Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Caspian frowned when Iris told him that she just wasn’t hungry. “For two whole weeks?” he asked rhetorically. Even if it was true, it wasn’t a good enough excuse for him. When they’d parted, he’d asked her to take care of herself and when they’d talked on the phone, she’d sworn to him that she had been. He was torn between the hurt of discovering that she’d been lying to him the entire time and the guilt that wrenched his heart, knowing he was the one who had caused this in the first place. Everything about the situation made him wish he could have done something to fix it all sooner.

He could hear the emotion in Iris’s voice too, and he dropped his gaze to his lap. She didn’t even sound enthusiastic about his promise to talk to the warden about removing her bounty. He couldn’t help but wonder if she just didn’t think he could change anything or if her lack of comment on it meant she didn’t want to come with him at all. Just thinking about the latter possibility twisted his stomach into anxious knots. He didn’t want this to be what broke their relationship. It wasn’t fair. They’d gotten through so much else before this point that he wanted to believe they were solid enough to survive one more set back.

However, he also couldn’t pretend like the two weeks apart had been anything less than brutal—and he’d arguably gotten the better end of the deal. He couldn’t blame Iris for questioning things when he probably would have done the same thing if he’d felt neglected and forgotten, trapped in a room with no one else around for company. In a way, he felt like he’d caged her against her will, and he hadn’t been considerate of the fact that she needed other people besides just him. If he’d been more thoughtful, he could have arranged for Jay and Miles to stop by occasionally to spend time with her. Maybe she wouldn’t have felt so alone then.

Unfortunately, hindsight couldn’t fix the past, so the best he could do now was be with her until he had to go back to the palace. He looked up again to meet her eyes and shook his head. “I wish you would’ve told me the truth earlier,” he sighed, deciding that if he wanted honesty from her, then it was only fair that he be honest too. It stung to be deceived by someone he cared so much about. “And I know it might be too late to ask this, but… will you please give me a second chance to make this right? I don’t want to leave things like this between us. Even if you don’t fully believe me, at least let me try to fix the mess we’re in. I’ll do my best to get rid of your criminal status, so you can be with me in the palace. That has to be better than staying here… right?”

As he raised the question, he found it difficult to hold her gaze, afraid of her answer. For all he knew, she could have decided that she preferred to keep the distance between them. She’d never said she wasn’t upset with him, after all. The most he could do was plead and try to convince her to work things out. If she turned him down, he had no idea what he could even do from here. Returning to the palace with a dying relationship would tear him apart, and he wasn’t sure if he could handle that on top of everything else he was dealing with. Iris was one of the few consistent things he had left in his life, and the thought of losing her terrified him.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

That plan sounds good to me! Just wanted to double check

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

The confusion in Iris’s voice brought a frown to Cas’s features. Suddenly, he wasn’t sure what was going on between them. When she hadn’t called him the night before, he’d felt certain that she was giving him the cold shoulder, but now, it sounded like she wasn’t mad at him at all. In the time he’d known her, she’d never come across as a smooth liar, so he doubted she was just putting on a front to keep him from knowing that she was upset. But if it wasn’t that, then he had no idea why she would have avoided him yesterday. Nothing was adding up anymore.

When she told him to come in, he wasted no time heading through the open doorway, eager to settle the rising bewilderment inside of him. “Thanks…” he murmured to her on his way inside, only to falter when he laid eyes on the state of the suite. The sofa was disheveled like an unmade bed, and at least a dozen untouched dishes littered the kitchen. He stopped and stared, even more thoroughly confused by the sight. Over the phone, Iris had told him that she was doing well (or well enough) and that she’d been eating, but she had clearly been neglecting to take care of herself for two whole weeks. Maybe she was a better liar than he’d thought.

For a moment, he labored to catch up while she went on to apologize to him for not calling the night before. Tearing his gaze away from the mess, he forced himself to watch her as she made a weak attempt to clean up the sofa. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting when he’d made an unannounced trip to see her, but it certainly hadn’t been this. His heart twisted inside his chest, and he stayed quiet as he walked slowly across the room to join her near the couch—her makeshift sleeping space.

At first, he didn’t know what to say. So much of what he’d expected hadn’t been true that he was at a loss with how to approach the real situation. Iris was doing far worse than he’d thought, and he couldn’t help but blame himself for veritably locking her up inside of her glorified prison. Pained by the knowledge, he dropped his gaze to the floor with a wince. Something had to change. He knew that much, but he didn’t know where to start.

