Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(3,879 words)

Long ago, their pod all lived together in a body of water the humans called Lake Iniqua. It was a nice enough lake, but its proximity to the Lake of Fire made it a much more dangerous place to stay than what would be ideal. The Lake of Fire got its name from the humans, as well, due to the dark rumors surrounding it and the number of people that had gone missing there over the years. The lake is infested by Cecaelia—also known as sea demons—and sending one of his kind there is as good as a death sentence.

One day, one of the elders, Lucifer, challenged another elder, Michael, for the throne after their king disappeared into the night, rumored to have been kidnapped by vengeful Cecaelia. In the daylight, in front of the eyes of the entire pod (even the extremely young ones that would rather be looking for shells), the two were civil and calmly discussed an exchange of power.

That night, however, Michael had violently attacked Lucifer by pushing him into the running motor of a human boat, proceeding to then banish him to the Lake of Fire. Bleeding and wounded, Lucifer had little choice in whether he went or not, and little chance of living.

Michael had announced the next morning that Lucifer had left during the night, and that as such, he would be in charge of the pod. No one questioned it, and Michael never so much as indicated what actually happened or owned up to what he had done. Why would he? After all, no one had seen him, right?

Castiel had seen him, though. Castiel, roused from his sleep by the noise, had hidden in the seaweed and watched the whole thing. But he was very young and very small, and had never even seen a fish gutted in front of him before. He shook in fear just out of sight, terrified by the display in front of him and too traumatized afterwards to tell anyone what he saw, let alone what might happen to him if he ever let it be known what had really happened between Lucifer and Michael.

Castiel never spoke again, not even as Michael had arranged for the entire pod to be moved to another lake entirely, far enough away from the Lake of Fire that Lucifer—assuming he was even alive after his injuries and subsequent banishment—would never be able to find them.

The pod was officially torn apart after that as some refused to leave and chose instead to stay behind, perhaps not trusting Michael as a leader. The rest left with Michael, either by choice or because they were too young to choose for themselves—like Castiel had been. He hasn't said a word since watching the fight that tore up his family, and to this day, no one knows the truth.

Well, technically they're not actually family, but they do share a common relative, probably. And all the years of mating within the group makes everyone relatives in some way. Probably. Maybe. Castiel hasn't really asked, for obvious reasons (not that he'd really want to ask, anyway). He believes the humans would call him a mute, though he's never actually met a human himself before and only knows of them from Gabriel's stories about them (those are his favorite stories).

Oh. He's also a…mermaid? He's male, so is the term still mermaid? Regardless, Castiel is a mer…person…and he's been living with one of the family's elders, Gabriel, ever since Naomi abandoned him and Zachariah before that. Metatron, Malachi, Bartholomew…the list goes on and on, filled with individuals who thought they could 'cure' him or were otherwise stuck with him. Castiel doesn't know who his parents are, but he doesn't think anyone really does.

It doesn't matter. Gabriel is his protector now—and the first one to not leave him out in the open in hopes another merperson might find him before a predator does, effectively making him someone else's problem. And Gabriel is…amazing. He's often scolded for not being serious enough, but Castiel likes his jokes and endless inspiration, not to mention his magic. He's…he's sure Gabriel must like something about him, too…

They've fallen into something of a system over the years. Gabriel makes sure he's safe and keeps him alive and tells him not to go up to the surface, Castiel goes up to the surface anyway to watch the birds waddle along the beach, Gabriel finds him there hours later and scolds him but lingers there himself, they go back down at sundown before anyone (read: no one, as they're likely the only two merpeople in the whole lake) notices their absence, and everything is okay.

Today is no different. Castiel leaves the cave Gabriel has claimed as his own and quickly swims to the surface. He pokes his head out of the water, the gills lining his neck and chest still fluttering nervously under the surface as he scans for any sort of threats (he does listen to Gabriel sometimes). When he sees nothing but the birds and one weird looking dog (he'd pet one before when it went into the water after a stick, so he thinks he likes dogs), Castiel brings more of his body out so he can rest his upper body along a rock that peeks out of the water.

Castiel loves watching the birds move around freely on the shoreline, able to waddle around and pick up seashells if they want to or fly away from it all when they've had enough. Castiel wishes he could fly away sometimes, but he can't even walk—not when his bottom half is a deep blue fish tail...

Unexpectedly, the dog perks up and begins making a loud noise that scares Castiel back into the water, though not enough that he doesn't bring his head back up a second later to look out again. He watches curiously as the animal's back half begins moving back and forth.

Moving quickly so more of him hides behind the rock, Castiel sees a figure running down the incline leading down to the beach—the incline that hides the rest of the world from Castiel's sight. It's a human—at least, he thinks it is.

The human is a female, as far as he can tell, what with the long hair and all. Castiel never really understood why females are supposed to have long hair. Why can't he have long hair if he wants it? He doesn't, but why can't he? Either way, the human seems to be wearing some sort of a uniform; red shorts and a white shirt with a plus sign on it and some sort of writing decorating the bottom, though he can't read it.

She's grinning down at the dog when she reaches it and then smiles out at the water. Castiel gasps softly and ducks behind the rock, peeking out a moment later when she begins to speak, barely audible over the loud noises the seagulls are making (as per usual).

"This place is gonna look great pretty soon," she says, and Castiel frowns. What's she talking about? This place always looks amazing. Must be a human thing… "Just another week and we can open back up."

As she's talking, another figure rushes down the incline, nearly stumbling over the unsteady sand leading down to the beach. This one, unlike the unremarkable first, is…a male and…beautiful.

"Jo, Bobby said we gotta get this dock painted today," the male says, bringing a hand up for a second to shield his eyes from the harsh sunlight.

Castiel catches one glimpse of his brilliant green eyes and feels his entire face flush bright red, quickly darting behind the rock entirely at the cost of not being able to see more of the male. He puts a hand to his chest, as if that will slow his racing heart. It doesn't.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. Who put you in charge?"

"Bobby, when he made me head lifeguard," the male replies. Castiel has no idea what that is, but it sounds important.

"Bobby's biased. He practically raised you."

"Well, somebody had to." The voices are fading, and when Castiel peers over the rock, he sees them both retreating. Panicking, Castiel makes a sound of distress that has both humans glancing over their shoulders before leaving anyway.

Castiel's face isn't any less flushed, even as he sinks below the surface to the cool water below. He only comes back up when he's certain his complexion is back to normal, and when he comes back up, there are no humans or dogs or even birds in sight. Castiel sighs softly to himself and rests his cheek against the rock, waiting for something to happen.

-

When Castiel comes back up the next day, he's surprised to see a group of five humans huddling over a strange chunk of wood that they're painting red. He tilts his head and peeks out from behind the rock slightly, silently observing. The human with the long red hair stands up and nearly spots him before he hides again. He knows he should go hide, but…

"Do we really have to finish this thing today?" she asks, cracking her neck and wrist. "My carpal tunnel really hates me today."

"You don't have to do anything, Charlie," another female hisses, not even glancing up. "You can always quit."

"And miss the chance to see girls in bikinis and make money? Not a chance, Ruby," Charlie replies. Castiel listens idly, always a little surprised whenever he hears actual human speech, especially since sound carries much more clearly on land than in water. He's never actually been able to see the humans as they speak before, though.

Castiel watches curiously as the five cover the wooden structure in paint. Eventually, the beautiful male from yesterday stands up and leaves for a few minutes, returning with a long black rope with white and red plastic things attached to it.

"I'm gonna put the rope in," he tells them before dropping the rope and pulling his shirt off over his head.

Castiel's face goes red again and he makes a strangled sound into his hands, trying fruitlessly to rub the color away. The blush just extends further as the male wades into water, rope slung over his shoulder. He rushes beneath the surface as the male gets close enough that he can probably see Castiel if he looks over. As the male swims by directly over the spot Castiel is hiding in, however, he can't help but allow his fingers to brush over the male's leg.

The male makes a startled noise and his leg swings out, kicking Castiel right in the face. His nose makes a strange cracking noise and the sensation makes Castiel's eyes water, but he quickly swims deeper underwater so he doesn't bother the male again.

In his haste to get away, Castiel runs into Gabriel, who quickly wraps his arms around the younger merperson in a restraining hug. "Whoa, whoa, kiddo, what's got your tailfins in a twist?" Gabriel pulls him away from his chest and catches sight of Castiel's watery eyes and bloody nose. "What happened?"

Castiel makes a vaguely distressed noise and pushes his face back into Gabriel's chest, wanting to forget all about the very beautiful male that had just kicked him in the face. Gabriel just sighs softly and runs his fingers through Castiel's hair.

"Hey, it's all right. Just calm down. Did the seagulls attack you again? I told you not to try to pet them, no matter how soft they look." Castiel shakes his head, and Gabriel hums, guessing, "You ran into a rock?" He shakes his head again, causing Gabriel to sigh. "Well, whatever it was, it's over now, okay? Now, what d'ya say we go and get something to eat?"

Gabriel's solutions could be…more helpful, but he's willing to take care of Castiel and keep him entertained, so it's okay. Besides, he's not sure he'd want to tell Gabriel about the human even if he could speak…

-

When Castiel goes back up to the surface later that day, just as the sun is beginning to set and disappear for the day, he takes a moment to lie on his back and watch the sky, enjoying the strange echoing noise sounding through his partially-submerged ears every time they go above the surface before dipping back below. There are strange ropes blocking off most of the deeper water, leaving only a small, shallow area fenced in, and the painted wood is lying unattended on the beach. It's all very strange…

He closes his eyes with a soft sigh, relaxing into the feeling of the water lapping at the sides of his face. His ease is instantly shattered when he hears the sound of something hitting the water, causing him to quickly sit up and sink below the water again so that everything below his eyes is beneath the surface.

To Castiel's surprise, he catches sight of the beautiful male from earlier—the one that had kicked him in the face, although Castiel is mature enough to admit that was likely his fault. He's…swimming. Castiel almost forgot humans can do that, since they do it so pitifully in comparison, according to Gabriel. Then again, it's not like fish can walk, so humans must have their strengths, too.

The male's head comes out of the water as he nears the flat rock, smoothed by the water frequently running over it. Surprisingly, the male pulls himself up onto the rock to sit down, head tilting backwards to look up at the sky. Castiel silently draws closer to get a better look, having never been this close to a human before, but the male suddenly turns to look at him, and Castiel is frozen in place, eyes wide.

"Hey, kid, this place is technically closed until Friday," he says, and Castiel quickly backs away. "I mean, I'm not gonna rat you out or anything, but you shouldn't be here. It's dangerous without a lifeguard." The male then cracks a sharp grin, adding, "There are sea monsters here."

Castiel startles, afraid the human might have figured out what he is already, eyes darting around nervously in search of an escape. But at his reaction, the male's smile softens.

"Hey, man, I'm just kidding," he soothes, gesturing for Castiel to sit on the rock, but Castiel remains firmly in place, treading water with as little movement as he can so he doesn't draw attention to his tail. Luckily, the color does grant some camouflage. "C'mon, what's your name?"

Castiel opens his mouth to reply, stunned since he hasn't been asked that in years (hard to be asked who he is when the only one he goes around these days is his current guardian, Gabriel), but no sound comes out. Right. He tries once more, but…can't. There's not even anything physically wrong with his throat or vocal cords, but…but he can't, so he just shakes his head a little. It never used to bother him, not being able to talk. And now it…does. Why can't he speak? What's wrong with him?

The human scratches at his wet hair for a second, brushing the short strands back and flinging tiny droplets of water everywhere. "Can't talk?" he eventually guesses, and Castiel nods solemnly. "That's all right. I'm Dean."

Dean. Even his name is beautiful…

"I'm gonna be a lifeguard here in about a week," Dean tells him, kicking his legs lightly in the water. "I'll be giving out swimming lessons for anyone that needs 'em. You interested?"

Castiel, of course, can swim exceptionally well—compared to humans, that is, since Gabriel says he's kind of clumsy on his turns and is easily distracted when swimming. But…Dean… He finds himself nodding before he can think of why he shouldn't—namely the massive tail that makes up the entire lower half of his body.

Dean grins. "Great. I can give you one now, if you want." He nods dumbly again, and Dean nods in return. "All right. You look like you can tread water pretty well, but I'm gonna go grab an inner tube, anyway. Hard to learn to swim when you're all worried about staying afloat."

The human slides off the rock and swims smoothly back to shore, marching up the incline for a few seconds before quickly coming back down, a strange circle around one of his arms. Castiel brings his whole head and upper chest out of the water, only to remember his gills still visibly moving along his neck and ribs as he adjusts to breathing air. With some effort, he's able to close them, mostly concealing them from sight just as Dean returns to the rock and hands him the circle, helping fix it over Castiel's head and under his arms.

"There ya go, buddy. How's that?" Castiel swims in a little circle, pleased that his tail is decently hidden from sight. He smiles up at Dean, and Dean smiles back. "Wanna practice some swimming now?"

Castiel nods quickly and spends the next hour or so trying to copy Dean's arm movements while the human swims. It's strange, having to rely more on his arms than his tail, but he does his best and beams every time Dean compliments his form or speed.

Unfortunately, it can't remain evening forever. The sun finally dips low enough that the entire sky is a beautiful orange, but the sunset also brings Gabriel from around a corner. "Cas, there you are!" the older merperson says loudly, sounding relieved enough that Castiel feels guilty. Dean turns to look at Gabriel, which makes him pause. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Dean," Dean responds as Gabriel comes closer, and the two then shake hands. Like adults. Wow…he's never seen Gabriel act like one of those before…

"Gabriel. Castiel's brother and guardian." Castiel is surprised by that, and looks over at…his brother. He's never had a brother before… "And you," Gabriel begins, spinning around to face him, "should've been home quite some time ago."

Castiel huffs quietly and presses his forehead against the inner tube still around his torso. Gabriel chuckles softly, probably shaking his head and preparing to wag* his tongue some more.

"C'mon, don't make me the bad guy. It's getting late, Cassie, and it's time for good little guppies to catch some z's." In response, Castiel very maturely blows him a raspberry, just like Gabriel does whenever anyone older than him (mostly Michael, on the very rare occasions that he drops by to check up on them) tries to tell him what to do. This move earns him a laugh. "What were you doing out here, anyway?"

When Castiel doesn't answer, Dean replies, "I was giving Cas a swimming lesson. I'll be a lifeguard here in about a week."

"Oh yeah? I didn't know people swim here," Gabriel remarks, and Castiel allows his tail to swish underwater to create small whirlpools. It's difficult to stay interested in a conversation he can't even contribute to…

"Yeah, people haven't for years. Some rare turtle laid eggs here or something," Dean answers dismissively, though Castiel doesn't remember ever seeing a turtle in this lake before. "Plus, all that crap about some sea monsters being spotted here. Scared people away for a while, but we're hoping to make a comeback."

"And you plan on having people swim here all summer?"

"That's the plan, yeah." Castiel runs the tips of his fingers just over the surface of the water, watching the ripples left behind. "By the way, what are you two doing here? You live around here?"

"You could say that, yeah," Gabriel replies with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Either way, thanks for keeping Cas out of trouble."

"Yeah, it's no problem," Dean says. "I had fun. Always preferred one-on-one time to a whole group, y'know? Besides, Cas actually listens to me."

"Yeah, I'll bet he does." Gabriel still has that sharp, troublemaking look in his eyes that sets Castiel on edge. "Well, I'll take him home, then."

The older merperson takes his hand and leads him away through the water, going around the shoreline and out to the side where some seaside houses lie in the distance, out in what he'd always assumed is another merperson's territory. As they go, Dean climbs out of the water and begins drying off, apparently leaving. Gabriel waits until the human is completely gone with a little wave before helping Castiel out of the inner tube and pulling him below the surface.

"Castiel, what have I told you about going to the surface?" Gabriel begins the second they're back inside their underwater cave.

Castiel flashes a sheepish smile and brings his hands together along the wrists and thumbs as his fingers fan out to the sides, making the motion of a flying bird.

"Nice try, but no biscuit, kiddo. You're in big trouble this time." Castiel deflates, but nods. "Mind explaining what that was? 'Cause it looked to me like you were getting all friendly with a human, and you know that can't lead anywhere good."

He looks up at Gabriel with what he hopes are pitiful eyes, wanting him to understand that…well, while it had been an accident, Castiel isn't exactly opposed to seeing Dean again… Probably not the best message to convey, actually, but Gabriel just raises an eyebrow, gaze focused somewhere over Castiel's head.

"Cas, c'mon. This is a disaster in the making," Gabriel reaffirms. "Just because you finally found somebody you wanna make heart-eyes at doesn't mean you should. Besides, what happens when Dean finds out what you are? I don't wanna have to sweep up the pieces of your broken heart and tell Michael what happened and why we gotta relocate everybody all of a sudden."

He frowns, but sighs and nods, relenting. Gabriel does have a point, as much as he wants to deny it. Dean is a human, and Castiel isn't. Just because he likes Dean doesn't mean he should go around him, not to mention the fact that Dean…might not like him back, anyway.

Gabriel eventually sighs and ruffles his hair. "Look, I'll see what I can do, okay? Maybe I can work up some sort of a spell or something to hide all your fishy parts. Been looking into it for a coupla months, and now we've got a reason to try it out. But give me some time, and whatever you do, don't follow anyone on land."

Castiel tilts his head at Gabriel and makes a freestyle swimming motion (that he'd learned from Dean), swishing his tail a little.

"Swimming is…fine, I guess." The older merperson rolls his eyes. "I mean, it's either I say you can do it and you promise to be careful, or you do it behind my back." Castiel flashes another sheepish smile, and Gabriel ruffles his hair, standing more or less on-end from the water all around them. "Yeah, yeah. You take after me with all that stubbornness, y'know."

He tilts his head at Gabriel before sticking his tongue out, causing Gabriel to laugh and stick his out in return, gills fluttering happily in the water. Yeah…he's very lucky to have been found by Gabriel. Gabriel is good.

Chapter Text

(3,386 words)

The next morning, Castiel quickly heads back up to the surface. Instead of seeing anyone painting anything, however, he sees the five humans working on fixing up an old, weathered shack that has looked rundown for as long as Castiel can remember. He tilts his head before resting it on his arms against the flat rock, his tail lightly swaying beneath the surface as the inner tube keeps him afloat.

No one seems to notice him, and Castiel is content with watching the humans repair the roof of the shed and clean up the inside. He's not sure what they're doing, but it looks important, and he definitely doesn't mind watching if it means he also gets to see Dean without his shirt on as he works, even if it does make his face red.

Eventually, they stop for lunch, and after they're finished eating, they get right back to work—this time with paintbrushes, of all things. Castiel feels tired just watching them, and he wonders what it might be like to help them. He's never been able to work on a team before, having just been with Gabriel for so long with no one else for company. He has no friends of any sort, and while Gabriel is a great companion…he's not a friend. No, he's a…brother. He likes that term. It makes him feel warm.

Hours later, in which Castiel is unashamed to admit he'd dozed off in the warm sun, the five humans finally stop working, and the shed is already looking a lot better, even though it's stripped of any paint. To his surprise, the humans then begin peeling off their outer layers before getting into the water to cool off, each complaining about the amount of sweat on them or how tired they are. It's not long before one of the females approaches the rock, spotting him instantly before Castiel's brain can remind him that he's not exactly supposed to be seen.

"Oh, hey. You're not allowed to swim here yet," she says, and Castiel just tilts his head, looking down at the water for a second before moving back up to her eyes. What's she talking about—he always swims here! "It's not open for another few days." Oh. Right. That.

Castiel looks down and swirls a single finger around in a small circle in the water. He's not sure what to do or s—well, not say, but how to respond. He can't just leave now, can he? Maybe if he goes around the border, like Gabriel had last night…

Before he can decide, Dean comes over and beams at him. "Heya, Cas. What are you doing here?" Castiel brings a hand through the water, lightly splashing Dean's forearm in an attempt to answer. Dean must take it as a joke, since he laughs and splashes back. "Little early to be swimming, isn't it?" He just shrugs and looks away once he realizes everyone is looking at him.

"Wait, my gaydar is pinging. Who's your boyfriend, Dean?" the female on the rock asks.

Dean rolls his eyes, but answers, "This is Cas. Cas, that's Charlie, the blonde is Jo, that's my brother Sam, and that salty bitch over there is Ruby." Castiel looks at Dean, mildly concerned with his knowledge of the taste of another human…not to mention that he has no idea what a 'bitch' is. Perhaps Dean is part Cecaelian…? They consume people… "I gave Cas a swimming lesson yesterday evening," he tells the rest of them.

"Why are you talking for him?" Jo asks. "Like he's your puppet or something."

Castiel points to his throat, then his mouth, and shakes his head. Dean quickly translates, "He can't talk—or doesn't talk. Something."

"Sounds like a set-up for a pity party," Ruby remarks, beginning to slowly swim around him in circles. Castiel sinks a little further down into the inner tube, tightening his grip on it and slowly swimming closer to Dean with just his tail. "I bet you can talk if you wanted to. You just like the attention."

"Lay off, Ruby," Jo says with an eye roll. "I didn't talk until I was, like, four. Everybody's different. Just drop it."

"All I'm saying is—"

"You're not saying anything," Dean cuts in. "You're done." Ruby just rolls her eyes, but remains silent. "Well, it's no lesson, but you wanna swim with us a little? Feels kinda cruel to just give you the boot."

He nods and follows Dean around, doing his best to keep up while only using his arms. Dean is a little less encouraging than he was yesterday, likely due to the audience, but he's no less kind. He sends Castiel to swim from person to person—usually from Dean to Sam and back. At some point, they even leave the roped-in area to go into the deeper water.

Sam, he finds, is also very kind, though Castiel personally doesn't find him attractive, not like Dean is. Charlie is a little overwhelming, but very nice, as well. Jo is…strange. He can't get a read on Jo, and can't figure out if she dislikes him or not. Ruby just hates him on sight, and he isn't sure why, but he doesn't particularly like her either, so it's not a huge loss.

Throughout the day, he finds it more and more difficult to hide both his tail and his gills, especially when the latter moves not only with his breathing but also with his emotions. Breathing through his lungs is exceptionally strange, especially when his gills are still submerged and would work, if he let them.

But he doesn't, in case the movement will draw attention to them (not that the lines of his closed gills aren't visible, anyway, though they vaguely resemble scars). Besides, if he lets the ones on the sides of his chest take in air, he can't exactly guarantee the ones on his neck won't attempt to, as well. It's not like he can really do much to control them—beyond keeping them closed by utilizing his lungs instead, at least.

Regardless, he ends up having a good time with his new friends, up until they start jumping off the rock and diving back underwater. The fact that they're swimming underwater makes Castiel twitch and squirm in the inner tube as he tries to think of an excuse to leave. He doesn't know if humans open their eyes underwater or not, but one wrong move or one eye cracked open could be the end of everything. Then, it gets worse.

