It was quiet at the park today. Perhaps it had something to do with the cold, or with it being the middle of the week, but the area was mostly devoid of humans. Of course, this meant the local cats were happy to come right out in the open. They'd gotten into a routine, at this point - he'd sit down on a park bench and tear open a bag of kibble, and almost immediately, one by one, the cats would start appearing from under the shrubs that lined the walking path circling the park. Normally they could care for themselves, but with snow on the ground and prey scarce, they needed the easy calories as much as Castiel needed the company. Animals were far less complicated than angels or humans.
Most of the cats had long since finished their food, and the last stragglers were getting their share. Some of those who'd already eaten had curled up around each other on the bench next to him, the tail end of his coat tucked around them for a little extra warmth. The most friendly of the lot had wasted no time making herself comfortable on his lap. He didn't want to disturb them, so he kept still. Which meant, when he sensed the approach of one of his brothers, he couldn't exactly fly away without dumping his cat friends into the snow.
He was almost relieved it wasn't Samandriel, not that he had any right to wish it either way. Samandriel had made it explicitly clear what he thought of Castiel, and Cas didn't fault him for it. It had been a harsh but needed reminder - what he had done was unforgivable. The least he could do was show him the respect of staying away.
"Azrael," Cas greeted his brother in a low rasp. Not exactly a brother. A half-brother? An archangel, family, one of those here who could pass judgment upon him. The two cats still eating their kibble stopped to stare up at the newcomer. Slowly, Castiel turned from the cat sitting in his lap to blink slowly up at Azrael, not quite able to meet his eyes. "That’s not my place. They already have names of their own, in their own language. But I can heal whatever ailment they may have, so there’s that.”
He watched Azrael through lowered lashes. He had not spent as much time with this brother. He didn’t know what to expect from him, really. Three times now Castiel had been taken by death, twice in sacrifice and twice by his brothers’ hands. That was before, of course. When he was still whole, before he’d let his desperation and the insidious whispers of power enough to stop Raphael consume him. The most recent time he’d died, he had welcomed it as his due. Yet their father had breathed life back into him, even restored his true vessel time and time again. Punishment resurrections, he understood now. That was why he was alive; he didn’t deserve the peace of oblivion. He just didn't know what to do with this life, aside from avoid bringing more pain at all costs. "I am thinking I should make some shelters for them. From the snow. What do you think?"