"Stay."

Misha looks up at his owner blankly.

"Stay."

Castiel takes a step away, and Misha doesn't follow. "Good boy."

He turns around to return to his work. He lies down on his stomach with a notebook in front of him to work on song choices and order. It's about twenty seconds later he feels a light touch on his back, and he knows Misha is resting his head on him again.

"Misha!" Castiel whines. "Go to bed. Go. Now."

Misha doesn't move.

Castiel sighs. "Fine, you can stay here," he concedes, mostly because he knows he has no choice.

Misha doesn't do anything in response because he's a dog, and dogs don't respond like humans do. He just lies there with his head on top of Castiel like he owns him. And, surprisingly, Castiel doesn't really care. If he can still work, he doesn't mind the dog at all.

Just kidding! He was having a nice nap — which he shouldn't have taken while working but it's not like he meant to — when his phone dings to reminds him that it's time to give Misha his medications. He groans in frustration and rolls out from under his dog's chin to feed him his meds and breakfast, which he eats faster than Castiel thought possible.

He attempts to sneak away, but Misha follows him back to his work and lies down next to him. Castiel ignores him and returns to picking songs. Maybe... No, not that one. He wants to open with something kind of upbeat, preferably one of his most popular songs. Unfortunately, even after working this long, he still can't choose. Maybe he'll just keep the same song for Sioux Falls as with the other concerts. He usually likes to switch it up a bit, but for this year, he'll stick with the same one.

He goes through mental scenarios of how the concert could go with the second song. Maybe something slower, because of the contrast between the first and second? Probably. But slow songs are kind of his thing, so that doesn't narrow it down much. Something acoustic? Or something with the band, probably giving it a more emotional feel to it? He decides on the latter, and begins looking for a song to match that description. The problem is, he has too many that do.

Misha lets out a long breath and rolls over on his side, looking bored. Castiel can't help but smile to himself.

"Same, Mish, same."

Eventually, he does find a second song, but now he has to think of his segue into it. It's not like his acceptance speeches; he plans his concerts out to the word, and follows it precisely. The planning itself is a pain in the ass, but he does it anyway, because it's worth it when he doesn't have to improv on stage.

Finally, he gives up and moves on to the outline for the rest of his concerts, which are all the same. Sioux Falls gets special treatment because it's his hometown, but that's the extent of his extra work.

Castiel sighs and rests his head on the floor. This is going to take forever. Why does he have to be such a perfectionist?

~~

That night, Castiel decides to take a much needed break. He gives himself ninety minutes to just kind of chill before getting back to work. It's past ten o'clock, and Misha seems to think that means it's time for bed. Instead of actually lying in his bed, though, he curls up on the floor and closes his eyes. Castiel can't help but smile to himself. He's actually kind of cute, in a demented sort of way.

Bored, he decides to text Lucifer, because what else does one do when they're bored then text the most hyperactive person they know?

Castiel: Luce help I'm bored

It's a long three minutes later that he gets a response.

Lucifer: Sorry. Watching a horror movie with Claire. Text you later?

Castiel sighs. Great. Now what? He almost wants to text Gabriel, but while the two of them are good friends when they're together, they never talk when they're apart, and he doesn't want to be weird by starting now.

He decides to text Samandriel instead.

Castiel: I'm bored. Are you free?

And he waits.

And waits.

And waits.

After five minutes, he just assumes he's not getting an answer. God, is no one free right now?

Apparently not. Anna leaves him on "read," Michael just doesn't answer, and Charlie apologizes and tells him that she's going to bed because she has to get up early tomorrow. Awesome. Now who does he text?

His first thought is Dean, and he shoves that idea out of his mind immediately. He's not talking to Dean. That's just not happening. Hell, he might as well delete the contact. He doesn't, though. He's had that there for five years now. He's not getting rid of it now. It would just feel weird.

Wait.

Amelia.

She should be off work now. He probably shouldn't bother her this late, but he's just about ready to blow his brains out after all this work, so it's either text her or check Twitter, and Twitter is rarely the pick-me-up he hopes it will be. He'll just shoot Amelia a quick text, and if she doesn't answer, no big deal. She won't be the first to ignore him tonight.

He gets up as quietly as he can to find the paper with her cell phone number, but, despite his best efforts, Misha still hears him. He stands up immediately and follows just behind him the entire time. God, can't he just stop?

There's the number. Now, what does he say? He really doesn't have a reason to text her. She did say she was open to just pictures of his 'fur baby,' though. He looks down and Misha, who stares back up at him. Well, he might as well. He snaps a picture of him, then sends it to Amelia.

Castiel: I don't think he understands the concept of sleep
— Castiel

It's only a few seconds later that the "..." appears.

Amelia: Something tells me he gets that from you :)
— Amelia

Castiel: Well, you're not wrong

He just looks at his phone for a few moments, wondering if she'll respond. That was the perfect out if she really just wants pictures of Misha, and, judging by the fact that he has no response, he can only assume that's true.

He locks his phone and returns to his pile of notebooks — 12 song notebooks and 1 for his concert planning. Misha follows him and lies across his lap, nearly crushing with the weight. Castiel sighs and pretends he's not there. Just then, his phone screen lights up with another text.

Amelia: Have you been keeping up with his meds?

