A girl has never rejected me before. A new smile spread across his face and he held out a hand. "Well, it's a good thing I'm persistent." She was pretty, no matter how she looked. Cas was all that picky as well, but compared to some of the girls around here, this girl was interesting. "The food is really good. You won't regret it." He wiggled his fingers, urging her to come with him. He may seem strange, but he was kind, most of the time.
Zoi bit her lip and dropped her gaze to his offered hand, her mind wheeling through all the possibilities of what the slight wiggle to his fingers meant. Body language was key in her life; she wouldn't abandon that instinctual observation for this man. She grabbed a chunk of her hair and combed her fingers through it repeatedly as she looked back up at his eyes—those pale and mysterious eyes of his, highlighting the growing smile. "Ar-Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother, and I can't exactly pay you back. . ." She trailed off and held out her free hand, palm up, as if to show him he was making a mistake.
"Alright," Cas took the girls hand gently and smiled. "Follow me." As they walked through town many people watched. It wasn't unusual for Cas to have a girl by his side, but almost everyone knew each other in this town, and this girl is someone no one knew. "So, where are you from?" Cas asked, making sure to walk at her pace. They were coming to the part of town where all the bakeries were at, and the smells were heavenly. No one could resist. *Who exactly is this girl?" He took a side glance and observed her carefully.
"Okay," Zoi said softly as Cas took her hand, still nervous and hesitant around him. But when they walked through the town, she couldn't help but admire everything around her. This place was by far a dreamscape, better than any place she could visit on Earth. The divine scents coming from the bakeries made her mouth water. Even the people gawking at her couldn't make her want to curl up into a little ball and disappear. This is where she loved to be. In a dream.
"So, where are you from?"
That brought her out of her daze, and she curled in on herself slightly as she looked up at Cas. "U-Um, nowhere you know of. It's not really important."
"If you say so." Around a corner was a small little place that didn't look like much, but it was one of the most famous places around here. When it first opened not many people went there, but when word got out of it's amazing food, everyone was obsessed. "Ah, here it is." The sign above the door read Gillahgins harvest. Weird name, but Cas actually liked it. When he opened the door he was greeted by many smiles and hello's. A waiter took them to Cas's usually place. The second floor. The view was best up here, and with how uncomfortable she looked he figured a place with less people would be best. "Here sit."
This place is magnificent. There would be no mistaking the awe on her face as Zoi looked around the restaurant. From the smiles and warm greetings this strange man received, either he was an important person or these people were very friendly. She'd like it to be the latter, but she had a feeling it was the former, if not a mix of both. Once on the second floor, Zoi drifted away and took a moment to herself to admire the view. For at least a fleeting moment she could picture herself all alone in this dreamscape, not even a pale and strange man there to provide company. Alone, she could bring herself to smile faintly. Alone, she allowed herself to relax.
She got so lost in her thoughts that she actually forgot about Cas and where she was.
Cas saw the sight smile and thought it suited her. The girl seemed to be in awe, so Cas decided not to bother her. No, instead he just watched her, she was interesting and different, she was someone he couldn't read. Plus, a new person was always exciting. As he watched her the more infatuated he became. Even with the scars or whatever, she was quite beautiful. Especially her eyes they were so curious and awestruck it was cute. A small laugh escaped Cas's lips. He didn't mean to, disturbing her was the last thing he wanted right now. Quickly he looked out the window, it would be weird if she knew he was looking at her. From here to could see the color roof tops, the white bridge the went over the blue sparkling water that ran through the town. Cas hadn't stopped to look at the town like this in a while. It was nice.
Zoi startled when she heard a laugh, and she spun around with wide eyes. Her body had locked up in that instinctual fright, and only relaxed a small bit when she saw it was just Cas, who was looking out the window. Perhaps it was her imagination acting up in this imaginary world, or maybe she had heard correctly, and it was just something he had seen or thought of. She didn't want to think he was laughing at her. That drove her down a bad path, and she wanted so badly to enjoy herself, however short this visit would be. She would have to return to reality soon enough.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Cas had been a traveler before this, never staying in one place. He never felt the need to do that, but here, there was something here that told him to stay. Before he could hear ber answer a waiter came up to the table with a smile. "Is there anything I can get you to drink?" Cas smiled back and just asked for water. The waiter then turned to Zoi, waiting for her answer. Cas didn't drink much else, water was the best choice for anything really.
