Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

After a lengthy, two-hour nap, Cas felt a little better than he had earlier, but he was still bothered by the visit with Dr. Foster. Every time he met with her, it was just another reminder that his father didn’t trust him. Climbing out of bed, he shuffled into the bathroom with a dull expression on his face. He couldn’t remember when he and the king had drifted so far apart, but it was clear that their relationship was rockier than it had ever been before. Atlas had always had unrealistically high expectations of him and had been stingy with compliments. The cold treatment had fostered insecurity inside of him, but it was the first time he felt like there was no way to redeem their small family. The king thought he was raving. He’d noticed that he hadn’t been given any responsibilities to take care of since he’d come back from the districts either. It was no doubt due to the fact that he’d defended Iris.

Standing at the sink, he turned on the faucet and bent over to splash warm water onto his face, trying to shake off the last of his weariness. As he did, he heard a distant knock on the door to his bedroom. “Come in,” he called to the visitor. Turning off the water, he grabbed a folded towel from the counter and dried his face off as he turned around to see who had stopped by.

By the door, a servant stood and bowed respectfully. “His majesty wishes to see you, your highness.”

Cas stiffened. “Why?” he asked, more defensively than he meant the question to come across.

The servant shifted his weight, “I wasn’t told anything else, your highness… Only that he asked me to send you to his room.”

That’s because he doesn’t want to go around telling everyone that his son is insane, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Given the time frame of the request, he was certain Atlas was summoning him to discuss the contents of his meeting with Dr. Foster. He was probably upset that no “progress” was being made in his therapy sessions. The thought made him taste bile. “Tell him I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” he said curtly, averting his gaze. “Sorry, but I have somewhere I need to be right now.”

“Y-Your highness?” the servant stammered, taken aback by his uncompliant response.

Cas said nothing. Heading out of the bathroom, he slipped on a pair of shoes, stuffed his phone in his pocket, and brushed past the other man to get out of the room. He felt a little bad for forcing the servant to deliver word to his father that he wouldn’t be stopping by, but he couldn’t handle seeing him right now. Not when the king was just going to accuse him of things that weren’t true again. He needed to get out of the house before his father sent one of the guards to make him come back.

With that thought in mind, he went straight to the garage and climbed into his car, driving off to the Kinders’ place in the hopes of avoiding Atlas for the rest of the day.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“So, how are you feeling today, your highness?” Dr. Foster asked. The time was now a few minutes past nine, and the psychiatrist had set herself up in one of the offices in the manor. She reclined behind the maple wood desk with one leg crossed over the other and a pad of paper resting loosely in her lap. Her narrow glasses were perched on her thin nose as she observed her patient, and she held a pen in her hand, ready to take notes on their visit that day.

Across the desk, Caspian was seated in a cushioned armchair, not nearly as poised as the doctor. He slouched lazily and had pressed his cheek against the palm of his hand in obvious disinterest. Not even five minutes had passed, and he was already finding the appointment torturous. He would have much rather been spending his morning with Miles and Iris, far away from the woman who seemed convinced that he wasn’t mentally stable. He studied her quietly. To him, it was a little strange that she had diagnosed him with Stockholm so quickly when they’d only spoken for an hour once before, and he wondered if she really thought he was sick in the head or if she was just siding with his father to get on the king’s good side. Knowing how much the other high borns pandered to Atlas for special favors and approval, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the latter was true.

“Your highness?”

The prince stiffened as he realized he’d gotten lost in his thoughts. “Um, fine,” he coughed into his sleeve. “I’m just a bit tired.” He fought the urge to grimace as he watched her jot something down on her notepad; probably something along the lines of: “subject is absentminded and slow to respond.” He averted his gaze irritably. It was frustrating to feel like he had to constantly defend himself to keep from coming across as insane. The fact that she had already diagnosed him with a disorder that he didn’t even have was proof to him that she wasn’t on his side. She was just here for the paycheck and the chance to get in his father’s good books.

“Why are you tired?” Dr. Foster probed.

“I was out late, and I got used to sleeping in during the lockdown,” Cas answered truthfully.

The psychiatrist nodded and wrote something else down on her pad, causing him to shift his weight. “I’ll try to make this visit as quick as possible then,” she assured him with a thin smile. “Why don’t you tell me about Iris again?”