“You’re not the one who should be apologizing,” he said softly after a long silence. Taking a seat beside her on the sofa, he swept her into a tight embrace and buried his face against her neck. Another pause followed while he held her, until he finally said in a strained voice, “Iris, I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen… I was so busy, I didn’t even think about what it’s been like for you to be stuck in this room all by yourself. Please forgive me.” The request was punctuated with a short choke as he started to lose control of his composure. He’d always been emotional, and seeing the woman he loved in suffering was too much for him to handle. The sense of guilt was crushing.

Trying his best not to turn into a blubbering mess, Cas took a shuddering breath and pulled back just enough to meet her gaze. “I promise I’m going to do something to fix this,” he vowed, rubbing one eye with the heel of his palm. “I have a meeting with the warden this afternoon to discuss war criminals. I’ll see if there’s anything he can do to revoke my dad’s warrant for your arrest… If he can help, we can move you from this place into the palace. I’ll still be busy, but at least we can be together a couple times a day… I don’t want to see you starve yourself like this.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I'm looking forward to his talk with Iris later. Also, do you want her to leave the capital or stay? I don't remember the plan ^^;

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Any flicker of hope inside of Cas that Iris wasn’t upset with him died when she opened the door. The shock on her face wasn’t what he’d wanted to see, and his heart sank a little as he felt like her expression just confirmed that she hadn’t wanted to see him at all. Still, it was a good thing he’d shown up at the hotel. If they were in a fight, he would have rather hashed it out with her in person than continue to stew in long distance silence. He wanted to go back to what they had before—or at least, what was left of it.

“Hey, Iris,” he managed a half-smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, shifting his weight uncomfortably in the hall. Even though he’d had a long car ride to think through all the things he wanted to say to her, the planned out words evaporated from his mind now that they were actually face-to-face. Half of him wanted to push the door open and sweep her into his arms, apologize for being an idiot and tell her that he loved her more than anything while the other half of him was glued to the floor, afraid to cross the barrier she had erected between them. At that moment, the latter felt safer, so he didn’t move to force his way into the suite.

Instead, he cleared his throat and slipped his hands into his pockets to stop himself from fidgeting. “I managed to move some things around so I could come here and see you,” he explained. “I know you’re upset with me, and I didn’t want to leave things bitter between us, so… can we please talk about it?” He held his breath, hoping she wouldn’t turn him away. He’d pulled quite a few strings just to make a short visit to the hotel that morning, and he doubted he could get away with it again anytime soon. The royal guard wouldn’t let him go out at night, and his days were always fully booked with work and meetings. This was the one shot he had to make things right.

“I’ve only got an hour. Maybe less… Can I come in?” he asked her tentatively and glanced over his shoulder. “I’d rather not do this in the hall where someone could see us.” The executive suite was somewhat removed from the other rooms on the top floor of the Sunset Veil, but that didn’t mean there was no one else around to eavesdrop on them. Other wealthy guests could have still been in their rooms that morning, so if someone raised their voice, they could be overheard. Hotel staff could have been cleaning nearby too. The last thing he needed was to get recognized and find himself in the middle of another scandal right after he’d been crowned king. He couldn’t do that to all the people who were looking to him to set a good reputation for Aspiria.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Uh oh, Jacob's onto them cx

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

The next morning, Cas shoveled down a quick breakfast and wasted no time heading to the garage, determined to get to Iris as quickly as he could to resolve the conflict between them. A few guards tried to offer their protection along the way, insisting that it was safer for him to travel with at least one other person who would be keeping an eye out for danger, but he turned them down. Jacob had already given him permission to leave alone, and he told the security team that he trusted the capital’s military to keep the city secure, so there was no need for any bodyguards. The men were clearly reluctant to let him go, but they couldn’t argue with their king, so they didn’t push him to change his mind.

He managed to make it to his car with little resistance and took off before the head of security could change his mind, heading down the long, private road away from the palace. Right from the start, the wheels of his mind were already turning as he raced to think of a way to make up for the fact that he hadn’t been taking their conversations seriously. He hoped she would understand the hoops he was already jumping through in order to meet with her in person, but he didn’t expect that that would be enough of an apology on its own.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t make any stops to buy anything without getting recognized, so he would just have to be the best doting boyfriend he could be while he was visiting her. With that plan in mind, he pulled into the Sunset Veil’s underground parking lot and headed up the elevator to the top floor, his heart fluttering anxiously as he got closer to Iris’s suite. It was a necessary fight, but that didn’t make it any easier to have, and he didn’t look forward to it as he stepped up to her door and knocked.

--

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Jacob sit at his office desk with his chin in his hand and the tracking for the young king’s car pulled up on the screen of his computer. Ever since their conversation the night before, he’d felt like something was wrong, and now he knew his intuition had been right. Watching the blinking dot stop at a hotel on the edge of the city, he narrowed his eyes. Caspian wasn’t just going for a drive after all.

