Harry Dresden (Wizard) (thewinterknight) wrote in knowhereic, @ 2017-07-17 01:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | supernatural: canon: castiel, the dresden files: canon: harry dresden |
Who: Harry Dresden & Castiel
What: Lady!Cas and Unfortunate!Harry
When: Second day of Trope
Where: The Marketplace
Rating: Probably pretty low.
Status: Log - Complete
Castiel was an angel. He didn’t sleep. So, to say that he’d woken up this morning to find something amiss would be a lie. He hadn’t woken because he hadn’t slept. He’d been sitting quietly outside on a bench, listening to the stillness around him and watching the few people milling around during the late hour, and it’d happened. It hadn’t been some fancy happening, there’d been no smoke, no glowing lights, no chants or spells or even a countdown.
One minute, the newly anointed archangel had been sitting silently on the bench in a male vessel. Then, the next instant, it had been a female vessel. More precisely, the female version of Jimmy Novak, instead of the female vessel he’d occupied over a hundred years ago.
Looking down, he inspected the more delicate hands, then he opened his too-big coat to take note of the smaller, more petite female body. Whereas Castiel stood a solid 5’10”, this woman was shorter, only 5’5” at best. Slimmer. The clothes simply hung off her body.
Well, that would make things awkward.
Castiel released the coat and went back to sitting quietly. He would find new clothes in the morning.
And sure enough, come morning as people began to wake and move about,the angel had gotten up and headed out to find something new to wear. He’d ended up with nicely fitting jeans, slip on shoes, and a t-shirt that didn’t hide his newly found curves. The girl at the shop had said he looked pretty. It didn't matter to the angel what he looked like. He-- er, she had paid and left the shop. A bit of wandering around had finally made up her mind and the angel ended up in the market place again, this time looking for something specific.
Pie.
For Dean.
The lost look on her face, however, was impossible to ignore as she walked slowly through the different booths, searching for something that might pass for pie. She owed Dean that, at least, for almost biting his head off.
Twice.
Maybe she should get one for Harry, too.. You know, for almost killing him. The power had settled now and she felt far more in control of herself, something she was thankful for. It’d been a rather difficult day for her.
***
Harry had holed himself up overnight after he’d had his run in with York. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, someone innocent, someone that couldn’t protect themselves. He’d hid away instead, choosing to isolate himself because, well, that was what Harry did. It was exactly the wrong thing for him if he was a inward thinking being, but since Harry was the exact opposite of self reflective he didn’t think about it at all.
He’d isolated himself, worked magic until he was exhausted and then passed out with Mouse snuggled carefully at his side.
A nice end to his otherwise stressful night.
A new day had begun though and that meant Harry had to venture forth. Ignoring the network (he’d blew up his tablet anyway, by virtue of his awful mood the day before), Harry had opted to focus on actual work and not the problems of Knowhere residents. They could handle it themselves. Right?
Right.
So that was why Harry was in the marketplace, browsing stalls in search of items that would help with the wizarding. He needed more ingredients for his potions, Bob had given him a list of possible items for several new things - he was having a hell of a time finding them, sorting through possible substitutes when his brain decided it was done with the magic.
Harry didn’t know what made him look up, honestly! He looked at a woman and if he noticed she looked a little lost it was certainly because he was a trained Private Investigator and not because Harry was looking at her well.. Assets.
He ignored the brush of Winter against his mind. Not today, thank you, and tracked the woman entirely of his own volition. Sure, and Harry could fly. Harry forced his gaze away before his pants could hip check his brain out of the conversation. When she got closer, Harry shifted slightly and looked at her.
She was cute. Smaller than Harry, but everyone was, with dark hair and weirdly familiar eyes. He’d seen eyes like that before but his brain wasn’t reporting when or how or why because it was too focused on leaving his penis in charge. Something pinged in the back of Harry’s mind but he ignored it, clearing his throat instead.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” He asked helpfully.
***
Pie was a delicacy here on the space head. It was hard to find. But the angel was determined. In fact, she nearly missed Harry’s approach until he was upon her. My. He was tall like this. Cas had gotten used to a male vessel, so being lower was new. She may have spoken up first, but Harry already had something planned and he was talking, a little smile on his face and sounding oh-so-helpful, that the angel held her greeting in check for a moment. Why was Harry being so nice? Did he feel bad about the other day? Why? It’d been Castiel’s fault, but things were better now, he-- she felt more in control. Her nerves were calming.
