Work Text:
“Can I lick you?”
Sam barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he continued on his walk, his destination firm in mind. He was heading to the nearest Walgreens; he had come down with a cold the night before and needed medication and other supplies.
He had a list ready; orange juice, soup(not that condensed shit), the fixings for hot honey tea and tissues. Sam hated being sick, especially colds when he could smell and taste even less than normal. He hated the feeling of his sinuses being stuffed, nose running and overall feeling like crap.
Good thing that Pickle, his four year old cat, loved a good cuddle and was an excellent nurse.
When he was younger, he thought the idea of licking someone was gross but as he grew older, he discovered that he would give anything to lick someone if it meant finding his soulmate.
Ignoring the new couple that was now enthusiastically licking at each other, Sam tightened his coat around his midsection and kept walking. His boots crunched in the snow on the sidewalk, his breath coming out in puffs of frigid air. He sniffled, grimacing at how irritated and raw his nose felt already.
One thing he did hope for, on the subject of soulmates, he hoped that when he found that person, that they would be smart, funny and kind. He shuddered at the thought of possibly having a soulmate like Alastair. The creep, who was complete opposite of Sam’s ideal mate, was convinced that he and Dean were soulmates. Luckily for Dean, Sam’s older brother, knew that claim was a farce and they eventually had to get the authorities involved. Everyone knew that it was a crime to interfere with or attempt a fake soulmating.
It got a bit hairy but Alastair finally got the hint and left Dean alone. Sam smiled through his misery at the thought of his brother. Dean had met his true soulmate just last year, a quirky guy named Cas and the pair were ridiculously happy. Sam was happy for them but he couldn’t help but feel jealous too. Where was his soulmate?
Sniffling in misery, he absolutely hated being sick, he finally made it to Walgreens. Kicking his feet together to rid his boots of the snow, he entered the store and grabbed a basket. Luckily the store was mostly empty, all the more faster he could get back home.
He made quick work of filling the basket with the medicine and other cold supplies he needed before heading to the register. Sam wanted nothing more than to be back home in his apartment, starting up a film or show while he cuddled in bed with Pickle.
Purchases in hand, Sam stepped back out into the cold air, glad it was a short walk back home. Ten minutes and mostly empty streets later, Sam arrived back at his apartment building.
Groaning at the elevator that wasn't working yet again , he tromped up the three flights of stairs to his apartment. He quickly unlocked the door, stepped inside and kicked the door shut before Pickle could get the idea to try to slip out into the hallway.
Two hours later, he was startled awake from the nest he had created on the couch. He nearly kicked Pickle off, who had perched at his feet. She gave a half-hearted hiss in annoyance, barely letting Sam pet her ruffled fur before she jumped off of the couch and sauntered toward the back of the apartment.
Sam sniffled, dabbing at his nose with a tissue while trying to figure out what had woken him. As soon as he had gotten home, he had made himself an early lunch with a side of cold medicine and dozed off to reruns of ER. A loud thump sounded had Sam looking toward his apartment door. Sounded like it came from the apartment across the hallway which was odd since that apartment had been empty for a few months.
A thump sounded again, this time accompanied by a yelp and Sam got to his feet, the curiosity too great. He stumbled the few steps from the living room to his door, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Slightly cracking his door open to prevent Pickle from slipping out, Sam peeked out into the hallway and his eyes widened at what he saw.
A golden haired man in electric blue shorts and a red tank top was wrestling a Jack Russell terrier back into the open doorway before setting a gate up. Stacks of boxes were surrounding the doorway and Sam realized that this was to be his new neighbor.
“I should’ve left you in the kennel until I was finished moving in. Bad Benji.” The man huffed, his hands on his hips before he turned around and spotted Sam. “Hey there, neighbor.”
Sam blinked owlishly at the new arrival, at a loss for words. He cleared his throat after a moment. “Uh…hi.”
New neighbor wiped his hands on his shorts, shorts that hid nothing and held a hand out for Sam to shake. “Name’s Gabriel. New to the building obviously. What’s your name? Or should I just call you Gigantor?”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh but that only spurned a cough. He did his best to direct the cough into his elbow, it would’ve been rude to cough in his hot new neighbor’s face and he waved off Gabriel’s offered hand.
“I’d shake your hand but I don’t want to give you my cold. Nice to meet you, Gabriel, my name’s Sam.”
