Short chapter is short. *hangs head* Still, at least I updated! I've been stressed today and I got off like an hour after everyone else in my division except my upper chain of command. Pretty much everyone at my rank and below got off a good hour before me... and then I had to shower... so I didn't have much time to write tonight. Hopefully more tomorrow, and I get Wednesday off, so I'll write a lot more then.

All characters mentioned herein belong to Eric Kripke.

When Gabriel woke up the next morning, he nearly had a heart attack. For a few moments, he had no idea where he was—it definitely wasn't his own bedroom. How much had he had to drink the night before? He vaguely recalled Lu practically pouring booze down his throat. Normally, he didn't let himself drink that much, but…

Then he got a better look around and realized he was in Castiel and Dean's guest bedroom. Oh. He rolled off the bed and grimaced. He'd slept in his clothes the night before and he felt like a mess now. He sincerely hoped he could at least shower before he did his walk of shame—not that was even a legitimate walk of shame, seeing as how he hadn't gotten laid.

Mostly, though, he was just happy it was now Saturday and that he didn't have to see his agent's smirking face until Monday.

He left the bedroom and began hunting for Castiel. That man had the amazing gift of being able to drink heavily and then wake up the next morning no worse for the wear. Gabriel hadn't believed in people with superpowers until he saw Castiel the morning after a night of debauchery. His superpower was definitely the ability to throw off a hangover completely. That was why Gabriel suspected he'd be awake right now, either making breakfast or watching TV.

Sure enough, when he stuck his head in the kitchen, he saw Castiel throwing together what looked like pancakes. The taller man—Castiel was five-foot-eleven to Gabriel's five-foot-eight, and that was a rounded-up measurement on the author's part—glanced at him and grinned. "Hey, buddy. How're you feeling?"

Gabriel half-shrugged. "Okay, I guess. No headache, but I feel really run-down." He yawned quickly. "How long is breakfast gonna take?"

Castiel shrugged. "Twenty minutes or so. Why?"

"Mind if I take a shower?"

Castiel grinned. "Please, go right ahead. I don't want you stinking up my kitchen."

"Go fuck yourself," Gabriel said good-naturedly.

"Since you're up, I'm turning on music," he added as Gabriel turned around to head out of the kitchen.

"If it's that Carly Ray whatever-the-fuck-her-name-is crap, don't bother."

"Nah, I was thinking The Damned this morning."

Gabriel nodded approvingly. "Good choice. Have at it."

"I was going to anyway," Castiel said. He reached for a remote on the counter next to him, pointed it somewhere over his shoulder, and hit a button. A moment later, Dave Vanian's creepily haunting voice filled the apartment. Gabriel grinned as he headed to the bathroom.

Once he'd showered and stumbled back to the kitchen, he grabbed a few plates, knives, and forks out of various cupboards and drawers. He was feeling a bit better after his shower and he figured that, if Castiel was making breakfast, the least he could do was set the table. By now, pancakes and bacon were sizzling on the griddle and Gabriel's stomach was rumbling. Still, he felt a little nauseous around the bacon. Normally, he loved it, but this morning, he didn't feel like it would settle right.

"Plates," Castiel said, holding out a hand.

Gabriel gave him a plate.

"How many pancakes do you want?"

"Two to start."

"How much bacon?"

Gabriel made a face. "I should probably skip it this morning. It probably won't taste as good coming back up."

Castiel shot him a half-disgusted, half-amused look. "Do you feel sick? I thought you said you were feeling okay."

"I am, I just think that bacon would make me feel… less so."

He shrugged. "Dean will eat it later, I'm sure." He and Gabriel swapped plates and the shorter man waited patiently for his friend to finish dishing out his own food, plugging in his phone to charge and setting it on the table next to him. Once Castiel sat down, Gabriel doused his pancakes in syrup and started munching happily.

They were both quiet for a few minutes until Gabriel finally asked, "So, what don't I remember from last night?" He grinned mischievously. "Did I make out with a drag queen or something?"

Castiel gave him a small smile. "There were no drag queens at Perdition last night. The drag show is tonight. But I do seem to recall you turning down quite a few women who asked you to dance. A few were even pretty."

Gabriel laughed. "So most were not pretty? Nice to know that my taste is still intact even with a lot of alcohol in my system."

Castiel gave him a serious look. "Actually, I believe you led most of them to believe you were gay. You kept winking at me."

