Professor Eldridge

He shakes her hand gently. He likes this girl. She seems gentle, yet an outcast. “What’re you painting?” He asks, glancing at the canvas. He’s a bit of an artist himself.

His touch was kind and delicate. Meera pulled her hand back and glanced over her should at the canvas. “It’s a mother lion who lost her cub,” she explained and looked back over at Cassius, “She’s sad and scared that she can’t find them. The only reason she’s smiling is because she’s dreaming of them.”

That breaks his heart a little bit. The girl is so young, but she knows so much already. “It’s beautiful.” He says softly. He knows he wants to adopt her. “Look, I came here today to find a kid to adopt, and I’ve found you. Do you want to come home with me?”

“Thank you.” Meera liked this man very much. She could just tell that he was kind and caring. She froze a little and looked at him with wide eyes. “R-Really? You want to adopt me?”

He nods. “Yeah, I would, but only if you want to come with me. I won’t force you to if you don’t want to.” He smiles warmly.

Her face brightened up. “I’d love to!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around him tightly. As she was basking in the moment, Meera quickly pulled away. “S-Sorry,” she murmured awkwardly and glanced down at her feet.

He pauses for a moment, caught off guard, but he snaps out of it once she lets go. “Don’t be sorry, kiddo.” He smiles happily, opening his arms and offering another hug to her. “I’m excited to take care of you.”

Meera looks back up at him and smiles. She hugs him one more tightly. She lets out a content sigh and her eyes flutter shut. It felt nice to hug someone again.

He hugs back gently, enjoying the moment. When he pulls away, he smiles at her. “Here, let’s go and collect your things and then we can go and sign the papers.” He says happily.

Meera nodded. Before they left the room, she quickly took her painting of the stand and set it on the desk. She then walked over to Cassius out of the class. A smile was plastered on her face, she was finally getting adopted.

He follows happily. “We can bring the painting too. I have an art studio in my house. You can finish it there.” He says softly as they walk. “I hope you’ll like the house.”

“I’d love that,” she smiled. While Cassius went to go fill out paperwork, Meera packed up her clothes and belongings. After, she walked out with her truck dragging along behind her.

He smiles her as he signs the last paper. “Ready to go, kiddo?” He asks happily, standing up from his chair.

He offers her his hand. “Do you want to stop for lunch before we go home?” He offers, leading her outside and to his car. “We can get anything you want.”

“Sure,” she says excitedly. Meera holds onto his hand as they exit the orphanage and make their was to his car. Once they get there, she attempts to lift her suitcase into the trunk.

He smiles and lifts it for her, closing the trunk. “Anywhere in particular you want to go for lunch?” He asks, opening the back door for her.

Meera smiled up at him when he helped her. “No, I’m alright with anything,” she said as she walked into the car and slipped into the passenger seat.

He smiles and gets into his seat, buckling in. “I’m craving a burger right now.” He chuckles, setting off once she’s buckled in. “McDonald’s sound good?”

She nods, “Okay.” Meera buckles her seatbelt and happily watches out the window as they drive. She’s never really gone out past the land of the orphanage, except when she would go to the main church of town.

“Tell me about yourself, kiddo.” He grins. “What kind of things do you like?” He asks, glancing at her for a moment.

“Painting,” Meera answered, “I also really love to read. That’s it. It’s boring…I guess that’s why the other girls don’t like me.” A small frown appears on her lips and she looked down at her lap.

“Reading’s not boring.” He reassures. “I love to read.” He tells her with a small smile. “Don’t think about that, okay? You don’t have to see them again. I like you, that’s why I adopted you. You’re great, kiddo.”

Meera glances up at him and smiles. “Thank you,” she murmured softly. She then went back to looking out the window.

He smiles and pulls into the McDonald’s drive thru. “What would you like, kiddo?” He asks her, looking at the menu and deciding on his own.

“A happy meal please,” she asks. “What do you like to do? Besides paint.” Meera wanted to know everything about Cassius.

“Well, I love my job. I’m a highschool teacher.” He smiles. “I like to cook, dance, play soccer.” He shrugs before he orders their food.

“You’re a teacher?” she glanced over and smiled at him, “That must be fun. What do you teach?”

“It is.” He grins. “I teach history, mostly to the 12th graders.” He explains happily, pulling up to the window and paying. “What’s your favourite school subject?” He asks.

She gave a small chuckle, “Art and English.” Meera was a very bright girl and did well in all of her clases. However, the other subjects bored her to death that she wanted to stuff the textbook down the teacher’s throat.

“I was quite good at both of those in school.” He smiles happily. “Do you want to get some new outfits for school this weekend?” He asks.

“I get new clothes too?” she asked excitedly. Meera felt so happy. Like when she was with her first family, the Jensens.

