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[thursdays_angel]

[OOM: In the year 2013, Castiel gets by with a little help from his friends.]


A not-quite-man on crutches clumsily makes his way into the bar.

He may be familiar to you. From this side of the door, he hasn’t been away for very long.

Everything about him speaks of an existence that has grown shabby and threadbare. His jeans and button-down shirt are worn and frayed. He seems to be wearing an old ski boot in lieu of a cast. The crutches have seen better days; one of them sports a small pink Hello Kitty backpack, held on by a quantity of grey duct tape. His hair is unkempt and he is sporting about three days worth of stubble.

And yet Milliways, as far as Castiel can tell, hasn’t changed at all.

He had been thinking about it, for the first time in a long time, sitting in his cabin at Camp Chitaqua. And now, just like he has conjured it, here it is.

There’s really only one thing to do.

Castiel starts to laugh. Hard. And he shows no signs of stopping.


[OOC: You are all beyond awesome, but I must beg slowtime. As a favor, no new tag-ins? The cup runneth over. I'll catch tags tomorrow.]

Comments

[noteful]

Meg looks up.

That was unexpected.

And kind of . . . disturbing.

"Castiel?"

(The Are you all right?? is implied.)

[thursdays_angel]

The laughter is cut back to a chuckle as Castiel looks up, seeking out the source of that voice.

"Meg?"

A wide, wide grin.

"MEG!"

There is a clatter as one of the crutches gets dropped to the floor, a less than graceful series of hops, and Castiel has Meg tucked under his chin in an enthusiastic, one-armed hug.

[noteful]

Correction, this is really disturbing.

"Um . . ."

[thursdays_angel]

"I was just thinking about you."

The grip? Isn't loosening any time soon.

If anything it may be getting tighter because Castiel's balance is kind of shot at the moment.

"Begs the question, doesn't it? Was I thinking about you because I was going to see you, or am I getting to see you because I was thinking about you?"

[cutting_edgex23]

X's approach is quick, very quick -- even if she remains silent.

"Castiel. You are o -- "

She pauses, nostrils flaring as she sniffs the air.

"You are on drugs."

It is not exactly her intent to sound accusatory.

It is just --

Unexpected.

Maybe he is possessed.

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel looks up.

And, if anything, he begins to laugh all the harder.

"X."

He sounds truly delighted.

After a moment, he gets a hold of himself enough to get out coherent words.

"A person never could get anything past you," he says with a broad grin.

[cutting_edgex23]

"No," X agrees.

She does not understand what is funny.

"But sometimes people try."

Beat.

"Your leg is broken."

This pause is not very long at all.

"Why?"

[thursdays_angel]

"Yeah. Some people are just idiots."

Castiel smiles at her fondly.

Both of her. No, just the one. No, both. Castiel blinks determinedly. One. Just the one X. The one and only X.

"No. Not that bad. Just the foot."

"As to the why? Because someone dropped the end of a very heavy metal box on it."

[ellectrical]

Elle comes in through the door from the grounds, slipping her gun under her jacket as she does so. (It rains way too much in London, which means she has to practice again.)

Castiel's sudden laughter startles her. More than a little.

It occurs to her that it could be someone else, but that doesn't stop her from staring.

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel gets a grip on himself long enough to look around.

It really is. It's all the same. There's Bar. The Window. The stairs (he wonders if his room is still there.) The waitrats.

And...

"Elle? Is that you?"

[ellectrical]

"... is that you?"

Her head tilts, like she's looking at him through distorted glass.

[thursdays_angel]

"When last I checked."

Castiel grins.

"That kind of hinges on who you think I am, you know."

[themidnightson]

If the laugh is surprising in a completely unexpected way.
Edward's immediately narrowing gaze on the man is in the doorway.


"Castiel." It may not even be loud enough to hear.
But there is no question in the tone.
That part is easy. Too easy.

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel looks up at the voice.

He schools his expression into something that might be slightly mocking solemnity.

"Edward Cullen."

[themidnightson]

Too easy in that wrong way. Because there is something far too disturbing going on already. That very clearly would be the fact he's hearing far too much.

Edward tilted his head, looking at the -- Angel.
Something was very, very strange.


And after the last three months his fondness for that is lean.

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel raises his eyebrows, amused.

"You know, I never realized it before, but you think way too much."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal knows that particular quality of laughter. Knows it very well.

For a split second, he also thinks he knows the being who's laughing it, but - no. It can't be. It must be a Milliways twin kinda situation. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense.

". . . you all right over there?" he asks.

[thursdays_angel]

The laughter dies down to chokes and chuckles.

"Fine. Just fine."

Castiel angles his head to see the speaker.

Familiar. He knows that much. But memories of conversations are vague, and the drugs in his bloodstream aren't helping in that arena.

"I know you. Don't I? I think."

[isaysimplewords]

"Have a seat," Cal offers, gesturing to a chair at his table, and quietly sends a waitrat off for some water and something to eat.

"I - don't think so? I'm not Jack Harkness, if that's what you're thinking," he adds, because sometimes that is what people are thinking. (There's a reason why the twins explanation sprang so readily to his mind. And he's not about to let go of it yet, because seriously.) "I'm Cal Chandler."

[veryvorkosigan]

The laughter catches Cordelia's attention first; the familiarity of the face second.

She doesn't approach right away, but she's watching.

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel shakes his head, and pivots slowly on the spot.

Not an easy thing to do on crutches with a bum foot.

"Well," he says, smiling. "Fancy meeting you here."

He seems to be speaking to the bar at large.

[veryvorkosigan]

She's only met him once, but his expression, his body language, everything is so radically different that for a moment she wonders if it's not the same person at all.

Well. There's one way to find out.

Cordelia slips out of her chair, and starts in his direction.

[tobeclosetohim]

Huh.




"Yo, Angel Boy."

That's from the bar.
Where Jo's making a face.
And placing a beer bottle down.

"You aren't looking so hot."

[thursdays_angel]

Castiel looks up, still giggling.

It takes a second for the face to click, but when it does, he grins.

"Jo."

He crutches his way over to the bar.

"I fear you will have to make up for me."

[tobeclosetohim]

The look here isn't as odd as others.
She's seen him twice before only.

And while he had been ship-shape and kinda nice to look at then.
Who was she to know if he didn't go play dirty in his stolen clothes?

"At least you haven't lost your ability to tell who's prettier."