trying to decipher something from the other's expressions. When she spoke again, Castiel couldn't be sure if she was actually staring at him when she did, or was merely immersed in a memory and her eyes were just directed forwards.

"It sure was fun," she observed in a dreamy little voice. "Could have done without the beginning and the end, but the middle was fun. It was like a - a wacky date!"

Castiel's eyes flew open comically. A what?

"A what?"

"Well what do you wanna call it?" she coolly shrugged. The bemused tilt of the angel's head seemed to beckon her to elaborate. Blushing furiously, she unmasked a grin he had no idea she had been hiding as she betrayed herself finally. "I like you, okay? You're just so ... peculiar."

She was calling him peculiar? He would have taken great offense to that if it wasn't for her charming state of fluster, which he inadvertently worsened by taking a very determined step towards her.

"I'm peculiar, am I?" he questioned lowly, as she took a demure step back.

Smiling a smarmy little smile, she relented, "Okay fine, maybe I'm a bit of a kook too, I dunno --" ("Are you serious?" would have been the ideal thing to shout at this point, he supposed) "-- but you're not like other guys around here." Castiel suddenly felt less inclined to bridle and more obliged to be flattered. He carefully watched her with undisguised intrigue. "Maybe it's because you're not even from New York, but even still," she then peered up at him with the same amount of intrigue he was giving her, "there's something ... ethereal and otherworldly about you."

If only she knew!

"Thank you, Audrey."

She smiled in response. "Well, you know what they say," she resumed in a more offhand tone, "men are from Mars, women are from Venus..."

Angels were from Heaven...

Her red tresses spilled over one shoulder as she smiled, now leaning comfortably against the barriers, and it wasn't until he offered her a careful but genuine smile in return that she turned and observed the ice-skaters once more. Castiel was soon to do the same.

Although he stared forward, the foreground of his mind did not involve ice-skating New Yorkers. Audrey Hathaway... she was a peculiar little thing, wasn't she?

All of a sudden, she laughed out loud. There was a very messy incident on the rink, and long story short, it resulted in an over-confident college boy tumbling over the rink's glass enclosures.

Sensing an opportunity to break the silence, he remarked, "I'm certain that man is feeling exceptionally foolish right now."

"Foolish?" she snickered. "I doubt the smooth fella's feeling anything from the neck down."

They lapsed into a prickly silence and the hum of a more thriving conversation that was supposed to be had hung in the air. The sound of her gloved hands tapping against the barriers was a clear attempt to fill said silence. Unfortunately, it only highlighted the very tension that was quick transpire, as this was probably the first time she decided not to fill it with the sound of her own voice. Why was it suddenly so awkward?

She cleared her throat.

"Well, um, listen, I have to go," she said, not looking him in the eyes - though she didn't appear to be doing so deliberately. "I'm meeting up with a friend tonight and we plan to sit around and be pretentious."

Her vague words would lead to more clarifications that would have him at a loss if he asked about it, so he didn't.

"Why did you come here if you already had plans?"

Bashfulness suddenly washed over her, as much as she plainly tried to restrain it. "I, uh... To see if you'd come. I needed to know how you were."

"I'm fine."

"I see that now," she briskly replied, mirroring his suddenly aloof tone. Her cautious regard softened. "Are you doing anything tonight? You can come with me, if you want."

Now see, Castiel didn't know how he felt about Audrey, but he assumed he liked her. Though, there something different about the vibe between them tonight; she didn't seem as eager to spend time with him. Gone was her passionate temperament that had once unnerved him.

Time resumed normal flow, and he answered. "I thought I'd just take a walk."

Recollection flickered in her eyes, briefly arousing the distinctive sparkle in her eye that had not made an appearance so far that night up until then.

"Ah, that's right, you're new around here, aren't you? Silly me, I should have given you a tour already. Well, that'll have to wait until another night, I'm afraid."

Castiel offered her a firm nod that could be regarded as either a gesture of agreement or a silent bid of farewell for the night. It seemed that she saw it as the latter when she smiled at him, a little awkwardly but with good intentions, before turning and retiring from his side. They didn't even exchange proper goodbyes. No words, no embrace, no affectionate pats on the arm, not even a genial handshake.

It seemed that when she left, she took an element of warmth with her, as Castiel squirmed in the cold spot she had deserted him in. What was this feeling, this foreign sensation?

Then he realized, for the first time, he felt - not necessarily unaccompanied - but truly lonely.

Guess what? It's my dreaded birthday today! I'm eighteen - ugh, do not want. There are so many things I can legally do and that fact scares me, lol. And wow, I made it to ten chapters without abandonment! Thank you so much for all the reviews so far, lovelies. Here's to another ten! (:

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