The Dreams of Princes

Part V

When Cas woke, he found himself no more rested than when he'd gone to sleep. If Dean was homophobic, then he had a very long year ahead of him after the conversation they had had the night previous. He gulped, feeling the familiar tightening in his chest of anxiety. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case, because he didn't know if he'd survive if it was.

   Managing to stir from bed, he grabbed a sweater and jeans from his things at random, throwing them on. He was lucky they even matched. Straightening his hair with his hands, he looked at the bags under his eyes and sighed. At least it wasn't hyper obvious that he had been too upset to sleep last night, because that would be embarrassing.

   His stomach rumbled, and he decided he might as well head to breakfast. Opening the door to his room, Cas almost ran into Sam, who was about to knock. Cas took a sharp breath, looking up at Sam.

   "God damnit, Sam, don't do that," he said, and Sam smiled apologetically.

   "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Sam said, looking at Cas. "Can I come in?"

   Cas nodded, gesturing into the room, and Sam followed. Closing the door, Cas ran a hand through his hair and flopped onto the bed. The bed sank next to him, and Cas turned his head to see Sam sitting and looking at him. Running a hand through his hair, Sam looked at the wall and sighed.

   "Listen, I saw Dean storm down here looking like he was gonna throw up last night, so I asked him what happened and he told me. I basically told him he's a fucking idiot," Sam said, annoyance in his voice. "He really didn't mean it to come off as homophobic. I don't know what got into him. He was nothing but accepting when he found out I was bisexual. But he flipped the fuck out on you," Sam muttered, shaking his head. "I know he's too much of a coward to say sorry, so I'm telling you now that he didn't mean it, and even if he doesn't apologize, he felt so terrible last night when I explained to him what it looked like from your view."

   Cas thought about it. Even so, why was Dean acting so weirdly? But he supposed that was just a mystery. He nodded to Sam.

   "As long as he isn't really homophobic, there's no issue. It just seemed... odd," Cas finally said.

   "Yeah, believe me. I have no idea what in the fresh hell got into him," Sam said, a tinge of exasperation in his tone. "Sometimes, he's a real dumb ass."

   "Aren't all brothers?" Cas said, laughing. He was feeling better already, just because of Sam. The guy was a great friend. Cas was lucky to have met him, and he knew they'd stay in contact after the year was up already. Hearing his own stomach rumble again, Cas turned to Sam.

   "Well, I'm starved. Breakfast?" Cas said, and Sam nodded enthusiastically, standing quickly and helping Cas up. Cas nearly fell as Sam yanked him off the bed, but Sam sat him on his feet and started down the hall.

   "I thought you'd never ask," he complained over his shoulder to Cas. "I've been dying over here."

   They headed down the stairs, Cas almost tripping over his own feet from exhaustion. As they thudded awkwardly into the dining hall, they froze. Or, Sam did, and Cas stopped after nearly walking into him and then seeing the expression on his face. He followed his gaze to a couple that Cas had yet to meet, and Cas had a bad feeling that he knew who they were already.

   "Samuel, it's so nice to see you," the man drawled, and Sam's face twisted. Oh god, was this really them? Why else would Sam react like this? The man smiled, ignoring the anger radiating from Sam.

   "And you as well, Mr. Braeden," Sam spat. Cas looked between them in shock. Fuck, of course. It really was them, then. Why were they here? Dean had just seen them yesterday, hadn't he?

   "I don't believe we've met," his wife said to Cas, and he turned to face her, an instant bad taste in his mouth. "I'm Alyssa Braeden, and this is my husband, Johnathon. We're the king and queen of Calivei."

   "A pleasure," Cas said, his voice betraying his true feelings as he stared at them with a borderline grimace gracing his features. "Castiel Novak, prince of Haland."

"We've heard great things about Haland," Mr. Braeden said to Cas, who had no reaction to the statement. "Never gotten into business with them. Maybe we could change that. You seem like a lovely young man." Mr. Braeden had an unsettling grin on his face. He looked almost like a skeleton, to be perfectly honest.

Cas barely knew the guy, and already he really, really hated him.

"I doubt that, Johnathon," Cas heard a voice say. "I'm sure they'd rather have their freedom, and I don't know that you reside close enough for the usual blackmail and scare tactics."

It was Dean, Cas realized, turning back to see the hard set of Dean's jaw as he stared at the situation at hand. He felt his stomach drop, but he ignored it, turning back to the weird couple before him. Dean had bigger fish to fry right then than the gay prince living in his castle.

"Oh, Dean, such jokes," Alyssa purred. "Always a joy to hear from our future son in law."

Sam looked like he was within moments of launching himself at them. When Cas had been told about the situation, he didn't realize that it was this bad. These two were god awful, to put it politely.

"Respectfully, as I have no obligation to pretend to be polite, please shut the god damned hell up. I'd like to eat, and you're really disturbing the peace. So please, stop fucking talking or leave the room until I've had my food. I did not sleep well, and I am not in the mood to deal with people like you," Cas snapped, feeling everything from the last night boil over the edge. They gaped at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"How dare you speak to us like that?" Johnathon hissed, standing and hitting the table. Cas glared at him, unimpressed by his dramatic antics.

"I'll respect you more when you don't blackmail someone into marrying your daughter so that you can get what you want. Now please, shut up or fuck off," he spat vehemently. They turned on their heels and left, and Cas groaned, feeling like a headache had been lifted. Turning back to the brothers, he shook his head.

"They're a real catch, huh?" He said to Sam, who looked at him in awe.

"You are the only person I have ever seen speak to them like that," he said. "Frankly, I'm impressed. That took guts."

"No, it really didn't. It took me being hungry and them getting on my last, very tired nerve," Cas responded, collapsing into a chair and beginning his morning meal. Dean came over and sat next to him, and Sam sat on his other side.

"Cas, thank you for that. And I'm so sorry for last night. I didn't mean for it to come off like it did. I was really feeling very sick and didn't want to vomit in front of you. It had nothing to do with you at all," Dean explained. That made sense, Cas realized. Dean had looked pale while he himself had been talking. Cas had been paranoid about the situation just because of the nature of the conversation. He looked at Dean, flashing him a tired grin.

"Thank you, and it's in the past now. We can really move on from all of this sappy 'I'm sorry' crap," Cas joked, getting a laugh from both brothers. As they ate, they heard shouting in the room the Braedens had vanished into, and Dean's parents appeared, laughing quietly. Without saying a word, they came and patted Cas on the back. After sitting down, the Braedens entered the room, and the poker faces went on. They should all be professional gamblers, because they were really damned good. He was trying his best not to laugh his ass off at the Braeden's snotty expressions.

"We apologize again for the behavior of our guest. He is not so well versed in foreign dealings," Dean's father said, and Cas had to hold in a snort as he turned to Dean, fake copying what he had said out of view of the Braedens. Dean himself had to hold in a laugh, his shoulders shaking.

"Thank you," they said snobbishly, sitting down. Cas rolled his eyes so hard he could feel the headache coming on again. Damn, these two were professionals at pissing him off.

If these two stuck around, that wouldn't be the only place he was having a pain in.

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Hi hey, hope this is decent and all that. I'm tired and avoiding homework but I decided to write and have fun instead of doing it so you're welcome