Chapter Text
Christmas had never been something that Gabriel had been particularly interested in, but seeing the way that his baby brother lit up on the first day of December made the hectic stores, rude customers and overpriced peppermint-flavored everything just a little more tolerable. Castiel seemed to live for the Christmas season, and was definitely the most spirited of the five Novak children. The eldest, Michael, usually worked late during this time of the year, but he always made sure that he was there on Christmas eve to help trim the tree and keep his younger brothers, Luce and Raphael, from ‘decorating’ one another with garland in ways that nearly resembled something one might find on a website catering to the BDSM community. The Novak household was always bustling with activity, and filled with such an array of sweet smells that Gabriel could swear he’d died and gone to Heaven just as he did every year. The highlight of it all, however, was seeing the normally cool, calm and collected youngest Novak completely lose his mind over the season.
Yeah, watching the way that Castiel meticulously piped the perfect amount of icing onto the bell, star, wreath and reindeer cookies—the reindeer that managed to keep their heads whenever Luce was around—and the way that he unabashedly sang whatever Christmas tune he could find on the ancient radio Michael had drug out of the attic as he danced around the kitchen, it made it all worth it. …Usually.
Today, Gabriel wasn’t feeling the Christmas cheer. He was stuck in a line that he could have sworn was shorter than it was, and that it had somehow doubled in the three-minutes it took him to grab a diet coke from the mini fridge by the checkout line, waiting to pay for the last four rolls of wrapping paper that the store had. It was Christmas eve, he was tired, starving, and he wouldn’t have braved the nutso people that dared leave their Christmas shopping till the night before, but when Castiel had run out of wrapping paper, with an ungodly amount left to wrap, he had turned those big baby blues on him and Gabriel knew he was a goner. He’d never been able to resist his baby brother on any normal day, but he had at least been able to put up a little bit of a fight. Not today. No, as soon as he saw the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, and that seemingly always chapped lower lip beginning to tremble, he had jumped up faster than anyone his age should have been moving.
Which is how he found himself at Wal-Mart at 11:00 in the evening, braving the crowds and having an actual “sword fight” with one of the rolls of wrapping paper, because like hell he was going to go home without the one pattern that Castiel had specifically pleaded with him to find. He didn’t care who he had to stab to do so. …Okay, so maybe that wasn’t very “cheerful”, but damn it, he’d been on his feet at work all day and when he’d finally dragged his ass home after locking up early, he was only allowed to sit for a full five minutes before his brothers were dragging him up and into the kitchen to help with the cookie decorations. Silver lining there, he got to eat the leftover frosting.
It felt like he’d been in this damned line for hours, but when he looked at the large clock that the store had placed, ticking down the minutes until Christmas day, he realized he’d only been standing in line for twenty minutes. He wanted to groan, but all that would accomplish would be spraying the old woman in front of him with pieces of malted milk balls. Hey, he still had the wrapper, he’d pay for the candy when he got up there. Whenever the hell that was. For as packed as the store was, it was a miracle that he hadn’t spotted anyone that he knew.
“Loki? Is that you?” A tall, beautiful woman with caramel colored skin and perfectly styled obsidian hair came walking towards him.
“Fuck me sideways with a candy cane…. hi, Kali! What are you doing here this late?”
“Oh, Baldur is just finishing up some last-minute shopping for the children.” She waved her hand slightly, her blood-red manicured nails flashing in the fluorescent lights. He tried not to grimace at the mention of her new husband. Gabriel and Kali had been the ‘it’ couple for a few years, before she publicly ripped out his heart and stomped on it with her six-inch stilettos when she turned down his, in his opinion, thoughtful and well-planned wedding proposal. It would have hurt less if she had literally stabbed him with one of her heels. Which, he would gladly take now, as opposed to having to stand there, a smile plastered so tight on his face that he was certain that he’d have to have assistance unscrewing it, and try to pretend that he’s happy for her.
Truth be told, Kali’s refusal of his proposal and then her admission of having been cheating on him with Baldur for the better part of their three-year relationship had broken him. Sure, he kept up his appearances, because he was not about to let his bakery go under just because he had his heart broken. He’d worked too damn hard to get it.
“How are the kids doing these days? I haven’t seen them since the oldest threw that rock through my store front window.” Gabriel shifted his packages in his arms, shuffling just a little closer to the checkout. Only three more people in front of him, thank god.
The corner of her lip quirked up, almost in a smirk at the mention of the incident. ‘They’ve been doing well, obviously. How could they not?” She flicked her hand again and Gabriel caught the flash of a rather large diamond ring on her left ring finger. He felt his stomach roll. “After all, their parents are beautiful, successful people…”
“Next?” The cashier called, thankfully saving Gabriel from getting thrown out right when he was so close to his destination, because if he had to stand there and pretend to be civil for one more moment, he was going to lose it and shove one of those display candy canes right up her precious---
“Next?” he heard again. Oh, right. He flashed a bitter smile, not even caring enough to keep up the façade, and bid Kali adieu. He carried his wrapping paper rolls, a few gag gifts for Luce and Raphael, a book for Michael, and a stuffed bee he found for Castiel that he just had to get him. And, of course, the empty King Size Whoppers wrapper. The cashier was a tall, young man with shoulder length chestnut brown hair. He wore a typical blue smock over his plaid long sleeve shirt, but what really made Gabriel smile was the pair of felt antlers on the top of his head.
“You look more like a moose than a reindeer.” He blurted out before he could stop himself. Fuck, real smooth, Gabriel, real smooth.
Thankfully, the kid laughed. “Yeah, I get told that a lot.” His eyes crinkled at the edges, showing signs of age that didn’t mask the rest of his form. Clearly the kid had seen some shit in his day. A single eye rose as he held up the empty wrapper. Gabriel thought his insides were going to melt when he met the twinkling hazel eyes that were speckled with faint gold. “Get hungry while in line?”
“At least I brought the wrapper up to pay for them,” he defended with a slight pout forming on his lips. “I’ve been on my feet most of the day. I’d planned on closing the shop early and just collapsing in my favorite chair, but Cassie ran out of wrapping paper and… why am I telling you this? Your job is to just smile and nod at every customer, no matter how boring their stories can be.”
“Well, while it is true that I need to keep a smile on my face all the time, I actually like listening to everyone’s stories. It’s like a never-ending book, and each customer adds another chapter. Some repeat customers even add to the chapters.”
Okay, this kid was way too damn cute. Why did the cute ones always have to be underage? Wait…that made him sound like a creep. Rephrase. Why did the cute ones have to be legal, but too young to be interested in him?
“That’ll be $14.37, sir.” The cashier smiled, snapping himself out of his stupor. “Gabriel,” he murmured without thinking. At the other’s raised brow, he cleared his throat. “Instead of sir. My name is Gabriel.”
“Well, Gabriel, it’s $14.37.” Gabriel handed him a twenty, telling him to keep the change, and then grabbed his bags. He looked over his shoulder, flashing him a smile. So, maybe the kid was too young for him, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun. “Now you have a title for my chapter.” He could vaguely hear the cashier laughing as he exited the building and made his way back out to his car to brave the snowy trek home.