[ see here: a picture of a lovely pie in a box, perched on castiel's lap while he rides the subway home. yeah, he's serious. they've had some awkward times recently, so - olive branch. ]
[ well, that's a complicated, difficult sentiment. on the one hand, they - the brothers, jack, even cas - have longed for peace. for their lives to stop being tragedy after tragedy, sacrifice after sacrifice, shitty deal after shittier deal. on the other... how can they ignore chuck? with all the people still left on their earth, donna and jody and the girls, all the suffering he's caused and all he's still bringing.
but what possible solution do they have, aside from throwing jack at God and the Darkness and hoping he wins? reading back over the text, the train car sways and clicks over the tracks and cas thumbs at the edge of the pie box, mulling it over. gene was gone for years and only a week passed here. if time is stalled where they are, is it really hurting anything to stay? what they'd be returning to, it's all but a suicide mission, so how wrong are they to take all they can from this reprieve? the brothers - dean - he's been so tired, for so long. hurting, for so long, with barely a moment to catch his breath and just be.
cas just spent an eight hour work day with his hands in rich, warm soil, handling delicate roots on wild indigos without much else of a care in the world, then took a calm stroll down the street, ordered a pie for his family, and now sits, relaxed and safe and content, on a rickety subway car, ignored by the world while he chats with dean. nothing trying to kill either of them, no doom around the corner, or looming curses or apocalypse. it's just... life. even with all the issues of the displaced and the problems of this world - it's wonderfully simple. castiel isn't ready to lose that either. ]
I know. I've thought about it too.
If time isn't moving there, if we can bring Jack here... I don't see any reason to rush back. You and Sam were talking about retirement, once. New Casablanca has enchanting beaches, I hear.
[ Mentioning them — Jody, Donna, Charlie. All the people from that other version of Earth that became their responsibility. That would probably be enough to get him slipping back underneath the boulder, carrying it back up that hill again. He's deliberately not thinking about that. He's blocking it out stubbornly, selfishly, tiredly, because for the first time in... forever it feels like they have personal freedom.
It feels like they're safe from cosmic intervention. God help him, that's all he wants right now. ]
Hey, you know what, we should take a vacation. We got the money now, we got the time, we got the magic fancy gates. Beijing wasn't half bad.
[ After he talked Cas out of doing something stupid, and without acknowledging the train ride home.
Tiny little smooth subject transition in progress here. ]
[ which is exactly why cas isn't mentioning them, or any of the unfinished business that's waiting back home for them. dean isn't a fool, he hasn't spontaneously forgotten their friends. this man has been so singularly driven by purpose and duty, relentlessly putting the greater good and what needs to be done before himself. like hell cas is about to rob him of a respite.
besides that, a selfish part of cas thrills at the prospect. the handful of hours he spent leisurely exploring a new city with dean, no pressing mission, no watching their backs, had been a dream. seeing him relaxed, in no hurry, just time with dean experiencing a new city together. it left cas in a happy glow on the train ride home, lulled to sleep by the rocking of the car and the warmth against his side, and castiel still hasn't gotten the flicker of dean's eyelashes and vibrant green of his irises so so close out of his head. the world can wait. dean winchester deserves a damn vacation, maybe a few of them. ]
Beijing was pleasant. I enjoyed Beijing.
[ understatement, but shh. ]
A vacation, yeah, that'd be nice. It's within our means. New Honolulu must be lovely this time of year. New Oslo's only 3 hours away by train.
[ somewhere on a sidewalk not far from the apartment is castiel, smiling like a dope, because this trip sounds absolutely wonderful. sue him, he's excited. ]
Ideal. Have you ever been sailing? Or kayaking. Surfing, maybe. Do you think the coral reefs survived ecological disaster in this world?
[ aaand it'll never happen. soul crushing :( . you owe him a honolulu date when they get back, dean. ]
Unfortunately dad's trust fund wasn't enough to cover a yacht, so no no sailing no kayaking no surfing
I HAVE been tubing, and let me tell you, that is like the ideal vacation activity you just sit in an inner tube and float down a river getting drunk off a cooler of beer that's also floating down a river. That's it, that's the whole day
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I see how it is
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Your plumbing expertise is just as valuable. Imagine if I had to fix the sink leak myself.
