It's a Human Life for Me [5/10]
The morning starts slow, it’s mostly Dean showing him who this guy is, who that guy is and this is what you don’t touch unless you want to be a limb less than what you were this morning. Gabriel thinks humans are to fucking fragile. And he voices that out in front of Dean’s boss who stares at him and tilts his head in confusion. Dean just glares at him before he tells him to shut up.
At lunch, Gabriel watches the men bite down into their meat pies and their wife’s sandwiches - one guy that Gabriel calls Mr. Beard, says his wife makes sandwiches with the utmost love. Gabriel and Dean both mutter ‘douche’ under their breathes then silently chuckle to each other.
The afternoon just goes as long as the morning did. He watches a guy cut his finger off and shrugs to him, handing out a band-aid. It took him six hours and twenty-three minutes to get fired. Dean tells him that it’s a first that someone hasn’t been liked by his boss. Gabriel just shrugs and sits on the couch, watching the afternoon kid shows with Ben.
“How’d it go?” Lisa asks as Dean when he walks into the kitchen.
“How’d you think it went?” He walks to the fridge, grabbing out a beer. Lisa stops chopping the vegetables and gives him one of her looks before he continues. “I get that he doesn’t know how to do things without a snap of his fingers, I get that, but it’s like he doesn’t even want to try.”
Lisa nod’s her head, moving around the counter, to stand before the ex-hunter, her arms folding over her chest as her face forms a some what serene look. “Dean, you were the same when you came here. It took you forever to find that construction job. It took even longer for you to go and ask for that job.” He gave a sigh, her arms circling around him, pressing her lips to his cheek. “Just give him some time.”
Dean nodded his head, before moving out of her embrace and going to stand in the doorway, looking through to see Gabriel talking to Ben. Missing the hurt look that Lisa pulled before she moved back to chopping up the vegetables.
At dinner, Gabriel was silent, something that was definitely unusual for the former Trickster who basically took every silent moment filled with his voice. It was off putting and Dean couldn’t stop looking towards him, wondering if he was going to open his mouth. The small attempts Lisa made only got a nod, a hum and a murmured ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
After dinner, Gabriel moves back into the lounge room with Rocky Road ice cream and goes through Ben’s movie collection. The two of them sit on the floor, a spoon each and laugh over the animated characters on the screen.
Lisa’s in the dining room with her computer, as Dean joins her with two beers, placing one on the table for her and takes a swig of the other. “I thought maybe that might be good for him, you know, it’s close to us, and it’s cheap. We could help him out with the rent until he finds a job he likes.”
Dean smiles, weakly, looking at the picture of the flat that’s on the screen. It’s small, two bedroom, bathroom, lounge room and kitchen. Everything a human archangel would need. “Yeah, it’s good.” He says, but he can’t fathom why he feels a little bit of sadness to Gabriel leaving. It’s not something he wants to admit, but the guy is becoming family. And the thought makes him shudder.
“Just good?” Lisa asks, feeling the ex-hunter shudder beside her.
“Yeah, should we tell him?”
“He’s your friend, maybe you should.” He isn’t, but he lets Lisa think that or Gabriel wouldn’t have been allowed to stay with them.
Dean nods his head, calls for Gabriel who after a few minutes comes in, Ben following in tow. Gabriel’s eyes flicker between the ex-hunter’s and the woman who sits behind the laptop and gives them a quizzical look.
“C’mon Ben, I should help you with your homework.” Lisa says, moving from the room, and grabbing Ben’s shoulder’s to usher him out.
Gabriel raises a brow to Dean, before he groans, slumping his head. “We’re not going to do the whole, ‘let’s talk about it’ thing, are we?”
“No,” Dean says, “we’re doing the ‘found you a place’ thing.” And just like that it’s out in the open, and he pretends he doesn’t see the hurt look on the other’s face. “Lisa found you a good place; it’s close to here, so I won’t be that far. And hey, you can annoy those neighbours instead of ours.” Humor seems to only fail him since Gabriel isn’t smiling or even chuckling along with him.
“C’mon, you knew this was going to happen at some point. We can’t keep you here forever.” And it hits him that his talking to Gabriel like he is a puppy they got for Ben. And from the relationship the former archangel and the kid have, Gabriel might as well be.
“It’s been a week!” Said archangel argued. And the former hunter just sighs dragging a hand over his face.
