Douglas watched her for awhile - a half smile on his face - as she made herself comfortable, still a little surprised and shocked to have her in his room at all. He’d been anxious leading up to it, expecting a hard no from Charles, and even now, he half expected an interuption since she likely would have popped up on the estate’s security cameras. But he listened closely for approaching footsteps in the hallway, and heard nothing. It was strange, but he tried to let himself relax. Maybe he was being allowed this - or maybe Charles just hadn’t noticed yet. Either way, he wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste.
“I haven’t,” Doug replied, walking over and sliding onto the bed with one leg hanging off the side while the other was pull so he could sit. “But I’ve become really aware that there’s a lot I haven’t heard of.” He didn’t mention that he’d never eaten out of containers like this, either, or used plastic forks. It was becoming a lot clearer to him that they lived vastly different lives - but that made her all the more interesting to him.
Taking the fork from her, he offered her a nervous smile when she said what heh ad done was sweet before he looked back down at the food as she opened up the packages. “This smells awesome,” he said, his stomach audibly rumbling despite having eaten dinner not that long ago. “This is from your family’s restaurant? In Tsavo? Do you work there, too?” He asked, question marks throwing up now as he delved into his curiosities about her. “I know you live with your family, what are they like?” Doug had always had his pack, but it hadn’t been long in his childhood before he started to be separated from them more. He was the only one who slept on the same floor as Charles when they were home, and he felt that division in the way they treated him at times. They were polite - knowing not to mess with the favorite for obvious reasons - but Doug struggled to connect with them like he did Charles. Everything seemed to always just become a competition for who was better, and Doug never liked that.
“I think you’re right,” Douglas agreed, glancing back at the door again while rolling his lips between his teeth for half a second before he let himself relax. “He doesn’t trust most people, so he must like you. Or trust me. Probably a little bit of both. His name’s Charles, by the way. He’s a scientist. He rescued me when I was four after my parents were killed. I try to do whatever I can to help him and his research. He invests a lot in me, so when I have to focus on work…I just don’t have as much freetime - so I’m really happy that I still get to see you, even if it’s only for a little while.”
Vitani’s confidence came easy. You had to be confident to survive in Tsavo, but Douglas didn’t know anything about that. They came from vastly different worlds, but Vitani wanted to learn about his just as much as he wanted to learn about hers. Although his was more earnest, they were both equally curious about each other.
“Bummer. Well, I’m going to teach you a thing or two.” Vitani replied with a bright smile as she cracked into one of the containers, taking a forkful of ugali and stew, bringing it to her mouth. “Thank you, we make it all in house.” She continued with a bright grin after swallowing. “I brought a few of my favorites, they’re also best seller, so you can say I have good taste…” She teased with a wink before leaning over, sampling what was in Doug’s box.
His questions were sweet, too, she thought. She thought it was nice that he cared this much about getting to know her. He really was much different than anyone she had ever met, definitely different than any of the boys she’d ever encountered, and that endeared him to her. Even if some of her questions stoked the wildfire that was still burning inside of her. “Yeah, my Aunt and Uncle.” Technically, they were her cousins, but they were so much older than her that she’d always called them Aunt and Uncle… and they had taken up raising her after everything had gone down. “My parents are both dead.” She said, pursing her lips as if to add some finality to that part of the conversation – she didn’t like talking about it, at least not with people of privilege. Though… she wondered about his status, seeing as he had a guardian. Doug never called the man his father. Curious.
“They’re nice people… good people.” She said, nodding her head. “But the place is a little crowded. And my Uncle might be a little too righteous, I love them and I wouldn’t trade them.” Vitani shrugged then and took another bite of food, “I just wish I could afford to move out. I like working at the restaurant, but everything in the city’s so expensive. Even in Tsavo.” She paused then, looking at him. “What about you? This big ole house… you got any siblings or anything? Does your guardian have other children?”
Vitani kept her gaze on him, ready to learn about him even as she opened up about herself – a rarity. She must really like him, even if she just met him. All those nights texting had made her like him more… he was so rare himself, it was hard not to get wrapped up in him. “I think he probably trusts you, either that or he’s curious. Or a little bit of both.” She repeated, winking at him with a sly little grin. She doubted very much that his rich, suspicious guardian could like her without having spoken a word to each other. He probably erred on the side of disliking people, she thought, judging him before even meeting him. “I’m sorry about your parents.” She said with a frown, feeling a strange sense of kinship to him because they both had lost their parents. She hadn’t met anyone else who’d lost both before. “What do you do to help him with his research?” She asked, cocking her head to the side, smiling at him when he said he was glad he got to see her. “I’m glad to be here, too, Doug. Thanks for having me.”
