A/N Going on vacation, not sure about wifi.

When Dean and Lucifer are still sleeping after an hour, Castiel decides he's had enough sitting around and doing nothing. He writes the boys a note and digs out his sneakers and whatever else guys wear when they go running, because he might as well do something productive while he waits. He's really been slacking on the physical activity front, and he figures he should probably fix that before it shows.

But when he's dying within ten minutes, he knows that it's already showing, if not in the outside than by his lack of stamina. He tells himself to keep pushing, which is hard but doable in theory. Working out is hard!

He tries to think about something other than how he feels like he ate a match and now his lungs are on fire, so he lets his mind drift back to thoughts of Dean. It sort of distracts him, at least.

Obviously, he has to maintain some level of awareness because otherwise he could and probably would get hit by a car or fall in a ditch, and he's glad he does. He heard a familiar song, sung by a girl with an amazing voice. He stops running, mostly because he's dying but he convinces himself it's because of the singing. He can tell it's a live performance, but it takes him a moment to find where.

Standing between two buildings on the side of the road is a young girl, probably only in middle school. Her hair is up in a messy bun, likely so she can see the guitar that she's playing. She's mostly looking at the fretboard, but glances up occasionally, making eye contact with people passing by, likely hoping they'll drop a dollar in her guitar case lying on the ground in front of her.

Castiel stands with his back to the building next to her, just out of her sight, listening to the music. It's his song that's she's singing; one of his earlier ones that he still hears on the radio a lot. She's singing it well, too. He doesn't hear covers of his music often, but of the few he has, this is one of the better ones.

When she finishes that song, he walks out and drops a twenty dollar bill in her guitar case. She glances at it, likely expecting it to be just a single dollar, and then looks over at him in surprise. Her eyes go wide when she sees his face, and he can't help but grin.

"I think you sang that better than me," he tells her.

Unable to put together a coherent sentence, she stutters, "I — and — that — You're Castiel Novak."

"That I am," he replies.

"Oh my god, Castiel Novak is standing here and just — oh my god."

Castiel laughs. This type of reaction is always fun to watch.

The two chat briefly, and Castiel learns that she's only twelve years old, which one may think is too young to be out here all alone, but Castiel was alone most of his life, both inside and outside, as well, so he doesn't judge. She's impressive for a twelve-year-old when it comes to her musical ability, and when he mentions this, she beams with pride.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asks. "Don't you live in New York?"

"I was on Jody Mills' show with my brother," he explains, hoping he doesn't sound as awkward as he feels. He'd sort of like to forget that happened and pretend the world doesn't know he's a mental fuck up.

"Oh, I saw that!" she tells him. "I'm sorry you went through all that."

He shrugs. "Just part of life," he says dismissively, as if it's just a normal occurrence and not him literally telling the world he would rather die than do his job.

"Well, I'm sure it doesn't mean much, but for what it's worth, my friends and I love you and we'd hate for anything to happen to you."

He gives her a grateful smile. "Thank you. It means a lot."

It really does; more than one would think. To him, hearing that he's touched the lives of people he hasn't even met, it means the world.

~~

It's about an hour later Castiel finally makes it back to the hotel room, gasping for breath. His legs feel like noodles and his lungs are burning, but he knows it was a good workout, so he ignores the sensation of dying and enters the room.

Lucifer and Dean still aren't up, but Misha is. He jumps off Lucifer's borrowed bed and bounds up to Castiel excitedly. Castiel tries to calm him down before he wakes anyone up, but it's easier said than done. Giving up, he decides to have some owner-pupper bonding.

As he's about to leave, he remembers the note he left doesn't account for Misha's absence, so he fixes it.

The original note simply said, "Out for a run. Be back soon." In a different colored pen because he can't find the original, he adds edits so it reads, "Was Out for a run. Was not back soon but that doesn't seem to matter to you sleepyheads. I'm taking Misha for a walk. Text me when someone wakes up. Ttyl."

Now for a walkie walkie with a doggie.

~~

Misha enjoys a nice walk until about forty-five minutes in, when he suddenly plops down on the grass. Castiel tugs on the leash, but the dog won't follow. He sighs and sits down on the curb with him. Misha stands up just long enough to sit down on his lap, leaning into his chest. Castiel chuckles softly to himself. Such a lapdog.

Because he has nothing to do until Misha stops being stubborn, he takes a selfie with the dog to post on Instagram. His caption reads, "I don't think Misha understands the concept of a walk."

His comments are flooded instantly, and he wouldn't have gone through them if Samandriel didn't text him that he commented. It takes a couple minutes to find it, but he does. 

@The.Long.Named.Angel: Or maybe his owner was just too lazy to keep walking. You do realize to walk a dog, you have to be standing up, right?

Castiel grins slightly at that and types out a reply.

@CastielNovak: @The.Long.Named.Angel What? Where did you learn to walk dogs? Cuz they must be teaching you wrong.

It's about a minute later that he gets a response.

@The.Long.Named.Angel: @CastielNovak Idk man I'm not the one who was scared of them for 21 years

@CastielNovak: @The.Long.Named.Angel I WASN'T SCARED OF THEM

@The.Long.Named.Angel: @CastielNovak Keep telling yourself that.

Just as he begins to type a response, Misha sees a chipmunk and tries to make a run for it, nearly pulling his owner over. He quickly types out, "@The.Long.Named.Angel Gtg Misha's not being lazy anymore ttyl" and allows his dog to lead him around this unfamiliar place. You know, because that's always a great idea. Needless to say, it takes a little help from Siri getting back to the hotel.