“Sam-a-lam! Super dupes! Sucks about the cold though, being sick is the worst. Anything I can do to help?”
Sam shook his head, everyone knew that the remedy for a cold was rest and plenty of liquids. “I came out because I heard some thumping over here. Everything okay?”
“Oh yeah.” Gabriel said, rocking back on his heels. “Benji’s just being a menace. I could threaten to take him back to the Humane Society but he knows that’s a lie. He’s a little shit but he’s my buddy.”
Sam grinned, anyone who liked animals was more than okay in his book. At hearing his name, Benji sauntered up to the gate. A snap of Gabriel’s fingers and the pup sat down, pink tongue lolling out. “He likes to try to get into stuff he shouldn’t and pee in my plants but he’s a good boy. Mostly.”
Sam watched as Gabriel reached down and scratched Benji behind the ears. He had to admit that he liked the sight of the pair. It’d be nice to have a friendly face in the building.
“Well, I better go lay back down so I’ll let you get back to it.” Sam murmured, absolutely not looking at the muscles he could see around Gabriel’s tank top. Despite being sick, he was tempted to show off a few of his muscles as well. You know, in case his new neighbor needed a workout buddy.
“You bet Sammich! I'll definitely be seeing you again.” Gabriel said with a wink before turning away from Sam. Sam watched with amusement as Gabriel nearly tripped while trying to hop over the gate in his doorway.
Having him as a neighbor was going to be interesting.
A few days went by and Sam was still feeling crummy. Stupid cold kept lingering. He'd seen Gabe a few times, the most memorable being when mail for him had been delivered to Sam instead. Wanting to be a good neighbor, Sam brought the mail to Gabe's apartment and Gabe had answered in nothing but red boxers and a pair of socks.
Sam nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight.
“Kiddo! What can I do for ya?” Gabriel chirped, completely unbothered by his state of undress and grinning salaciously at Sam.
“Um…you…t-the mailman put some mail in my box that belongs to you.” Sam spluttered, his face nearly as red as Gabriel’s boxers.
“Awesome, thanks! That should be my giant bag of Swedish Fish.” Gabriel held his hand out and Sam placed the box in his palm, his fingers brushing against Gabriel's. It was just for an instant but it was enough to send shivers down Sam's spine. “Why’re you so red, Sammy?”
Sam hated being called Sammy. He usually hated any nickname given to him, no matter who was using it, but especially by his brother, Dean. But for some reason, the nickname didn’t get under his skin like it usually did. In fact, it made him feel special that Gabe would give him a nickname but he wasn’t sure if he was wanting to delve into that just yet.
“Still sick.” Sam mumbled feebly. “I better head back to my couch before I get you sick too. Just wanted to give you your mail.” He resisted the urge to sniffle and wipe his nose on his sleeve in the absence of a tissue. Had he mentioned already that he hated being sick?
“Sure you don't need me to walk you home?” Gabe asked with a grin and Sam wondered if the hopefulness on Gabe's face was genuine or was it his cold talking?
Either way, Sam couldn't help but laugh. “Thanks for the offer but I think I can manage.”
“Suit yourself kiddo, bellow if you need a sponge bath or something.” Gabe wriggled his eyebrows again before retreating into his apartment..
“Jesus, give me strength.”
Gabriel closed himself in his apartment, thumping his head against the wall, each thump accompanied by a murmured “stupid”. He couldn’t help himself around his giant and gorgeous neighbor, every time he saw Sam he was tempted to break out his mountain climbing gear.
And then there was the problem. The problem was, Gabriel was one hundred percent certain that Sam was his soulmate but Sam was oblivious thanks to his cold. It shocked Gabriel when he first noticed that he was smelling things stronger than normal. Just minutes after meeting his new neighbor, smells and tastes were stronger, more potent. He liked having a window box of red roses in the living room, the whole room smelled of them now. It was almost overpowering.
He had wandered out to the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee and was surprised to see that the once slight taste was now bitter, the pungent smell even making him wrinkle his nose. Sure, he liked candy but that was mainly to distract himself so he wasn’t reaching for a cigarette. Now, he was having to put sugar into his coffee to cut the bitter taste. He was debating on how to break the news to Sam, the poor guy probably had no idea as he’d been dealing with the world’s longest cold.
With a weary sigh, he plunked down on the couch, Benji hopping up immediately and resting his head on Gabriel’s thigh. He scratched at Benji’s fur, mulling over what to do. “Any suggestions, Benji?”
