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

Comments

[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.