"Jump with us, Cas!" Charlie calls with a laugh as she does a cannonball that somehow splashes only Ruby. Charlie's head pops back up a second later. "It's fun!"

Castiel shakes his head and backs away from the rock a little. "Aw, c'mon." Jo also climbs up the rock and does a strange jump that brings her in back-first; it looks painful, but if it hurts her, she doesn't show it. "Don't be a baby," she continues when her head resurfaces. Castiel just shakes his head, and she sighs and climbs back on the rock. "Wuss."

"Guys, lay off," Sam cuts in. "He's not as good of a swimmer as us, so he can't do everything we can. Besides, jumping can be a little scary."

"Well, what can he do?" Ruby asks, sounding bored from where her arms are thrown over what Dean had called a 'noodle'.

Castiel contemplates this for a minute before leaning down to bring his head underwater, using his gills to blow bubbles up and getting his first fulfilling breath of air in over two hours. He brings his head back up a second later, only to find that no one is particularly impressed by his display. He'd always liked it when Gabriel did that…

"No offense, but that was pretty lame," Ruby tells him, sounding very offensive. Nonetheless, Castiel nods in agreement, looking down. "C'mon, show us something actually cool."

The merperson's face scrunches up in thought as he tries to come up with something interesting enough to entertain his new friends that won't compromise his masquerade as a human. He eventually decides to duck down out of his inner tube and sink below the surface.

Castiel isn't sure how long humans can breathe underwater, which makes this…tricky. Still, he darts down to the seafloor and glances around for something interesting to take back up. He finds that in an empty oyster shell that he quickly scoops up and brings back to the top, making sure to pop back up directly in the ring of the inner tube.

"Have a nice trip?" Ruby asks with an eye roll before she realizes he has something. "Is that an oyster shell?"

Castiel nods, smiling when Sam takes it from him to observe it. "It's empty," the human concludes.

"That was pretty neat, Cas," Dean comments, getting close behind him. "How'd you get down that deep?"

"Can you grab more stuff?" Jo asks, crossing her arms for a second before uncrossing them to continue treading water. "Sam won't share."

"I'll share! I've just never seen an oyster shell this close up before. And it's intact, too—look!"

"Nerd," Dean mutters unsubtly, earning him a sharp glare from his brother.

Castiel uses the opportunity to go back underwater to look for something interesting. He notices half a clam shell with a peculiar pattern on it, but before he reaches it, something catches his eye. Something green sparkles in the sunlight that manages to reach beneath the surface, and Castiel picks it up before he can even think about it, returning to the inner tube quickly and running his fingers along the strange object.

"Whatcha got there, Cas?" Dean asks, reaching over to take the object.

Castiel draws it closer, only for the jagged edges to dig into the sensitive webbing between his index finger and thumb, cutting the flesh instantly and drawing blood. He makes a sound of distress and nearly drops the object before Dean takes it from his hand.

"It's glass," the human supplies. "Is there a lot of this under there?" Castiel can only shrug. Glass? He's never really looked before… "Guys, I don't know if it's safe to unleash the brats if there's glass in the water. Someone could get hurt."

"We'll see what Bobby thinks," Charlie reasons. "Until then, there's no use bothering with all the what if's."

"Well, what would you rather do?"

"Ice cream?"

That makes everyone perk up—except for Castiel, who's never heard of this before, either. He wonders if it's somehow related to glass, but before he can figure it out, everyone is leaving the water and toweling off their wet hair, chattering excitedly about this 'ice cream' and what flavors they might get. What in the world is a flavor?

Before reaching the incline, Dean pauses and glances back, apparently realizing Castiel isn't following. Surprisingly, he wades back in up to his knees and urges everyone else to continue without him for a minute.

"Aren't you coming, Cas?" Castiel shrugs and gestures around vaguely, remembering Gabriel's uncharacteristically serious warning not to go on land. Not that he could get up that incline, anyway, with his tail and all. "Cas?" Dean prompts again, clearly not understanding. Frustrated, Castiel's tail flicks underwater, sending ripples all around him. "Okay, okay. You don't wanna come?"

Castiel shakes his head and tries to indicate that he needs to stay there, but he doesn't think he's very effective. Honestly, even if he did look human enough to blend in, he's not sure if he would go with them. Everyone in the group doesn't seem quite sure what to think when it comes to him, and they all treat him like a small child just because he can't speak and can't effectively swim without revealing his tail. He knows he doesn't fit in, and he doesn't think he'd be selfish enough to follow them around even if he could. He's always been somewhat of an outcast…

"You can't come with us? Because of Gabriel?" Dean guesses, and Castiel just nods. Whatever. Close enough. "Man, that sucks. I'll bring you back something if you want. You like vanilla?" That word sounds fun to say, so he nods, even though he has no idea what it is. "All right, awesome. See you in a little bit."

With that, Dean leaves to catch up to the group, racing up the incline quickly and disappearing from sight. Castiel sighs softly and ducks out of the inner tube and into the water, sinking to the bottom. He's surprised to see more shining green shards underwater and, after a moment's hesitation, begins collecting the pieces. He then brings them back to shore, just setting them in a pile on the very edge of the beach before diving back down to collect more.

By the time he can't see any more glass shards in the area of water that's been roped in, his fingers are littered with small cuts and scrapes, and the beach is decorated with more glass than washed-up seaweed. He hopes his efforts will be worth his new friends returning, however. He's not really sure what they're opening up, but he doesn't want them to leave because of something like glass. No, he's rather they leave because of his personality, because he could at least say then that he gave this whole 'friendship' thing a chance.

He is alone until sunset, when Dean abruptly returns carrying two unusually shaped objects. Castiel perks up curiously and brings his inner tube closer, making sure his tail is more or less out of sight and his gills don't start trying to help him express anything.

"Hey, Cas. Why don't you come up here and start eating?" Castiel freezes and looks down, shaking his head. "C'mon, you're not supposed to swim and eat." Dean then cracks a smile. "Your toes probably look like little prunes by now. Come on out for at least a little while."

He shakes his head again, crossing his arms. Surprisingly, Dean relents and wades into the water, going no deeper than his thighs, forcing Castiel to come closer to take the object Dean is offering him, the murky water only just managing to hide his tail from view. The object is cold, and he reflexively withdraws his hand. When he reaches for it again, however, his hand brushes against Dean's and suddenly, it isn't as cold anymore.

Dean hands the object off to him and Castiel carefully brings it close. He just stares at it until he sees Dean licking at the…ice cream, so he tries to copy it. Castiel's tongue is unused to really doing much of anything while he eats—especially considering that he almost exclusively swallows all his food whole—so this is…difficult. That being said, the ice cream does taste far better than anything he's ever eaten before, and he begins eating faster, survival instincts kicking in and making him eat quickly before he loses it.

This seems to amuse Dean, for some reason. "Hey, not all at once or you'll give yourself a brain freeze." Before Castiel can try to ask what that is, his entire head suddenly begins aching horribly, and he nearly drops his ice cream into the lake in his haste to press a hand to his forehead, a groan bubbling up in his throat but never fully escaping. "See? That's what I was trying to tell you."

Despite his words, Dean steps closer yet to rub a hand on his shoulder. Castiel appreciates the distraction and figures Gabriel might like to try the ice cream, anyway. He eventually lowers his hand, triggering Dean to lower his, as well.

"You good?" Castiel nods, and Dean smiles and goes back to his ice cream. Castiel eats his much more slowly and looks around for any signs of Gabriel (and any potential threats, naturally). By the time Dean finishes his, Castiel isn't even half finished. "You know, you don't have to stay in the water," Dean remarks. "Could've eaten on land."

At this, Castiel panics, trying and failing to nonchalantly shake his head, but Dean instantly sees through the action—Castiel can tell because the human is then narrowing his eyes and eyeing him up slowly, like Michael always does whenever Gabriel doesn't make a complete effort at lying to his face.

Finally, he asks, "You don't have some weird skin disease or something, do you?" Castiel frowns and splashes him, earning a quiet laugh. "All right, all right. I'll draw you out of the water yet, ya little hermit." He doubts that, but flashes his attempt at a smile anyway. To his horror, Dean continues, "I mean, I'm not sure why you won't come out now or anything—"

At that moment, Gabriel decides to make himself known, appearing from somewhere around the border of the shoreline and coming over quickly. "Hey, Cas, Dean-o. What's happening over here?"

"Pretty good. I got Cas some ice cream. Hope you don't mind," Dean reports, and Gabriel turns to look over the ice cream in his hand skeptically.

"It's probably fine, as long as I can invoke some parent tax or something," the older merperson replies, and Castiel easily hands off his ice cream to let Gabriel try it. He seems to like it, his eyes lighting up. "Oh, it's sweet!"

"Hell yeah, it is."

"Me likey. Get me some next time." Castiel rolls his eyes. And Gabriel accuses him of being rude… "Oh, hey, it's getting late," Gabriel points out when he takes a break from burying his face in the ice cream cone. "I'm sure your boyfriend will be here tomorrow, Cas."

Castiel's entire face goes red and he splashes Gabriel immediately, getting the remaining ice cream wet and salty. Good. Serves him right.

"I hope he will be," Dean says with a strange smile that only moves half his face. Well, Castiel splashes him, too, though with much less power or force. "Hey!"

"Oh, nice to see he's like that with everybody," Gabriel comments, rolling his eyes and finishing the soggy ice cream anyway, apparently unbothered by it. "Either way, we've gotta get you home, Cassie, it's past your bedtime."

Castiel sinks down into the water enough to blow bubbles out of the gills on his neck, only remembering afterwards that Dean could possibly see them. But if the human does, he doesn't comment on it, instead saying, "I gotta get home, anyway. Sammy gets antsy without his dinner."

"Usually that's something parents take care of," Gabriel remarks lightly, easily pulling off a nonchalant tone.

"Says the one who comes out to tuck his brother into bed," Dean returns just as nonchalantly.

"Touché. I think I like you, Dean." Dean grins, and the two separate. Gabriel waits until Dean leaves the beach and disappears from sight before addressing Castiel. "Now he's bringing you gifts, Cassie—and food ones at that. He's courting you!" Castiel frowns and shakes his head, tilting it to the side and trying to think of ways to express that they're only friends despite his minor crush. "He is," Gabriel insists, nudging him in the side. "Pretty soon, he'll be showing off his hunting skills and taking you to his nest and everything."

Castiel continues to deny the claim. They're only friends, and just barely. Dean likely only feels sorry for him, anyway, and he's a human—he probably doesn't realize the implication of giving Castiel gifts, especially considering that Castiel wouldn't think anything of it if not for his inopportune crush. But…first the inner tube and now the ice cream… No. No, Castiel himself hadn't even thought of it like that before Gabriel opened his mouth and started speculating…

Gabriel sighs, dropping the topic for a more serious one. "I'm looking into a spell that might be able to help you, but I need some more time, so just stay patient, okay?" Castiel nods quickly and reaches over to hug Gabriel, because he doesn't know anyone who's done more for him ever. "Aw, you're welcome."

Gabriel returns the hug for a few seconds before getting the bright idea to rub his sticky fingers into the skin on Castiel's back. Castiel jolts away and quickly splashes his—brother before diving underwater to escape his delighted snickering. He takes it back. Gabriel is a menace.

Chapter Text

(4,824 words)

The next morning, Castiel doesn't immediately head to the beach. Instead, he lingers around Gabriel's cave and searches the bottom of the lake for something he can potentially give Dean. Even if Dean doesn't want to court him…well…Castiel can only restrain his instincts so much. And he's never had anyone show any sort of interest in him before. So what if he's a little excited?

He finds some small shells and such he could possibly give Dean, but those are too basic. No, Dean deserves something special. And the human garbage that has sunk to the bottom isn't going to be a gift, either. When a clam buries itself under the sand abruptly as Castiel swims past, he wonders if he should try to get Dean food instead—to show off his hunting skills, as Dean had sort of done with the ice cream. But he doesn't know what humans eat, and Castiel mostly eats seaweed and small fish, which aren't exactly difficult to catch and wouldn't show off much of anything.

Frustrated, he temporarily gives up on his search and swims away. He goes to sulk in his favorite seabed and munch on seaweed while he pretends not to pout, but is surprised to find he's not alone. There are two fish swimming around each other in circles in some sort of intricate yet chaotic display.

Oh. Mating dances… He's not sure if merpeople actually do that, having never seen it himself before, but humans might. He'll have to give it a try. When Castiel gets closer, however, the fish dart away quickly, even though they're too large for him to swallow whole and, therefore, too large to eat.

Castiel decides he's probably overthinking it and collects some of his favorite seaweed for Dean, hoping he might like it. He also picks up a small spiral shell with blue stripes running up the sides, because it looks interesting. He swims up to the surface, collecting his inner tube before making his way over to the beach, only briefly having trouble bringing the floatation device under the rope barrier.

But Dean isn't there, and neither is anyone else. Castiel lingers and listens carefully, but doesn't hear anyone saying anything. Oh. He's alone. The seaweed feels heavy in Castiel's arms, but he doesn't drop it even though he wants to. He just moves over to go behind the rock and rest his chin on top of it, closing his eyes and trying not to cry.

He's being stupid and he knows it. Excitement only leads to disappointment. Why'd he even try?

Castiel eventually dives back underwater to sulk for a while before heading back up when the sun reaches the center of the sky. Sure enough, the five humans are there, along with another he doesn't recognize. The five younger humans have strange glasses of some sort over their eyes and are setting up buckets along the shoreline. Castiel curiously gets closer, and Dean quickly notices him, leaving the group to approach him individually.

"Hey, Cas," he greets with a wave, and Castiel waves back, the movement unfamiliar. "We're picking up all the glass from the roped area so we can get the docks in. Wanna help out?"

Castiel tilts his head questioningly, remembering Gabriel mentioning that humans have incredibly poor eyesight, especially underwater. How do they expect to see anything underneath the surface, then? Let alone go deep enough to pick anything up…

As if reading his thoughts, Dean pulls the thing off his face and fixes it on Castiel's head without a word. "They're swim goggles," he explains. "You can see underwater with them. Give 'em a try."

Castiel looks at him skeptically, but dips his head underwater. He can…see, but not nearly as clearly as he can when he uses his thin third eyelid like he usually does. Humans must not have one of those, he concludes, which reminds Castiel of his gifts. He pops his head back up and, before Dean can say anything, hands him his gifts (though he had eaten one of the strands of seaweed already). Dean looks confused for a few seconds before one side of his mouth quirks up in amusement.

"Uh, Cas? What the hell is this?" Castiel isn't sure how to motion that it's the eating kind and not the nest-building kind, so he pulls off a piece and ingests it. He looks up at Dean proudly and encouragingly, if a little shyly, but Dean just looks somewhere between horrified and disgusted. Castiel's heart drops. "Dude. What the hell."

Panicking, Castiel quickly takes the seaweed back and hands Dean the spiral shell he'd found, hoping to placate him. Dean turns it over in his fingers a few times, and seems to like this gift much better. Castiel relaxes. It's not ice cream, but it seems to be an acceptable gift.

"Pretty neat," Dean remarks lightly before simply tossing it back into the water, and Castiel watches as it sinks, heartbroken that Dean had rejected his gift. Uncaring or unaware, the human says, "Uh, anyway, we were gonna go look around underwater for glass. Wanna help? The more the merrier."

Castiel's head snaps over to Dean and he rapidly shakes his head no, realizing what a horrible idea it is to be anywhere near them and give them the chance of seeing his tail.

"Hey, don't worry, you'll have gloves on," Dean assures, misinterpreting Castiel's reluctancy. "Only minimal cutting." Castiel shakes his head again and, sparing one final glance down at the seaweed bundles in his arms, quickly leaves to go around the barrier.

Once he's out of sight, he hears Charlie ask, "What's his problem?"

"Dunno. Think he's mad I didn't wanna eat seaweed or something."

Castiel sighs and looks down at the seaweed. Maybe he has to rethink his strategy. Gifts are clearly not the answer here. He leaves the inner tube and goes back beneath the surface, only briefly dropping by the cave to leave the seaweed there for Gabriel, even though he knows Gabriel prefers shellfish for some reason. He then goes back to the seabed in the sun to think over his options.

He wants to try a mating dance, he thinks, even if he'd rather Dean be doing the dancing. Today would logically be ideal for that, given Dean has equipped headgear to help him see underwater. But Dean doesn't know what he is yet, and Gabriel would be upset if Castiel told him, so that has to at least be put on hold, if he can do it at all. Castiel's never even seen a mating dance done by anything bigger than a fish, however, so he's not sure what he should try to do.

He decides to practice, swimming around the water in admittedly clumsy loops and dips, hoping it looks enticing. He tries for more erratic displays, but thinks he must just look silly, so he calms back down. Maybe a gentle circling would be a good start. If he can get Dean to circle with him, it will show mutual interest, right? He thinks that's how the fish do it, anyway…

Once mutual interest is established, he can focus more on…uh…something simple Dean can easily sync with. Yes. Complexity will just make everything confusing, which is not ideal. So they'll circle and then they'll do simple movements they can both easily follow. And then they'll…probably do something else? Maybe he should observe this process up close before he tries it on Dean…

-

Castiel doesn't find the opportunity to approach Dean again until early the next morning. When he first pops up, Dean and his human friends are attempting to haul the painted wood structure into the water, presumably to attach it to the ropes; he'd wondered why there's a gap in the rope barrier…

"Hey, Cas," Sam says with a soft smile. "Didn't see you yesterday."

"Hey, why don't you get your ass up here and help out?" Ruby suggests in a grumble, and Castiel just stares at her and watches the group pull the platform into the water.

He helps when it's fully submerged up to the floatation devices attached to the bottom, leaving the entire structure floating a few inches above the water. When Castiel goes to help them, Jo leaves the group to connect the ropes to the rings on the sides of the platform. It looks very strange, and seems to serve the same purpose as the rock a short distance away, outside the rope barrier.

…oh. They must not like the rock anymore, for whatever reason.

"So, Cas, you come bearing more gifts?" Dean asks with a strangely amused look on his face. Castiel frowns and shakes his head, feeling like he did when Naomi would ask what he planned on doing to fix whatever latest mess he'd inadvertently caused. "Seriously, man. You can't just eat whatever you pull from the water."

Castiel rolls his eyes and looks away, feeling inexplicably hurt. But he figures now isn't the time to worry about his past courting failures and decides to give his latest idea a try. He only somewhat successfully leads Dean away from the group by the hand and begins carefully circling him, the inner tube bumping against Dean's chest whenever Castiel makes the circle too tight or Dean turns around.

Incredibly, Dean begins circling, too, after a moment, and Castiel beams at him, moving more quickly. He attempts to add something new, moving in and out of the circle a little until Dean does the same with a bemused look on his face. But he's doing it anyway, so he must be interested, right? He wonders if he should maybe slow down, or possibly attempt holding his hand…

Before Castiel can decide, he feels something wrap around his tail near the tip and pull, tugging him underwater for a second before he floats back up. He falters, throwing the rhythm off and making him bump heads with Dean. They separate to rub at their foreheads, and the rest of the group laughs and claps, Jo even whistling loudly for some reason.

"Outstanding performance. Nice to know Castiel makes up for his lack of speech in his amazing underwater dance moves," Ruby drawls, and everyone laughs or at least smiles.

To Castiel's horror, Dean also smiles and snorts. Castiel feels his entire face flush hot with shame, and he tries unsuccessfully to blink away the tears forming in his eyes. First Dean didn't like his gifts, and now he thinks his dance is silly, too?

Dean must realize he's upset, because his face softens and he gets closer. "Hey…" Castiel brings everything below his eyes in the water, both to hide his face and because his gills are starting to move on their own accord and he can't control them. "Cas…"

"Hey, why don't you dance with me next, Castiel?" Ruby sneers, and Castiel shoves his entire face underwater, as if that will block out the laughter and smiles. Stupid, stupid…

Something runs through his hair, and Castiel lifts his head up to glare at the source, only to find it's Dean. He's not quite sure how to act around Dean now, since he'd shown a mutual interest but had also laughed at him and thrown away his gift. Does that mean Dean likes him as well, or that he doesn't? He wishes he could ask Gabriel…

"Had to make sure you were still breathing," is all Dean says, all easy smiles and bright eyes, and all Castiel can do to hide his flush is lower his face back into the water and blow bubbles from his gills dejectedly. "Hey, we can do it again if it's really bothering you," Dean offers, and that gets Castiel to look up. Is he…initiating a mating dance? Turns out he is, since he's then slowly circling Castiel like the merperson had tried to do to him. "C'mon, Cas. Dance with me."

Castiel quickly responds by circling Dean, as well, not quite sure what's happening. But everything seems to be going right, and then Dean is reaching for Castiel's hand. Castiel initially flinches away, not wanting Dean to feel the webbing between his cold fingers, but Dean is persistent and Castiel is more than a little willing to be able to hold the human's hand, anyway…so long as their fingers don't intertwine, at least—so Dean can only feel the webbing between his index finger and thumb at most.

They're circling one another hand in hand now, the rest of the world seeming to disappear for a moment. The circles are small and slow, causing them to touch just until the inner tube around his waist acts as a forcefield keeping Dean away. Castiel wants to take it off, to be able to get closer, but also doesn't want Dean to accidentally brush against his tail or anything, so he keeps it in place and tries to focus on keeping his gills closed and his lungs functioning, something that gets harder and harder to do as he grows more and more distracted by the beautiful human in front of him.

The circling slowly comes to a stop, and they're left staring at each other with their hands clasped. Castiel doesn't know if this is how the dances are supposed to end or not, but it seems good to him. Although, Dean does keep looking up and down his face, and Castiel can only wonder if he's not hiding his gills as effectively as he thinks. Before he can figure it out, however, someone shouts a word he doesn't recognize, and Castiel turns to see Jo and Charlie circling one another and Sam holding his head in his hands while Ruby looks on.

"Hey!" Dean immediately barks, dropping Castiel's hands to go over and make sure his brother is okay. Dean is…very protective, he notices, and that makes him feel…warm—in a pleasant way. He'd be a very protective mate… "Ruby, what did you do?"

She scowls and snaps, "What makes you think I did something?"

Dean begins yelling at her, and Ruby yells back as they begin a heated argument. Sam, meanwhile, backs away slowly until he can climb up onto the platform, keeping his legs in the water as he first sits then lies down. Jo and Charlie have yet to stop circling each other, and Castiel is thrilled at the prospect that he had successfully guessed a human courting ritual. Not only that, but Dean had definitely shown a mutual interest!

