A/N: Honestly, this chapter was just too much fun to write. Between picking out Disney songs to use and deciding to throw in Celine Dion, well this chapter quickly got out of hand. If only the boys would have made a move sooner, lord knows Gabriel presented them with more than enough opportunities.
Oh and this chapter if you haven't guessed actually turned into a bit of a songfic, but only because Gabriel thinks serenading your oblivious brothers with Disney music will make them suddenly aware of their feelings...but Gabriel's plans never quite work out how he imagines them, doesn't mean he still doesn't have fun
Summary: Gabriel dabbles in matchmaking with a reluctant Raphael's help, Castiel appears pleasantly oblivious to the songs around him, while Balthazar slowly gains a dislike for Disney and Celine Dion
8. Gabriel's Early Attempts At Matchmaking or Why Balthazar Hates Disney And Celine Dion
Today was a good day. There was a cool breeze blowing through the garden and the sun was out shining brightly down on the flowers, and Balthazar could think of nowhere else he'd rather be than right here with Cas.
Lying down on the sun warmed grass, stretched out on his back the opposite direction as Cas, Balthazar allowed a smile to stretch across his face.
Lifting a finger up to point at one particular tree, Castiel nudged Balthazar, his eyes wide in awe at the small blue jay that'd taken residence in one of the branches. Balthazar offered a nod as he trained his eyes on the small bird, laughing softly at the way Castiel animated pointed out the feathered creature.
"I still don't see why we're here," Raphael hissed crouching next to Gabriel.
"Shush you," he whispered pointing beyond the bush to the younger angels giggling in the grass.
"I can see what's happening."
Raphael blinked looking at Gabriel, "what?"
"And they don't have a clue."
"Who," Raphael asked feeling confused, but that was usually how he felt around Gabriel.
Rolling his eyes Gabriel nodded to Balthazar and Castiel who had forgotten the blue jay in favor of discovering just how ticklish Castiel actually was. Balthazar had turned around, kneeling on his knees as his fingers moved over the younger angel's ribs. Castiel's head was thrown back as he scrambled trying to swat away prying fingers.
"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line, my trio's down to two."
Raphael bit back his remark or no duh and rolled his eyes as he realized just what Gabriel was singing about, "oh."
Rubbing his hands together a devious smirk moved across Gabriel's face as he continued, "Ze sweet caress of twilight, there's magic in the air…and with all this romantic atmosphere…disaster's in the air."
"Wait disaster? I thought you wanted them to get together?"
Gabriel sighed rolling his eyes, "that's how the song goes. You can only take so much creative license with Disney," he added as if that answered everything. Seeing the look of confusion and the question that Raphael was burning to ask, Gabriel shook his head, "never mind, point is you're here to help me."
"How?"
Grin growing ever larger, Gabriel wiped his hands on the fronts of his pants as he began to stand up moving out of view from the wrestling angels. "I'm glad you asked Raph, now see I have a brilliant and cunning plan."
There was no point in trying to back out now, so Raphael just offered a stiff nod and forced smile as he replied, "so what can I do?"
Castiel wanted to go out to the lake, and Balthazar had a hard time telling Cas no when the little angel asked. So now Balthazar found himself sitting in a boat out on the center of the lake with Castiel looking at the fireflies that buzzed by and listening to the quiet lull of water slapping on the shore and soft chirping of crickets.
The sun had sunk down low in the sky and now the stars were starting to light up the sky. Hands firmly grasping the paddles, Balthazar looked on silently smiling at Castiel's wide eyed gaze at everything happening around him.
It was a perfect moment, and then it happened. It being the cockamamie idea that Gabriel had thought up to further his plan.
Slowly filling in along the sounds of crickets and fireflies and other background noise the scenery created, was the sound of percussion and then following the lead of subtle drums was strings and then the sounds of flutes and horns. Balthazar raised an eyebrow in question looking around to try and pinpoint the source of the new music slowly building, but save them, there was nobody else on the lake.
