↷ PRAYCD
IF THE SITUATION WERE anything different, this is what dean would be doing. he knows, because he’s seen it ; and when it’s been sam who was gone, he’s heard the stories of it, witnessed the effect. he wonders if castiel has seen the same thing. wonders what he thinks about it. the answer he receives is just as hesitant, fretting. sam doesn’t want to eat. he couldn’t stomach it. that’s the point … although, on the other hand, he is out to VOMIT, anyway. ‘ I’m only asking because I don’t know if you eat like a person, these days, or not. I can’t keep up. ’
carrying a conversation feels strange, numb ––––– as if he’s outside of his own body looking in. walking feels the same. legs of wood and nails, knees of gelatin. he left-right-lefts toward the kitchen, toward the fridge, and expects the rustle of trenchcoat and FEATHERS to follow. if cas wants to help him out, he’ll sit down and shut up. either have a drink or leave sam the hell alone. that’s what his brother would do, if he hadn’t exploded a couple hours ago.
‘ we’ve got vodka, and … orange juice. ’ he yanks open from the fridge and the other from the ice box. vodka is a good idea. it isn’t their usual go-to ; they’ve always been dark liquor people, and he’s got sort of a TOLERANCE for the cheap whiskey they have in stock. this will get him right to the fuckin’ point, do not pass go, do not collect $200. besides … the whiskey TASTES too much like dean. his shoulders start to quake. he moves faster. shaking fingers pouring three fingers for himself. a larger glass for the angel. ‘ I can throw together a mixer for you. that might be easier. if you’re gonna stick around. ’
the way that castiel misses dean, is nothing to the magnitude in which sam winchester grieves for him. for the angel, it is the equivalent of heart break, sad in a way that he was incapable of feeling before living on earth for the past few years, and even still, he is unsure how to properly express it. he feels full, and at the same time, utterly EMPTY. dean was good, and he was kind, and though they never spoke of it, they loved each other. much the same way he loves sam. it’s family, he knows the word, the meaning behind it, but it’s almost more than that. a way with words that can not be spoken. so maybe that’s why they drink. . .. after all, how can you mourn, or process, a feeling that has no words. castiel has only known dean after hell, saved him from the pit, felt his soul against his own, as he carried him to the surface---- sam---- has known him even more intimately than that. they were children together, grew up in the same four walls. if cas cares as deeply as he does, from somehow much further away---- sam is going to need more than a bottle of vodka to do the trick. but he says nothing about it, and takes his cup eagerly, downing the vile liquid as sort of a toast to his friends memory.
❝ i plan to remain---- for as long as you let me. ❞ if he overstays his welcome, or feels his too intrusive, he will take his leave. but even if it were unspoken, castiel will look out for the other as much as he can. for dean, for himself---- because that’s what you do for family. he reaches out to cover sam’s shaking hand with his own; and he can feel the pain, where it sinks into his vessel’s skin, the longing, the hurt---- and he pulls the bottle away, pours the other another one, just as he plans to continue to do until he passes out. ❝ we. . . will find a way to bring him back. i promise you to find a way. there’s always a way. ❞








