1- Squirrel and Moose

Dean swiftly pocketed that precious piece of paper, and winked to her as he walked back to the front. Where he proceeded to protest at that clear lack of empathy from his comrades. Didn't they know how much he whished to have breakfast right now? And they were eating right in front of him? DISRESPECTFUL!

Sam shrugged, holding back a smile. "You're the one who called 'dibs' with our tailor. Don't blame us."
"Speaking of 'dibs', I'll go talk with milady about my gear that needs to be repaired." Bobby stood up, and went to talk to Carleen about his leather straps, while Sam kept making fun of Dean.

"Well then let me say that you, sir, are a bitch", Dean answered, quipping back at his brother as he flopped down on the seat that had been occupied by Bobby just a minute before. He eyed the remaining breakfast with hunger before he finally decided that what the hell, he could eat whatever was left! "And I do blame you! You could leave some stuff!"

"Believe it or not, I kept some pastries on the side for you... jerk." Sam smirked, and pushed said pastries towards his brother. "The coffee is not so warm anymore though, since you took your time with Miss Carleen."

Dean let out a grateful and relieved sound, all happy about seeing something edible and sweet, and started stuffing himself full with pastries the exact instant he saw them. Because yes, he was that hungry. "We were just talking about my new getup", he said, sounding definitely not honest about it. "Not my fault if I am interesting."

Sam rolled his eyes, but looked at Dean for a little while. "So you're thinking about getting a whole new outfit? How much will it cost you?"

Quite far away from there - at least a few days by horse - with his face in the dirt, Castiel wondered if he should have actually let his fellow angels catch him and kill him rather than finding himself a vessel in an emergency, and all but running to God knew where for more than a week.
It had been ages since he took a vessel, and honestly, he had forgotten about the hunger and the need to sleep it brought upon him. And yet, there he was. About to die like an idiot because he had been too scared of being killed.
O the irony.

"Not much", Dean answered defensively, downing down the half-cold cup of coffee - and grimacing a bit because of its bitterness. "I can afford it with my leftover money. And it will be resistant and good. If I just have this one repaired, it will be ripped again next week - you know it's not well-made."

And quite far away fom there indeed, wandering in that same forest Castiel was lying in - what a lucky strike for him, right? - there was someone else. Someone that was simply trying to get over that one week, before having to go to the nearest town to try and make some money. And buy basic stuff he couldn't make on his own. Horknath, axe on his shoulder and steps wide, finally deemed himself satisfied with the wood he had collected, and stopped his march. He was about to turn around to get back to his shack - when he saw something weird, laying on the ground. Squinting a bit with his only good eye, he managed to make out the shape of a person. He debated on what to do. Should he help a man he didn't know, with the risk of helping a delinquent - or worse, someone of those who hated his kind? But in the end, the half orc's soft heart won him over. He couldn't just leave a poor idiot out alone in the forest to die! Or was he already dead? He cautiously walked over to the 'corpse', still bearing his axe, but letting the wood down. "Hey", he said, gruffly. "Can you hear me? Are- are you alright?"

Sam nodded. "Maybe I should ask for a new one myself, then. The only issue is that with two outfits ordered, it will take more time, and keep us longer here."

Castiel only had enough strength left to turn his head to the side and take a look at Horknath. He tried to say something, really did. But all he managed to do was exhale weakly. Tiredness was heavy on him, but the hunger was the worst.

"That's true. Well, but on the other side, we'd get good ones!", Dean exclaimed, pushing away his empty place and cup. "I don't think we'll get to many places where we can get a discount because of the job we do. Not a place this good, and that does stuff of such high quality, at least. We should grab this opportunity." Well, he wasn't opposed at all by the idea of staying longer into that town!

Horknath frowned. If Castiel couldn't even manage to talk, he probably had gone through at least one week of starvation. But he didn't have any food with him... what to do? "There", he grunted at first, kneeling at his side. He offered him what was left of his water, carefully making the man roll on his back and lifting him up.

