SPN FIC: Just Deserts 1/1
Title: Just Deserts
Author: wolfling
Rating: R
Pairings: Castiel/Gabriel, Sam/Gabriel, implied Dean/Castiel/Gabriel/Sam
Word Count: 3526
Summary: Raven makes inquiries about Gabriel's new companions.
Author's Notes: This was written for the Secret Lovers fic exchange on team_free_love, for vlbuehle. Her prompt was: "Gabriel cut himself off from the Host and joined the Asgard as Loki. But the Pantheon fell apart as their worshippers waned, and he's spent hundreds of years wandering the world alone. Now he's part of Team Free Will, and for the first time in far too long, he's got a flock again. So how does he react when that flock is threatened?" I'm not sure if this fits what she had in mind but I hope she likes it anyway.
(Also, the title isn't misspelled -- the "deserts" in it isn't what you get after you eat you main course, it's a (slightly archaic) noun version of the word deserve.)
Can also be found at AO3 here.
"Once upon a time, there was an archangel named Gabriel. He lived in Heaven with his brothers who he loved very much and who he believed loved him. Until the day it all fell apart and he discovered that his definition of love was not the same as theirs. His heart shattered, Gabriel left Heaven, his brothers and his very identity behind. He took on the role of a trickster and moved through their company, never letting anyone touch more than the bright and shiny surface, no matter how much they tried. For he had decided that it was preferable to be cold and lonely and solitary than risk the pain of another heartbreak."
"So this is why you called me here?" Gabriel asked with a snort, crossing his arms over his chest. "To listen to you reduce my life to bad emo?"
Raven paused and cocked his head to the side. "Too much?"
"Stephenie Meyer called, she wants her melodrama back."
"Ouch."
"Seriously." Gabriel flopped down on the overstuffed couch in the center of the cluttered room. "Besides, you've got it all wrong. It's not like I've been rending my garments and lamenting my fate all this time. Or ever. Life at home sucked big time, I left and moved on. I shouldn't have to tell you that being a trickster is fun."
"You did take to it like a duck to water," Raven admitted with a fond little smile. "Always had a natural flare that's served you well. We've been happy to count you among our ranks. But that doesn't mean you have let anyone see any more of you than you want."
"And you do?"
"Ah, but I am what I have always been. I was made a trickster and so shall I remain until I breathe my last. You on the other hand," Raven pointed a long elegant finger at Gabriel, "were made something totally different. An angel. Your kind was not meant to be solitary, not like we are."
"I think I've been managing just fine, thank you," Gabriel said almost primly. "Besides, who says I'm solitary?"
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you?"
"Not even close. Haven't been solitary for a while now. In fact, I've even been getting in some angel bonding time with one of my brothers."*****
"I don't understand," Castiel said, shrugging out of his trench coat It wasn't really necessary, but Gabriel found the added ritual of disrobing soothing, and Castiel had deferred to him. "If the object is to determine who is the most skillful, doesn't cheating negate the competition?"
"Only if it's just one person cheating," Gabriel explained, stepping forward and undoing his brother's tie for him. "If everyone's doing it, it becomes a competition for who is the most skilled cheat. Same concept, slightly different focus."
"I hardly think cheating is just a slightly different focus than following the rules." Castiel's shirt was quickly following his trench coat
"What did Dean tell you?" Gabriel asked curiously. The human had been the one to teach Castiel the game in the first place.
"That I was welcome to follow the rules, but that it would mean that I would probably always lose."
"He has a point," Gabriel said, snapping his own jacket and shirt away. "At least if you play with us."
Castiel gave him a nonplussed look as he manifested his wings; Gabriel quickly messed with the physics of the room to prevent them hitting anything. "I highly doubt I'll be playing strip poker with anyone else."
"Aw, where's your sense of adventure, Castiel?" Gabriel teased as moved behind the other angel and sunk his fingers into the warmth of his wing feathers.
Castiel made a small sound of pleasure at Gabriel's touch, dropping his head forward and spreading his wings more to make it easier for Gabriel to reach them. "I think you have enough sense of adventure for both of us," he replied, voice a low rumble not dissimilar to a purr.
Gabriel smiled at his brother's reaction; Castiel's wings were always so responsive, even when it was a simple physical touch. "I probably do," he agreed easily, sending a pulse of grace along Castiel's feathers and feeling Castiel shiver in response. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't seek out new experiences."
"Perhaps," Castiel agreed, leaning into Gabriel's touch for a minute, then pulling away and turning to face him, something like mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Turn around."