Maybe it was just the influence of the female body, less prone to over-reaction.
“Pie.” Came the simple answer, her tone sounding a little flat.. But by comparison to the gravely tone of the male vessel, she sounded positively bubbly. Then again, anything would sound bubbly next to Castiel. A pause followed, then: “Do yo have a favorite type of pie?”
Well, look at that, she was making small talk.
Sort of.
Really, she wanted to get one for Harry, for the same reason.
***
Pie.
“Uhh,” Harry said, because he was oh so smooth. Master of words, Harry Dresden. “No, not particularly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pie on this floating island horror story.” Harry half turned and looked down the length of the market vendors, each hawking a variety of different things. Many of them mundane but many out of this world. Literally. It was enough to blow one’s mind. It was really freaking neat and the nerd inside Harry was perfectly happy to stand there looking around at everything all day if he had the time.
But he didn’t have the time, he had work and he had magic to do.
But he guessed he could put that aside for a minute and help the lady out. That was the nice thing to do, right? Right, of course it was.
Harry smiled a little. He was a big person, he could be a little frightening so he tried to make himself look as harmless as possible.
“You could try any of the restaurants around the place though.” That seemed more reliable than wandering the marketplace.
***
“Do you think I would be able to find a pie there?” She asked, her eyebrows lifting just slightly, hiding beneath that straight cut of bangs and making her look surprisingly innocent. She almost looked hopeful.
Why was Harry acting so differently towards him, though? Castiel couldn’t seem to wrap his-- her-- mind around it. Wasn’t he upset about yesterday? He certainly had every right to be. But, here he was, treating her like they were companionable. The angel found it.. Well.. refreshing. No one ever treated her that way. Like a person. Everyone always treated her like a puzzle piece that just wouldn’t go in straight, or one that just didn’t look right once you’d managed to jam it in there. All these wonderful expectations, only to be disappointed in the end. It wasn’t the right piece, after all.
“Would you like to join me?” If Harry was out and about, it was because he needed the interaction. So did Castiel, clearly. Perhaps, the could interact together on this small search for pie.
***
“Maybe, if not pie then some kind of substitute. That’ll work, right?” Close enough. That was about as accurate as Harry’s life got anyway. And he’d take ‘close enough to pie’ over nothing any day; his life as a bachelor said as much. Not that the woman was looking for pie for him. It didn’t mean he couldn’t get himself one though.
Harry smiled a little more, surprisingly delighted at the woman’s invitation. When was the last time anyone had asked him to do something with them that was perfectly normal? Let alone someone of the opposite sex. Feeling a little lighter, Harry nodded.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “Of course.”
He exchanged credits for the items he was after and hastily stored them away in his duster pockets.
“My name’s Harry Dresden,” Harry said. “It’s a pleasure Ms…?” His inflection indicated the question.
***
Now that had the young woman stopping in her tracks. Right there in the market. A few seconds passed, those blue eyes staring straight at Harry, unblinking. Would the wizard be able to figure it out before the angel was able to name herself? Tick, tock.
“Harry, it’s Castiel.” Came her reply, at last.
The words were even a little annoyed, as if she expected he’d be able to tell exactly who she-- he-- was, despite the fact the vessel had changed. It was only a vessel. Sometimes humans could be so dull and single minded, even the magical types. Her lips pursed some, an odd expression on Castiel’s face.. But this woman’s face had far more to show, so the minute shifts that hadn’t shown up on Jimmy Novak’s lips, or cheeks, or brow.. Well, they were more noticeable on this feminine look alike.
Harry Dresden, you’d been flirting with Castiel.
***
Harry, it’s Castiel
Harry stopped in his tracks, his head whipped around to look at the woman--Castiel--and then his brain popped into the conversation with a resounding you idiot! As it informed him of why he should have recognized those eyes. Moron. What an idiot.
The color flamed to life in Harry’s cheeks so he hastily turned away and rubbed his face. What the actual fuck.
What the hell?
Confusion swept across Harry’s brain at the same rate utter embarrassment did so that the wizard simply lost the ability to speak for several moments. Harry cleared his throat a couple times.
Well. Fuck.
It figured. The only woman to give him the time of day these days was a freaking gender confused angel. “What happened to your other body?” Harry blurted suddenly. “Did you ditch it? You can’t leave corpses sitting around Castiel.”
Ignore the embarrassment; pretend it was normal. Everything was fine.
