#I will make her a billowy curtain if she wants one but I'm going to need to go fabric shopping

[tj-crochets]

So, some backstory. I have been trying to get the measurements to make this curtain (and the second, yet to be made curtain) for my grandma for three months. I finally got the window measurements when my mom went to visit her for her birthday, and my mom said to add a few inches to the window measurements to make sure the curtains fully cover the windows. I sent my grandma this picture, and she called me to tell me I “hadn’t accounted for billowing” and that curtains need to be much wider than windows so they can billow??? I talked her into accepting this curtain as-is so she can try it and see how much wider she wants the final curtain, and then I can use the ratio of the first curtain to the replacement to figure out the dimensions of the curtain for the second window

The curtain for my grandma’s door is almost done!! All I have to do is sew closed the opening for turning, wash it, and get it in the mail to my grandma

[hypahticklish]

All it Takes is Faith and Trust

Summary: Where Gabriel crafts a mysteriously reactive dessert experience and gets the gang's help to bust it open.

Word Count: 3,875

Setting: My bunker!fam is very much in a canon-adjacent, fix-it timeline. In it, Charlie, Kevin, Eileen, and Gabriel survived their original deaths because I said so…

Warnings: large cast, fluff city baybee, tickles (magic), eluded angst, cliffhanger?

A/N: It's been a few years since I've written a proper fic for this blog and the combination of first sentence prompts and a well-timed misreading made this happen. Gabriel gave me brainworms on how he wanted this to go and ran away with it. He's got more to add but at almost 4k and other things in my inbox, decided to break it up. Hope y'all enjoy!

~~~

"Someone seems to be happy~"

The voice of his favorite redhead drew Gabriel's eyes away from the concoction he had manifested in the kitchen. "Hell yea I am; I've accomplished my latest magnum opus!"

Charlie sidled up to the counter beside him and cocked her head at the smooth, basketball sized chocolate sphere presented on a golden platter alongside a matching mini mallet. "What makes it so special?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Gabriel chuckled when Charlie stuck her tongue out at him. "How's this - you round up the Scooby Gang in the movie room and I'll let you have the first whack." Her eyes sparkled and, with a quick finger salute, she scurried from the room.

~~~

Gabriel was quite proud of his theater. Well, it technically belonged to Dean, but he took it upon himself to upgrade it to his illustrious standards. A little redistribution of walls here, a smattering of foundation reconstruction there, a pinch of aesthetic re-fabrication and Voila! perfection. He showcased the platter in the middle of a table adorned with an unhealthy mix of sweet and salty treats. Once satisfied with the arrangement, the Trickster flicked on the popcorn maker Garth had gifted the Winchester's a few years prior.

"What the - Charlie, what's going on here?!"

"Don't ask me, I'm just the messenger. C'mon, let's figure out how to get in!"

Draped at the entrance were curtains of stolen blankets from the unoccupied rooms in the bunker. It dampened the mingle of confused and amused noises.

Eileen and Sam were the first to stumble out from the billowy maze. "Nice pants," she said with a smile and motioned to Sam's body. Their attire had transformed during their journey into ridiculously patterned pajama pants and horrendously clashing t-shirts. Sam's pants resembled a bowling alley carpet. He pointed to her shirt and she laughed at the photo of a frog wearing a clip art wizard's hat and beard.

The rest of the bunker utilized her glee as a beacon, popping out one by one until the crew was gawking at the cozy renovations. Revere turned to revelry once they caught glimpses of each other's outfits. Their little family had grown with the addition of Eileen and Jack but by no means did it feel more crowded. The Trickster wasn't surprised to see that Castiel's demoness had opted out of the invitation.

"Welcome to Mi Casa!" Gabriel announced. On cue, the overhead lights dimmed and an illuminating galaxy swirled to life along the swooping fabric walls and ceiling. It gave the illusion that they were inside a towering blanket fort. The couches that previously inhabited the space made room for a massive pit in the floor consisting of cushioned edges and a mattress like ground. Opposite the door was a dark screen with a bouncing DVD logo that conveniently wasn't affected by the light show.

Catching Eileen's eye, Gabriel raised his right palm to his face and made a V with his fingers beside his eye that he cast out slightly toward her before brushing the knuckles of his thumbed up fists together and pointing up with the same hand. <<Can you see everyone?>>

She smiled. She left a small gap between her index finger and thumb before tapping her hands together with pointed fingers and lightly flicking her chin with her middle finger. <<A little bit more light.>> In a blink, the ambient light increased. "And they all said you're the mean one."

