When Iris answered his question by saying that Miles had been boring, Caspian blinked, not expecting to hear those words come out of her mouth. Out of all the ways a person could describe his wild friend, [i]boring[/i] was far from the top of the list. He would have thought that she’d call him overwhelming or ridiculous before she would ever accuse him of not being entertaining enough to keep her occupied. So, when she clarified that she had been joking, he nodded, not at all surprised.

“After everything I’ve done for you, I’d be offended if you didn’t think I was lovely,” Miles chimed in with a roll of his eyes, stepping across the room to plop down on the sofa next to her. “You minx. You make it sound like I made you sleep on the sofa every night.” Turning back to Cas, he shook his head adamantly. “I swear, I offered her the bed, but she insisted every time that she preferred the couch. It was all her decision.”

[color=#b97703]“Sounds like her,”[/color] Cas chuckled, recalling how much Iris had fought with him whenever he’d wanted to do something kind for her. He had always liked helping other people, but she made simple gestures in veritable competitions. Any time he proposed to do anything for her, he knew to brace himself for pushback and excuses before she would begrudgingly let him come alongside her. It sounded like Miles had learned the same lesson during their week together, except his friend hadn’t been persistent enough to convince her to sleep in the bed.

Despite the warm atmosphere in the room, the prince felt an odd twinge in his chest as he conversed with the others. Noticing the way Miles had seated himself at her side, he found himself wondering involuntarily just how close they had gotten during the lockdown. A subtle frown tugged at his lip, though he managed to stifle it before it took over his features. He was probably just reading into things. It was only natural for Iris to have found friendship in Miles while they had spent so much time together. He couldn’t be upset with her for getting along with the other high born. Reprimanding himself silently for distrusting them without reason, he strode over to the empty chair adjacent to the sofa and sat down. 

As Iris went on to tease Miles about his snoring, the other man balked and turned to her with wide eyes. “You said I wasn’t bothering you!” he gasped. “What the hell? Did you lie to me?” As he spoke, he nudged her jokingly with his elbow, making it clear that he wasn’t actually offended by the remark.

Telling himself that his friend was just treating her the same way he would behave around him or Jay, Cas did his best to shake off the discomfort he felt by focusing on her question to him. [color=#b97703]“Not too much,”[/color] he answered with a shrug, his eyes idly roving her red dress. [color=#b97703]“I spent most of my time watching TV while I recovered, but I also hit the gym a few times, so I wasn’t a total couch potato.”[/color]

He wished he could comment on how good she looked, but with Miles sitting right next to her, he kept the observation to himself. [color=#b97703]“What have you two been up to?”[/color] he asked instead, careful to keep his tone in check. He didn’t want to clue either of them in to the hint of bitterness he felt, especially when he was sure he was just being paranoid.