The whole Turkish Bathhouse thing is kind of a novelty. I never had a problem stripping down and taking a dip in the waterfalls, so doing it in doors doesn't seem strange. Still, the opulence of it-- the tile and the marble and the mosaics and gold plated taps-- is worth at least one trip.
I'm relaxing in one of the pools, naked and lounging on a submerged bench, when all that calm is shattered by someone breaking the surface of the water with a violent gasp.
"Fuck," I hiss, reaching for the robe I left on the dry tiles, but then I get a better look-- dark hair and trench coat, and fuck...
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
"Castiel? Jesus fuckin' Christ," I say in a rush, abandoning the robe and already wading out toward him.
It takes Castiel several moments to register the naked man as he is occupied gagging up water and then contemplating the fact that he is gagging and breathing in the first place.
Everything is wrong.
"You know my name," he croaks, trying to right himself. His legs are weak and heavy. "You are not an angel."
"Yeah, no shit," I say, reaching out to lay a cautious hand on his arm. He looks ready to keel over.
"I'm a friend of Dean's. And Sam. It's... Kinda a long story," I say, watching him struggle for air and knowing that it's half because he's not even used to breathing. "You, uh... Wanna at least get outta the water first?"
He stumbles toward the edge, fingers fumbling for a hold on the bare, warm shoulder. "Are they here?" he asks as he stares at his face, eyes wide in his pale face. "Are they alive? This is not where I was; this is very wrong."
After the living, dying, eating, drinking, bathing and shitting with her fellow officers, man and woman alike, less than an elbow's length away for years, Kara thinks nothing of choosing the large male pool over the more ornate female pool. It's bigger, anyway, and she's pretty sure she saw somebody walk into it with a cigar.
She strips down with efficiency, leaving her robe in a heap at the water's edge as she sinks in, up to her nose in delicious heat. "Gods, so much better than outside," she remarks to the water. "I hate snow. Frak snow, frak it in its - "
She stops mid-curse, startled out of her rant by an explosion of limbs from the center of the pool, a man's face emerging from the eddies with a gasp. Kara only needs the line of his jaw to place him. "Oh gods, Cas," she whispers, pushing forward through the water. It's not until she has him steadied by an elbow that it occurs to her that her life would be much easier if she swam the other way. But she can't.
The woman is naked. That is the first thing that he notices before he vomits up more water, turning just in time to avoid vomiting on her bare chest.
"How?" he gasps, relying on her strength, her fragile, human hand that is ten times stronger than he is at the moment. "How do you know my name? I do not know you."
He can't sense her. He is crammed in to this lump of flesh.
"No, you don't," Kara grunts in reply, and doesn't let herself feel the sting of it, not when he's so far gone. She hauls him to the wall of the pool, pushing him back and opening his sodden coat. He hasn't said he's not hurt, and this Castiel's never been human; he might be trusting a body to carry him when it no longer can.
Castiel tries ineffectually to bat at her hands before giving up to look around. He knows what this place is, but he cannot tell anything else. Like the world has been put on mute. "I'm human, I think. But unhurt. This does not make any sense. How do you know my name?"
John Druitt was having what he thought was a relaxing bath all alone in the bathhouse. The atmosphere was just what he needed, calming and devoid of noise and distractions. It was a place he could just think.
Until someone was suddenly there with him, under the water as John sat on the bench, apparently drowning. Reaching out, the big man grasped the other by his lapels and hauled him out of the water and onto the tile. He had no idea how this man hand ended up here, as if out of nowhere, but if it was by teleporting John was going to be VERY curious.
"Breathe man," he said, turning him onto his side.
John watched as the man coughed up the water, clearing his lungs. While he would have been willing to perform CPR to save him, he would rather avoid if possible.
"My name is John Druitt," he replied, keeping a steadying hand on the man. "As for why you are here, that is not as simple an answer."
"I am Castiel," he pants, gathering the strength to roll over. "I am...I am an angel of the Lord. I was an angel of the Lord. What are you and where am I?"
Jess is in the bathhouse, but she's not in the bathhouse. It's more of a let's-see-what's-in-this-building adventure than a let's-get-naked-in-the-hot-tub adventure. So far, anyway. The first couple of days were fun, but since then it hasn't taken a lot of convincing to get her out of these clothes.
"Whoa, hey," she says when a wave of water comes splashing up on her fully clothed self. She thought the pool was empty, but apparently someone was just lurking like a creeper. Except... "Castiel?"
Castiel nearly slips back under the water before managing to get one heavy leg underneath him. Water trickles down his chin as he gags, the reflex to breathe hitting him square in the chest.
He swivels his head around at the voice and spends several moments baffled as to how he has arrived back in heaven. "Jessica Moore," he coughs, her face familiar through his knowledge of the Winchester history. "You know my vessel. That is not possible."
"Let's worry what is and isn't possible later," she says. Ordinarily she'd strip off any unnecessary clothing before reaching into the water to help him, but that just takes a ridiculous amount of time these days; it's more of an all or nothing proposition. She just hopes it doesn't drag her down under. "Breathe first, questions later. Are you all right?"
