like a bat outta hell

And it was in that moment he felt as though he had probably made the worst mistake of his life for multiple reasons. That number one reason was his stomach leaping into his throat whenever he heard a door opening. And then what little food on his stomach threatening to come up when he heard the scream. He was about to bolt when the door slammed shut suddenly opened once more to reveal someone. Probably a someone who lived in the house. And who for some reason was profusely apologizing to him...?

None of this made any sense but out of every other word he could sort of make out what this person probably thought was going on. He hadn't been hired by anyone's father that was for sure. But also this guy was old enough to be someone else's father so he had no idea what was going on. But it seemed like this other guy thought that he'd been hired to... Watch out for him? Or over him? Or something? It was confusing but he could probably work with it.

"I didn't mean to wake you, I was looking for the kitchen."

He hoped that didn't sound weird or anything. Romeo had no idea what was going to happen but if he could squeeze a meal out then maybe it would be worth it?

"My name is Romeo Addaway."

Holding his hand out for the guy called... Manish? A strange name but it made sense for a place like this. Regardless he held the hand out for him to shake. That was the right thing to do... Right? Fuck if he knew.

It was absolutely fucking wild to realize that he was going to be eating a midnight snack with some guy whose house he had broken into on a whim. All he'd wanted was to have something to eat or get something nice out of the deal. But here he was, just nodding along with this guy as he asked if he was going to be staying here? How was he supposed to answer that. But before he could say anything against it he automatically nodded just the same.

"Yeah of course. I won't be telling your father anything either."

What was he thinking? Staying here? Why the hell would he tell this guy something like that? Of course he wasn't going to tell his father anything. He had no idea who his father was or what he did but he knew that this guy was also a full grown adult and whatever he decided to do in his off time meant that it was his business. Why would Romeo ever tell anyone anything?

"You're always here alone?"

Well, that explained the awkwardness. But nonetheless Romeo went over to the fridge and opened it, confused by the fact that there seemed to be the bare minimum of actual food but lots of ingredients.

"Do you want me to cook something? It doesn't look like there's a lot of actual... Food in here."

He could at least cook a little bit.

Romeo desperately wanted to say literally anything that would get this guy to calm down. Just. Anything. He'd never met a man more terminally inside his own head than maybe one of his exes who constantly thought Romeo was trying to outplay him in some sort of imaginary game. But even with that past experience he knew this guy next to him, Manish was his name?, was just nervous for some undetermined reason. Well... It could have something to do with the fact that apparently no one spoke to the guy. Ever.

No he was sure it was that. Sure Romeo was poor as fuck and didn't have food most of the time but at least he had someone to talk to. Even if it was people trying to rip him off.

"I used to cook a lot, not so much anymore."

That wasn't a lie. He did used to cook a lot. But now he was homeless and there wasn't really a lot of cooking you could do with no stove and no utensils. Plus... No food?

"I'd prefer it if you stay here. I could use your help. Especially if you're hungry too. That way I don't have to hunt you down to find you when the food is done."

He remembered that manish said he was heading to the kitchen to try and find something to eat for himself when Romeo barged it. So it wouldn't be fair to just kick the guy out of the kitchen if he was going to cook. He might as well feed him too. Especially since he was sure the guy would probably just bite into one of the raw onions for a snack and cry while eating it. But still eat the whole thing.

"Wash these vegetables for me in the sink... Don't use soap on them."

It was instinct to add the last part. There was a nagging part of his brain that thought for sure that if he didn't clarify he would have soapy vegetables to deal with and he didn't want to have to rewash everything and give the guy some sort of complex about not being able to wash vegetables properly.

"Are you alright with a vegetable stir fry?"

He didn't have time to defrost any meat but he did manage to find some rice. Which was good enough. It was a filling meal and sort of healthy if you ignored how much oil he used to fry rice. But it would be fine.

They were back to not telling his father anything it seemed. Something that Romeo absolutely wouldn’t have problems doing considering he once again still had no idea who he was. And really didn’t care. But he did watch Manish out of the corner of his eye, making sure that he really didn’t use soap as he started to get the rice ready. There was a rice cooker tucked away in a corner that he filled.

He could always boil the rice but this would get it done quicker. And if there was a fancy tool available to use then why not use it. “I won’t ever tell anyone anything you’ve told me, don’t worry.” But he knew the don’t worry would fall on deaf ears. All this guy ever did was worry. “I promise.” But the promise might do it for him. Maybe. As he rambled about the ethics class that he was taking, Romeo wondered how hard it would be to get this guy to go outside.

