“Then we’ll focus on rescuing as many people as we can. I’m sure they’ll find more information on who was invited to these auctions and who might’ve bought… people, so we’ll hopefully have something to go on.”
Oakley stared off to the side for a long moment, then took a breath. “You’re right. Saving those people is more important than anything. Once we stop more people from becoming victims, we can try to find the ones who already are. That… that’s a really good way of looking at it, Rome. It makes me feel a little better about not being on the case right now.”
I sent them a small smile. I knew they’d been so focused on revenge or vengeance or whatever it was they were searching for when it came to stopping the bad guys, for lack of a better word, that they’d forgotten about all the other good we could do.
We had the resources and the ability to really help people, and I planned on using it.
“I think so too.” I offered them a small smile. “Food’s done.”
“Great. Let’s eat, then you can take your turn in the shower.”
I gave a nod, plated some food, and passed it over to Oak.
They sent me a sweet smile. “Thank you, Rome. For… for everything.”
I wasn’t sure what they were thanking me for other than the food, so I simply gave their arm a squeeze and went to make my own plate.
“Movie time!” Oak announced when I was about to suggest that I leave. It was getting late, and I figured they wanted to get ready for bed. I’d been with them literally all day—weren’t they ready to get me out of their hair yet?
“You want to watch a movie?”
They nodded. “Yep. But first, we need to get comfy in sweats or pjs or whatever.” They grabbed my arm and tugged me down the hallway. “Come on.”
I followed without hesitation.
We’d spent the entire day together. We hung out at their place for a bit, then stopped by my place so I could get clothes that actually fit me—I was definitely bigger than them—before we went out for lunch, ran a few small errands, went grocery shopping, and came back to their place to make dinner together.
Well, I did the cooking, but I allowed Oak to chop some veggies and make a salad. They just weren’t allowed anywhere near a flame.
Which was funny considering they were a dragon that could actually shoot flames from their mouth. But I’d trust them with dragon fire a million times over the stove.
After dinner, we’d played a board game that Oakley kicked my ass in, and now… now I had no idea what they were planning, but I’d follow them wherever they wanted me to go.
Honestly, I’d been surprised they’d wanted to hang out with me, the person they’d been stuck with for months, when they could’ve easily hung out with Keryth or one of their many other friends. But Oak hadn’t even brought anyone else up all day.
They released me and walked over to their dresser, opening the bottom drawer and rooting around in it. “Ah-ha!” They pulled out a pair of sweatpants and threw them at me.
I caught the pants automatically. “What are these for?”
They rolled their eyes. “For you to wear… obviously. They’re big on me, so they should fit you fine. I have a few t-shirts that should work too since I like sleeping in super baggy clothes.” They grinned before finding a shirt and throwing that at me too.
When I didn’t move, they waved me toward the bathroom. “Uh, go change.”
“Wh… why am I changing?”
They rolled their eyes. “In case we fall asleep again. Duh.”
I narrowed my eyes at them because something was feeling… off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. But then again, it wasn’t like I actually wanted to leave. I wanted to stay with them more than anything. “Alright. Meet you in the living room.”
By the time I walked into the living room, Oakley was already wearing pj pants and a loose t-shirt, and they were in the kitchen, popping popcorn.
As I stood there watching them, I could tell something was going on, but they were clearly not willing to talk about it. There was a tension in their shoulders that hadn’t been there only thirty minutes ago. I wasn’t sure what had happened between our board game and now, but something was going through their head that I wasn’t sure I liked.
“You okay?”
They hummed without turning away from the microwave. “Mhm.”
“Oak?”
