Cas licked the lips of his new vessel, put off about how soft they where in comparison to Jimmy's. Girls lips, still faintly tasting of the apple flavoured lip chap she favoured. He frowned. He didn't think he should even bother telling the boys. Sometimes they went a full month without calling upon him, so he could have very well gone the entire 2 weeks without informing them of his...situation.
But they were his friends, and he felt that they would appreciate the heads up in the long run. Still, he feels...awkward about it. It's an unpleasant feeling. He fiddles with a loose thread on the jacket that Adae had been wearing when he took her over (Adae is the name of this vessel) and sighs. He misses his trench coat, and briefly wonders if this vessel owns one. I'm not a trench coat kinda girl. Sorry, comes the answer, faintly from the back of his mind. His frown deepens, and he wishes that Dean and Sam would hurry back from the diner.
Despite his protest, they had both expressed an immediate need to eat and consume caffeine. And he knows by now, that protesting more than once, will end up with two cranky Winchesters, full "bitchfaces" on, and then no one will be happy. So he's waiting, trying to find the most efficient words to explain the complexities of the deal between vessels and angels.
He sighs. This vessel is still very much alert and aware, a side effect of taking over a vessel with a less than perfect blood trait. He can hear her singing to herself, a sweet song about hearts and putting them in a jar, and the name Christina Perri pops into his mind unbidden. Adae knows the song very well, and before long, he's humming along with her, his vessel taking over from memory.
"Dude, are you singing?" He hears Dean ask, and he jumps. He was so intent on mouthing the words along quietly, that he hadn't noticed that he had begun to sing too, and he certainly had not noticed the boys come back in.
"Uh, yes. This vessel is fond of singing," he admits and his cheeks heat up immediately. Another trait of Adaes, blushing easily, although now that he is aware of it, he's not sure if it's because he was caught in the act of singing or of it's because he's aware of Dean and Sam's presence. They're not bad, he hears Adae pipe up appreciatively. Downright delicious actually, especially the shorter one. What was his name? Dean?
This is not an appropriate sentiment at the current moment. Please don't interfere. He thinks back almost violently, though he could not begin to know why. He's too emotional. This vessel is frustrating.
"What's up with this vessel anyways?" Sam speaks up, helping Castiel refocus on the task at hand.
"That's what I came to tell you about." He says, pitching his voice a bit lower. Adaes voice is too breathy and girlish for him, and at first, had him so disgruntled he'd nearly fallen from the sky and into oncoming traffic. She hasn't liked that, and had scolded him, told him if it bothered him so much, he could lower it. He was an angel wasn't he? He had felt foolish and irritated.
"Yeah, where's Jimmy at? Not that this vessel is hard on the eyes, but it's weird." Dean leans against the wall, eyes narrowed expectantly.
"Jimmy is...on a leave of absence." Cas says roughly, and looks down, away from Deans eyes. The brothers share a confused glance, and Cas knows he's going to have to explain further. He had hoped he wouldn't have to, that they would just accept it without question, but that's foolish if him, now isn't it? Of course they want more information. "When an angel and a vessel make a contract, the vessel is allowed to make a request in exchange. In Jimmy's case, it was that every year, he gets two weeks off, in order to celebrate his wife and daughters birthdays. They're within a week of each other." Dean snorts and both he and Sam glare at him.
"What!? Aww, c'mon! That's funny! Dude is basically on vacation! I find that amusing." Dean shrugs his shoulders defensively, and Cas just stares at him, tilting his head slightly in that way that he knows make Dean slightly uncomfortable.
"May I continue?"
"You mean there's more? Jesus, I should've made popcorn," Dean jokes again and this time Sam smacks his arm. "Ok, ok, sorry! Bitch."
"Jerk" Sam replies instantly, and both brothers can't help but grin at each other. Cas makes a frustrated noise in his throat, and the boys apologize. Cas clears his throat and continues.
"As I was saying, Jimmy will continue being my vessel after his allotted 2 weeks is up. Until then, I will be using this body. The vessels name is Adae Milton." He pauses before frowning. "She says hello."
