Characters: Hawke and Castiel When/Where: A little while after this conversation/ The Market and then Hawke's studio Rating/Warnings: Low (some language, Castiel being somewhat creepy)
Hawke had only really heard 'dog' and it caught her interest. She'd come to the rather quick estimation that it wasn't Dane, who had appeared from her bed when she'd gotten up to get dressed. He'd also given her a look when she grabbed her sword, to which she'd sighed. She'd left the sword behind, a Mabari would be protection enough, before walking to the market with Dane in tow.
Finding the one who'd apparently gotten himself adopted was easy. She just tasked Dane with finding the other dog and before long both of them came near the man. She grinned at the dog, extending her hand to it. "Hello there handsome." At Dane's quiet wuf she looked to her own dog. "Relax, not as handsome as you. Don't be jealous. Say hello." She let the dogs greet one another before looking to the stranger. "Well. I'm not his person. He doesn't look familiar to me. Might be a stray." She added with a shrug. Her desire to help still rang through. "I could see if he has a person but considering how he's acting, I think he may have picked already. Welcome to the Dog Lord club I'd say. Unless you're a heretic and dislike dogs." She added casually, with no real heat in her tone. "If you are, I'll judge only a little but could take him. Dane's good with other dogs, but I don't know the other one. Might be he's only being friendly right now, and might react badly if he comes home with us." She added with a shrug.
"Oh," she added after a moment and extended her hand. "Hawke. Already said hi, sort of, but Mother would have my head if I forgot my manners." --- It was hard to mistake Castiel for a normal human. Sure, he tried to blend in, but he was just really bad at it. The suit. The loose tie. The overcoat. And the way he stood? With his arms at his sides, entirely motionless.. It wasn’t very convincing. The dog, though, didn’t seem to care. It was a big, hairy, gray beast-- akin to an Irish Wolfhound, and nearly as tall. It had sat itself down next to the angel and leaned against him, enjoying the way the man awkwardly pat his head.
It was clear he had no idea what to do with the dog who had settled in against him so happily. He looked relieved when the woman and her dog showed up, causing the gray scruffy thing to get up and go greet Dane. Upon standing, it would be pretty obvious it was a female, and she was excited to have another dog there to sniff and bump into.
While the animals were preoccupied, the awkward angel stepped forward to take Hawke’s hand and give it a squeeze. He wasn’t really used to handshakes, he didn’t do it often. “Castiel.” He re-introduced before releasing her hand. “I don’t know anything about dogs.” He couldn’t have a dog. He didn’t have a place to keep it. Dean was sleeping in his car-- no dogs in the car-- and Sam was in the barracks.. And there was just no place for one.
“He would be unhappy with me.” Followed up after a few seconds. There was no way a dog would be happy in his care. He didn’t eat, so he couldn’t share table scraps. He didn’t sleep, so the dog couldn’t sleep with him. And he didn’t know how to interact properly with humans, let alone animals. It deserved a better home.
---
In her own experience, she'd met a various collection of people. And this place was confusing on it's own, more beings here then she'd ever seen. So she took this new stranger as just another person because otherwise she was going to get a headache. She couldn't place the dog, but she was sleek and near Dane's height. It looked like a hunter in it's own right. Once she shook the man's hand she set her own on her hips. "Yeah. I can tell. So can she." She motioned to the dog. "Dog rule number one, all dogs pick their own person. Dog rule number two, they always know if people don't like them or don't know how to manage them and kind of...attach themselves. Took a bit for Fenris to get used to the idea that the moment he stopped actively avoiding Dane was the moment Dane would leave him alone." At his name Dane barked and she smiled.
"She," she gave with a cringe. If the guy hadn't spotted that little bit, Maker only knew what else he was clearly missing. But taking away a dog who had found her person felt cruel. And she did have Carver to think of as well. Dane knew better than to try going after the nug, another dog might consider it food. And considering the thing was about as bright as a rock, it didn't know how not to avoid that. She could teach the nug was a friend, and could keep him separated though. "Alright. I can teach you. She likes you," she motioned to the dog. "For all I know, she picked you. Taking her away right now would be counterproductive. And cruel."
