Dean could tell Cas was distracted when he returned. The tom had been gone quite a while, which was not his usual habit. Now that he was back, Cas' eyes were clouded and distracted. Dean didn't know how to help him. He wanted to. But he was unsure how to go about doing so.

Obviously the man needed some serious cheering up. Dean ran circles around the befuddled biologist, rubbing himself against the man's legs. Cas just reached down absentmindedly and stroked the fur behind Dean's ears. Dean purred loudly and rubbed his cheek against Cas' thighs. That at least seemed to provoke something. Cas choked and coughed and pushed the cat boy away.

Dean growled at the rough treatment. He sat facing Cas with his head cocked to the side studying the man in confusion. What was wrong with Cas? It was frustrating not knowing or knowing how to communicate his confusion. He tried. "Cas?" he asked roughly.

Cas seemed visibly startled. He looked at Dean, right in the eyes, blue meeting green. Dean felt like he was lost drowning in the blue of that gaze. Cas broke the stare first. "Come on Dean," he said still not looking at the cat boy directly.

Dean considered this request before deciding to go along with it and he followed the biologist cautiously to the stream. Cas sat down on a large rock opposite the stream, he looked as if he was trying to divine the meaning of life in its clear depths.

"What am I going to do tonight, Dean? It's going to be torture. Gabe is going to feed me disgusting

drinks and throw women at me all night. I know I should probably be dating or at least trying to. It's not fair to you and me to pin all my hopes on you – but I can't help it. Dean you're all I can think about. I close my eyes at night and all I see is your swishing tail, the muscled contours of your body and your impossibly green eyes. What am I going to do?" Cas asked sadly.

"Mrrow?" Dean asked, it was killing him not understanding what was wrong. He had the feeling Cas might have told him just now, but he couldn't make head or tails of it.

He resolved instead to continue his quest to bring Castiel out of his funk. He bounded down to the water's edge and used his tail to flick water at Cas. He laughed, proud of himself and the stunned look on the tom's face.

All too soon Cas seemed to snap out his shock and reach down to fling some water back at Dean who hissed and bared his claws at him. Cas was laughing himself, Dean looked so affronted that he'd dared to return the gesture.

Just as Cas got up to make amends to the cat boy, perhaps with a belly rub, the feline bounded away into the trees.

Come chase me, Dean thought as he ran through the woods. He wanted to romp and frolic with his future mate. Cas would never catch him at this speed though, so he made a point of slowing down a little to give the poor biologist a fighting chance. He even paused to look back and smirk at Cas mischievously. "Cas!" he chirped happily.

Cas regarded Dean for a moment clearly puzzled before he seemed to catch on and give chase. Dean was laughing, enormously pleased with the success of his plan so far. He swerved round some foliage out of Cas' sight and ran straight up a tree. He watched Castiel circle the area in confusion. He waited until the man was directly beneath his tree before dropping down on top of him.

Dean landed solidly on Castiel, knocking the breath from his lungs. Dean landed stretched out on Castiel their bodies touching from chest to toes. They were both panting heavily. Dean was staring at Cas' pink lips. It seemed to him that they looked very inviting, very inviting indeed. Yet before he was able to take advantage of the situation Cas had pushed him off and was standing up straightening his bedraggled clothing. "Dean," he admonished.

Dean didn't much care for that tone. He didn't understand what had just happened. The two of them had been having fun. And when he'd been laying there on top of Castiel it had been apparent that the tom was aroused by their tussle and chase. Why would he not make a move? Why did he insist on pushing Dean away? How was Dean supposed to help him if he kept pushing Dean away and keeping himself at a distance?

The moment broken, Castiel left. Dean was alone again in his strange forest. He shouldn't have let Cas leave it like that. He should have pounced him again and held him down and taken what he'd wanted. Dean resolved to do so next time. Next time Cas wouldn't get away so easily.