Cas flushed when Maisie said she had only been kidding about his smell. Even after falling for the rebels’ tricks, it seemed like he was still gullible enough to take most of the things he heard at face value. He was relieved that she didn’t mind if he sat on her sofa though. The floor wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the plush cushions had been, so he lifted himself back onto the furniture and sank into the it with a sigh of relief. [color=#b97703]“Thank you,”[/color] he murmured as he took the water and pills from her. Popping the latter into his mouth, he took a swig from his glass to swallow them and then chased it with another few gulps. The water she had given him wasn’t purified either, but it was leaps and bounds better than the fishy river water he’d been reluctantly sipping at earlier.

As Maisie went on to answer his question, he set the glass down on the end table and turned toward the kitchen to listen. To his pleasure, it sounded like she wasn’t a fan of Iris’s ex-boyfriend either. He was glad to know that there were others who thought Ethan was a scumbag too. Even though it was petty—if he hadn’t caught feelings for Iris, he wouldn’t have cared who she dated—he felt like he could bond with Maisie over their mutual dislike of the man Iris had been with before.

[color=#b97703]“It’s fine,”[/color] he assured her with an amused smile when she apologized for rambling about her friendship with Iris. The conversation didn’t have much to do with him, but he was just happy to talk to someone who didn’t want to see him dead. Over the last few days, the only people he’d spoken with had been Ethan, who hated him; Regis, who wanted to kill him and turn him into a symbol of the revolution’s success; and Iris, who had treated him kindly, but he still couldn’t get past the baggage of her betrayal in the forest. Maisie was the first person he’d come across outside the capital with whom he felt like he could let down his guard, so he didn’t mind listening to her stories.

When she walked over to sit beside him and pass him a cold beer, his amused smile broadened into a grin. [color=#b97703]“You’re a saint, Maisie,”[/color] he praised as he picked up the can and brought it to his lips. Until now, the only thing he’d had to drink had been water, so the lager was refreshing. He drank a portion of it and set it down on the table, picking up his water to chase it, so he would stay hydrated. However, at her following words, he choked on the beverage.

[color=#b97703]“The way she… what?”[/color] he stammered, prompting her to say it again in case he hadn’t heard her right. What Maisie had just said was what people usually said when talking about someone who was in love with someone else. He knew Iris had insisted that her feelings for him had been real, but he’d found it hard to believe. Or, rather, he hadn’t wanted to believe it, because it would just make it harder for him to let go of his own affection for her. However, hearing her best friend say that she had a way about her when she looked at him made his heart skip a beat. In spite of everything he told himself, the part of him that was a glutton for punishment wanted to be assured that her feelings for him were still there.

[color=#b97703][i]But it doesn’t matter because nothing can come from it,[/i][/color] he reminded himself again, letting out his breath in a slow exhale as the interest faded from his visage. [color=#b97703][i]I have got to stop getting my hopes up. It’s just going to make things more complicated for no good reason.[/i][/color]