(Untitled)

[smileforaliving]

Lots of people seem to be in Grant Park right now.

Neal and Elizabeth are settled in an open area, Neal paining her. He's been doing this all day, painting people but he wound up talking her into it when things were going slow

Comments

whether or not you tag them separately or together is fine by me.

[sitherequietly]

Castiel loves Grant Park.

Really. It's his favorite place. It's almost exactly like his favorite realm in Heaven, and it's why he comes there so often. Well, that, and there's lots of room for Gabriel to run around. Despite having everything in the world a dog could need, Castiel doesn't exactly use most of it. He could always find Gabriel whenever he needs to, therefore he doesn't need the leash.

The dog is collared, however, just in case.

Regardless, Neal and El will see Gabriel before they see Castiel, who is wandering over to say hi and sniff at Neal and Elizabeth's shoes.

I am just going to do them together. Because I can.

[smileforaliving]

Neal looks down at the dog as it starts snuffling at his shoes, blinking and setting the brush aside for a moment.

"Hey there," he says, grinning down at the dog.

Elizabeth smiles wide, moving from her spot on the bench (Neal would bother commenting but he was almost done anyway).

"Hey sweetheart," she crouches down to pet the dog. "You shouldn't be out here on your own."

"He has a collar," Neal points out. "He probably just got away from his owner."

Elizabeth nods, taking hold of Gabriel's collar and leading him back to the bench. "We can wait a few minutes and see if they show up. If not, we start looking. We can't just leave this guy to roam around on his own."

[sitherequietly]

Fortunately for them, Castiel doesn't appear the way he usually does. Instead of appearing out of nowhere, he walks, which may not seem like a large difference, but for most people it is.

By the time he arrives, however, Gabriel has decided that El is his new favorite person, and is sitting very patiently next to her, soaking up whatever attention she's willing to give. And it seems as though there's a lot of it.

"Hello." He's not sure what to say beyond that, but it's always a good place to start.

[smileforaliving]

Elizabeth is giving plenty of affection to Gabriel. He's sweet and soft and god, she's missed Satchmo more than she can say, so having a do under her hands is kind of amazing.

Neal, being very aware of how much she's kind of enjoying the moment, has si8mply stepped back and let her love on the dog. Since it doesn't look like they're going to be getting one of their own any time soon, it seems only right.

B8ut the Castiel shows up and both o them are looking at him with curiosity.

"Hi there," Neal greets with a charming smile. "This doesn't happen to be your dog, does it?"

Elizabeth smiles as well, her hand still remaining on him. "I hope you don't mind," she says with a laugh. "He came over and we just wanted to keep him safe."

[sitherequietly]

"That is my dog," he replies, his voice completely neutral as Castiel does not seem threatened by the situation. They didn't seem to be mistreating Gabriel, so he had no reason to be concerned. "And I do not mind. He likes meeting new people."

And the affection. Castiel, while good at taking care of his dog, is not the most affectionate owner in the world. It's simply not in his nature.

[smileforaliving]

Elizabeth laughs. "You'd probably like him back then," she says, continuing to pet him. "I'm glad we were able to keep him. He's such a sweet boy." She ruffles the top of his head.

Neal nods. "Yeah, he's bee great," he informs. "He's just been sitting there and letting Elizabeth love on him."

She glares at Neal playfully. "Well I didn't want to just hold him here and not give him a reason to not like us."

He laughs. "I'm not saying anything against it."

"Anyway," Elizabeth says pointedly. "You'd probably like your dog back."

[sitherequietly]

"I do not mind if he stays a little while longer." To Castiel, the concept of ownership is a little funny. If she enjoyed Gabriel's company, there's no reason why she shouldn't have it. "We came to spend some time in the park."

Whether or not they do it with other people is not important. Then, he remembers his manners. Not that he had them much to begin with, but he remembers. "My name is Castiel. And that is Gabriel."