***
“It’s called a vessel.” Castiel corrected him-- sounding so different without that gravely tone. The angel didn’t sound angry at all, but rather easy going. Feminine voices made all the difference sometimes. “And no, I didn’t. At midnight, my vessel turned into a female. I’m certain it has something to do with all the unusual things going on here, but it doesn’t change anything.” Well, it didn’t change anything for Castiel, who really had no gender at all. Male body, female body, it was all the same to him.
He didn’t consider how strange it might be for the humans around him, to go from a male to a female. Perhaps he should have.
Oh well, you live and learn.
“I need a pie for Dean.” It was always Dean, wasn’t it? “And you.” Wait. What? “I wanted to apologize, about yesterday.” He’d been so aggressive, so.. Well. Predatory. The drive was still there, but far easier to control today. He knew it would get easier as time went on. “It wasn’t my intention to cause you distress.”
***
“It’s a human body with a soul inside it, have some respect,” Harry snapped. Harry snapped at the damned angel because he was still embarrassed for having flirted with her. Jesus Christ, could his life get any more fucked up? Honestly? The universe, of course, would find a way. “What are you, Cinderella? You revert back to your normal state at the stroke of midnight?”
Calm down, Harry. It wasn’t Castiel’s fault you were a moron, and look, the angel was even apologizing….. For what? Harry frowned.
“Oh,” he said. “It’s fine, I told you it doesn’t bother me.” Harry was accustomed to much larger creatures in the universe generally disdaining him. His boss was Queen Mab of the freaking Darkness for fuck’s sake. She had about as much regard for Harry’s life and his personal comforts as a cat did a half dead mouse it was dragging around for a half hour, playing with it
The fact that Castiel had gone through some kind of power trip and went out of his way to remind Harry what he was and what Harry was in relation to him was perfectly normal to Harry.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
His life was fucked up, but it had a routine kind of fucked up vibe.
***
That was a soft spot for the angel. His vessel. Jimmy Novak. And what he’d done to keep such a powerful vessel. He wasn’t proud of it. The accusation had blue eyes dropping, staring for a moment at the ground before they came back up. “This is an empty vessel.” There wasn’t a soul in this rotting meatsuit to speak about, wizard, so don’t get uppity about it.
“No, I haven’t reverted. I’m still an archangel. I’ve only been given the necessary time to adjust to those powers.” A pause. “It isn’t easy, having that sort of power, when you’ve never had it before. There’s an adjustment period. It can be.. Overwhelming.” That was the understatement of the year.
He didn’t have to apologize? He’d considered killing Harry. It deserved-- demanded-- an apology. But Castiel had given one and he wasn’t about to repeat it, especially if Harry didn’t want it.
“Thank you for your help.” With giving him pointers on how to find pie and all.
The angel didn’t expect Harry to help any further. Castiel understood that this was likely awkward.
***
“Whoopty-do,” Harry said sarcastically. “You’d think with all the mystical powers in the universe you could whip up a body of your own instead of making a human carry you around.” But at least it proved humans weren’t weak like everyone suggested. If bodies had the strength to contain the bulk of angels then go humanity.
Let it never be said Harry wasn’t proud of being human.
But all that died, sarcasm and everything, when Harry’s brain caught up with the conversation.
An archangel.
Castiel wasn’t an archangel. There were seven of them and Castiel wasn’t on the list. Harry stared hard into those soulless eyes and wished he hadn’t woken up this morning. His life would be a lot easier if Castiel had just opted to kill him and be done with it.
Swallowing, Harry contemplated digging a hole in the ground to crawl into and pulling the dirt over himself.
“... for once I would like to have a normal day.” Harry said pathetically, reaching up to rub his face.
“Sure, it’s fine--I-” He paused, and sighed. “I’m an idiot.”
***
Letting a breath out through her nose, the woman set her jaw. And for a few brief seconds, she took on a proper Castiel facial expression. Intense and sharp. “I wasn’t very kind to either one of you yesterday.” It was a follow-up about why she was trying to get her hands on two pies, for the both of them. “Your patience with me has thusfar been admirable.” It was a thank you, of a sort. And a way to let Harry out of further pie-excursions. He’d already done his time, trying to help Castiel with his wings, and giving him a job. The wizard had been more than good to him, he didn’t owe him anything more.
“If you would prefer cake, I’ll look for that instead.” But Dean deserved a pie. The angel wouldn’t give up until she had one in her hands.