"Ah, water will be alright for me," Zoi said, her voice lowering slightly as she averted her gaze from the waiter. A new person has appeared, and she was once again slinking back into her shell of solitude and silence. Cas was already slightly overwhelming with his strange friendliness and willingness to be so kind to her. Just a random person doing the exact same thing—job or no—was enough to make it hard for her mind to wrap around it all.
She's grown up with so much abuse and hatred, it was difficult to imagine anyone thinking they were obligated to be nice to her, or go out of their way to take her to a restaurant for some food. She didn't even know if she'd be able to eat in this dream world, but it was worth a shot, wasn't it?
Cas took a sip of his water and looked up to the girl. He wanted her to open up to him, he could tell she would pretty cool, and Cas was a good judge of character. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?" Maybe this will help, that or it will freak her out more. And also wanted to take her sightseeing. The excitement of a new person was really getting to him, and he couldn't stop it. (Sorry it's short. I'm just super stressed today.)
((It's okay!))
Zoi hummed curiously and lifted her eyes to his face after a moment of hesitation. Something cool sounded amazing right about now, if she were being honest, and she thought it might be a nice distraction from how utterly terrified she was at the moment. She had a fleeting moment of guilt when she thought about how Cas might feel about her silence and demeanor, and that guilt is what encouraged her to sit up a little straighter and finally meet his gaze. "Depends on your definition of 'cool,' but so far you seem to have decent taste." Just those words caused her heart to beat erratically, anxiously awaiting his response.
Cas's eyes widened in surprise, he was not expecting her to say something like that. It was witty and funny. A slight laugh escaped his lips as he sat back trying to look cool. "I'm sure you haven't seen this before." With a little lift of his fingers, water came floating out of his cup. Then if that wasn't cool enough, he formed it into the shape of three dolphins and had them swim around her. Most people already know of his powers, but since she was new, he figured she didn't. "Is this cool enough? If not.." He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand with a smile. "I have a lot more I could show you."
His laugh was enough to cool her nerves, but when he summoned the dolphins, she melted. Her blue eyes widened and trailed the path of the water creatures, delicate fingers reaching out as if wanting to touch them, them stopping just before. Her lips parted, and she twisted around in her seat to watch them swim around her. "They're beautiful," she breathed when they were gone, reaching out again as if she could feel the air for their lingering presence. She turned to look at him, all guards down as she met his eyes once again. "What else?"
Cas was looking out the window cover his face a bit. As soon as he saw her face light up, her blue eyes looking at the dolphins in awe. Her fingertips wanting to touch them and the spinning in her chair. All of it made his heart skip a beat, he didn't expect her to be this cute. His face was a slight red. How, why? Her sudden childish wonder was adorable. "What else?" He heard across from him. "Oh, um.." He quickly snapped out of his thought and turned to her. Now he saw her in a new perspective. "Well if you want to see more, we would have to go outside. Do you want to eat first?" That was the whole reason he brought her here, but if she wasn't hungry, he wasn't going to force her.
She chewed on her bottom lip, contemplating her answer. This was a dream world, so she didn't know if she could eat or not. There was also her lack of an appetite all around. But she didn't want to be rude, as he had brought her here. In the end, she saw it safer to politely decline food. She tried for a small smile, tucking her clasped hands between her thighs. "I don't mean to be rude, but I would like to see some more before I have to go." Right. Reality would call soon. Her time in class could only be dragged out for so long while in the dream—she'd have to wake up soon enough.
Go. Those were the key words that made him question more. Like, where was she from, and why did she have to leave. The last one was out of his own selfishness. "Alright, then let's go." He smiled and offered his hand to help him up. His mother taught him to treat a lady with respect and if he didn't, she would probably kill him. "I have plenty more to show you." There was still earth, fire and air to show her. He wanted to see a lot more different expressions from her.
Zoi returned his smile, though it was still small, and accepted his hand with a little less hesitance than before. "Sounds exciting," she said, keeping most of her guards down for this remainder of time. It was only fair to him, as she didn't know if she'd ever be able to come back here again. He deserved to part ways with a girl that wasn't afraid of her own shadow—a girl who saw it as a man coming to beat her. He deserved to part ways with someone that was able to smile and joke. That girl wasn't her, but she could to her best to pretend.
