It's a couple hours later that he finally gets a response from Jim. Usually, he couldn't care less what the guy wants, but because he just sent out a rough copy of his next album, Jim's opinion matters more than usual, so he hops over to his messages.

Jim: Sounds good. People are starting to ask questions, so you should come down & record ASAP.

Castiel: ASAP being how soon, exactly?

Jim: Like, ASAP ASAP. Could probably get you a flight by the beginning of next week, maybe sooner.

Castiel: But that's so soon. :(

Jim: Yes, that would be the point.

Jim: You've had the last few months off. You have to do something soon. We could have the album done by your birthday if we work for it.

Castiel: WE COULD RELEASE THE FIRST SINGLE ON MY BIRTHDAY! CAN WE?! PLEASE?!

Jim: Only if you get your ass down here and start recording.

Castiel: Ugh fine but I'm holding you to this.

Castiel: And I'm bringing my dog so he's going to hang out with us.

Jim: As long as he doesn't get in the way. I'll text you later with flight info.

Castiel: K.

He puts his phone up and curls up on the couch. He really doesn't want to go down to LA again, but he'll make this sacrifice because he really wants to put his first single out on his birthday. It'll involve shooting the music video by then, too, which sucks because he doesn't really like filming them, but it's worth it. He'll have to do it eventually. He might as well do it on a deadline.

But until then, it seems to be the perfect time for a nap, so that's what he's going to do.

~~

He wakes up a couple hours later, and, surprisingly, he doesn't see Dean around. He rolls off the couch and searches the house, but Dean is nowhere to be found. The impala isn't here, either. He can't still be at the gym. It's been way too long.

Instead of texting him like a normal person, Castiel decides let him do whatever it is he's doing, and he'll be productive and go pick Misha up from the Novak house, where they left him that morning. It's less than a ten minute walk, and the weather is beautiful, so he definitely doesn't regret it.

He doesn't bother knocking, instead just walking inside. He finds Claire at the kitchen table with a party size bag of Doritos, munching on them as she uses her phone. She looks up when she realized he's there and waves.

"You look like you're living the life over there," Castiel says.

"I am," she replies with a grin. "No homework, fuck yeah!"

Castiel chuckles. "Lucky you."

"I know, right?" She gestures for him to come closer. "I found this awesome YouTube series. Come look."

Castiel walks up to her and stands behind her, looking over her shoulder at her phone. He chuckles at what he sees and just says, "But Carl, that kills people!"

Claire bursts out laughing at that. "Oh my god, you've already seen it?"

"Who hasn't seen Llamas in Hats?" Castiel replies with a grin.

"Well, I had thought you, but apparently not. If you've seen it, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Lucifer knows it, too."

"I bet," Castiel replies. "It definitely seems right up his ally." He looks around, then asks, "Hey, speaking of, where is Lucifer?"

"His room," she tells him. "Probably doing something YouTubey. Always is, these days."

"At least it's something he likes," Castiel says, looking for the positive because he can make a half empty glass half full, right?

"Eh, true," she agrees.

"Imma go find my brother," Castiel says before walking away.

Sure enough, Lucifer is in his room, staring blankly at his computer screen, which shows an empty Google documents. He looks over when he hears the door open, as does Misha, lying on the floor next to him. The dog trots over to him and nuzzles him with his head, and Lucifer gives his brother a small smile. 

"Here to pick up your doge?" he guesses.

"And to visit," Castiel replies. "Whatcha working on?"

Lucifer sighs and closes his laptop before turning back to his brother. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm completely out of ideas for videos."

"That sucks," Castiel replies. "If it helps, I'm free for the next few days if you need a plus-one." He usually wouldn't offer, knowing that if Lucifer was in dire need of a costar, he'd ask, but that fan's monologue about how Castiel has basically disappeared sticks with him and he really does want to up his online presence. If it helps him by giving him more options, it's a win-win.

"I'm sure that could be arranged," Lucifer tells him. "You're gonna have to audition, though. There are a lot of people who want these roles, like you, and... and you... and still you... Yeah, you're pretty much the only person who isn't sick of this yet."

Castiel chuckles. "Well, I'm down if you have any bright ideas."

"What're you thinking?" Lucifer asks. "Vlog-style or skit?"

"Skit?" Castiel says hopefully. "Vlog-style is basically like any ol' talk show, but with a much cooler talk show host."

"Aw, I'm honored!" Lucifer says with exaggerated excitement. "Wanna do a funny skit or a serious-slash-dramatic-ish one?"

Castiel shrugs. "Up to you."

"Up to the Internet, actually," Lucifer replies. "I'm gonna take a four-hour poll and maybe by tonight I'll have a script. Probably not, but you never know." He shrugs, then pulls out his phone, presumably to make a Twitter poll. It's about a minute later that he asks, "Ooh, what song are you gonna put on your album?"

"That's top secret information," Castiel replies.

"But I wanna know!" he whines.

Castiel mimes zipping his lips. "Nope."

Lucifer groans. "Stop being such a celebrity!"

"Sorry, can't do that," Castiel replies. "It's kinda my thing now."

"I don't like you anymore," Lucifer pouts. "I'm gonna make you the bad guy just for that."

"'Bad' is subjective," Castiel says. "Obviously, your idea of the 'bad guy' is actually the best character in the video."

"Not a chance."

"Then I'll make him the best character in the skit," Castiel replies confidently. "You can't stop me from doing that much."

"Challenge accepted."