Intro || BYOA || Locked to iustiviri

[sitsherequietly]

Castiel watched as the people walked by in the lobby, some of them in... states of undress or near-undress that he had thought were unacceptable for public.  He is reminded of the place Dean took him the night before, with its red carpeting, and the woman 'Chastity', in her strange garment that did little to conserve her modesty.  His head was

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[iustiviri]

Currently, Dean was in one of the other empty hotel rooms a floor up from his own, gathering provisions. Which meant he was pretty much thieving other peoples things -- or well, things that were left behind. Most of them were clothes, personal items like brushes, money, soap and shampoo. Things that weren't too personal but could be useful all the same. He kept them in boxes in the closet of his room which was quite spacious as was his own. Being here as long as he had, the hotel had gifted him with an upgrade. At first he'd thought he'd gotten the room wrong -- wouldn't be the first time -- but everything was still in it's place.

It was just larger. The bedroom was seperate from a living area as well as having a full bath and kitchen. It was strange but whatever, maybe the hotel was trying to entice him to forget about trying to find an exit. It was almost working. At any rate, the things he kept were for other people, if he ran across them. As even here he felt the need to help people, which was why he was gathering items to keep in case they were needed.

He should have known, he really should have, by the soft beat of wings that it was the angel but he'd been so caught up in shoving everything into the box he'd brought along that he hadn't heard it until the man spoke up, his gravel voice sounding as if it were right in his ear -- and knowing Cas, it was. Dean jerked upright and spun around, mouth open in surprise and half a shout. Not that he wasn't glad to see Cas or anything, knowing he was alright though he didn't like the thought of him stuck here.

"Jesus, Cas. You know of these days I really am going to invest in a goddamn bell for you to wear."

[sitsherequietly]

Dean was safe, in one piece, even if he felt slightly different, a little out of step. But, everything here felt strange and a little out of place, so the angel really wasn't thinking too hard about it. He watched as the man spun around, a familiar gripe about getting a bell for him to wear.

"I believe we are in another den of inequity, Dean."

It was almost conspiratorial, the way he said it. Yes, Cas was new here. Very new, in fact. Confused and was somehow just chalking this all up to Dean trying to prevent him from dying a virgin again, or... he really couldn't remember. He'd been looking for news of the Colt, listening to what information was still available to him. Then he had searched for his father amidst the trees and mountaintops. He'd paused, rested briefly -- his exhaustion a reminder of his fading Grace -- and then found himself here.

He felt like he was missing pieces, because angels really don't just wake up in the wrong place. Especially not.. places like this. He swallowed, shifted a little, still standing too close, his blue eyes looking into the hunter's green.

"Are we going to be thrown out again? I... did not enjoy that."

[iustiviri]

"I know where we are, Cas," he said, lips twitching just a little because he remembered the last time he tried to take Cas to a place like this. It ended badly, very, very badly but at the same time it'd been kind of awesome if only to see Cas in such a strange position. He doubted it was very wise to try to make an angel seem more human, there was probably some rule against it or something, not that he cared much about rules anyway.

"No, we're not. Actually, that's kinda the thing here, Cas. We can't leave." Ever, he was beginning to think, with as long as he'd been here now and finding no preceivable way out. "And no, I didn't bring us here, if that's what you're wondering. I've been here for a few months now, according to this place at least and I haven't been able to find a goddamn way out yet. And uh, personal space there, Cas."

[sitsherequietly]

Castiel eyed Dean, and grudgingly stepped back a pace or so, giving Dean a little bit more room, but definitely still closer than was customary. The angel still didn't really get this whole idea of personal space, truth be told. He'd never really been able to explain it, but there was a part of him that wanted to be close to Dean, stood so near to him because there was something about the proximity that was strange and interesting. He could never quite figure it out, but it didn't keep him from his continued attempts to do so.

"I attempted to return to your motel room and found I was unable to do so."

There was a confused tinge of annoyance to his gravelly voice, unused to being restrained in such a manner. He was a Solider of God. A fallen one, admittedly; turned from Heaven for the green-eyed hunter before him, but he was still an angel. Baring holy oil and very, very old and very, very powerful rituals there shouldn't be anything with the power to do this to him.

"I am.. sorry I did not find you sooner, Dean."

His eyebrows tug together, and despite that he knows he saw him last night, he can equally feel the truth of Dean's statement, the way that time curls around him, months that hold him in this place. And Castiel feels somehow responsible, as if he should have been here with Dean from the beginning.

Without Heaven, Dean is really all he has.

[iustiviri]

"Yeah, I figured you would have tried. Thing is, I don't think anyone who gets brought here leaves. I went to sleep in a motel room with Sam and I woke up here. Don't remember wakin' up any time between or I'm sure I woulda noticed someone nabbing me." Dean shrugs a little, frowning, because he's not really sure how any of it happened in the first place and that still irks him. That something or someone was powerful enough to get the drop on him.

"No, hey, Cas, it's not your fault, okay? From what I gather people don't even know I'm gone yet. I mean I don't know for sure, but that's how it sounds. Time here is different, I guess." He scratches his head a little and shrugs, cause it's not like he actually knows whether or it does or not, but the few people he's ran into have seemed to explain it that way, at least. But Dean did feel a little better though, having Cas here with him. Like he wasn't quite so alone in this place.

