A/N Obligatory disclaimer that the plot to Wayward Sisters literally does not matter beyond the drama it creates outside the show. I'm going to be writing some of the scenes as they film, but the actual content doesn't really matter too much; the real story part comes with the cast, not the characters. If you do try to follow along with the Wayward storyline tho, a) good luck bc I'm totally winging it and b) it has some similarities to SPN (like there's going to be a Dean/Amara parallel right off the bat) but it is its own entity and not at all a continuation of SPN season 13.

Patience Turner and Alex Jones are already on set when Castiel arrives, but Claire and Kaia are nowhere to be seen. It's Claire he's shooting his first scene with, so it looks like he's going to have to wait around until she gets here. He doesn't want to be that obnoxious guest that constantly pesters the stars -- he's been on the other end of it and it can get pretty annoying -- but he also doesn't want to seem stuck up, so he offers them a smile and a small wave from afar and calls it a day.

Alex just waves back, but Patience hops to her feet and starts walking towards him. That's what he was hoping for, though he wasn't really expecting it. As if that wasn't cool enough, Alex sees her start to walk away and follows her over, so he's going to get to meet two of them. Today is already the best day ever and he hasn't even gotten to talk to them yet.

Castiel makes his way towards them, and they meet in the middle. Now, how does he introduce himself without sounding like an overeager fangirl?

Fortunately, Patience makes the first move, holding out her hand. "Hi! I'm Patience. I'm a big fan."

"Oh, thanks!" Castiel shakes her hand politely, trying to ignore the internal happy squealing going on in his mind. Well, if she can just come out and say that she's a fan, he can do the same, right? That's not breaking any unspoken social rules? "I'm a big fan, too -- of both of you. I've been watching this show since the beginning so I'm very excited to be here."

"Believe me," Patience says, "we are just as excited to have you here. When they told us you were gonna be on the show, I thought they were pulling our leg, but you're already signed on for, what, four episodes? Five?"

"Am I?" Huh. His agent didn't tell him that. "I was just given a very vague range of dates and told to stick around, but I do like the sound of that." With a short chuckle, he adds, "I mean, I'd hope they didn't spend half a season on the seals just to drop the Lucifer plotline after an episode or two."

Patience smiles at that, clearly amused. "They didn't tell you anything about your part, did they?"

"Um..." Castiel cocks his head to the side. "I mean, they told me he's supposed to be, like, the comic relief, but I guess that's about it."

"Then you're going to be in for a surprise," Patience remarks.

"What do you mean?" Castiel asks cautiously. What else is he supposed to know?

"Lucifer and -- oh, hey, Claire and Kaia are here!" Patience stands on her toes and waves, and if Castiel was any less interested in meeting the cast, he'd be a little peeved that she didn't finish her thought.

Castiel looks over his shoulder, and sure enough, Claire and Kaia are on their way. It seems the whole gang's here now. He wonders how long they'll have to talk before he and Claire are called over for the camera rehearsal. Hopefully they get at least a minute or two, because Claire's the one he's most excited to meet. Her character, Kathryn, has always been his favorite.

When the two girls reach them, Castiel greets them with a smile. "Hi! I'm --"

"We know," Claire interrupts.

"I..." Castiel's smile falters. That's not the response he was hoping for, but maybe she's just tired? Filming can run really late, especially for a lead. He tries not to let it get to him. "Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Uh-huh," Claire deadpans.

Castiel cocks his head to the side. Well, this isn't quite what he was expecting.

"Be nice," Patience chastises her.

Claire scoffs. "I told you I wasn't gonna play nice. I told everyone I wasn't gonna play nice. They wanna give me a love interest, fine, but I'm not playing along when the cameras are off."

"'Love interest'?" Castiel repeats, confused. "I'm not -- I'm playing Lucifer?" Did she get him confused with someone else?

"Oh, great, and you don't even know your own role," Claire says sarcastically. "This is gonna be so much fun."

Castiel has pretty much figured out that Claire is going to be the least helpful person on the planet, so he turns his attention to Patience instead to ask, "What were you going to say I don't know?"

"A lot, apparently," she says. "Might as well tell you now before someone tells you when the camera's on. Since Kathryn is Lucifer's 'true vessel,' there's some sort of bond that, like..." She gestures vaguely as she tries to find the words. "Draws them together? So when Kathryn's with us, she's all 'let's punch the devil in the face!" and when she's with him, she's, like..."

Castiel has a general idea of where this is going, but it's not until Alex finishes her thought with, "Then she's more likely to kiss his face," that he forces himself to believe it.

"Huh." Castiel purses his lips, reflecting on that. "Well, that's... probably something I should have been informed about." As excited as he is to get to work on the show, he probably would have asked for a different part if he'd known about this, or even just put his dreams of a season four on the backburner and not taken a role at all. It feels a little rude to say that, though -- not that "rude" seems to bother Claire.

