Who: Castiel and Liu Ying Where: Cruise Ship When: June 17 What: Waking up with a stranger Status: Complete
Castiel didn’t usually sleep. He didn’t have the need to sleep, so he would usually just spend the nights watching Netflix or something, while Blake slept. He stayed in Blake’s room as he did so, he liked to be close to the man. Even while Blake was asleep, he liked to be near him. He loved the man, more than he thought he could possibly love someone.
But sometime during the night, he must have fallen asleep. He knew this had to have been the case because he woke up. One doesn’t usually wake up unless one fell asleep.
There were a few odd things about the circumstances he woke up to. One, this was not the room he shared with Blake. Two, the person asleep beside him was definitely not Blake. The second bit was a bit awkward. He was sharing a bed with someone he vaguely recognized. A woman. He placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly.
“Wake up,” he said softly.
***
Within a second, there was a blade at his throat. Liu Ying did not often sleep so deeply that she would be surprised by someone creeping up on her like this, but much had happened in Madison Valley that she had before thought impossible.
Such as being moved to a strange room without her knowledge, in the company of a man she only found a little familiar. Certainly not enough to be in such close quarters.
“Who are you?” The demand came out sharply. “Where is this?”
***
“Woah,” he said softly, holding up his hands. “You’re okay. I promise. I’m not going to hurt you.” Whether or not she was going to hurt him or not was a different thing. “I am Castiel. I’m an angel.” He didn’t often come out with the fact that he was an angel this soon in the conversation, but it might soothe her. He wasn’t sure.
“I am not sure where we are,” he admitted. “I just woke up myself. It appears that we are on some sort of ship, though.” Which was weird. The fact that he had fallen asleep in the first place, and the fact that he was on a ship.
***
Castiel, the angel. The one from the sky tribe. Liu Ying recognized him now.
She pulled away from him but did not yet sheathe her knife. She did, however, push herself off the bed and floated to the far wall. It was not so far from the bed in this very small room.
“The town, has it done something again?”
She could not imagine how she could have ended up on a ship otherwise.
***
Castiel remained quiet as Liu Ying floated over to the far wall. He understood that this could very well be awkward for her. He knew it was awkward for him. He hadn’t been expecting this, and he was certain she hadn’t been, either.
He nodded slightly at her question. “Yes, the town did something again. It appears to have deemed it necessary to send us on a cruise. And give us random roommates, people we barely know. And give us one bed instead of two. Not that I really need to sleep…”
He studied Liu Ying for a moment, “Do you sleep? If you do, you can have the bed. I don’t sleep, and I won’t disturb you.”
***
Liu Ying’s mind was working rapidly. They had been sent on a cruise. (She did not know what this was, except that it felt like they were on a ship.) Was it only the two of them? Why? Could she not have been sent on a trip home instead?
She did not think this angel would have the answers, however, so she simply asked, “Do you really not sleep? At all?”
***
No, Castiel did not have the answers. He woke up in a strange place, just like she had. But he had deduced that they were on a cruise ship. Where they were going, or why they were here, Castiel had no idea. And he was a bit glad that she had not expected him to have the answers.
“I can sleep, I just rarely choose to do so. Because I do not need to. I also do not need to eat. It’s part of being an angel.” He nodded a bit at this, and offered her a small smile. “I am sorry you are stuck with a relative stranger as a roommate, though.”
***
“You are a very strange immortal,” Liu Ying said, eyeing him curiously. How easier life would be for her if she did not have to sleep or eat. But she did not know of any immortals who could do that, not even those of the Sky Tribe.
But that was not important to the current situation. Whether either of them needed sleep or not, they were still on a cruise. (Whatever that was.) Was this their new home now? Would they simply be moved from location to location from time to time as the Valley wished?
“Have you looked outside beyond this door?” She started to move toward it. “What is outside?”
***
“I may be a little strange,” he admitted. “I have been called strange many times, actually. And awkward.” He willingly accepted these descriptors of himself, because he knew them to be true. Mostly he had been called this by humans, though.
He shook his head slightly, “I have not. But I think we are on a boat, a ship, on the ocean. I am not completely certain where we are going.” This was the first time he’d encountered something like this, in Madison Valley.
“I suppose we should investigate.”
***
A cruise, Liu Ying discovered when they left their small room, was very much like a boat, but much bigger. It was almost an entire city at sea, if the city could move. And without any monsters to push it along! How wondrous this magic was.
Once, Liu Ying turned into smoke so she could fly up and see the cruise from above. How far it stretched along the water! She wished to dive into the water to see which Sea Tribe realm they were in, but without an invitation she did not wish to be so rude.
“This cruise is very large,” she observed when she returned to the place where she had left the angel. “But where is it going?”
***
He shook his head at Liu Ying’s question. “I am not sure,” he admitted. “I have not had much time to figure that out. “But most cruises go to various destinations. It all depends, really. Some go to various ports in the Caribbean, or Mexico, or Europe. I am not sure where this one is headed.”
He considered it for a moment, “I could always ask. I’m sure there’s someone who knows.” There had to be people working on the cruise ship, right? Someone had to know.
“This is the first time I’ve been on a cruise.”
***
All those places Liu Ying had never heard of. She supposed she would learn of them if and when they arrived. She only wondered if they would return to the Valley of Madison, or be set upon the new location.
“Then let us find someone to ask,” she said. “Come.”
It was a narrow passageway they were in, with many doors, but there was no sense in merely standing around.
***
He nodded as Liu Ying said he should follow her, and that they should find someone to ask. He thought it was a good idea, really. Because someone had to know where they were going, and why they were suddenly on a ship. Maybe there was an employee of the cruise ship who would know.
“There has to be someone…” he said, as he rose from his spot on the bed. “Let’s go find someone.”
Luckily for Castiel, he was dressed in his normal clothing. Pants, button up shirt, tie, trench coat. So he didn’t have to worry about getting dressed or anything.