"I am...human," he decides, watching as the inky trails float off his skin, leaving behind no wounds. "Is this your heaven? I don't know why I have come to your heaven and I don't know why it looks like a communal bathhouse. Why are you here?" he demands, heeding at least one of her commands and taking another breath.
Lois did not startle easily; Clark pressing cold hands against her lower back didn't make her bat an eyelid, meteor freak of the week oh yeah sure no problem. But strange, wet men emerging from the bath she's currently naked in? Oh yeah, she shrieked like a little girl. But she was Lois Lane and the shriek was followed by a loofah being aimed and thrown at his face.
"What the- hey! Eyes up here buddy." Lois said pointing at the man indicating where his eyes should be north of the border. "Swear to god can a girl not take a bath in peace these days? You doing okay there buddy, remember breath in and out through the mouth."
Castiel blinks as something wet and spongy smacks him in the face before expelling water forcefully down his chin and neck. He takes his first wet, sucking breath and is startled to realize he needs to take another.
He is very much human.
"Where are we?" he demands, unimpressed by his hoarse, weak voice. "What time is this?"
"Time for me to put on some clothing," Lois replied dryly about to get up before ducking back beneath the water. Pointing at the man Lois made a little turn around gesture before sighing aggravated. "Hey loofah boy, do a me a favour and turn around give a girl some privacy. Let's start with that and then I'll answer the whole question thing."
"I don't," he starts, trailing off as the amount of things he does not understand overwhelms him. His thoughts process slowly with this human brain.
He looks down and turns to the side, watching the blood and ink wash away as he decides he is in a Turkish bathhouse. He knows this, but he can't sense it.
"Please, tell me what time we are in? Is this earth?"
Comments 186
I'm relaxing in one of the pools, naked and lounging on a submerged bench, when all that calm is shattered by someone breaking the surface of the water with a violent gasp.
"Fuck," I hiss, reaching for the robe I left on the dry tiles, but then I get a better look-- dark hair and trench coat, and fuck...
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
"Castiel? Jesus fuckin' Christ," I say in a rush, abandoning the robe and already wading out toward him.
Reply
Everything is wrong.
"You know my name," he croaks, trying to right himself. His legs are weak and heavy. "You are not an angel."
Reply
"I'm a friend of Dean's. And Sam. It's... Kinda a long story," I say, watching him struggle for air and knowing that it's half because he's not even used to breathing. "You, uh... Wanna at least get outta the water first?"
Reply
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She strips down with efficiency, leaving her robe in a heap at the water's edge as she sinks in, up to her nose in delicious heat. "Gods, so much better than outside," she remarks to the water. "I hate snow. Frak snow, frak it in its - "
She stops mid-curse, startled out of her rant by an explosion of limbs from the center of the pool, a man's face emerging from the eddies with a gasp. Kara only needs the line of his jaw to place him. "Oh gods, Cas," she whispers, pushing forward through the water. It's not until she has him steadied by an elbow that it occurs to her that her life would be much easier if she swam the other way. But she can't.
She can't leave him.
"Cas, are you okay? Are you hurt
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"How?" he gasps, relying on her strength, her fragile, human hand that is ten times stronger than he is at the moment. "How do you know my name? I do not know you."
He can't sense her. He is crammed in to this lump of flesh.
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"My name's Kara Thrace, are you hurt?"
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Until someone was suddenly there with him, under the water as John sat on the bench, apparently drowning. Reaching out, the big man grasped the other by his lapels and hauled him out of the water and onto the tile. He had no idea how this man hand ended up here, as if out of nowhere, but if it was by teleporting John was going to be VERY curious.
"Breathe man," he said, turning him onto his side.
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He cannot feel his Grace or his wings, just this unwieldy vessel.
"Who are you?" he gasps, spitting out more warm water. "This is a bathhouse; why am I here?"
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"My name is John Druitt," he replied, keeping a steadying hand on the man. "As for why you are here, that is not as simple an answer."
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"Whoa, hey," she says when a wave of water comes splashing up on her fully clothed self. She thought the pool was empty, but apparently someone was just lurking like a creeper. Except... "Castiel?"
Reply
He swivels his head around at the voice and spends several moments baffled as to how he has arrived back in heaven. "Jessica Moore," he coughs, her face familiar through his knowledge of the Winchester history. "You know my vessel. That is not possible."
Reply
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"What the- hey! Eyes up here buddy." Lois said pointing at the man indicating where his eyes should be north of the border. "Swear to god can a girl not take a bath in peace these days? You doing okay there buddy, remember breath in and out through the mouth."
Reply
He is very much human.
"Where are we?" he demands, unimpressed by his hoarse, weak voice. "What time is this?"
Reply
Reply
He looks down and turns to the side, watching the blood and ink wash away as he decides he is in a Turkish bathhouse. He knows this, but he can't sense it.
"Please, tell me what time we are in? Is this earth?"
Reply
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