"Getting bossy all of a sudden?" Gabriel asked with a raised eyebrow, but he did as he was told and turned his back on Castiel, curious as to what he had planned.
"Just seeking out new adventures," Castiel answered placidly, running fingers tingling with grace down Gabriel's spine, making him want to gasp and come up on his toes.
Without thinking about it, Gabriel manifested his wings in response to that touch. "I'm a new adventure?"
"Being in charge of you is." He could hear the smile in Castiel's voice as his hands moved to stroke his grace along Gabriel's wings, pulling a very undignified whimper from him.
"I could argue the point," No, he really couldn't, not when Castiel was touching him like that, "but I'll be nice and capitulate." He whimpered again as Castiel's grace seemed to slide between his feathers and under his vessel's skin. "Just don't stop."
That actually pulled a evil chuckle worthy of a trickster out of Castiel. "Wouldn't dream of it," he rumbled, grace now brushing up against Gabriel's own in a way that was positively pornographic. The sounds Gabriel found himself making in response definitely were, and he gave himself wholly over to what Castiel was doing, everything fading in the face of the pleasure that was pouring through his entire being.
When he came down enough to be aware again, he was lying on his stomach on the bed, wings splayed out in a contented sated mess. Castiel was a warm weight straddling his hips, radiating an air of smugness that Gabriel really couldn't begrudge him.
He hadn't felt this good in a very, very long time. Hadn't let someone have control over his grace like that since before he--
Before. There'd been no one he trusted enough, even if they had been capable. He was rather shocked to learn that there was now.
"For an archangel, you can be remarkably slow perceiving what is right in front of you," Castiel observed.
"Shut up," Gabriel mumbled, but couldn't work up the energy or the indignation the words should have carried. Castiel responded by running a pulse of grace down his spine again. He twitched and gasped and turned enough to glare over his shoulder at the other angel. "Cheater."
Castiel merely chuckled.*****
Raven laughed at the end of Gabriel's tale. "So to get through your armor, the little one had to trick the trickster."
"Shut up," Gabriel shot back. "It wasn't a trick. It was just a... a distraction."
"Of course," Raven replied with a smirk.
"Perv. It's not about sex."
"No?"
"Well, not just sex," Gabriel amended.
"Of course not." Raven raised his tea cup to take a drink.
"There's other ways to bond and will you stop agreeing with me in that tone of voice? I feel like a puppy you're petting."
Raven's smile turned sly. "I'd say judging from your story, I'm not the one doing the petting."
"I said it's not just about sex," Gabriel repeated, beginning to sound exasperated. "In fact sometimes sex doesn't even enter into it at all."*****
"Nair in his shampoo?" Gabriel shook his head admirably. "Not bad, Dean-o. Not bad at all."
"Well it's not a slow dancing alien," Dean replied raising his beer bottle in acknowledgment of that particular trick. "But you work with what you've got."
"That was some of my best work," Gabriel said, remembering it with a certain fondness. That had been one of the last tricks he'd done before things had started getting complicated. Winchesters getting thrown into the mix tended to do that. He looked across the table at Dean, slouched comfortably in his chair with his beer, and smirked; somehow all those complications hadn't turned out to be bad things in the end.
"Do you miss it?" Dean asked after a minute, watching him carefully.
"The whole trickster gig?" Gabriel actually had to pause and give it some thought. Things had all been moving and changing so fast, he hadn't really had a chance to consider what he'd left behind.
"Yeah," Dean said. "I mean, you've been towing the straight and narrow since you hooked up with us. You miss the whole popping into town and handing out just deserts thing?"
"Not really," Gabriel said, realizing it was true. "The whole smiting thing, believe it or not, can get old after a while. It makes you jaded. If all you're looking for are douchebags and dicks, pretty soon that's all you're going to notice. Looking for people to save instead makes it easier to remember that's not all there is to humanity." Hanging out with Dean and Sam was also helping with casting humanity in a more positive light, but he wasn't about to mention that.
Dean watched him assessingly then nodded and leaned across the table to clink his bottle with Gabriel's. "We'll make a hunter of you yet."
"Just what every trickster dreams of growing up to be," Gabriel joked.
"And every archangel dreams of growing up to be a trickster?"
"Nah, that was just me. None of my brothers have enough flare to have pulled it off," Gabriel said. He tried to picture any of the others doing what he'd done and had to swallow a snicker. "Or a big enough sense of humor, when it comes down to it."
"Yeah, you did seem to get the lion's share of that," Dean admitted. "Actually, I don't know if I've met another angel who actually has a sense of humor."
Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't know if I'd go that far. Castiel's-"
"Cas' idea of humor needs work. He once told me that Uriel was the funniest angel in his garrison."