“Yeah. You get anything you want, kiddo.” He grins at her, taking their food from the cashier and passing Meera hers. “Here you go.”

She smiled brightly, “Thank you. You’re very kind.”

He smiles warmly. “I just want the best for you.” He says softly. “But you’re welcome.”

“Just for adopting me, that makes you the best,” Meera said.

He smiles softly at that. "Why thank you." He says gently, turning onto his street.

If he had been in his other form, his tail would be wagging like crazy right now, he decided. “God, I’m so excited. I hope they look like you.” He’s bouncing in place a little, smiling widely at Cassius.

He laughs softly, watching him as he takes his hand, leading him through to the office. "A combination would be nice." He grins happily. "They're probably going to have bright blue eyes like both of us."

He doesn’t hear the whine, but he can hear his heartbeat blocking his ears, and he curls in on himself slightly with a whine of his own. He’s incredibly hungover, and barely stopping himself from throwing up.

Alex sighed when he felt Cassius move. He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes properly to look at Cass, knowing that he was definitely hungover. “You need anything?” He asked as quietly as he could with a yawn.

He flinches at the noise. “Who the fuck…?” He whines. “Potion. Top drawer. Blue one.” He chokes out, tugging at his hair gently. “Need it. Hangover.”

Alex nodded and slowly slipped out of bed, making his way over to the drawers. He quickly found the potion and went back over to Cass, silently passing him the potion before sitting down next to him.

He drinks it quickly, wincing as he curls in slightly, and it slowly starts to work. He groans and opens his eyes, looking at Alex. “Shit. What the hell did I tell you?” He asks, mentally cursing himself.

“You didn’t tell me shit, fuckass. So don’t worry.” Alex muttered, looking away from Cass as he answered. He was completely aware that he was a terrible liar, and he could only hope that Cassius was too hungover to tell. “All you did was have an argument with the floor, which was bloody hilarious.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.” He hisses, rolling out of the bed. “Oh fuck off.” He grunts, stumbling into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. Of course he told. He’s an emotional drunk.

Alex sighed and followed him, sitting outside the bathroom. “If it means anything, you called me Gingersnap. You also said I had a temper.” He said, chuckling softly. “Listen, I promise you didn’t say much. I mean yeah sure, you said some conerning things, but you weren’t up front about anything.” 

He grunts in response, tossing a shampoo bottle in anger. Of course he did. “What things?” He sighs, bracing himself on the sink, preparing for the worst. “And don’t lie to me.”

Cass’ last sentence made Alex go quiet. That’s exactly what his mother would say whenever she questioned him. “You- You said something about deserving everything your father did to you, and how you hope you die.” He said after a few seconds. “You also mentioned something about having a younger sister.”

He curses loudly, slamming his head into the wall. “For fucks sake, Cass.” He grunts, sliding down the wall. He can’t believe he did that. “Last night didn’t happen, you hear me?”

He could hear Cass slam his head against the wall, although he chose not to say anything, not wanting to aggrivate him. “Yes, sir- Cass.” Alex replied without hesitation, sighing at his own little slip up.

He starts silent, brooding in the bathroom and ignoring the trickle of blood coming from his forehead. He’s pissed at himself for blabbing. He’s never coming back drunk again. He’ll just pass out somewhere else.

After a few moments of silence, Alex quietly sighed. He was almost certain Cassius would probably want a new roommate after last night. “I’ll go and talk to the headmaster about getting you a better roommate after I finish packing.” He muttered, turning and walking over to his bed before beginning to pack his things into his suitcase.

He sighs and opens the door. At least if Alex knows, he doesn’t have to worry about telling someone again. “Don’t go.” He murmurs, looking at the floor. “Please.” He tries to tell himself that he doesn’t want Alex to go simply so that he doesn’t tell someone else, but really, he doesn’t want yet another person to walk away from him.

“Why? I thought you’d be thrilled at the idea of having someone else as a roommate. Maybe this time you can have some cute thing for you to fuck.” He muttered with a small shrug, continuing to pack without turning to look over at Cass. “I promise you won’t have to deal with me again, and I won’t tell anyone about last night.”

He walks over and holds his wrist gently. “Alex, please.” He says quietly. “And I rarely say please, let alone twice in a row.” He murmurs. He’s vulnerable now that he’s sober and he hates it. “Now that you know, I guess I can vent to you more. I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to be on so many drugs that I don’t know my own name anymore, but it’s all I can do. I don’t have someone to talk to. My sister’s too traumatized. I want to help her, but I can’t. Not like this.”

Alex winced slightly when Cassius held his wrist. He sighed softly, finally looking up at Cass. “Fine, I’ll stay.” He said softly, gently pulling his wrist out of Cass’ grip. He wanted to help Cass, and after hearing everything that was just said, Alex felt that he had no choice but to stay. “But first we need to do something about your head. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s sort of bleeding.”

