Author's note: Thanks a lot to Maknatuna, Mello18, Tendencia, Maddy Love Castiel, keacdragon, -chan SP and InsaneNutcase2931 for last chapter's reviews.

Edit: Now beta-read by the wonderful Ghastly Eternity!

18

Sam sat in the hamster cage next to his partner and rubbed the golden hamster's back gently. Gabriel predictably felt rather sick and was complaining that he was going to die any second now. While the taller hamster might have been mortified by the thought of his mate dying on him any other time he couldn't help thinking that that would at least shut him up that very moment.

The brown hamster would have really liked to listen to the conversation Castiel's mother was having with her second born, however.

"Do you think this is funny?" the adult asked the blonde boy very sternly. Dean had been picked up by his mother and Cas was sleeping in his own room, so this was the right moment to have a serious talk with the preteen.

"Do you see me laughing?" Gabriel asked back as insolent as ever. No, he didn't think this was funny and he sort of wished that he hadn't gone out to buy some new things for practical jokes, but he could only answer like that when his mother asked stupid questions.

"Your little brother and his best friend might have seriously damaged their health!" the adult nearly yelled. She managed to keep her voice quiet in the last moment, however.

"Yeah, sorry I left them alone without clear instructions not to eat the sweets you left lying around after your 'book club'," the blonde boy shot back in a huff. He knew he wasn't completely in the right in this case, but he didn't see why he should take all the blame for the incident, either. It wasn't like anybody else had been at home to watch the kids either, after all!

The taller hamster inhaled sharply. The two humans would be yelling at each other in no time now. He could clearly see the signs and he really would have preferred not to be around for that confrontation, especially because Gabriel was still moaning that he was dying.

"I made a mistake, Gabriel," his mother admitted with a deep sigh, "But you were in charge and you just left your brother alone."

"He wasn't alone, Dean was with him and you always say that Cassy is more responsible than I am, anyway", the preteen pointed out, sticking his chin out defiantly, "And the same thing would have happened, if I had been here, anyway."

Sam had to say that he wasn't surprised when Gabriel only heard two more sentences from his mother after that. One to ground him for the next two weeks and one to send him to his room.

The following evening was a rather calm one around the house.

The golden hamster hadn't been able to sleep much over the day, because he was having a splitting headache and a permanently dry mouth, so he was just lying around lazily. He just lifted his head to watch Sam exercise on the hamster wheel and sort of wished that he was in the physical shape for exercise of another sort. Oh well, give him some more rest and he'd be prepared for anything and everything again!

"Hey, you okay?" Sam called over to his partner after he had noticed that Gabriel was awake but eerily quiet.

The golden hamster sighed so deeply that his mate could clearly hear it. "I am not horny at all!"

"Damn, you really must feel sick," the taller hamster replied, shaking his head sadly, but went on with his exercise, anyway. It wasn't like he would have known what to do about the issue. Usually, all he had to do was merely exist to put Gabriel in the mood. Not to mention that Sam highly doubted that they were dealing with a permanent condition here.

It was then that the door to the living room was opened very carefully and Castiel peeked inside to see if his older brother was to be found there. The preschooler pressed himself through the hardly open doorway and sneaked up to Gabriel, trying not to make any sounds.

"Are you very mad at me?" he finally whispered, staring at his feet. In fact, he was trying so hard to memorize every little detail about his own feet that he could only yelp in surprise when he was pulled onto the couch and given a noogy, all of a sudden.

"Nobody's mad at you, Cassy," Gabriel pointed out a few moments later and let his younger brother curl up next to him, "I'm mad at mom for banning me from all sweets for two weeks! That's torture!"

He was used to being grounded and being forbidden to watch TV or use the computer didn't touch him, but taking all sweets away for weeks was something else entirely! Damn her for figuring his Achilles heel out!

"You can have all of mine!" Castiel promised, staring up at his older brother with hopeful eyes. He just wanted to know for sure that he was forgiven and he wanted to make things better for Gabriel, too.

"I'm seriously not mad at you at all, okay?" the preteen repeated and pulled his brother against his chest to tickle him, "But if it makes you feel better, we can share your sweets."

Castiel nodded very seriously and fought his brother's tickling off so he could hug him tightly instead. The boy was just glad that the one brother who actually took the time to talk or play with him every now and then wasn't going to stop doing those exact things.

"With Raph acting all grown up with his girlfriend and the job and all that crap and dad at work all the time, we two have to stick together, at least," Gabriel mumbled, hugging his little brother back.

In the meantime, Sam had finished his exercise and had sat down next to his partner to watch the two humans.

"Gabriel's really rather awesome," the golden hamster pointed out with a short chuckle that made his head throb again.

"I totally agree," the taller hamster stated with a small smile and nuzzled the other hamster's neck.