"Hey, don't listen to those muttonheads. I'm hope incarnate," Gabriel replied. He smirked at the collective groan of his audience.

"So, why did you bring us here?" Kevin asked. He nearly jumped out of his skin as Charlie, Dean and Jack cheered when the logo perfectly hit a corner.

"Is it not enough to want to hang out with the fambam?"

"No," all but the newcomers said in flat unison.

Gabriel dropped his jaw and clutched his chest in mock betrayal. "No, s'pose not with you ingrates. Not you, Jack, you're perfect."

"Thanks Unc-"

"Shhh. Anyway, behold!" He turned and suddenly appeared on the other side of the snack table. A pure light cascaded upon the chocolate sphere and shimmered off the golden mallet. "I have created this most perfect confection interpretation of Euphoria that has ever existed."

Castiel squinted and Jack tilted his head. "There is an extreme aura emanating from it," Cas said.

"Well obviously!" Gabriel tapped a finger to his temple with an incredulous eyebrow. "Euphoria isn't exactly something you can find at your local grocer."

"So it's literal," Sam stated.

"And encased in a decadent shell," Gabriel confirmed. He took the mallet and held it out toward Charlie. "Deal's a deal, Queenie."

"Yuss!"

"Grab some snacks and get comfy, y'all. I'll bring it over and explain the rules."

Dean licked buttery popcorn salt from his fingers. "Course this is one of your games." He stepped over the low edge of the cushion and plopped into the left corner of the pillow pit.

As the crew filled decorative bowls with their favorite snacks, Gabriel snapped. The platter spun slowly with a cartoonish sci-fi whirling, and gently bobbled its way to the center of the seating area. Gabriel claimed the other corner. "You love my games, Scamp," he said with a knowing side eye.

Jack and Cas settled on the left side across from Eileen and Sam. Charlie practically vibrated beside Dean while Kevin slid between her and Gabriel. A small, personal speaker materialized beside Eileen at the outer edge of the pit. In front of them all hovered the mysterious candy sphere.

The group collectively winced from the screen changing to a blinding red with federal warnings written in white before fading to black.

A sleazy electric guitar accompanied a slinky bass line and clung to a funky drum kit beat. Gold silk sheets slid down the screen as the camera panned up the curves of a body. Fingers reached down to guide the camera to Gabriel's bare chest and mustachioed face. "Vow...vee look incredible tonight...zee rest of you aren't so bad yourselves," he said in a thick mixed European accent as a caption bubble dictated along the bottom of the screen. "Zee rules are very simple. Each of us shall take turns attempting to open my creation with Maxim, zee mini mallet of might. Simply break through zee shell and you'll be rewarded." Two gorgeous women slid into frame and pressed themselves against him. "Or vee can just vatch as I am rewarded…"

Shouts of protest and commands for Charlie to hurry up filled the room while Gabriel cackled. She wound back her arm and solidly smacked the chocolate orb. The screen changed upon impact.

Waltzy dulcimer music and distant war drums replaced the 1970's porn groove. Towering trees surrounded lovingly erected canvas tents, pavilions, and banners depicting a fictional kingdom.

"Faire?" Charlie gasped. Her dark hazel eyes immediately became misty.

Jack turned his head from Sam to Charlie to Dean as they shared a fond look. "This doesn't look like a fair."

"It's the Renaissance Faire! It's a magical weekend where nerdy people dress up in medieval garb and guildies play out scenarios as a character while mundanes enjoy the shops and shows," Charlie explained so excitedly that she gasped for breath by the end. The screen rocked as though walking through the encampment. "It's one of the places I feel most me, ya know? It's been forever ago now since I've gone."

Sam cleared his throat and redirected attention to the sphere. A tiny little crack barely blemished the surface. "Think it's not gonna be as easy as just hitting it."

"Hmm, bummer." Charlie looked at the screen and sighed with a smile, holding the mallet to her chest. "Okie, Kevvy, you try."

Setting his bowl of pretzels on the solid ground over his shoulder, Kevin took Maxim and gave it a few twists in his hand. "Here goes nothin'."

As the mallet made contact, the screen changed once more. More than that, music featuring a beautifully warm cello solo soaked into their bones as it reverberated around the room. Eileen's hand had been resting idly upon the speaker and she let out a soft gasp from how the song felt.

