The joke was something that Castiel was able to identify, if only because Lingormr used a tone that made it impossible to see it as anything else. It wasn't much of an excuse for why he'd managed to stay uninjured despite all the dangers this place had to offer, but Castiel wasn't going to read too much into it. Sometimes people simply got lucky.

He was surprised that Lingormr didn't know about the surgery, seeing how Castiel hadn't exactly kept it a secret, even over the bulletin. His hope was that others would benefit from the information.

"I was one of the sick. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I asked someone to take on the burden of cutting me open, and it was successful." Castiel didn't see much point in bringing up Kratos' name unless he had to, so he left it at that.

Soma had recovered faster than him? That was strange. Perhaps Lingormr had been set up with better tools, or it could just be luck, as he'd said. Castiel found it hard to believe that a normal human would heal faster than him, but nothing was as it should be here.

As for the question, there wasn't much he could offer on that point. He recalled that Lingormr had asked him about it before, but he'd never seen any sign of the butterfly-shaped device in his room. "Kratos must have it," he said after a pause. "You'd have to ask him."

Had things become more dangerous? With patients-turned-monsters stalking the halls at night, it did seem like deaths had increased, and Castiel was well aware of that. But he hadn't been directly affected by it, other than having to subject himself to surgery.

"The first night after the surgery, I slept. I went out last night, and while the doors didn't lead where they should, I managed to keep out of danger." Castiel was shocked that nothing had run into him and Lust in the forest, but he knew that if that had been the case, he could have easily ended up bedridden today.

It was true that surgery was likely a thing of the past now that the St. John's Wort had been found. Castiel glanced around, still in search of it, though his conversation with Lingormr had thrown him off slightly. "How have you been spending your nights?" he asked.

Castiel could understand Lingormr's frustration, particularly when it came to not being able to sense what was influencing the doors. Castiel himself hadn't been given much of a chance to inspect them for himself, as he and Lust had been flung into the forest first thing, but he certainly hadn't sensed anything off about the door before walking through it. While identifying Soushi for what he truly was had been a welcome change earlier today, the fact was that Castiel's senses were also very unreliable at the moment.

Castiel was curious about the child-but-not that Lingormr mentioned, but wasn't given much of a chance to ask when the subject changed to Lust. He had already seen her note for him on the bulletin, and while he didn't know what it entailed, Lingormr seemed to know something of what was going on. A state of upset, was it... Had something happened to her friend after all?

Instead of asking Lingormr about it, Castiel decided to ask Lust when he saw her later. Better to hear it from the source. "I think that everyone here is plagued by feeling like they can't make much progress," he said after pause, because it was true. If there was anything that someone could have done to undermine all of his self-worth, it was kidnapping him and placing him in a place he couldn't escape, stripping him of his powers, introducing him to a pair of Winchesters who hadn't yet met him, and then offering up a sibling only to take him away.

Not to mention he'd been made ill on top of it all. Castiel was surprised he had much fight left in him these days, but giving up certainly wasn't an option.

He realized that he could invite Lingormr to meet with Lust as well, but it wasn't his place. For all he knew, Lust didn't want him to be there, so it was best to keep his mouth shut for now.

The basement? Castiel had naturally heard plenty about that place, but as he'd seen the endgame of that for himself (without having to go through the trials of it, no less), he couldn't say he saw much purpose to it. Then again, from what he'd heard, it was impossible to talk about that Coliseum, and in the end this was Lingormr's prerogative. He nodded, making a note to ask about how things went if he happened to speak to Lingormr again in the next few days.

The change in subject was sudden, but at the mention of a familiar name Castiel straightened slightly, even with the crutches under each arm. So Lingormr had run into Soushi as well? That was an odd coincidence, but this was something he was actually capable of reporting on.

"I've already spoken to him," he said with a small shrug. "You're right that he's not human. He's got demon blood in him, but he's not fully demonic, and he seems to be as much a victim of them as anyone. It sounds as if he serves a human girl and is mainly concerned with her safety, rather than with causing others any harm." That was what Castiel had gathered from their conversation, at least. While it was possible that Soushi had been lying, Castiel had to admit that he'd come across as genuine. He knew that he couldn't necessarily trust his own judgment when it came to that, but Lingormr would have to decide how he felt about it.

What a strange question. Castiel didn't usually give much consideration to age, because compared to him almost all of the patients here were much, much younger. Lingormr was still up for consideration on that point, because Castiel was almost certain there was something else to him. If demon blood could affect aging, then plenty of other things could as well. Or Lingormr might not be in his true body at all.

"I didn't pay much attention, but somewhere in his late teens or early twenties, if I had to guess." Castiel wasn't very good at determining human age, seeing how he wasn't one and had never had to think about it much before. Still, he could at least distinguish between child, teenager, young adult, middle age, and elderly, though he didn't understand why Lingormr was so interested in it. "Why do you ask?"

A child? Soushi had definitely looked older than that when he'd seen him, and while Lingormr made a good guess when it came to shapeshifting, Castiel wondered if it was truly that. Had Soushi possessed two different people? But Castiel doubted that Soushi was a powerful enough demon to pull off something like that. And more than that, Soushi's body had felt like it was his own, so perhaps it was some ability of shifting his form, even if he was no traditional shapeshifter.

Soushi certainly hadn't mentioned it, which stood out as well. Castiel stared off for a few moments as he thought it over, and then looked back to Lingormr. "I'll need to ask him about it myself," he said, somewhat grimly.

The intercom came on then, signaling the end of their time in the greenhouse, and Castiel frowned up at the device as he realized that he'd lost his chance to track down that plant. He shouldn't have gotten so caught up in this conversation...

Comparing stories was a good idea. If Castiel had misjudged Soushi and he wasn't to be trusted after all, then that might come forward if he gave him and Lingormr different stories. Castiel nodded, and was about to take the appropriate actions to end the conversation, but then...

Lingormr left him on an odd note, requesting a follow-up conversation. Something odd had happened to him? That was extremely vague, but as curious as Castiel was, there really wasn't time to talk about it now.

"I'll find you tomorrow," he agreed after a pause, watching as a pair of nurses moved toward him. "If something's not right with you, then you should take caution tonight." Then again, it sounded like Lingormr had already been doing that.

With those words said, Castiel readjusted his crutches and limped off to join the nurse.