Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

[scarefaux]

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he

Comments

[poorexample]

That conversation with Dean had gone far better than the first time he'd spoken to him, when he'd been alongside his brother. Granted, Castiel had learned that the two grew far more defensive when they were together, if only out of the protective urges that they had for each other. Perhaps it would be better to talk to them one at a time from now on, until he slowly got both of them used to the idea of his presence. He still needed to learn about what Sam had meant when he'd mentioned meeting him before. That very well may have been a real shapeshifter, since he couldn't see what else might have happened.

On the other hand, Landel seemed to be capable of every trick in the book so far. He had even pulled off things that neither he nor Dean could pinpoint, which was impressive -- if annoying, considering they were the victims. He was still of the belief that either a powerful angel, demon, or demigod had to be behind all of this, but that didn't exactly narrow it down.

As Castiel wandered into the Sun Room, he felt the pain in his arm throbbing in a way that he wasn't used to. His wounds usually didn't hurt for long enough for a throbbing to begin, and more than that, it almost seemed to be in tune with his heartbeat. Or Jimmy's heartbeat, rather. He was wearing Jimmy's skin, speaking in his voice...

And yet he knew that it was far too late to have regrets about that sort of thing. This body was as good as his now, and while that might have been considered a disgrace to Jimmy's family by human standards, he couldn't worry so much about details like that. He didn't look at the bigger picture nearly as much as he used to, but that was still his tendency in a lot of situations.

Right now, he needed to gather more information, perform more reconnaissance, and get the Winchesters on his side. As always, Gabriel was something of a wild card, but the fact that he was so depowered meant that Castiel didn't have to worry about him too much.

Having been led to a seat, he settled stiffly and let his eyes wander across the room. What to do next: that was always the question.

[For the Doctor.]

[timedork]

The Doctor needed to speak with Donna. Sooner would be better than later, but... He wanted to make sure that she was doing better than yesterday, but he found himself wanting to avoid the situation (and the decision that would have to come with it) all the same. A cursory glance around the Sun Room as he entered, following after the nurse, showed no sign of her yet. That was good; that was fine. That meant he could keep running for a little while longer.

There was, however, something (someone) else he wasn't going to run from. What Castiel had witnessed last night was both shamefully embarrassing and potentially confusing to someone who knew nothing of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, but even if the Doctor ignored what had happened in the chapel, he couldn't ignore what had happened on the way to the chapel as easily.

He'd spotted Castiel when he'd glanced around for Donna, and after doing a quick glance over the bulletin board (and scribbling a reply to Brainiac 5), he headed for the other at a determined pace. When he reached where Castiel was sitting, the Doctor took a seat across from him. "Alright?" he asked. "How's your arm?"

The Doctor had an idea, at least-his own arm and shoulder had been tended to and bandaged by the time he'd woken-but he wanted to hear it from Castiel.

[poorexample]

Castiel wasn't left to spend his time agonizing over his next step for too long, as he was approached by the man from last night. It was no surprise that the stranger wanted to speak, considering what they had both witnessed in the chapel, and yet the Doctor chose to ask after his arm first. Maybe that was what his shadow had been talking about; he ran from the situations he didn't want to deal with.

Still, if that was really true, the Doctor wouldn't have approached him in the first place.

Glancing to his arm, he shrugged -- immediately regretting the decision -- and let out a breath. "It's been tended to. With any luck, it will heal quickly. The bite I got from an attack dog a few nights ago seems to be healing well, so I have faith that this wound will do the same."

Having given more than an adequate answer, he eyed the spot where the Doctor had been shot, but figured that the man would give any needed information about it if it existed. Instead, he looked him square in the face, somewhat awkwardly, and stated, "I may have your tie." He could have asked about last night, about whether or not the Doctor had any theories about what had pestered them, and yet after his talk with Dean he doubted that anyone would have the answer he sought.

[timedork]

"Good. That's... That's good. I hope it does heal quickly."

Of course, it would have been better if they'd never gotten shot in the first place, but it was too late to change that. Or to change what might have happen between the Auton and the blond man who'd threatened her after they'd left...

"Oh! My tie; yes," the Doctor said, distraction growing with each word as he wondered about what had happened after they'd run. He glanced away, trying to see if he could spot the blond man, and saw him being led to a seat by a nurse. The man looked to be in one piece, at least, but was hobbling along with a crutch; the Doctor wondered what kind of state the Auton might have been in now.

He watched for a moment more before returning his full attention to Castiel. He'd forgotten this morning about his tie, and hadn't thought to check the closet to see if it had been returned along with his suit. Judging from the fact that Donna still had his specs, however, it seemed more likely that Castiel did indeed have it. "I could pick it up from you tonight-if that's alright."

[poorexample]

It was all well and good that the man was wishing him well, but Castiel knew that no matter how much the Doctor might hope, the wound would either heal quickly or it wouldn't. Prayer was something that didn't work quite the way that humans thought it did. And while the Doctor hadn't used that word, it was still the same concept.

When he saw that the man wasn't really interested in his clothing and was instead looking elsewhere, Castiel ended up following his gaze to the blond man who had ripped a door off its hinges like it was nothing the night before. It seemed that he'd gotten himself out of that fight without any fatal injuries, then. Castiel was still curious to approach him and ask him how he could possess such strength, but now wasn't the time.

He hadn't expected the Doctor to want his tie back that urgently, and faltered for a moment before nodding. "So long as you come quickly, that should be fine. I might be returning to the chapel tonight, as I didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked. I plan to get a quick start tonight."