But…what now? Should he try another gift? Maybe he should get something from human society. Yes, that must be the answer. And there are a lot of plastic bags and bottle caps on the bottom of the lake—he knows because he's tried to eat them before, only to discover they're not food; he's really lucky Gabriel was nearby, or he might've choked to death…

When Dean is apparently done arguing with Ruby, the humans don't stay in the water. "We gotta do the next layer of paint on the other dock and finish up the shed over there," Dean explains as the others leave. "We'll swim later, though. Promise."

Castiel nods, disappointed but understanding. Unlike merpeople, humans can't remain in the water all the time, and unlike Castiel, they can't swim whenever they want. No, they have duties. Like Gabriel does. Probably. Or maybe he just pretends he's busy so he can see that…Kali. Even though he's only met her twice, Castiel doesn't like Kali—she always talks about him, both behind his back and to his face. She says the worst things when Gabriel isn't there, knowing he can't tell on her, and she always makes him feel so…small and burdensome.

But if Gabriel didn't like him anymore, he'd just leave him out in the open until someone else swoops in to care for him—though he can't even remember the last time he's seen another merperson that wasn't Gabriel or, occasionally, Michael. And anyway, maybe he's old enough now that he'd have to fend for himself. …he doesn't really like to think about it and just remains thankful that Gabriel presumably does want him, at least for the time being.

"He could always help out," Ruby hums almost nonchalantly, though she shoots him a sharp look from the corner of her eye. Castiel doesn't know why she dislikes him so much…

"Yeah, but he's not the one being paid to do this, is he?" Jo replies for him with an innocent sort of smile that seems to upset Ruby for whatever reason.

Dean just rolls his eyes. "You don't have to help, Cas. You can, but if not, I'll see you later, I guess. Sound good?" He nods and looks down at his webbed fingers. Dean pats his shoulder, after a moment, before reiterating, "We'll swim later, buddy."

As Dean swims slowly back to shore, Castiel is left contemplating the term. Buddy. That means friend, doesn't it? Is that what they are? Castiel's not so sure friends feel the way he does about Dean, but then again, it's not like he's really had any friends before. Are Sam and Charlie and Jo his friends? He certainly doesn't feel the same way about them that he does with Dean…

Either way, Castiel decides to go back underwater to search the seafloor for potential gifts. He mostly finds plastic items, but he doesn't like plastic, so he avoids those. There's one shoe that he also ignores, since humans typically prefer to have a matching pair of those. He finds a straw, and takes a moment to blow bubbles from it to amuse himself, but drops that, too.

He eventually comes across this strange collection of six rings. It's plastic, as far as he can tell, but he's never seen anything in this shape before, so he curiously picks it up. Castiel turns it in his hands before tugging it over a wrist, wondering if it's like one of those bands he sees Charlie wear. But it doesn't look as visually appealing as Charlie's orange, pink, and white ones do, so he tries to take it off, only to find he can't. Castiel tugs at it harder, but it can't get over the part of his hand with his thumb.

He panics and rushes back to Gabriel's cave, hoping against the odds that the older merperson is home. But he isn't—he usually is out until sunset, doing…important things, probably. So Castiel looks for a way to get it off on his own, since pulling at it doesn't seem to be working. He knows Gabriel sometimes eats larger fish and things, and has a sharp human tool to cut into things, so he looks for that, eventually finding the tool in the layers of Gabriel's seaweed bed.

Castiel lifts the tool in a shaky hand and carefully cuts downwards into the plastic, his nondominant hand unsteady. When the rings are no closer to being removed, he starts cutting more forcefully, making a sawing motion until the tool cuts through the plastic—and his skin. He drops the tool with a gasp, clutching his wrist. This has officially been a complete disaster.

Right now, he's mostly just determined not to let Gabriel know about any of this, so he goes back out, wrist still held within the grasp of his right hand, and looks for the plant Gabriel always makes into a salve to put on his injuries and help them heal more quickly. With any luck, his cut will be healed before sundown, and his guardian will never have to know.

Instead of finding the plant, he finds a thin string he's never actually seen before. Curious, Castiel releases his arm in favor of following the string, swimming with his arms more than his tail so he has more control over his movements. What he finds is more string, bunched up into a ball. It's connected to this strange circle shape with pieces cut out of it, creating an unusual pattern that's distinctly human.

Castiel smiles. Perfect. He's never seen anything like it, so hopefully Dean hasn't, either. He lifts the circle without another thought and hauls it to the surface, eager to show Dean. He takes the time to go into the inner tube before swimming back to the beach area, only to find Dean still working. Castiel's face falls and he swims dejectedly over to the flat rock sticking out of the water, wondering why everyone always seems to have lives to get back to except for him.

But he's patient, so he waits for Dean, biding his time by turning the circle over in his hands. Castiel's fingers get caught on the string, and when he tries to remove them, they just seem to get more tangled. He tries to pull his hand out, but that just hurts, and the string is too bunched up for him to see what he's doing enough to try to untangle himself. Castiel finds himself wishing he'd brought Gabriel's sharp tool with him, figuring it might be able to cut through this.

Frustrated by his futile efforts, he starts pulling on the string that's somehow managed to coil around both hands and one of his arms, eventually resorting to trying to gnaw his way through it with his sharp teeth. But his teeth are meant for holding, not chewing, and his attempts are even more fruitless.

Castiel must have made some sort of noise, because Dean looks over at him. "All good, Cas?" he asks from the beach.

Castiel does his best to nod back, not raising his hand to wave or anything with the string wrapped around his forearms and hands. When Dean looks back at his work, Castiel goes back to gnawing on the thin and deceptively strong string. He tries to pull it away from his hands, but that just causes the string to dig into his open cut and the webbing between his fingers, and he can't help but make a noise of pain.

"Cas?" Dean prompts again immediately. "C'mere, buddy." Castiel shakes his head, but that just makes Dean more determined. "Come here. What's wrong?" He shakes his head again more rapidly, and panics when Dean nods firmly to himself before pulling his shirt off, starting towards the water. Then he's flooded with guilt, since Dean was busy before Castiel came up and bothered him. "Cas."

Castiel persistently doesn't answer, using the precious few seconds it takes for Dean to get closer to make his last ditch efforts at removing the string that's beginning to cut into his flesh. When he can't do it in time, he drops his hands down into the water and ducks his entire body a little lower, just in time for Dean to go around the rock.

"Hey," the human starts quietly, touching his shoulder gently and causing Castiel to lean into the touch. But it's all a ruse, apparently, since Dean's other hand goes from his shoulder to his arm until it runs into the string. "What…?" Dean pulls his arm back out of the water, only to find it's completely connected to the other in a disaster of thin string. "Why are you all twisted in fishing line? And is that a hubcap?"

Dean tugs on the string, likely testing how tightly it's coiled around Castiel's flesh, and Castiel can't help the pained sound that escapes him. Dean drops his arms with a short nod and returns to the beach, leaving Castiel feeling confused, abandoned, and a little helpless—like he's been left in the open water waiting for someone to find him all over again. But Dean returns a few seconds later with a sharp tool like Gabriel's, urging Castiel to meet him halfway.

"Damn, you're all twisted up, buddy," the human comments as he sets the sharp tool against the skin of Castiel's arm, bringing it forward swiftly and slicing through the…fishing line. Oh… "How'd this even happen? People aren't even allowed to fish here, between the turtle eggs and the lake opening back up." With Dean's quick and methodical slices, the string is cut off within minutes. "There ya go, Cas."

Castiel looks down and wiggles his now-freed fingers before carefully hugging Dean, like he does to Gabriel when he wants to show his gratitude, as he can't exactly express it verbally. For his efforts, Dean just chuckles and runs his fingers through his hair until he pulls back.

"I'll take that as a thank you." Castiel nods and hoists the strange circle up to present to Dean. "Why are you giving me a hubcap?" The merperson bites his lip and thrusts it emphatically towards Dean's chest, cheeks flushing just a little. "Is this, like, a present?" He nods again happily, thrilled Dean's finally realizing his gifts for what they are. "Oh, uh…thanks."

Castiel's crestfallen that Dean, once again, doesn't like his gift, but doesn't do more than allow his shoulders to slump. Still, Dean takes his gift and all the fishing line back to the beach and deposits the string in the large, black bag on the sand. Castiel recognizes the bag as the one they'd been putting the glass into, and he wonders what that means. The gift, however, is placed off to the side to lean against the shed.

"Thanks for the present, Cas, but we really gotta get this done today, all right?" Dean calls from the beach, paintbrush already back in his hand. Castiel tries not to pout and nods, realizing they're probably on some sort of a schedule. So he leaves them be and ducks out of his inner tube again, dipping back down underwater and heading to his favorite seabed to brood.

Well, all of his gifts were more or less rejected, and though the intricate circle is the first one Dean hasn't immediately thrown away, Castiel knows it's not going to remain against the shed forever. The mating dance had gone well, but only after Dean took over. Castiel's never seen merpeople courting, so he's not sure how it's supposed to work, but he thinks he should be taking a more active role…right? Or maybe it'd be better to let Dean do everything, since all of Castiel's attempts have more or less failed…

Unsure of what to do, Castiel curls into a ball and closes his eyes, hoping it'll all make sense after a nap. Unfortunately, the nap doesn't seem to happen, since what seems like five minutes later, he's being prodded back into wakefulness. Castiel tries unsuccessfully to roll away from the persistent source before finally giving up.

It's Gabriel. Of course it's Gabriel, who else would it be? "Castiel, I've told you not to just nap in the open water," he scolds, helping Castiel up. The younger merperson rubs his eyes and looks around to see that the water is darker than it was when he'd laid down, indicating it must be later. "There are predators out here, you know. Even if you're not a little bite-sized guppy, you're still on the menu."

Castiel just sighs and looks down, and Gabriel surprisingly drops the subject in favor of bringing him home.. The cave is as empty as it always is, though there's food waiting for him. But he isn't really hungry…

"What's wrong, Cas?" Gabriel eventually asks. "Boy troubles?" Castiel glares, but nods after a moment. "What, he not into you? I thought he was, but maybe I'm wrong." He shrugs and shakes his head, so Gabriel tries, "Courting troubles?"

Castiel nods quickly, turning his full attention to an unexpectedly thoughtful Gabriel, who seems to really be thinking over his answer. He waits patiently as the older merperson sorts out his thoughts, wondering what sort of approach he should try next.

"Whatever you do, I hope it doesn't involve that knife I found on the ground," is what he eventually settled on, and Castiel deflates. Seeing this, Gabriel adds, "With the courting thing, just try to impress him and flaunt your—uh, well, not tail, I guess. Personality, maybe? Yeah, try that. Humans pretend to value that above everything else."

Castiel thinks over the answer, wondering how he might be able to apply it. He supposes it's a good thing that he doesn't have to rely on physical beauty for this. His appearance is altogether unremarkable, and his tail color is a boring blue—nothing like the brilliant gold coloration of Gabriel's tail…

Then again, there's not much he can say about his personality, either. He didn't laugh much even before he became mute, and he rarely smiles. His sense of humor is almost nonexistent, and when he finds something funny, no one else does. He's weird and unusual and unemotional and so, so nervous about this whole courting thing.

He's been thrown out and left for others to care for more times than he can count. How can he expect Dean not to do the same?

Chapter Text

(7,748 words)

Castiel's not any less uncertain about this whole courting situation the next day. He heads to the surface after an afternoon spent scavenging for both food and any human items that seem interesting, but he comes up with nothing. Irritable, hungry, and frustrated, he decides to just see Dean and see what he's up to.

But he doesn't see Dean. Or Sam or Jo or Charlie. The only one he sees is Ruby, who is sitting off the edge of a dock Castiel doesn't recognize (surely, it wasn't there yesterday, right?), her feet dipped into the water below and swaying back and forth. She's with another female he also doesn't recognize, and each has a strange orange thing on a stick that they're apparently eating.

"Hello, Castiel," Ruby hums around the orange stick thing. "Popsicle?" Castiel isn't sure what that is, so he shakes his head. Ruby's smile widens. "Looking for Dean?"

He nods and looks around emphatically. "He's not here," the other female tells him. "He's out with a girl. Her name's Lydia and, unlike you, she can actually do things with him."

"Like things that aren't swimming," Ruby adds when he just frowns. "Splashing around in the water gets old after so long, you know. And lifeguard or not, Dean's gonna get sick of only splashing around in the kiddie pool with someone who can't even talk to him. He's a big boy with bigger concerns."

The merperson tilts his head, looking between the pair questioningly. He's not really sure what they're talking about, but the idea of Dean with a girl… they're the ones that are courting, so what's Dean doing? It must be some sort of a misunderstanding. Surely Dean wouldn't have shown mutual interest if he didn't mean it, right? Merpeople do mate for life, after all, though he's not sure if humans do, too…

"Yeah, I don't think Dean will be doing much more water dancing with you pretty soon," Ruby continues, standing up. "Pretty soon, he'll be dancing with someone he actually cares about—and somewhere other than this lake, too." She looks over the water with a sneer before flicking the popsicle stick into the water, watching until it sinks down to the bottom. "C'mon, Meg."

The other female—Meg?—rolls her eyes and remains sitting there for another few rebellious seconds before standing and carelessly tossing her half-finished popsicle into the water, as well. She follows Ruby from a distance, hands in the pockets of the jacket she certainly doesn't need under the hot sun.

So Castiel is then left alone, confused, and very hungry. He dips back underwater and lifts up the sticks the two females were eating off of, only to find the sticks…sticky and gross. His face pinches, but he takes pride in his home so he picks up the sticks from the end that isn't orange and takes it over to the shoreline, carefully setting the sticks there so someone with legs can go and dispose of them. (Five minutes later, a seagull takes them away, instead.)

He goes back underwater and swims freely, searching for something to distract him. He finds some fish, but can't catch any. He finds some scallops that bury underground too quickly for him to snatch up, and he doesn't feel like digging in the sand for something he doesn't even like the taste of.

Frustrated, Castiel returns to Gabriel's cave to search for something to eat, and he's surprised to find Gabriel himself inside the cave when he peeks in. No—he's surprised to see someone that looks like Gabriel from only the top-up. Instead of a beautiful golden tail, he has two human legs! Castiel can't help but gasp, drawing the other…merperson's…attention to him.

"Well, you're home early," Gabriel remarks, face flushed and gills flared out. He's trying to tread water underwater, but it just looks really strange. "So, good news and bad news. What d'ya want first?" Castiel can't even shrug, too busy gaping at the fact that his b-brother has legs! "Well, good news is, I figured out a spell!"

Gabriel's hands drift up to a shell necklace around his neck, which he then unlatches and yanks off over his head. For a second, nothing happens. Then, Gabriel's human legs suddenly morph back into the golden tail Castiel's used to seeing. The older merperson is noticeably more confident with a tail keeping him in place than human legs, and he continues his original explanation.

"Bad news is, swimming as a human sucks." Castiel shoots him a look, sensing there's more to it than that. Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Okay, okay. Keep in mind that it'll only change your bottom half there and not any other fishy-bits. The gills stay. The teeth stay. Webbed fingers, pointy ears—all of it. Only the tail changes."

Castiel nods wordlessly, eyes wide in excitement and disbelief, and a little bit of nervousness. Gabriel seems to understand, however, and his smile softens as he goes over to lay a quick hand on Castiel's shoulder.

"Now, I got one for you, too, if you want it." He nods quickly, and Gabriel hands him a long string necklace with a closed shell hanging from the end. The string is lined with small beads that match Gabriel's necklace. "Now, why don't you give it a go?"

He hastily tries to pull the necklace over his head, only to discover the loop is too tight to easily bring over his head. Gabriel shows him the clasp on the back and helps him learn how to fasten and unfasten it. Castiel catches on quickly and unclasps it, putting it around his neck. A moment after he fastens it on, his entire lower half starts tingling—like his arm does whenever he sleeps on it overnight—and then burning, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut. When the feeling finally stops, Castiel looks down, and instead of seeing a long tail with blue scales, he sees two human legs and ten human toes.

"You likey?" Gabriel asks, hedging around Castiel with his own pair of human legs. He nods quickly and hugs the older merperson, only to be shoved away after a second. "Whoa, maybe wait until we got more on than just our birthday suits for that one, kiddo." Castiel tilts his head, and Gabriel's face goes pink. "I gotta grab some stuff from the surface before we can go take the town by storm, all right?"

Castiel's not really sure what he's talking about, but follows Gabriel up to the surface on two weak human legs, anyway. (Humans are so slow when they swim. How do they ever get anywhere?) Gabriel bundles himself in seaweed and leaves Castiel to stay at least partially submerged underwater, warning him not to go on the beach yet.

In the meantime, Castiel tries to get used to swimming as a human, making great use of the inner tube to keep him afloat. It's slow and frustrating, and Castiel kind of misses his tail. But knowing that he can get it back whenever he wants makes it easier. So he just does the best he can and watches the sun drift further from its place in the center of the sky.

He takes pleasure in just wiggling his toes underwater, because he has toes! It's all very strange. He's just happy the only thing he's changed is his tail, since he's not sure he could handle losing his gills and webbing, too. Unless…

…no, he still can't talk. Castiel shrugs this off easily, as he's been getting increasingly used to the idea that he may never speak again. Which is…fine, though he can't help but wonder if Dean minds. Gabriel surely does, even if he pretends not to. Gabriel's always done so much for him, and he can't even offer a simple 'thank you' in return…

"Hi, Castiel," Gabriel chirps, waving Castiel over to the beach. Instead of seaweed, he's wearing human clothes—bright yellow swim shorts with pineapples on them and a white t-shirt. He's even wearing flip flops! "C'mon, get dressed. Quick."

Gabriel helps Castiel fumble his way onto shore and then into a pair of dull blue swim shorts and a matching white t-shirt with some sort of sun design on it. There's also a pair of flip flops, but Castiel can't quite figure out how to squeeze his brand-new toes together to hold them on, so he abandons them in favor of going barefoot.

The sand is soft between his toes, but very hot, so he lingers by the edge of the water and sits in the sand, playing with it and making shapes in it. Gabriel watches in amusement for a few seconds before scooping some water in his hand and dumping it over Castiel's head. Castiel splashes water at him in retaliation, which leads to their first ever water-fight on land. By the end of it, they're both soaking wet but smiling, even though their shirts are practically fused to their skin.

"Welp, ready to head up, kiddo?" Gabriel asks, stretching his arms up above his head until his elbows crack.

Castiel nods quickly and darts to the base of the incline that separates the beach from the rest of the town. There are guardrails running all along the edges of the cliff above, leaving the incline as the only way to go to or from the beach. And Castiel has never seen even a glimpse of the other side, having been brought to this lake in a crate with the rest of his pod under the cover of darkness; he still has no idea how Michael managed to arrange such a thing, and can't help but wonder how far they are from the lake they used to reside in, next to the Lake of Fire.

He finds himself…. unexpectedly nervous. His knees wobble a little as he peers up the incline, eyes wide and anxious and both his neck and chest gills flaring out. Anything could be waiting up the incline. Anything. What if he doesn't like it? What if it doesn't like him? There are undoubtedly a lot of humans up there, and more than a few are bound to dislike him…

"All good, kiddo?" Gabriel prompts, drawing his attention. In response, Castiel looks up the incline again before looking down at his toes, wringing his hands together. "Nervous, huh? It'll be worth it, I promise." Castiel looks at him dubiously and carefully takes the older merperson's hand, the contact comforting if unfamiliar. "We'll do it together," he says immediately in response. "C'mon, one step at a time."

Castiel's never had to climb up anything before, not like this. Each step he takes makes the sand underneath his feet shift and fall, but Gabriel just keeps pulling him along—which is probably good, since he'd likely just stay there for hours while working up the courage to go up and peer into the unknown. The sunlight gets brighter as they climb closer to the top, and once they're there…there are no words.

There are all these tall structures everywhere, and this hard, grey rock path with stripes painted up the sides and the center seems to be at every corner. Castiel's surprised to see that there's still sand sprinkled on the ground, but not as surprised as he is to see seaweed growing thick and upright even without water to support it and pull it up.

Before he can fully take in everything, Gabriel continues tugging him along to go to the edge of the rock path. Castiel takes all of three steps before his feet can't handle the intense and sharp burning sensation and he rushes into the low-cut seaweed lining the edges of the rock path. It doesn't quite feel like seaweed, but then again, he's never felt it with human toes, before.

"Yeah, the asphalt's pretty hot, huh," Gabriel comments, dropping Castiel's abandoned flip flops, which he's apparently been carrying all this time, on the ground in front of him. "These will help, if you can keep 'em on. Forgive me for not knowing your shoe size."

As usual, Castiel has no idea what his brother is talking about. Still, the flip flops do reduce the burn, so he decides to wear them despite how much they hurt the space between his two toes where he's holding them on.

Gabriel leads him around the town by the hand, pointing out a few things that he apparently recognizes but otherwise remaining as curious and amazed as Castiel. Humans really built all this? Humans are…incredible, despite their poor swimming skills. Gabriel seems to agree, even if he's more impressed by the locals than the scenery. Castiel allows his brother to pull him around until something catches his eye and he yanks on Gabriel's hand until he follows.

In front of them is a strange collection of unusual structures, which is so very descriptive. There's a tower of some sort with open tubes running down to the bottom like inefficient staircases. There are also regular staircases that lead up to the higher platforms. Off to the side, there's a bar and post with four seats that are suspended by chains. Castiel goes there first. He's not sure what it is, so he goes to inspect it, turning the seat over only to discover the entire thing is capable of swaying back and forth. Interesting…

Just then, a young female with a runny nose pushes past him to sit down on the seat, and Castiel watches in awe as the seat begins swaying as the female extends and retracts her legs. Gabriel catches on more quickly, so Castiel fumbles his way into copying him, though it's difficult to make use of two appendages he's only just gained.

The seat is enjoyable when it's swaying, though the creaking noise the chains above him make is not. Castiel grimaces every time the chains squeal, but overall finds he enjoys the swaying seats and the coordination they force his legs to have.

Once he grows bored of that, he ventures to climb (all this climbing; humans are very obsessed with climbing, it seems…) the small staircase up to the platforms, discovering a closed tube nestled between two platforms that reminds Castiel of the drainpipe humans had put into the lake a few months ago (it sprays down very cold water whenever it rains, so Castiel goes to it often to play, even though it makes Gabriel frown and curse the humans for polluting the lake further still).

He squirms his way inside the tube, making the second discovery that the tubes are likely designed for younger people, as he's only just able to make his way through it. Gabriel wisely doesn't follow, but inexplicably ends up on the other side of the tube, anyway. Instead of being upset, Castiel just grins up at him.

Partway through Castiel's inspection of the tilted hovering ladder, an adult female looks over at him and asks, "Aren't you a little old for playgrounds?"

