Strings Attached

Chapter 75

"THIRTY-THREE DEGREES!" Lucifer yells just past two in the afternoon the next day. "I win, Castiel! Woo!"

Castiel groans, rolling off the couch and onto the floor of the living room. He was having a really nice nap just then. Of course Lucifer had to go and ruin it.

"Hold on," Castiel mumbles, walking out to the kitchen, where Lucifer has been staring at the thermometer since he woke up at nine o'clock that morning. Lucifer gives Castiel a triumphant smirk, to which Castiel responds by rolling his eyes and looking at the thermometer. "Thirty two."

Lucifer shoves his phone in Castiel's face, and the younger boy can sort of make out a picture of the thirty three on the thermometer.

"Nope. Thirty three. I win. Pay up, Castiel." Lucifer hands Castiel the business card. "And don't try to wiggle your way out of it, because I saved the number, and I will call for you if I have to."

Castiel frowns. He has no doubt Lucifer will make good on that promise. Castiel pulls his phone from his pocket and dials the number, but he hesitates before calling.

"Hey, you said —" Lucifer reminds him, but Castiel cuts him off.

"I know. Remind me not to make bets with you."

Castiel hits call.

The phone rings a few times, and it's finally answered by a girl saying, "Hello, this is Wayward Records, how can we help you?"

Crap, what is Castiel supposed to say? Um... Um... Um... Crap.

"Um, hi," Castiel says awkwardly. "An, uh, Eric Kripke gave me a card yesterday and told me to call if I was interested in showing some of my songs, so... I'm calling." Okay, he sounds like an idiot. Per usual.

"Alright. We're booked for the week, but are you free next Saturday? From three to four? It probably won't take that long, but we like to be sure."

"Sure, that works." It's not like Castiel has plans anyway.

"Great. And what's your name, please?"
"Castiel Novak."

Pause. "Alright, you're scheduled in. So, next week, please bring three to five different songs, and we'll have someone check them out. Sound good?"

"Yes."

"Great," she says in her cheerful voice. "Anything else you need today?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright. Have a good day, and we'll see you on Saturday. Goodbye."

And that's it. Now, all he has to do is wait. And put up with Lucifer, which will be a joy. Not.

"So?" Lucifer prompts. "What happened? Huh? How'd it go?"

"She said to bring three to five songs next Saturday from three to four," Castiel informs him.

"Great! Then let's go find Gabriel and we can all pick out the songs together!"

"No," Castiel says immediately.

"Yes," Lucifer replies. "Because otherwise you'll only bring the not personal ones instead of the best ones and they might not like it. Besides, Gabriel and I still have your notebook, so unless you're gonna write a bunch of new ones, you're letting us pick."

Castiel frowns. He really doesn't feel like writing another three songs. It may not sound like much, but he doesn't want to feel rushed. He sighs. "Fine, whatever."

"Yes!" Lucifer jumps up, pumping his fists excitedly. "Gabriel! Gabriel, where are you? Gabe!"

"What?" Gabriel yells from upstairs somewhere. Probably their room, Castiel reasons.

"Come on!"

Lucifer grabs Castiel by the wrist and pulls the boy up the stairs and to the room he and Gabriel share. Sure enough, the boy is sitting on the top bunk, his phone in his hands. He looks down at them for a moment, then apparently decided to ignore them and turns back to his phone.

"Gabe, Castiel is showing us his songs so he can sell them and get rich!" Lucifer tells him.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. "Really? Why don't I believe that?"

"No, I am," Castiel tells him. "Lucifer and I made a bet and I lost."

"So now you and I get to pick the songs he's showing them," Lucifer adds. "Five of 'em. You game?"

"Later?" Gabriel asks hopefully.

"Now or never," Lucifer replies. "I don't have the patience to wait."

Gabriel sighs. "Fine. Hold on, gotta tell Sam I'm leaving." He quickly types a message to his boyfriend. "Alright, music time."

They spend the next seven hours going through Castiel's song notebook. They make Castiel sing part of the songs they like the best so they can get a feel for them. Finally, they narrow it down to eight of them.

"Can't you just take them all?" Lucifer asks helplessly.

"No," Castiel replies for what has to be the tenth time. "Three to five."

"Then you pick three to get rid of," Gabriel suggests.

"But not this one," Lucifer adds, pointing at one.

"Or this one," Gabriel says.

"Or this one," Lucifer continues.

"Alright, I'll take these five." Castiel chooses the newest ones, knowing that it's a better reflection of him than ones from seventh grade would be.

"That works," Lucifer approves.

"Yep," Gabriel agrees. "But show them this one first." He points to one of them.

"Or this one," Lucifer adds.

"No, this one," Gabriel insists.

"No, this —"

"Good night," Castiel interrupts, taking the notebook from them and shoving it under his pillow so they can't continue their argument. Bed time. Finally, he can be done with this ridiculous song writing thing.