And then the actual singing started up and Balthazar felt the vein in his forehead begin throbbing as he suddenly figured out the familiar voice.
"There you see him, sitting there across the way, he don't got a lot to say but there's something about him…and you don't know why but you're dying to try, you want to kiss the boy."
Eye twitching, Balthazar forced a smile on his face and drew his eyes away from the shore to look at Castiel who was smiling head bobbing in time with the music. "Did you hear something?"
"It's beautiful isn't it," Castiel asked with a nod.
Balthazar gave a half forced laughed, "yea, beautiful, that's the word I was looking for," he mumbled.
"Yes, you want him; look at him you know you do. Possible he want you too, there is one way to ask him, it don't take a word, not a single word go on and kiss the boy"
Blushing Balthazar shifted on his seat looking over at Castiel who didn't seem to care that Gabriel was singing about them, actually it didn't seem to click in his mind that the song playing across the lake was about them.
And then things just seemed to go from awkward to extremely weird when a second voice joined in with Gabriel, and Balthazar nearly died of embarrassment right there.
"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh, my look like the boy too shy, he ain't gonna kiss the boy. Sha-la-la-la-la-la ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad he gonna miss the boy."
Coughing Balthazar rolled his shoulders back and picked up the pace on rowing their boat, "hey Cassie, it's getting a bit late, I think we should head back."
"Oh, ok," Castiel spoke offering the barest of smiles as he turned to look over the lake. "I had fun Bal," he whispered, voice breaking off to hum that stupid song Gabriel had started singing.
"I'm glad Cas," Balthazar spoke half distracted as he was focused getting back to dry land and as far away from Gabriel as possible.
Turns out that being on land did little to no good at quelling the archangel's nosiness when he got an idea stuck in his head. Reaching a hand out to help Cas step out from the boat, Balthazar silently cursed when he heard the strings change their tune and the percussion go from pick up a new beat.
"He can show you the world…shining, shimmering, splendid, tell me angel now when did you last let your heart decide?"
Eyes shifting to Castiel, Balthazar wasn't sure whether he should be thankful that a curious head tilt greeted him, blue eyes wide but still unsure of what was being sung around him, or slightly concerned that Castiel was that oblivious.
"He can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder. Over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride…"
Grumbling, Balthazar grabbed Castiel's hand and pulled him closer trying to urge him to leave the lake. Perhaps the singing would stop once they were far enough from the lake. It was worth a shot, though deep down Balthazar knew that Gabriel would not be so easily deterred.
Castiel followed Balthazar away from the lake, unsure whether he should say something or just let his brother calm down on his own. If he's honest, he rather enjoyed the singing, it was quite catchy. Besides the pleasing aesthetics of the song, Castiel can't help but shake the tiny niggling feeling at the back of his mind that the words have a greater meaning. He does know that tonight has been fun and he's glad that Balthazar was with him out on the lake and in the garden, so maybe he's just reading too far into the music.
Walking down a beaten path, Balthazar's grasp has relaxed from its hold as he tugged Castiel along behind him, to a loose tangle of fingers and he's visibly calmed down. His mouth no longer pinched in a frown or eyes darting around as if he's expecting someone to jump out at them. He's even gone so far as to run his thumb over the tops of Castiel's knuckles and turn to smile at him saying "I had a good time tonight Cassie."
Smiling Cas tightened his hold on Balthazar's hand, "me too."
"Tale as old as time…"
Silently Balthazar curses, head whipping around to glare at the bushes lining the path to see if he can spot Gabriel.
"What's wrong Bal?"
"You don't hear it?"
Cocking his head, Castiel's eyes narrow slightly as if he's trying to figure something out "the music? Well yea I do, I like it."
"True as it can be…"
His eyebrows rising to his hairline, Balthazar stops and looks down at Castiel, "it doesn't bother you?"
Castiel shakes his head, "no, I think it's nice. It just feels right," he says after a pause.
"Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly…"
Balthazar looks down at him, face relaxing and he gives a small nod, "yea it does," he answers.
