The real kicker here is that it would be a thing as simple as breathing to just read John's mind, to find the name Manny right there at the front of it; angels hear thoughts just about as easily as they hear voices, really (that's how prayers work), and Castiel must actively block them in order not to hear them as passively as he hears the wind, or the sound of birds. But that's just the kind of angel that he is. Weak, maybe, but that's a line he does not cross, not unless there's much more at stake. Funny, how just a handful of years ago he would have been just fine with cracking John's mind open like an egg and taking whatever he needed in the name of the greater good; now it's not a thing he even considers. Well, okay, he definitely considers it. But it isn't going to happen.

So it's a good thing that John answers when he does, because Castiel is literally a handful of seconds from getting the hell out of dodge here, because it certainly feels that he's giving much better than he's getting, and no real return on his investment means this has been an overall waste of his time. Dammit John, he let you fuck around with his Grace okay, that's a big deal, so stop being a bitch.

Castiel's still not sure it's an acceptable response though, it's not a name like he'd asked, but the word 'Darkness' alone is enough to make his blood run cold. There's open surprise in his expression. "I haven't," he says, feeling all of the misgiving in is heart fold over and double itself, with no idea where to even begin with this, and the reckless urge to fly up to heaven this very moment to demand answers even if that would assuredly not go particularly well for him. "What is it?"