Fic: An Acorn Button (March-Stalkers Mighty Timestamp)

[whit_merule]

An Acorn Button
a March-Stalkers Mighty extra

All children, except one, grow up.
…
Wendy also said that she would give him a kiss if he liked, but Peter did not know what she meant, and he held out his hand expectantly.
“Surely you know what a kiss is?” she asked, aghast.
“I shall know when you give it to me,” he replied stiffly; and, not to hurt

Comments

[auroramama]

(I love the wax table. Though I can see myself erasing other people's work with a careless elbow.)

It was perfectly calculated to make a very public and dramatic point, a show of strength to the people who’d locked him up and made him weak. Flamboyance and flair in front of the barn where he’d been turned into a mindless animal.

Of course Dean, who we've just had asserting that his monumental cluelessness didn't deserve Castiel's look (ha!), instantly understands what Gabriel's doing here, root and branch and flower. This is one more reason I love pairing Gabriel with Sam. So Dean's generic reaction to anyone having that kind of interest in Sam (or vice versa) is just the background to Dean's specific understanding of Gabriel. Where their foibles and needs align. (There's also Dean's reaction to seeing Sam in Sam's new attachment, the endless curiosity and need to explore.) Dean knows things from the inside that I might miss as a reader -- for example, I thought Gabriel was showing off mostly for Sam

[whit_merule]

To be fair, Dean probably wouldn't have understood quite so thoroughly what Gabriel was doing if he hadn't seen the way he was behaving around the other villagers (and the barn!) since they killed Lucifer: just that bit too much swagger and noise, the kind of that Dean had already worked out how to see though. He does, of course, have an advantage there due to similarity of mind, but if it hadn't been for that I suspect the most he'd have got out of that spectacle would be "Gabriel's showing off again, trying to make a point" without really knowing much detail about the point in question. And to be honest, some of the beast-specific stuff might well be Dean projecting a little, since that's the sort of question that's been tangling his mind up for several months

[auroramama]

So, part II:

When Dean goes after Gabriel, what is he blaming Gabriel for, exactly? Being attractive to Sam? Thinking Sam's too young? Turning Sam down? Not turning Sam down? It really takes most of the next scene to elucidate, because Dean, surprise, is not itemizing.

Dean grabbed the edge of the table right by Castiel’s elbow
This is Dean being civilized, hee! And poor Jody excusing herself not quite fast enough to miss the beginning of Dean's unsystematic but ferocious search for a way to turn Sam's words into Gabriel's fault.

“No! he wouldn’t do that! He’s not interested,” and there, at the end, a plaintive note that had Dean surging forward around the table to grab Sam’s shirt and drag him in.
Yes. Because Dean can't abide Sam being unhappy, but can't always force himself to hear what's making him unhappy.

You’ve been kissing Castiel since the day you found him!So very Sam. All these years, and I bet he's still a little shocked and highly indignant when Dean ignores such a spectacularly conclusive fairness argument. (Sam's

[whit_merule]

When he charges in to go WHERE'S GABRIEL I HAVE TO KILL HIM, he's reacting specifically to remembering Sam blushing and saying "It was only the once" - i. e., he has (finally!) jumped to the conclusion many readers did when they saw Sam say that, and decided that there was sex. And of course in Dean's brain that means Gabriel Had His Way with him and Abandoned him and made him sad. There might even be words like VIRTUE and DEFLOWERED zooming around in his head there. Don't judge him. He is just agitated, poor boy.

... and yes, Dean heard pretty much nothing Sam said. Except for the 'finetherewasnosexBUTYOUKISSEDHIMWHATWHATWHAT' thing.

Gabriel has to prove to himself that he can still be this person even if the villagers try to make him not a person (or a different person). So, yes, there's definitely a prove-to-self thing going on there, but he needs it to be very public and to be about what they perceive rather than Dean's 'I am happy with this version of me and if they don't like it, well, that sucks, but tough' attitude. Gabriel

[ceedeeandco]

Oh, Dean. You would have reacted almost exactly the same way if it was a human female pedlar Sam wanted to run off with, wouldn't you?

[whit_merule]

Aaaaaalmost. There is an element of 'this is not who I always wanted you to marry', which is a personality thing, a gender thing, and a person-who-is-not-frmo-here-and-won't-stay-here in not-quite-equal measure. And there's a sense of danger to Sam that might not be present if it was a woman (though if it was still an archangel with Gabriel's personality the point would probably be moot, because she'd have proved herself dangerous). But the rest of it, all the stuff about NO NO SAM IS GROWING UP AND LEAVING THIS IS NOT OKAY, and the concerns about GABRIEL IS NOT A TRUSTWORTHY PERSON AND THAT WAY HEARTBREAK LIES, all that would be the same. :)