Castiel closed his eyes for a second, centering himself. He couldn't believe that any of this was real. Things like this just don't fall into his lap like this. In the early days, when he believed in everything, he wanted for nothing, God had provided.

Except God wasn't real, he wasn't good at least not in the way Castiel believed.

But this, she felt more real than anything Cas had experienced lately. His eyes opened again and focused on Merlan's face before moving to her wings. With a small smile, he reached out and ran a hand along the edge of her wing.

"You have an awesome gift, do you know that? Not all of us have that gift."