"Aren't you a little old to be wearing Spandex?" Gabriel asks in return.

"All I'm saying is there's a twelve year age limit, and you're definitely over that." As the female storms off with a huff, Gabriel makes a rude gesture behind her back that makes Castiel smile despite himself.

Castiel shrugs the whole thing off and continues trying to go across the tilted ladder, only to fall halfway through. His arms are strong from swimming, but rather uncoordinated when being used individually like this. When he stands to brush the dirt off him, he finds that not only does dirt stick to the water still dampening his clothes, but that Jo is staring at him in disbelief.

He waves at her a little, as he's seen humans do this in greeting, but she doesn't wave back, leading him to question the accuracy of his assumption. Dean waves at him all the time, though…

"Cas? What are you doing here?"

"Could be asking you the same thing, blondie," Gabriel quips, stepping out of nowhere to stand beside Castiel, his arms crossed and a sucker in his mouth; Castiel has no idea where he even got it. "You got a girlfriend I should know about, Cassie?" Castiel makes a face and firmly shakes his head.

"Okay, no offense, but who the hell are you?"

"Gabriel," the older merperson answers. "Cas' brother." Castiel nods encouragingly, earning a skeptical look from Jo. "And you are?"

"Jo," she replies before her attention shifts back to Castiel. Joy. "Sorry for all the staring. It's just—I don't think I've ever seen your lower body before. Isn't that weird?" Castiel tilts his head in response, aiming for innocently confused and landing on a coy panic as he tries to keep his gill flaps closed and his breathing steady. "Dude, relax." Jo lightly punches his shoulder. "I'm just kidding. You look like you've seen a ghost."

"What's Dean-o up to these days?" Gabriel interrupts, twirling around the stick of his sucker.

"Why, you guys exes or something?"

"Nah, he's not my type. Cassie, on the other hand…" Castiel goes red and spins around to punch his brother in the arm, willing him to stop talking forever. "Hey, not my fault you've got the biggest crush of the century on the guy!" In response, Castiel sticks his tongue out, which Gabriel quickly mirrors.

Jo rolls her eyes. "Yeah, you're brothers, all right," she mutters, pulling out her phone. "Dean should be around here somewhere. Want me to leave him a message?"

"An address would also work," Gabriel replies helpfully. Surprisingly, Jo actually gives them an address to follow, so long as they leave immediately and stop bothering her, so they go.

The entire walk over is filled with curiosity at the scenery and Gabriel singing about Castiel's crush on the human. He endures it only because Gabriel's been excessively good to him, even going as far as to figure out a spell to give them both legs. Most of the other merpeople Castiel's been picked up by before barely even fed him, leading him to learn to hunt for himself at a young age and an early affinity for seaweed.

"Man, Dean lives in a dump," Gabriel remarks the second the house comes into sight (well, presumably, since Castiel has no idea how streets or addresses work; he's just hoping Gabriel does…). Castiel doesn't acknowledge the statement either way and carefully steps up to the small porch before Gabriel grabs his shoulder. "Wait, get him a gift."

Castiel nods and hastily leaves the porch to look around for something. He finds a patch of yellow flowers of some sort in the trimmed seaweed of a neighboring house, so he goes and carefully plucks them. Once he has enough of the flowers to make a small bundle, he goes back up to the porch, smiling when Gabriel gives him an okay sign.

The door doesn't immediately open, so Gabriel reaches over to knock on it. But then it still doesn't open. Castiel glances over his shoulder to shoot Gabriel a nervous look, but Gabriel doesn't seem concerned and just knocks again. Sure enough, within thirty seconds, the door swings open to reveal Sam, who looks a little like he's, uh, 'seen a ghost' before he breaks into a smile.

"Hey, Cas. What are you doing here?" Sam looks curiously at the flowers in Castiel's hands until Castiel hides them against his side a little, looking over to Gabriel again for guidance. "Are you looking for Dean?"

Castiel nods gratefully and Gabriel asks, "He home?"

"Uh, yeah, he's upstairs." Sam opens the door further to let them inside, and gestures for Castiel to go up the stairs. Castiel takes his time, looking around the room as he attempts to climb on his own, relying on the handrail beside the steps to hide his stumbling. Gabriel, meanwhile, makes himself at home and talks with Sam, since they haven't actually met before, to his knowledge. "So, uh…"

When Castiel reaches the door to the room Sam says is Dean's, he hesitates, negative thoughts making him doubt even his decision to come to the house, much less with another gift… Still, he steels himself to knock on the door, only to hear high-pitched laughter from a female—a voice he doesn't recognize at all. His heart drops a little and his eyes fall to the floor as he considers just retreating.

Before he can decide, the door swings open, and Dean pauses abruptly in the doorway. "Cas?" Dean's eyes scan him up and down, and Castiel wonders idly what he thinks of his new legs. "What are you doing here, buddy?" Castiel bites his lip and thrusts the flowers into Dean's hands, face flushed. "You got me…dandelions?"

Castiel, of course, has no idea what that is, but he figures Dean's probably right so he nods, wondering what Dean thinks. The human smiles a little and goes downstairs to get a glass of water for the flowers, and Castiel takes the opportunity to curiously peek into Dean's room. Inside is a lone female with light hair.

She looks at him strangely and asks, "Did you just give him dandelions?" He ducks his head and nods, face more than a little flushed. "You know those are weeds, right?" He has no idea what that is, but wonders if those are edible. If they are, they must taste better with water; why else would Dean be getting water for them? "What are you even doing here? You shouldn't try to get between me and Dean."

At this, Castiel huffs and crosses his arms. Who does this human think she is, telling him what he should and shouldn't do? Then, the uncertainty starts bleeding into his thoughts again. Dean deserves more than a…a sea monster that can't even speak. Maybe he should just drop the whole thing…

This is when Dean parades back in the room to sit on the edge of his bed, staring at Castiel for a long moment. Castiel stares back, and no one says a word until the female grumbles something and gets up and leaves. No one says anything after that. Extended periods of staring is part of the courting process, but it's a much later step; he didn't realize they've gone so far in the process yet, but, evidently…

It's Dean who clears his throat and looks away, rubbing at his nose. "You look good, Cas. Don't think I've ever seen you without wet hair or wearing…uh, clothes…" Castiel just squints at him, and Dean moves to another topic, the tips of his ears pink. "Did you need something, or…?" He shakes his head, and Dean chuckles. "Just wanted to see me, huh?"

And that really is what boils down to. He left the water to see Dean. He came all this way to see Dean. He brought another gift to give to Dean. He just wonders if Dean wants to see him…

-

Later, Sam and Gabriel burst into the room and interrupt Dean's story about Sam's embarrassing first crush to demand food and entertainment. On the way out the door, Castiel spots the glass of water with the flowers in it. 'Weeds' or not, Dean still placed them in a glass (though Castiel's not really sure why, since he clearly didn't eat them yet).

So Sam and Dean guide them around the town to find a place to eat that serves 'burgers'. When the 'burger' is handed to him, Castiel can only stare at it and helplessly look to Gabriel, only to find the food already halfway in his brother's mouth. Castiel's stomach growls, so he picks it up and tries his best to chew it, though he thinks he must look more like a gaping fish brought on dry land than the human he's supposed to be masquerading as. Regardless, when he's finally able to get a mouthful after gnawing on the edge of the burger, it's quite possibly the best thing he's ever put in his mouth.

Then come the drinks. Four glasses of something cold are placed on the table. Sam and Dean tilt the glasses and the liquid within slowly drains. Gabriel takes a big gulp himself and grins at Castiel with a wink. Castiel just tries to get a grip on the glass, the water dripping down the sides of the glass making it more difficult to cling onto it.

When he wraps both hands around it, it's easier, but then Dean snorts. "You hold that like a little kid," he says teasingly. "Never had iced tea before?"

Castiel hesitantly drops one of his hands, only to have the glass almost slip out of his hand. He just decides to put both hands on it and drink, but then drinking is difficult, too. The glass goes to his mouth, but the drink inside doesn't disappear. When he tilts his head back a little further, the liquid spills out and ends up all over his lap and shirt, much to his horror.

Gabriel is the one that immediately grabs some napkins and tries to wipe up some of the liquid. Castiel just sits there looking like an idiot, eyes wide and glass still halfway to his lips. Once he's relatively clean, Gabriel gives him some whispered tips on drinking, and he quietly utilizes them and gets a taste of the drink. It's…slightly sweet, but otherwise tastes like water. Hm.

After they eat, Sam and Dean babble about a 'fair' in town, only to then talk about how they don't have the money to attend it. Castiel doesn't know what that is one way or the other, but the news seems to disappoint Gabriel, who had been looking forward to trying whatever a 'funnel cake' is. So they end up wandering around town instead until Sam spots a miniature golf course and decides to take them there.

"How many are playing?" the woman asks once they're inside.

"Four," Dean says, pulling a wallet from his swim shorts before pausing. "Wait, why am I paying for all this? C'mon, guys, pitch in."

"Sorry, Dean-o, but we're broke," Gabriel replies with a wicked sort of grin.

Sam rolls his eyes and goes up to help pay, and then they get to choose which color ball they want. Gabriel picks yellow, Dean picks green, Sam picks red, and Castiel picks blue. Sam and Dean help them choose the right size golf club next, since metal sticks apparently have sizes. Then, scorecard in hand, Dean leads them to the first hole.

"You guys ever play before?" Dean asks as Sam, the youngest, lines up for his first shot.

Castiel watches carefully and tries to mimic Sam's form, but in the time it took for him to adjust the club so that he's copying Sam's stance, the red ball is out of sight and Sam is retrieving it from the hole.

"Nah, but it doesn't exactly look like rocket surgery." Castiel doesn't even pretend to know what Gabriel's talking about this time.

"All right, then, hotshot. Why don't you line up next?"

Gabriel falls for the taunt and drops his yellow ball onto the spot that's a slightly darker green. He's then winding his arm back before abruptly swinging it forward. His stance is nothing like the calculated one Sam had taken, but the ball somehow goes in, anyway, and Gabriel spins around to face them and does a little bow. Wow…Gabriel really is amazing…

"You wanna go next, Cas?" Dean asks after he's finished writing numbers on the scorecard. Castiel looks between the ball in his hand and the club, but decides to try, even though he knows he's going to mess it up. He sets his ball down and moves to hit it before Dean stops him. "Most important thing is keeping your eye on the ball." The human adjusts his form a little and briefly demonstrates how to swing the club before stepping back. "Give it a try."

Castiel nods and makes sure the ball is straight down from where he's standing beside it. Then, he carefully taps it with the back of the club, making sure not to hit it too hard. But he must not hit it hard enough, since it only goes a little over half the length of the small area for the first hole.

"That's okay. Tap it again and get it in the hole," Sam encourages with a gentle smile, so Castiel taps it again and watches it roll into the hole this time.

"Great job, Cas," Dean says, patting him briefly on the shoulder when he retrieves his ball. Then, within fifteen seconds, Dean drops his green ball, lines up the shot, and hits it in, making everyone except Castiel get the shot in only one hit. "On to the next hole?"

The skill differences become more and more apparent as they go. Castiel takes an extra shot or more on every hole than anyone else does, and Gabriel's luck seems to dry up the second that bends in the pathways are introduced, let alone windmills and other obstacles. At least Gabriel can keep him company in the sand pits as Sam and Dean get everything within a few hits…

At some point, Gabriel apparently stops even trying to aim and just winds up and whales the ball wherever he can. Castiel laughs—or as closely as he can manage, at least—when the yellow ball lands in someone's bucket of popcorn and gets subsequently angrily launched back, but he then realizes Gabriel's likely only failing on purpose because he knows Castiel's losing miserably. He appreciates the effort, but mostly just feels bad that he's making his brother feel the need to do that. Besides, it's not like they don't all know the winner will either be Sam or Dean, anyway…

By the eighteenth hole (the last one, apparently), Castiel finds himself physically exhausted from all the walking in the hot sun. He feels…dry, which is something he's never really felt before. His gills keep flapping against his neck and chest, and it's getting harder and harder to contain the movement and hide it from sight. Gabriel, however, seems to notice without him even having to indicate that anything is wrong, and on the way back to the stand they rented things from, Gabriel stops to ask for water.

That sounds amazing to Castiel, but instead of being offered one to try to figure out how to drink (though part of him can't believe he's even picking up a plastic water bottle given how much he hates plastic), Gabriel just twists off the lid and proceeds to dump the bottled water over his head, soaking him from his hair to his toes. His gills flap open and eagerly take a fresh breath in, only to find the water in the bottle is nothing like that he finds in the lake.

He chokes as his gills reject the water, and Gabriel pulls the bottle away at once to look at him worriedly. "Hey, hey, I'll dunk myself, too, don't worry," the older merperson assures before dumping some water over his own head.

"Why would you do that?" Sam asks, looking genuinely baffled. That's when Dean grins and dumps a separate water bottle over his brother's head, earning sputtering protests as Sam tries to snatch another bottle for payback.

"Hey, you splash me and your precious scorecard might not survive," Dean threatens, apparently still upset about the very slight loss he'd suffered after having to hit the ball three times to finally get it through the windmill instead of reflecting off of it. Sam doesn't seem to care and dumps water on Dean, anyway.

So they're all nice and wet as they return the club and golf balls. Afterwards, they go for ice cream, but end up getting a pack of popsicle-bags instead with all sorts of different flavors inside. They go to the playground (as it's called) to eat those and spot Jo and Charlie hanging upside-down from the 'monkey bars,' despite the age limit of the playground. Jo and Charlie flock over the second they see the food, though, reminding Castiel of seagulls.

"Dude, this grape is disgusting," Jo gripes, pulling the offending popsicle from her mouth.

"Hey, I like the grape," Charlie cuts in with a frown, and the two subsequently switch popsicles. Castiel frowns at this, but no one acts like this is an unusual occurrence, so he shrugs it off. Perhaps they're mates if they're already sharing food… "How's the weird blue one?"

"Way better than Sammy's shampoo one," Dean replies, looking pointedly towards Sam's off-white popsicle. He then nudges Castiel and asks, "Cherry any good?"

Castiel shrugs and nods. It's far sweeter than he would have liked, but the flavor is interesting and complicated. Gabriel, on the other hand, seems to see a potential mate in his pineapple flavor with the enthusiasm he's exhibiting. It's probably better than Kali, anyway.

As he tries to get the ice to melt faster, he wonders if this is what it's like to have friends. They are his friends, right? They just did stuff together all day, and they might even go swimming again later. A slight thrill runs through him as he thinks about being able to jump off the rock or the floating platform like everyone else can. Putting his feet (his feet!) in the water, playing in the sand, checking out the shed everyone's been fixing up lately…

By the time they're finally making their way back down to the beach, Castiel's feeling pretty dried out despite the setting sun. His feet are aching and blistered on the bottom since he's not used to walking (which might be because he's only just gained legs—just maybe). Gabriel, on the other hand, seems to be flourishing as he practically skips down the sandy slope and to the sandy beach below.

Meanwhile, Castiel can barely even walk down without tripping, and he eventually does fall and skids the rest of the way down. Charlie must think he did it on purpose, since she laughs and tries to copy him a minute later. Face red, Castiel avoids direct eye contact and fixes his eyes on the sand instead. His attention eventually drifts to the small shed and, since no one stops him, he peeks inside the left door.

The first thing that catches his attention are the two closed doors in the back. Ahead of them in large tubs against the wall, there are all sorts of plastic things inside of all shapes and sizes and all sorts of colors—some of which he's never seen before. Curiosity gets the better of him and he cautiously approaches one of the doors, figuring out how to open it with some effort and pushing it open. That's when he realizes the door doesn't go all the way to the floor, which is very strange. As is, Castiel has no idea what he's staring at.

"Everything okay, Cas?" Dean asks, and Castiel jumps. "Hey, uh, you know this is the women's bathroom, right?" …bathroom? What… Suddenly, Dean falters. "You, uh, you are a dude, right?"

"Oh my God, Dean," Charlie says, coming up behind Dean and joining in the conversation. "You can't just ask people if they're dudes."

"Well, he's in the women's bathroom—" Dean protests weakly, and Castiel tunes him out in favor of squatting down and checking out the tub of plastic items, settling on pulling out a strange red bottle of some sort.

He tilts both the object and his hand before setting the object on the ground. He then reaches in again and pulls out a small version of a blocky car with an inverted turtle shell on the back, but he likes the big wheels that would make patterns in the sand, so he sets that down too and turns to sit on the cold concrete floor to roll it around. It makes a pleasant noise as it rolls along the ground.

Another toy car suddenly joins his, and Castiel looks up to see Dean pushing a separate car with a shovel along the ground, squatting down across from him. Dean starts making strange noises, but Castiel doesn't mind. Then, Dean scoops up some sand with his car and unloads it into the back of Castiel's car. He watches the human do this a few times until the back of his car is completely full of sand.

He looks up to Dean for guidance. "Let's get some water and turn this into a sandcastle. I'll bring the bucket." Castiel nods quickly and lifts his car up to carry it outside, following Dean as the human hoists the 'bucket' and carries it outside the shed.

So they start building sandcastles, and Castiel is amazed that such a thing can even exist, especially since sand is so…unsteady. Charlie joins in at some point to decorate the outside edges with small shells and start digging a moat around the area, and by the end of it, the sandcastle looks rather nice, he thinks.

A loud splash catches Castiel's attention, and his gaze is drawn to the floating platform in the water. Jo and Gabriel are standing on the platform, and Sam is in the water up to his shoulders, his face covered by his wet hair.

"Hey, let's go swimming," Charlie says, abandoning the moat in favor of rushing up to go into the water.

Castiel looks to Dean and wonders what he wants to do when the human stands up and holds out a hand. Castiel takes it after a second, surprised when Dean uses that to pull him to his unsteady feet. He stumbles a little, but Dean manages to catch him, laughing.

"You fallin' for me already, Cas?" he asks, and Castiel just squints and tilts his head uncomprehendingly. Dean makes even less sense than Gabriel, sometimes… "Nevermind. Let's go swimming."

Castiel takes a second to pull off his t-shirt (mostly because everyone else had) before they go to the water hand in hand, but Dean lets go when the water is up to their chests in favor of treading water. Dean then swims off for a second, only to return with the inner tube Castiel has been using. He quickly slips into it, wanting to get his legs used to kicking in the water, anyway.

Castiel finds he enjoys the feeling of the wet sand and gravel squishing between his toes, but he also enjoys sitting on the edge of the dock and dipping his feet into the water. He wants to invite Gabriel to enjoy the sensation, as well, but can't figure out any hand motions that might be helpful to convey that.

"Why don't you jump in, Cas?" Sam says when he climbs back on the dock, hair dripping down into his face. "It's really fun, and if you have any trouble getting back up, we're all right here to help you."

"Yeah, c'mon, Cas, we'll go in together," Gabriel adds with a big grin, and, uncertain, Castiel carefully climbs to his feet. Gabriel then takes his hand, starting, "One…" Beside them, Charlie and Jo also grab each other's hands, lining up. "Two…" Sam and Dean glance at each other, apparently starting another competition of some sort. "Three!"

All at once, there are two consecutive splashes, and Castiel feels a sharp tug on his arm as Gabriel jumps in the water, pulling him in a second later. While the other two groups head back up to the surface quickly, Gabriel keeps him down—which isn't hard to do since they both have gills.

"He is so into you," his brother announces with a grin, bubbles floating up from his mouth when he laughs. "Like, seriously. Courting rituals left and right." Castiel cocks his head, silently asking what in the world he's talking about. "Cas, he's helping you do things like stand up. Notice how he doesn't do that to anyone else?"

Castiel shoots him a look and kicks his legs in an attempt to go up, and Gabriel helps out after a very exaggerated and very unnecessary roll of his eyes. When they surface, Castiel's surprised to see that all eyes are on them, and he can't figure out why.

"Man, you guys were under for a long time," Jo remarks. "Thought you might've drowned or something."

Panicked, Castiel quickly climbs back onto the platform, resolving not to jump back in if he can help it. Unfortunately, he can't help it, as not even a minute later, Dean asks him if he wants to learn how to dive, and really, how is he supposed to say no?

So he learns how to dive the human way under Dean's direct instruction. Gabriel follows along and copies Dean's movements, not seeming to mind the fact that the lesson isn't being directed towards him at all. Castiel finds that he likes doing cannonballs and likes how far down it allows him to sink, but his form while diving is 'sloppy' and he can't figure out how he's supposed to move his legs. Dean doesn't seem to mind his lack of real progress and instead teaches him how to do a little spin when he cannonballs.

They swim until the sun goes completely down and a chill in the area becomes noticeable, and the only light on the beach is from the street lamps up on the edge of the cliff. As Sam, Jo, and Charlie dry off (and Gabriel just stands there, grinning and saying something to the group—probably about him), Dean pulls him aside, his face illuminated by the street lamp above and giving him an eerie if ethereal glow.

"Hey, I had a lot of fun today," he starts, and Castiel nods in agreement, smiling a little only to feel stupid a second later and force it away. "It was probably one of the greatest days I've had in a while and, uh…yeah, so…" The human clears his throat, adding, "Cool necklace, by the way. Uh…"

Dean breaks off to scratch at the back of his neck, his face going sort of red. Castiel squints at him for a moment, wondering what Dean might be planning. He glances over helplessly to Gabriel, only to find him busy chatting with Sam about something before they both look over. This makes Castiel's cheeks flush a little, and he looks down at the sand squished between his toes.

"Tell me if I'm reading this wrong," Dean finally says, and Castiel glances up just in time for the human to lean in and push his lips against Castiel's. Wait, is this…a kiss? Should he...respond somehow? Before he can figure out what to do, Dean pulls away, looking shy. "Cas?" he prompts. "Was that okay, or…"

He nods quickly, but looks away, not quite sure what he should do in return. His body decides it wants to smile like an idiot, so he tries his best to conceal that by looking down, but then Dean tilts his head back up with a hand underneath his chin and carefully kisses him again. Castiel pushes his face into Dean's in return in an attempt to kiss back, though he doesn't know if he does it right.

This time when Dean pulls away, he's smiling a little. "Was that your first kiss?" he asks, and Castiel feels his face grow warm as he nods sheepishly. Dean's smile widens ever so slightly. "Wow. Awesome."

"Hey, Dean, we gotta get home," Sam interrupts with a poorly-concealed grin that Gabriel mirrors. Oh no… "It's already dark out."

Dean rolls his eyes and gives Castiel one last long kiss that leaves his whole face tingling before going to his brother. "Yeah, yeah. Just wait until you have a crush, bitch."

Now it's Sam's turn to roll his eyes as the two of them begin to go up the sandy incline, only to pause midway. "Oh, this place is opening tomorrow, by the way. Will we be seeing you guys there?"