"Whoa, wait, what? You can hear your vessel? I thought they were dormant while they're hosting you guys?" Sam says, concern immediately colouring his face. Cas rewards him with a small smile. Sam is always thinking of others well being, and that's what Cas likes the most about him.
"This is true. But Adae is a little different. She isn't my true vessel, so I am not as compatible with her. Her grip on her consciousness is harder to shake because of it. She cannot control her body, but she is very much present. She talks to me, sings.." He admits hesitantly.
"Isn't that dangerous? For her and you Cas?" Dean frowns, and takes a step towards him. "Won't you like, burn through her? When you got dragged back to heaven that time, I distinctly remember Jimmy saying it was like being chained to a comet."
"Yes, that is an apt description. But as I said, Adae is special. She isn't just a random person off the street. She's a distant relative of Jimmy Novak. They share the blood line trait through a great, great, great, grandfather. It's faint, but it will allow her to host me until Jimmy is able to continue his duty."
"Ok. Can't say I completely get it, but yeah, guess it explains the girl thing." Sam says after a moment. Dean chuckles.
"I kinda like it." He says, tucking his thumbs into his belt and walking up to Cas to get a better look. Cas goes completely still, and Adae purrs at the attention in his mind. "She's cute." Dean flashes Cas an almost predatory grin, and Sam makes a choking sound.
"Dean, do not go there. We get little enough sleep as it is, I don't want to have to listen to that on top of it."
It takes a moment for Castiel to understand what he means, but Adae is there, laughing, and she gets it immediately. She lets Cas in on the joke. He totally wants to sex us up angel boy. He finds us attractive. Well, my body at least. Cas makes a little squeak, a shiver of something he can't describe running down his spine. The idea of him and Dean, joining in the act of coitus, sends alarm bells going off everywhere, and he doesn't know what to do about it.
So he teleports.
He teleports far, far away, from Dean Winchester, and into a random alley. His heart is hammering against his rib cage, and it feels like his skin is on fire. Whoa, calm down! Adae laughs, and he wishes he could glare at her. She must sense this, so she calmly retreats further into her space, and he can almost picture her, easing into a recliner, book in hand, iPod tucked into a pocket. She won't bother him for now. Good. He needs time to decipher what these feelings are.
He teleports back to Adaes apartment, a cozy little thing in Vancouver, Canada. New Westminster, to be exact, in a tiny blue building. It has no elevator, the intercom doesn't work, and the front door key always gets stuck, but it's home, and the familiarity of it is relaxing, even to him. He could poof himself up to the third floor, which is where the apartment is, 303, but he walks up the four flights of steps instead. Adae likes her neighbours, and she has a cat, so she's asked him to at least keep up appearances for her, be somewhat normal, seeing as he made her take an unpaid vacation off of work or this.
Adaes little black cat, Ink, greets him at the door, winding around his feet. He scratches the furry creature lovingly. He's always liked cats, but you can't really keep animals in heaven. Ink purrs loudly. It's rare that an animal would even approach him, as most animals can sense that he is not of this world, and usually steer clear of him. It makes the cat even more endearing to him.
"A change of clothes perhaps," he says out loud, and suddenly Adae is at the forefront of his mind. What's wrong with what I'm wearing? she demands.
It isn't exactly practical for hunting or fighting he thinks back at her, gesturing to the outfit he's currently wearing. They're dressed in a black skirt, blue and grey striped shirt, with a dark blue denim jacket and black converse. Cas assumes that it is appropriately stylish for a girl her age, but he would worry about being overly exposed in a fight. That, and he can't have Dean distracted by this body. A skirt just won't do.
After about an hour of arguing, they settle on jeans, a pair of black combat boots, a dark grey shirt with one Jimi Hendrix on it,(he's not quite sure who that is, but he's sure he'll get an earful all about that later) resplendent in purple, and a black woollen pea coat. Adae wants to add a purple scarf too, but Cas has to draw the line somewhere, and that's definitely it. All in all, it's not a trench coat, but it's much better than a skirt. He can work with that.