Unexpected (Catalysts/Evelyn/Lani)

That's what friends do. Well, not in her experience, but Lani wouldn't argue. She couldn't say which style of friendship she preferred, but having a friend that encouraged her to give in to her desires and fantasies instantly held a slightly higher place. When she pulled back from the hug, her eyes searched his face, as though looking for an answer. "Why do you care about me?"

If there was a touch of panic in Castiel's eyes, it was because he'd heard this question before and knew how dangerous it was. Luckily, he also knew that it was best not to answer without a great deal of thought, and never to say because you're pretty, no matter how much girls liked hearing that they were pretty every other moment of their lives.

"You're interesting," he started. "I... don't feel like I have to dumb things down for you, but you don't say anything about... like... like that, like when I say like too much, I don't know. When you said your dream was to travel, I liked that, too." Was he doing all right so far? He could think of more.

Lani continued searching his face for a moment or two before she nodded and smiled. That was more than enough, at least for now. "That's much better than many people who attempt to get to know me," she said. "If I didn't know them from childhood they just want to make connections." She didn't have quite the romanticized idea of the social aspect of Society that she'd had a couple of years before.

"I don't have any reason to make connections, except if I want to," Castiel tried. His parents wouldn't get anything out of him being friends with Lani, and what he got out of kisses was kisses. "People can be stupid," Castiel said, "and self-centered." His gaze found the window as he tried not to let what he was saying apply to himself. "Anyone who doesn't have time for you doesn't deserve it." No, he was not thinking about Mari. Mari was his twin soul...

Lani lowered her eyes and nodded again. Her brother was self-centered, but if that wasn't true, then she wouldn't have ended up where she was now. "If nothing else comes from this, I've learned some important things," she said. "Will you get into any trouble for leaving Hogwarts to visit me?"

Castiel looked back at Lani and shook his head. "No, they leave the gates open until midnight. Even if I didn't get back by then, I could sleep here and get back in the morning. I've never done that before, but I've heard of other people who did. Gryffindors and Slytherins, mostly."

He looked over his shoulder toward the stairs and debated. He wanted to stay here with Lani, but he should probably go back to school. If nothing else, Hyacinth might worry for him. "I guess we should go see how they're doing," he said. "I'll show you up there."