"Okay, point," Gabriel admitted, remembering Uriel and his rants about Earth in general and humans in particular. Funny was not the first word that sprang to mind. "He's getting better though. He's stopped asking me to explain the logic behind sitcom plots at least."
"Yeah, Cas is learning, but he's still got a long way to go." Dean suddenly grinned conspiratorially. "But maybe we should try and help him along the path to laughter."
"I know that look," Gabriel said, grinning back. "I've seen it plenty of times in the mirror. What do you have in mind?"
If anything, Dean's grin got bigger. "I'm just thinking that maybe it's time to introduce Cas to the concept of a prank war."
"I don't know," Gabriel said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure he's ready for that... focused a lesson."
"So we make it less focused," Dean suggested. "A free-for-all. Every human or angel for himself."
"You sure about that? Remember who you're talking to here," Gabriel warned. "Coming up with pranks was pretty much my job description for the last thousand years or so."
Dean didn't seem phased at all. "I like a challenge. As long as we set some ground rules -- like no death, dismemberment, or timeloops -- I think we'd be good to go."
"I think I hit most of the funniest deaths already," Gabriel said, easily agreeing to the rules. The whole idea of a prank war was intriguing to say the least. If there was one thing he did miss about the whole trickster gig it was coming up with funny pranks. "And we should probably explain this to Castiel before we start."
"Even better," Dean countered, looking more eager by the second, "we could provide him with an example. Most prank wars between Sammy and me didn't start so much with an announcement as they did with an actual prank."
"So you want you and me to prank your brother to show my brother how it's done?" As ideas went, Gabriel had definitely heard -- and acted on -- worse. "You could probably talk me into that."
"Great!" Dean enthused, leaning over to tap his beer bottle against Gabriel's again, then took a long swig to seal the deal.
Gabriel grinned and followed suit.
Setting his bottle down again, Dean looked thoughtful and asked, "So, is there any way we can use the slow dancing alien?"*****
"Did you?" Raven asked with professional curiosity.
"Please," Gabriel said, shooting him an offended look. "You know I don't like to repeat myself."
"So you turned down Dean's request?"
"I just came up with something better," Gabriel said, giving a very pleased with himself smile. "Believe me, Dean wasn't disappointed. 'Course first it got me that patented Sammy bitchface and then he pulled out the big guns and gave me the the 'I'm disappointed you let my brother be a bad influence' look so I had to agree to help him retaliate."
"Playing both sides against the other?" Raven looked at him over the top of his teacup. "That's very divide and conquer of you."
"Nah. It's just me being awesome." He waggled his eyebrows. "It's called sharing the love."*****
"So am I forgiven yet?" Gabriel asked, dipping his brush back in the ink.
"I'm still thinking about it," Sam muttered, turning his head to the side so his voice wasn't muffled in the pillows.
"Oh, come on," Gabriel wheedled shamelessly. "You have to admit, you and I got Dean better than Dean and I got you."
"It was pretty good," Sam admitted with a reluctant smile. "The plaid was kinda inspired."
Getting a smile out of Sam always felt like an accomplishment to Gabriel. "I'm an inspirational kind of guy."
Sam lifted his head just a little so as to be able to meet Gabriel's eyes. "You do realize though that, all things being equal, you should be the next target?"
"Going to try and trick the Trickster?" Gabriel asked with a grin. The idea of them trying to turn the tables on him filled him with a glee that had less to do with practical jokes and more to do with the idea of how it was a sign he was part of the group. Family even.
"Oh trust me," Sam promised. "You'll get yours."
Gabriel spread his arms wide in invitation. "Bring it." He snicked as his movement sent a drop of ink flying off the end of his brush onto the skin of Sam's back.
Sam fixed him with a glare. "Just because I agreed to your insane teaching method doesn't mean I'm okay with you turning me into the canvas for your abstract art."
"You sure?" Gabriel asked, already picturing Sam covered in large swirls and blotches of bright colors. "You could totally be the next Monalisa."
"I'm getting up now," Sam said, starting to push himself up from the bed.
Gabriel quickly put a hand in the middle of Sam's back and pushed him back down. "Okay, fine. No artwork. But you would have totally rocked it."
Sam didn't try to get up again, but he did warn, "If you don't stop acting like a poster child for angels with ADHD and get on with it, I'm going to go find something more productive to do."
"Fine," Gabriel all but huffed, smoothing a hand down Sam's back and willing the ink droplets away more as an excuse to touch him than anything else. He did it again because the action calmed him and he could feel Sam relaxing under his touch as well.
