A/N: Okay, so I'm the worst. But I just finished finals! Which means it's my spring break! Yee! So I'll try to post as much as I can before I start up Spring Quarter. But, enough of my personal life, let's get back to Dean and Co. -Pyxie xx
They decide to stay in a motel, per Sam's request. However, by Gabriel's request, they stay somewhere a bit nicer than what both Sam and Dean are used to. It's far from luxurious, but how can Gabriel protest in Omaha?
Castiel is staring at the tub of salt in his hands. Salt. Just an enormous metal tin of salt. He glances up at Dean for an explanation, but he just shrugs and goes back to making sure that he has everything for the hunt.
Gabriel is sitting on Sam's bed, giving the hunter lewd winks and bedroom eyes. Either Dean doesn't notice, or doesn't want to notice, but Sam kind of likes it. It's ridiculous and the timing is all wrong, but living this life...time has to be ignored, if only for a little while, for the small things.
So Dean is off in his own little world, while Gabriel and Sam are sharing one. So that leaves just Castiel. And his tub of salt. Because he definitely needs to flavour something right now. He slips painlessly into his mind, his eyes closing, and he accepts the feeling of bliss and simple content.
He sorts out everything that is happening to him and places them in chronological order. Meeting Gabriel, coming out to his parents, moving out, going to college, get his advanced degrees, running away, learning that his adopted brother isn't human, meeting Dean, staying in Kansas, reading a book about the Men of Letters, coming to Nebraska. This is not quite what Castiel had had in mind when he decided to go on a road trip. But now...he can't imagine what else he would have done. Maybe spent some time in California? Then moved.
"Hey, Cas." A small smile threatens to pull at Castiel's lips at the nickname and at the warm indigo colour that accompanies the voice. He opens his eyes and looks at Dean with a fond expression.
"Yes, Dean?"
Dean looks at the Castiel for a long moment before simply nodding. "Nothing...I was just wondering if you were sleeping."
"He wasn't. He meditates when there's something he doesn't understand." Gabriel pipes up.
Feeling betrayed, Castiel shoots a look of anguish at Gabriel. It isn't as though that is not true, but to have Dean and Sam know something personal like this sends a twist of anxiety through Cas' stomach.
"Is it the salt?" Dean looks apologetic, knowing that he should have explained why he was handing over a giant metal tin of salt. "It's to keep demons and ghosts away from you. Make a circle, then you're safe. Well, relatively speaking."
"Because we're never really safe are we?" Castiel cocks his head to the side as he speaks.
Sam snorts. "Not as long as you're around us."
"Not that we're trying to scare you away." Dean shoots Sam a defensive look that Castiel doesn't miss. But he says nothing about it for now; simply storing it in the back of his mind for future reference.
Gabriel can only laugh. "You two chuckleheads are gonna scare me away. I've seen way worse than you can imagine. And Cassie here doesn't have anywhere to go."
"That is not true." Castiel retorts. "I could teach at any University of my choosing or I could fly off to Switzerland and work on CERN."
Gabriel blinks and raises his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, feisty today, are we?" He smirks and conjures himself a Kit Kat bar, an action that Castiel is sure that he'll never been fully comprehensive of.
"We you do that, are you taking it from somewhere else or just creating it in your hand?" There are the laws of physics and chemistry that cannot be ignored simply because Gabriel is a celestial being.
"Why don't you just take a guess." Gabriel winks, knowing exactly how frustrated that response would make Castiel.
Instead of retorting or fighting back on the subject, Castiel only nods. He knows the answer. He knows exactly how Gabriel works. Perhaps not his action, but certainly his mind. Gabriel is a trickster whose words are riddles with simple, unsuspecting answers.
Sam looks at the two of them. "Wait...so do you just create them from thin air?"
"C'mon, Sammy, you should know this." Dean has finished packing and is now slinging his bag over his shoulder. Before Sam can say anything more, Dean shakes his head and slips his demon-killing knife into his suit jacket. "Are you ready?"
"No." Castiel doesn't like violence. He doesn't like the idea of being pursued by a demon or a ghost or anything else supernatural. Even knowing that his adopted brother is an archangel is uncomfortable.
"I was asking Sam, if that makes you feel better. Do you...wanna stick around and do research?" Dean suggests and it doesn't escape his notice how Cas' eyes light up. "I'll take that as a yes." He huffs out a small laugh and pulls out his laptop. "I'll send you the details and you can just...do your thing. Anything supernatural, alright?"
Castiel nods and takes the laptop, setting it out next to him on the bed. Here's something that he can handle. Something that comes naturally to him. Research. And he knows how to do it too. Earning a doctorate means 96% research and 4% postulating.
Gabriel groans loudly and falls back on Sam's bed. "Ugggghhhhhh why did you have to hand him a laptop? Do you know what he's going to do now?"
"Read slash?" Dean smirks and grabs his car keys from the bedside table. "Alright, Sammy. Let's head out." He winks at Castiel and he and Sam leave the room.
As soon as Gabriel knows that the two brothers are out of earshot, he zaps over to where Castiel is sitting and bats his eyes at his brother. "So...tell me about Dean."
Castiel blinks and looks at Gabriel in confusion. "What? You know him as well as I. If not better."
Unexpectedly, Gabriel just laughs. "No. You know him differently than I do. You see him differently. Tell me." He reclines back on Castiel's bed and rests his head on his lap. " I need to know how you feel about him. Tell me…"
"I barely know him." Castiel opens the laptop and logs in as a guest. The distraction is welcome. Gabriel's pestering, however, is not. It's best to just ignore him as much as possible and avoid his questions.
"I'm an angel, I can read your mind. I'm sure I've made that clear before…" Gabriel sighs when he doesn't get an answer from his brother. "Alright, fine. I'll just announce your thoughts so that you can hear them." He clears his throat and internally, Castiel cringes. "You are attracted to him, and you aren't sure why. Even though I can tell you it's because he's attractive with a great voice. And you're gay...so...Dean. And he's familiar to you, but you don't know why and I won't spoil the surprise for you. And you're confused as to why he's so nice to you. And why he winks at you and blushes around you and gets flustered around you and-"
Castiel closes the lid to the laptop and sets it down on the bed. Standing, he keeps his hands in tight balls. "Brother, please. Research. And stop talking."
Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Alright. Just recognise that you wanna get it on with the older Winchester. However, not the better looking Winchester. If you're into shorter guys, that's fine. But I like 'em tall and brooding." He winks and vanishes. Castiel looks around the room in shock.
"Right…"
A/N: Uhm...yes. That just happened. -Pyxie xx