Kevin's eyes closed, and the rest of the group simply listened. "It's cliché, but ballads were what I loved to play the most. They normally weren't technically impressive, so I didn't get to play them often when prepping for scholarships...but slowly pulling the bow and drawing out each note...that's what the cello is made for." The song came to a close a couple of minutes later and took with it some of the tension Kevin stored in his shoulders.

"You must have done something right," Castiel said. Inches away from Charlie's crack was a splintering web of chocolate. It wasn't terribly deep, but it expanded roughly the diameter of the mallet.

Everyone reached over to pat and playfully push Kevin for his success. He chuckled at the attention, swatting at their hands. "So are you playing too or does it go to Sam?"

Gabriel snatched Maxim. "'Course I'm playing! I wanna see what's inside too, don'tcha know."

"Wait, you don't even know?" Dean asked.

"Where's the fun in that?" Gabriel countered with a wry grin. He held the mallet by his fingertips and daintily tapped the sphere. Again, the screen updated, only this time it showcased a small sunlit kitchen. "Huh...wasn't expecting this."

Just beyond a wood block counter was a glass case housing flat, flaky pastries and colorful tarts. The open shuttered windows and doors revealed cobblestone roads, white and blue buildings, and the ocean far off in the distance.

"Your turn Samantha."

Sam caught the mallet. "Hold on, what's meaningful about Greece?" He pointed at the short but thick crack in the chocolate.

As the Archangel went to snark, an eccentrically dressed elderly woman with a silver streak in her otherwise dark coarse hair entered the kitchen from the back door. She carried a basket of produce on her arm. "Επέστρεψα από την αγορά. σου έλειψα?"

"Περισσότερο από οτιδήποτε," Gabriel responded quietly along with a far more hoarse yet enthusiastic voice off screen. Kevin's brows furrowed as he glanced at his friend. "Not a what but a who and a when. Now, care to move it along before things get awkward?" The crack split a fraction longer.

"Yea, sure." Sam cleared his throat, wrapping both hands around Maxim and rendering it adorably tiny by comparison. He hefted it over his head and brought it down like an axe.

Waves changed to creaking chains swaying in the wind. There was a rhythmic swishing of fabric rubbing together accompanied by sharp tapping noises. Vibrant autumnal trees bounced as the perspective followed a path through a massive park. And leading the way was a small pack of leashed dogs.

"Seriously? Jogging?" Dean griped. "When did you get into dog walking services?"

Sam huffed. "I," and he sighed as he hesitated. "I haven't, not yet. But, I was thinking of getting nationally registered as one so I can take shelter dogs on my morning runs wherever the job takes us." Blush blotted his cheeks at the surround sound of cooing.

"That's so stinkin' cute!" Charlie squeed.

"And effective - look at the dent in the egg!" Jack pointed to the divot made from Sam's strike.

Dean gave his brother a supportive smile. "'S'not a bad idea, Sammy. Keep ya from gettin' into trouble." It went shit-eating real quick.

"You were so close to having a nice moment," Eileen teased. Sam rolled his eyes and handed her the mallet. "I have a theory on how to open it." She shifted to sitting up on her knees. Once in position, she swung at the sphere as though lobbing a softball.

A vibration traveled up Eileen's arm as the room filled with the sound of a tuning fork being struck. Phenomenal energy radiated from the dip of their right waists' outward in erratically wriggling fractal tendrils. They fell like dominoes into one another in shocked giggles at the unexpected sensation wrapping their side like the tortilla of a tickle taco. After about a minute and a half, the hum dissipated and left everyone recovering. Where Eileen had struck, a sliver of pure iridescent light shone past the chocolate exterior.

"What was that, Gabriel?" Castiel asked.

"How should I know?! Eileen did it, ask her!" All eyes fell on her, but she was smiling broadly at the screen.

An otherworldly landscape of peaking green hills and mirror-like pools of water could have been mistaken as a still image had wisps of gray clouds and white mist not floated by at a snail's pace. Dark ribboned crags jut out at harsh angles, casting dramatic swaths of shadow to contrast the sun saturating the grass with vibrant color.

"It's beautiful," Jack said in total awe. Sam gently rested his hand on her leg to get her attention and gave her a soft look at the tears tracking down her cheeks. He interpreted Jack's message for her.