Blocking out the singing, because if Cas enjoyed it, then it wasn't all that annoying after all, Balthazar turned back down the path and gave a halfhearted tug on Cas' hand. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
The singing slowly abated and for that Balthazar was thankfully. He made it back to Cas' side of the garrison, pulling the younger angel into a hug as he bid him goodnight. Cas was turning in for the night and he only had to walk a bit to get back to his place, Balthazar was certain the singing was done for the night, that Gabriel had finally finished.
He was wrong. He was horribly wrong.
"If there's a prize for rotten judgment…I guess you've already won that. No man is worth the aggravation, that's ancient history been there, done that!"
Hands tightening into fist, Balthazar quickened his pace muttering about nosy archangels as he tried to block out the singing.
"Who'd'ya think you're kiddin', he's the Earth and Heaven to you, try to keep it hidden, honey we can see right through you. Boy, you can't conceal it; we know how ya feel and, who you're thinking of…"
Well two could play at that game and honestly if Gabriel was being so childish as to communicate through lyrics, well Balthazar could allow himself to stoop to that level just this once.
"No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no," he bit out eyes roving around the landscape as his feet carried him back to his bunk.
And like clockwork came the response, voice seeming to float through the land rather than from a specific place.
"You swoon, you sigh, why deny it, uh-oh!"
"It's too cliché I won't say I'm in love…" Balthazar whispered and much to his surprise the music cut off suddenly leaving him listening to crickets chirp. He'd never loved the sound more in his life than right this moment.
It was short lived.
The second voice piped in at that moment and the music started back up if not slightly louder.
"You thought your heart had learned its lesson, it feels so good when you start out…"
Growling Balthazar stomped his foot indignantly, but his mouth moved on its own and the words "My head is screaming get a grip, Bal, unless you're dying to cry your heart out," was ripped from his mouth.
Twin voices joined up together as Balthazar decided to start running for his bunk, but the words seemed to travel with him.
"You keep on denying, who you are and how you feeling, Baby we're not buying, Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling, Face it like a grown-up, when ya gonna own up that ya got, got, got it bad?"
Skidding across the floor as Balthazar ran to his door, the angel slammed it behind him panting as he tried to get his breathing under control.
The room was silent and Balthazar was hopefully that perhaps this was the end. The music was over, or he'd suddenly gone deaf, he wasn't sure which idea he preferred at this moment.
Sighing, he clicked the lock behind him and crossed the room to crawl underneath the covers snuggling into the pillows. Maybe Gabriel had given up? Well one could hope.
Eyes slipping shut, Balthazar tugged the blankets around his frame tighter, burrowing even deeper into the pillow, when he heard it. It was just a soft whistle of some sort, but it started to build and Balthazar could feel his cheek begin to twitch in annoyance.
It seemed like Gabriel was in fact not done.
Grabbing the pillow, Balthazar tried to smoother out the impending song, but with minimal success as the whistling continued to build and slowly piano and strings were added. He just wanted to cry at this point, not even his room was sacred, but Balthazar just clamped his eyes shut and pressed his hands tighter to his ears.
Still Gabriel refused to be ignored.
"Every night in your dreams, you see him, you feel him. That is how you know he goes on. Far across the distance in spaces between you, he has come to show he goes on. Near, far, wherever he is, you believe that the heart does go on…"
Balthazar silently moaned as Gabriel continued to sing on in the background. He didn't know what his brother's problem was, ok that's false. He knew just what Gabriel was getting at, but did he have to be so obvious? And the songs, dear Dad, the songs, just why oh why was Balthazar being subjected to them?
Briefly Balthazar entertained the idea of smothering himself with the pillow to escape the sounds of Gabriel crooning from whatever hidden corner he'd chosen, but the thought of Cas being left alone quickly shot that idea down.
So Balthazar rolled over on his back and stared up at the ceiling while somewhere in the shadows Gabriel continued to sing.
"Once more, he opens the door, and he's there in your heart and your heart will go on and on…"
Really did it have to be that song?