...

"Gabriel...?"

Gabriel hummed softly, with his nose pressed behind Sam's ear and his arms curled around his waist.

"This is kind of weird."

Gabriel gave a soft sigh and opened his eyes. "What is— Oh." He caught sight of the translucent appendages curling around Sam's waist. "Sorry. Let the glamor slip." He focused on what could only be called his tentacles until they pulled away and compressed and disappeared back into his spine. It was a strange sensation for Gabriel, like suction.

Sam shifted in his arms. Glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel. "It wasn't bad..." He met Gabriel's eyes. "Just... different."

"Make up your mind, boy." Gabriel flicked Sam's shoulder and mock-glared. "Do you want 'em out or not?"

"Out." Sam didn't even pretend to think about his decision. "I don't want you to have to hide that aspect of yourself."

Gabriel snorted and let his deception slide a little bit away, and muttered, "If I didn't hide it at all you'd be cuddling with a giant, tentacled blob monster." His extra limbs stretched out in the air, twisting curiously before some dropped down against the sheets and the rest looped around Sam's waist, slightly slick and soft—they looked like some kind of rum-colored Jell-O, but a little more solid.

When Sam reached to touch one, it gave under his fingers. The tentacles were clear as blown glass, containing nothing, and moved whichever way they pleased, smooth and flexible. They were slightly slippery to the touch and the warm sunlight from the open window streamed through them so that little yellow-y reflections wavered on the wall and the floor and the sheets.

"They're like... They're like if someone took a water balloon and filled it with honey and then lubed it up." Sam squeezed at one tentacle and it squelched between his fingers. "Or... maybe not." When he opened his hand, the strange substance returned to its previous shape almost instantly.

Gabriel laughed at him. "They're basically a gel, Sam." He wrapped his arms around Sam's waist just above where his extra appendages continued to coil under Sam's shirt—eventually they stilled, wrapped three times around Sam's middle. "A liquid that acts like a solid."

"It's strange." Sam ignored the fact that whatever liquid coated the tentacles had begun to seep into his shirt. He flattened his hand along the curve of the one across his stomach. His fingers slid over the organ with ease. "What are they? Not muscles... There aren't any bones or veins, either."

Gabriel grinned. Tightened all of his limbs around Sam and tangled their legs together. "They're not natural." He kissed the back of Sam's neck. "I'm not any kind of animal, Sam. Definitely not human, certainly not a fish or anything else. I don't follow the rules of nature." One tentacle strayed to Sam's face, and its damp tip trailed down his jawline.

"Obviously." Sam shivered under Gabriel's touch.

Gabriel opened his mouth and gnawed thoughtfully at the base of Sam's neck. "I could fuck you with these if I really wanted to."

"Please don't."

Gabriel laughed. "Party-pooper." He snuggled closer.

Sam craned his neck so he could catch a glimpse of Gabriel behind him, and raised his eyebrows. "I don't want your weirdo alien gel inside me. How does that make me a party-pooper?" He rolled his eyes and returned his head to the pillow.

"Because." Gabriel tugged at Sam's shirt—edges growing wetter and wetter where the slimy extra appendages touched the fabric. He pulled until Sam raised his arms and let himself be stripped of the offending garment. Gabriel hummed and curled back around Sam with both dry and damp limbs. "If I say you're a party-pooper, you're a party-pooper."

"Oh, really?" Sam scoffed. "Well, you're a jerk."

Gabriel smirked against Sam's neck. "But I'm an attractive jerk."

"With tentacles."

Gabriel hummed. "An attractive jerk with tentacles."

Sam rolled his eyes.

But if he were to be honest, he liked the cool slide of the tentacles against his bare skin, in the summer heat. Soft and delicate and strangely comforting, and so very Gabriel. A similar color to his eyes, and so pretty. Even if they were weird.

Gabriel kissed Sam's shoulder and let his limbs drag slick across his skin.

"Gabriel—"

"No. Hells no, Sam." He grinned but something in his eyes sent off signals—the kind that would stop a predator in its tracks and spook a deer in a split second. "You can’t make me."

Sam gave as good as he got, with his expression. Raised eyebrows, pursed lips. Classic bitchface. “All I asked was how you feel about me.” He crossed his arms. “It’s not that hard to answer.” His smile turned playful and he punched the button for the crosswalk. It changed almost immediately, so he strode across the empty road. “How do you feel about me? Are you too chicken to answer?”

Gabriel rushed after him. “Screw you!” He fell into step with Sam. “I’m not a chicken! I just don’t wanna talk about feelings! I’m not some mushy-hearted angst-ridden schmuck like your big brother!” He jabbed Sam’s arm. “It’s not like I wanna stare into your eyes all day like those two jackasses you call family.”

Letting out a scoff, Sam shoved Gabriel away. “Shut up, asshole.” His grin widened. “I’m curious how you feel, okay! Feelings! They’re what people have!”

"Oh you wanna know how I feel? I feel like you’re a little shithead!" Gabriel tried to kick out at Sam but he missed by a few inches and stumbled—of course, if he had really wanted to kick Sam he wouldn’t have missed. But he preferred pretending to be a little bit human.

