“Sounds like we made a good decision to order from Luigi’s then,” Miles nodded gladly when Iris confirmed that she liked the pizza. “After we run out, I can order some more for us in a few days,” he leaned toward her on the floor and lowered his voice, “when these two aren’t around to eat any of it.” Indiscreetly, he gestured at Caspian and Jay, who had both been close enough to hear his not-so-secretive whispering.

At his gibe, Cas shook his head subtly and took another bite of his food. Aside from his friend’s ridiculousness, the comment stirred envy up inside of him. He wished he could be the one to share private meals with Iris or even just be alone with her for more than a minute at a time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hide her anywhere on the Maydestone family’s property without someone noticing she was there. There were just too many servants and security guards prowling the premises. He was sure they wouldn’t last two days before someone stumbled upon her while they were cleaning or keeping watch for intruders. Then she would be sent back to the penitentiary immediately, and all their hard work would have been for nothing.

With a low sigh, he finished off his first slice of pizza and chased the last bite with another sip of his champagne. [color=#b97703][i]At least I still get to see her at all, he reminded himself,[/i][/color] trying not to let the seed of jealousy ruin his mood again. [color=#b97703][i]If we hadn’t saved her or if we’d had to send her back to the districts…[/i][/color] He trailed off with a faint grimace, not wanting to think about what could have happened in either case. With the soldiers and the rebels after her, Miles’ home was the safest place she could be. Getting jealous over the fact that his friend was going to be sharing food with her was unproductive, and the bitter emotion only hurt himself.

So, doing his best not to dwell on it, he spent the rest of the afternoon participating in conversation and games with the others, purposefully pushing aside all thoughts of the fact that he would have to part ways with Iris again before the day was over. As far as he was concerned, all that mattered was the present moment. He was with her, and they were having a good time together. All else was moot.

While he had limited himself to drinking just one glass of champagne, Miles and Jay went all out with the available substances. They split the rest of the bottle between the two of them and then shared a bong from Miles’ stash, smoking it with the window open to air out the room for the others. Without pacing themselves, they grew stupid on the alcohol and drugs, giggling over jokes that only made sense to them and lounging around in various odd positions on the sofa, the bed and the floor.

Around four o’clock, the two had ended up back on the floor, trying to make out images in the textured paint on the ceiling. Cas watched them amusedly for a few minutes before his eyes wandered to Iris, involuntarily drawn by the scarlet fabric that wrapped her body like an unopened present. He curled his fingers against his leg, restless with the desire to pull her aside and make good on his promise to spend a night with her. Technically, he couldn’t get away with it when his father expected him to be home by midnight, but he wondered if he could at least steal a moment with her before he had to go back to his own manor.

He glanced at the other high borns, who were thoroughly ensnared in the combined effects of alcohol and weed, as an idea came to him. Leaning over to Iris, he whispered while the others were looking away, [color=#b97703]“Make an excuse to go to the bathroom but don’t turn on the lights when you go in. I’ll meet you there… Those two are too high to notice if we disappear for a little.”[/color]