[sitsherequietly]

"I was looking for my Father. The search was... exhausting. When I awoke I found myself no longer in the same place."

He tilts his head, looks at Dean with interest as he notes the mention of Sam. As last they spoke, Dean had seemed rather set upon staying apart. He is quietly glad to hear it, even if Sam was used by the angels to begin the Apocalypse; the boy has darkness, but he tries to do the right thing. It's a struggle he now at least understands.

"We should locate the owners of this establishment and demand to be set free. Even if time passes differently, we should not remain here."

Castiel says in in the same way he talked about telling the police chief about Raphael; as I'd everything really is that simple. He just doesn't really get the way that things actually work, sometimes. Well. Ever, really.

[iustiviri]

"Yeah, I remember," he replies, but doesn't say anything else about that because he knows what that's like, to have a father rarely there, even if he'd been there physically for Sam and Dean, there were times when he really wasn't. He knew why, of course, but that never made it any easier.

"I don't think there are any owners, Cas. No one's ever seen them or even heard of them. But you know, we can try if you want." God knows he wouldn't mind actually finding a way out. Maybe Cas can think of something he hadn't before and they can actually get out of this damn place, but truthfully he wasn't going to bet on it.

"I've spent a couple months here and I've yet to find a lobby or a management office or something. Can you sniff one out with your angel mojo?"

[sitsherequietly]

"Yes. I would like to at least attempt to find the people responsible for this."

At the very least, spending some time attempting to find the guilty parties will ease a bit of his agitation at the situation. It might also point out the uncomfortable reality of Dean's statement about there not being any owners, something that Castiel still doesn't quite believe. The building is massive, huge enough that even his angelic senses can't quite wrap around it, can't figure out exactly how many floors there are, where they are... He knows there are a lot, and it feels as if they shift in places when he almost thinks he has a hold on one direction. Very strange.

"I believe that I was in a lobby before I came to find you, Dean. We could return there."

It should be easy enough. He knows where he was (more or less). It really shouldn't be particularly difficult to find his way back to the red-carpeted lobby, with the elevators and the people that were overall in varying states of undress, and the counters with what had seemed like employees. It stood to reason there had to be someone behind it all, didn't there?

[iustiviri]

"Sure, you bet. You can lead the way, and I'll follow, okay? Unless you wanna just zap us down there." Though he didn't think would work, given how strange this place was, they might end up somewhere completely different. But Cas was right, they had to try. Maybe Cas would have better luck given his own angelic abilities where as Dean was just... sadly human.

"So, where were you exactly, before you came here? You said you were looking for God, but where were you? Like what city? Country?" Dean was honestly curious as he didn't really know to much about how the whole zip zapping thing worked or where Cas could go, if there was anywhere his powers didn't reach -- though he didn't think so. They seemed all compassing the way they were.

[sitsherequietly]

"I should be able to transport us both back there. I was able to come to you."

It didn't even occur to Castiel that this place might differentiate between the two cases. He was still opting for the belief that there were some very strange individuals operating the place. Possibility pagan gods, or demons, althought there did not seem to be enough death here to have held a demon's interest for as long as Dean said he'd been here, however.

"The Amazon. South America."

Castiel answered with a curious incline of his head, not entirely sure how or why that was relevant, but as always willing to answer Dean's questions. And then he reached out, touching the man's forehead, intending to transport them both back down to the lobby. It seemed like it should have been simple, easy. He caught Dean and took him with him, but, where they arrived was not the lobby. At the last moment it was like it shifted away from him.

And it was cold.

Castiel had never been cold before. He'd been wearing a suit and trenchcoat in the depths of the amazon rainforest, and then at the precipice of Mount Fuji. Angels did not concern themselves with temperature; it wasn't something that affected him. Except that all of a sudden, Cas' body was curling in, his teeth chattering and a distressed look in his blue eyes. This place was freezing.

"D-Dean-- I feel.. strange. I don't like it." Was there an almost-whine to the angel's voice? Maybe. But, in a millennia of existence, he'd never felt like this before, and more than anything he wanted it to stop. "This.. This isn't the lobby. I d-don't know what happened."

[iustiviri]

"The Amazon, huh? Cool." It was completely irrelivant but he'd wanted to know because he'd been curious and he was pleased when Cas had answered him and it made him smile just a little. Dean didn't particularly like this mode of transportation. It always left him feeling off kilter for a couple days and honestly, he didn't know how they handled just zapping around constantly when he couldn't bare to do it for more than a few times in a row.

The cold hit him like a punch to the gut, making him gasp and shudder, shivering violently. And then he noticed Cas doing much the same as him. Well that's perfect, seemed like he hotel felt like fucking with them. Because they were still in the hotel, he recognized the plain beige walls and the numbered doors. Except it was freezing his balls off.