Inwardly, Cas groaned, but he did as she asked, repeating the same information that he had told her during their last meeting. He already knew she was hoping that he’d changed his mind about her. If he said he thought she was just a soulless rebel like all the rest, Dr. Foster and his father would win. If he was completely honest, a part of him was tempted to lie and tell her that he no longer cared for Iris—platonically, of course—just to put an end to the time-eating appointments. However, he couldn’t do that. He loved her, and he wanted her to be able to come out of hiding eventually. Flip-flopping his stance on whether she was a good person or not would only hurt her reputation. If he wanted to be with her, he was going to have to hold fast to his decision to take her side and keep enduring the psychiatric visits until Atlas realized that he was telling the truth about her. It was the only way she would ever be accepted in the capital.

Throughout the appointment, Dr. Foster continued to challenge him on his beliefs. She asked him how he knew Iris hadn’t just been stringing him along or why he thought she would help him in the first place. Each time, he insisted stubbornly that she had been a victim of the Scourge too and that he had no reason to doubt her motives. The response didn’t go the way he’d hoped, and by the end of the meeting, he was sure the psychiatrist was going to report to his father that there were no improvements in his condition.

As soon as the clock struck ten, he left the office to return to his bedroom, wanting to get away from Dr. Foster. Talking with someone for an entire hour who didn’t believe a word out of his mouth was ridiculously exhausting, so he needed some time to hole away in solitude and relax after getting worked up. He locked his door behind him and collapsed on his bed, choosing to spend that time alone by taking a nap. Hopefully by the time lunch was served, he would be in a better frame of mind to interact with the help.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

No worries! I have a lot of stuff to do today, so it may take me a while to get a post up.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I'm sure you'll do fine, haha. Also I got very distracted writing that post for some reason. I managed to get it done though! ^^

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

For the rest of the afternoon and evening, Cas enjoyed his time with his friends more than he had when he’d first arrived. Even though he and Iris had gotten interrupted, Jay and Miles made up for their inadvertent disruption by heading more games and conversations. He couldn’t hold it against them when they hadn’t even known that he and the former rebel were together. Besides that, he’d always had fun in their company. Miles had gotten too high to keep trying to flirt with Iris, which was a relief as well. With no competition—perceived or otherwise—for her attention, he was able to relax and forget about his troubles until the time came for him to return to the Maydestone estate.

As usual, he was reluctant to leave and wished he could just phone home to tell his father that he’d rather stay with his friends for the night, but he already knew how that discussion would go down. The king would assert that it was too dangerous after he had just been abducted by the rebellion a little over a week ago. He’d also tell him that “sleepovers” were for children and were unbefitting of a grown man, let alone one who was going to be the next king of Aspiria. There was no point in trying to convince him otherwise.

So, he said his goodbyes to the others around eleven and drove himself back to the mansion, checking in briefly with one of the security guards to let them know he was back before he went to bed alone.

The next morning, he was awoken early by a curt knock on his door. He yawned blearily and rubbed his eyes as he called out permission for the visitor to enter, wondering who needed something from him before noon. During the lockdown, the guards and staff and even his father had left him to rest and recover from his experience beyond the capital. He’d gotten used to having time in the mornings to sleep in. Unfortunately, though, it seemed like that time had passed.

“Your highness?” a maid projected as she stepped into the room and bowed to him politely. “I just stopped by to inform you that His Majesty has arranged a meeting for you with Dr. Foster today at nine. He’s asked that you be ready to see her when she arrives.”

Cas made a face. He’d nearly forgotten about the psychiatrist that his father insisted on treating him for his nonexistence Stockholm Syndrome. Apparently the king hadn’t let it go while the capital guards had been searching for Iris. “Fine,” he grumbled, turning his head into his pillow. “I’ll be up soon.” In the same way he couldn’t ask to stay overnight somewhere outside the mansion, he knew it was pointless to keep telling Atlas that he didn’t need therapy. His father had already proven that he didn’t trust him enough to make any decisions for himself.

The maid bowed again and exited the room, and he reluctantly sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. As he stretched to shake off his residual tiredness, he checked his phone out of habit, making sure he didn’t have any missed messages before he stood up. The blank lockscreen showed nothing of importance, so he ambled into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for his appointment with Dr. Foster. He just hoped it would go by quickly, so he could try to go back to Miles’ place before his father came up with anything else for him to do.