"Dogs aren't complicated, not once you get to know them. I'll make you a deal. She can stay with me, but for about a fortnight you'll come to my place and learn how to take care of her. What food to give her, how to tell when she needs to go out, the works. If by that time you still feel she'll be unhappy with you, and you're still not sure you'll be able to look after her she can stay with me. Enough time for you to get the hang of it, and enough time for her to get used to the idea that she can stay with me too. This way, I don't break her heart by taking her from her person, and you learn about dogs. We all win. Sound fair?" --- “She?” Blue eyes dropped back down to the dog and he considered it for a moment. Okay. It was a she. His attention was diverted back up to the woman, though, as she began to speak again. The dog liked him? The woman was going to teach him? What kind of food? Dogs ate different types of food? Go out? What did that even mean? Break her heart?
He didn’t want to harm the animal!
Blue eyes fell to the dog again, who had come back to sit at his side and nuzzled in close. Great. Dean wasn’t going to like this one bit.
“Yes. That sounds fair.” The angel assessed after a few seconds of silence. He wished the woman would just take the dog, but.. Well. He let his hand rub over her head again, like Harry had told him.
Maybe it wasn’t that bad.
“What do I call her?” It was a she. Maybe Charlie would take it? Her. It was a her.
---
Whoever this guy was, he was so far out of his depth it was almost funny. Almost. He kind of reminded her of Fenris, except less...well angry probably. Maybe Merrill too, all wide eyed innocence and naivety. Which meant she would have to keep her eye on this guy, before he walked into something that could get him hurt. Nothing she hadn't done before though, and now there was a dog involved.
She did find all the odd people. Next to her infamous Hawke Luck, that was her other thing it seemed. Or the Maker was just in a mood and decided to be funny. It could be either thing.
"Maker be good," she gave with a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. "Yeah. This'll be something. Whatever you like. She picked you, thus you get to find a name for her. I named Dane after a legend back in Ferelden. Mind you, I was a little younger and not the greatest at names but honestly, whatever suits her. And it can't be dog. That's what she is. Name her after someone you care about. Family. Friends." She shrugged. "You don't have to decide now either. Sometimes they find their own names and let you know. Sometimes they get more names. Alright, come along." She scanned around the area. Thank Andraste he'd stumbled into the market. "I found some food for Dane here. It's nothing like what I know from home, but it's meat so it'll do."
She called Dane and pet his head when he came to her. "Make sure our new friend doesn't get lost alright. Keep her with us." Smiling she looked up to Castiel. "We'll find some other things here. Dane steals the bed, even though he shouldn't, so she'll at least need some blankets. A bowl too. You have any of these credits the talking dog gave?" She doubted it, which probably meant she'd need to get her own out but as apparently gold carried her a bit further than it did back home so helping another out wasn't a huge thing. Even if it had been she'd still do it. ---
Name her after someone he cared about? Family? Friends? He could think of one name that embodied all of those things. “Dean.” Well, that was simple. It might get confusing when he tried to talk to Dean, and the dog was around.. And it was a girl. But the ‘girl’ part didn’t have any standing in Castiel’s head, he didn’t realize that Dean was strictly masculine. Perhaps if he did, he would have tagged an ‘A’ onto the end of it, to make it Deana. But, as it was, that wasn’t on his radar. The poor dog.
“We’re moving.” He’d tell the dog, as he began to walk. Dane helped, and Dean-- the girl dog-- trotted eagerly to keep up. “I have a bunk,” Castiel would explain to Hawke, “But I don’t sleep. So she can have it.” Things were falling into place so easily. Maybe this whole.. Dog thing wouldn’t be so hard?
When asked about the credits, he stuck his hand into his pocket and came up with almost all of them. The only thing he’d used them on so far was the bunk that he didn’t use. But Dean had insisted he have one, so he had. His friend seemed to like to pretend he was human sometimes, and Castiel was fine with that. If it made Dean happy, he’d take a bunk.
“How much does she need to eat? Does she require water?” Oh, Lord, Hawke was going to have her hands full with this one. Did she have any idea what she was getting herself into?
---
She winced to that. Dogs didn't really have much of a perspective, but still. "How about Deana, you know? Because she's a girl." She gave Dane a look and then sighed at the dog's concerned bark. "Yeah. I know. Worse than Merrill." She looked up to the sky. Or roof. Or well just up really, because thinking about up made her head hurt even more. "You're not funny. Either of you."
With a sigh she followed Castiel because at this rate he'd just get himself lost. "How do you not sleep? That's a bit important." She frowned, "Are you a spirit. Or a spirit in a person, because oddly that's something I do know. I've had similar arguments with Justice too. People need sleep." Well at least the dog had a bed. And they were good about convincing people to sleep, at least Dane was. The sleep discussion could be something she could do. Again.
