(no subject)

[foundacause]

Who: Meg, Open
When: Day 52
Where: The Park
What: Repairing a gazebo

Sure, Mayor Creepazoid had decided to form a reconstruction group for the damage caused by the Jolly Green Giant, but that didn't mean Meg was going to sit idly by while some morons manhandled her angel’s favourite little hiding spot. She might've been willing to make an exception if they were all gorgeous hunks who would need to remove their shirts halfway through, but the likelihood of getting a full team of hunks in this place was minimal.

Which probably explained why she was in the park, by the remains of the gazebo trying to figure out how the hell to fix it up. Give her a victim and tell her to torture them in creative ways? No problem. Give her a broken gazebo and some spare materials? Problem. She was a demon. Not a carpenter or a joiner or... whoever the hell built gazebos. But other than a demon she was also smitten with a certain angel a determined, headstrong individual. And if she said she was going to mend the gazebo then she was damn well going to mend the gazebo.

"How hard can if be? If guys can do it, it must be easy..."

Comments

[hung_garian]

Obviously Gabriel wasn't there to help. Gabriel was never anywhere to help. In fact, if Gabriel was somewhere and there was something to help with, he was probably there to hinder it. Still, she probably shouldn't let that put her off humouring him, if only because he was less dangerous when kept entertained.

"Probably is. Depends what you're trying to do - start a forest fire? Play a very inefficient game of Jenga? Get a splinter?"

[foundacause]

Obviously he couldn't be expected to help and do things of actual use. The universe might implode on itself. And Meg really needed to figure out who he really was other than that possible celestial being she was torn between stabbing in the face and screwing against the nearest surface.

"Please, you think I'd go to all this trouble over a fire? What do you think I am? An amateur? What does it look like I'm doing moron? Building an angelic wendy house." You know, usual every day demon behaviour...

[hung_garian]

"Oh, how silly of me. 'Angelic wendy house' shoulda been my first guess. What was I thinking?"

He strolled around the forlorn remains of the destroyed gazebo, ostensibly inspecting it carefully.

"Great progress you're making. May I ask why? Trying to catch yourself a baby featherduster of your very own? Cause you know what they say, more flies get caught with honey than rickety bits of fence hammered into a fun-sized little house. Might be easier just to offer free candy."

[foundacause]

"Right. Because what every demon wants is a flock of little feathery brats following them around and growing up to smite them. There's only one set of feathers I give a damn about and I don't have to do any catching."

Damn it, Gabe. She had only just started. Not everyone can magic up things out of nowhere.

"I do intend to repair his gazebo though." What was that? A hint of emotion? Oh yes. "Feel free to lend a hand. Or do you intend to stand on the sidelines being a dick?"

[hung_garian]

Well, Castiel was the only real option for the coveted title of only fluffball worth rebuilding a gazebo for, but it seemed unlikely to Gabriel. As far as he was concerned, Castiel barely had the people skills to go out in public, let alone charm a demon into actually liking him.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, sweetcheeks, I was intending to stand here being a dick. If you'd prefer I can stand elsewhere being a dick. Am I in your light? Maybe blinding you with the radiance of my presence?"

Regardless, he wasn't going to help. And he wasn't about to leave, either - at least not immediately. A possibly-not-entirely-evil demon, hm? Worth looking into, especially if she might have been taking advantage of Castiel's complete ineptitude (again, the slightly warped perception of the older sibling. Also, she was an adult female, and kinda hot. Not staying to flirt would have been violating every principle he held dear.

[foundacause]

Sigh. Apparently when you're a demon everyone instantly assumed you were out to harm the adorable little featherbutt - despite the fact that he could smite her before she had the chance to get anywhere near him with her angel blade. Not all demons were created equal. You kill a few people, help try to kick-start the Apocalypse and apparently you're the bad guy!

"Trust me. I've met bigger dicks with inflated senses of self importance. I'm pretty sure I can handle you. Sorry if that dents your precious little ego. Feel free to send strong worded letters of complaints to Meg, PO Box I Hurt Your Feelings, I Don't Give a Damnsville."

[hung_garian]

"Oh, bless your ickle cotton socks. There's nothing 'little' about my ego, and trust me, when it's as warranted as mine is? It's harder to hurt than you might think."

