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Gabriel was dead. Killed by Lucifer to give the Winchesters time to escape the hotel with Kali. Castiel had heard it directly from Sam and Dean, but it still seemed impossible to believe. Gabriel was powerful. Gabriel was clever. Clever enough to be able to avoid all contact with their family for longer than Castiel really cares to count.

They say the first stage of grief is denial, and Castiel would even deny he's grieving for the estranged older brother he hasn't really spoken to in at least centuries. Despite that, though, he still leaves the motel room without so much as a word, just a rush of air as he takes flight. He can't even begin to imagine how many times, as the Trickster, Gabriel has faked his death, so he wants to confirm it for himself.

Within seconds, he reappears in the ballroom of the Elysian Fields Hotel. His eyes land on Gabriel, laying on the floor and he sighs. No, this certainly didn't look like another trick.

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A few hours later, Castiel's up and about, shuffling through the papers at Bobby's desk, and leafing through the books that have been left laying around. He hasn't come across anything particularly interesting or helpful, and nor was he particularly expecting to. It keeps him busy while Gabriel's trying to rest, and maybe it's not so helpful to just sit in the chair and watch big brother try to recover.

Castiel keeping himself busy is good. It spares Gabriel from ordering little brother to go find something to keep himself occupied in a way that doesn't involve staring at him.

When Gabriel's decided that he's had enough rest for now he opens his eyes and sits up to see where Castiel wandered off to.

Castiel is shuffling through the papers left laying on the desk when Gabriel sits up. He goes back to sit in the chair next to the bed, studying his brother. "How do you feel?"

"I have the feeling I'm going to become very tired of that question," Gabriel says, directing his comment to no one in particular. "I won't take up Olympic skating anytime soon, but I'll live."

Castiel nods, "Good. I'm glad you're doing better." He tries to let the comment go, but sighs. "You did almost die. I'm not sure you can blame me for being concerned."

((And ftr, I feel guilty if I leave someone waiting for an hour or two. Provided said waiting isn't because I'm either asleep or not home.))

"And I'm not sure you can blame me for feeling smothered if you decide to go overboard," Gabriel rebuts.

((I have a friend who used to habitually keep me waiting for over a month. I just don't tag her any more.))

"I'm not -" Castiel stops himself and huffs out a sigh. "Sorry."

((I find it impossible to maintain my interest in a thread if I'm left waiting that long between tags.))

"You haven't gotten that far just yet. Just nipping it in the bud before you do," Gabriel assures him before laying flat since he may as well. "Please tell me there's a tv."

((Same - Anything more than a couple days, I find it starts getting too hard to keep track of what's happened and where we were going in the first place.))

"I will stop asking." He gestures vaguely in the direction of the desk, "There was a small TV on the shelf over there. I'm not sure if it works or not, though."

((I generally give people a week before deciding they're not tagging again. I knew she was slow, so she got more time.))

"Small's better than nothing," Gabriel decides. "Will you let me go mess with it to see if it works, or are you gonna do it?"

((Yes, after a week, I'll consider a thread dead unless I've heard otherwise. If someone's told me they're going to be awhile for whatever reason, that doesn't bother me at all - come back whenever, by all means.))

"I don't know much about televisions. Perhaps you should try." He might try to learn by watching over Gabriel's shoulder, though.

((Yeah, and this time of year, buttloads of people have finals/graduation to suck up their time. And in the case of someone I RP with, moving to a different state, which understandably disrupted her computer time.))

Gabriel hops up off the bed, teetering slightly as a reminder that he wasn't up to moving as fast as he'd like before heading over to the tv. He starts with making sure it's even plugged in first, plugging it in when he finds its not and twisting the power knob, getting it turned on. "Good, it works."

Time for him to take a couple minutes to find out what channels it picks up.

((Yes, that's true too - our universities are already all finished here, except for summer programs, but high schools are still in until the end of next month.))

Castiel follows Gabriel over to the TV, watching as he turns it on and starts turning the dial. It doesn't look to him like there's anything particularly interesting on. Daytime dramas, plenty of static, maybe a news program or a talk show.

"Maybe there'll be something interesting on later," Gabriel finally huffs after his continued failure to find anything worthwhile, turning off the tv and making his way back to the bed to sprawl on it.

Castiel goes back to his chair and sits down, glancing back at the TV. "What were you expecting to find, exactly?"

"Something more interesting than that crap. Normally, I'd be able to make it pick up more channels, but..." He shrugs. He doesn't have the power to spare right now.

"Yes, I've seen what you can do with television." There's a sideways glance, but he doesn't sound all that annoyed.

"What?" Gabriel sounds and looks totally innocent. He has no idea why the side-eying, nope.

"What?" Castiel echoes. "Does anyone really believe you're innocent after they've met you?"

"Sure. The one's I behave around. Like Jesus' mother," Gabriel answers promptly.

Castiel thinks about that for a moment and shakes his head, "I don't think times when you've had to be on your best behavior should count."

"Sure, eliminate everyone that would think that. Spoilsport," Gabriel says, pretending to sulk.

"I'm just trying to make it challenging for you," he shrugs, mimicking Gabriel's innocent tone.

Gabriel just side-eyes his brother at that. He's fairly certain that Castiel is just being difficult. Time for a change of subject. "Any chance of a Winchester dropping in to see what you're up to?"