He stopped though before Sam could complain again and re-dipped the brush in ink. "Concentrate," he said as he started carefully drawing symbols in Enochian on Sam's back. "What am I writing?"
"Strength," Sam said after a moment.
"Good," Gabriel praised, smoothing his hand down Sam's back again to will the ink away. "And this one?"
Sam's answer came faster this time. "Sword."
"Aren't you the teacher's pet? Guess I'm going to have try and make them more difficult to challenge you."
They continued for a while, with Gabriel drawing progressively more complicated symbols and Sam guessing them correctly within varying lengths of time. When Gabriel had first suggested this as a means of testing how well Sam had memorized the Enochian he and Castiel were teaching him, it had mostly been an excuse to put his hands all over a half-naked Sam, but he found he was actually enjoying the intellectual aspect just as much. Sam had a very quick mind and there was satisfaction in watching him rise to every challenge that Gabriel set him.
Of course, there was also satisfaction in watching Sam rise in an entirely different sort of way and after a while all the nakedness and touching had the anticipated effect. Sam began taking longer to figure out the answers and he began to fidget as Gabriel worked, his hips twitching whenever the brush or Gabriel's fingers slid over his lower back. Grinning, Gabriel decided it was time to end the lesson so the next thing he drew on Sam's back was completely different.
Even with his growing distraction, Sam noticed right away. "That's not Enochian," he said, going perfectly still again as he tried to figure it out.
"Nope," Gabriel told him cheerfully, continuing in his writing.
"Is that... Gabriel, are you writing a dirty limerick on my back?" There was equal parts outrage and amusement in Sam's tone.
"Maaaaaaybe," Gabriel replied, grinning. "Why, do you think I should be writing it lower down?"
Sam surged up and twisted around, tackling Gabriel to the mattress with a mock growl. "I totally let you do that," Gabriel told him, smirking up at him.
"You're going to let me do a whole lot more before we're through here," Sam told him, reaching down to grab Gabriel's wrists and hold them pinned above his head. "But since that's obviously what you've been angling for, I doubt I'm going to get any complaints."
"Depends on how long you plan on drawing this ou-" Gabriel began, but Sam cut him off by the simple expediency of kissing him.
"If you don't shut up, I'll stop," Sam warned, sliding a hand down Gabriel's front and did something that made his eyes threaten to roll back.
Never let it be said that Gabriel didn't know when it was in his best interests to follow the rules.
He shut up.*****
"Interesting study method," Raven observed.
Gabriel shrugged. "Learning should be fun." He grinned. "Sam's my prize student."
"Among other things."
"None of us is only one thing," Gabriel replied. "If we were, life would be really boring."
"Speaking of not being boring, what was it of Dean's that you turned plaid?" Raven asked with professional interest.
Gabriel grinned widely. "His dick."
That actually got a surprised laugh out of Raven. "You haven't lost your touch."
"Did you really expect me to?" Gabriel asked, spreading his hands in a voila gesture.
"Once a trickster, always a trickster," Raven agreed. "Still, you've changed. You're correct; you're no longer the solitary being you once were." He paused. "Have you considered the drawbacks?"
Gabriel stilled. "What drawbacks?"
"Simply that you now have potential hostages to fate. Three new ways that can be used as leverage to gain control over you."
"You're not the first to think so. Eris and I had a rather heated discussion about it."
"Eris." Raven cocked his head to the side. "Something razed her home and the island it was on down to bare rock." Pause. "With her in it."
"Like I said, it got heated." Gabriel was now perfectly still, all of the movement and mannerisms of a trickster having fallen away. He was 100 % archangel at the moment and the aura of power radiating off of him made Raven want to puff out his feathers in a futile attempt not to look as outclassed as it was obvious he was.
"I've considered it," Gabriel continued. "If anyone tries, they're going to make me cranky. And no one wants a cranky archangel around. Remember what my brother did at the Elysian Fields. And I'm a lot more creative than Lucifer ever was."
A moment of silence stretched taut between them , finally snapping when Gabriel got to his feet, trickster persona firmly back in place, though his eyes still seemed to glow with power. "I'm glad we had the chance to have this little chat. Nice seeing you again, Raven. Do me a favor and get the word out, will ya? Hands off Castiel and the Winchesters. Or else."
Raven nodded mutely and stayed quiet for a long time after Gabriel had snapped himself away, thoughtfully sipping his tea. It seemd the rumors were true, the trickster-angel had found a new flock. And, despite how much more dangerous this made Gabriel, Raven couldn't help but hope this was the happy ending his friend deserved.
After all, tricksters were all about making sure that everyone got their just deserts, weren't they?
