Standing Together

Chapter 113

"Hey, Lucifer, where's your guitar?"

Lucifer shrugs. "Probably in my room. If I go find it, are you going to be antisocial for the rest of the day?"

"Just until Alex wakes up," Castiel says. "I'll still talk if you talk to me, though. Maybe."

"That's good enough," Lucifer says. "Wanna see a magic trick?"

"Sure?" Castiel says uncertainly.

"Now you don't see a guitar..." Lucifer runs away, leaving everyone - even those who weren't listening to the conversation - staring after him.

"What just happened?" Anna asks.

"That is a very good question," Castiel replies.

Everyone seems to accept that answer, because they all go back to what they were doing before.

"Do you think he'll ever come back?" Dean asks.

"If his room is as messy as it used to be, he may never find that guitar," Castiel says. "We might have just lost Lucifer forever."

"That's so sad," Gabriel, who apparently was eavesdropping on their conversation, says. "Alexa, play Despacito."

"Damn, Gabriel," Dean says in his best "Damn Daniel" vine voice. "Back at it again with those outdated memes!"

"Hell yeah, I am." Gabriel whips to emphasize that.

"Can I make a Dancing Queen reference, or is that not enough of a meme?"

"Well, you can't anymore." Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Rule numero uno - you don't ask to use a meme. You just do it."

"You know what? You're absolutely right," Dean says. "I'm going to meme unapologetically for now on."

"Gabriel, why would you say that?" Castiel.

"Because I won't have to deal with it all day like you will," Gabriel says teasingly.

"And now you do!" Lucifer runs out to the kitchen, a guitar in his hand.

"Now we do what?" Dean asks.

"'Cause I said 'Now you don't see a guitar,' so now I'm saying 'And now you do.' It's not funny if i have to explain it."

"It wouldn't be funny even if you didn't have to explain it," Dean says.

"Okay, ouch!" Lucifer pouts. "Why would you say that? You know how I feel!"

Dean shrugs. "That's what makes it fun."

Lucifer scoffs. "And, because of that, I'm not giving you the guitar." He hands it to Castiel instead. "So take that."

"I didn't even want the guitar," Dean says.

"No, but I had to feel like I was doing something."

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "I'm just gonna take the guitar and disappear now."

Lucifer waves at him as he walks away. "Bye, friendo! Don't break the guitar!"

~~

From Castiel's seat in the living room, he can still watch everything going on in the kitchen, where most of his family is. He doesn't expect to see much, so he mostly focuses on the guitar in his lap. It's not a real song, though - just a simple, repetitive stunning pattern, switching between some simple notes - so it doesn't take much thought.

That might be how he notices Dean, almost as far away from him as possible while still in his field of vision, when Cain walks up to him. Castiel's strumming slows slightly, and he cocks his head to one side. What's going on over there?

They don't talk very long. Dean seems just as confused as Castiel is. Cain talks for a minute or so, and then Dean seems to understand. He waves him of dismissively, and as they continue to chat, Castiel's curiosity grows. After another or two, their conversation ends, and Castiel just stares after them blankly. What the hell were they talking about?

Alex starts crying from her bedroom, and Lucifer discreetly slips out of the kitchen to go get her. After a brief pause, Alex is silent, so Lucifer just have gotten her.

Lucifer steps back into the kitchen, Alex's hand in his as she walks behind him. She gets everyone's attention immediately. No one can resist the sight of a cute little girl.

Alex looks around, eyeing everyone that's here. Castiel watches from the living room, still strumming his guitar. He already knows she's not going to come over here. She doesn't like him - she doesn't even know him. But he doesn't have anything else to do, so he might as well watch her. But then she looks over at him and pauses.

Castiel puts a hand over the guitar strings to stop the noise, then waves at her. "Hi, Alex."

Alex just looks at him for another moment in silence.

"Come on, sweetie," Lucifer says. "Let's go see Uncle Castiel."

Lucifer leads her to the living room. They have to walk slowly because Alex's legs are so small, so Castiel plays his guitar absentmindedly as he waits.

When Lucifer stops walking, Alex wraps her arms around his leg, hiding behind him.

"Look, it's Uncle Castiel," Lucifer says. "Wanna say hi to Uncle Castiel?"

Alex shakes her head.

"Hi, Alex!" Castiel says, because she clearly won't initiate the conversation.

Alex ducks her head, but looks up at him shyly in her periferal vision.

"Say hi, Alex," Lucifer insists.

She doesn't.

"Why are you being so quiet today, kiddo?" Lucifer asks. "He's your uncle, not some random stranger off the streets."

"Claire was some random stranger off the streets," Castiel reminds him. "You might want to think twice before using that as a bad thing."

"Oh, yeah, you right," Lucifer says, then quickly adds for Alex's sake, "but we don't trust random strangers off the street. Random strangers are bad. Uncles are good! So say hi to Uncle Castiel!"

But she still doesn't say anything.

Castiel goes back to quietly strumming the guitar, and Alex looks up again, watching his fingers with a blank expression on her face.

"Do you like my guitar?" Castiel asks her. "Err, your dad's guitar?"

"Technically, it's our dad's guitar," Lucifer tells him. To Alex, he specifies, "Your grandfather's guitar."

Alex looks up at him, then looks back at the guitar.

"I think you have a new groupie," Lucifer tells his brother.

"I think I've found my favorite groupie," Castiel says with a grin.

Alex just looks at him.

"Hey, Alex, wanna watch Uncle Castiel play guitar with me?" Lucifer asks.

Alex looks at him in silence for a moment, then nods.

"C'mon, sit down with me."

Lucifer sits down on the floor, and Alex sits down next to him. After a pause, Alex lies down, using Lucifer's leg as a pillow, and looks up at her uncle.

Castiel smiles to himself. They're adorable.

A/N Merry Christmas!