he seemed to be calming down, and she wanted to trust him again, to drop her facade and try and behave normally around him. but something pricked at the back of her neck, sending shivers and sparks down her spine, and she just couldn’t shake it. something else was coming, and this was an energy she knew well.

at the sound of the door, her heart sank. her reason for existing was currently running down the steps and clinging to her leg, right in the pathway of danger. if she could explode into the monster she was teasing on the surface without hurting her son, just to get dean out of the neighborhood, she would have without even thinking.

as dean moved, she stiffened, claws growing from fingertips. they were sharper than any blade, and would rip his mortal body to shreds if he got just inches too close to her son. she placed a gentle hand on her son’s back, comforting him as much as she could without picking him up and running. 

“ don’t be frightened, my love, ” her voice was soft, as it always was when she spoke to abel, but her eyes never left dean. “ i will never let anything happen to you. ”

“ yes, my son,” she confirmed as she kept her eyes fixed on him. “ you of all people should know what a mother would do to protect her child.” even with his explanation, she still didn’t like this dean. being near him was painful, like freezing wind biting bare skin. she could withstand it, but it made her miss the old dean.

silence hung in the air for a long moment. finally, with her arms still wrapped around herself, she stepped down the stairs and onto the cracked marble landing beside him. his grace burned her golden eyes, and her blackened soul screeched for her to hide it away, but she wasn’t exactly ready to drop her snakelike face just yet.

with a tilt of her head, keeping unblinking eyes fixed on him, she asked,“ do i need to worry about you?” it could have been taken more ways than one. would he hurt himself? would he hurt her? her son? she refused to drop the hostile act until she knew, until she could feel slightly more trust than what she currently felt around him. “ be honest with me. ”

After clearing his throat, and taking one hell of a deep breath, he finally collected himself – the best that he could at least. The way this man winked at him caused the heat in his face to flare up all over again. 

Gabriel tried to ignore it, his head falling to the side just slightly as he listened to the comment of the other’s discomfort. A small smile crossed his lips as he thought he was being taken up on his offer; yet what he did not expect was for them to undress.

Pale-blue eyes immediately looked elsewhere – a vain attempt to save him from any further embarrassment. It was short lived. Despite his efforts to keep eye contact, the scarring across the other’s chest had caught his attention; a discovery that made the angel frown a bit. 

Their shirt – bring focus back to their shirt 

With a subtle shake of his head, he smiled. “Well.. if I cannot buy you a new shirt, perhaps I can wash yours then? I can lend you something to wear in the meantime?”

The shade of red he had turned was most definitely, to say the least, unflattering. Here the angel had thought he made a genuine offer; not realizing what else it could have meant. 

Gabriel stared as the other man leaned in – almost frozen by that damned question. Typically he wasn’t like this; he was more on his game, usually he was never so unprepared but this.. This had him stunned.

It took a moment of him tripping over his words before he finally collected himself. “I-I.. No. No– I just.. I am just offering to buy you a.. new shirt.. S-Since, yours is now ruined.”

Were all men outside of Manhattan like this..? Maybe he really did need to get out more.

something in him is r e l i e v e d 

@prodigil

Gabriel had never been to New Orleans before, though technically he had really never been anywhere outside of Manhattan before. It was of suggestion by a close friend, who he had come to the city with, to explore the country a little more. So, here he was – looking more lost and confused than he probably ever had been before.

As the day went on, he had been handed a drink that he was keeping a close watch on; purposely wanting to milk it for as long as he could since he knew he had just about little to no alcohol tolerance and could get a little out of hand if not supervised.

He had been separated from his friend, which was frustrating enough. The last the angel needed was to be forgotten in a foreign city. A soft sigh had left his lips and just as he was about to turn to try and find his way back to the hotel – he had bumped into someone.. or did they bump into him? Gabriel wasn’t exactly certain how it happened but the fact of the matter was, he had collided with someone and he had lost his drink.

There was a surprised yelp as his cup hit the pavement, followed by a slight pout. Part of him was a little relieved.  When he heard the apology Gabriel had almost expected the culprit to just disappear, yet when the offer of another drink caught his attention the angel’s head lifted in surprise. Blinking, he looked towards the source and after a moment of tripping over his words finally answered, “Oh.. I-It is quite alright. I can get it. No worries.” he brushed it off with a small laugh, not really wanting to make a huge deal out of a spilled drink.

Though as he looked over the stranger and noticed the condition of their shirt, Gabriel frowned a little. “Your clothes.. Can I get you a dry shirt?”

d i s a p p o i n t m e n t  colored his features at the refusal,