~Bonsoir~

When Victoria confirmed with a nod that she wanted to try standing, Vail leaned away from her to give her some space. Though she had been dead for the last week, he was optimistic that she would make a swift recovery from all she had endured. His kind was known for their resilience to physical trauma. They could bounce back even after being shot or stabbed after they had some rest. Now that she was a vampire too, he was optimistic that she would recuperate without any trouble. Once she was well enough to feed on human blood, she would hopefully reach her full strength within a day or two as well.

Allowing her the room to get out of bed, he rose from his chair but remained close enough that she could use him for support as she touched her feet to the floor. He monitored her carefully with his hazel eyes, taking note of the shakiness in her movements. That was to be expected with the muscle atrophy that had taken place after he’d drained all her blood, but he remained attentive in case her legs weren’t stable enough to hold her weight yet. They didn’t need her ending up on the ground because she wasn’t ready to stand up right away.

Apparently his decision was a good one, because as soon as the Crest heiress attempted to take a step, he found her in his arms. Steadily, he braced himself and pulled her in to keep her from stumbling any further. She was weaker than he’d thought, but at least she had managed to hold herself upright for a few seconds. Seeing her struggle to walk was far better than keeping watch over her lifeless body, unsure if she would ever return to him.

“That’s it, my love,” he encouraged her gently, planting a kiss on her cheek while he held her up. Even if she could only handle taking a few steps at first, progress was progress. Her disused limbs would need practice to regain their former strength. “Try taking two steps if you can. I’ll be right here if you need help. I won’t let you fall.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Sounds good to me! Also if you want to borrow Miles for that, I'm fine with it! I'm pretty sure his personality is easier to see now that he's been part of the story for a while :)

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I don't have much else I planned to write for this scene. Did you have a way you want to play out the next few days? I remember you wanted Ethan to threaten Cas at some point. I was thinking about having Cas meeting with the psychiatrist again the next day, but I also don't have to write that scene out. I can just summarize it if you want to skip forward at all.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“Don’t worry about it,” Cas reassured Iris when she apologized to him. He understood exactly why she’d freaked out, so he wasn’t upset with her. If he hadn’t known how much his friends let themselves go whenever they smoked, he would have been worried too. As she planted a kiss on his cheek, he smiled. “I didn’t mind it, really. You’re cute when you’re flustered.” He laughed to himself, reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear affectionately. In the districts, when they had actually been in danger, things had been different; but now that they were safe in the Kinders’ estate, he found her reaction endearing.

However, her following whisper made him bite his lip desirously. He wished again that the other high borns hadn’t interrupted them. Although the bathroom wasn’t the best location for them to be with each other for the first time, he hated stopping when things had gotten so heated between them. He couldn’t get the image of her almost naked body out of his head either. He swallowed and averted his gaze from her, trying to think about something else. Hopefully his friends were still high enough that they wouldn’t notice the lingering flush of his skin or any other sign of arousal that he couldn’t hide so soon after their make out session against the wall.

Taking a shuddering breath, he gathered what was left of his composure and walked with Iris over to the door, careful to angle his body in such a way that the others wouldn’t see her standing behind him. When he reached it, he unlocked the latch and pulled the handle, simultaneously flipping the light switch on as he opened the door. He hoped that in doing so, Miles would assume that it had been on the whole time.

His friend groaned with relief and pushed past him to get to the toilet, “Move it! It’s my turn to hog the bathroom.”

“Have at it,” Cas gestured with a wave of his arm, glancing over his shoulder just as Iris slipped back into the bedroom from behind him. It looked like she had gotten out without either of the other high borns noticing. He bit back a smile, pleased with himself and with her for getting away with their sultry encounter. It would have been nice to get away with more, but as she said, they were just going to have to wait for a better time.

Heading back with Jay, he took a seat on the sofa while his friend planted himself beside him. Jay looked across the room and grew rigid as his gaze landed on Iris. “When did you get here?” he furrowed his brows. “I thought you left already.”

“She’s been here the whole time,” Cas rolled his eyes. “She can’t leave, remember? We’re still hiding her from the soldiers.”

“Right…” Jay said slowly, maintaining the perplexed expression on his face. “Jesus. Where does Miles get his stuff from? I feel like that bong was laced with something stronger than weed.”

“Who knows?” Cas shrugged, shooting a sly wink at Iris across the room as he leaned back comfortably into the couch cushion. “All I can tell you is that she never left Miles’ room.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yeah, I'm thinking he'll panic and tell Iris to stay put at the hotel while he goes to find out what happened.