A celebration with beer. Hunters getting hammered ((closed RP, Sam, Dean, Castiel, Bobby))

[junkyard_hunter]

“Hey Bobby,” Sam said with a grin, the first to show. He clapped the hunter on the shoulder, happy to see him out again. He also had a few causes to celebrate; Death’s promise to intervene and keep him and Adam out of the cage, and a lovely blonde girl by the name of Sookie Stackhouse. “Where’s everyone else?”

“You know you brother, he’s always

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Attack of the Killer Hangovers (rethread!)

[hunter_returns]

Sam woke up with a grimace and a strangled groan. His head was pounding, his stomach roiling.. the fuck did they do the night before? He lay on the couch, his eyes screwed shut against the light and remembered the fight and what Cas admitted

[nerdofthelord]

Cas was still deepy asleep when the knock sounded, and though he was dimly aware of that and the voices, it took him several minutes to connect the sounds with the likelihood that he should wake up and investigate. Once he had, he turned slowly onto his back with a grimace, rubbing his face.

The splitting headache had subsided to a dull, nagging throb at the back of his skull, and his stomach seemed inclined to behave itself, though the ordeal had left a nasty taste in his mouth and a general fuzziness that would probably take some time to shake.

"'lo Sam," he muttered, voice gravelly. "I'll get up, gimme a minute..." All right, maybe a few minutes.

[hunter_returns]

Sam smiled wanly at Cas, “Take your time, man.” He sat down, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. Shaking off a hangover always took him a few hours and this one was shaping up to be a doozy. But he had survived far worse hangovers, this one would be no different. The fact that Cas’s room was cool and dark helped immensely. His eyes slipped shut and he waited, hoping that the room would stop swimming before Cas got up and they talked.

Death manifested full glasses of water for them both, passing one over to Sam, leaving the other on the bedside table for Castiel. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I’ll be outside, call if you need me,” she murmured.

[nerdofthelord]

He smiled his thanks and levered himself slowly upright as she exited, sitting on the edge of the bed with his head cradled in his hands for a minute or two before dropping them and looking up. "Are you all right?" he asked, reaching for the water glass. Sam looked like he felt.

[hunter_returns]

Typical Cas, worrying about everyone else even when he was in worse shape. Sam quirked a small smile and sipped at the water. "I've, um, I've been better. But it's just a hangover, I'll survive." He looked down, rolling the half empty glass between his hands

[nerdofthelord]

He listened silently as Sam spoke, some of the lingering heaviness lifting from him at the young man's words. Sam understood, better than most, the need not only for forgiveness but for atonement. It wasn't unfair or unkind that Dean should be angry, or that Sam should acknowledge that what he had done was not excusable; it was necessary and just. Without facing up to the gravity of his actions and paying for them, if only with one night of utter misery, there was no way Castiel could ever forgive himself

[hunter_returns]

In truth, it really didn’t matter to Sam one way or the other who was at fault for putting Jimmy’s family in danger. The guy seemed to get screwed over at every opportunity just because he happened to say yes to Cas. It seemed to be a running theme in their lives; anyone who tried to help them - Jimmy, Pamela, God there were so many - inevitably wound up getting hurt or even killed. In his darker moments, Sam wondered with no small degree of bitterness that they had any friends at all

[nerdofthelord]

Cas nodded slightly. "I know. Jimmy isn't as upset with you as he once was, though. I'm not sure what he saw or heard that changed his mind, but the last time he was awake he said he'd judged you both too harshly." He would have mentioned that to Sam before now, but he hadn't realized the matter was of such great concern to him. "I think our time here has helped him as much as the rest of us."

He drained his water glass and set it down. "I hadn't intended to leave so suddenly last evening. It must have looked cowardly, but, ah..." He rolled his eyes resignedly. "I was about to become unavoidably distracted. If Dean has more to say to me on the matter, I'm not hiding from him. He knows where to find me."

[hunter_returns]

Sam nodded. He had been concerned for Jimmy since the night he overheard Castiel’s conversation with a deeply unhappy vessel. Granted Sam had only heard one side of the conversation, but it was easy enough for him to discern that Jimmy was upset. While he wasn’t sure how Hogwarts could have been good for him, it was still a relief to hear. “I’m glad that he’s okay.”