Author: wolfling
Rating: R
Pairings: Castiel/Gabriel, Sam/Gabriel, implied Dean/Castiel/Gabriel/Sam
Word Count: 3526
Summary: Raven makes inquiries about Gabriel's new companions.
Author's Notes: This was written for the Secret Lovers fic exchange on team_free_love, for vlbuehle. Her prompt was: "Gabriel cut himself off from the Host and joined the Asgard as Loki. But the Pantheon fell apart as their worshippers waned, and he's spent hundreds of years wandering the world alone. Now he's part of Team Free Will, and for the first time in far too long, he's got a flock again. So how does he react when that flock is threatened?" I'm not sure if this fits what she had in mind but I hope she likes it anyway.
(Also, the title isn't misspelled -- the "deserts" in it isn't what you get after you eat you main course, it's a (slightly archaic) noun version of the word deserve.)
Can also be found at AO3 here.
"Once upon a time, there was an archangel named Gabriel. He lived in Heaven with his brothers who he loved very much and who he believed loved him. Until the day it all fell apart and he discovered that his definition of love was not the same as theirs. His heart shattered, Gabriel left Heaven, his brothers and his very identity behind. He took on the role of a trickster and moved through their company, never letting anyone touch more than the bright and shiny surface, no matter how much they tried. For he had decided that it was preferable to be cold and lonely and solitary than risk the pain of another heartbreak."
"So this is why you called me here?" Gabriel asked with a snort, crossing his arms over his chest. "To listen to you reduce my life to bad emo?"
Raven paused and cocked his head to the side. "Too much?"
"Stephenie Meyer called, she wants her melodrama back."
"Ouch."
"Seriously." Gabriel flopped down on the overstuffed couch in the center of the cluttered room. "Besides, you've got it all wrong. It's not like I've been rending my garments and lamenting my fate all this time. Or ever. Life at home sucked big time, I left and moved on. I shouldn't have to tell you that being a trickster is fun."
"You did take to it like a duck to water," Raven admitted with a fond little smile. "Always had a natural flare that's served you well. We've been happy to count you among our ranks. But that doesn't mean you have let anyone see any more of you than you want."
"And you do?"
"Ah, but I am what I have always been. I was made a trickster and so shall I remain until I breathe my last. You on the other hand," Raven pointed a long elegant finger at Gabriel, "were made something totally different. An angel. Your kind was not meant to be solitary, not like we are."
"I think I've been managing just fine, thank you," Gabriel said almost primly. "Besides, who says I'm solitary?"
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you?"
"Not even close. Haven't been solitary for a while now. In fact, I've even been getting in some angel bonding time with one of my brothers."*****
"I don't understand," Castiel said, shrugging out of his trench coat It wasn't really necessary, but Gabriel found the added ritual of disrobing soothing, and Castiel had deferred to him. "If the object is to determine who is the most skillful, doesn't cheating negate the competition?"
"Only if it's just one person cheating," Gabriel explained, stepping forward and undoing his brother's tie for him. "If everyone's doing it, it becomes a competition for who is the most skilled cheat. Same concept, slightly different focus."
"I hardly think cheating is just a slightly different focus than following the rules." Castiel's shirt was quickly following his trench coat
"What did Dean tell you?" Gabriel asked curiously. The human had been the one to teach Castiel the game in the first place.
"That I was welcome to follow the rules, but that it would mean that I would probably always lose."
"He has a point," Gabriel said, snapping his own jacket and shirt away. "At least if you play with us."
Castiel gave him a nonplussed look as he manifested his wings; Gabriel quickly messed with the physics of the room to prevent them hitting anything. "I highly doubt I'll be playing strip poker with anyone else."
"Aw, where's your sense of adventure, Castiel?" Gabriel teased as moved behind the other angel and sunk his fingers into the warmth of his wing feathers.
Castiel made a small sound of pleasure at Gabriel's touch, dropping his head forward and spreading his wings more to make it easier for Gabriel to reach them. "I think you have enough sense of adventure for both of us," he replied, voice a low rumble not dissimilar to a purr.
Gabriel smiled at his brother's reaction; Castiel's wings were always so responsive, even when it was a simple physical touch. "I probably do," he agreed easily, sending a pulse of grace along Castiel's feathers and feeling Castiel shiver in response. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't seek out new experiences."
"Perhaps," Castiel agreed, leaning into Gabriel's touch for a minute, then pulling away and turning to face him, something like mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Turn around."
"Getting bossy all of a sudden?" Gabriel asked with a raised eyebrow, but he did as he was told and turned his back on Castiel, curious as to what he had planned.