“What are you doing, Your Highness?” he murmured under his breath, digging for a pen in his drawer to take down the address. The monarch had lied for some reason, and he was determined to find out what it was.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

That's what I was thinking too. It could be a fun thing to explore.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

First five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen. Caspian frowned at the black screen of his phone. Iris had never been late to call him before. Every time the device blinked on, his heart jumped, and he hoped it was finally the call he’d been waiting for, only to be disappointed when he saw another text back from Jay or Miles. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he could feel his nerves setting in the longer he went without hearing the coveted chirp of an incoming call. She had to have been mad at him. There was nothing else he could think of to explain it. She was stuck at the resort with nowhere else to go while the military was looking for her, so it wasn’t like she was busy. Of course, he supposed she could have fallen asleep on him this time, but it seemed unlikely too.

Letting his breath out in a tense sigh, he drummed his fingers against his leg. He wanted to apologize to her for taking their conversations for granted recently, but if she was giving him the cold shoulder, there was nothing he could do to reach her… Aside from see her in person to have the conversation, that was. He wondered if it was even possible. Now that he was king, it felt like the royal guards were monitoring him even closer than they had been when he was just the heir to the throne. His father had never left the building without multiple escorts either, so he wasn’t sure if he could get away with a trip to the Sunset Veil alone.

At this point, it seemed to be worth a shot though. He didn’t want to leave things sour between himself and Iris, so, getting up from the bed, he changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, threw on a pair of shoes and headed out his bedroom door.

At first, it seemed like he would be able to get away with the impromptu trip. The guards he passed in the hallway only bowed their heads politely as he passed by. No one bothered to ask what he was doing—until he neared the door to the garage.

“Your Majesty, where are you going?”

Cas cringed at the sound of Jacob’s voice behind him. His hand hovered over the door knob, and he turned to see the head of security standing with his arms folded over his chest like a skeptical parent. “I wanted to go for a drive,” he bluffed, shifting his weight uncomfortably. He’d never been a very good liar, especially when someone else was putting him on the spot. Still, he did his best as he offered up a fake explanation: “I need some time to myself after… you know, all the meetings and stuff I’ve had to go to over the last two weeks… Driving helps me clear my head.”

Jacob studied him silently. It was common knowledge that Aspiria’s newest monarch did enjoy driving to destress, but he was observant enough to tell that something was off with the younger man’s behavior. “Why now?” he asked. “It’s late, sire, and we’re still inspecting the city’s borders for weaknesses beyond the forest. Right now, the royal line is vulnerable, so I feel it would be better for you to stay here for the night.”

Cas chewed the inside of his lip. He could tell by Jacob’s tone that the guard wasn’t going to budge about letting him take off alone while it was dark out. Still, he didn’t want to give up when he may have lost his only form of communication with Iris. He couldn’t handle the thought of making her more miserable in the capital than she already was. “What about tomorrow?” he posed, letting his hand drop from the knob. “I really need a break from everything. Can I cancel a morning appointment to go for a drive during the day?”

Jacob pursed his lips. “Are you sure that’s the best idea? You have a meeting scheduled with the warden to sentence some of our war criminals. It will be an important opportunity for you to establish yourself as a strong leader.”

“Push it back to the afternoon. I’ll skip lunch,” Cas suggested.

Jacob hesitated. He wanted to press the young king further about the matter, sensing that something wasn’t right, but he didn’t have the authority to disobey a direct order. So instead, he merely bowed his head, “I’ll speak with your PR agent about it.”

“Thanks, Jacob,” Cas felt his shoulders relax.

Jacob nodded and turned to leave, then paused to add one more thing: “And Your Majesty… I hope you know that if there’s anything weighing on your mind, you can talk to me about it. As a friend.”

Cas blinked, caught off guard by the offer. For half a second, he was almost tempted to spill the fact that he was still seeing Iris and tell the guard that he was having a hard time fixing all the problems that were preventing them from being together. He wanted someone to talk to. However, a voice in the back of his head warned him that it might not be a good idea, so he just nodded back, “Thanks… I’ll keep that in mind.”

With that, the two parted ways, and the fledgling king headed back to his bedroom. He was still worried about Iris, but at least he had a plan in place to see her the next morning. It was better than nothing, so he changed back into his nightclothes and settled down in bed, hoping to get some sleep before he would make the drive to the resort the following day.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Looking forward to seeing how Ethan threatens her, haha. Also, if she doesn't call Cas, I think he'll make a surprise visit to the Sunset Veil the next day to make sure she's okay (and find out if she's mad at him for sleeping through the last call)