When Iris admitted that she hadn’t slept well at Maisie’s apartment, Cas recalled how upset she’d been the evening before. He still didn’t know entirely what had caused her to be so distressed, but he wasn’t surprised to find out that whatever it was had kept her up all night. The thought of her tossing and turning, then soldiering on even after she had developed a fever brought a frown to his lips. As he got to know her better, he was starting to realize that she was terrible at taking care of herself. He was going to have to pay closer attention to her when they kept moving just in case she ended up trying to neglect her wellbeing again. He didn’t want to see her get hurt because she was too stubborn to rest when her body needed a break.

[color=#b97703]“Well, if you need someone to talk to, you can come to me,”[/color] he offered, stretching his legs out on the bed as his weariness began to creep over him a bit more. [color=#b97703]“And… I’m sorry I didn’t do more to help you when we were staying with Maisie. Back then, I was still trying not to get too close to you, so I thought it would be better for your friend to be your shoulder to cry on rather than me. If I ever made you feel like I didn’t care about you, I promise that wasn’t my intention. I care about you more than most people, Iris.”[/color] As he made the confession, he felt his face grow warm. Even though it was true, it was still a pretty big truth to admit. He hoped she would take it in a positive way and not assume he was moving too quickly.

At her following jest about making sure no one had snuck up on them while they were staying in the bomb shelter, he snorted. He knew she was just trying to cover her ass by pretending like she’d been a vigilant guard. It was more likely, in his opinion, that she had slept too deeply to find out one way or the other. [color=#b97703]“Right,”[/color] he drawled in disbelief. [color=#b97703]“If you’re so busy ‘keeping watch,’ then why do you care about whether or not I snore now?”[/color]

He was glad that she had taken him up on his offer to let her shower first though. Now that he was aware of her neglectful habits, he’d privately taken it upon himself to make sure her basic needs were met. Technically a shower wasn’t a basic need, since there wouldn’t be any major repercussions if she skipped out on taking one, but he hoped it would help her sleep better at least. He knew that whenever he bathed before he went to bed, he always seemed to sleep more soundly, comfortable with clean fabric pulled over his clean skin. It was a heavenly feeling.

Parting his lips to agree that he’d wait to use the shower after she was done, he faltered when she spoke first and told him not to peek. [color=#b97703][i]Why did she have to say it in a way that almost makes it sound like a dare?[/i][/color] He groaned inwardly. Although he would never actually spy on a woman while she was bathing, he hated how flustered he was by the idea of it. [color=#b97703]“I won’t,”[/color] he folded his arms somewhat indignantly while she hurried into the bathroom to take her shower. Once she was gone, he let out his breath in a long exhale and laid down on the bed, making himself comfortable until it was his turn to take advantage of the running water and trying not to let his thoughts wander into territory that he didn’t want them to go while she was washing up in the adjacent room.