Castiel: Of course. I can be responsible when I set my mind to it. It's not often, but it does happen occasionally

Amelia: xD

Amelia: Are you warming up to him yet?

Castiel looks down at the dog, half asleep on his lap. He didn't feel like he and Misha were getting any closer, but now that he's actually taking the time to think about it...

Castiel: Little bit. He's semi-bearable now.

Amelia: And it's only been a day. I think you two are going to become best friends pretty soon.

Castiel: Hahahahahahaha no

Amelia: Just give it time. You'll see that I'm right sooner or later

Castiel: If that's what helps you sleep at night, then sure. Misha and I are going to be best friends.

Amelia: Well, you're not calling him an it. That's progress

Castiel pauses. Did he really stop calling the dog an it? That's really all a dog is to him. It's a thing. But, he observes as he scrolls through their brief conversation, he's yet to call the dog an it this whole time. Huh. Maybe they are making progress.

Amelia: Are you still here?

Castiel: Yeah, sorry. Got distracted.

Castiel: Misha's holding me prisoner

He sends her a picture of the dog lying across his lap.

Amelia: I'm in your boat. I don't think my dog wants me to go to bed yet.

Castiel: What's your dog's name?

Amelia: This one? Dog.

Castiel: Your dog is named Dog? Am I reading this right?

Amelia: Yeah. It's a long story.

Castiel: Well, it could be worse. You could have named your dog Cat.

Amelia: But then he'd have the same name as my cat!

Amelia: Jk. I didn't name my cat Cat. I wish I did, just to stick with the theme.

Castiel: You have a dog AND a cat? Don't dogs and cats hate each other?

Amelia: Sometimes they do, but Dog, Bolt, and Marie grew up together, so they're pretty good friends.

Castiel: ... That's three names. Am I missing something here?

Amelia: I have two dogs. Dog and Bolt are the dogs, and Marie is the cat.

Castiel: Disney fan?

Amelia: What gave it away? :)

Castiel: Lucky guess ;)

Castiel: What types of dogs are they?

There's a pause for a minute or so.

Amelia: Something tells me you don't know dog breeds, so I'll just send pics instead.

With that message comes a picture of... well, Dog. You guys know Dog. The dog Sam and Amelia had while Dean was in Purgatory. There's also a picture of a small, white, fluffy dog with big brown eyes and curly hair/fur.

Amelia: The first one is Dog and the second is Bolt (and you can see part of Marie in the background)

Sure enough, Castiel zooms in to find a cat with long white fur hiding in the background.

Castiel: I think your pets lucked out in the looks department.

Amelia: I think your dog lucked out in the owner department, so it's kind of even

Castiel: You're joking.

Amelia: You payed half a million dollars to save a dog you didn't want. He definitely lucked out with you.

Castiel: Half a million dollars is nothing to me. If I could save a life with it, I might as well. It's not much of a sacrifice.

Amelia: Right. Didn't think of how much that wouldn't affect you. You took him in, though. Not a lot of people would have done that. He's definitely not the most attractive dog in the world. Most people would say he's not worth the work.

Castiel looks down at Misha. Sure, he's not the most beautiful dog as it is, but he's sure that he used to be adorable before this happened to him, whatever "this" was. He just took the hard times and kept fighting. It's kind of inspirational, really.

Castiel: He's just a little messed up. Anyone who can't look past it doesn't deserve him.

Amelia: And here you see reason 5,379 why Misha lucked out.

Castiel: -_-

Amelia: You know I'm riiiight!

Castiel: I will never admit that

Amelia: You can lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself forever

Castiel: It's a good thing I'm not lying, then.

Amelia: -_-

Castiel: On a totally unrelated note, what do you think happened to make Misha this way?

Amelia: Some thug kids on the street, probably. I see it a lot more often than I'd like. Some people think it's cool to abuse animals like that. It's a sign of sociopathy, so we might have a sociopath around, or a street gang who either thinks this makes them look cool, or uses it as some sort of initiation process.

Castiel: So you think someone did that on purpose?

Amelia: Definitely. The way his eye was, it's nearly impossible for it to be an accident.

Castiel looks down at Misha sadly. "Oh, you poor thing," he murmurs, stoking his back softly. The dog just lets out a content sigh.

Castiel: I've officially decided that people are assholes

Amelia: Welcome to the club.

Castiel: Does the club involve people? Because people are assholes and I don't want to be in a club with them.

Amelia: The club's just you and me. Still too bad?

Castiel: I can definitely handle that.

Castiel: But I think Misha wants to join the club, too. He can't like people very much after what happened to him.

Amelia: Dogs are actually a lot more forgiving that you'd think. It's not completely unheard of, but they don't usually judge all of humanity by one the actions of one human. If only humanity could learn to do the same thing.

Castiel: Dogs are inspirations.

Amelia: Amen to that.

Amelia: Wait

Amelia: You like dogs now

Castiel: Holy crap

Castiel: I just complimented dogs

Castiel: What's happening to me?

Amelia: Looking at this, I can tell Misha's going to be good for you. Maybe he already is.

Castiel: Maybe.

Amelia: I've got to work tomorrow, so I'm going to bed (and probably upsetting Dog in the process) but I'll talk to you later?

Castiel: Definitely. Night.

Amelia: Good night.

Castiel looks down at Misha, snoring softly in his lap.

"Looks like it's just you and me, huh, Mish?"