Fic: They were thy brothers (March-Stalkers Mighty timestamp)

[whit_merule]

They were thy brothers.
a March-Stalkers Mighty extra

She wished to give her brothers pleasure, and plucked the twelve flowers, and thought she would present each brother with one while at dinner. But at the self-same moment that she touched the flowers the twelve brothers were changed into twelve ravens, and flew away over the forest, and the

Comments

[whit_merule]

The little Marie story was actually the first thing I wrote. I rather like it all on its own, even independent of the rest of the story - it's more ambiguous and more stark, but of course, put it with the rest of the story and it hurts a lot more. :)

And, well, if Marie had asked Gabriel would have given her something, probably, but he wouldn't have given her everything. And he probably would actually have given her more than the little that she would have expected him to give (both because, well, angel: has resources to draw on that a human wouldn't have, so he's not living on the edge of survival constantly the way an itinerant human might in that lifestyle, and because Marie's life hasn't led her to expect generosity), so it makes perfect cold sense to give up one's own scruples to secure the whole of the cart (and the horse) and the goods and money in it. Keeping the children alive is worth becoming murderers for their sake.

As for Sam... well, Gabriel's defence mechanisms are pretty low right now anyway, what with one thing and another, but Sam just won't stop poking. :( And even his I AM ANGRY AT YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN YOURSELF rants presuppose 'you are a person and you are worth being angry at and asking for an explanation', so. :) Possibly not the best time - Dean yells at him when he tries to badger Castiel the same way later on, when Castiel (despite being physically unwell) is in a far more stable emotional state than Gabriel here; but of course Dean only empathises when he notices that he should, which he doesn't do when he's angry, so he probably didn't even realise that he was being insensitive to Gabriel here, let alone Sam.

[auroramama]

Gabriel would have given her something, probably, but he wouldn't have given her everything.

Yes! This is where I got stuck in my comment. I wanted to say he'd have handed over everything, played Lady Bountiful, but I couldn't say it because I didn't really think he would. He would have given her more than she expected, not even including the gifts he wouldn't tell her about, like stealth healing. But he would have kept his livelihood and his cover. She wasn't wrong about that; it wouldn't have been a horse and a cart and his cargo, and maybe it wouldn't have saved her sister's children. Just... painful, yes. Is it better to deny your family than to murder an innocent friend? It has to be, doesn't it?

As for Sam... well, Gabriel's defence mechanisms are pretty low right now anyway, what with one thing and another, but Sam just won't stop poking.

I suppose I should be angry with Sam on Gabriel's behalf, but I was worse than Sam at his age, so who am I to judge anyone else? I was brought up to believe that just about anything was best talked/argued/fought through with words and emotions flying and all your love on the table. It took most of my college years to accept that for a lot of people this is just wrong, and to learn to recognize the more blatant hints (a hint being anything short of, "Back off or I'll rip your tongue out." Because nonpermanent injury is worth it if it helps a friend.)

[whit_merule]

Well, honestly, it's not like Sam can hurt him any more right now. And having someone right there poking at him has a bit of a grounding effect - plus, really, he was going to crash pretty damn badly as soon as all those walls came down and he actually had to realise Balthazar's death, so at least he had someone there for that to hold him up (literally et al.). Even if he's going to resent Sam over that for a while. :)

Yes, my mother is very much a talk-it-through person and I am really really not - it makes it so much worse, for me, if someone keeps trying to argue/explain their side of things while I'm already worked up, particularly as I tend to lose the ability to say NO I AM NOT RATIONAL RIGHT NOW PLEASE LET'S DO THIS LATER. Trouble was, I was in my twenties before I realised that difference, because all I'd heard all my life is YOU MUST TALK IT OUT THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THINGS IT IS BAD TO LET THINGS FESTER (and, let's face it, as you yourself know, there's a pretty strong cultural message out there to that effect - Everyone Knows it's better to 'have it out'). Which means, of course, that I immediately get defensive in any conflict situation with her (and so does she with me) because there's a long learned reaction of 'this is going to hurt'.

Sam... well, for him prodding is both caring (as Dean grumbles about at some point in the main fic) and trying to understand - something's gone wrong here, what is it, how can I fix it, for which he needs Gabriel to talk.

I think, with Marie, and everyone else he regularly lodged with in the course of his rounds, Gabriel would do little sneaky things to help around the place - healing, like you said, even just things like dodgy knees and so on that made everyday work painful or difficult, or keeping their stock/working animals in good health, or giving a little boost to the productivity of their crops, or getting rid of a weevil infestation in their stores. Not enough to be noticed, just enough to help. He's already paying for board and lodging, or bartering for it, but, well, he might as well keep his hand in, right?

... That's assuming he likes them. There would be others, of course, who might deserve more of a sneaky Trickster treatment, even if they're nice enough to him.