But he did enjoy it when people tried. When they weren't successful, at least - and even if they were, if they were attractive enough. He was still more amused than at all bothered by Meg, though, whatever her intentions towards Castiel. He was reasonably confident that if shit did go down, Castiel could handle it - and if he couldn't, someone else would. So naturally, continuing to be a smug, unhelpful asshole was still the most appealing option here.

"You ever built a gazebo before, honey?"

The derisive 'because it doesn't look like you have' was strongly implied, regardless of whether or not it was true. He was here to mock, after all, not to provide a balanced critique.

[foundacause]

"Oh yeah, gazebo building is right there in the Introduction to Hell seminar, right between having your soul torn from your body and how to torture. I'll be sure to lend you the guidebook sometime - Hell 411, fascinating read."

She rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist, moving one of the large, splintered pieces of wood out of the way.

"No, dumb ass, I've never built a gazebo. I kill things. I torture things. I don't do woodwork."

[hung_garian]

"Touchy topic, huh?"

Not that he cared, and he was pretty sure it'd been too long for her to care much either. He glanced at the pile of wood, which rearranged itself into an equally unhelpful order.

"Guess you didn't pay much attention in high school shop class. Maybe you'd be better off getting one new from IKEA, you think of that? This mess doesn't look like it's gonna be the easiest thing to get wendy house-shaped again any time soon."

[foundacause]

Oh man. Seriously? Seriously?! Not helpful, Gabe. At least rearrange it into a useful pile, or, heck, magic up a brand new gazebo. O wait, no, that would be helpful, wouldn't it?

"Oh right. IKEA. I'll just pop over there right now. Oh wait, I can't! We're stuck here! Any more bright ideas, smartass?" It was probably a good job he was an archangel or no doubt someone would've murdered him by now for being such an ass!

She continued to sort through the pieces.

[chlorophylliac]

Despite having had at least one tree torn from the earth, and having been the site of a rather one-sided showdown between two very angry green people, besides the wrecked gazebo it was hard to tell there'd been a fight at all. Ivy had been hard at work the day after her encounter with Banner (she refused to call it the Hulk), pouring the energy she would have liked to use to tear the man limb from limb into repairing the damage he'd caused and the disarray she'd generated to resist him. If anything, now it was in a better state than before, the grass a little brighter and the tree trunks tangled with slender vines blooming small flowers that should have had little business coming out when the air was so cold.

The plants let her know about the visitor to the park, and she climbed down to investigate. By the time she reached the site of the former gazebo, it was clear what the woman standing there was intending to do.

"If guys can do it, it's effortless."

[foundacause]

Meg glanced at the newcomer; a normal person might've been taken back by her appearance, but then Meg was hardly normal. She was a demon, she saw all kinds. As long and Little Miss Greeny wasn't going to go psycho stomping like the Jolly Green Giant, things would be fine.

She turned her attention back to the gazebo. She had managed to sort the material that could be salvaged from the material that was only fit for burning. A good start. And she had started mapping out replacement pieces on spare material.

"Absolutely. Anything a man can do, we can do better."

[chlorophylliac]

Due to her infamy back home, Ivy was used to people knowing how she looked; after a few double takes around the town, this woman's indifference was more of a relief than anything else.

"Do you know anything about the man we're cleaning up after?"

[foundacause]

"The Jolly Green Giant, you mean? Not the first time he's lashed out. Though last time he wasn't giant or green. Still, takes a guy with some strength to be able to throw someone like me around."

Not to toot her own horn, but she was well aware of her own strength. She made no secret of it, either.

"You the one been cleaning up the plants?"

[chlorophylliac]

"Yes." Her brow furrowed - she'd previously assumed that being giant and green were both part and parcel of the lashing out. She'd seen the original model now - how much damage could he have done as himself?

"What happened the first time?"

[foundacause]

"The whole place took a ride on the crazy train. Mass hallucinations. He threw a few of us around like little raggy dolls. Fun times."

Of course, the original make and model was much easier to hurt in return. Meg had been surprisingly good, she had only fought back enough to defend herself rather than destroy him.

[venatical]

Dean, on the other hand, has a brain in his head and took the time to gather up some usable wood. It took having Cas help him take some stuff out of the attic, stuff with good wood that he could break down and make something out of, and then he rooted around until he found a good set of tools in someone's garage. While he was there, he found some bonus 2x4s that he can use to make the supports, but he figures he should pretty them up first. The wood he scavenged will be a good start to redo the floor.