"Just seeking out new adventures," Castiel answered placidly, running fingers tingling with grace down Gabriel's spine, making him want to gasp and come up on his toes.
Without thinking about it, Gabriel manifested his wings in response to that touch. "I'm a new adventure?"
"Being in charge of you is." He could hear the smile in Castiel's voice as his hands moved to stroke his grace along Gabriel's wings, pulling a very undignified whimper from him.
"I could argue the point," No, he really couldn't, not when Castiel was touching him like that, "but I'll be nice and capitulate." He whimpered again as Castiel's grace seemed to slide between his feathers and under his vessel's skin. "Just don't stop."
That actually pulled a evil chuckle worthy of a trickster out of Castiel. "Wouldn't dream of it," he rumbled, grace now brushing up against Gabriel's own in a way that was positively pornographic. The sounds Gabriel found himself making in response definitely were, and he gave himself wholly over to what Castiel was doing, everything fading in the face of the pleasure that was pouring through his entire being.
When he came down enough to be aware again, he was lying on his stomach on the bed, wings splayed out in a contented sated mess. Castiel was a warm weight straddling his hips, radiating an air of smugness that Gabriel really couldn't begrudge him.
He hadn't felt this good in a very, very long time. Hadn't let someone have control over his grace like that since before he--
Before. There'd been no one he trusted enough, even if they had been capable. He was rather shocked to learn that there was now.
"For an archangel, you can be remarkably slow perceiving what is right in front of you," Castiel observed.
"Shut up," Gabriel mumbled, but couldn't work up the energy or the indignation the words should have carried. Castiel responded by running a pulse of grace down his spine again. He twitched and gasped and turned enough to glare over his shoulder at the other angel. "Cheater."
Castiel merely chuckled.*****
Raven laughed at the end of Gabriel's tale. "So to get through your armor, the little one had to trick the trickster."
"Shut up," Gabriel shot back. "It wasn't a trick. It was just a... a distraction."
"Of course," Raven replied with a smirk.
"Perv. It's not about sex."
"No?"
"Well, not just sex," Gabriel amended.
"Of course not." Raven raised his tea cup to take a drink.
"There's other ways to bond and will you stop agreeing with me in that tone of voice? I feel like a puppy you're petting."
Raven's smile turned sly. "I'd say judging from your story, I'm not the one doing the petting."
"I said it's not just about sex," Gabriel repeated, beginning to sound exasperated. "In fact sometimes sex doesn't even enter into it at all."*****
"Nair in his shampoo?" Gabriel shook his head admirably. "Not bad, Dean-o. Not bad at all."
"Well it's not a slow dancing alien," Dean replied raising his beer bottle in acknowledgment of that particular trick. "But you work with what you've got."
"That was some of my best work," Gabriel said, remembering it with a certain fondness. That had been one of the last tricks he'd done before things had started getting complicated. Winchesters getting thrown into the mix tended to do that. He looked across the table at Dean, slouched comfortably in his chair with his beer, and smirked; somehow all those complications hadn't turned out to be bad things in the end.
"Do you miss it?" Dean asked after a minute, watching him carefully.
"The whole trickster gig?" Gabriel actually had to pause and give it some thought. Things had all been moving and changing so fast, he hadn't really had a chance to consider what he'd left behind.
"Yeah," Dean said. "I mean, you've been towing the straight and narrow since you hooked up with us. You miss the whole popping into town and handing out just deserts thing?"
"Not really," Gabriel said, realizing it was true. "The whole smiting thing, believe it or not, can get old after a while. It makes you jaded. If all you're looking for are douchebags and dicks, pretty soon that's all you're going to notice. Looking for people to save instead makes it easier to remember that's not all there is to humanity." Hanging out with Dean and Sam was also helping with casting humanity in a more positive light, but he wasn't about to mention that.
Dean watched him assessingly then nodded and leaned across the table to clink his bottle with Gabriel's. "We'll make a hunter of you yet."
"Just what every trickster dreams of growing up to be," Gabriel joked.
"And every archangel dreams of growing up to be a trickster?"
"Nah, that was just me. None of my brothers have enough flare to have pulled it off," Gabriel said. He tried to picture any of the others doing what he'd done and had to swallow a snicker. "Or a big enough sense of humor, when it comes down to it."
"Yeah, you did seem to get the lion's share of that," Dean admitted. "Actually, I don't know if I've met another angel who actually has a sense of humor."
Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't know if I'd go that far. Castiel's-"
"Cas' idea of humor needs work. He once told me that Uriel was the funniest angel in his garrison."