"You bet your biscuit," Gabriel answers for him, as Castiel's a little busy trying to make his face go back to its regular color.

The minute Sam and Dean are gone, Gabriel turns to him. He doesn't say anything, instead just sitting there with a massive grin on his face that Castiel decidedly ignores in favor of going back into the water. He sees Gabriel undressing, so he does the same so that his clothes don't tear when he gets his tail back.

The sensation of his legs morphing back into his tail is a lot like the opposite process was: nothing for a few seconds, then some tingling, then a sudden rush of intense burning pain. And then nothing, and he has a tail again. It's very strange, but very…awesome.

Castiel gathers up his clothes like Gabriel does and the two of them swim down to the underwater cave, allowing the clothes to remain there for when they transform again. Without a word, Gabriel begins preparing a meal for them, and Castiel watches curiously, having never really watched the process before.

He likes to think he's much closer to not only Dean, but also Gabriel after today's adventure. He really cares for Gabriel, and wonders—not for the first time—what Gabriel thinks of him… It's not like he can ask, but he likes to think Gabriel does more than just tolerate him, as his other caretakers have in the past, if even that.

When the meal is ready and they begin eating (it's shellfish, but Castiel doesn't complain), Gabriel clears his throat and glances up at him, and Castiel immediately recognizes the meal for the trap that it is.

"Sooo…I don't wanna say I told you so, buuut…" Castiel shoots him a glare, mouth pressed into a thin line. "Oh, don't give me that look. I'm not the one who's been fretting over whether or not Dean's super obvious crush was a super obvious crush! Now, about the whole relationship thing…"

Castiel just puts his head in his hands and wishes this entire conversation wasn't happening.

-

Later that night, Castiel throws up all the human food he ate, his body too unaccustomed to it to adapt to it so quickly. Gabriel has no such trouble, instead just rubbing at his back and saying it'll be over soon, and Castiel wonders how many times he's eaten human food before to know this.

Chapter Text

(7,248 words)

The next morning, Castiel kicks up to the surface with human legs. Gabriel would've come with him if he didn't have responsibilities to avoid, but Castiel doesn't mind. He looks out towards the beach and notices a few seagulls squawk at one another and fight over a chunk of bread.

He watches them for a few minutes, content with floating in the inner tube and enjoying the warmth of the morning sun, but when he sees a seagull peck at a plastic bag that had drifted to the beach overnight, he quickly swims to shore and waves his hands, scaring the birds away. Castiel squats down to pick up the plastic bag, only to find the bag isn't empty.

There's a plastic container inside the bag, and a seashell inside the container. When he picks the seashell up, he finds that it's been forcibly opened and that it's empty. Frowning, he sets the seashell on the ground and throws the plastic in the garage can beside the shed. When he turns back around, the seashell is gone.

Confused, Castiel returns to the water and puts his head below the surface, looking for the shell. He doesn't end up finding it by the time he hears someone walking down the incline to the beach. Looking up, he sees Jo and Charlie walking down, their hands joined at their sides.

"Hey, Cas," Charlie greets. "We're gonna be opening this place up in a few minutes. Wanna help out with some last minute prep?"

He thinks about it, but shakes his head, not wanting to be the reason something doesn't work out. He messes things up so frequently that it's bound to happen again, and he'd rather it not impact any of his new friends, if he can.

"So," Charlie begins as she opens the shed doors and wedges the doors to keep them open, "I saw you and Dean last night." Castiel decidedly looks to the water instead of either human. It's bad enough Gabriel teased him all night, but now he has to listen to them do it, too? "Aw, don't be embarrassed, it was cute!"

"I think we're supposed to be giving you the shovel talk or something," Jo puts in as she hauls out a few chairs. The what?

"You'll do no such thing," Dean cuts in from where he and Sam are going down the incline. There's an older male with them that Castiel doesn't recognize, but he finds he doesn't care as Dean steps into the water up to his knees just to give him a quick kiss on his forehead. "Hey, buddy."

He waves in return, as he's seen humans (Dean) do, and Dean waves back with a little smile. The older male glances between them with a strange look on his face that only falls when Dean leads him to the edge of the water.

"Cas, this is Bobby. Bobby, Cas."

Castiel looks at the man for a moment before swimming closer to him until the water level reaches his waist. He then slowly puts his hand out for a handshake, as mature adults do. He sort of recognizes the name, though he's not sure why.

After a moment, Bobby takes his cold little hand into his own calloused one. "Pleasure," is all he says before taking a step back. "This place ain't open for a few more minutes, though. You got a good reason for being here?"

Castiel looks over to Dean helplessly, wondering why he didn't mention him at all. Luckily, Dean explains, "He was here every day that we were fixing this place up. I think he lives nearby or something."

He nods in response, but Bobby just frowns and looks right at Castiel. "You were here every day?" He nods again, more slowly. "Why?"

At a second helpless look, Dean says, "He can't talk, Bobby. He's mute or something."

"That don't mean he isn't capable or can't answer," Bobby refutes, and Castiel hopes he doesn't make another person dislike him so quickly. After a second, Castiel just points to the water and makes an awkward motion meant to represent swimming. "To swim? If you're such a great swimmer, why do you have an inner tube?"

At this, Castiel flushes a little and looks down, unexpectedly ashamed. This makes Bobby back off, however, and address the other humans milling around the beach, instead. When Bobby's back is turned, Dean leans down and whispers, "Don't mind him. He gets kinda crotchety when he's forced to do something he doesn't wanna do."

Castiel doesn't respond, instead watching the scene in front of him. "Now, I don't wanna be called down unless there's a problem, so make sure there aren't any problems, 'cause I don't wanna be called down," Bobby says. "Everyone understand?"

"Yes, sir," they all reply at once, with varying levels of sarcasm.

"Good. Now, where the hell's the other one?"

"Right here, sir," Ruby answers as she saunters down the incline.

"You're late."

"Traffic jam."

Bobby fixes her with a look Castiel's been on the receiving end of many, many times. "You walked." Ruby just raises her eyebrows and doesn't say anything, which makes Bobby grunt and rub at his eyes tiredly. "I'm too old for this. Open up the beach and get to work. Make sure nobody drowns."

Within ten minutes, all five humans are in white chairs with a cool drink by their side, with Jo and Charlie set up on shore, Ruby and Sam on either end of the dock, and Dean on the floating platform in the middle. Castiel lingers by Dean and rests his head on his folded arms on the edge of the platform, enjoying the serenity of the beach and the cool air contrasting the warm sun.

Humans are making their way down to the beach minutes later, and within half an hour, the area is filled with humans he doesn't recognize. Ones around Dean's age keep climbing onto the platform to jump off, making it difficult for him to keep his head on the edge. There's a female with long, blond hair leaning against the edge of the dock near Sam. They're both smiling and flushed, and Castiel wonders why he can't do that, too. Either way, he eventually drifts to the shallower water where there are smaller humans that aren't jumping in as frequently.

Within a minute, a small male comes up to him with a bucket and asks, "Can you help me get shells? I wanna get shells."

Castiel nods slowly and ducks beneath the surface, picking up as many shells as he can before his hands are full. The small male laughs in delight and quickly collects them, setting them in his bucket.

"I'm Reed. What's your name?" Castiel bites his lip and shakes his head, which makes Reed frown. "What's wrong? Why aren't you answering?"

When he shakes his head and lifts a hand to his mouth, a female nearby scowls. "Reed, don't play with that rude boy," she instructs. "Anyone who won't answer such a simple question has got to be up to no good."

He quickly shakes his head, trying to explain to the female why he can't answer, but she doesn't seem to care and instead pulls an unperturbed Reed to another area of the beach to collect shells elsewhere. Castiel frowns and looks around, searching for someone else to possibly interact with.

He swims back over to Dean, but Dean stands up suddenly and blows a loud whistle that makes Castiel's ears ache and burn deep inside. Castiel covers them quickly and groans, trying to block out the noise as Dean shouts, "Hey! No pushing! Didn't anyone read the rules?"

"Next thing you know, there'll be no jumping, either!" someone yells back.

Dean ignores the statement in favor of addressing Castiel, sitting back down slowly, "Hey, Cas. Sorry, can't really play right now. Maybe later?"

Castiel nods sadly and backs away as Dean shoots up from his chair again to yell at someone else. He looks out to the beach and to all the humans playing and interacting, speaking to one another and receiving replies in turn. Humans…talk. They need to talk, it seems, or nothing will ever get done. How's he supposed to befriend humans without talking? The only friends he has now are too busy for him, and even his sort-of-mate doesn't seem to want him around right now…

Not sure what else to do, Castiel exits the area separated by the rope and goes around the shoreline until he's out of sight. He then dips below the surface, removes his swim shorts, and changes his legs back into a tail.

He swims back to Gabriel's cave to drop off his clothes, but Gabriel isn't home. Hurt and kind of lonely, Castiel swims out to the seabed he's not supposed to sleep in and sinks down in it, watching the fish swim around in their groups until his eyes drift closed.

-

Castiel jolts awake sometime later, images of boat motors and bright red tails still flashing before his eyes. He forces himself to calm down and look around, noting it's a lot later now than it was when he first laid down, with the sun set low and painting the sky all sorts of bright colors. Castiel returns to Gabriel's cave to pick up his swim shorts, noticing that Gabriel isn't home yet.

Figuring he has some time to kill, he transforms his tail into legs and surfaces quickly. He looks around on the beach, but doesn't see anyone there. Confused, Castiel swims to shore and surveys the area, eventually heading up the incline (with some effort) to the land above. Once he's at the top, he takes a moment to catch his breath and look at the sky from the edge of the cliff, only a guardrail there to prevent him from falling.

He spends the next twenty minutes wandering around town, only just managing to keep himself from getting hit by the fast vehicles racing down the road. He walks and walks until he reaches a house that kind of looks like Dean's and, excited, he quickly runs up to the porch, remembering to knock first at the last minute.

Instead of Dean or Sam opening the door, however, an older female he doesn't recognize answers. "Do you need something?" Confused, Castiel tries to look around her to peek inside, only to be blocked as the female draws his attention. "Are you lost, hun? You look like you're ready to go swimming."

Castiel hesitates, but nods, figuring Gabriel might worry if he stays out much later, anyway. He tries to look around her again to get a better look at the human sitting inside at the table with something over their ears, but the female steps closer to block his view once again.

"I can give you directions to the beach, if you need them," the female offers, and he nods tentatively again. Then she starts throwing all these unfamiliar words and street names at him, as if he's supposed to understand what they mean. Eventually, she just stops, apparently taking in the blank, lost look on his face. "I can also just lead you there."

Relieved, he nods again and watches as she closes the door once more. The female returns a moment later with some type of human invention that she proceeds to tuck into the waistband of her pants before leading him out. Castiel follows her, realizing he has no chance of finding his way back alone, especially now that the sun is all but gone and the sky is growing darker by the second.

"I'm Ellen," the female eventually tells him. "What's your name? I don't recognize you." Castiel catches up to Ellen to walk beside her so that she can see him shake his head and try to emphasize that he can't talk. She doesn't seem to understand, continuing, "You don't have to worry about stranger danger with me. I own a restaurant in town and I know everybody. My daughter, Jo, sometimes helps me there. She's a lifeguard down at the beach this summer, though."

Castiel's eyes widen at the name and he tries to express that he knows Jo. His rapid hand motions just seem to confuse Ellen, however, so he gives up, once again feeling hurt that no one is able to really understand him. It's his own fault, too. He's not sure why what he saw bothered him so much, but he regrets ever deciding (did he even decide?) not to speak again. Now he couldn't speak if he tried…

Ellen finally catches on around the time the pavement below becomes clouded by sand. "Are you Cas?" Castiel nods quickly, wondering how she figured it out, only to wilt when she adds, "Jo said she ran into a mute kid down at the beach. She also said that you eat seaweed. You ever get a craving like that again, you just drop by the Roadhouse for a regular old salad, all right? Much better for you."

Castiel just squints at her, tilting his head a little, but Ellen doesn't say anything else. She just helps him down the incline to the beach (even holding his hand when he has trouble—just like Gabriel) and takes a moment to stare out at the water as it laps at the sandy shore. Castiel isn't sure how to thank her without his words, so he carefully gives her a brief hug.

This, Ellen seems to understand, since she smiles and pats his back in return. "You're welcome. Oh, is that one of your little friends?" Castiel looks to where she's pointing and sees Ruby sitting on the edge of the dock, her wide eyes locked right on him. Uncomfortable with the way she's looking at him, Castiel takes a step back to hide behind Ellen. "Cas? What's wrong?"

This gets Ruby to stand and saunter over to them. "Yeah, Cas. What's wrong? You're looking a little green around the gills there."

His face pales at the unusual phrase and he ducks down a little from where he's behind Ellen, trying to hide himself from view. Ellen must pick up on this because she puts her hands on her hips and stares Ruby down. "Now, Ruby, why don't you leave this boy alone and go on home?"

Ruby rolls her eyes and grumbles, but does actually leave. Wow. Words are…powerful. Useful. He wishes he could use them…

"I never liked that girl," Ellen says, her hand landing in his hair and carding through it for a moment before dropping away. "She's trouble. Always up to something, I just know it." Castiel tilts his head at her, and Ellen looks over her shoulder, then at the sky. "Right, well, I gotta be gettin' home. Jo gets cranky without her supper." The human steps away and moves over to the incline. "Nice meeting you, Cas."

Castiel waves a little and watches Ellen climb the incline until she's out of sight. Now alone again, he's not entirely sure what he wants to do, so he just stands there for a while until he eventually crawls back into the water and dips below the surface, allowing his tail to reform again. Castiel swims back to Gabriel's cave and drops off his clothes, but Gabriel is still nowhere in sight.

He's…he's never been gone this long before…

Worried, Castiel decides to set out and search for his brother. It's difficult to see through the murky water without any sunlight or even moonlight to guide him, but Castiel tries his best, searching all the places Gabriel has shown him over the years. He eventually stops his search in an unfamiliar part of the lake and sinks to the bottom, his tail dragging through the sand and sending a cloud up all around him.

Part of him thinks he's being irrational. Gabriel's probably just running late, or had lost track of time, or…or maybe he's just grown tired of Castiel. Maybe…maybe he'd seen how other charges have started to become useful to the ones who took them in by this point and realized how little Castiel contributes to…anything. Maybe he's just tired of the burden that comes with taking care of a being that can't even verbally thank him or respond or-or—

Something swims past Castiel in a rush of bubbles, but when he looks in the direction it came from, he doesn't see anything. He frowns and watches the area carefully, nervously, keeping an eye out for anything that's moving, burying himself a little deeper in the sand in an attempt to hide in a way he hasn't done since he was very small. That's when something shiny catches his eye.

His attention is drawn to a glistening piece of metal—no, to the small fish that's holding it in its mouth, its scales reflecting the tiny bit of light that's coming from the street lamps above. He must be near the base of the cliff, then, he thinks distractedly as the fish swims around him before suddenly retreating. Castiel tilts his head, wondering where it had gone when the fish appears just behind him, swimming closer in slow, deliberate movements.

The fish is acting very strangely—it's as if it wants to get eaten, which is rather ridiculous. But Castiel…hasn't eaten all day, and he's very hungry…

He slowly approaches the fish, getting right in front of it and looking it in the eye. The fish doesn't acknowledge him one way or the other—doesn't even move a fin—and, concerned, Castiel reaches over to cup the small fish in his hands. It doesn't move at all as he smooths down the spiky fins running down the length of its body, trying to figure out if maybe it's just as lost and scared as he is.

That's when he notices it's connected to something shiny and metallic. That's when he notices that the metal thing is piercing the fish's mouth and isn't just being held in there, so he carefully unhooks the fish. The fish doesn't move for a moment before it floats to the surface, belly-up. Startled, Castiel drops the metal thing just as it suddenly jerks backwards and yanks, the curved barb catching the very end of his tailfin.

Castiel's first instinct is to flail wildly, but when that only draws him closer to the shoreline and causes the hook to snag him further and dig into his tail, he stops and falls still. He contorts his body against what he now recognizes as a fishing line that's pulling him in and attempts to calmly unhook himself, his hands shaking and gills flaring out anxiously.

Suddenly, something large and nearly invisible drapes over him just as his tail comes free. He struggles against it, but it just gets tighter and tighter, forming around the shape of his body and pulling him to the surface in an instant. Castiel jerks and flails and flips his body as much as he can, attempting to squirm out of the bindings quickly as his breathing gets faster, worrying about who might see him, what's going to happen, if he messed up everything and all the merpeople have to relocate because of him —

"Feisty little thing, ain't he?" a nasally voice remarks, sounding far too calm and nonchalant to be an unaware human.

His eyes fly open, wide with panic, to take in the sight of four people huddled over him. No, not people. They look human enough from the waist up, but they're…Cecaelian—all of them. Castiel makes a soft noise of distress as he takes in the fact that he's being held up by only one of them, and by no more than four long tentacles. They're…very strong…

"I bet he's a screamer," the voice from before adds with a devilish smirk. In response, Castiel spits out all the water he'd had in his mouth and fires it at him, causing the sea devil to shriek and fumble with Castiel's bindings, though not enough to drop him. "Hey! Do that again, and I'll—"

"Keep it in your pants, Alastair, and set the net down," a female he doesn't recognize says with an eye roll as she deposits Castiel on the ground.

He immediately tries to flip out and into the water, but she quickly grabs hold of the net again, pulling the edges back up to act as a barrier. A sense of true helplessness washes over Castiel then, and tears spring to the corners of his eyes. There are four of them and each one is stronger than he could ever hope to be. How will he possibly live through this?

"I was hoping there might be another one with him since he's just a squirt, but I guess this one will have to do," Ruby says with a loud sigh, crawling forward with her tentacles and effortlessly slinging Castiel's bound form over her shoulder. He squirms a little, but realizes quickly there's nothing he can do.

"Lilith? Be a dear and get the truck ready," another Cecaelia he recognizes as Meg hums.

Before Castiel can wonder what a truck is, he's being shoved into a storage container that's likely made of plastic. It's half-filled with water, but very small, and the sea demons don't seem to care whether he can comfortably fit or not since he's being untangled from the net and dumped inside seconds later. Castiel has just enough time to make sure the tip of his tail is away from where the container closes before he's shut inside and left in complete darkness.

Castiel shifts within the tiny storage container, his tail twisting uncomfortably as he tries to turn onto his side, only to discover there isn't even enough space to completely curl up in a ball. Before he can try a new position, the container is lifted up and then slid onto something before everything falls silent. He's still for a moment that he uses to try to push the lid off of the container, but it's no use.

As he tries to come up with a new plan, he starts moving—quickly. He's terrified by this at first and tries even harder to struggle and squirm his way out of the container, but eventually just gives up. The steady pace is oddly soothing, anyway, even as every bump sends the little amount of water pooling at the bottom of the container flying.

Castiel must doze off eventually, since the next time he opens his eyes, he's not moving anymore. He's still trapped in the tiny container, however, and when he tries to strain his ears to pick up on anything, he doesn't hear a sound. Now he really does cry, wet tears spilling down his cheeks quickly as his breath shudders with every intake of air, feeling helpless and trapped and afraid for the first time since Gabriel took him in. He wonders if he'll ever even see Gabriel again…

The container is abruptly opened, and light spills into it. It's still nighttime, but after being sealed away in an airtight container, even the night sky is bright. Tears continue to slip down his face as he stares at the four Cecaelian looming over him.

"Ugh, where's the off button," Ruby grumbles as she wraps a tentacle all the way around his torso, holding his arms down, and then another around his waist.

"At least he's quiet," Meg says, helping Ruby lift him out of the container and bind his limbs. He doesn't even bother struggling, head falling against the nearest tentacle as his eyes drop down, wondering when they're going to eat him or kill him or do…whatever it is they're going to do. "Aww, poor little unicorn," Meg croons mockingly, a hand reaching up to scrub at his wet cheek. "Did somebody clip your water wings?"

"I bet he's a sobber, if you really get him going," Alastair remarks before joining the other two in carrying him below the surface and into the water. The difference in salinity catches him off-guard and makes him cough and choke, squirming to get away. The Cecaelian are unrelenting as his flaring gills struggle to adjust to the new water, the only acknowledgement of his trouble being Alastair's, "A choker. I'll take it!"

"Can you please just shut up already?" the one in front—Lilith?—grumbles without turning around. Alastair doesn't acknowledge the statement one way or the other, but he does fall silent (thankfully—his voice is quite grating).

As they sink below the surface and drop to the gravel-covered floor of the lake, Castiel starts trying to take in his surroundings, noting the number of seabeds set up all around him, some of which are even occupied by curious Cecaelian. Perhaps sea demons like to nest on the bottom of the lake instead of hiding inside of structures? Just as the thought crosses his mind, he sees a cave sprouting from the center of the lake. It's very dark and decidedly not a good place to be forced into. Naturally, that's where he's forced into.

Lilith pauses for a moment as Ruby releases Castiel, and in the split second that he's free, Alastair takes Ruby's place and binds him even more tightly. Alastair and Meg manhandle Castiel into the cave quickly, their numerous long tentacles wrapping around every inch of his writhing body as he tries to delay the inevitable.

As Lilith disappears inside the cave, Ruby watches him struggle from the distance with her arms crossed, and when Castiel looks up at her pleadingly, she rolls her eyes. Castiel is pulled into the small cave that has spontaneously begun giving off an ominous red light. Terrified, he stops struggling and squeezes his eyes shut, accepting that he's going to meet the leader of the sea demons whether he wants to or not.

"We've brought you one of the mer-bitches, sir," Lilith calls out, her voice echoing throughout the cave. Castiel shakes in his bindings, making small sounds of distress.

"Leave them and go," a voice calls back, low and threatening.

In an instant, Alastair and Meg release him and dart out of the cave, with Lilith and Ruby following closely behind, leaving Castiel to shake and try to pretend he's anywhere but where he is. The water around him shifts as something lurks closer, only to abruptly stop, red eyes blinking in surprise.

"Castiel? Is that you?" the voice asks in quiet surprise, and Castiel meets its eyes warily.

He sees…Lucifer, his white scars standing out starkly against his flesh. Lucifer's eyes go from red to their regular blue, and Castiel risks swimming just a little closer, no longer afraid. Lucifer used to play with him before he left, used to look after him sometimes when his current caretaker at the time needed a break. He'd never hurt him…right?

"Why won't you say anything? Are you afraid of me, Castiel?" Lucifer asks steadily, and Castiel quickly shakes his head no. "Why?"

Castiel makes a series of gestures to try to explain what he saw the day Lucifer left, trying to make a mean face to indicate Michael and a restraining motion to try to indicate that he'd seen Michael forcing Lucifer against the boat motor before making a sweeping motion to show how Michael had made him leave.