Unavoidably distracted? He looked down at the half empty glass in his hands and tried not to smile. His friend had a somewhat unique way of framing things sometimes. “Cas, no one who knows you would call you cowardly. Dean was ready to go after you the second you took off. You’re his best friend, he’s not gonna hold it against you.”

How Bobby might take the news would be another matter entirely. Briefly, Sam considered giving the old hunter a heads up, but decided against it. It wasn’t his secret to tell.

[nerdofthelord]

Put simply, whatever happened to Castiel filtered down to his vessel to some extent, and the harder it hit the angel the more likely it was that Jimmy would feel it and suffer for it as well. In this place, all was generally calm and safe, the peace broken by only an occasional, relatively minor disturbance. While Cas had begun to realize some time before that this wasn't as ideal a situation as it appeared on the surface, it could only be a blessed reprieve for Jimmy, who certainly deserved a good long rest after everything he had endured since accepting his role as an angelic vessel

[hunter_returns]

“It’ll be ok, Cas,” he assured him again. “And I think we can consider the whole damned mess closed. It’s over with

[nerdofthelord]

Castiel nodded back. "Rest well, Sam."

When his visitor had left, he stretched out on the bed again and shut his eyes with a sigh. He could ignore the mild lingering headache and go on about his day's business (such as it was,) but there was no pressing need to do so; the others would also be recovering for a time, and it wasn't as if he had duties to attend or a crisis to avert. That sense of aimlessness could be frustrating at times, even with Death helping to keep him occupied, but right now it felt like a blessing.

"I'm sorry if I worried you," he said to her quietly when they were alone. "That was precisely the opposite of what I intended."

[endlessgoth]

Death closed the door and turned the lights out before crossing the room to curl up beside him on the bed again. "I know," she said gently, drawing him near. "But the next time you're upset or so miserable you can't move, call me you big doofus. You need me, I show up. That's how this works."

That was as close as she could get to really yelling at him. She had made a promise to Jimmy that she'd be there to take care of Castiel, and it wasn't one she intended to break.

[nerdofthelord]

He nodded wordlessly, though he had no intention of allowing such an occasion to arise again. At the time he'd been too thoroughly wretched to contemplate the larger implications. But in retrospect, it scared him that he'd lost not only his composure, but the ability to defend himself or others if he'd needed to, simply because he'd chosen the wrong bottle to drink from.

Hogwarts seemed a safe haven, but that was no excuse for such carelessness. Complacency could kill as surely as any weapon; the fact that true threats were rare here did not mean none could ever appear. He needed to find his sense of self-discipline again before it slipped irretrievably from his grasp.

...which meant he really should get up and find something more constructive to do than cuddle and drowse the day away. Dammit.

"I should be doing something useful," he said with a sigh. "Checking on Adam. Or thinning out the acromantula. Something." Even if it amounted to little more than busywork.

((wtf, LJ?))

[endlessgoth]

Death barely checked a comment that thinning out the acromantula would be a good way to keep them both occupied for part of the afternoon. While she would have preferred to keep him close, she understood the desire to do something productive after an upsetting night. Their respective responsibilities were too important to ignore forever, even if Hogwarts had given them both a welcome chance to ease those burdens for a short time.

“Okay. Why don’t you go grab a shower, and I’ll have the house elves bring by a little breakfast for you?” If he needed the day to feel useful, she could always slip away from the school and make a few more rounds.

Finding Castiel in such a state the night before had frightened her badly, but at the same time, she didn’t want to hover too close. Making a few rounds would be a good way to keep her occupied and insure she didn’t get in his way.

[nerdofthelord]

"Thank you," he said, kissing her forehead, and he didn't just mean for breakfast. He could have survived the foregoing day alone, if it had been required of him, but he was thankful beyond words that it had not.

Her company would not have been unwelcome, if she had chosen to accompany him. But there was also a certain clarity to be found in solitude, and it would do him good to spend some time there.

He rose and went to get cleaned up; yet another inefficient, time-consuming human ritual that wasn't necessary, but that he'd learned to appreciate in recent months for the small comforts it offered.