"Mh. You're right. I'll see if she can make me a new outfit as well. My sheaths sometimes come undone, it's getting dangerous when I have to be reactive." Sam stretched a bit. "Her coworker told us there's a nice inn down the road, managed by one of her distant relatives. We shouldn't have to pay for shelter, only for food, if we stay for a while."

Castiel drank as if he had indeed not drunk for a worrying amount of time. Then coughed a bit, because his throat was still dry, and he barely managed to stay up. His eyes had trouble to focus, but he didn't look at Horknath with any ounce of animosity or disgust. He just seemed lost.

"That sounds pretty nice", Dean hummed, stretching a bit. "I have to be honest with you, though - I am afraid we'll get bored here." He glanced out of the big window behind their seats, to the people walking by and chatting. "From the looks of it, this place seems pretty quiet. Well, supernatural-speaking, I mean."

Horknath blinked, getting a bit lost into that intense, blue gaze. He observed the state of this man for a little while, then grunted and shook his head. Why did he even have to help him? Now that he had stopped, it was definitely an obligation - but well, at least he didn't look like a bad guy. "Alright. Buckle up, I'm taking you to my place", he said finally, actually lifting him up with the aid of a single arm - holding him like a sack of potatoes.

Sam nodded. "Since they are so welcoming towards hunters, it would explain a lack of monsters indeed." He shrugged. "A little holidays can't do us wrong. Ursus and I could visit their library, see what kind of books they have."

Castiel couldn't do much, aside from letting Horknath lifting him up. "Thank you," was the only thing he was able to breathe out, in a very, very low voice, before he lost consciousness. After all, he was exhausted.

Dean nodded. "And I'll look around for a blacksmith. I don't know about you, but I could use some filing at least for my knife." Chopping off vampire heads hadn't really helped keeping it in a serviceable shape.

Horknath merely grunted, positioning Castiel a bit better over his shoulder. No lie, he did struggle a bit to get back home, what with that additional weight - and all his wood, and the axe. He might have complained too, grumbling lowly as he proceeded ("Getting lost in the middle of a forest without food and water, what's wrong with this guy", "And in this season! This is stupid"). Back at his place - a cabin, roughly build out of wood and stone, not really big but cozy enough - he dropped Castiel on a bedroll, added the freshly chopped wood to an already existing pile outside the house, and then finally started preparing his food.

Sam held back a smile, and nodded. He stood up soon though, because Bobby was coming back with Carleen, and he needed to get hos own measurements taken.
"So," Bobby said while he sat down. "Her father's quite an influent man in this town. It wouldn't hurt to come back again another day, to meet him."

Castiel woke up after a while, and winced when he felt before he heard his stomach calling for food. He looked around, a bit lost. Oh, right. He had been rescued by an orc. Half-orc?
He didn't dwell on the thought though, rather eyeing the food with interest, while massaging his left wrist, to make sure there was still cloth covering it. Jimmy Novak - the vessel's original owner - wasn't one to hide his soulmate's name to the world, but he would need to get himself once of those long leather bracelets to cover the name no one was ever meant to see.

Dean hummed at that observation, turning to look at Bobby again. "You think it could be an interesting meeting?", he asked. "She told me he'll still out of town for business for at least another couple of days. Maybe we can just stop here for a while - I mean, me and Alces wanted to get brand new outfits."

Horknath - whose ears were kind of sensitive, given his heritage - heard some shuffling on the side, and turned around. "Oh. You're awake", he grunted, aknowledging the other man with a nod as he pushed the pot away from the fire. "I'm guessing you're hungry. Can you get up?"

Bobby nodded. "I'll see what she can do with yours, and maybe I'll get mine done too, another time. This antiquity still holds up together," he said, giving his coat a glance.

"Barely, but I should manage," Castiel replied in a low, raspy voice. "...Thank you. For not leaving me out there."

Dean snorted. "Calling it 'antiquity' is a bit too generous. I'm pretty sure that fur over there comes from an animal that has gone extinct when dinosaurs were a thing!" He quickly covered the back of his head, to avoid a whack that was most certainly going to come.

