Try as he might, Cas couldn’t fully take his mind off of what had just happened between him and Iris. He couldn’t believe how hung up he was on something as small as the brushing of their hands, but crushes never were logical. It wasn’t like he could just hit an off-switch and not care about the way his stomach fluttered when she touched him. The fact of the matter was that he found her beautiful outwardly, and the more they spent time together, he thought her personality was attractive too. The more he thought about it, he was surprised he had never met her before the incident in the woods.

Then again, the capital was a densely populated city, and he doubted she would have been among the crowds of admirers who had followed him around in the past. She seemed far more grounded than the hordes of women—and a few idealistic men—who fantasized about being with the crown prince. She didn’t strike him as a partier either. If they had never happened to bump into each other on the streets, there was no way they would have met before.

After a few more heartbeats of silence between them, Cas glanced at Iris as she spoke up again to comment on the movie. More than happy to jump on a new subject, he rolled his eyes at her sardonic assessment of his taste in film. [color=#b97703]“Alright, Ms. Critique,”[/color] he gibed in return. [color=#b97703]“Next time, you can pick what we watch, since your standards are obviously more refined than mine.”[/color] He shot her a teasing smile. Even though he knew she was only messing with him, he was curious to see what she would choose if given the chance. Since they seemed to share interest in the same genres, he knew he would probably like whatever she picked. He just wanted to take every opportunity to try and jumpstart her memory and, if he was honest, to get to know her better.

When she went on about wanting to know who her family and friends were, his smile melted. He wanted to assure her that she would remember them eventually, but he had already run that subject into the ground. Every day they had spent together, he’d made a point to remind her not to give up hope, but still no one had come to find her. He was surprised that two full days after she had gotten hurt, her family and friends hadn’t even called the hospital to find out if she was there.

[color=#b97703][i]They have to call sometime though,[/i][/color] he reassured himself. If she was gone long enough, someone was bound to suspect that something had gone wrong. It was just a waiting game until they did.

[color=#b97703]“As of right now, not much,”[/color] he shrugged when she changed the subject to ask him what he was doing tomorrow. [color=#b97703]“I do have a class in the morning, but other than that, I shouldn’t have anything else to do unless something comes up at the last minute.”[/color] Most of the responsibilities he’d taken over from his father were short notice. Despite his illness, the king was an independent spirit who refused to let his son help him unless he saw an opportunity to teach him something valuable or he was too sickly to get out of bed that day. It was why Cas made a point to keep his phone close at all times when he was out of the house. If Atlas needed him home early, he had to be able to report back right away.

[color=#b97703]“Why do you ask?”[/color] he turned to her again curiously. [color=#b97703]“Is there something you want to do tomorrow?”[/color]