[color=#b97703]“You have no idea,”[/color] Cas rolled his eyes exaggeratedly when Iris joked about how boring his life must have been. He wasn’t sure if he would have called every part of it boring, but it was definitely lackluster. Even when he wasn’t studying whatever mundane subjects he needed to learn to be king, there wasn’t a whole lot of variation day to day. He would hang out around the city with his friends or stay home to watch a game by himself. Every once in a while, he had to make a public appearance on his father’s behalf or talk to paparazzi if they managed to corner him in public. That was about it.

[color=#b97703]“True,”[/color] he smirked when Iris talked about how brave she was. [color=#b97703]“I could be a serial killer. You don’t know.”[/color] Despite his teasing, he had to admit she was pretty trusting if she was willing to get in a car with a man she barely knew. She couldn’t know if his intentions were good or bad. If he’d been trying to take advantage of her amnesia, it wouldn’t have been hard, since she had no way to contact anyone, nor anyone to contact in the first place. [color=#b97703][i]It’s a good thing I spotted her before she started wandering the streets by herself,[/i][/color] he realized, even more relieved that his father had agreed to let her stay with them.

When she responded to his confession, Cas stared at her in surprise. Of all the things she could have said, “I think I saw you on TV once” definitely wasn’t what he’d been expecting to come out of her mouth. Somehow, he liked her anticlimactic reply though. It was nice to hear her act like he’d just told her what he had for breakfast rather than admitted he was the crown prince of Aspiria. He could practically feel the rest of his tension melt away. It looked like nothing was going to change after all.

[color=#b97703]“I think so too,”[/color] his smile returned when she commented on his nickname. He’d never been fond of his full name either. “Caspian” was too proper, and three syllables was kind of a mouthful for just a first name. If people of the older generation like Dr. Emett or his father chose to call him by it, he wouldn’t complain, but he definitely preferred to be known as “Cas” by his friends.

[color=#b97703]“Please don’t,”[/color] he wrinkled his nose when she joked about curtseying. Even though he knew she was teasing, he hoped she wouldn’t feel compelled to force any respectful gestures when she got her memories back. He already got enough of those from all the people who didn’t know him well enough to realize he preferred to be treated like everybody else.

At her last comment, Cas blinked, not expecting that she could actually understand why he’d kept his identity a secret from her. [color=#b97703]“Yeah, that’s exactly right,”[/color] he nodded and then smirked again. [color=#b97703]“Hey, if you get it, maybe you’re from a pretty high ranking family.”[/color] That would have been something. However, he couldn’t say for sure, since her family had yet to call the hospital asking for her. If she was from one of the wealthiest families in the capital, he would have thought they’d come looking for her right away.

Stepping over to the passenger-side door to the backseat, he pulled it open and then turned back to Iris. [color=#b97703]“Here, I’ll take your crutches for you,”[/color] he said, relieving her of them to stow on the floor in the back of the car. Once that was done, he shut the back and opened the front door to the passenger seat, offering her a hand to help her sit down if she needed the assistance, since it was a low-riding vehicle.

When she was inside, he trotted around to the driver’s side and climbed in. The interior of the car was solid black with leather seats, so it had warmed up a little since he’d parked it. He turned on the AC to make it more comfortable. [color=#b97703]“So, do you remember what kind of music you like?”[/color] he asked, turning on his phone to pull up his music app. [color=#b97703]“I can turn some on for us. The speakers in this car are amazing.”[/color]