Rejected

12: Poker in the Park

Sam awoke with Gabriel's leg draped over his own and Gabriel's head buried in Sam's shoulder. Gabriel's eyelids were closed, and his mouth was pinched into a small smile. Gabriel's golden hair was messy and all around his head in a rat's nest of tangles.

Looking around the room, Sam's eyes settled on Gabriel's clock. 11:23. Not too late.

Sam gently shook Gabriel. "Hey, Gabe." He whispered.

Gabriel rolled over onto Sam. "Is it Gabe now, Samantha?"

Sam smiled and tried to push Gabe off him, failing miserably. Not answering his question, Sam said, "get up, lazybones."

Gabriel moaned. "But it's so comfortable here."

"If 'here' is on top of my stomach, then it can't be very comfortable."

Gabriel rolled over, so his head was face-down in Sam's stomach. "It is." He mumbled into Sam's shirt.

The door opened and the lights flickered on. "Guys, breakfast is in ten..." Cas realized what was happening in the room. "Oh. Finally."

"'Finally'?" Sam asked.

"It's about time that we kept the plot moving."

"What?"

"Get out of bed." Cas closed the door behind him as he left.

Sam looked down at Gabriel. "Why is he always spouting stuff about the story and the plot and stuff?"

"Because he's convinced that life is a story and we're all characters in it or something. He got it from one of his classes, I think."

Sam nodded, but he didn't really understand. How could he just be a character in a story? It didn't make any sense. Cas was just spouting nonsense.

Sam sat up, rolling Gabe's head off his stomach. "We should probably get up."

Gabriel moaned again, pulling a blanket over his head. Sam swept if off. "Really, Gabe, get up."

Begrudgingly, Gabe got out of bed. Together, the two boys trudged off to the kitchen, which smelled like burning bread. Chuck was attempting to make breakfast, but he was an author, not a chef. The pancakes he was making were burned, hence the smell. Hester was trying to help, but it was a lost cause. Lucifer was also trying to help, because he did work in a restaurant, but it seemed like he was doing more harm than help.

So Gabriel and Sam had to fend for themselves or eat the severely burned pancakes. They grabbed bowls and poured themselves cereal. Gabriel had double frosted flakes, and Sam got Chex. As Sam poured white milk into his bowl, Gabriel scoffed. "White milk? How boring."

"What do you use? Sugar milk?"

"Strawberry syrup." Gabriel grabbed the pink container and poured the syrup onto his flakes, complimenting it with a touch of chocolate milk.

"You're disgusting." Sam said as he looked into Gabriel's bowl of pink and brown sludge.

"You're boring." Gabriel said, smirking.

The two sat down at a small table set for six that was in the side of the kitchen, near the patio door. Balthazar and Michael already took two of the seats, which were wooden and quite uncomfortable. Michael had a pancake on his plate, and was picking at the burnt parts. Balthazar had a bowl of cantaloupe and a glass of strawberry milk.

"So, what are you two lovebirds going to do today?" Balthazar asked.

"We're not lovebirds." Sam said.

"Something." Gabriel offered.

"There's a gummy bear poker tournament at Crockett Park." Lucifer, who was eavesdropping, said from the stove. "But you have to be 16 to go."