Eileen noticed her tears and wiped them away. "Thanks, I made it myself," she joked. "It's the Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. Lillian took me here on a job when I was little and it became one of my favorite places. It's been a long time since I've been back."

"We should visit," Kevin said with a meaningful look at the collective angels in the room. "So...your theory worked but what even was it?"

"Oh yea. Porno Gabriel said 'break through the shell'. I thought it's a double entendre where we have to break through our own shells to make progress." Realization dawned in their eyes. "So, I intentionally shared someplace special to me. Wasn't expecting the tickling though."

"Expect a lot more of it," Dean groused, rubbing the ghost from his side. "It's, uh…" he trailed off.

"Tickling is sort of a thing around here. Especially around the Trickster," Charlie filled in. "Ain't that right?" Dean's ears turned red and he nursed a drink to evade responding.

Jack leaned forward and took up Maxim where it had been dropped. "So, I just gotta think of something special to share and take a crack at it?" Eileen nodded. With an eager grin, he smacked the chocolate orb.

The pure tone filled the room again as the screen changed. A messy bacon cheeseburger with the works was missing a large bite and sat in a paper lined plastic basket at a run down picnic table. Sam, Dean and Cas were sharing the table with the impala gleaming in the sun behind Dean's head.

Despite being prepared this time, loud squawks of surprise escaped each of them. The energy zipped across tongues and cheeks before descending along jaws and throats to bloom across the chest. Squirming led to squealing as the tickle circuit mapped across clavicles and nipples before settling at their lower rib cages where the stomach was protected.

"That was awful, Jack!" Kevin chided with crossed arms once he could form proper words.

"Yea, I didn't ever want to know that the inside of my mouth could be ticklish," Sam added.

Jack wiped at his eyes and handed the mallet to Castiel. "I don't know why you're all blaming me when it's my Uncle who made this...this tickle bomb." Gabriel merely shrugged.

Cas lingered for a moment with a soft smile as he watched Jack's memory. It shakily portrayed Dean's face failing to maintain composure as his eyes darted between the two straw wrappers sticking through Sam's locks.

"Okay, we now have a strategy," he said. "But after two hits, there has not been much change. We should prepare for this to take some time. Is everyone ready?" Castiel made eye contact with each member of the circle before swinging.

Following the pattern, the screen changed upon impact and the humming orb sent tickle vibrations of various intensities through the crowd. Additionally, each round lasted a little longer.

The verdant forests and moody rain of the Pacific Northwest, which Castiel had a hand in sculpting, drizzled down their shoulders and arms.

Roaring down a stretch of open highway in the Impala and blaring Renegade by Styx, the beat pulsed up their legs from the balls of their feet.

Sunbeams through aubergine leaves just outside the Gugu Forest of Gillikin Country in Oz. They could feel Dorothy tracing the plaid checkers across their bellies.

The gentlest tickles engulfed them much like the blanket fresh out the dryer being wrapped around Kevin's shoulders.

Gabriel's next turn was a sharp contrast as tickle fights between his humans over the millennia played on screen and exploded upon all the classic spots.

A bright column of fireworks illuminated a meadow as fireworks burst all around the screen with a young Dean silhouetted. Energy burst from their hearts and bumbled under their arms and along their ribs.

The sparks died down to the dancing of a campfire. The light licked the knees and shins closest to the flames in frame and tickles mirrored upon their own.

A field of towering sunflowers just outside Lebanon, Kansas that stretched for miles and waved in the breeze. The sensation of stiff leaves brush against their entire sides from ankles to ears.

Red faced and more than a little punch drunk, the group resembled a cuddle puddle lattice pie with the way their legs all wove atop one another. The orb still bobbled above them, only now it was riddled with iridescent webbing.

"You weren't kidding about tickling being a thing," Eileen said from Sam's chest. She emphasized <<tickling>> with clawed fingers.

Gabriel verbally exhaled as he scooched back up to sitting. "Guilty. Then again, it's more a welcomed side effect than intended function. Wasn't kidding when I said I didn't know how this thing worked."

"That's more than a little concerning," Kevin muttered with an arm slung over his forehead and the other wrapped around his stomach.

"But did you die?"

"Look guys, we're soooo close!" Charlie interrupted. She plucked a piece of chocolate that had chipped off the sphere and sighed deeply.

Castiel reached over Jack to pick up the mallet as the others followed Charlie's lead to clean the platter. "Yes, and the aura has only gotten more powerful. The tempered chocolate must have genuinely contained it somehow."