Lucifer just looks at him skeptically, clearly baffled and swims closer until he's able to touch Castiel. The older merperson's hand goes to rest on top of his head, and when Castiel doesn't do anything more than tilt his head questioningly, Lucifer ruffles his hair, his hand getting caught in the wet strands; Gabriel does the same thing, no matter how many times Castiel bats his hand away.

"You're really not afraid of me," Lucifer says, though it sounds almost like a question. Regardless, Castiel shakes his head no and goes just a little closer to Lucifer, feeling safe for the first time since he'd been pulled from his lake and brought into the sea demons' territory. "And you…can't talk." He shakes his head again. "For how long? You don't seem injured…"

Castiel shakes his head and touches his throat, then his head, then his mouth. Lucifer just blinks slowly and ruffles his hair again with a sigh, clearly not understanding what he's trying to express.

"Great. The only merperson who's not afraid of me can't tell me why or tell anybody else. Fantastic," Lucifer mutters, clearly frustrated. Castiel gives him a sympathetic look, but mostly just feels guilty. Sometimes, he wishes he could speak… Lucifer sighs again when he sees it, sounding so tired. "It's all right, kiddo, not your fault. And, hey, one's better than zero, right?"

Castiel shrugs a little, and Lucifer drops the subject to lurk deeper into the cave. After a moment, Castiel follows him. The inside looks somewhat like Gabriel's cave, with the rocks arranged in strange rows and the bed of seaweed lining the far wall. There's a glowing object in the center that's distinctly human, and it illuminates the cave in steady pulses of light. But it's not Gabriel's cave and Gabriel isn't even here. For all he knows, Gabriel could be searching for him, could be getting captured because of him…

"So, is Michael the head honcho these days?" Castiel frowns at the unusual term, but nods. "He must've moved everyone pretty quickly. Honestly, I'm impressed. Guy really knows how to pack up his entire life and leave overnight. Literally."

Lucifer sounds…bitter, like Gabriel does when Kali 'stands him up,' whatever that means. But he isn't sure why, and he isn't sure how to fix it. He's curious as to how Lucifer is even alive after so long with the sea demons, who are known for their brutality and their tendency to eat smaller or injured merpeople (then again, they're also supposed to be solitary hunters, so the merpeople clearly don't know everything about them). But Lucifer seems to be in charge of them, to a degree, despite not even being a Cecaelia. It's very confusing…

"Do the others know you're here?" Lucifer asks, and he shakes his head. "Anyone? Anyone at all?" Castiel makes a gesture that's supposed to resemble the sea demons, but Lucifer doesn't seem to get it. "Right. New plan. Sit tight a sec, will ya?"

The older merperson leaves the cave without a word, leaving Castiel all alone. He looks around and takes in his surroundings, noting the various similarities between this cave and Gabriel's and wishing he were in Gabriel's cave and not this one.

He hears something moving and looks up just in time to see a sea demon that had been peeking inside swim away in a hurry. Frowning, Castiel approaches the entrance of the cave, only to jump back in surprise when a Cecaelia immediately wraps its tentacles around him and yanks him from the cave.

"Now, Brady, that's no way to treat a guest, is it?" The Cecaelia reels back in surprise at Lucifer's words, even as Lucifer just looks on calmly, Ruby and Meg in tow.

"But-but it's a mermaid," Brady protests weakly.

"Drop it and scram," Ruby barks, and Brady quickly releases him and swims off. Castiel watches warily as Ruby approaches him, though Lucifer still seems strangely calm about everything.

"They're taking you home, Castiel," he explains. "Don't you want to go home?" Castiel hesitates, but nods, because he does miss his home and he misses Gabriel. Not to mention all the Cecaelian that see him keep eyeing him up like he's their next meal. "Then just relax and you'll be back before you know it."

With that, Castiel is escorted by Ruby and Meg back to the surface, Lucifer trailing along. He coughs a little once he's out of the water, adjusting so his lungs take in air again. Right before his eyes, Ruby and Meg's tentacles become legs and they walk off to some type of vehicle with a container on the back, bringing the vehicle closer to the lake.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Lucifer hums from where only his head is breaching the surface. "They can transform their bottom halves with just a thought. Imagine if our kind could do that, Castiel. Wouldn't that be amazing? Think about all the possibilities…"

Castiel's face scrunches up. Gabriel gave him something so that he can do that, and that sort of thing would be useful to other merpeople…but he feels like he shouldn't share that information. For once, Castiel's glad he can't speak so that he doesn't have to consider whether he should tell anyone or not.

The container is opened, and within seconds, Castiel's being scooped up by strong tentacles and deposited into the container. It's still very small, but Ruby allows him to shift a little before closing the box and leaving him in the dark once more. The drive is full of bumps that jostle him and send the water up in his face, and his tail cramps up a few minutes into the ride, but it's not that bad. The vehicle then comes to a stop, and the lid is opened.

"Here we are, lake sweet lake," Ruby says, wrapping her tentacles around him and unceremoniously dumping him into the water. He chokes for a second with the new salinity, but adjusts quickly enough and pops his head back up to the surface. "Go on, swim back to your leader. Tell Michael all about what happened."

Castiel frowns at that; he hasn't actually seen Michael himself in quite some time, since Gabriel usually makes sure he's out of the way when Michael drops by. As far as he knows, the only merpeople in the entire lake are him and Gabriel and maybe Michael, if Michael lives under the sand or something and remains out of sight more often than not. Regardless, Castiel leaves and swims back to Gabriel's cave quickly, noting how it's nearing daybreak. He finds Gabriel inside the cave panicking, swimming back and forth in anxious little circles.

"You had one job. One! Watch the kid, raise the kid, make sure the kid doesn't get himself killed by a freakin' seagull he tried to pet," Gabriel mutters to himself, hands wound in his wet hair. "And now you lost the kid! How can you even—"

Castiel quickly swims in the cave, not wanting to hear him berate himself. Gabriel looks surprised before pulling him into a tight hug. He hugs back to the best of his ability, even as he's being squeezed to death.

When Gabriel pulls away to hold him at an arm's length, he shrieks, "Don't ever do that again! You're givin' me grey fins!" Castiel tilts his head in response, but nods solemnly in agreement. It's not like he meant to leave, though. "Right. Good." The older merperson clears his throat, a smile spreading across his lips. "Now, where did you even go? Sleepover at Dean's?"

Castiel shoves Gabriel's grinning face away, shaking his head furiously. He then grows more serious and attempts to warn Gabriel about the Cecaelian in the area, but Gabriel doesn't seem to get it. Frowning, he tries to draw a depiction of one in the sand, making sure to draw attention to the drawing's multitude of tentacles.

"That's a pretty good drawing of a sea demon," Gabriel eventually remarks, and Castiel nods quickly, pointing to it and then to the open water outside the cave. "What?" Frustrated, Castiel tugs on Gabriel's arm until they're outside the cave, where he then pulls him along to the spot he'd encountered the Cecaelian. Gabriel looks around warily. "I've never been all the way out here before."

Castiel searches below the surface for any sign of the sea demons, eventually finding the fish still hooked to the fishing rod they'd used. He presents this to Gabriel, but the older merperson only pushes it away lightly and says he isn't hungry. Castiel just shows him the string connected to the fish, and then makes a gesture to indicate the presence of sea demons, wiggling all his fingers menacingly.

"Wait…did you…meet one?" He nods rapidly, trying and failing to pull himself up onto the edge of the land. "They captured you?" He nods again, unaware of Gabriel's rising panic. "Are they still in the area? What did they look like? What did they do to you?" Castiel shakes his head a little, trying to indicate that they hadn't actually done anything, but it's too late. Gabriel pulls on his arm, leading him further into the waters than he's ever been. "We gotta tell Michael about this. This is serious, Castiel!"

He's led through a narrow passageway partially covered by sand. He's never seen it before, but Gabriel seems to know what he's doing so Castiel allows himself to be pulled into unfamiliar waters. The new body of water is much, much larger than the lake, he notes, and there are more merpeople around than he's ever seen before. A couple around his age blink over at him, but Castiel can't do much more than blink back before he's being tugged further into the water.

They eventually come to a massive cave, the gaping entrance easily large enough to allow an entire pod of merpeople to travel in or out at once. Castiel hesitates at the sight of it, having never seen a cave so big, but Gabriel just gently tugs on his hand until Castiel allows himself to be pulled again.

The inside is even larger, and there are merpeople everywhere, with some of the brightest tails he's ever seen. In the center, sitting on a big yet flat rock is one merperson he recognizes—Michael. His brilliant blue tail is as bright as ever, making Castiel feel suddenly self-conscious about his dull blue one.

He shrinks in on himself even more when Michael, his voice loud and demanding the attention of all those around him, says, "Gabriel. What an unpleasant surprise. I haven't seen you since you took the Wordless One in as your own."

Castiel looks at Gabriel curiously and questioningly, as the statement is both confusing and completely untrue (he's checked up on them a few times since then), but Gabriel doesn't even glance back, eyes steadily trained on Michael. As they should be, as he's proven to be violent in the past. "Yeah, well, this isn't exactly a social visit."

"Oh?" Now some of the other merpeople milling about the area look over curiously.

"There are Cecaelian in the area," he says; multiple merpeople gasp loudly, suddenly hyper-focused on the conversation. "They're close. They captured Castiel and—"

"How do you know this?" Michael interrupts. "Don't tell me the guppy that can't even speak told you."

"He showed me," Gabriel persists. "They know where we are now and they're coming—"

"And they have tentacles instead of fins," Michael cuts in. "They can barely even swim, and, what, you think they'll come waltzing in here to eat us all up? We left them back in the Lake of Fire when we moved locations. They can't find their way all the way out here."

"They can," Gabriel insists, "and they have. Castiel was—"

"Making something up for attention. That's what juveniles do, Gabriel." Michael rolls his eyes. "Now, that's all I want to hear about this. Leave me be and go back to your lake. You're still banished, as I'm sure you recall."

Castiel looks at Gabriel curiously as he deflates under Michael's dismissive gaze. Surprisingly, Gabriel doesn't argue, instead just pulling him along out of the cave and back through the tunnel in the sand partitioning off the small lake from the larger body of water. Castiel tries to get the older merperson's attention, but can't seem to get it no matter how many times he tries. He wonders if Gabriel is mad at him. By the sound of it, Castiel had all but ruined his life, after all…

When they return to Gabriel's cave, Gabriel is still uncharacteristically quiet, just sitting in his seaweed bed and thinking. Finally, Gabriel says, "Get your stuff. We gotta skip town and head to a different lake." Castiel's eyes widen at this. Undeterred, the older merperson continues, "If those bags of dicks won't believe us, fine. Let 'em all be fish food. I know you're not one to make up stories."

Castiel nods quickly. He's glad Gabriel believes him, truly, but…he doesn't want to force Gabriel to leave. He'd already gotten him banished, and now he's making him leave the lake altogether? Even if it is much safer to leave, he still feels guilty for all the sacrifices Gabriel has to make for him…

"We'll leave tonight, all right? I gotta set up a ride or something." Gabriel pauses, handing him his necklace. "Here, get your legs on. Go say goodbye to your little friends. I'll come get you when it's time to split. Gotta take care of a few things first." It takes Castiel a moment to realize that includes Dean, and his face falls. "Hey, don't worry. It'll all work out."

Gabriel swims off in a hurry, his possessions all packed away in a human plastic bag, leaving Castiel to transform on his own. He slips his swim shorts and shirt on and kicks up to the surface, unable to help but smile when he spots Dean on the beach. Dean waves at him when he approaches, but Castiel shrinks away when he sees Ruby nearby, watching him critically.

"Hey, Cas. Didn't see you much yesterday," Dean says, apparently unaware of the tension between them. Ruby knows what he is and he knows what she is. While he can't tell anyone, she can tell everyone, and that scares him. "Cas? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Castiel stays low in the water, eyes narrowing when Ruby meets his gaze with a smirk. "Hi, Castiel. Need something?" In response, he splashes her with water, using his webbed fingers to his advantage. "Hey!" Ruby shoots him a scowl that he ignores. "Little brat…"

He sticks his tongue out—like Gabriel does—which makes Dean laugh. "What happened between you two?" Neither of them reply, and Dean drops it in favor of swimming out to his chair on the floating platform. Castiel lingers near it, resting his head on his arms as he watches Ruby from the corner of his eye. "Hey, what's wrong?" Dean asks more quietly once they're alone. "You're acting kinda…fishy."

Panic shoots through him at that. Has Ruby already told everyone, or has Dean guessed on his own? Maybe he didn't hide it well enough. Is Dean going to tell everyone, then? Would that be better than Ruby telling everyone, or worse?

"Cas?" Castiel looks into Dean's unassuming eyes. No…no, if he knew, he wouldn't even be able to stand the sight of Castiel. He must not know, then. "You okay?" Not wanting to distress Dean, even if they never see each other again after tonight, he nods. Dean doesn't look like he believes him, but he leans down to kiss his forehead anyway, even though it must taste like the water he lives in. "'Kay. Lemme know if you need anything, all right?"

Castiel nods, knowing he will do no such thing. There's no reason to worry Dean, especially since somehow telling him that he's leaving will only bring up more difficult questions he couldn't answer even if he wanted to.

Chapter Text

(7,219 words)

The humans begin pouring into the beach soon afterwards, so Castiel leaves and goes back underwater to say goodbye to some of his favorite places. The seabed he's not supposed to go to, the strange eel with all the sharp teeth that he tried to eat once (it tastes awful ) but sort of befriended afterwards, the extra crunchy seaweed decorating the bottom of the lake in some places… He's going to miss this lake, but he's going to miss Dean and Sam and Jo and Charlie most of all.

Once the sun begins setting and the beach closes, Castiel goes back up to the surface with a shiny green bottle cap in his hand, pleased to find Ruby has already left. Dean is standing there like he'd been waiting for him (he wasn't, probably, but Castiel has a hard time telling himself that), and the other three humans are sitting in their chairs on the beach.

"Hey, Cas," Dean greets, motioning for him to come closer. He does so, powerless to do anything but. "Wanna watch the sunset with us? We're technically on the clock until it goes all the way down."

Castiel nods and clumsily walks to shore, plopping down in the first dry patch of sand that he sees. Dean sits beside him for some reason, though he's not complaining. So he watches the sun go down with his human friends gathered close, knowing this might be the last he sees of them. Once it's gone, Jo and Charlie leave together, hand in hand, promising to see them tomorrow. Sam indiscreetly moves his chair to the other side of the beach, leaving Castiel and Dean alone.

"You okay?" Dean asks in a murmur, mouth pressed to his wet hair. He nods, turning the bottle cap over in his hands before finally giving it to Dean. "Oh, for me?" Dean's eyes then narrow. "I'm not supposed to eat it, am I?" Castiel shakes his head slightly, leaning more fully against Dean's shoulder and bringing his human legs up to his chest. "Cas?"

Castiel can't tell Dean what's going to happen and he knows it. Even though Dean's…frustrated, he knows that, too. But he wants to. He wants to confide in someone that will stand up for him, that will care for him out of something other than guilt or obligation. He loves Gabriel, but he can't help but feel guilty for getting Gabriel banished and shunned by their own kind. Just because he's different doesn't mean Gabriel is…

Eventually, Dean just wraps an arm around his waist and lets Castiel enjoy his presence. "This is all new to me too, Cas," Dean whispers into his hair, far too quiet for Sam to hear. "I'm trying my best, but it's hard sometimes, especially since you can't talk." At this, Castiel looks down, until Dean brings his face back up and meets his eyes. "I don't mind, but it is more difficult than it could be. I wanna help you, but you can't tell me what's wrong, and I dunno what to do, y'know?"

Castiel nods in understanding. Gabriel says the same thing, sometimes…

Suddenly, a huge rush of water comes from the lake in front of them, and a figure rises from the splash. Something strong and wet wraps around Castiel's ankle, pulling him into the water even as he kicks and fights and tries to gain purchase on the sandy beach with his nails.

"Cas!" Dean shouts, rushing to grab his hand and pull him back. Sam, who has been sitting a distance away to give them space, jumps into action and rushes into the shed, coming out with a pool noodle to bat at whatever has his leg. "What the hell? Let go of him!"

"No, I don't think I will," a voice he instantly recognizes as Ruby's hums, and Castiel goes pale, his grip on Dean's hand slackening. Ruby uses the opportunity to pull him into the place where the land meets the lake, the sticky wet sand gluing to his skin being the least of his problems. "Right at this very moment, we're storming your home, Castiel," she tells him, pulling him up only to send him crashing back against the land, his arms barely able to catch his weight before he's brought down again. "Your kind, your people, they're being destroyed by mine, and you can't even lift a fin."

Castiel, panicking now that Sam and Dean are both whacking Ruby with ineffective pool noodles, takes a handful of sticky sand and throws it at her face in a mimicry of the mud-balls Gabriel showed him how to make. Ruby blinks in surprise and wipes her face.

Before he can try again, she pulls him all the way up in the air by his one ankle, causing him to dangle upside-down. From his angle, Castiel can see almost all of her body from where her tentacles are holding her upright in the shallow water. He uses the new angle to kick her with his other foot, getting her once in the face before Ruby grabs his other ankle.

"Real cute, Castiel, but you're trying my patience. Now, let's level the playing field and see just how many many of your so-called friends will stand by your side." With that, Ruby grabs his necklace with a human hand and tugs , causing the string to snap and beads to fly everywhere. Castiel struggles with new vigor in an attempt to escape before Sam and Dean can see what he really is, wiggling madly in hopes she'll let go and he can hide underwater.

But it's too late. Ruby drops him back to the ground, and before Sam and Dean can make their way over to him, he feels the familiar tingling and then burning in his legs as they form back into a tail, his tail going through one of the legs of his swim shorts. He can only lie there and try to catch his breath, even as Sam and Dean back away a little and eye him warily.

"Cas?" Dean calls hesitantly, and Castiel just manages to lift his head before he's being lifted by a single tentacle wrapped tightly around where his tail splits into two fins. "Cas!"

"This is your precious Castiel," Ruby croons, shaking him back and forth a little. He attempts to squirm out of her hold, but she's simply too strong. "Look at what he is, what he has . He's not even human!"

It's quiet before Sam remarks, "Yeah, well, you're one to talk."

"You got all the ugly parts of an octopus without the brains to match," Dean adds quickly. "If you ask me, you got the short end of the stick, not Cas."

"…what?"

"Given the choice between a blue fish tail and a half-dozen wiggly bits, I think I'd choose the tail," Dean continues.

Ruby is quiet for a long moment before carelessly dropping Castiel to the ground. "I knew you were a waste of time, Castiel," she says, and he sticks his tongue out at her. "Do whatever you want, but my kind is still wiping yours off the map." And with that, Ruby sinks beneath the surface and disappears.

Castiel tries to squirm his way over to the edge of the water (after wiggling out of his swim shorts) to chase after her, but he can't move very well in this form. A new plan in mind, he begins searching the sand for all the beads of his necklace, forming a small pile of them. Partway through, Sam and Dean wordlessly help him, Sam collecting the string the beads go onto. Once the beads are all in a pile, Castiel starts stringing them back on, trying to remember the pattern Gabriel had used when he made it.

As he's working, Dean starts, "So…" Castiel glances up for a second, meeting his eyes with a tilt of his head. "You're a mermaid, huh? Or, merman, I guess." The term isn't exactly what his people use, but he nods anyway. "Is the whole…mute thing part of the package, or…?"

Castiel shakes his head, pausing for a second before pointing to Sam, who responds, "Me? I'm a human." He shakes his head again, and gestures between Sam and Dean, and then himself. "Wh… Oh, brothers? Is Gabriel a merman, too?"

Smiling, Castiel nods and finishes stringing the beads on. He fumbles to tie the two broken ends together, but his webbed fingers are clumsy and unused to being used for such an intricate thing. Dean eventually takes it from him and ties it for him, unclasping the back of the newly-reformed necklace so that Castiel can put it on.

But nothing happens. There's no tingling or burning or anything, and he still has a tail instead of human legs. Distressed, he takes it off and puts it on again, only for the same result. His gills flare out in his panic, accidentally revealing another inhuman part of himself to Sam and Dean. The closed shell in the center stares back at him mockingly as he glares down at it.

"Does that…change your tail into legs?" Sam guesses, and Castiel nods with narrowed eyes. It's not working. Why isn't it working? "Is it broken? Maybe it's because the string was snapped?"

When he shrugs, frustrated, Dean surprises him by taking his face in his hands; he thought Dean wouldn't want to touch him now that he realized what he is, what he isn't . "Hey, it's all right. Maybe Gabriel can fix it. I'm guessing he made it, right?" Castiel nods slowly before his eyes widen in panic and he makes a move to go into the water behind him. "Hey, hold on!" A series of frantic gestures do nothing to help Dean understand.

Sam, however, does. "Is Gabriel still in there, with all the squid-people?" He nods quickly, casting a worried glance over to the water. "Well, maybe we can call him or something?" With a pointed look, Castiel shakes his head.

"Well, you're not goin' back in there now ," Dean cuts in, "not with all those things in there, fighting and killing every mermaid they see. No way." Castiel looks at the water again, worried for Gabriel, but Dean remains firm. "We'll look for Gabe in the morning when the dust settles a little, okay? But not tonight."

"Dean's right," Sam adds. "It's too dangerous."

"Besides, you're injured. Being thrown around like a ragdoll will do that." Dean abruptly stands up, cracking his back once he's upright. "C'mon, you can hide out in our house. Bobby's out tonight, anyway." Dean stares at him for a moment before stating, "I'm gonna pick you up. Sammy, get a towel."

As Sam goes back to the shed, Dean leans down and scoops him up with one arm wrapped around his torso and the other under the bend in his tail. Castiel quickly wraps his arms around Dean's neck, panicking a little as the ground disappears under him.

"Hey, just relax, I gotcha," Dean soothes, taking a few steps towards the shed with Castiel in his arms. If he's heavy or difficult to carry, Dean doesn't show it at all. Sam comes out with a towel that he lays over Castiel's lower half, hiding his tail from view. "Help me carry him up the hill."

Sam goes to the opposite side of Castiel and together, the two humans carry him up the sandy incline and up to the pavement above. Sam lets go with the excuse of drawing less attention, though he does adjust the towel a few times to keep it covering Castiel's tail. As Dean continues walking, Castiel does find himself relaxing in his hold, even though he is probably hard to carry with all of his wet skin and slippery scales. The t-shirt he's still wearing probably helps, at least.

They stop at a house Castiel vaguely recognizes, and Sam goes ahead of them and opens the door. "Hey, you don't need to go in water or anything, do you?" Dean asks as Sam closes the door behind them. Castiel shakes his head; he's not sure how to tell them that he has lungs as well as gills, so he leaves it at that. "All right, great."

