He was ashamed of something… Tiresias could read it in his silence. Cas was not a particularly quiet wolf, and always spoke his mind on everything, often with passion. The kalak prince assumed that that was due to the tempest magic running through his veins. Haeld? Tempest? Whatever Castiel was… But apparently it gave him magical powers of some sort, but also filled him with a fiery temper. Reece found that idea laughable given all of the months they had spent together, he had never seen Castiel mad other than just once… and for a wolf to have a supposed magical rage, would not they be angry more often? Tiresias could have no possible way of knowing that it was he who soothed that the inner beast. For a tempest, they had one soulmate in the whole world, and it was their second half who was the balance to their anger, who calmed them. But Tiresias did not know that, and likely would not believe it even if he was told for he did not believe in magic of any sort. But to digress, he could tell that something was bothering Castiel, and perhaps it all related back to the nightmare, but what Reece could not tell was whether it was the fact that he had a nightmare, or the specific content of the nightmare that was bothering Cas. After all, there was really no shame in being plagued by a dark dream, it happened to everyone from time to time…

And truth be told, as soon as Castiel started to reveal the content of the dream, it appeared that that was truly what was bothering him, what he was ashamed of. The lost prince of Dierne Hrof went on to recollect the events that had transpired before he came to Blossom Forest, which were apparently being played on repeat in his mind. When first Tiresias and Cas had reconnected on these very shores, Castiel had been haunted and hurt by the loss of someone close to him, one he now called his partner. Apparently, the nightmare consisted of that very event… Only this time, apparently it had been Reece who had died, and not Castiel‘s partner. And Tiresias whimpered briefly, before rolling it into a slow chuckle.

“You cannot rid yourself of me that easily.” His chuckle fell away into silence as he once again pushed his snout into Castiel‘s shoulder for support. “I am sorry that you lost your friend in such away - it is a good death, for him to give his life for another, but certainly not a quick or easy death. I know how much this friend meant to you, have you gotten to the point where you can think of them with happiness instead of pain?” And then, a light flickered on in his mind. Castiel had not said friend… He had said partner. He had not said comrade, or packmate, or brother… He had said partner. Slowly, reluctantly, Tiresias pulled away from Castiel, the loss of contact between their flash causing a shiver of cold to run down his back, his skin rippling in discomfort. The kalak tilted his head to the side, wanting to focus well upon the other. But even as he did so, he shook his head in disbelief… He could not have meant it like that… Surely he could not? Right? All this time… All these months that they had spent together, near to one another, as close and comfortable, as trusting as two brothers…

Or as close as two mates…

The thought came unbidden into his mind and Tiresias closed his lids. The motion was a habit, but it did nothing to block Castiel from his sight or from his mind. And the words that came next were soft, hesitant, slowly released. He did not want to know the answers, but he had to. He feared what Castiel would say, for he never had a friend such as he, and this could ruin everything. “Was this… Partner of yours… Castiel I need to know if it was a brute or a femme… And a mate or a friend.”

There were only a few answers that would not bring all of it tumbling down, that would not put a screeching halt to their friendship, and complicate the relationship that they had. If it had been a female, then there was no complication… Or was there? And if it was a brute… If it was a brute… They could only have been friends… Right? Suddenly, Tiresias was very unsure of himself, of everything he knew or at least thought he knew. But what he did know… He knew in the very depths of his soul that homosexuality was a sin, was morally repugnant and wrong. And if Castiel‘s partner was as they were - male - and was more than just a friend to Castiel… Then how exactly did Castiel view Tiresias? In his mind, he knew that if that was Castiel‘s answer, he would have to leave, never see him again. But a small part of his heart that sought to betray him spoke gently from the corner that it would be all right… that it would all be okay…