What was her life that these were things she was used to. "Andraste's ass, okay." She looked to the credits and shook her head. "She's about Dane's size so I give him about a big chunk of meat." She was near the stall where she'd picked Dane's food up and pointed to the big slab of meat. "That. I cut it up, sear it a bit and he eats that. It usually lasts him the day. As for water, that depends. Dane gets a bowl of water to last him the day but he knows it's for the day. She may not know that, but thats all something we can figure out over the fortnight. Gives us enough time to figure out how much she eats, if she can have just a bowl and knows that's for the day or if we'll have to teach her that and same with the water. Dogs are big parts figuring out how they work, what they like, what to teach them." ---
This woman was surprisingly perceptive and it caused Castiel to turn his head and stare at her for a few seconds. She’d have to forgive him, no one had ever told him it wasn’t polite to stare. But, after a few seconds of consideration, he spoke up. “I am an Angel of the Lord.” So.. sort of like a spirit? A multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent, all crammed into a human meat suit. Jimmy Novak had been a strong vessel and he’d held Castiel all these years. This vessel had been through a lot.
“A big chunk of meat.” He repeated, to show he understood. Sear it. Okay. And a bowl of water. This was easy. He could do this. Right? It was just a dog. He’d been taking care of humans for years! A dog would be no trouble at all. It ate, it drank, it slept. Easy.
“What is ‘going out’?” She had mentioned that earlier, but hadn’t mentioned it since.
---
"A what of the what now?" she gave in confusion. "What Lord? Like a Ferelden one? Not Orlesian right? Because you'll lose all of your good points if you're serving some Orlesian windbag." She was used to the staring though. She'd met her fair share of people who did that. Merrill was the worst offender, but she tended to also look very confused while doing so. He just looked at her like she'd figured out something really clever.
With a sigh she bought the meat, plenty of it which took a good chunk of her own resources out but in this case with two large dogs she felt it might be necessary. And she had no one else to look after then the dogs. The nug would eat anything really. Even things it shouldn't. "Oh sweet Andraste have mercy." She laughed then. "Right, euh. Dogs need to shit and piss." being blunt sounded like the best option. "You don't want them to do that where you're sleeping, it'll stink. Dane knows to ask to go out. He'll walk to the door and scratch it. She may need to learn to ask in her own way. Usually a good way is to let her eat and drink and an hour, maybe more, after just let her out. If she doesn't do anything, wait another hour. She might pace or whine. It's learning body language. Another thing we'll learn as she stays with me. I can tell you how she shows she wants out. She'll need walks too, she looks like a dog that needs some exercise." --- “An angel. Of the Lord. God.” As if all of this should be making sense to her. Huh. The lack of her understanding had him staring for another long few seconds. It was odd. She seemed normal enough. “I am a soldier of heaven.” Maybe that might help? If not well, it didn’t make any difference. She could consider him a spirit and that would be perfectly fine.
“Ah. I had to urinate and defecate for a month. It was tedious and I never got used to it. Very unpleasant.” He pat a hand against the dog’s head again, as if in sympathy. He understood, girl. “I walk nightly. Dean doesn’t like when I watch him sleep.” Well. He still watched Dean sleep, but he ensured that he didn’t come around until the eldest Winchester was long asleep, and he left before he woke. That was when he walked.
“You know an awful lot about dogs.” It was meant to be a compliment, but Castiel wasn’t very good at them, he didn’t have much inflection in his tone. ---
She blinked, not really comprehending. God? Heaven? "Which God?" She gave curiously. "One of the Elven Ones? Not the old ones I hope, rather not deal with a Blight right now if I don't have to. Also a lack of Grey Wardens is probably problematic." She frowned then, "do you serve the Chantry? Because if you're a Templar we may have issues." Whatever he was, he didn't seem to be fully human. Which should be odder but right now it didn't really surprise her.
Then she blinked. And laughed. "Oh sodding Void how is this my life. Right. Yeah. She has to every day." She shook her head, "because she's mortal." She raised an eyebrow at the comments. "yeah, euh. That's creepy. Is he your partner? Even if he is, still creepy. That's not how you show affection, not really. It's how you show you're weird. Seriously if I have to tack on relationship advice, I'm charging. And if the words it's a nice night for an evening come out of your mouth I'm just going to laugh."
