[color=#b97703]“You won’t have to,”[/color] Cas assured Maisie with more confidence than he probably should have had. His word were meant to convince himself too though. If he could persuade Iris’s friend that he had everything under control, he hoped he would believe it as well. Truthfully, he wanted to think that he would be able to keep her safe when they got back to the capital and that he wouldn’t slip up when it came to the feelings he had for her that refused to go away. He couldn’t predict the future, but there was obviously a right and wrong answer when it came to dealing with the latter. As long as he didn’t forget that, he was sure he could make it home without doing something stupid.

When Maisie mentioned the folded bedding, he nodded, [color=#b97703]“You’re welcome.”[/color] Their hostess was an incredibly hospitable person, so he was just happy to help in what little ways he could. It was the least he could do after she had fed and homed them without any notice. All that was left was for him to figure out what to do with the bloody clothes he’d tossed on the floor last night. He didn’t want to leave them for Iris’s friend to deal with after she had already done so much for them, so he picked up the haphazard pile that was his old garments to throw away somewhere outside.

As he did, he noticed that Iris had come back into the room and looked up. She had brought another hoodie for him to wear, and he took it from her hand with a word of gratitude, sliding the warm fabric over his shoulders. Getting his left arm into the sleeve was difficult as always, but at least he wasn’t bleeding all over the borrowed jacket like he had the last time. Assuming he actually made it back to the capital by the end of the day, it might even survive the journey, so Iris could return it to her friend.

Zipping up the front, he glanced at the two women as they spoke about the eleventh district, the one he knew as Bel Bicis. With the ongoing war, he wasn’t surprised to hear that the area had been ravaged by the Aspirian military, but he still found the subject awkward to bring up around people who called this part of the nation their home. He didn’t even know who’s side he was on anymore. Of course, he still stood firmly against the Scourge, but he was starting to wonder if the crown was as innocent as he’d thought. The kingdom outside the capital certainly wasn’t as well off as he’d been told to believe. It wasn’t that far of a stretch to guess that there had been other lies he’d fallen for over the years as well.

When Maisie addressed him with a comment about his wound, Cas paled. By the tone of her voice, he could tell that she was just messing with him, but his passive fear that his arm would get infected was still very much alive in the back of his head. [color=#b97703]“Right… thanks,”[/color] he shifted his weight, trying rather unsuccessfully to pretend like a comment that he knew shouldn’t have bothered him [i]didn’t [/i]make him paranoid that he was going to be an amputee for the rest of his life.

Once they were ready to leave, he said a final goodbye to Maisie and headed out with Iris, pulling his hood over his head to hide his face. Even more than before, he was careful to keep his eyes down, just in case Ethan was still somewhere nearby. The only time he looked up was to toss his old clothes in a dumpster by the front of the complex. Otherwise, he kept his gaze fixed on the ground and buried his hands in his jacket pockets.

[color=#b97703]“Do you think Ethan will really listen to Maisie?”[/color] he asked, glancing sideways at Iris as they headed back to the gate. There was a lot riding on their ability to slip out of Tongsen unnoticed, so he wanted to know how confident she was that they could do it. [color=#b97703]“It sounds like he knows you two are close. What if he doesn’t believe her fake tip?”[/color]