Chapter Four

Azarel knocked on her door softly. Three times. But she did not respond. He knocked on it another time and heard a loud groan coming from behind the door.

"What the fuck do you want?" Azarel heard Dawn saying.

"Can I come in?"

"I'm naked now but sure, you're more than welcome."

"Oh," he said, removing his hand from the doorknob. "I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready. You haven't eaten since morning so I'm guessing you must be famished."

Silence.

"I'm not," Dawn said, but he could hear the lie in her voice.

"Come out for dinner when you're ready," Azarel said, stepping away. Within seconds, the door opened to a neatly dressed Dawn, a historical romance novel in her hand. She glanced at him before looking at the dinner table. Sniffing a little, he saw hunger blooming in her eyes before she brisk walked to the dining room. He swiftly followed after her.

"What's for dinner?" Dawn asked him as she stared blankly at the plates of ingredients littered all over the table. She placed the book on an empty spot of the table.

There was a plate of lettuce mixed with carrots, another plate of bacon bits, a plate with some servings of tuna among other plates of similar ingredients. Before one seat lay a plate with a round, flat piece of bread, while the other had a stuffed roll of bread on top of the plate.

"What the hell am I looking at?" Dawn said with a frown as she sat down at the table.

Azarel took his seat as well. "I think humans call this a wrap."

"Humans?" Dawn said, shooting him a weird look. "What, are you an alien or something?"

"No, I'm not," Azarel said as slight panic crept in. What was proper behaviour?

"It was a rhetorical question but whatever," Dawn said as she looked around the table. "How am I going to eat without a normal spoon? All you have is that giant spoon there."

"You spoon the ingredients you want onto the bread and fold it. Then you eat it," Azarel said as he picked up his wrap up to bite into it.

"Oh," Dawn said, staring at the ingredients. She picked up the spoon and brought some of them onto her piece of bread until a mound formed on top. She tried to fold it but bits of food kept escaping from the sides. She pushed them back in, only to lose hold of the edges of the bread. "Fucking hell." Then Dawn stared at him.

"I'm pretty sure this green and yellow store called Subway sells wraps," Azarel said. "You must've had one yourself."

"You talk weird," Dawn said. "And yes, I've had some. Many, in fact."

"It's not that hard to make."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, I've never made it before."

"I thought you wanted freedom? You don't want someone taking care of you, wasn't that it?"

"Of course," Dawn said and she tried to make her own wrap again, only to fail miserably, the bits and pieces of food now everywhere on the table. She frowned slightly and blushed a faint pink. Embarrassment crossed her features and Azarel felt his heart softening.

He got up from his seat and stood next to her. Spooning the ingredients carefully onto her bread, he packed them tightly together before folding the bread in. Holding it together, he passed it to Dawn.

"T-Thanks," Dawn said, her eyes looking elsewhere. Azarel returned to his seat and resumed eating. Dawn took small bites from her wrap every now and then while she put her cheek in one hand, her elbow on the table. Her cheeks were still pink and though she was looking away, he could tell that her attention was on him.

And as he continued to observe her, the first laugh in decades escaped from him.

❃❃❃

Azarel was about to leave his home when he caught her in the act. He neared the couch gingerly, making sure not to scare her. But as he approached, he could see that her focus was elsewhere.

She was seated on the couch, her hands in her lap, her fingers rubbing against one another. She was looking straight ahead, at the space just above the flatscreen. Her eyes were on the white wall, staring at it like it was prime television. Azarel studied her closely and saw her eyes shifting quickly.

She was recollecting something.

"Dawn?"

She jumped in her seat, her head snapping to him. She blinked fast a few times before she frowned. "What? Stop staring at me, you creep."

"I'm about to leave for some shopping," he told her. "Do you need me to get anything for you?"

Her expression turned devious. "Sure, there is something I really need."

"What is it?" Azarel asked. He had a bad feeling about this.

Dawn blinked innocently. "I need some bras, please. Cup size D. Lots of lace in hot pink and fiery red."

"Alright," Azarel said as he stepped towards the dining table. Fetching the tablet on top, he unlocked it and passed it to her. "The password is 7666. I have my card inside. Shop for any undergarments you need."

Her eyes widened as she took the tablet from him. "Oh."

He thought it was a pretty smart move. "Don't spend too much," he said. She looked between him and the tablet as a half grin spread across her face. He picked up his keys.

"You're going to regret this, Azarel."