He turns up with a wheelbarrow of his supplies and eyes Meg looking so clueless it'd be sad, if it weren't so hilarious.

"You lost, sweetheart?"

[foundacause]

Oh, don't start, Dean. She was doing a brilliant job all by herself, thank you very much. The cluelessness was all an act. Yep. An act... or not. But damn it, she was determined to do this.

"Lost? Yes. I was on my way for sweeties and cookies and I wound up here..."

She rolled her eyes. "Planning on stealing my thunder?"

[venatical]

"Um... Were you actually planning on accomplishing something?" He wheels his supplies over to where the gazebo's foundations still kind of are, and he kicks at them with his foot. Probably going to have to replace all that.

He turns around and looks her over. Stupid demon. Stupid demon... roommate. Stupid demon friend of Cas's who Cas is stupidly really attached to and Dean doesn't like alienating his friends like the way Sam alienated Benny. Ugh, fuck.

"You want to help?"

[foundacause]

Can she rip his spine out? Please? Pretty please? She'll make it quick... Stupid human. Stupid human friend of her angel. ""Already done a pretty good job of sorting the stuff that can be salvaged from the stuff that can't. So you can take your macho, superior, know-it-all, smugness and shove it up your ass. If you need a hand with that, just holla, I'll remove your spine to make you more flexible."

How have they managed to survive in the same house so far without killing each other?

"I was here first. Either can the attitude or hit the road, Deano."

[venatical]

Wow, negative ten points on impressing or scaring him. He lifts his eyebrows and waits for the punchline. There's a punchline, right? No?

"Uh-huh." He gestures at the wood she gathered. "And you know what to do with all that? How to build something so it won't collapse or fall apart? 'Cause, um. I worked construction. But hey, you want to fix it up all on your own, be my guest. Next time there's a strong wind, I'll make popcorn and we can all come out and watch it fall over."

He was serious about asking her to help, as much as he would like to deny that. As in, he's serious about teaching her how to do this and not just being a smug dick the whole time. He guesses that only counts if they manage to pass Go.

[foundacause]

"I can think of one use for it." It involves his head and the slow, satisfying thud of wood smashing into it. Might not repair the gazebo but it would be delightfully rewarding all the same.

"It's woodwork, it's not rocket science. If a moron like you can do it how hard can it be?"

She's trying to play nice. Dean just rubs her up the wrong way. She can't help it.

"Look, whatever. Let's just fix this damn thing for the angel, shall we?"

[venatical]

"You never watched HGTV, did you?"

He turns back to the foundation and crouches down next to one of the beams that's been split.

"We need to tear this up first. Can't build something on shitty foundation. I have the stuff to make the support poles, but I want to sand them down a little first, so today once we finish ripping this up, we can start piecing together the wood to make the floor. Maybe find some good roof materials too. I took apart some furniture to get some good pieces," he says, nodding at his wheelbarrow. He stops his businesslike spiel and raises an eyebrow at her.

"Sounding okay to you, or is this too much macho smugness?"

[foundacause]

Their relationship was built on shitty foundations. No wonder they were so screwed. Meg rolls her eyes, she can't help it, it's a natural reaction. She is paying attention though.

"So basically, we have to wreck the whole thing and start over? Doesn't sound so much like 'repairing' and 'making anew' those are very different things, Deano."

She sighs. "Shame we can't magic a new one out of thin air."

[venatical]

"Well, sometimes something's so screwed up, you have to scrap the whole thing and start over. Stronger that way."

He stops in the middle of reaching for the toolbox. Why does that sound familiar? He glances up at Meg and then shakes it off. They're building a gazebo, not a metaphor for their relationship. Damn, he's been reading too many trashy romance novels.

What? They're dramatic. And it's not like there are any telenovelas here.

"Yeah, I thought about asking Cas for more help than just getting stuff out of the attic, but." He stops and puts the toolbox between them. "This is better than sitting around doing nothing. Building something from scratch feels good." He definitely doesn't smile at her, nope, and instead he pulls out a crowbar.

"Here. You got that demon strength, right? That'll make this go by faster."