The smile faded from Caspian’s lips as he saw Iris hang her head shamefully. Apparently his attempt to lighten the mood hadn’t worked as well as he’d hoped. He studied her sadly, wondering what had caused her to look so dejected until she answered his unspoken question by blaming herself for his predicament. Surprised to find out that she was beating herself up over him, he blinked bemusedly and then looked away, unsure what to say. Telling her that she was wrong and that his predicament had nothing to do with her would have been a lie. They both knew it was because of her betrayal that he’d ended up in her maniacal father’s basement, beaten and bloodied. However, it was also clear to him that she regretted what she’d done, and that had to count for something too.

What saddened him even more was hearing her tell him to ignore her, as if her inner turmoil didn’t matter enough for him to concern himself with it. In that moment, he felt a pang of shame, himself, realizing that he’d probably caused her to believe he didn’t want anything more to do with her when he’d snapped at her earlier. [color=#b97703][i]That’s further from the truth than it should be,[/i][/color] he thought with a subtle shake of his head. Objectively, he should have backed off from her after she’d helped her ex-boyfriend abduct him and he’d learned that she was deeply involved with the Scourge. However, he couldn’t erase their short history in the capital. It was too easy for him to care about what she was going through, whether it should have been or not.

As Iris tended to his arm, he bit his lower lip to stifle a wince, trying not to flinch while she worked. He’d just been stabbed yesterday, so the wound was still extremely tender. Even her gentle touch hurt, so he had to make a conscious effort not to squirm while she wrapped his bicep in fresh bandages. Once she was done, he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, breathing a little heavier to make up for the oxygen he’d lost and quell the slight dizziness he’d caused himself.

[color=#b97703]“It feels fine,”[/color] he answered her question. Silently, he added that it would feel better after a few minutes, when the throbbing dulled. However, there was nothing either of them could do about that without the heavy-duty painkillers he could only get in the capital, so he kept that to himself.

For a moment, he sat in silence, noticing that an awkward tension had fallen over them again. It wasn’t a long shot to guess that her thoughts had spiraled back into the pit of guilt she’d been feeling a few minutes ago. He dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. Even though he knew he couldn’t get close to her again, he hated seeing her in such a dark place. It was obvious that she was trying hard to make up for her mistakes, and her efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed. He didn’t want her to think that he was still angry with her over what she’d done.

[color=#b97703]“Iris…”[/color] he sighed, tentatively reaching out to place his hand on her forearm. [color=#b97703]“Please don’t pin all of this on yourself. Yes, you messed up, but we all do sometimes. Nobody’s perfect. What matters is that you recognize that it was a mistake, and you’re doing what you can to fix it. That’s all anyone can do.”[/color] He shrugged, glancing up to seek her gaze. [color=#b97703]“I’m not mad—not anymore, at least. I forgive you. I just… need a little time to really move forward. I’m not holding it against you though, and you shouldn’t either because that’s not fair of either of us to do when you’re not a bad person.”[/color]