"Okay, point," Gabriel admitted, remembering Uriel and his rants about Earth in general and humans in particular. Funny was not the first word that sprang to mind. "He's getting better though. He's stopped asking me to explain the logic behind sitcom plots at least."
"Yeah, Cas is learning, but he's still got a long way to go." Dean suddenly grinned conspiratorially. "But maybe we should try and help him along the path to laughter."
"I know that look," Gabriel said, grinning back. "I've seen it plenty of times in the mirror. What do you have in mind?"
If anything, Dean's grin got bigger. "I'm just thinking that maybe it's time to introduce Cas to the concept of a prank war."
"I don't know," Gabriel said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure he's ready for that... focused a lesson."
"So we make it less focused," Dean suggested. "A free-for-all. Every human or angel for himself."
"You sure about that? Remember who you're talking to here," Gabriel warned. "Coming up with pranks was pretty much my job description for the last thousand years or so."
Dean didn't seem phased at all. "I like a challenge. As long as we set some ground rules -- like no death, dismemberment, or timeloops -- I think we'd be good to go."
"I think I hit most of the funniest deaths already," Gabriel said, easily agreeing to the rules. The whole idea of a prank war was intriguing to say the least. If there was one thing he did miss about the whole trickster gig it was coming up with funny pranks. "And we should probably explain this to Castiel before we start."
"Even better," Dean countered, looking more eager by the second, "we could provide him with an example. Most prank wars between Sammy and me didn't start so much with an announcement as they did with an actual prank."
"So you want you and me to prank your brother to show my brother how it's done?" As ideas went, Gabriel had definitely heard -- and acted on -- worse. "You could probably talk me into that."
"Great!" Dean enthused, leaning over to tap his beer bottle against Gabriel's again, then took a long swig to seal the deal.
Gabriel grinned and followed suit.
Setting his bottle down again, Dean looked thoughtful and asked, "So, is there any way we can use the slow dancing alien?"*****
"Did you?" Raven asked with professional curiosity.
"Please," Gabriel said, shooting him an offended look. "You know I don't like to repeat myself."
"So you turned down Dean's request?"
"I just came up with something better," Gabriel said, giving a very pleased with himself smile. "Believe me, Dean wasn't disappointed. 'Course first it got me that patented Sammy bitchface and then he pulled out the big guns and gave me the the 'I'm disappointed you let my brother be a bad influence' look so I had to agree to help him retaliate."
"Playing both sides against the other?" Raven looked at him over the top of his teacup. "That's very divide and conquer of you."
"Nah. It's just me being awesome." He waggled his eyebrows. "It's called sharing the love."*****
"So am I forgiven yet?" Gabriel asked, dipping his brush back in the ink.
"I'm still thinking about it," Sam muttered, turning his head to the side so his voice wasn't muffled in the pillows.
"Oh, come on," Gabriel wheedled shamelessly. "You have to admit, you and I got Dean better than Dean and I got you."
"It was pretty good," Sam admitted with a reluctant smile. "The plaid was kinda inspired."
Getting a smile out of Sam always felt like an accomplishment to Gabriel. "I'm an inspirational kind of guy."
Sam lifted his head just a little so as to be able to meet Gabriel's eyes. "You do realize though that, all things being equal, you should be the next target?"
"Going to try and trick the Trickster?" Gabriel asked with a grin. The idea of them trying to turn the tables on him filled him with a glee that had less to do with practical jokes and more to do with the idea of how it was a sign he was part of the group. Family even.
"Oh trust me," Sam promised. "You'll get yours."
Gabriel spread his arms wide in invitation. "Bring it." He snicked as his movement sent a drop of ink flying off the end of his brush onto the skin of Sam's back.
Sam fixed him with a glare. "Just because I agreed to your insane teaching method doesn't mean I'm okay with you turning me into the canvas for your abstract art."
"You sure?" Gabriel asked, already picturing Sam covered in large swirls and blotches of bright colors. "You could totally be the next Monalisa."
"I'm getting up now," Sam said, starting to push himself up from the bed.
Gabriel quickly put a hand in the middle of Sam's back and pushed him back down. "Okay, fine. No artwork. But you would have totally rocked it."
Sam didn't try to get up again, but he did warn, "If you don't stop acting like a poster child for angels with ADHD and get on with it, I'm going to go find something more productive to do."
"Fine," Gabriel all but huffed, smoothing a hand down Sam's back and willing the ink droplets away more as an excuse to touch him than anything else. He did it again because the action calmed him and he could feel Sam relaxing under his touch as well.