The whine to Cas' voice startled a laugh out of him. "Sucks d-don't it?" But he made his way over to Cas and grabbed his arm, pulling him close. "It wasn't y-you, it was the f-fuckingg hotel. C-C'mon, let's f-find a room, m-maybe they'll b-be a bit warmer." He then tugged Cas after him toward one of the rooms. A few were locked but he found one that was open and pushed the door open. He rolled his eyes at the display the room was in. It looked much like a cozy cabin.

[sitsherequietly]

Cas was too cold to even think about popping them somewhere else, if the hotel would hav even allowed him to do so. He whined in quiet agreement, briefly pressing in close when Dean pulled him in. It was still freezing, his teeth chattering and his body shaking, but being against Dean was nice, offered at least a little bit of warmth. He really didn't want to let go, was rather tempted to try and bury himself against Dean like a child hiding under a blanket, but the prospect of someplace warmer was just attractive enough to at least briefly mollify the frigid angel.

Cas was just about to start complaining, because he really had no tolerance for this sort of thing. Cold, overheated, those were human responses. He was still an angel, he didn't feel these sort of things, and it was seriously upsetting to him that he was. They found themselves in a room that looked like a cabin, complete with wood stove, and a single bed.

"Dean. I'm cold."

Blue eyes looking at the hunter as if he should fix it. Which, really wasn't far off from Castiel's implication. Dean was human, used to dealing with this sort of thing. Clearly he knew how to make it go away.

[iustiviri]

Dean heaved a heavy sigh as he tugged Cas in after him and closed the door, locking it. It was only a fraction warmer than the hallway, but it was something at least. And there was a wood burning stove that wasn't in use at the moment, but would be once he got Cas off of him long enough to get it started. The fact there was only one bed didn't escape his notice.

"I know Cas, I'm fuckin' cold too. Go sit down while I start up the stove," he said, prying his arm from the frigid angel as he went over to get the stove started up. He shoved in some wood and lit it up with his lighter, then closed the hatch. He went around the room and made sure the other vents were closed off so the heat wouldn't escape. It wouldn't be much, but it would be a hell of a lot warmer than the hallway.

Walking over to the bed, Dean joined him as he sat down onto it, directly next to Cas. It was a little worrysome that the hotel could get to Cas like this, who wasn't supposed to feel things like hot, cold or pain.

[sitsherequietly]

As frigid as he was, and with Dean the only even passing source of warmth, Cas was hesitant t to give up the contact. But, the prospect that Dean could make them warmer won out, and the shivering angel went and took a seat on the edge of the bed, not really thinking about the implications there. It wasn't like he often slept, and he was definitely not socially savvy to pick up on what the hotel was implying. Cas just watched Dean as he started the wood stove putting some wood into it. It was radiating warmth, but it had much less of an effect on the ambient temperature than Castiel would have liked.

So, when Dean came over and sat next to him, Cas pressed in against him, without a thought for personal space or any of the other things Dean had tried to teach him about. All he knew was that he was freezing and that he felt warmer when he was pressed close to Dean. His face ended up buried in the crook of Dean's neck, and oh, that felt nice. Warm where skin pressed to skin and he nuzzled into it. Cas' hands clutching at the hunter's jacket as he tried to hide himself from the bitter temperature.

"I don't like this, Dean."

Castiel murmured into skin, as if there had been any question in that regard.

[iustiviri]

Dean damn near shuddered when Cas nuzzled into him and he had to remind himself it was just because he was cold and not because he liked him or anything -- like that, at any rate. Cas was just cold, which he shouldn't even be able to feel being an angel, but the hotel was making it so. And he knew what it was like to be cold, had years of putting up with it under his belt, but Cas didn't and for that he felt pity for him.

"I know, Cas, I don't like it either," he said, wrapping an arm around Cas to pull him closer. If they weren't freezing Dean might actually enjoy this a little more. But if they weren't freezing then Cas likely wouldn't be curled up and pressed against him. The room was warming up, he could feel it, but it wasn't nearly enough to chase the chill away, not from them at least. Not only that but the cold was making him tired. Shaking his head, Dean pulled back and moved up further into the bed, to lay down.

"C'mere Cas," he said as he patted the spot next to him. It would be better if they could get close to better get warmer. He was not thinking bad things about Cas. Nope, not at all.

[sitsherequietly]

Of course, the angel did like Dean, in every way it was conceivable to like someone, Cas felt for Dean. He was just still trying to figure out humans. And to his best analysis, Dean seemed interested in female-bodies individuals, which the angel was distinctly not. He might not have much of a preference when it came to gender, but Jimmy was his vessel. He'd promised. But, he liked this, liked this a lot. It was like it suddenly clicked why he always stood so close, why no matter how many times they had 'The Talk' about personal space, Cas couldn't stay away. He wanted to be closer, wanted to touch.

He knew this was a rare occasion, not something that was made permissible by any stretch, but it was still... enjoyable. Even if he was still freezing, pressing into Dean made it better.

It took no encouragement at all for Cas to curl up next to Dean on the bed. His head again finding the curve of the hunter's neck, fidgeting a little because his overcoat really wasn't particularly well-suited to curling up on bed with someone. Cas felt like it should have been offering additional warmth, but it didn't feel like it did much. Being close to Dean, touching, seemed to flush his body with a strange jolt of warmth.