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You know me
Always happy to grip you tight and raise you from home maintenance
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In appreciation, I've gripped a pie tight and raised it from the bakery down the street.
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Since you had dinner managed already.
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hello gorgeous
how u doin
that is EXACTLY what I need in my life right now
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It's doing fine, but still several train stations away.
Focus on your burgers.
I'll keep it safe.
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That thing is the light and love of my life now
Be careful
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You're in a good mood.
It feels right, Sam being here now, doesn't it?
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I don't know if it should
I don't know if it's supposed to
But it does
And I just keep thinking
you know
if we could get Jack
I mean, why even bother going back?
oops i made some feelings
but what possible solution do they have, aside from throwing jack at God and the Darkness and hoping he wins? reading back over the text, the train car sways and clicks over the tracks and cas thumbs at the edge of the pie box, mulling it over. gene was gone for years and only a week passed here. if time is stalled where they are, is it really hurting anything to stay? what they'd be returning to, it's all but a suicide mission, so how wrong are they to take all they can from this reprieve? the brothers - dean - he's been so tired, for so long. hurting, for so long, with barely a moment to catch his breath and just be.
cas just spent an eight hour work day with his hands in rich, warm soil, handling delicate roots on wild indigos without much else of a care in the world, then took a calm stroll down the street, ordered a pie for his family, and now sits, relaxed and safe and content, on a rickety subway car, ignored by the world while he chats with dean. nothing trying to kill either of them, no doom around the corner, or looming curses or apocalypse. it's just... life. even with all the issues of the displaced and the problems of this world - it's wonderfully simple. castiel isn't ready to lose that either. ]
I know. I've thought about it too.
If time isn't moving there, if we can bring Jack here...
I don't see any reason to rush back.
You and Sam were talking about retirement, once.
New Casablanca has enchanting beaches, I hear.
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It feels like they're safe from cosmic intervention. God help him, that's all he wants right now. ]
Hey, you know what, we should take a vacation. We got the money now, we got the time, we got the magic fancy gates. Beijing wasn't half bad.
[ After he talked Cas out of doing something stupid, and without acknowledging the train ride home.
Tiny little smooth subject transition in progress here. ]
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besides that, a selfish part of cas thrills at the prospect. the handful of hours he spent leisurely exploring a new city with dean, no pressing mission, no watching their backs, had been a dream. seeing him relaxed, in no hurry, just time with dean experiencing a new city together. it left cas in a happy glow on the train ride home, lulled to sleep by the rocking of the car and the warmth against his side, and castiel still hasn't gotten the flicker of dean's eyelashes and vibrant green of his irises so so close out of his head. the world can wait. dean winchester deserves a damn vacation, maybe a few of them. ]
Beijing was pleasant. I enjoyed Beijing.
[ understatement, but shh. ]
A vacation, yeah, that'd be nice. It's within our means.
New Honolulu must be lovely this time of year.
New Oslo's only 3 hours away by train.
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White sandy beaches
Drinks with the tiny little umbrellas
Sold.
How's next weekend looking for you
[ A true tragedy, next weekend is when disaster strikes. The vacation they're gonna be taking together is gonna be way less relaxing. ]
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Ideal.
Have you ever been sailing?
Or kayaking.
Surfing, maybe.
Do you think the coral reefs survived ecological disaster in this world?
[ aaand it'll never happen. soul crushing :( . you owe him a honolulu date when they get back, dean. ]
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no sailing
no kayaking
no surfing
I HAVE been tubing, and let me tell you, that is like
the ideal vacation activity
you just sit in an inner tube and float down a river getting drunk off a cooler of beer that's also floating down a river. That's it, that's the whole day
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So the purpose is getting intoxicated and allowing a river to take you where it will.
Have many people died doing this?
[ because drunk people and water don't seem like a good mix, but what does he know. ]
All the same, it does sound relaxing.
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The river corpses aren't the point, the party bus doesn't make stops for darwinism
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The party bus wouldn't fair well submerged either.
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We'll tube in Honolulu.