And one more Christmas shot before I vanish for the holidays.
Topping
Castiel has never decorated a tree before.
He has watched humans from Heaven, he's watched them set up the tree and cover it in lights and glass and plastic and shiny strands but has never done it himself. He's actually not sure what the ritual is supposed to accomplish. His brothers and sisters often called it pagan and scoffed at it but to Castiel, it had been an interesting festivity and so he had continued to watch.
And now he was involved.
He sniffed and the sharp scent of pine stung his nose, made him sneeze. Dean laughed. Cas frowned at him, still holding the small, rectangular box that Sam had presented him with.
"You can set that down, Cas, we put the tree topper on last." Dean said from where he was hanging little red and green balls all over the fir tree. Sam had already wrapped the plant in multi-colored lights and that blinked and winked in a merry sort of way.
Castiel cocked his head slightly and set the box on the motel bed, "What is the point of a Christmas tree?"
Dean and Sam stared at him.
"Uuuhh, to decorate." Dean answered with a snort, "And celebrate Christmas, duh." The oldest Winchester stepped back, dusting his hands off with a nod of satisfaction, "Well, looks like that covers that. Cas, toss me the box."
Castiel picked up the box and handed it to Dean who pried open the cardboard, pulled out whatever was inside, and passed it on to Sam. The younger brother reached up and shoved the mysterious "tree topper" onto the top of the Christmas tree before stepping back to stand proudly next to his brother.
Moving up to stand beside them, Cas titled his head back to look at the object on the top of the tree. He stared at it silently for a moment and then a deep frown creased his features,
"I don't like it."
Sam looked like a cross between crest-fallen and bemused and Dean simply threw his head back and laughed. Castiel turned to glare at him,
"It's not funny, Dean. It's a misrepresentation of myself and my family."
This only seemed to make Dean laugh harder, doubling over in gales of laughter, arms wrapped around his middle. Sam simply sighed in exasperation and shrugged apologetically at Cas.
"Dean, please stop laughing." The older Winchester only flopped back onto his bed, still howling with mirth, "Dean. Dean, it is not funny. Dean."
It took a couple of moments but Dean finally managed to get a hold of himself enough to sit up, rub the tears from his eyes, and smile warmly at Castiel,
"Sorry, Cas, I just couldn't pass it up."
Castiel turned to glare at the thing on top of the tree. An "angel" with ivory skin, flowing golden hair, a long robe of white, gold, and crimson, a harp, a silly halo, and a ridiculous pair of poofy white wings looked down from the top of the tree with a forgiving smile.
Cas loathed it in a way he loathed very few things.
When the Winchester's awoke the next morning, the tree topper was gone and Cas was playing innocent as to its whereabouts. Both brothers were extremely suspicious and these feelings were confirmed when Sam found a pile of ashes outside the motel room with the twisted, half-melted metal of what had once been a small harp.
Dean was careful with his angel jokes for the next couple of days.