Despite his words, Dean brings him into the bathroom (which he only recognizes as such from the bathrooms in the shed) and sets him down on the edge of something long and white. Castiel still falls backwards into it the second Dean turns around, his head bumping against the wall with a thud. He scrambles to sit back up, but his tail—the only thing still outside of the deathtrap—doesn't have the muscles to pull his entire body back upright.

Dean ends up helping him back to the edge of the 'tub' and holding him up as Sam brings a first aid kit out and begins tending to the injuries Castiel didn't even know he had. Apparently, he has a bruise on his forehead that looks like a 'plum,' whatever that means. Regardless, everything is going well until the front door creaks open and footsteps start leading inside, going closer and closer to the bathroom until they abruptly stop.

There's a knock as someone asks gruffly, "You almost done in there?"

Sam and Dean look at each other for a moment. They must misinterpret something somewhere along the way, because they both answer at the same time, "Yeah!"

There's a long pause before the door suddenly flies open, and someone Castiel recognizes as Bobby stands in the doorway, mouth dropped open and eyes wide. Oh…he's looking at him . Castiel waves awkwardly, even as his gills flare out anxiously. Bobby just continues staring, silent and surprised, until the expression finally drops from his face.

"This explains a lot," he says, apropos of nothing, before walking right out of the room. "You get any blood or water anywhere, you're cleanin' it up." Bobby then peeks back into the room. "He come from the beach?"

Dean swallows. "Yeah."

"I think we're closing tomorrow—before you reel in any more strays."

And that's it. Bobby just disappears, leaving Sam and Dean to look at each other. "I thought he was gonna be out?"

"I thought so, too," Sam says, frowning. He slowly goes back to disinfecting an open cut on Castiel's arm. "At least he didn't seem upset."

Dean doesn't reply, and they both drop the subject. When Castiel's rather minor injuries are all dealt with, Dean fumbles through carrying him upstairs and into his room. Bobby wordlessly watches them from the other end of the hall, a half-empty beer bottle in his hand and some sort of a long human device Castiel's never seen before lying across his lap. Once they're finally all in Dean's room, Castiel is set down on the bed, though he surely leaves a puddle behind.

"All right, let's try to get some rest," Dean says eventually, kicking off his shoes and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Big day tomorrow. Gotta look for Gabe."

Castiel nods solemnly, even as he admires how comfortable the bed is beneath him; it's much better than a seaweed bed. Sam, meanwhile, raises an eyebrow. "You're sharing a bed?"

"Don't be jealous," Dean quips in response. "I'm sure you and Jess'll get there one day." Sam's face goes red and he storms out of the room, closing the door behind him. "'Night, Sammy!" the human chuckles, anyway.

Castiel wants to ask about Bobby, but can't—he can't even ask for a glass of water to make the itch in his skin a little more bearable. He gets distracted from the thought a moment later when Dean's body turns and he lifts a finger to brush against Castiel's gill slits. Castiel tilts his head, but they fan out of their own accord, which makes Dean smile. When he pokes at the area underneath the flaps, however, Castiel bats his hand away with a grimace. It feels weird .

"Sorry. It's just…kinda cool. Can you really breathe outta these things?" Frowning, he nods, but pats his chest for emphasis that Dean entirely misses. "Awesome." Dean's curious gaze drifts down to Castiel's hand, which he takes in his own to examine the webbing between the fingers, before inevitably ending up at his tail, smoothing down the scales. "Do all the mermen have blue tails?"

Castiel shakes his head, unsure how to tell Dean about the deep gold of Gabriel's, or the bright blue of Michael's that make Castiel's look dull and grey in comparison. Hester, Inias, Kelvin…even Naomi's tail is more beautiful. And yet, Dean still looks at his deep blue tail like it's something precious, something to be admired.

He tells himself it's only because Dean's never seen one actually worthy of praise, but a small part of him can't help but believe that's not entirely why. That small part is very quiet and easily ignored.

-

Sleeping on land is much different than sleeping underwater. There are all sorts of lights and strange noises, and Dean's arms have been wound tightly around Castiel for the better part of the night, even with the wall of pillows between them presumably there to discourage such a thing.

By the time Castiel finally manages to rest, he wakes up what seems like minutes later feeling like he's suffocating (though he knows he won't since his lungs are still steadily taking in air), and his gills keep flapping against his neck and chest, as if there's water hidden somewhere that they need to find. Very fun.

When Dean finally wakes up, he seems confused and dazed for a few seconds before his eyes grow wide with horror, making Castiel shift on the bed to try to find somewhere to hide, thinking Dean regrets…something. That's when Dean blurts out, "Man, you're not lookin' so hot. Are you supposed to be this pale? Crap. Sammy!"

And with that, Dean hops out of bed and runs from the room, leaving Castiel to stare up at the ceiling, puzzled. Something overhead suddenly starts creaking, and Castiel jumps. A moment later, Dean returns to scoop him up in his arms again and clumsily take him down the steps and into the bathroom, revealing Sam leaning over the bathtub that's partially filled with water.

Castiel is set inside the bathtub a moment later. Though the water is barely deep enough to wash over all of his tail, it's still refreshing, even if it hurts a little to breathe in. Oh well. That's why he has lungs. The water continues filling the bathtub until it reaches Castiel's clothed stomach. It's almost teasing—there's enough water to feel like, well, water, but not enough to swim or dive in.

He turns in the small tub as best he can to let the front half of his body soak in the water, trying not to think about the container the Cecaelia had him trapped in, not too long ago. When he turns over again with a grateful smile, he finds Sam and Dean's eyes both locked on him, something close to awe in their gazes.

When he tries to meet Dean's eyes, the human looks away. "Right. I'm gonna get some breakfast. Any preferences?"

"Anything but bacon and eggs again," Sam grumbles.

"Bacon and eggs it is!" Dean then pauses in the doorway and asks, "Should I…go fishing or something? I think Bobby has an old rod lying around somewhere. Or…can Cas eat bacon?"

Castiel's face scrunches up in consideration as Sam suggests, "Maybe he could eat a salad or something. You said he ate seaweed, right?" Oh. They're talking like he isn't there…again… "Unless we have fish in the freezer?" Sam finally looks at Castiel, asking, "You eat fish, right?" He tries to indicate that he only eats smaller ones, but Sam doesn't seem to understand, so he just nods. "Seaweed, too?" He nods again, and Sam looks back to Dean. "So fish and a salad would probably work. No dressing, to be safe."

Dean nods and leaves the bathroom. Sam lingers, watching Castiel cup some water in his hands to look at it. This water is very different from what he finds in the lake. For one, it's not salty at all, and while he's heard stories about lakes without saltwater in them, he's never actually…believed it. Which isn't exactly unreasonable, considering he's only been in a total of three lakes before, including his recent trip to the Lake of Fire. Actually, the Lake of Fire had water similar to this bathtub's water. He wonders what that means.

Dean returns a short time later with a plate of unappetizing food that Castiel attempts to eat anyway, because he's hungry. The fish (frosted with ice, pink, and scaleless—looking far from the fish he's used to seeing) is far too large to swallow, and far too cold to attempt to chew, so he leaves it on the plate. The salad is acceptable, however, so he focuses on that, enjoying the crunchy leaves the most.

Once they're finished eating (in the bathroom, which is apparently unusual), Dean helps him out of the bathtub and carries him outside, a towel draped over his tail to hide it from sight. They do get a few unusual looks as they go towards the beach, but Sam and Dean don't seem to care, so Castiel ignores it.

They encounter lines of bright yellow tape wrapped from one end of the guardrail to the other, but both humans ignore that, too. After a careful climb down the sandy incline leading down to the beach, they find Bobby standing on the shoreline alongside Jo and Charlie. Charlie raises a hand in greeting when she sees them, only to pause with a low whistle.

"Man, you guys sure move fast."

"Something's going down in there," Jo says seriously, looking out towards the water. The water that's usually calm is stirring and unsettled, almost like waves that shouldn't be possible in a lake. With the grey clouds above, one could almost believe it's the result of an incoming storm. Castiel's eyebrows knit together at the sight. "The beach is closed until further notice."

"It's starting," a voice Castiel instantly recognizes comments solemnly, and he quickly turns in Dean's arms to see Gabriel standing a distance away, looking uncharacteristically serious even in a pair of bright yellow swim shorts. Castiel waves at him, and Gabriel's serious expression does crack a little around the sucker in his mouth. "Hey, Cassie."

"What's starting?" Charlie asks. "And where do you keep getting all the candy from?"

Ignoring the second question, Gabriel replies, "Our kind had sort of a passive-aggressive war with the Cecaelian a long time ago—y'know, since they eat us, and all—so we hit the road and bummed it to a different body of water. Only now they found us, and by the looks of it, they brought their entire army."

"'Cecaelian'?" Jo repeats with a frown.

"Squid-people," Sam fills in seriously, even as the phrase makes Gabriel smirk.

"And what is 'your kind'?" she asks next. "Sugar-obsessed monsters that enjoy swing sets?"

"So basically toddlers," Charlie adds under her breath.

"Well, your kind calls us mermaids, so we've adapted," Gabriel answers eventually, and everyone falls silent. "Technically, we're sea angels, but that's kind of an archaic term nowadays." Castiel frowns at that; he never knew that… "But we're getting off topic. The squid guys are ripping my fishy friends apart and this is obviously a problem. So—"

"Wait, are we supposed to just believe mermaids exist and go on?" Jo interrupts. "Not to mention…squid-people?"

"They're closer to octopuses, really. Octopi? Whatever. And yeah, I do." Gabriel makes a vague hand gesture and tells Dean, "You may now unveil the glorified dolphin."

Castiel makes an affronted noise once he realizes he means him , but goes quiet when the towel is taken off of his tail, allowing all the humans in the area to see it. Jo and Charlie's eyes go wide, but Bobby just rolls his eyes and continues watching the uneasy water.

"Damn, you really struck gold there, Dean," Charlie eventually remarks. "I might have to reconsider some life choices if these come in female." For this, Jo shoots her a glare. "Kidding, kidding. I don't care much for seafood."

"We're getting off topic here, guys," Sam cuts in, briefly quirking a strange half-smile. "What are we gonna do about this?"

"Honestly? Half-ready to just leave 'em all here," Gabriel replies, switching the sucker to the other side of his mouth. "They're all pretty dickish, if you ask me."

"Aren't they your family?" Charlie asks.

"A group of us is called a pod, and they gave me the boot, anyway."

"Shouldn't you care a little more about this?" Dean huffs, adjusting his hold on Castiel. "I mean, seriously."

"Look, it's been just me and Cas for years now. And you wanna know who's leading one army?" Gabriel crosses his arms and looks out to the water. "My brother. And the other army? My other brother. Which side am I supposed to be on, exactly?"

Dean has the decency to look embarrassed. "Wow. That sucks." Castiel, meanwhile, is still trying to figure out if he means 'brother' as the humans use it or not, since he's quite sure that he and Gabriel aren't actually related even if they call themselves 'brothers,' let alone Lucifer and Michael.

"Majorly. So what am I supposed to do, try and play peacemaker, only to sit and watch them destroy each other?" Gabriel glances over towards the sandy incline leading down to the beach. "And that's assuming they even listen for more than a couple seconds. I'd rather just go now before anyone dies or anything."

"So that's the plan? Just turn tail and run for the hills?" Jo narrows her eyes at Gabriel, who doesn't look up. "Seems kinda cowardly to me."

"Well, what would you do?"

Jo thinks for only a second. "Go in there and try to reason with 'em. You're all brothers, so deep down, the last thing they wanna do is kill each other."

Gabriel snorts at this and raises an eyebrow. "Wanna bet?"

Everyone just kind of falls silent for a few long seconds before Bobby finally says, "Well, do something or don't. No reason to keep standin' here and watching."

Gabriel doesn't reply for a moment before he rolls his eyes. "All right, fine. I'll go yell at them to cool it and hopefully not get maimed in the process."

Castiel straightens at this, eyes going wide as he envisions Gabriel being pushed into a boat motor like Lucifer, despite there not being a boat in sight. He shakes his head rapidly, squirming in Dean's arms to try to reach for Gabriel, but it's no use. Gabriel doesn't glance up even once as he takes off his shirt and unlatches his necklace, making his way into the water just as his human legs morph back into a familiar golden tail.

"Wish me luck," is all he says, tossing his bright yellow swim shorts over his shoulder so that they land in a wet pile at Sam's feet before he's disappearing beneath the surface.

Castiel continues squirming until Dean huffs, "Cas, I can't hold you if you keep moving." He pointedly keeps moving until Dean finally understands. "You want me to put you down?" He nods, and is slowly lowered to the sand. Castiel tries to worm his way over to the water's edge, only for Dean to grab him under the arms at the last second and lift him up again like he weighs nothing. "Whoa, where do you think you're going? You're still injured, y'know."

Castiel narrows his eyes and gestures towards the water, then to Sam, who has accidentally become his way of referring to Gabriel (whoops). Dean raises an eyebrow in response, but doesn't say anything, leaving Castiel to flounder his way through indicating that he'd like to make sure Gabriel doesn't get himself killed or anything, but Dean still doesn't seem to get it. Frustrated, he starts squirming again until Dean loses his grip on him. He makes it all of three inches closer to the water before he's lifted again.

"Dude, you got some kind of death wish or something? 'Cause this right here makes me think that you do." To Castiel's annoyance, Dean takes a few steps back away from the water, making even the idea of getting back seem impossible. He gestures emphatically back at the lake, but Dean either doesn't see it or ignores it. "Just let Gabe handle it. He's supposed to be talking them down, remember? Not exactly something that you can help out with, buddy."

The words sting, no matter how true they are. Castiel gestures between the water and Sam again, even as his vigor fades a little. He knows he won't really be of much help, but he has to be there. He can't just not be present as Gabriel risks himself for a cause, no matter how little either of them really care about it.

Dean's mouth sets in a thin, firm line, and just as he's about to argue yet again, Bobby cuts in with, "Oh for—Dean, you're not his mother . Just let him do what he wants."

Castiel perks up at this, even as Dean sputters. "But I—"

"You are acting like a controlling wife," Charlie remarks, which makes Jo laugh even as she covers her mouth with her hand in an attempt to smother it—Kali does the same thing when she laughs, which is rare in and of itself.

Dean's jaw ticks, and after a moment, he sighs, apparently annoyed. "Fine, go check on him." Dean then pulls him into a long, deep kiss that makes Castiel light-headed and his gills flare out. "Just don't get dead," he finishes, helping Castiel get to the edge of the water this time.

Castiel hesitates for a moment before pulling his shirt off and handing it to Dean, not wanting to get it too wet if he can help it. He then leans up in a poor attempt to kiss Dean back, missing the mark a little, which makes Dean smile. He doesn't try again, not wanting to linger too much longer in fear that he might never leave. Instead, he does his best to scoot into the lake until the water is to his waist. He spares one last glance to shore, locking eyes with Dean, before dipping below the surface.

He's not sure what he was expecting, but the multitude of merpeople swarming the lake only he and Gabriel previously occupied was not the first thing in his mind. He doesn't recognize any but Hester, who gives him a strange look when she sees him. Still, Castiel approaches her and her small group curiously.

"They're evacuating the bigger part of the lake," she tells him when he stares at her questioningly. "The younger ones were told to go here while the elders fight in the other part."

"Michael and that snake are battling," another adds with a scowl. "I thought he died ages ago."

"You're welcome to stay here and wait it out with us, Castiel," Hester says after a moment, sounding hesitant.

"Even if you are just glorified shark bait," the other grumbles under his breath, and Castiel tilts his head.

Still, he knows he can't just stay here while Gabriel is out doing who knows what (if he planned on doing that, he would've just stayed with Dean), so he silently declines Hester's tentative offer and instead swims to the area linking the two bodies of water. Multiple merpeople see him, but no one stops him.

The larger lake is much different than the one he and Gabriel stay in. This one is filled with older merpeople wrestling against Cecaelian, and even though the merpeople vastly outnumber the sea demons, the latter are much stronger and more formidable, and it takes several merpeople just to attempt to subdue one Cecaelia.

As Castiel is observing from what he thought was a safe distance away, out of absolutely nowhere, a sea demon wraps a tentacle around his neck and yanks him out of his hiding place behind a patch of seaweed. He chokes out a few air bubbles and uses his slightly pointed nails to claw at the tentacle, only for another to wrap around his waist and squeeze . His vision goes black for a few seconds as his ears start ringing before the tentacles abruptly pull away and his body sinks to the bottom of the lake.

As his hearing comes back, he hears someone scold, "You actual idiot. You had, like, three orders!" There's a wet sound that he can't figure out the source of as his vision slowly comes back in big, hazy splotches. Castiel makes out the shape of two Cecaelian arguing, one looking hostile and the other dumbfounded. "Now, bring in the bait and I won't mention anything."

With that, a tentacle wraps around his waist again, but much more gently, and Castiel is lifted and carried deeper into the lake and towards a cave he thinks he should recognize. It's large and secluded, but he can tell it's occupied at the moment, judging by all the noise coming from within.

"You're kind of a stupid one, huh," the sea demon comments after a moment of creeping along the sandy bottom, holding Castiel like a human baby rattle. The creature's grip is sure and firm, even if it's a little loose, as if the Cecaelian has no doubt that he's much stronger than Castiel could ever be—which isn't wrong, but… "They got all the other bite-sized babies outta here early, but not you, huh? You just had to play hero. Well, now you're playing bait, and—"

"Geez, why don't you just tell the brat everything ?" another sea demon cuts in with an eye roll, snatching Castiel from the other's grasp so quickly that he gets whiplash—an unusual feeling when they're both underwater. This one grips him more tightly, and with two tentacles instead of one. "Gimme, dumbass, and make yourself scarce."

The one from before rolls his eyes, but flees as quickly as something that crawls along the bottom of the lake can. The rest of the trek into the large cave is silent, but once they get inside, it's anything but. There are at least three voices shouting at each other, one of which he recognizes as Gabriel's while the other two are only vaguely familiar.

Finally reaching the center, he spots Michael and Lucifer on opposite walls of the cave and Gabriel between them, arms outstretched as if to physically separate them, even if they aren't even close to touching. There's another merperson with a dark tail that Castiel doesn't recognize watching from nearby, his arms crossed.

"—and you think anyone would want a scarred traitor to be their leader?" Michael sneers.

"You would know, considering you gave them to me," Lucifer bites back. "You know, that 'incident' that nobody seems to know about, right before you dumped me in the Lake of Fire?"

"You're delusional," Michael replies steadily, and before Lucifer can respond, Castiel is suddenly thrust into the cave, his head hitting the cave wall before he can steady himself. At his sudden appearance, the brave and just leader of the merpeople rolls his eyes. "Oh, look at that. The Wordless One is here. As if my day couldn't get any worse."

Lucifer blinks in surprise before cursing. "Sorry, miscalculation on my part. I thought the fearless leader might actually value the life of one of their young, but apparently …"

"There's not exactly much to value," the one lingering in the shadows of the cave remarks as Gabriel helps Castiel up and shoots him a 'seriously' look.

"Nobody asked you, Raphael," Gabriel cuts in before pushing firmly on Castiel's back, giving him a small shove. "You gotta get outta here, Cas—now." In response, Castiel shakes his head with a puzzled frown. "Cas, I'm serious. Go."

"No, actually, I think this is a great opportunity," Lucifer interrupts, now-red eyes twinkling as a dangerous sort of smile comes to his face. "C'mere, Castiel."

"Don't," Gabriel hisses in his ear, grabbing Castiel's arm and holding him protectively behind his back.

"I said, come here," Lucifer repeats, flicking one hand up and towards himself.

In a second, Castiel is yanked from Gabriel's hold and brought over to Lucifer, all without the older merperson even touching him. When Castiel tries to move, he finds that he can't do more than blink and move his gill flaps, yet he somehow doesn't sink even an inch. Suddenly terrified, he side-eyes Lucifer warily as a hand cards through his wet hair. This is not the Lucifer he used to know at all, he realizes, as if the ability he's never even heard of before wasn't enough of an indicator.

"That's better. Now, why don't we have a little experiment," Lucifer hums, still bringing his fingers through Castiel's hair calmly. "A leader is supposed to be loyal, and brave, and kind, wouldn't you say? Maybe even throw some tough love in there, for the hell of it."

"What are you doing, Lucifer?" Gabriel asks quietly, his voice shaking a little.

"Just proving a point here. After all, if Michael is such a great leader," the hand in Castiel's hair tightens to the point of being painful, and he tries to blink back tears, "then surely he would come to protect one of the youth, right?" A sinking feeling fills Castiel—like someone had popped his air bladder and he's falling to the bottom of the lake with no hope of ever surfacing. "In fact, let's all see what a hero Michael is when confronted with a problem, shall we?"

With that, Castiel is abruptly able to move again—just in time for Lucifer to snap his fingers and for a large, intimidating Cecaelia with flaming red hair to appear. Without saying a word, she grabs him around the torso and holds his arms against his sides, dragging him out of the cave within seconds. Castiel glances over his shoulder amid his struggling to see Gabriel apparently afflicted with the same thing he'd been, unable to move at all beyond sending him a few panicked looks.

Castiel is hauled out into the center of the lake, and several individuals look over—Cecaelian and merpeople alike. After a moment, Lucifer and Michael come out, the other merperson from the cave—Raphael?—following soon after. Gabriel is nowhere in sight, but at the moment, Castiel has greater concerns.

Lucifer starts some grand speech about leaders and good qualities while Michael crosses his arms and glares at him. Castiel, meanwhile, is still tightly bound by the sea demon, who moves a tentacle up to cover his mouth at some point. This doesn't obstruct his airway or anything, as Castiel has been exclusively breathing through his gills since he first went underwater, but it does make him wonder if this is how Cecaelian breathe, or if this is just a way for them to assert their dominance.

His eyebrows knit together in confusion, and the sea demon smiles, tightening her grip. Then, interrupting Lucifer's very unengaging speech, the Cecaelia suddenly starts shaking him back and forth, bringing that baby rattle image back to Castiel's mind before he's unceremoniously dropped. He's grabbed a second later by the same sea demon, who wraps at least four tentacles around him and squeezes, one of them cutting off his air supply as his gills are all covered and forced closed.

Just as his vision starts to fade and he begins to lose consciousness, the pressure that was crushing him seconds before disappears entirely, and Castiel gasps and coughs as he tries to take in air. He unwittingly sinks to lie in the sand on the bottom of the lake, the eyes of all the spectators around him locked solely on him.

"That's not what I meant, Abaddon," he hears Lucifer hiss from somewhere behind him.

