Tolly oohed and ahhed appreciatively, dragging his hands through the water and watching the blue-green shimmering water pour through his fingers. "Let's go see another one!! What color will I glow if I chose…" he paused, scanning the pools until he found one beneath a large willow tree. "…that one!?"
Cas smiled and followed Tolly to the pool beneath the willow tree, "This is a good one, it shows you you're happiest memory as a child. It can change for younger onlookers but once you hit 18 it settles on the best experience." He said, stepping into the shallow pool of water and watching as an image of a younger version of himself curled up on the couch between a younger version of his parents, seemingly recently married. "i was 4 when my parents got married,"
Tolly grinned and splashed over, treading more lightly when he saw baby Cas curled up. It was an adorable memory, one he cooed at softly before it faded and his own face replaced it. He was nowhere near as young as Cas was in his, maybe 15 or 16, but he had his arms wrapped around a shorter boy with spiky black hair and the same golden eyes. He seemed to be laughing in the soundless reflection, head tilted back with the force of it and hand looped casually across the other boy's shoulders.
Cas smiled "your brother?" He asked softly, watching as the image faded from view.
Tolly drank in the image with a soft smile, nodding dazedly when Cas' question finally registered. "… yeah. That's… That's Ilya."
"He looks just like you," he said fondly, looking up at tolly and taking his hand gently in his" You miss him, don't you? when was the last time you saw him?"
Tolly laced his fingers with Cas'. "About… a month ago. Maybe two. I… um… I miss him a lot. He's… he's kind of the only family I grew up with. And… I don't get to visit him enough with school and my job and… everything."
Cas leaned his head on Tolly's shoulder "We could go visit him after dinner if it's not too far away from the campus. We'll just have to leave a little early." He said, glancing up at Tolly
Tolly smiled down at him, eyes soft and sad"It's… a bit far. I dunno if we can make the trip today, but…" he licked his lips nervously, perking up a little. "I was gonna see him a couple weeks from now during spring break. You… you could come with me then, if you wanted to."
"I'd love to, but are you sure you want me there? That's a time for you to spend with your brother, I wouldn't want to disturb." He said, glancing up at Tolly and blushing a bit at seeing how he looked at him
Tolly nodded immediately smiling at Cas like he'd hung the moon in the sky when he said he wanted to go. "Of course I want you there! I love my brother and I don't get to see him enough, but I want him to know what's happening in my life and I want him to know you."
Cas smiled and nodded, "I'd love to meet your brother." He glanced back over Tolly's shoulder as his parents called them back to the restaurant
Tolly kissed him with a smile, pulling away with a sigh as Cas' parents beckoned for them to come inside. "Bet our drinks are ready."
Cas wasn't expecting the kiss but was gladly surprise. He was left a little breathless as Tolly pulled away, ynly managing a nod as he followed him back to inside
Tolly took his hand, playfully dragging him inside with a bright smile. "What did I order again?" he asked, turning back to Cas after taking a quick look at the tray and realizing he had no idea what he'd gotten.
He tilted his head at the tray "they usually give you whatever special drink they have for the day if you don't order anything. He picked up the blue drink and took a sip. "Mm! Shirella friut with lavender fizz. It's really good, try it," he sat down and took his own drink
Tolly took his drink, eyeing it suspiciously before he took a tiny sip and went on to enthusiastically slurp it down. "This is great! Is everything here amazing!?"
Cas laughed and nodded "usually, yeah." Lia and Lucien sat across from them and started looking at the menu. "You're defiantly going to like the food here, maybe even more than mine." Lia said, smiling up at both of them
Tolly laughed, sliding a bit closer to Cas and tossing an arm across his shoulder. "Oh I doubt it, ma'am. You make the best roast I've ever tasted, I doubt even this place could top it."
She smiled softly "we'll see, you might change your mind after trying this place out," Cas nodded and reached for a breadroll that had been brought with the drinks "it's close which is better, mom's or this place's cooking."
Tolly laughed, scooting closer to Cas with a soft smile. "I dunno, I just like home-cooked food better 'cause I don't get a lot of it. Tastest nicer if it's cooked with love and all that jazz."
Cas leaned his head on tolly's shoulder, nibbling on the bread as they talked. "That is true, some restaurants don't have that aspect." He glanced up as the waitress came by to take their orders. His parents ordered a Gire stock soup to share while cas ordered a meat dish with a sweeter sauce called Charille. "Have anything in mind that you want?" Cas asked tolly, looking over to his open menu
Tolly had been staring blankly at the menu for a few minutes. He didn't know what any of these words meant, and the fact that the menu had no prices worried him. This place was expensive, wasn't it? "I… um… I'm not really sure, I'm not that hungry anyways."
Cas looked up at him in slight concern "you didn't eat anything today though," he said softly. He pointed out a few of his favorites in hopes of convincing Tolly to try something. He pointed out another meat dish with rice, a soup made of lamb and vegetables native to the land and then a warm cornmeal with shrimp and spices.
Tolly looked from the menu to Cas, starting at both uneasily before he finally settled on what seemed cheapest because he already knew Cas wouldn't let him get away with skipping dinner. "I'll just have a reuben, if…" His eyes flicked nervously to Cas. "If that's alright?"
Cas would have preferred he had something a bit more filling but he didn't argue. "yeah! that's one of their best sandwiches here." he handed the waitress the menus back once Tolly ordered
Tolly nodded, smiling softly at Cas when the waitress took away their menus. "Maybe I can try one of your favorites next time," he murmured, scootching a little closer to Cas so he could hold his hand.
He nodded and laced their fingers together "hopefully," he rested his head back on his shoulder and shut his eyes contently, drowning out the murmurs as he relaxed against Tolly
Tolly smiled, kissing the top of Cas' head gently and then starting some chitter-chatter with his parents about nothing in particular until the waiter came with their meals. "Dinner's here, babe," Tolly said, jostling Cas gently. "Time to get up."
Cas opened his eyes with a small sigh and straightened as the waitress set down his plate. He thanked her and started to eat, unlacing their fingers so he could use his other hand but keeping their shoulders together so there was some amount of contact