He stopped though before Sam could complain again and re-dipped the brush in ink. "Concentrate," he said as he started carefully drawing symbols in Enochian on Sam's back. "What am I writing?"
"Strength," Sam said after a moment.
"Good," Gabriel praised, smoothing his hand down Sam's back again to will the ink away. "And this one?"
Sam's answer came faster this time. "Sword."
"Aren't you the teacher's pet? Guess I'm going to have try and make them more difficult to challenge you."
They continued for a while, with Gabriel drawing progressively more complicated symbols and Sam guessing them correctly within varying lengths of time. When Gabriel had first suggested this as a means of testing how well Sam had memorized the Enochian he and Castiel were teaching him, it had mostly been an excuse to put his hands all over a half-naked Sam, but he found he was actually enjoying the intellectual aspect just as much. Sam had a very quick mind and there was satisfaction in watching him rise to every challenge that Gabriel set him.
Of course, there was also satisfaction in watching Sam rise in an entirely different sort of way and after a while all the nakedness and touching had the anticipated effect. Sam began taking longer to figure out the answers and he began to fidget as Gabriel worked, his hips twitching whenever the brush or Gabriel's fingers slid over his lower back. Grinning, Gabriel decided it was time to end the lesson so the next thing he drew on Sam's back was completely different.
Even with his growing distraction, Sam noticed right away. "That's not Enochian," he said, going perfectly still again as he tried to figure it out.
"Nope," Gabriel told him cheerfully, continuing in his writing.
"Is that... Gabriel, are you writing a dirty limerick on my back?" There was equal parts outrage and amusement in Sam's tone.
"Maaaaaaybe," Gabriel replied, grinning. "Why, do you think I should be writing it lower down?"
Sam surged up and twisted around, tackling Gabriel to the mattress with a mock growl. "I totally let you do that," Gabriel told him, smirking up at him.
"You're going to let me do a whole lot more before we're through here," Sam told him, reaching down to grab Gabriel's wrists and hold them pinned above his head. "But since that's obviously what you've been angling for, I doubt I'm going to get any complaints."
"Depends on how long you plan on drawing this ou-" Gabriel began, but Sam cut him off by the simple expediency of kissing him.
"If you don't shut up, I'll stop," Sam warned, sliding a hand down Gabriel's front and did something that made his eyes threaten to roll back.
Never let it be said that Gabriel didn't know when it was in his best interests to follow the rules.
He shut up.*****
"Interesting study method," Raven observed.
Gabriel shrugged. "Learning should be fun." He grinned. "Sam's my prize student."
"Among other things."
"None of us is only one thing," Gabriel replied. "If we were, life would be really boring."
"Speaking of not being boring, what was it of Dean's that you turned plaid?" Raven asked with professional interest.
Gabriel grinned widely. "His dick."
That actually got a surprised laugh out of Raven. "You haven't lost your touch."
"Did you really expect me to?" Gabriel asked, spreading his hands in a voila gesture.
"Once a trickster, always a trickster," Raven agreed. "Still, you've changed. You're correct; you're no longer the solitary being you once were." He paused. "Have you considered the drawbacks?"
Gabriel stilled. "What drawbacks?"
"Simply that you now have potential hostages to fate. Three new ways that can be used as leverage to gain control over you."
"You're not the first to think so. Eris and I had a rather heated discussion about it."
"Eris." Raven cocked his head to the side. "Something razed her home and the island it was on down to bare rock." Pause. "With her in it."
"Like I said, it got heated." Gabriel was now perfectly still, all of the movement and mannerisms of a trickster having fallen away. He was 100 % archangel at the moment and the aura of power radiating off of him made Raven want to puff out his feathers in a futile attempt not to look as outclassed as it was obvious he was.
"I've considered it," Gabriel continued. "If anyone tries, they're going to make me cranky. And no one wants a cranky archangel around. Remember what my brother did at the Elysian Fields. And I'm a lot more creative than Lucifer ever was."
A moment of silence stretched taut between them , finally snapping when Gabriel got to his feet, trickster persona firmly back in place, though his eyes still seemed to glow with power. "I'm glad we had the chance to have this little chat. Nice seeing you again, Raven. Do me a favor and get the word out, will ya? Hands off Castiel and the Winchesters. Or else."
Raven nodded mutely and stayed quiet for a long time after Gabriel had snapped himself away, thoughtfully sipping his tea. It seemd the rumors were true, the trickster-angel had found a new flock. And, despite how much more dangerous this made Gabriel, Raven couldn't help but hope this was the happy ending his friend deserved.
After all, tricksters were all about making sure that everyone got their just deserts, weren't they?