Day 51: Lunch

[sanguinario]

Edward was glad to wake up to a period of respite. While he had been conscious during breakfast, he'd requested to remain in his room for extra "sleep", which had consisted waiting until the room was vacated to ingest the vial of Venom's blood. The vampire had lost his chance last night, but that might have been for the better; this way he wasn't

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[poorexample]

That wasn't much of a response, but Castiel got the sense that instead of keeping information from him, his brother was simply ignorant. For once they seemed to be on the same level, both in terms of their powers and their knowledge. It was strange, but he would have preferred that there was the normal imbalance. At least that would have meant that one of them would have had the answers.

The fact that Gabriel was just as limited as he was deeply unsettled him, though he did his best to push that thought aside. Dwelling on how dire their situation was wouldn't do a thing to fix it.

In a way, the distraction was helpful, as he'd been at a loss for what else to say. He watched the patient - who looked as if he would easily tower over even Sam - pick himself up onto the table and give a speech. It was the sort of dogged determination that he had seen in Dean more than once. Dean was the sort of person who wanted to do things his way regardless of how impractical it was, and he would fight for that ideal until the very end. It was something Castiel had actually come to admire--

But then Gabriel spoke up again and quickly reminded him that none of that mattered here. Dean didn't know him from the next human, and was probably thoroughly convinced that he was a mental patient, if that was truly what this hospital was meant for. Angels didn't go insane as a general rule, but... Well, then there was Lucifer.

"I never intended to ask for your help," he said, tone cutting as he glanced down at his meal and grabbed for his third burger. He was starting to feel a slight discomfort in his abdomen, but the craving persisted.

[affictitious]

"You're not getting me here," he started, but was distracted again - the hospital team wasn't wasting any time, surrounding the unshaven giant with a few giants of their own. Oh, no; the kid had actually made a beeline for them. Lunch and a show? He wouldn't miss this for the world!

Which was why he laughed when the blond's plan didn't exactly go like he'd probably drawn it out. Now, that was one thing he did like about humans; even in hopeless situations, they tried. Maybe he'd had good intentions, though you couldn't exactly trust anyone's words around here. But... execution got a 5. Was he really moronic enough to think he'd go through all the guards alone? Brawn was his, sure, but brawn didn't solve many problems on its own.

It also showed exactly why there weren't any wild riots going on. As much as he didn't like to recognize it, the crazy doctor had a good scheme going. Low power, if any at all, distributed sparingly through the populace and just enough freedom to keep some sort of dashed hopes up. Though he wasn't believing the doctor was all behind it himself, he sure was taking advantage of it.

With that nice melee in the background, Gabriel picked back up on his original thought. "I'm not planning on helping you, believe me. I'm staying incognito. Brush off the threat all you want, but I'm quite willing to go the extra mile to make it happen." Pause. "How many of those are you plannin' on eatin'?"

[poorexample]

The rebelling patient continued to act as Dean would; his next move was to suddenly go barreling toward some of the staff members, clearly looking for a fight. Dean would have done the same, would have fought tooth and nail until he was forced into unconsciousness, either by blunt force to the head or some sort of drug. Here they seemed to prefer the latter method, as it gave them the illusion of being a help rather than a threat.

It was all easy enough to understand in those terms. Castiel had been controlled by a superior force before. He had not necessarily been high in the rankings back in Heaven, but he had at least had a place. Now he was wayward, and he knew it, but he had yet to feel regret. Sometimes he thought he felt the starting of it, and he'd obviously felt the sharp knife of betrayal when Dean Winchester had turned around and spit in his face even after all he'd sacrificed, but--

He was getting distracted. That Dean was not a part of this now. All he had was a pair of brothers who knew nothing about him, some very limited powers, and an unhelpful older brother. Who was currently making that abundantly clear.

Glancing up from his food, Castiel watched the archangel unblinkingly, keeping a tight hold on his current burger. "So you intend to hide under your fake name again. They won't know the difference and you can continue to be a neutral party. Is that your plan?" That was fine by him. He had never once thought to seek out Gabriel during his time on Earth, and he wasn't planning to now. Gabriel was the one who had come to sit with him, not the other way around.

At the question, he did actually blink, peering down at the burger before returning his gaze to Gabriel. "Why do you ask?"

[affictitious]

Hiding was such a technical term. It wasn't really hiding. It was... strategic information withholding. Now that anyone would believe an archangel was walking the hallways, but he could really go without being known as that one guy with the crazy brother... despite already being that one guy with the crazy brother.