"Let's get one thing straight before you start getting any ideas," Claire says, and he reluctantly turns his attention back to her for a spiel he knows he doesn't want to hear. "This is only happening because I'm under a contract. I know you've got a thing for sweeping up younger girls with the misfortune of being your characters' love interest, but I do not play that game."

"I wasn't planning on it," Castiel says uncertainly. What does she mean, he has a thing for it? It's only happened twice: once with Meg Masters and once with Jo. "I mean, I'm already seeing someone, so..."

Claire snorts. "And so was she. Look how well that worked out."

Castiel pinches the bridge of his nose, exasperated. This was all going so well until she showed up. Part of him wants to tell her that both relationships she's thinking of were and are entirely for PR, but he's fairly certain that would only make her hate him more -- and it sure as hell wouldn't be worth pissing his publicist off for.

"Claire," Kaia says quietly, and surprisingly, that seems to reel her in a little. She's clearly still upset, but she doesn't seem as hostile about it.

Castiel and Claire are called over for the camera rehearsal, which, for anyone unaware of the phrase, basically just means a half-assed run-through of the scene before the actual shoot. It gives the crew — hair, makeup, production designer, you name it — a chance to make sure everyone and everything is all set up, and it gives the camera crew a chance to get the cameras in focus. It's hard for them to shoot a scene when they don't know the blocking.

Claire clearly isn't giving it her all, so he doesn't, either. He speaks normally, no extra sass or sarcasm to his movements. It gets a little awkward when they have to sit next to each other because they're so obviously themselves instead of their characters, but they make it through it with relative ease.

It's also worth noting that the director does, in fact, confirm that they're supposed to have "a special bond."

Great.

After camera rehearsal, they have to set up the lights. That would usually be when he makes awkward small talk with his castmates, but when Claire heads their way, Castiel decides that's probably not the best course of action. If the four of them are going to hang out on set, his time is probably better spent in the waiting room, so that's where he goes. When they need him back on set, they'll know where to find him.

There are a few other people in the waiting room, and he smiles awkwardly before looking for a seat. He skims the backs of the chairs for one without a star's name on it — the girls may not be here, but he's not going to fan the fire by taking their seats — when he stumbles upon one with his name on it. In his experience, guest stars don't typically get their own chairs, but who is he to complain?

He takes a seat and pulls out his phone. Charlie's going to want to hear about this.

Castiel: So, funny story...

He waits for a response but it doesn't come. Of course she would pick now to actually do work at work. What's he supposed to do if not complain to his best friend that his new co-star hates him?

He supposes he could text Dean about it. He'd have to explain that Lucifer is apparently Kathryn's love interest, but if Dean isn't too averse to major spoilers like that, he's probably almost as good a confidant as Charlie would be. He opens up his conversation with Dean, but before he can start typing, a "Hey," grabs his attention, and he looks up to see Patience standing in front of him.

"Oh, hi!" Castiel clicks his phone off. He may have changed Dean's contact name just in case someone caught a glimpse of a notification from him, but he's still a little paranoid someone will figure it out. "What's up?" Do they need him on set again? He's not sure why they'd send her and he can't imagine they've already set everything up, but what else would this be about?

Patience shrugs. "I feel bad leaving you all alone."

"I'm not alone." He holds up his phone briefly. "I've got my friends in here."

Patience frowns. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something? 'Cause I can —"

"No, no, you're all good," Castiel assures her. "I'm still waiting for a text back, anyway." In an attempt at humor, he adds, "Apparently when some people go to work, they actually do work instead of staring at their phone all day? Couldn't be me."

That puts the smile back on her face. "Oh, yeah, me neither," she says. "I will say, though, that sometimes talking to people in person is more fun than texting them, so if you want to hang out with us..."

Castiel gives a small shrug. "I don't know. I don't want to cause problems."

"The only one causing problems is Claire," Patience says. "Causing problems is what she does best. Kaia can keep her out of our way. It wouldn't be the first time."

Castiel raises an eyebrow. He knew Claire wasn't exactly Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes, but this isn't quite what he pictured her to be like. It's nice to know that it probably isn't anything personal, though.

Patience can still see his reluctance, and she adds, "I will admit, I do have ulterior motives for this: Alex is very starstruck and I don't think she's going to calm down until she realizes you're just a person."

Castiel chuckles. "I was half-convinced she was being quiet because she didn't like me either, so that's good to know." He slips his phone in his trenchcoat pocket and stands up. "Okay, I've been convinced." So maybe he can't befriend Claire. There are still two of the stars who want to talk to him, and how can he turn that down?