"Gee, when you say it like that it makes Euphoria sound way more menacing," Gabriel all but spat.

He rolled his eyes. "I am...not meaning to. I only meant to share my observations."

"Thanks Cas," Sam and Dean said at the same time. "Anyway, hurry up, it's your turn, Poindexter," Dean added with a hearty shoulder pat.

When Castiel struck the orb, the sunflowers dissolved into a dreamlike vision of fluffy sunset painted clouds smoothly drifting past the screen. The rushing wind was only cut by the occasional thunderous flap of wings.

Ticklish strings of electricity crackled in erratic shapes from the nape of their necks to the middle of their backs. It was almost soothing to the humans in the room.

Jack, Gabriel and Castiel were lost in an eruption of hysterical laughter. Scribbling tendrils expertly wove through the downy scapular and prodded the delicate muscles underneath. The skin across their extra-planar wings involuntarily contracted and forced their feathers to fluff. It became a ruthless expedition to thoroughly map every possible path to their primaries and back again. Jack writhed helplessly on his back, bucking between digging his heels into the ground and curling up in a ball. Castiel fully fell into Dean's lap and clung to Charlie's nearby leg for some stability. Gabriel twisted so far in his corner as to bury face down in a vain attempt to muffle himself. The room shuddered with a slight harmonizing whine and, for a moment, everyone's clothes morphed back to their original state.

Then it was over. The three celestials fell slack in gasping heaps. "I take back my statement," the Trickster said through a mouthful of cushion.

"So...who else thinks the Euphoria took it as a challenge?" Kevin teased as he rubbed Gabriel's back. Eileen sympathetically did the same to Jack's nearby leg.

"I'll be lucky Cas didn't leave a bruise," Dean chuckled. He patted the top of Castiel's hand that was smooshing the mallet into his thigh to retrieve it.

"Same," Charlie said at the same time Cas bashfully apologized and released his grip.

Rotating his wrist in turn twirled Maxim in an effortlessly skillful way. Dean's eyes scanned the glowing fissures across the chocolate's surface as it rotated and located one that nearly wrapped vertically across the whole thing. He waited to perfectly time his strike...

And he crushed through.

Chunks of chocolate shell clinked upon the golden platter and exposed a shimmering core of plasmic light. It cemented the mallet where it had penetrated before absorbing it hungrily. A deafening chorus of humming tones emanated from the light; contracting, collapsing like a star.

It became brighter. A chill autumn breeze twisted through their hair as the summer sun kissed their skin.

It became brighter. Tangible sonic waves rippled out like the beat of a drum and compelled their hearts to keep time.

It became brighter…

Silence rang in all but Eileen's ears (which rang perpetually) as their eyes adjusted back to the theater's ambient darkness. "Sound off, who's not dead?" Gabriel asked. Murmurs of acknowledgement surrounded him as they rubbed their faces.

"Oh! You two are a sight for sore eyes!" The screen cheerily said in a thick Minnesotan accent. Donna was smiling at the screen after hugging it.

It went dark like a blink, then,

“Today… you’re gonna throw a ball around, just like a regular snot-nosed little jerk.” Though he had less lines in his face and more hair, Bobby's grizzled voice was the same. He smiled his same lopsided smile and small hands came into view to catch the ball he had tossed at the screen.

When the image went dark this time, it reflected them like a mirror.

"Did you-did you see that? Did that go in the hole? I wasn't watching, did the ball go in the hole?" Claire taunted, loud and proud, with a chunky children's putter in her hand.

Unlike the other visions shared, Dean's kept skipping from memory to memory with a pause between to reflect the room. Benny, Jody, Garth, Missouri, Jo, Rowena...precious innocuous moments of those he adored flashed from Dean's perspective. He cleared his throat of a lump threatening to choke him up.

There was no pure tone this time either. No uncontrollable sensation zipping about tickling their bodies. Instead, their breathing came easy and their relaxed bodies felt cradled in comfortable warmth. They were positively glowing.

"Holy smokes, guys!" Eileen exclaimed, looking down at her shimmering red fingertips.

A rainbow of fingers were quickly gawked at. Each person glowed a different color - Red, orange, pink, purple, yellow, green, blue, teal. Eileen left iridescent red spots from where she had touched Sam's chest and knee.

Yet that wasn't even the strangest side effect of the Euphoria.

They were floating.