"Oops. My bad," the sea demon—Abaddon?—replies, lingering in the area even as she moves back a little. Castiel then feels himself being lifted again, but by arms this time instead of tentacles, though they're not any more gentle.

"Still, this was a clear representation of Michael's attitude as a leader," Lucifer says, jostling Castiel's limp form as he swims closer to Michael. "Did anyone see him move even an inch? Because I sure didn't. And while a poor baby was getting squeezed and tossed around, too. And look—he's still not lifting a finger!" Castiel lifts his head to look at Michael, attempting to read his expression with unfocused eyes. "Well? Anything to say for yourself?"

In response, Michael crosses his arms and looks away. As the crowd of two separate species begins murmuring, the leader of the merpeople apparently changes his mind, instead straightening his posture and glaring at Lucifer. "That's enough, Lucifer, you've had your fun. Let the juvenile go now."

"Go where? To you? Or maybe back up to the surface to that human he's been falling for…" Castiel's eyes grow wide, but Michael's narrow. "Oh, you didn't know? Figures that the fearless leader has no idea what the youth are up to these days," Lucifer hums, apparently delighted. "Yes, this little bundle of scales is in love with a human and Michael didn't have a clue."

Castiel can feel his face grow redder and redder with shame and embarrassment, especially as all the spectators either begin to either sneer or whisper—or both. It's no secret that any type of relationship between their kind and humans is forbidden, but…well, Dean sort of…made him forget. Dean makes him forget a lot of things, to the point where he wonders if he'd even remember how to speak (if he could) when Dean's eyes are on him…

Michael then asks, voice demanding his attention, "Castiel, is this true?" He might've nodded, or he might've just sat there with his face as red as physically possible. Either way, a moment later, Lucifer releases him and he falls to the bottom of the lake. Oh. Maybe his air bladder actually had popped… "Must be Gabriel's bad influence on him," Michael mutters to himself. "Thankfully, he only had the one to corrupt…"

Castiel glares at him for talking poorly of his caretaker and throws a rock at him, forgetting things fall differently underwater. As such, the rock only makes it a few inches before sinking to the sand again. It makes Michael shoot him a dirty look, though, and Lucifer smirk at him almost proudly. He doesn't quite know what either of them are thinking, but he has a pretty good idea…

As Lucifer goes back into a speech about how a leader can't just turn a blind eye to issues like that, Castiel allows his heavy eyes to close. He's just…so exhausted by the entire day, his entire head hurts, and he feels light-headed even at the bottom of the lake. So he allows himself to fall asleep, if only to delay his judgment for falling in love with a human for just a little longer.

Chapter Text

(4,385 words)

The next time he opens his eyes, it's to someone shaking his shoulders. Castiel tries to shift away from it, but can't quite manage, and the shaking continues. He finally peels his eyes open to glare at whoever dares try to rouse him, only to find a very blurry yet frantic Gabriel hovering over him, gills flared out in his apparent panic. Castiel's own gills flutter in response, but he can't manage much more than that.

"Yeah, that's good, just stay awake." Gabriel then wraps an arm under Castiel's arms and starts swimming upwards, quickly bringing them both to the surface. The sudden rush of cold air that hits them when they surface makes Castiel shiver, shifting closer to his brother. "Juuust relax, Cassie, I'll take care of everything, just like I always do. Just hang tight, Cas, I've gotcha." He's rambling, though Castiel can tell he has no idea where they even are. "You just focus on staying awake, I got the rest."

Gabriel swims closer to the unfamiliar shoreline and hauls him up onto the ground that's more gravel than sand. Castiel can't help but groan and try to curl in on himself as the cold air bites at his wet skin, which makes Gabriel curse and pull him back into the water, only to set him down on the edge where the water is shallow, if still a little rocky. Personally, he'd rather be at the bottom where the water is warmer, if only marginally so.

"I'll be right back. Just hang in there, Cas," Gabriel tells him, sounding far away. "Don't fall asleep!"

Castiel tries to stay awake, if only to appease his brother, but within five minutes, he throws up the human breakfast he had that morning, curls into a ball, and passes out again.

-

The next time he wakes up, it's to something cold pressing against his chest. His eyes fly open, and he finds himself staring into the eyes of a female with dark hair and a white coat. Startled, Castiel hurriedly sits up, only to bump heads with the female leaning over him.

She rubs at her forehead, but also presses a hand to his chest and pushes him back down. "Hey, easy." Castiel shifts against her hold, though he realizes quickly that he's too weak to properly fight her. "Easy, easy. Just relax, there." He reluctantly sinks back against the cool metal table he'd laid across, though he keeps his wary gaze fixated on the female as she brings the cold circle back to his chest. "Yeah, that's it… Take some deep breaths for me."

Suspicious of her intentions (along with the fact that he has no idea who this is), Castiel holds his breath entirely while looking her right in the eye. She just raises an unimpressed eyebrow up until Castiel is forced to take in air again, only to start choking, in which she looks concerned and rolls him onto his side. He tries to fight that, too, but it ends up being a useful position as he throws up again.

"Not feeling too great, huh?" the female asks, rubbing a hand up and down his back. Exhausted, he just shakes his head, momentarily forgetting that he has no idea who this is or what she wants with him. "I'm here to try to make you feel better, but you gotta cooperate, all right?" He reluctantly nods as he's pulled so that he's partially upright, his upper body braced against the female's shoulder as the cold circle is pressed onto his back. "Okay, take some deep breaths for me."

This time, he complies, allowing his tired body to slump over further into the shoulder, as much as he wishes it were Dean's. It doesn't really matter, as a few seconds later, he's shifted so that his back is resting against the wall instead. It's not as warm or comfortable, but he's able to slump into it more than he was when he was being held upright.

He endures a light being shone into his eyes, following the female's finger as she brings it out of his view while also keeping his head still (which is very confusing), a series of seemingly simple questions that he doesn't know the answer to (what year is it? What's a year??), whatever an 'x-ray' is (he just remembers lying there for a few peaceful minutes before being pestered again), and the female looking into his mouth and poking at his throat for several minutes.

"Well, I'm not sure how to check your memory or anything if you can't talk—which your friends informed me of—so I guess that's it. You've got a concussion, my friend," she announces as she finishes writing something on a clipboard and sets the pen down.

While Castiel tries to figure out what that means, she presses her cold hands against his chest, pushing down to apply pressure that makes him try to flinch away. When he looks down, he notices dark purple marks wrapping around his entire torso, the area pulsing with pain when the female touches it. He wonders if this is like the 'plum' Dean said he has on his forehead, as the areas feel similar pain-wise.

"You've also got some pretty nasty bruises on your neck and chest. Were you…strangled?" Castiel tilts his head curiously at the term, but doesn't respond, though he feels his gills flare out without his input. "Right. I'm not gonna ask. Just be more careful. I'm gonna prescribe plenty of rest and relaxation. That sounds all right, doesn't it? Almost wish I had one." He doesn't respond, and she goes to the door. "I'm gonna go alert your friends now, okay?"

Castiel has no idea what's even happening anymore, but he nods anyway, and she leaves the small room. He takes the opportunity to look around (at least, as much as he can with his limited mobility thanks to his tail), noting that everything is white and oddly squared off—all sharp edges and pointed objects for no apparent reason. He picks up the nearest object, turning it over in his hands until it emits a light that has him scrambling to cover and rub at his eyes.

He hears a chuckle from the doorway, and lowers his hands to find the spotty image of Gabriel peering in for all of five seconds before running in to sweep him into a hug. Castiel's not complaining. Gabriel pulls away after a moment to fix him with a firm look. "Never do that again. You could've gotten yourself killed, y'know. You're just lucky your old guy-friend with the hat knows a fish doctor."

"Yeah, thanks, Pam," a voice he recognizes as Dean says as he squeezes into the room. His face immediately softens when he sees Castiel, as does his voice. "Hey, Cas. How're ya feelin'?"

"That's Dr. Barnes to you two," the female from before says, also somehow pushing into the room. "I didn't go and get a PhD just to be called a fish doctor."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Geez, touchy."

Dr. Barnes rolls her eyes in response. "Anyway, after the strangest examination ever, I can conclude that your friend here has a pretty bad concussion from those 'extenuating circumstances' you keep mentioning without any clarification and multiple contusions on his neck and chest."

Dean's eyes trace his chest, and Castiel wonders if he's going to be the one to yell at him first for being an idiot, or if Gabriel's planning on taking that role. "What do we do?" he eventually asks.

"Make sure he gets some rest and doesn't do anything to make it worse." Dr. Barnes' eyes linger on his neck for a moment before she adds, "Maybe put some ice on that later, as well. It's gotta be hurting by now."

"All right, got it," Dean says, quickly reaching out to scoop Castiel up to carry him. It's more familiar and comfortable this time, even if feeling Dean's body pressing against his makes his bruised chest ache. "Thanks for not trapping Cas in a cage or anything, Pam."

"Although if you need some test subjects, I know a few candidates that nobody'll miss," Gabriel adds, eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Thanks, Moby, but I'll pass. Not too into the idea of doing experiments on something with nearly human-level intelligence, thanks," Dr. Barnes replies, sitting at the small desk, only to push a few papers around in an effort to look busy. "Anyway, come check in again in about a week and I can see how you're recovering."

"What happened to not wanting to experiment on him?" Gabriel quips, getting the door for Dean so that Dean can carry him out. Dr. Barnes doesn't audibly reply before Castiel is brought around the corner and into a larger room that holds Bobby, Sam, Jo, and Charlie. "Great news—he's gonna live!"

"That's great," Sam says with a smile. "Dean was really worried about you."

"Shut up, bitch, so were you," Dean snaps back with no real heat.

"We were all worried," Charlie cuts in before Sam can reply. "Pretty hard not to be when Gabe runs up to the house talking about you dying or something. We had to go and get a surfboard to use as a stretcher and everything!"

"We're just lucky Bobby knew a fish doctor," Jo adds with an unusual look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah, we're all so lucky," Bobby says, uncrossing his arms long enough to fling a towel over Castiel. "Now let's get home before Ariel here dries out."

On the way home, Gabriel trails behind Dean and sings quietly, "My, oh my, look at the boy too shy, he ain't gonna…kiss the guy…"

After the fourth time he repeats this (and other parts of whatever song this might be), Dean finally kicks him in the shin, which sends Gabriel off to go complain to Sam about his mean brother, giving Dean the opportunity to stop in the middle of the pathway and give him a kiss. The rest of the walk home passes quickly.

-

Following…whatever happened in the lake, Bobby made the executive decision that the lake is unsafe for the general public and, therefore, closed it down as a public attraction. That just means that 'swim at your own risk' signs are placed in multiple different places and there are no longer paid lifeguards posted anywhere. That doesn't mean no one swims there, however, though it's mostly just his four human friends now.

Regarding the sea angels vs. sea demons situation, Castiel isn't quite sure what had happened. From what he can gather, all the merpeople left with Raphael as their new leader, though some defected to either Lucifer or Michael. Either way, they've all left the area for obvious reasons, leaving Gabriel and himself as the only two left in the entire lake. For all intents and purposes, the war between the two species seems to have been finally resolved, though Gabriel doesn't really talk about it too much.

He has no idea what happened to the Cecaelia. He hasn't seen Ruby since she tossed him around on the beach, and no one else has even mentioned her. She's likely gone back to the Lake of Fire with Lucifer like some of the merpeople had. If not, she might have decided to live as a human, as she seems quite adept at pretending to be one, Castiel is unashamed to admit. Honestly, he'd like to ask her advice, as he so clearly doesn't fit in with his own people or the humans whereas Ruby effortlessly fits in with both.

Meanwhile, he and Gabriel still live in the lake most of the time, though they occasionally go to Sam and Dean's house for a sleepover (in the bathtub, usually, which is far more difficult to share than Castiel would've expected or would've preferred, but he simply dries out too much when in Dean's bed overnight) and travel around the town with their human legs.

Bobby seems to grow to like him well enough to greet him when he sees him, though Gabriel apparently 'rubs him the wrong way,' a phrase that always makes Gabriel smirk in satisfaction like he's won some sort of award. Gabriel's very confusing like that.

Right now, Castiel is resting his head on his arms as he waits for Dean to return from his new job at the local grocery store, his tail swaying lightly in the water around him. Though he loves having human legs, he still likes his tail; besides, he kind of feels like he isn't himself when he doesn't have a tail. He's still very thankful for Gabriel for getting his necklace fixed, though.

Beside him, Gabriel's head pops out of the water, his golden tail catching the sunlight and shimmering beneath the surface. "Hey, Cassie. Waiting for Dean-o again?" Castiel shoots him a withering look that melts off his face when he sees Dean coming down the incline, a large box and a long pole in his arms. "Want me to leave you two alone?" Gabriel hums with a grin as wide as the entire lower part of his face, so Castiel splashes water at him with his tail until he leaves.

"Hey, Cas. Hungry?" Dean asks as he starts setting up the fishing pole. Castiel nods quickly, which makes Dean smile.

They've settled into a routine now where Dean fishes up something for him to eat. It makes no real difference to Castiel, but he's happy to spend time with Dean without having to eat human salads or the strange frozen, scaleless human-brand fish Dean keeps in the coldbox of his home. Gabriel joins them occasionally, though Dean sometimes tries to shoo him away like he's nothing but a seagull waiting to swipe whatever morsel of food he can get his hands on. At least Gabriel doesn't bite…

"All right. Just sit tight—I'll catch ya something." The human casts the line into the water and moves to sit in the chair that was never taken off the beach. "So, do anything fun today?"

Dean always attempts conversation with him for some reason, even though he knows Castiel can't actually reply. Still, this leads to him telling Castiel about his day and talking about other things until he either catches a fish or decides they aren't biting that day. Today, it seems like the former, as just as Dean's telling him about something Jo supposedly spilled in one of the aisles, there's a sharp tug at the line and Dean jumps up to reel in his catch.

This could either mean that Gabriel's pulling the line again, or that there's an actual fish today. Thankfully, it's the latter this time, and Castiel goes to pull himself up onto the shoreline to eat beside Dean. The fish is too big to swallow whole, so Dean cuts it up for him, even if he makes strange faces and sounds the entire time. He'd once compared it to 'sushi' and said he had to get some for Castiel to try sometime, though Castiel's not sure when that might happen.

He smiles at Dean gratefully and accepts the pre-meal kisses (Dean kissed him once after he ate and swore to never do it again, looking more than a little green in the face) before he begins eating the pieces of fish in front of him. Partway through, Gabriel walks onto shore and sits down beside him, a handful of oysters accompanying him. He then proceeds to tear them open with his teeth and slurp out the insides with far more noise than necessary, and both Dean and Castiel make a face.

"So, Charlie's birthday is in a coupla days," Dean begins as he starts eating a sandwich wrapped in a shiny bag; Castiel had tried a bite once, but it tasted terrible. "Might wanna start coming up with gift ideas so you have something in time."

"Should I keep my schedule clear, too?" Gabriel asks innocently as he swipes a piece of Castiel's fish, earning him a glare.

"Depends. We're still not sure if we're having the party here or somewhere in town," Dean replies. "You guys are invited either way, though. You might not even have to bring a gift at all—claim ignorance or something." Dean looks up at the sky wistfully. "Wish I could pull that…"

"Is gift-giving really that impossible?" Gabriel reaches over to grab the last piece of Castiel's fish, only for Castiel to quickly stuff it into his mouth. The older merperson sticks his tongue out, and he'd return the favor if he could.

"Oh, definitely. Just wait until Christmas."

He and Gabriel share a startled look. Christmas? He has no idea what that even is. But…looking over to Dean, Castiel thinks it'd be all right, anyway. If he'll protect Castiel from surly seagulls and Dr. Barnes' more intrusive tests with the sharp pointed things filled with fluids she wants to inject, he'll surely protect him from the dangers of giving people the wrong gifts, right?

And even if that's not something he can protect him from, Castiel doesn't think it'd be that bad. He's felt more like himself than ever after befriending the four humans that came here as lifeguards, so long ago. Whereas he always had to more or less hide who he was on the rare occasions that any merpeople (read: Michael) came into their part of the lake, Castiel now feels free to express himself in whatever way that he wants—especially since he knows all his new friends will accept him; how could they not if they still remain close to him even after learning what he is?

As such, there's really nothing stopping him, is there?

Putting forth his greatest effort, he turns to Dean and looks him straight in the eyes, swallowing nervously. The fish churns in his stomach, but he still attempts, "Hnnm…" Frowning, he tries again. "Hnng…"

"Cas? You okay there?" Dean asks slowly, looking a mixture of bemused and worried. He supposes he does sound like he's choking…

"Hnmg…"

"Is there something stuck in your throat? Can't you breathe?" Dean puts a hand on either side of his face, as if that will help him breathe again. Castiel shakes his head slightly and tries again, only to croak out some unintelligible sound. "Buddy? Are you all right?"

Castiel sighs softly and tilts his face into Dean's hand, closing his eyes. After a moment, Gabriel says, "I think he's…trying to talk."

He manages a small nod and decidedly doesn't try to talk again. It doesn't even make sense. Lucifer hadn't even died when Michael pushed him into the motor as he'd assumed for years. Lucifer was okay. So why isn't he? Why can he still not talk? Sure, it was the scariest thing he's ever seen, but it…it doesn't make any sense…

Before he knows what's happening, tears of frustration are bubbling in the corners of his eyes. He pulls away from Dean before he can see it, rubbing at his eyes in hopes he can play it off as 'al er geez' like Dean had that one time after a cat found its way down to the beach. But it's no use. Turning away from Dean means he turns towards Gabriel, who puts an arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer.

"Hey, it's all right, Cassie. You know we don't mind that you can't talk." Castiel just frowns into Gabriel's shoulder. Just because they never said anything to his face doesn't mean they don't mind… "Besides, you know how much I like to talk. How would I single-handedly fill a room with my words if you were competing for top spot, huh?"

Castiel knows he means it as a joke—he does, really—but he can't help the way his eyes water anyway. It makes no sense. What's wrong with him? There's no reason to be afraid anymore, since Lucifer turned out to be okay. So why can't he talk? Why is he still so—so useless? So much of a burden that he can't even thank Gabriel or greet Dean or-or anything!

Actual tears are fully running down his face before he can stop them. Gabriel and Dean share a worried glance he tries to ignore before Gabriel pulls him into a hug, a hand settling on his back. "I never did know what caused you to stop talking, Castiel," Gabriel says softly, for only him to hear. "You weren't even under my care at the time and I still wanted to help you, but I didn't know how. You just…stopped one day. No one knew why. Pam said there's nothing physically wrong with you. She said it was probably childhood trauma."

Castiel tries to swallow past the lump in his throat, hiccuping quietly. Michael knew. He had to have realized, since it happened right after the incident. Michael was also one of the first ones to dismiss his muteness when it first came up, saying it was nothing more than a childish game to get attention. After a while, he blamed it on the move to a different lake, saying something in the new water must've hurt his vocal cords or something, even though he'd stopped talking before that. Still, no one questioned it.

"But you know what? I never minded it, Cas. I mean, sure, there were a few times where it was a little frustrating. But it's still you, y'know?" Gabriel brings Castiel's face from his chest and smiles down crookedly. "I can't really imagine you any other way. Words or no words, I'll take you either way. You're my brother, after all."

"I'll take you, too, Cas," Dean adds, and when Castiel turns slightly to face him, Dean kisses his forehead. "Whatever you got to offer, I'll take it. Even if you, like, grew another head overnight or had three arms. It'd still be Cas in there, extra limbs aside. And that's the Cas I know and fell for." Dean's face goes pink as he amends, "The Cas I know and l-love."

"Same here, kiddo," Gabriel says, ruffling his hair. "You don't have to change 'cause we already love this Cas—don't change for us. We happen to like this Cas, thank you very much."

Castiel manages a watery smile, nodding a little and glancing down. He wants to tell them that he loves them too, that he appreciates all that they've done for him and all the patience they have. He settles for wrapping an arm around each of their necks and hugging them, letting the little gurgling sound that's been bubbling up in the back of his throat finally escape.

He doesn't try to talk. He doesn't need to, when they can understand him just fine. Maybe not his every thought, of course, but enough to get the message and enough to respond in turn. And that's really all he can ask for.

They both hug him back, and Dean presses a kiss into his hair. The hug does eventually end, and Gabriel goes back to the water under the guise of getting more oysters, leaving him and Dean alone. Dean keeps one arm around his shoulders while the other one holds onto the fishing pole he still has out. After a moment, the human leans over and kisses him, slow and deep.

Dean pulls away eventually, pressing his lips to his forehead instead. "You taste like fish, sweetheart," he murmurs into Castiel's hair, a smile evident in his voice. "Freakin' disgusting." Despite his words, he kisses him again, and when they pull away, Dean smiles at him and says a little breathlessly after a moment, "Hey, Cas. If you want, you can try to learn something called sign language. It's like…talking with your hands instead of your mouth."

Castiel tilts his head curiously and looks down at his hands. He…he has those. And though he can't speak, he does know how to communicate in…whatever language Dean speaks. Still, to make sure he understands, he waves, making Dean smile.

"Yeah, it's kinda like that. I, uh, I don't know too much about it, honestly. But if you wanna learn it—well, I'll be right there with you." Dean looks down for a second, and his ears are pink but he's still smiling. "Sound like something you wanna try? We could probably rope Gabe and Sam into it too, at least."

Castiel stares at his hands a moment longer, considering. He realizes quickly that this could be his way of talking. Sure, he may not be able to use his voice like everyone else, but none of his friends seem to mind. So maybe he doesn't have to, but…he wants to. So he nods.

Dean beams at him, and it's like the whole world gets a little brighter. "Awesome. Maybe you could learn how to sign happy birthday to Charlie in a couple days, if you really work at it. Hey, maybe we could all do it at once. That'd be some surprise, huh?"

Castiel nods, though what he's really looking forward to is being able to thank everyone in his new human pod for all that they've done for him. He knows it hasn't been easy, especially after the revelation that he's not human like they thought, and he wants to let them know how much he appreciates it.

Gabriel in particular deserves the best thank you he can offer for taking him in when it was clear no one wanted him, for taking him in even when it got him banished and shunned by their people, and for helping him live out his dreams of being able to look into the human world and enjoy what it has to offer, even if the rest of his old pod detested the very idea. Gabriel's been nothing but good to him and he deserves some recognition for that.

At that moment, Gabriel's head pops up to the surface, holding up a rope of seaweed and a half-dozen oysters. "Hey, Cassie, look! I found some more seaweed you can try to feed Dean!"

Dean laughs like it's the funniest thing he's ever heard. Castiel grimaces and buries his red face in his hands. Maybe 'thank you' isn't the first thing Gabriel will be hearing from him…