Who needs a room this big?

The walls were covered in teal-blue wallpaper and the floor was an ashy black wood. A large bed with a trunk at the foot took up the back wall with room enough for two nightstands, one on either side. The west wall had a two dressers and wardrobe made of a dark chocolate wood.

The east wall was made almost entirely of windows with no curtains. Instead, a few were cut off by towering bookshelves made of the same wood as the dressers and wardrobe. There was a shelf much shorter than the others topped with plants. The window above it had hanging plants. They added a splash of color in an otherwise monochromatic room. A desk took up the corner nearest him and a small table the corner opposite.

Adrian glanced at the book on the desk. It was thick and old looking. He couldn’t begin to parse the letters together.

He felt it was an unreasonably sized room for someone who seemed intent on keeping a space as unimaginative as possible.

In many ways, it made sense. Cass seemed interested in being uninteresting. Unfortunately, much like the plants, he stood out. He had only had one conversation with him, but it was clear that Darrius was his opposite in every way.

Cass was pale, even ghostly, though he had some color in his cheeks. His curly hair was a harsh shock of yellow, like a dried-out corn husk, and his eyes were two dark hunks of obsidian cupped by thick nearly white lashes. He hadn’t missed the two moles either, one on the corner of his left eye and the other under right side of his surprisingly full lips. His build seemed average but fit, and he carried himself with a grace likely instilled in him since birth.

Cassius was the kind of person the Master would lock in a box and take apart slowly just to watch his cool demeanor crumble.

He looked out the tall windows at the night sky splayed out before him. The sky was dark, but the stars shined brighter than he had ever seen before. He knew just outside was an ocean he had only heard of from the Master’s lips, one that he had never truly believed existed.

He felt small in the starry sea. It even made his biggest question feel small for just moment: What had he done to be here?

Cassius opened his room door, careful not to topple the tray in his hands.

The dish hadn’t been a soup but a curry and making it had been harder than he expected. He’d managed to find a servant who knew what Adrian had wanted. It was late though, and they were loath to be around him alone. His offer to help with cooking, coupled with the fact that no servant could say no to royalty meant that he won in the end. He burned himself several times in the process, a sobering reminder that he would likely die if left alone in the woods.

He noticed the way Adrian’s body language changed when he caught sight of the dish. He tried his best to ignore the boy’s thoughts as he sat the tray on the table. He set the table haphazardly and filled two glasses with water.

“Sorry I took so long, please, sit.” He sat first and waited for Adrian to take the other chair. He ladled out the curry and rice. “Sorry I could not make the bread. I kept burning it and we ran out of dough.”

“Bread?” Adrian stared at him confused. “How did you know about any of this in the first place?”

Cassius tensed. Right, he hadn’t asked for it. He saw it in his mind and took the initiative. “I... thought since you were from Senosolvia that, you would want something that reminded you of home.” It wasn’t technically a lie.

“But how did you know I wanted this? It’s not exactly common.”

“I guessed.”

“Liar.”

Cassius chanced a look at Adrian. Distrust rolled off of him. He would find out eventually, anyway, might as well come clean. “The truth is...I can read minds. I saw it and I--”

Adrian’s looked shocked, “Y-you can what?” He shot up, toppling the chair and table in the process. The piping hot curry doused Cassius’s arms and torso.

He swore and jumped out of his chair. In hindsight, maybe he should’ve waited on giving away that fact.