Cas decided to use his quiet Sunday to bring back order to the chaos that was his home. He surveyed the living room with some satisfaction. The couch no longer looked like it had been slept on with the piles of blankets now carefully tucked away. The couch was more decorative than comfortable with a low back and shallow seating portion. He liked the look of the piece as it was modern, with straight edges. There was a blanket that, at first glance, appeared to be tossed over the far edge of the arm and back of the seat. It had actually not been placed there casually. He had carefully arranged it to drape just so, smoothing a hand over the softness of it, smiling while he did so.
The green hue of it reminded him of home, not this home, but his old home. The color was the green of the vineyards that rolled for days outside his old bedroom window. If he closed his eyes, and really thought about it, he could still smell the roses that lined the edges of the rows. They were his mother's roses. She had them planted to encourage the bees, as she put it. He could see her walking along the path that lined the rows, stooping from time to time to breathe in the sweet scent of their blooms.
He sucked in a deep breathe himself now and focused on the room again, feeling warm and satisfied with his efforts and memories. He reached back to his back pocket and pulled out the partially tucked dusting rag that he had been using on the coffee table a few minutes before. He made his way around the room and back over to the dining room table to wipe away any left over stickiness that he may have missed before. He had already cleaned this space, after finally shuffling his friends out the door and to their own homes. Now, he was just avoiding.
For some reason, he was not sure that he wanted to intrude on the sanctuary of the guest room. Sam and Dean had slept there, so disturbing it felt odd. He didn't understand the feeling, so he pushed it down and walked with purpose to the door. This room always had a different air about it. It did not remind him of home, but it was comfortable, at least. The beds had a rumpled look as though they had been only casually remade. The comforters had been tucked back into place, but only a little. Perhaps they had slept on top of them. The pillows weren't quite laid out in the neat lines that Cas liked. He quickly pulled at the comforters and tossed them into a pile at his feet. Next he began undoing the sheets to add them to the pile. He started at the foot of the bed, and then, moved up to the head. He plucked the pillows up one by one to toss them aside. Then he noticed something slide off of the corner of the mattress. It was a necklace. He scooped it up in his palm and drew it close for inspection. It had an odd face that reminded Cas of an African tribal mask in miniature. He walked over to the window with it and held it by the black chain to look at it better. There was something eerie, yet intriguing about the piece.
He had never seen Sam wear a necklace, so he assumed that it belonged to the brother, Dean. Then he did something that if he really thought about it would seem odd. He put it on and tucked it into his shirt. Safe keeping until Monday. And he absolutely did not think about it again, sort of. Occasionally, he would find himself walking around the condo tidying here and there, and then he would place his hand on it, Just to make sure that it was still there. Wouldn't want to lose it. He needed distraction. The house was OCD clean at this point. He was starting to seriously contemplate calling Anna to start the chain of conversations that would lead to all of the group meeting up for dinner. He wasn't really sure that he wanted to face them again yet. Give it another day.
He decided instead to jump on the computer. He opened his email to find a message from Gabe. As soon as he saw the subject line his head dropped back. He rolled his eyes and let out a long exasperated sigh. The subject line read: Baby Kitties. Gabe often sent emails with innocuous subject lines. Usually, the subject implied that there would be a message with adorable baby animals or funny babies of a human variety. No matter how many times Gabe sent the emails, Cas always opened them. He knew, he really knew, that there would never, ever, never, never, ever be a baby animal or anything adorable in the email. He hovered over the email, considering the delete key, knowing that once again, he just couldn't do it. It is porn. Just click delete. You don't want to know, really. There are some things you just can't unsee, and this is going to be one of them. Damn it.
He opened the email, and read the message.
This will be the first installment of: This is Your Life starring Cas as the singing attorney, out on the town with his awesome friends, and that Dean guy that was less awesome.
He saw the attachment icon and chose to open it. Please don't be porn. It wasn't. It was a short clip from the bar. Cas watched himself laughing while Uriel propelled him over to a book near the stage. He was signing up for something. The room was loud. Someone was singing an abominable rendition of I Will Survive. Gabe's voice could be heard over the crowd and the singer, a real testament to his volume. "Make sure that he is on the contest list. I want to see more than one song." Cas cringed when he heard that. It just gets worse. "Oh, Uriel! pick something epic...No ABBA! I'm serious, Uriel! No ABBA!" Uriel just turned and threw Gabe a wink that said, oh yeah, it's ABBA time.
With that, the video ended. At least tomorrow would bring the distraction of work. He would have to play this off. If he looked like he was bothered, Gabe would drag it out. Oh, did I sing in front of him? Did I squeal my way through "Dancing Queen" in front of that gorgeous man? The humiliation was unending.
He closed the laptop a little too forcefully and decided to go back to cleaning again. He turned on the stereo first, though. The loud blast of violins burst from the speakers drowning out his thoughts as he cleaned and straightened the already immaculate rooms.
*Author's Note: Sorry this part was all description. The next part will have more talking, I think. Still not sure where I am going with it, but thanks for reading it.