“Look, you’ve been on Earth long enough to survive on your own - ”
“ - I snapped everything I wanted to survive!”
“We’re trying to help you here.”
“By kicking me out?”
“Gabriel, look, man, if your ever going to do this, the human thing, this is the best we can get for you. Hell, Lisa has even offered to help pay the rent.”
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s really going to help.” Gabriel says bitterly.
“…Okay, I’m getting sick of this.”
“What?”
“You, ‘oh, look at me, the poor fucking archangel that Daddy decided to punish by making me flesh and blood.’ You know what, it shouldn’t be you; you deserved to stay dead. For all the shit you put me and Sammy through, not to mention the fun you had killing me half a thousand times! I said it last night, I’m going to say it again; Sam should be the one that sleeps on my couch, not you!”
Dean doesn’t know when his voice rose or even when he began to bury himself into a pit of anger, but his now glaring at Gabriel who stands there half glaring half shock. And if this was any other moment from their lives, he’d be happy to gloat about that look on Gabriel’s face, but instead his feeling a wave of guilt and he doesn’t know where the fuck that’s come from.
Gabriel laughs humorlessly, shaking his head. “Right, because complaining about Sam being in Hell, isn’t moping around either. Look at yourself Dean, living here, living a life you so clearly don’t want, it’s killing you. I’m might still be human, but I see straight through it.”
“I am happy here!”
“Right and I’m Michael Myers.”
“Even without the feathers, you’re still a dick.”
“Even without your brother, you’re still the stupidest Winchester…oh, only Winchester.”
Dean’s face darkened at that, his body stiffened slightly, raising a hand to put towards the door. “Get out.” He said darkly and he was expecting an argument from that, but surprisingly Gabriel just turned and left, slamming the door behind him. He runs another hand over his face, turning around and seeing Lisa at the doorway.
“What happened?” She asked and he moved his gaze away from her. “Dean, what happened?”
“He didn’t…” Dean sighs, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “He didn’t want our help.”
“Why wouldn’t want - ”
“I don’t know.” He sighs again, closing his eyes, and when he opens them he wishes that she wasn’t the one standing before him, but as always, reality likes to bite him on the arse. “To stubborn, I guess.” And with that, he drops the conversation, walking up towards the stairs, stopping at the first step to see Ben’s saddened face.
“You shouldn’t eat all that, you’ll get sick.” He said, before descending up the staircase and locking himself into the bathroom.
At lunch, Gabriel watches the men bite down into their meat pies and their wife’s sandwiches - one guy that Gabriel calls Mr. Beard, says his wife makes sandwiches with the utmost love. Gabriel and Dean both mutter ‘douche’ under their breathes then silently chuckle to each other.
The afternoon just goes as long as the morning did. He watches a guy cut his finger off and shrugs to him, handing out a band-aid. It took him six hours and twenty-three minutes to get fired. Dean tells him that it’s a first that someone hasn’t been liked by his boss. Gabriel just shrugs and sits on the couch, watching the afternoon kid shows with Ben.
“How’d it go?” Lisa asks as Dean when he walks into the kitchen.
“How’d you think it went?” He walks to the fridge, grabbing out a beer. Lisa stops chopping the vegetables and gives him one of her looks before he continues. “I get that he doesn’t know how to do things without a snap of his fingers, I get that, but it’s like he doesn’t even want to try.”
Lisa nod’s her head, moving around the counter, to stand before the ex-hunter, her arms folding over her chest as her face forms a some what serene look. “Dean, you were the same when you came here. It took you forever to find that construction job. It took even longer for you to go and ask for that job.” He gave a sigh, her arms circling around him, pressing her lips to his cheek. “Just give him some time.”
Dean nodded his head, before moving out of her embrace and going to stand in the doorway, looking through to see Gabriel talking to Ben. Missing the hurt look that Lisa pulled before she moved back to chopping up the vegetables.
At dinner, Gabriel was silent, something that was definitely unusual for the former Trickster who basically took every silent moment filled with his voice. It was off putting and Dean couldn’t stop looking towards him, wondering if he was going to open his mouth. The small attempts Lisa made only got a nod, a hum and a murmured ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
After dinner, Gabriel moves back into the lounge room with Rocky Road ice cream and goes through Ben’s movie collection. The two of them sit on the floor, a spoon each and laugh over the animated characters on the screen.
