Title: Girls in White Dresses (with Blue Satin Sashes)

Prompt: Written for mildly_deluded on livejournal: SPN, Claire!Castiel, Gabriel, "A little girl? Seriously?"

"A little girl? Seriously?"

Castiel looked up and up until he met his brother's golden eyes with his own blue ones. His current vessel is not of an advantageous height to be dealing with this sort of thing-i.e. Gabriel.

Not that being six feet tall would have helped him much in the face of an archangel's wrath, but this is Gabriel. Gabriel doesn't go for wrath until he's gone through every other option first.

In this instance, it's laughing hysterically, folded over in half in such a way that makes all of the bystanders in TV land stare at them. Castiel comforts himself by remembering that his old vessel would have had four inches on Gabriel's current vessel. Having baby brothers outgrow you tended to be a sore point with all older brothers, Dean had assured him.

"You're adorable," Gabriel gasps out between laughing and reaches out to pet Claire's golden head gently. "Absolutely freaking adorable . . ." and Gabriel's lost in laughter again.

Castiel sighs, and glances around the small family kitchen irritably. He is unfamiliar with this television show. There is a lack of scantily clad women so prevalent in Dean's choices. There is simply a table of people eating their meal and watching Gabriel with a sort of fond indulgence.

"Where are we, Gabriel?"

"Full House," Gabriel answered.

On cue, the father of the family looked up and smiled at Castiel. "Everything alright, sweetheart?"

Castiel sighed, ducking behind Gabriel. Adults made him nervous. They tended to separate him from Dean and ask strange questions.

"I've got this one, buddy," Gabriel waved off the actor, and everyone vanished except for the two angels.

"Why did you bring me here, Gabriel?"

"'Cause I couldn't drop you off in the show with the vampires like I had planned," Gabriel replied absently. "I knew you were coming, but boy, when I got a look at you . . . well, I almost couldn't believe my eyes." Gabriel crouched to put himself on the same level as Castiel, and frowned. "A little girl?"

"Claire wished to save her family," Castiel responded stiffly. "I was . . . too late for her father. Her mother is well and being looked after by distant relatives. It was necessary, Gabriel. The Winchesters need to be looked after."

Gabriel snorted. "'Cause they're doing such a bang-up job of looking after you? Look at yourself, bro."

"It was necessary to take Claire as a vessel," Castiel began to repeat.

"No, no . . . I'm talking about the outfit, Castiel," Gabriel waved.

Castiel took a moment to pursue his attire. Sam and Dean had outfitted him in more durable clothes after he had confessed to slowly losing his grace. Castiel suspected guilt to be the biggest motivational factor, but Dean also had expressed an intense dislike of pink that made Castiel suspect foul play in regards to his former outfit.

His clothes were serviceable. Castiel hadn't cared, allowing Dean to choose as the hunter saw fit. Thus, he wore jeans, boots, a t-shirt, flannel shirt, and a denim jacket. Sam had been the one to cut Claire's hair after the fight with six demons.

All the same, Castiel saw nothing wrong with his attire.

He told Gabriel as much, and was unsurprised when the archangel made his own corrections to Castiel's wardrobe with a snap.

Castiel inspected a long curl with a frown, but shrugged and released the lock of springy hair. It could be cut again without too much trouble. He also seemed to have acquired a kitten, which was neither here nor there. The dress on the other hand . . . lace itched.

Castiel may help Dean with the salting-and-burning of the dress if they ever managed to escape.

"Acceptable?" he asked his brother dryly.

"It'll do for now," Gabriel chuckled, petting Castiel rather than the cat. "Oops, the boys think they have me figured out. Be right back."

Gabriel disappeared, and the sitcom family reappeared. Heaving a sigh, Castiel took the empty seat between a man waxing poetical about his hair and the tallest blonde daughter. Pushing back the sleeves of his dress, Castiel reached across the table for a hamburger and settled back to wait for his brother's return in a modicum of comfort.

The kitten began to purr. Castiel fed it a chunk of hamburger.