[color=#b97703]“Don’t be,”[/color] Cas shook his head when Iris apologized. [color=#b97703]“I’m sure you needed it. You’ve still got a lot of recovering to do, after all.”[/color] He tapped his own temple to signify her amnesia. Her condition was still a mystery to him, but he had to think that getting good sleep would help her heal from the memory loss. Resting seemed to help the body in every other way, so why not the mind? As enjoyable as she was to be around, she couldn’t stay at his family’s mansion forever. She wasn’t a wounded stray puppy he could just adopt. She was a grown woman with a life of her own and people who probably missed her. The sooner she could return to her home, the better.

When she mentioned that she had been reading, he frowned, equally disappointed that the book hadn’t been of any help to her. It was strange to him how some things triggered her memories instantly while others didn’t spark her recollection at all. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. The only way to get her through the fog was to just keep talking and showing her around in the hopes that they would accidentally stumble upon something that worked for her.

[color=#b97703]“That’s good to hear,”[/color] he commented in regard to her leg feeling better. [color=#b97703]“If you get sore while we’re out, please tell me though. I don’t want to make you feel worse.”[/color] He would have to make a mental note to pay attention to her condition while they wandered the capital. Being in good shape, he could stay on his feet for hours without wearing down, but he didn’t want to push her too hard while she was on crutches. He would have felt awful if she ended up back in the hospital with broken stitches at the end of the day.

[color=#b97703]“If you say so,”[/color] Cas shrugged when she declined his offer to tell the chefs to make her something specific. Feeling spontaneous, himself, he didn’t think much of the refusal. Instead, his attention was occupied by watching the cooks prepare his food: an arugula salad with prosciutto-wrapped figs and blue cheese. It was a dish he’d tried before but hadn’t eaten in a long time, so he looked forward to having it again. Since Iris hadn’t specified what she wanted to eat, it looked like the kitchen staff was gathering enough ingredients to make two servings.

When she spoke again, he turned back to her with a nod. [color=#b97703]“Yeah. If you still feel up to meeting them by the time we’re done in the city, I’ll invite them over to visit in the evening.”[/color] At her next words, he casted her a sympathetic look. He couldn’t know what she was going through, since he’d never had amnesia before, but he could tell that she was starting to feel weighed down by the lack of correspondence from her family. He couldn’t blame her for that. It had to be difficult to get through every day, wondering if anyone even cared she was gone.

[color=#b97703]“Don’t say that,”[/color] he reached out to rest a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. [color=#b97703]“You do belong here. I know it’s hard, but I’m sure we’ll hear from your family soon. It hasn’t even been a week yet. Just give them time.”[/color] He offered her a friendly smile. [color=#b97703]“And you don’t have to keep apologizing to me. I want to help you however I can. If that means listening when you need to vent, then that’s what I’ll do.”[/color]