"I know of a good spot." Cas waved the restaurant owner goodbye. He felt bad for not getting food, but he wanted to spend as much time with Zoi as possible, before she had to leave. Cas still didn't know what that meant, but he didn't like it. Walking back to his favorite tree, he sat her down. Which to do first? He went over near the water and grabbed some mud. "This one might be a bit messy." Girls love animals. Cas plopped down beside here and set the pile on mud in front of him. With a few waves of his fingers, a little brown muddy bunny came to life. Now he couldn't actually bring these to life, only while putting some of his magic in it will it seem alive for a while. It's little nose started to quiver and it bounced around.
As soon as Cas had her sit down, she had curled her legs up and pulled her knees tight to her chest, now nothing more than just a ball as she watched him work with curious eyes. Curling up was a form of comfort for her, though she didn't have any reason to need to feel comfortable around Cas—though, if she thought about it, maybe it was an unconscious reaction to how comfortable she found herself around this strange boy. Either way, the look in her eyes made it clear there was no more shying away from him, even if most of her face was buried in her arms. She watched him work, and her hidden grin was wide as she saw a bunny form from the mud before her very eyes. She cooed and reached down with one hand, a finger outstretched towards the bunny as if inviting it to sniff her.
"You can touch it. It just might make your hand a bit dirty." Cas wished he could make her a permanent flower bunny or something, sadly he couldn't though. As soon as he relaxed or walked away it would turned back to what it was. He watch her with a smile. She still seemed to be a little on guard, but not as much as when they first met. "So, when do you have to leave? And will you be coming back?" He definitely wanted her to come back. Soon the king will be calling him, so fire and air might have to wait. There was always something he needed to do. Stop a flood, take care of some lava, who knew, it was new everyday. Cas liked his job, but he wish he could do more.
She petted the bunny with a finger, a tiny but warm smile on her face. She didn't answer Cas right away, mostly because she was scared of making promises she couldn't keep. From the hazy feeling in the back of her mind, she knew the class was finishing and she'd have to wake up again. As for coming back. "I don't know, but I would love to come back," she said softly, not looking at Cas, keeping her focus solely on the bunny to avoid the crushing thought of leaving. "I'd love nothing more than to stay here forever." She sighed dejectedly and finally forced her eyes to meet his. "But I have to go, and soon. I'm sorry." She bit her lip, then did something she'd never have even fathomed herself doing before.
She leaned to the side, one hand braced against the ground between the two, and reached up to ever-so-gently cup Cas's cheek as she softly kissed the other cheek. "I'm incredibly thankful for what you've done for me. I won't ever forget it, or you," she whispered, hand slipping down from his face as she leaned back to look up at him.
When Zoi told him that she didn't know if she would be back, his heart sunk a little. He looked this girl, and he wanted to be closer to her. He could see an amazing friendship blooming. When he was about to say something, he felt the warmth of her hand on his cheek. His eyes widened as he looked down at her. Cas had a reputation of being flirty, ut everyone knew he was joking around and just trying to be funny, so never expected any girl to just touch his casual like this. She was so gentle about it to, then came the kiss. Something inside of him fluttered, but he wasn't sure what it was. Was it because a girl hasn't ever actually kissed him before, or was he genuinely interested in Zoi. He had only just met her, so it couldn't be that. But when she looked at him, she made him feel like a normal person, just Cas, not the kings magician or anything else. She's beautiful. Cas would've said that out loud but he figured it might be too much for her at the moment. "Of course. And when you come back, I'll show you what else I have." With a smile he brushed a piece of her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. It always seemed to be in her face, and he wanted to see her more clearly.
A light rose dusted her cheeks as the realization of what she just did sunk into her mind, then bloomed even more as Cas reached out to tuck a strand of her hair back behind her ear. She didn't know how she felt about Cas at the moment, but she did know that he was the only person she genuinely wanted to be around and talk with. He didn't scare her, or get mad at her for just existing. He didn't try to shoo her away or raise a hand whenever she did something a little out there, such as kissing his cheek uninvited. And his wording as he spoke again, when, made it sound like he wanted to see her again. She hoped that she'd be able to come back, if not for herself but for Cas. "Sounds like a plan," she said softly, eyes darting down for a brief second before flicking back up to scan his face— memorizing it.
(~boop~)