Harder to Breathe (Indigo/Mari/Castiel)

[Indigo Noble]

"I don't know," Indigo said. "I thought I had it figured out, but I don't." And there was something wrong with him for it. Just the fact that he couldn't get his thoughts straight was enough to throw him back into nerves. He should be able to just be calm, and chill, and just go with things, and it was all normal and everything, right? And he didn't know why he couldn't.

[Marius Reed]

"I can help you," Mari said. Well, he could try, anyway. "We could sit down and talk. Maybe if you figure out what you don't want it'll help?" He didn't want to let Indigo go off and have a nervous breakdown or something when he could try to help. Or he could just kiss him, kissing had helped last night. Okay, so maybe it hadn't helped but it had done something.

[Indigo Noble]

But to figure out what he didn't want, he'd really have to think about things, not just go with a feeling that maybe something was okay. "I can't talk," he said at last. "It's not working." He couldn't make his thoughts turn into words, couldn't make his mouth work with his brain, and he needed to just leave, before he made an even bigger fool out of himself. He hiked his bag onto his shoulder, hoping Mari would just accept it and let him go.

[Marius Reed]

"Then...don't talk?" There were other ways for Indigo to figure it out, weren't there? "You could show me. Or I could show you." Mari always felt more relaxed after kissing and, as far as he knew, that was how it worked for other people, too. "You can figure out what you want that way." He'd guess that Indigo had enjoyed last night, or he wouldn't have said yes today.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo didn't want to make the decision. He wanted to go be alone, where he knew what to expect and everything went exactly how it was supposed to. He couldn't handle this lack of control, couldn't handle not knowing his own mind, being unable to tell where he'd be in a day, a week, a month, or even just five minutes. He wanted the safety of predictability back. He shook his head and turned for the door with purpose. He wasn't doing this to himself, it was ridiculous, all of it.

[Marius Reed]

"If you change your mind or wanna talk or something, just say so," Mari said. "And I'll give you your stuff when I'm in the common room again." He wouldn't follow Indigo right now when he had no reason to go to the common room. Maybe he could catch up with Castiel still and they could explore the castle a little more. Sure, he was disappointed, but he wasn't going to let it get him down.

Once he'd given Indigo a bit of a headstart, he left, heading off in the same direction as Castiel and hoping his friend hadn't gotten too far. Within a few minutes he found him wandering down a corridor and being watched by a creepy looking man in a portrait. "Well, that didn't go like I wanted it to," he said, linking arms again.

[Castiel Catalyst]

Castiel blinked at the interruption to his thoughts. He hadn't felt Mari sneaking up on him. Still, he curled his arm around his friend's and tried to decipher the look on his face. "Obviously, since you're here with me," he commented. "What happened?" Or didn't happen, which seemed more likely the case.

[Marius Reed]

Mari shrugged as he fell into step beside Castiel. "He was acting super nervous and he said yes, he wanted to try, but he didn't know what he wanted to try, and then he kind of freaked out and left. I think he was super confused." He supposed he would just have to survive on the one Indigo Noble kiss he'd been lucky enough to get.

[Castiel Catalyst]

"That's sad," Castiel said. "But you just let him go, or he took off? Because it sounded like he liked it an awful lot last night." Unless Mari had exaggerated. Castiel looked aside at his friend, wondering. He might not have, but this was Indigo Noble, and he'd have exaggerated a little, too.

[Marius Reed]

"Well, he was kind of confused last night, too, when he talked. And when it was over he said he needed to think. He freaked a lot today, though. I told him I'd help him if I could and stuff and he said he couldn't talk about it and didn't know and he left. I let him go, I didn't want to, like, make him stay or something." Mari didn't look at Castiel now, wanting to hide whatever disappointment he felt. "I told him that if he figured it out to come find me, though, so who knows, maybe something'll happen."

[Castiel Catalyst]

"Not if he's going to act the way he did with that girl Brindle," Castiel pointed out. "Remember? He got all red? And I don't think he said a word the whole time she was there." Castiel had never known Mari to sit around waiting for anything, and it sounded like that was exactly what he intended to do.

[Marius Reed]

"So what am I supposed to do then? Just sit on his lap and kiss him whether he wants it or not?" Mari asked. That didn't seem like a good option. He didn't know what to do with someone who didn't seem to want what he was offering. "That sounds like a good way to piss him off so that he'll never talk to me again."

[Castiel Catalyst]

"And if he's got a crush on you," Castiel suggested, looking at Marius pointedly, "and if he's as shy as he got on the train, then he'll never talk to you anyway." He was quiet a moment, then gave Mari's arm a light pat. "Maybe you should make out with a girl in front of him. Like the opposite of what we did with Cheyenne, since he's a guy."

[Marius Reed]

Mari shifted uncomfortably, both at the thought of kissing a girl in front of Indigo and at the thought of Indigo having an actual crush on him. "I'll see him later, I have to give him his stuff back, I'll see what happens," he said vaguely. "Besides, I doubt that'd work, he doesn't really get the whole touchy thing, he asked me about it."

[Castiel Catalyst]

"Oh, is he one of those people who needs three feet of space all around to feel comfortable?" Castiel asked. He felt so sorry for those people. They had to be so lonely! "Come on, Kawaii-Kun, I was just kidding. This is really bothering you, isn't it?"