"Now we’re getting somewhere." Sam reached out to pull Gabriel into a headlock. Gabriel let himself be dragged along for a few feet before squirming free and shoving his thumbs into his pockets. He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before muttering, "You really wanna know?" He kept his eyes trained on the crumbling sidewalk as he took over-large steps in the poorly-lit night.

Sam nodded. “I wanna know.”

"Man, I hate you."

Sam smirked. “Oh, is that how it is? Your feelings are general hatred?” He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. The air was a little chilly.

Gabriel licked his lips and craned his head back to look up at what few stars were visible through the thin clouds and light pollution. “Nah.” He snorted. “Nah, I don’t hate you. Not even close.” He shrugged. “I dunno, Sam. It’s hard to put into words. There are a lot of emotions in the world and I’ve certainly been around the block, but trying to describe how one person makes you feel can be hard.” He chuckled to himself, scraping his heels on the concrete. “Even someone as simple as yourself.”

"Fuck you." Sam elbowed him. "I’m complicated. Like a dictionary."

Gabriel let out a guffaw. “A dic—Sam, no.” He turned his grin to his feet once more, and it softened.

"I don’t know, Sam."

He breathed out loud and gusty, chewed on his lip, and shut his eyes as he walked. “I like you—I mean, you’re fun to be around. Dean is fun to prod, sure, but you’re… interesting? You share my sense of humor.” He paused. “Well, sometimes you share my sense of humor. Not always. Since I’m kind of an asshole and you’re kind of not.”

Sam kept quiet. He didn’t want Gabriel to stop, now that he’d finally got going.

"I—I dunno, Sam. Really."

"So, keep thinking."

A small chuckle—nervous—dropped from Gabriel’s mouth. “Fine,” he said. “Fine. Okay. I—I think you’re funny. Not like… Cosby funny or whatever else. Like… You are so damn sarcastic and half the time I think most of the world misses it completely, but goddamn. Those mooks don’t know what they’re missin’ out on when your jokes fly over their heads.” He snickered to himself.

Gentled again.

"How I feel about you is that…" He pushed his hand back through his hair, and it stuck up wild and toffee-colored in the light of the streetlamps. "I feel like you’re a better man than I have ever been—" He cut Sam off, when it seemed like he wanted to interrupt. "No, Sam. It’s true. I’m a massive tool. Sure I deal justice, but I also kill people and I’m rude to everyone and… You’re… not. You’re kind and merciful and I don’t know how many times you could have killed me but didn’t. I mean, I may be a goddamn chimerical beast but I know that you two are deadly and I know you could have done me in in an instant." He sighed. "But you didn’t. Even after… after Florida."

He raised his eyes back to the sky. They’d passed the more dense part of the city and had gotten out onto a more rural area, so the stars peppered the dark more thickly. The highway was cracked on the edges. The paint peeled.

Gabriel scratched the back of his neck.

Sam waited.

Eventually, Gabriel spoke again. “Not to be cliché, but… you make me happy. You know?” He rubbed his face with both hands palm-flat against his skin. “You give me hope. You’re amazing. You’ve been through all this shit, and you still show understanding and kindness. It’s a wonder you can even stand the presence of another living being but here you are, walking along with me of all people.” He briefly glanced at Sam, but not long enough for the taller man to get a read on his emotions.

"You also make me feel kind of small—" He cut himself off with a laugh. "Not literally. I mean, sure my vessel is nearly a foot shorter than yours but I’m still bigger’n you. But you make me feel all little and… normal. I like that. You’re just so damn earnest.”

Sam watched him without a word. Hunched his shoulders against the slight rising breeze and kept walking at a steady pace.

Gabriel kept up with him easily.

"I just—" He closed his eyes with a little gust of breath. "Crap. Sam, I just really care about you, okay?" He spread his arms and raised his eyebrows. "There, I said it! I told you my feelings. I like you, I care about you, I’m secretly a giant sap!"

Sam smiled. “You’re a dork.”

Gabriel glared at him but it held no heat. “I’ll shank you.”

"No you won’t." Sam grabbed at Gabriel. Pulled him in against his side with one arm draped loosely about his shoulders. "You would never hurt me, because you care too much.” He grinned down at Gabriel with dimples and windswept hair and bright eyes, and adopted a more teasing tone. “You like me.”

"The hell’s that supposed to mean?!" Gabriel wrinkled his nose. "What am I, a ten-year old girl?"

"Yes."

Gabriel let out a disbelieving snort. “You’re a dick.”

Sam only jostled him as they walked, and his arm slipped a little lower so his fingers grasped at Gabriel’s elbow. He turned his face into the wind.

Gabriel tried as discreetly as possible to inch closer to Sam. Sam noticed, of course, and dropped his hand to Gabriel’s waist. When he looked down, the other man was scowling at his feet and pink in the face. Sam smirked. Gabriel jabbed him with his elbow but leaned against him, so his cheek bumped Sam’s shoulder.

"I hate you."

Sam smiled. “You love me.”

Gabriel scoffed and muttered, “No, you’re too much of a jerkwad to love.” He licked his lips. “But maybe I like you a lot more than most other people.”

"Aww, I’m so flattered." Sam kissed the top of Gabriel’s head—Gabriel swatted at him, irritated and still blushing.

Sam laughed.