Milo listened as he followed her, keeping a respectful distance and his eyes lowered to the ground where possible. He still didn't trust her, not completely, he was worried that this was just some weird game being played for her amusement, but...he wanted to believe her. The only proof he had that something was wrong here was that she was human, and he was demi-human, which was enough to stay suspicious. The worse part of this was how much he wanted to believe her. She said she wanted companionship, a friend...that was something that Milo ached for, he'd never had a friend, never had somebody he could trust, could rely on, not since his parents had died. The men at the facility hadn't been friendly or kind to him, the other demi-humans had their own problems and worries and they weren't allowed to mingle too often anyway, because if they were allowed to gather then they might form a large enough group to cause problems. Despite being considered less than human, the fact was that many demi-humans had gifts. He himself had sharper canine teeth, a powerful bite and an outstanding sense of smell and there were species that had far more. There were demi-humans that were several times stronger than humans, those that were faster, true predator species and still treated like this...because they didn't have numbers, didn't have organization. They were kept apart and Milo wasn't the only one that had very few to no friends.
"No, you said you bought me for companionship, Miss Adaline?" Curiosity was getting the better of him...he knew better than to trust a human but so long as she was letting him speak, he wanted to know, he wanted answers. Wanted to hear what she'd say. "But you're a pretty, rich woman...I'm sure you could find a companion easy, you don't need to buy one..." He thought his answer made sense, and he continued to follow her up the stairs, eyes lowered, until she told him to look at something. He looked up and his eyes widened to see her teeth...elongated canines, like his, though hers looked far sharper. His brow furrowed again...her scent wasn't so different from any other humans he'd met, what did she say she was again? "Are you...a demi-human too?" He was clearly confused. "What's a vampire?" The way she was speaking, no, she wasn't like him, but she was talking like she wasn't human either. Maybe that was why she was acting so strange. She was right when she said humanity could be cruel, he wasn't so sure about kind, yet. She was also right that if she was tricking him, she wasn't going to tell him. He followed her into room after room, looking around at the clearly opulent wealth...he'd have been content with just one of these rooms, his entire famlily would have been happy to live in one, hell several families could have made their home in a single room here and she owned them all.
She told him again that he did have a choice, he just couldn't leave. He frowned again, this just wasn't what he had expected, what he'd braced himself for. "I've never cooked...or cleaned. I've never really had anything to cook or clean...I've never had a home, I lived on what I could scavenge, either already cooked and thrown away, or stale. Bread...I like bread, when it's not moldy." It was just the truth, though he found he didn't like saying it, didn't like the answer he had to give. He wanted to change it, for some reason he wanted to offer her something for her kindness. "But I...I could learn. I-If that's what you'd ask of me...I could learn, Miss Adaline." She'd taken his hand then, he'd flinched at the touch, expecting something else, he'd never been touched gently before, when he hadn't been hit or beaten he'd been dragged around, impatiently forced to stand where he was told, out of the way, or like when he'd been put in his cage, undressed, positioned, restrained. So he'd flinched, but he didn't fight it, let her guide him. He wanted to see what she meant by home.
And then he did. The room was huge, as opulent as all the rest, it looked comfortable, spacious, with fine black sheets and a bed, an actual bed. He stepped inside in wonder, looking around...he breathed in the scent...it smelled a little like her but mostly just clean, empty. It was beautiful and...she said it was his? His room? "This...is mine?" He thought back to what she'd said about the clothes too, that she didn't imagine he had very many nice things, and even now the way she spoke, saying they could even change it if he liked but it was so perfect...he felt his eyes water. Why...why was he falling for this, why was he not fighting...she'd gotten under his skin so easily and quickly and he didn't understand how but it was too late. He ran his fingers over the bedframe, over the chest at the foot of the bed even though he had nothing to put in it. He'd never owned anything before in his life, only the ragged, dirty clothes on his back and she wanted to give him this whole room? For what? And she was still talking, offered him a second room. He couldn't take it anymore and he rounded on her, his eyes tearing up.
"W-Why? I don't understand why...why you're being so kind, is it just a cruel game? Do you want to make me want something just to take it away?" He'd heard humans liked such cruelty sometimes, liked to hurt and tease just to get a few laughs. "I've never....never owned anything at all, not a home, not anything...and now you want to give me this? This room, it's more comfortable than anywhere I've ever slept and you're saying it's for me?" He sobbed...he couldn't stop it, couldn't hold back the tears, he brought his hands up to try and hide them, to wipe them away, careful to lift up the sleeve of the fine new t-shirt, he didn't want to stain it. "I-I already belong to you Miss Adaline, you d-don't need to tease me or teach me a lesson...I will be good, I'll learn to cook and clean, I'll do whatever you ask of me and I won't r-run, but please...please don't torment me with things I can't have..."
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