How else was he going to be able to tell Dean just how sorry he was for being short with him and leaving last night?
***
Harry genuinely didn’t understand why Castiel was apologizing for doing whatever was in his nature to do. Creatures large and small acted in accordance with their design. Harry understood that and he didn’t begrudge anyone the fact. Well, okay, he’d begrudged the Red Court vampires but that was because they’d taken way too much from him to let it slide. But that was beyond the point! This was totally different. Completely.
Harry stared at the angel for a few seconds and then realized what was happening.
Oh, right. Okay. He could get that.
“I accept your apology,” Harry said, and not because he thought Castiel had to say it. It was to make the angel feel better, because Castiel needed to be heard and he needed Harry to understand he was sorry for whatever. Harry didn’t understand or agree with it necessarily, but he could do that much.
“You don’t have to get me anything, Castiel,” Harry said after a pause. “Honestly, it’s fine.”
***
Apology accepted. Good. That had been what he’d wanted to hear and it made everything that much easier on him. It made it easier for Castiel to assume Harry knew why he was apologizing for. It made it easier for Castiel to assume Harry knew why it was so important that he not act in the accordance with angel programming.
He wasn’t a pet and he wasn’t a toy. Not anymore. He could make his own choices and his own decisions, he wouldn’t be ruled by pre-programming and made to do something he didn’t want to do.
Surely the wizard could understand that.
“I want to, if you would enjoy it. I have been told it’s a very good way to apologize. Through the use of delicious tasting sweets that release endorphins that stimulate pleasure.” From the mouth of a beautiful woman came those words. It just wasn’t right. Not right at all. It sounded so strange coming from her instead of the stiff male who’d been there previously.
***
If Castiel had said that part then Harry would absolutely understand. He battled with the same ideas on a daily basis since he was a child under the apprenticeship of his adopted father Justin DuMorne. Harry didn’t know it at the time, but Justin had been conditioning he and Harry’s adopted sister Elaine to be his enforcers; they were meant to be enslaved, to do as Justin desired in his sick plots, whatever they may have been. Since those years and the years following Justin’s murder by Harry, Harry had been seen as something programmed to explode at any moment.
Especially once he’d agreed to become Mab’s Knight.
Like hell did he ever want to be her toy. He just didn’t have a choice in the matter. Sure, he could make his own decisions but his refusal to obey her was grounds for her to end his life if she so pleased. It wouldn’t bother her one second; she’d simply believe Harry had deserved it and move onto the next.
The only way to obtain a new Knight was for the current one to die anyway, so it was inevitable that one day Mab would kill her pet. Harry tried not to think about it too much. Hell, he’d killed the former Knight himself in order to take his place.
“Yeah, okay, that sounds like a creepy textbook reply and it’s killed the mood. I’m fine. Instead of cakes or whatever how about we just agree to never talk about this again?”
***
“Agreed.” Castiel was perfectly fine with that. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” Oh, it was likely Harry and Cas would run into one another before then, just because the Fates could be cruel. It was something the angel was all too familiar with. But if they could make this strange, awkward moment between them disappear, then so be it. And perhaps tomorrow, Bob would happen to see a female vessel.. Then again, perhaps not. It still had the same stick-in-the-mud angel inside it.
Turning, the newly anointed archangel would take a few steps away, then pause. She lingered. Thinking. Considering. Then, she turned to look back at Harry with an oddly curious expression on her face. “Harry,” she began, taking a few seconds to consider further before she continued: “This vessel. Would you consider it attractive, by human male standards?”
The question could have been weird-- oh, who were we kidding, it was weird, but those chilly blue eyes were pinned on Harry, awaiting an answer.
***
Oh, hell. Why the hell couldn’t Castiel have just walked away and left it at that? Because when the archangel asked his--her--whatever, fuck--question, Harry’s cheeks were aflame again and he coughed. Embarrassed and awkward, Harry rubbed his face with both hands and then shrugged.
“Uhh,” he hedged, “Uh, I mean, yes?” He said it like a question and wished his face wasn’t so damned red while he did. Why the hell was he blushing? He was human, it was natural to look at women, that was why he had eyes, damnit.
Nevermind she was a freaking angel. Archangel. Whatever.
Harry scowled. “I’m going to work Castiel, see you tomorrow.” He grumbled and turned away before the angel could ask him anymore stupid questions. Like exactly how or why the body was attractive.