"Oh." He shot Castiel an embarrassed, apologetic grin. "Sorry. You didn't tell Dean, did you? He'd probably kick my ass." Actually, he wasn't completely sure that Dean would be pissed, but stranger things had happened. He was also five inches taller than him, and while he seemed like a nice guy, Gabriel knew he'd been in a few bar fights and hadn't come off worse.

Castiel suddenly grinned. "I'm joking."

"About what?" He didn't quite trust Castiel's sense of humor. He was cool, but he didn't make jokes well.

"Most of it. There were only two or three women. I think they got the impression that you'd rather be left alone. You lurked by Lu most of the night."

"That explains how I got so drunk," Gabriel muttered.

"Yes. He seemed to sympathize with your plight."

"He was probably identifying a bit with what happened with him and Eve."

Castiel shrugged. "I forgot all about that. I thought she was cheating on him, though. Kali wasn't cheating on you."

"It was still a huge shock for him, though." About a year ago, Lu's then-girlfriend Eve left him, quite out of the blue, for a guy named Zachariah Halsey, who was a good thirty years older than her. After that, Lu had turned into a bit of a dick for awhile. He was back to normal now, but Gabriel acknowledged that Castiel was probably right about Lu's sympathy.

He was just finishing up his fourth pancake (and feeling steadily less nauseous, either because of the pancakes or because of the bacon smell dissipating) when his phone buzzed on the table. He glanced at the screen and rolled his eyes. Michael Milligan was flashing across the display. Michael was one of his friends, it was true, but they only met because of Kali. They didn't know each other extremely well, so if Michael was calling him, it would probably end in a headache on his end. Still, he dragged his finger across the screen to answer the call.

"Hey, Michael."

"Gabriel! I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I've been up."

"Good. Listen, I heard about you and Kali."

Kill me now, Gabriel thought, rolling his eyes again.

"I'm really upset with her. I mean, there's acceptable ways to break up with someone and unacceptable ways to do it. That was just… mind-boggling. I had no idea she could be such a bitch."

Gabriel gave a surprised snort of laughter. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't see it coming, that's for damn sure."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry that happened. But, hey, listen, Rachel's gallery is opening a new exhibit next Friday. You want to come? I promise Kali won't be there."

He almost said no. Almost. But he knew that it could be just the thing to get back on track with his writing. He was always hunting for new experiences, and maybe he'd be struck by a bolt of inspiration. "Yeah. Sounds good. Thanks."

"No problem. And there's an extra invite if you want to bring a friend."

"Now you're just being cruel," he half-joked.

Michael caught the jest though and he laughed. "Very. What about that journalist friend of yours? Castiel Novak, I think his name is? Would he want to come?"

"Probably, but let me ask." Gabriel tilted the phone away from his mouth. "Hey, Cas, want to go with me to an art exhibit next Friday?"

Castiel furrowed his brow. "An art exhibit? With you?"

"What's with the tone? You act like I'm uncivilized or something."

"It just doesn't seem like your kind of thing."

"Exactly. Do you want to come with me or not?"

"As long as Dean doesn't have anything planned that night, sure. He's going to be back tomorrow so it should be fine."

"Cool." He moved his phone back to his mouth. "Mike? Cas says he'll go."

"Great! Alright, I'll send the invitations to your place."

"Thanks."

"No problem. See you Friday!"

"Yeah, see you." He hung up and shot Castiel a confused look. "Just when I think I've got Kali's friends figured out, they pull shit like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"That was Michael Milligan. He's been pretty good friends with Kali for like nine years, but he basically just said that he's pissed at the way she broke up with me and then he invited me to this exhibit at his wife's gallery and assured me that Kali wouldn't be there."

"Someone's on your side. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, yeah, but it's weird. It's like being in the Twilight Zone, especially because Michael and I don't know each other that well. But you're right, it's a good thing. I'll take what I can get."

Castiel nodded. "More pancakes?"

He grinned. "Of course."

That little bit about Eve being Lu's ex was definitely inspired by "Blue Archangel," my independent Balcifer fanfiction. Please go read it if you haven't done so already! *shameless whoring of my fanfiction* I believe my next fanfiction to update is "Little Glass Vial," so brace yourself for major feels. SO MUCH FEELING WILL OCCUR IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.

...still waiting on that AO3 invite...