Cas snorted and shook his head when Iris called him a stuffy prince again. The more time they spent together, the more convinced he felt that the nickname was going to stick whether he liked it or not. He didn’t complain though. Coming from her, he didn’t find it as annoying as he might have if one of his friends had started to call him that, and she always lit up when the words rolled off her tongue. He liked seeing her look so happy when half the time she was caught up in depressing thoughts about her situation. As long as he could take her mind off the fact that her memories were still mostly gone and that no one from her family had called to inquire about her whereabouts yet, he didn’t care what she called him.

He lifted his glass to his lips to take another sip, only to pause when she asked him about leaving the mansion. As much as he would have loved to tell her that they could sneak out, it wasn’t a good idea. The rebels who had broken into his home had been after his father’s—or maybe even his—life, so the best thing for him to do was to stay inside where the security team could ensure his safety. If he left and didn’t tell any of the guards, he would put himself at risk of getting into trouble with the two terrorists who were still unaccounted for.

[color=#b97703]“I don’t know…”[/color] he said slowly, setting his drink back down on the table. [color=#b97703]“I’m sure the soldiers will catch them, but as long as they’re still on the loose, it isn’t safe. We should stay here until the lockdown is over.”[/color] He casted her an apologetic glance. Seeing the eagerness on her face, he hated having to let her down. He could understand why she would be so desperate to find her ID. The little plastic card contained all the information they needed to reunite her with her family: her last name, her identification number, and her current address. If they were able to find it in the woods, she could finally go home. But he just wasn’t sure that he could justify risking his own safety to get it back.

[color=#b97703]“I hope so,”[/color] Cas nodded in agreement when Iris said he would sleep well that night. [color=#b97703]“God knows I need it.”[/color] Thinking about sleep drew a yawn out of him, and he lifted his hand to cover his mouth. He still wished he could have taken a nap in between all the madness, but it had been impossible while he had been taking care of everything alone. He had to give up his rest so that Atlas could rest instead. It was just the way it had to be until his father recovered from the disease that had been slowly trying to claim victory over his body.

Thinking that the conversation about leaving the mansion had ended when he’d denied her the first time, Cas was caught off guard when she brought it up one more time. He took another sip of his scotch and lifted his brows in surprise at her offer of trading a kiss for sneaking out together tomorrow. It wasn’t the kind of bargain he’d expected that she would offer. [color=#b97703][i]She must be really desperate to be thinking of ways to pay me back for this,[/i][/color] he thought with a pang of empathy for the amnesiac.

[color=#b97703]“Are you saying you won’t kiss me again unless I sneak out of the mansion with you?”[/color] he asked with a lopsided smile, trying to lighten the mood a little before he delivered the disappointing news. The prince leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table as he met her gaze. [color=#b97703]“As tempting as that is, I think we should stay here until the soldiers catch the missing terrorists. If they do tomorrow, then we can go out, okay?”[/color]