"I did my best to keep to my purpose," Castiel shrugged, and that at least was the truth. He had done what he could, and even though he'd made plenty of mistakes, and had utterly failed to remain virtuous many times, he had always tried to do the right thing. He just wished the being in front of him had made it easier to recognize what that was.
He wanted to make his father proud, after all.
"I meant smiting me for my mistakes. I thought if they were severe enough to warrant my death, a hug would be... irrelevant," he shrugged. Then he actually chuckled at how absurdly similar his response was to what Dean would have said.
He straightened slightly in his stool, then observed his glass. "Did you create this world too? And the dead one?"