The dog merely whined and Gabriel nodded, “yep, my sentiments exactly buddy.”
Sam woke up with a start, the blaring of his alarm had him nearly knocking it off of the nightstand in an effort to turn it off. For a moment, he wondered why he had set it for six in the morning and then it occurred to him. Crowley, his publishing agent was going to be calling him for a meeting to go over the first draft of Sam’s newest book.
He was a crass man but was a hell of an agent. Crowley worked hard to book signings and pushed his first book for publishing. Sam was currently working on the second novel for his first series, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. He had modeled the two main characters after himself and his older brother, Dean as two hunters that took out supernatural creatures.
Sam’s current issue with the book was figuring out a title. He usually tried to go with a line from the book itself (and usually titling it later in the whole process) but Crowley was insisting on a title now to get a jumpstart on marketing.
With a groan, Sam rolled out of bed, stretching and popping his back as he shuffled out of the bedroom and down the hallway toward the kitchen.
He wasn’t dealing with Crowley until he had at least one cup of coffee.
A few minutes later with the coffee brewing, Sam set out the milk and sugar. Dean always took his black and Sam couldn't stomach that. Even with the muted taste, it was too bitter for him. Coffee poured, he opened the milk and was just about to pour some in his mug when he paused. Did it smell off?
It was so hard to tell until he was mated and his sense of taste and smell was fully heightened but the milk smelled off from how it usually did. The date on the jug was fine and he had just bought it two days ago when he finally got over his cold, there was no way it went bad.
Fixing the cup of coffee to how he liked it, he took a sip as he made his way over to his desk in the corner of the living room. Hmm, even the taste was a little off. The gears began turning in his mind, did he finally meet his soulmate and just not know it?
Suddenly he gasped and nearly dropped his mug of coffee as the realization hit. Gabriel. As often as he’s seen his new neighbor, he’s the only one that it could possibly be. What would he say, how would he break the news? He’d never been in this situation before, he wasn’t sure how to proceed.
He mulled over his options for a few minutes and decided to trek across the hallway to Gabe’s apartment. Before he lost his nerve, Sam found himself in front of Gabe’s door. Blowing out a breath, he knocked and waited. He must not have been home as he hadn’t come to the door and Sam couldn’t hear anything inside the apartment. Running his hand through his hair, Sam blew out a breath trying to think of his next move. This couldn’t wait, he needed to find Gabriel.
Back in his apartment, he found the card that Gabriel had given him a few days ago to the veterinary office that he owned. He could feel the judgement that was radiating from Pickle as he paced the living room waiting for the call to go through.
“Thank you for calling Paws and Claws, how can I help you?” A perky female voice answered.
“Uh, yes, I was wondering if Dr. Novak was in today.”
“He sure is, do you have an appointment?”
“No I don’t.” He didn’t need one, he just needed to see Gabriel, see if what he was thinking about Gabe being his soulmate was true.
“I see.” There was clacking at the other end of the line before the receptionist spoke again. “Luckily Dr. Novak accepts walk-ins. Who are we making the appointment for, he has an opening at eleven-thirty.”
“Pickle, he’s my cat.” Sam said, looking at the clock. That gave him two hours before he could see Gabe. He relayed his information to the receptionist before hanging up. He had to figure out what to wear.
Two hours later and after a hasty message to Crowley saying that he needed to push the book meeting, Sam left his apartment with Pickle unhappily tucked away in a cat carrier. The whole drive, which took fifteen minutes, he chewed on his thumb mulling over what to say while Pickle meowed unhappily.
Paws and Claws was a squat brick building and Sam easily found a parking spot. Check-in was easy, the receptionist happily taking his information in a way that gave him the creeps. He took a seat in the waiting room, away from Becky’s intense gaze, Pickle’s carrier in-between his feet.
The inside of the building was just as clean as the outside, soothing music playing in the background. The walls were painted light blue and beige and he could hear the occasional bark of a dog from the back. It was only a few minutes wait before the door to the back opened and Gabriel walked in.
Sam’s jaw dropped at the sight of his golden haired neighbor wearing a white lab coat, he wasn’t aware that a vet wore them. Gabriel spotted him and smiled, the simple gesture made Sam’s heart flutter.
Sam stood as Gabriel approached, trying to think of what to say before he uttered a sentence that he never thought he would.
“Gabriel, can I lick you?”