“You can talk as much as you want I don't mind it really. I’m just waiting on the rice to finish cooking... Why were you worried about fighting animals though?” But when the vegetables were brought over he needed to chop them as well. There was… No way in hell he would ever trust this guy to chop up a vegetable with an actual knife. “I’ll show you how to do this, if you want?” He held up a knife and started to cut the vegetables carefully. Much more slowly than he normally would because he absolutely did NOT want manish to imitate his speed as well.

“It’s hard to find time to cook sometimes. Plus it can be expensive getting ingredients.” Which wasn’t a lie. But it wasn’t the whole truth. Nothing he said was technically un-factual. “I miss it sometimes. I miss having a reason to cook good food.” Also not a lie. But that was enough about himself. “Do you not go outside at all then? Not even on the lawn?” It was a question that was burning him up on the inside and if Manish got to ask questions then so did he. Probably. “You don’t have to answer either, if you don’t want.”

More than anything he was concerned with the fact that he had just offered to teach the man how to use a knife to cut vegetables. Of course he wasn't going to tell on him that he was playing a game or going to a class. But Manish with a knife in his hand felt more than a little bit dangerous. Not because he expected him to use it to intentionally hurt someone. But he definitely thought that he might cut himself with it. So Romeo watched him, while cutting his own vegetables still slowly and hearing the rice cooker ding. "Is it Pokemon?" Or he guessed it could be Digimon. But was that super popular nowadays? He definitely hadn't been keeping up with games lately. But he'd vaguely heard about a Pokemon VR game or something that had come out.

"If you want to play with me I'd be happy to." He had no idea why that sentence came out of his mouth. It was like he was planning on sticking around or something. He shouldn't be making promises to this guy when his full intent was to just disappear as soon as he could. But what was the hurt in staying for a little bit? Especially if he was being offered the ability to cook and sleep here. The easiest job he'd ever had. "You'll have to tell me what you like to eat then. Even if it's just vegetables there has to be some you don't like, right? Or ones you like more than others." Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. This is why everything usually went wrong. He tried to do too much and take things too far. And then he ended up getting caught. 

But instead he just smiled a little as he scooped the rice into the pan and tossed in the carrots that manish had cut up with all the rest. With the exception of the ones that had fallen to the floor of course. But that smile faltered a little bit whenever Manish seemed actually uncomfortable. "You don't have to answer questions you don't want to when I ask them. There's no shame in just saying you don't want to answer." After all, he hated answering questions. "I don't know anything about plants. You'll have to teach me. But I think they're pretty." And he probably knew even less about mushrooms. But if they made this guy happy then so be it.

On one hand, he was glad that manish was already exercising his right to tell him no. On the other hand, the poor guy looked like he was about to pass out from the stress of it. Which would have been awkward because Romeo had no idea where his room was to drop him off in. And there would be a lot of fried rice to go to waste if that happened too. Though he was probably sure he could probably eat it all if he tried. But then he might throw up. And he really didn't want that. "I meant it when I said it. You can tell me no whenever you want." Something he probably wasn't used to. "I'm not here to push you into things you don't want to do or don't want to tell me." 

He wasn't supposed to be here at all. But that wasn't the point. He took the rice and vegetables off of the heat as he watched Manish try to suppress... himself? He'd seen a panic attack before. Hell, he'd had a few himself even. And it never did any good to try and push them down through just sheer force of will because eventually, all of that exploded out. A container could only hold so much pressure before it spilled over so it was better to let some out before it made a mess. At least that's what his school counselor had always told him. 

Wiping his hands off to get some of the cooking traces off of them he held his hands out for Manish to take. Trying to ignore the twinging feeling in them. "Can I see your hands?" He asked gently. Like he was talking to a spooked horse. "You can also say no to this. But it might help you a little bit." He wanted to remind Manish that it was okay to tell him no. And that if he didn't want his help right now then that was fine too. But he was worried that he would end up dropping the glasses if he tried to pick them back up again. He continued to talk to Manish carefully as he waited for confirmation or denial.

"I like those little debbie swiss rolls. I never got the hang of making them but when I could afford them they were good." He liked chocolates a lot. They calmed him down and he had something of a sweet tooth. They had a warming effect to them. Even when it wasn't cold outside. "I like chocolates in general though." He was talking to talk. The more he spoke he felt like the less Manish would feel the need to work into a frenzy.