"'Course I do. I'm a Dog Lord." She gave with a proud grin. "Ferelden born and raised. Dogs are kind of in our blood. The highest sort of good reputation you can have is when a Mabari likes you." She pointed to Dane. "They're excellent judges of character. Smart enough to talk, bright enough to know not to." Smiling she patted Dane's head. "He also understands me. I've had him for years now. Six I think, longer probably. He found me after my Father died." Smiling she scratched his ears. "Helped me through that. I owe him a lot." ---- “God. The one, true God.” She wasn’t understanding. Well, those other pesky Gods were always getting in the way when it came to mortals. He wasn’t here to convert anyone, so he’d let it go, though it did leave him curious. “Here, I serve the Winchesters. Sam and Dean.” That should make things more simple. Right?
Wait. It was creepy?
“You said to name her after someone I cared about. Family or friend. Dean is all three.” What was creepy about that? Had he picked a wrong name? Now what did he do? He needed a new name? Blue eyes dropped to the dog again. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. Wait-- what? “Relationship advice? Are you telling me I shouldn’t watch him sleep? But who would protect him?” Hawke had walked in here and turned the angel’s entire life upside down in one conversation. That wasn’t easy to do. She should get a medal.
The angel stopped in the middle of the market-- paying no mind to the fact people still moved around them, Castiel didn’t think in linear planes. “He said it was creepy, too.” Finally admitted. Had Dean been right?
A long pause was left to hang before he spoke again, finally registering the rest of the conversation. “I’m sorry about your father.”
---
She just stared at him for a moment. "Yeah. There's debate there. The Maker and Andraste may or may not exist, so could the Elven Gods. I doubt there's one true version." She made a face, "ugh you sound like Sebastian. We'll just skip this conversation. We'll just stick with who you’re serving. A lot less confusing." Not that it still wasn't but at this point there seemed to be a lot of disconnect. Whatever world he was from, it wasn't Thedas.
"Yeah, that isn't so creepy, although she's a girl so it should be Deana. The sleeping part is though." When he stopped so did she. At his explanation she shook her head with a smile. "Beth's laughing somewhere because I had my own overprotective streak causing issues. Look yeah watching someone you love sleep isn't good. You have to give them space, understand that they will be safe no matter what. Trust is important in a relationship. Trust he can look after himself."
She blinked then, "Especially if he's mentioned it. Look, just don't watch him sleep. Do other things that show you care of want to keep him safe. Take walks together, make sure he eats, listen to him when he tells you something. That's what love is. Communication and trust." She sighed then, "it's alright. He's with The Maker and Andraste now, at peace. Has my brother to keep him company. I miss him, always will, but it's not as bad anymore. I figure he had Dane find me to teach me that." She motioned him along then, "come on, let’s go. You're kind of in the way there pal." --- “Oh. I've never thought of it that way.” He only ever thought of protecting, having never considered that there needed to be a bit more trust there. Was that what it was? Could he trust that Dean could take care of himself? Of course he could, but.. He felt so compelled to watch over him.
Well, he'd just have to make the conscious effort not to. He could be far less ‘creepy’ about it and simply watch the Impala. That was certainly something Dean would approve of, ensuring no one messed with his baby.
Take walks with him? He could do that, too, he supposed. Make sure he eats, yes. Sam usually did that, but Castiel sometimes had to remind both of them. Listen to him when he said something. When he told Castiel something. That was the hard part: obeying. And make no mistake, the angel too ‘listen to him’ as a cue to obey, which he would try to do more often. However, the more time he spent with the Winchesters, the less he obeyed. They were rubbing off on him.
This was all very good advice.
“He is in a better place.” The angel agreed. He had first hand knowledge, after all. “Oh.” Right, he was in the way. Moving along again, Deana stayed by his side, bumping into his hand and nudging him. Somehow, Castiel found that comforting.
He was going to like this whole ‘dog’ thing.
“What else do we need?” He was suddenly very keen to get the large girl whatever she needed.
--- She sighed. The next couple of weeks would be something. But hey if she did something good, then wasn't that reward in it's own? She had to earn her nickname in some way, after all. Varric would be disappointed if she didn't. He'd also find this entire thing far too amusing, and by the end of it they'd both have a book but that was besides the point. When they moved again she made sure to keep one eye on him. He was as bad as Merrill at either stopping in the middle of things, or probably getting lost.
She'd have to teach his dog 'find your people/make sure your people finds the way home' which would go better once they had a home. At his question she set her hand on Dane's head, unconsciously mimicking Castiel and thought. "Food, water, something to sleep on. She'll want something to play with. Other then that? Just love her." She smiled at the other dog. "They're a lot like people in that regard. Let her love you, and love her in return." She smiled at Dane, "right boy?" At his happy bark she looked back to Castiel. "Come on we'll go to mine. We can feed them there." ---
“Something to play with.” He repeated, but would follow along without hesitation. Castiel had always been a trusting sort, always wanting to help. Most angels were relatively naive, but this one was naive even by angel standards. He would have followed her into a slaughter house.