And, if it hadn't been Lucifer who revived him, which he was quite sure it wasn't, not being on the radar again would be good for his life insurance.

"Neutral party. Sure, I'll go with that." Castiel made it sound so well-thought out and cowardly. The first? Maybe. Second... ehhhh. He'll get back to you on that. To answer that question in part, he shrugged. "I already spent my time helping them. S'not my fault if they haven't gotten to that point yet." Technically wasn't neutral anymore, but no one seemed to remember, which was one part annoying and one part grating on his nerves.

Time is fickle. Or something.

As for the burgers... well, assuming he wasn't the only angel feeling more than a little trapped (he didn't want to say human considering he hadn't met a human in his life who could carry out an entire conversation without blinking), overeating was a real (and sad) possibility. But being so unhelpful as he was, all Gabriel said was, "Just curious."

[poorexample]

Castiel couldn't say that he was surprised at the response. His brother had spent centuries and centuries hiding away from Heaven's problems, so why would he suddenly want to change his methods now? He was used to laying low and playing demigod, apparently; that would not be so easy to do here, when he was so powerless, but it would not be difficult to simply ignore Sam and Dean as much as possible.

What did give him pause was Gabriel's implication that he had helped the Winchesters at one point. If he was referring to his attempt to convince them to say yes, then Castiel hardly classified it as help, but...

He could not get a read on an archangel in terms of time, so it was completely possible Gabriel was from his future. That thought bothered him. Gabriel had more information than he did in general, and he didn't need that added to by him being ahead in time. It put him at a distinct disadvantage and he didn't want to be left to wonder.

Especially since he doubted he'd be getting the answers out of his older sibling so easily.

"I don't recall a time when you ever helped them," he said in a somewhat petulant tone, frowning as he took another bite of his current burger. He was starting to feel more of a discomfort in his abdomen, and it was difficult to tell if it was more hunger or something else. "And I'll consume as much as I feel like consuming." He didn't need to let on his uncertainty to Gabriel of all people.

[affictitious]

"Weellll, I don't like to brag," he lied, waving a dismissive hand at the taller angel, "But it might've happened here or there." As much as he did like to brag about all his creative and adventurous exploits, Gabriel was still trying to measure whether bragging as to how helpful he would be in the future (since it seemed he was from the distant reaches of holy shit you guys, the Apocalypse is going down and there's some horsemen here to see you considering... well, the Winchesters were one thing, but another angel displaced in time was... not a good sign and there was really too much to think about there for one cohesive sentence), and was ultimately deciding that he would:

a) be disbelieved, or

b) be disbelieved vehemently

and that was just something martyrs didn't like to hear, okay? Ignorance was bliss, even for the well-informed other party.

But as for that topic, he'd said his fill. He just watched his brother eat more than he as going to enjoy later, chuckling at his impudent comment. Man, he could remember the days when archangels were respected and taken seriously, back when they were fire and light, back before Lucifer had kind of ruined it. And maybe the trickster gig didn't help him, but still. "Go for it, Junior. Far be it from me to interrupt your snack before naptime."

[poorexample]

The vagueness of Gabriel's reply made it more certain that his words were not to be trusted. If he'd had details, or just one thing that could be checked or confirmed, then maybe Castiel would have considered it, as unlikely as the concept itself was. Castiel was far beyond the point of believing that all angels were inherently good. Lucifer, Zachariah, and even Michael had taken that belief and ground it into dust. As a result, he had no blind faith for Gabriel.

Though he couldn't help but see the similarity in their situation. Operating under the assumption that Gabriel actually had decided to help the Winchesters, he really had no way of proving that, just as Castiel had no way of proving who and what he was to the two brothers. His doubt was only perpetuating a problem, and yet this was Gabriel, who was notorious for putting himself before the rest of Heaven. He had to be cautious.

Castiel only eyed his older brother for a moment before taking in his next comment and pulling back with a frown. He had no plans to nap, and he wouldn't have called this snacking, but that didn't stop him from taking another bite.

Except his stomach was starting to churn painfully, and the intercom going off was most certainly merciful. It was for the best -- even if the food was good, he didn't think that talking with Gabriel for too long would be wise.

He stood from his seat, holding back a groan at the discomfort in his abdomen. It was possible he'd done something wrong here. "Leave them alone," was all he said in a grim tone before he left to meet with a nurse.