Lisa’s in the dining room with her computer, as Dean joins her with two beers, placing one on the table for her and takes a swig of the other. “I thought maybe that might be good for him, you know, it’s close to us, and it’s cheap. We could help him out with the rent until he finds a job he likes.”
Dean smiles, weakly, looking at the picture of the flat that’s on the screen. It’s small, two bedroom, bathroom, lounge room and kitchen. Everything a human archangel would need. “Yeah, it’s good.” He says, but he can’t fathom why he feels a little bit of sadness to Gabriel leaving. It’s not something he wants to admit, but the guy is becoming family. And the thought makes him shudder.
“Just good?” Lisa asks, feeling the ex-hunter shudder beside her.
“Yeah, should we tell him?”
“He’s your friend, maybe you should.” He isn’t, but he lets Lisa think that or Gabriel wouldn’t have been allowed to stay with them.
Dean nods his head, calls for Gabriel who after a few minutes comes in, Ben following in tow. Gabriel’s eyes flicker between the ex-hunter’s and the woman who sits behind the laptop and gives them a quizzical look.
“C’mon Ben, I should help you with your homework.” Lisa says, moving from the room, and grabbing Ben’s shoulder’s to usher him out.
Gabriel raises a brow to Dean, before he groans, slumping his head. “We’re not going to do the whole, ‘let’s talk about it’ thing, are we?”
“No,” Dean says, “we’re doing the ‘found you a place’ thing.” And just like that it’s out in the open, and he pretends he doesn’t see the hurt look on the other’s face. “Lisa found you a good place; it’s close to here, so I won’t be that far. And hey, you can annoy those neighbours instead of ours.” Humor seems to only fail him since Gabriel isn’t smiling or even chuckling along with him.
“C’mon, you knew this was going to happen at some point. We can’t keep you here forever.” And it hits him that his talking to Gabriel like he is a puppy they got for Ben. And from the relationship the former archangel and the kid have, Gabriel might as well be.
“It’s been a week!” Said archangel argued. And the former hunter just sighs dragging a hand over his face.
“Look, you’ve been on Earth long enough to survive on your own - ”
“ - I snapped everything I wanted to survive!”
“We’re trying to help you here.”
“By kicking me out?”
“Gabriel, look, man, if your ever going to do this, the human thing, this is the best we can get for you. Hell, Lisa has even offered to help pay the rent.”
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s really going to help.” Gabriel says bitterly.
“…Okay, I’m getting sick of this.”
“What?”
“You, ‘oh, look at me, the poor fucking archangel that Daddy decided to punish by making me flesh and blood.’ You know what, it shouldn’t be you; you deserved to stay dead. For all the shit you put me and Sammy through, not to mention the fun you had killing me half a thousand times! I said it last night, I’m going to say it again; Sam should be the one that sleeps on my couch, not you!”
Dean doesn’t know when his voice rose or even when he began to bury himself into a pit of anger, but his now glaring at Gabriel who stands there half glaring half shock. And if this was any other moment from their lives, he’d be happy to gloat about that look on Gabriel’s face, but instead his feeling a wave of guilt and he doesn’t know where the fuck that’s come from.
Gabriel laughs humorlessly, shaking his head. “Right, because complaining about Sam being in Hell, isn’t moping around either. Look at yourself Dean, living here, living a life you so clearly don’t want, it’s killing you. I’m might still be human, but I see straight through it.”
“I am happy here!”
“Right and I’m Michael Myers.”
“Even without the feathers, you’re still a dick.”
“Even without your brother, you’re still the stupidest Winchester…oh, only Winchester.”
Dean’s face darkened at that, his body stiffened slightly, raising a hand to put towards the door. “Get out.” He said darkly and he was expecting an argument from that, but surprisingly Gabriel just turned and left, slamming the door behind him. He runs another hand over his face, turning around and seeing Lisa at the doorway.
“What happened?” She asked and he moved his gaze away from her. “Dean, what happened?”
“He didn’t…” Dean sighs, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “He didn’t want our help.”
“Why wouldn’t want - ”
“I don’t know.” He sighs again, closing his eyes, and when he opens them he wishes that she wasn’t the one standing before him, but as always, reality likes to bite him on the arse. “To stubborn, I guess.” And with that, he drops the conversation, walking up towards the stairs, stopping at the first step to see Ben’s saddened face.
“You shouldn’t eat all that, you’ll get sick.” He said, before descending up the staircase and locking himself into the bathroom.