Thankfully, she wasn’t taking him into a slaughter house.
“I will love her.” Castiel assured, as if Hawke needed some sort of confirmation on that point. The blue-eyed man had never been short on those feelings, though they were new to him. Emotions. He’d had them less than a decade and he was still trying to figure it all out.
“Thank you.” Spoken again, only after they were well on their way to her place. He felt like it needed saying again, she’d been so very helpful.
---
Well, here went nothing really. But if she let him flounder she'd never sleep well...when she could get sleep with the eternal night bit this place had going that reminded her a bit too much like the Deep Roads. She shook her head and walked to the little studio she'd acquired (which thankfully she did not need to share with an Uncle with a grudge). "So what's Angels do?" She asked curiously. "Besides be very lost, apparently. And watch people." She added with a wry tone of humor.
When she reached her door she let Dane sit near the corner, which proved useful when the nug slipped out. She cursed as Dane grabbed it by the back and took it from his mouth. "Andraste's ass Carver stop escaping. You will get eaten." When it set it's paws on her hand and gave her a solemn squeak she sighed. "Dumb animal." She held it tight and smiled at Castiel. "This is a nug. Bright as a brick. His name's Carver." Shaking her head she walked into her studio, "Come on in," she called out before shoving the nug in the bathroom and closing the door on it. Dane grabbed one of the toy's she'd gotten and brought it to the new dog. "Play nice," she gave absentmindedly and walked to the little kitchen. "Come on, I'll show you how to prepare this meat." --- “Well,” he began as he came inside, urging Deana in, and letting her trot off after Dane, to play eagerly with the toy, “Some of us protect people. Sometimes it’s certain people, sometimes it’s groups of people. Some of us protect heaven exclusively. Some of us just watch, some of us lead armies of angels in the name of the Lord. We have many jobs.” Just like humans. “Some of us perform miracles.” Though that hadn’t happened in ages.. Mostly, the angels came to Earth for destruction.
Blue eyes wandered to the nug curiously, but he didn’t ask any questions. Castiel often just puzzled things in his head for a while instead of asking, for better or worse. He did stare at the bathroom as he passed it, though, and moved into the kitchen behind her.
“Alright.” She would find very quickly that Castiel didn’t know the first thing about preparing a meal. He’d been human for all of a month and the entire time, he’d eaten at soup kitchens for the poor. “She seems to be getting along with Dane.” He could see them there, just beyond the counter, the two of the large dogs playing in the living area. ---
She listened to that. “Like Spirits then. Except for the army part. I think. My knowledge of that comes from one, and he wasn’t always the sharing type. Explains why you’re having issues. Most spirits seem to not get people very well.” She gave a sigh, “we’ll just figure we’re lucky you’re not a demon. I’ll take that much.”
She made sure he watched as she prepared the meat and glanced to the two playing dogs. “That’s good. I’ll keep an eye on it though. As cute as it would be, neither of us need pups right now. And if I keep collecting animals, I’ll need a bigger space. Which is not a terrible problem to have, and at least I’m not collecting literally all the horses like the Inquisitor did.” When the meat was seared only a little she called for the dogs. Dane came to sit at her feet, giving the new dog a weird look when she didn’t. “She doesn’t know yet. She gets one.” She set the bowls down then to let them both eat. “See? Not too hard right? Still, talk to your Dean. Chances are he’ll help you out.” At this point, it might be needed. --- “So will I.” He’d take that he wasn’t a demon, and he’d be happy about it, thanks. He’d destroyed enough demons to know it was the wrong side of the tracks to be on, in any universe.
Castiel would watch as Deana came trotting over to sit eagerly next to Dane, once she realized the food was for her and was going to be given over. Her tail thumped eagerly on the ground and it cause the Angel to smile. Just a little. He knew the tail wagging was a sign of pleasure.
“I will speak with him.” But even as he said the words, he knew there wasn’t any need. Dean wouldn’t help him much with this, he’d be on his own. Maybe Sam, or Charlie, if the angel clearly couldn’t handle it himself.. But he was sure that he’d be able to figure it out, given time. Especially if Hawke kept up with her lessons, Deana would get her first set of lessons here, Castiel would be able to visit, and at the end of those few nights, Hawke would be able to determine if the blue-eyed angel in a meat suit should really be able to keep the animal for his own, or if he was just too incapable. ---