[color=#b97703]“Oh, you have no idea,”[/color] Cas made a face when Iris mentioned the rumors that would spread if he got so much as a new haircut. [color=#b97703]“There are literally whole gossip articles that come out online just to talk about that stuff. I don’t understand why everyone likes them so much, but they’ve always been popular around here.”[/color] He thought it was weird how obsessive some high borns were with the royal family. If he did get a haircut, some eccentric writer would spin a whole page about where the style had originated and how clever he was for deciding to try it. They always gave him way more credit than he deserved. Really, he just looked up pictures on Google to show to the stylist, because he didn’t know the first thing about fashion trends.

As they headed into the next shop, Cas breathed in the floral smells of the soaps and shampoos that lined the shelves. This store was another one he rarely visited, since he only needed to restock on toiletries every once in a while and didn’t use the cosmetics they sold. The only time he ever wore makeup was if he was going to attend a TV interview, and even then, he only wore a little because he felt bad for turning down the artists who were always so eager to do it for him. He just didn’t like the feeling of having stuff on his face, so he chose to avoid it whenever he could.

When Iris picked up the toothbrush, he smiled, finding her excitement infectious. It was cute how happy she was to remember something so simple. He noticed that he was starting to think that about a lot of her mannerisms. Her unapologetic, childlike joy for the small things in life was appealing to him. He’d never met anyone else like her before. Most high borns, including himself, cared more about the finer luxuries, the things that money could buy. It made him wonder if he’d been looking at everything wrong.

[color=#b97703]“That’s a good one,”[/color] he commented, crouching down to grab a tube of toothpaste to go with the brush. As he stood up again, he pointed out one of the colors on the box. [color=#b97703]“My favorite is red. Well, a darker red than this, but it’s close enough.”[/color] He enjoyed talking about such casual things as favorite colors with her. It was nice to be so relaxed. He didn’t feel like he had to put on a face for her or live up to any standards, because she didn’t have any. It was definitely something he could get used to.

Looking up, he noticed that they were still bring stared at by other shoppers, but so far, all the attention seemed to be directed at him. If anyone recognized Iris, they weren’t coming over to talk to her. He exhaled. It looked like none of her friends were visiting the mall today. Maybe they would have better luck the next time they came back, if they had another chance before her family called, that is.

[color=#b97703]“What else do you want to get?”[/color] he asked, turning back to her again. [color=#b97703]“There are some bath supplies over there. You’d probably like the stuff they sell here better than what we’ve got at home, since it’s just me and my dad. All of our shampoo smells like dude.”[/color]