"... 's fine", Horknath grumbled, now a bit embarrassed. Well, it was rare enough that he got thanked for something. "Anyone mindless enough to go camping without food rations or water can't be that dangerous to take in." He gestured for Castiel to get up at least a bit, so he could pass him a bowl full of food. "Why were you even there at all, by the way? If I hadn't found you, you would have most certainly starved to death, or worse."

And Bobby did try to wack the back of Dean's head, half-offended. He was faking the other half, though. "I'm barely old enough to be your own father, shut your mouth," he grumbled.

Castiel thanked him again, and took a big mouthful, since he was still starving. After swallowing, though, he looked at Horknath. "I wasn't camping. I was... running. From someone," he explained a bit awkwardly.

Dean laughed, barely avoiding Bobby's hand. "'Barely', yeah, sure. You are definitely old enough to be both me and Alces' father, stop complimenting yourself", he added, making fun of him a bit. It was harmless, and they knew it - Dean could be vicious, if he wanted to be mean!

Horknath frowned. He chewed a bit on his food, and drank some water. "Running? From who", he asked, genuinely curious. And confused. "That I know, there's no one living around here. The nearest town is three days South." On top of that, he now couldn't help but wonder. Why would someone run after this man?

Bobby held back a smile. "You disrespecting idjit," he cursed, trying again and finally managing to smack the back of Dean's head.

"Angels." Castiel wasn't good at lying, so he decided to keep it down to a minimum. Lying over his own identity was probably going to be really demanding from him already.

Dean laughed, letting out a fake upset sound when he received that one whack. He then crossed his arms. "I think once Alces gets his measurements taken, we should get to that Inn quick, drop our stuff and scout the surroundings a bit. If we're going to stop for a bit, it would be better to be completely sure there's not going to be impromptu angel raids or something."

Horknath stiffened visibly, when angels were mentioned. He forced himself to relax, however, and stared down at his soup. "I see", he observed, after a while. "Why were they chasing you?" He felt nervousness start to stir inside his guts. Did that mean he was sheltering a wanted man? Was he putting himself in some serious danger?

Bobby nodded. "I'll feel safer once we'll be done with that, yes." He looked up, right when Alces came back in the room with Carleen, and thought to himself that oddly enough, it seemed to have been shorter for him than when Dean went to get his measurements taken. But he kept that comment to himself.
"It'll take me and my employees a full week to make both of your new outfits, but I'll have Mr. Ursus' repairing done by tomorrow," Carleen told them with a smile.

"...Because of who my soulmate is." Castiel didn't look up from his bowl. It wasn't entirely true. But it wasn't a complete lie either. His disappearing alone had been suspicious enough for fellow angels to track him down. Thankfully enough, no one saw him in his new vessel, and no one suspected (yet) that he was bound to Dean Winchester, also known as Michael's one true vessel.

Dean smiled at her. "That sounds very nice. We'll just stick around until everything's done then - they told us there's an Inn run by a relative of yours, right?" He looked at his two companions. "I guess we can go there?"

Horknath's frown deepened. "... well, that sucks." He sighed. "It's not like who you are tied to is your fault." Another sigh. He glanced at Castiel. "I'm guessing you must have the name of someone very high up, and they don't want you close to this person- angel, or whatever?" Well, he wasn't actually that far from the truth - not that he could know that.

"You can, yes. Just tell them that I sent you," Carleen replied with a smile. "My cousin will host you for free. I guess I'm seeing you all tomorrow, then?" She threw a knowing glance at Dean, who she was definitely meeting later that evening.

"It's something along those lines, yes," Castiel replied. He remained silent until he finished his plate. He was starving, after all. "...This was good. Thank you," he politely said again.

"Of course. We'll come by, to pick up Ursus' repaired clothes." The smile Dean threw a Carleen could look simply polite - but it was more of a knowing, cheeky one. He wasn't going to miss that night's appointment for anything in the world.

"It's no problem", Horknath answered gruffly. And still embarrassed. "So, I... uh, have a spare bedroll. I'll pull it out for you now, if you wish to rest. If you're thirsty, just outside the house there is a lake", he listed off, counting on his fingers. "What else- ah, I have some soap over there if you want to wash yourself. I don't have much of it left though, so... be mindful with that."