neptune. • castiel {on hold }

• 2 •

neptune remained castiel's favorite object in the ever-expanding universe. that is, until his first encounter with humanity.

"they're animals," his brother uriel informed him, eyes stony and mouth set in a firm line. "powerless mammals, stumbling blindly to their graves."

"they're our father's most prized creation," castiel countered, wonder clear in his gravelly voice. these small, delicate creatures filled him with awe and a reverence like he had never experienced before.

"perhaps that affection is misguided. after all, we-"

"be careful!" castiel warned desperately. "you're close to blasphemy."

his brother frowned at him once more before disappearing with the harsh sound of flapping wings.

castiel sighed and leaned his head back, allowing the sun to warm his face. the vessel he had ended up with today was young and lively, barely more than a stumbling child. he usually enjoyed the way the sun danced in multicolored lights across the backs of his eyelids when he closed his eyes, but his mind was elsewhere that day. his brother's words had snagged on his mind, but the crisp air of the autumn day around him eased them away like leaves in the wind.

he was almost asleep when he felt the slap of a large rubber ball against his face. he jolted up, hands flying to his throbbing nose. blood began to drip steadily down the sleeve of his t-shirt.

"oh, crap!" a voice said loudly.

castiel opened his eyes to see a skinny blonde-haired boy running towards him. he was wearing a faded black t-shirt with a lightning bolt on it and denim shorts. his eyes glowed like emeralds in the sparkling sunlight, the most beautiful shade of green that castiel had ever seen.

"are you okay?" the young boy asked, glancing at castiel's nose nervously.

"i'm fine," castiel assured him. he withdrew his hands from his face, squinting his eyes closed and healing himself.

"your nose," the boy said. "it's bleeding."

"it's better now."

the boy shook his head. "you're not okay. i'll get my mom."

castiel watched in fascination as the boy, whose name he still did not know, ran to a bench by the baby swings. he stopped in front of a woman with blonde hair and kind eyes, who was pushing a brown-haired baby around in a squeaky stroller. she paused when she saw the boy approach her, leaning down to hear him properly.

castiel turned his face to the ground awkwardly when the boy pointed at him. of course, he could simply leave anytime he pleased, but something kept him there. he was curious. these things called people and the lives that they led were enthralling.

when castiel raised his face again, the boy and his mother were walking towards him. the toddler waved at him with chubby hands from his stroller seat. castiel waved back at him.

"see, mom, look!" dean gestured at castiel's stained sleeve, a look of urgency on his freckled face.

"i see," the woman mumbled. she glanced up at castiel's face. "it doesn't appear to be bleeding anymore, though."

the boy leaned in close to castiel to examine the situation for himself.

"hm," he said finally. "i think we should take him back to our house just to be safe."

"do you, now?" the mother asked him. then she turned back to castiel, smiling at him. "i'm mary."

"and i'm dean," the blonde-haired boy chimed in as his brother babbled behind him.

"i'm cas-" castiel froze. it probably was not wise to reveal his identity, especially when everything was this nice. he didn't want to tell these people anything that may cause them to look at him any different than they were now. "cas," he said with a curt nod of his head.

"can you come back to our house?" the boy, dean, asked excitedly.

"um," castiel mumbled, glancing around. he didn't see any other angels. no one was around to tell him what he could or couldn't do, so he shrugged and smiled at dean. "sure."