Still, he wasn't about to deny the man his tie when he'd used it to wrap his wound, and so he added, "My room number is M39." Hopefully the man would know how to get there.

[timedork]

Maybe picking the tie up tonight wasn't the best idea after all, since it sounded like Castiel was going to be in a hurry. For his part, the Doctor wasn't in any particular rush to reclaim it. Castiel's willingness to return the tie so soon, however, was a welcome change over Donna's refusal to do the same for his specs.

"I can pick it up another time, if you don't want to wait," the Doctor suggested. "There's no hurry; I just thought you might not want to hang onto it."

His curiosity about Castiel's curiosity about the chapel was growing rapidly. "Were you looking for something in particular? -Last night, in the chapel. There wasn't very much there."

'Not very much' might have been an understatement. There really hadn't been much of anything there, aside from the strange statue (not a Weeping Angel, the Doctor reminded himself), and the generic decor, and the... the thing with the shadows...

[poorexample]

If it wasn't urgent that the man get his tie back (and Castiel didn't know why it would be, but people could have the strangest quirks), then maybe it would be best to leave it for another time. Then again, it wouldn't matter which night it was. He would always be in a hurry to get somewhere, as that was his way.

However, the Doctor's curiosity about his interest in the chapel was a far more interesting subject to discuss, and so Castiel focused on that instead. They could decide on the issue of the tie later.

"I wanted to inspect that statue more thoroughly," he explained. "If it is truly able to transfer one's wounds over, then there must be either an enchantment or some sort of black magic behind it." Something was making it possible, and he wanted to know what it was. It might give a clue into who or what was behind their capture.

"It already seems as if the chapel is not legitimate, if something of that nature exists inside it, but I want to be certain." He had no idea of whether or not something would be guarding it again, but he couldn't get caught up on that possibility if he wanted to succeed.

Sorry for the delay!

[timedork]

An amused smirk found its way onto the Doctor's face at the mention of an "enchantment" or "black magic". It was kind of adorable, really-the belief in magic was a position of ignorance, but it was almost endearing the way that Castiel tried to find explanations instead of merely accepting the statue's function. Last night with the shadows, too, come up with some suggestions (even if those suggestions had been "spirits" and "curses").

"Let me know if you find anything? I'm a bit curious myself," the Doctor said. He entertained the notion of joining Castiel again-to make sure that Auton wasn't hanging about, to see for himself if there was anything more technological to explain than Castiel's notions of magic-but... Well, it was a thought. Maybe he'd head up that way anyway if he could, to see for himself. The idea of the statue's function was rather intriguing.

"But... 'legitimate' how? It may be a bit... nonspecific in its purpose, but that opens it up for multiple purposes instead of being dedicated to one religion, if that's what you mean."

You will never be forgiven. (nottalking)

[poorexample]

Seeing how the Doctor made no attempt to hide his expression, that smile was immediately obvious even to Castiel. The meaning behind it was less clear, though. Either he thought that Castiel had made some sort of joke (though he didn't know why anyone caught in this place, with its shadows and reanimated animals and spirits, could continue to deny the existence of such things) or he was amused that their thoughts had run along the same lines.

The man didn't make it clear which one it was when he spoke up, though, and so Castiel decided to drop it. "I'll inform you of my findings once I have them," he agreed. There didn't seem to be any harm in doing so, since the man didn't strike him as malicious. He wouldn't have attempted to remove him from danger or wrapped up his wound if that was the case.

"That is what I mean. Most chapels are meant for one religion. If it's supposed to cater to more than one, then it doesn't have much meaning, much less any divine power." Hallowed ground had certain properties about it that were important and unbreakable, but if this chapel was a counterfeit then it wouldn't be of much help to them.

brb, sobbing forever :(

[timedork]

The Doctor was glad to hear that Castiel would share anything he found, but the idea of returning to the chapel himself was still lingering. If Castiel was approaching his search from a wholly unscientific viewpoint, whatever he found might not end up to be anything more than nonsense (at best).

He could reach a decision on that later, however. He didn't need to seek an invitation, after all, and Castiel's mention now of 'divine power' was almost as amusing as his talk of magic.

"'Divine power' aside, they can still have meaning without catering to any religion," the Doctor countered. "Well... What I mean is that they can have whatever meaning they're assigned by the individual, or group, or organisation. After all, I highly doubt everyone here follows a single religion; one all-purpose chapel can be used for everyone instead of only a certain percentage of the patient population."

........... (cozy)

[poorexample]

It seemed that the Doctor had misinterpreted him, having brought the conversation onto the topic of other beliefs and faiths rather than taking his words more literally. Castiel realized he should have expected that, but he was so accustomed to the people around him being able to follows his trains of thought. That was hardly the case in this place, however...

"That is a matter of faith," he agreed with a nod, "and where one's beliefs lie. However, if this place is trying to cater to every possible belief system, then it appears to me that it's doing an insufficient job of it."

It was clear that that chapel was the closest to the Judeo-Christian faith, just from the pews, hymnals, and stained glass. Even if there were no specific symbols, the imitation was clear. While Castiel was only an expert on one religion, he had learned enough about the others out there to know that they were not nearly as well-represented in that establishment.

"However, the chapel could still contain some clues, and so it's pertinent that I return." He didn't see a need to explain himself any further than that, if the Doctor wasn't going to take his words seriously. He was indebted to him for seeing to his wound, but any allegiance ended there.