“Thank you.” He breathes in relief, running a hand through his hair. He pauses at the mention of the blood. “It’s nothing. I can guarantee I’ve had worse.” He shrugs. “It’s not that bad.”

“I don’t care if it’s not that bad. Either we do something about it, or I leave. Your choice, kid.” Now Alex was aware that Cassius was almost definitely older than him, but he thought it’d be a cool thing to say. “Alright, I will admit that that sounded a lot better in my head.” He muttered. “Anyway, sit down and I’ll fix your injury. Please? At the very least let me heal it for my sake.”

He sighs and nods, sitting down on Alex's bed and looking up at him. "Alright." He murmurs. "Thank you." He says quietly, avoiding eye contact. He feels so vulnerable now that he's dropped the angry act, and it scares him. He can only hope that Alex won't betray him.

He pulls Cassius up the stairs into the clinic, he’s anxious and excited and he just can’t wait. “Can we get pictures? And a video?” He squeezes his hand gently, “I want to make sure we never forget today.”

"We can get pictures, yeah." He smiles happily. "And I was already planning on filming your reaction." He says, his smile morphing into a cheeky grin. "I'll be sure to ask for a copy of the photo each." He coos before stepping away to talk to the receptionist for a moment. After he's done, he waves Cal over. "We can go in." He smiles.

They would be – the child would be so tiny compared to him. “I love you, Cassius.” He murmured, feeling the weight of the box in his pocket and the knowledge that they would soon see their child for the first time made his heart flutter.

"I love you too, Cal." He coos, kissing his hand gently. "You and this baby are my everything." He says softly. His smile widens when they arrive in town, and it's only another few blocks until they reach the clinic. "Let's go and see our baby then."

He smirks a little at that. “And I like how small you are next to me. Makes it easier to protect you and curl up with you at night in the nest. You’re just so… cute.”

He smiles, nuzzling into his side slightly as they walk. "And then in a few months you'll have a little pup to protect. Even smaller than me." He laughs happily. "You two will be so adorable together."

“Pft.” He was aware that he was unusually big for a man, but he was a little proud of that fact. He liked being tall and strong. “Just means I can protect my darling mate better.”

"And you make an excellent human pillow." He grins. "You know I love how tall you are." He chuckles, swinging their hands slightly. "And how strong you are. You make me feel small, and I love it."

He smiles warmly at him and kisses his cheek. "They're already a bit bigger than usual, though I'm not surprised with your genetics." He teases, squeezing his hand as he leads him out of the den.

He doesn’t hear the whine, but he can hear his heartbeat blocking his ears, and he curls in on himself slightly with a whine of his own. He’s incredibly hungover, and barely stopping himself from throwing up.

Alex sighed when he felt Cassius move. He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes properly to look at Cass, knowing that he was definitely hungover. “You need anything?” He asked as quietly as he could with a yawn.

He flinches at the noise. “Who the fuck…?” He whines. “Potion. Top drawer. Blue one.” He chokes out, tugging at his hair gently. “Need it. Hangover.”

Alex nodded and slowly slipped out of bed, making his way over to the drawers. He quickly found the potion and went back over to Cass, silently passing him the potion before sitting down next to him.

He drinks it quickly, wincing as he curls in slightly, and it slowly starts to work. He groans and opens his eyes, looking at Alex. “Shit. What the hell did I tell you?” He asks, mentally cursing himself.

“You didn’t tell me shit, fuckass. So don’t worry.” Alex muttered, looking away from Cass as he answered. He was completely aware that he was a terrible liar, and he could only hope that Cassius was too hungover to tell. “All you did was have an argument with the floor, which was bloody hilarious.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.” He hisses, rolling out of the bed. “Oh fuck off.” He grunts, stumbling into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. Of course he told. He’s an emotional drunk.

Alex sighed and followed him, sitting outside the bathroom. “If it means anything, you called me Gingersnap. You also said I had a temper.” He said, chuckling softly. “Listen, I promise you didn’t say much. I mean yeah sure, you said some conerning things, but you weren’t up front about anything.” 

He grunts in response, tossing a shampoo bottle in anger. Of course he did. “What things?” He sighs, bracing himself on the sink, preparing for the worst. “And don’t lie to me.”

Cass’ last sentence made Alex go quiet. That’s exactly what his mother would say whenever she questioned him. “You- You said something about deserving everything your father did to you, and how you hope you die.” He said after a few seconds. “You also mentioned something about having a younger sister.”

He curses loudly, slamming his head into the wall. “For fucks sake, Cass.” He grunts, sliding down the wall. He can’t believe he did that. “Last night didn’t happen, you hear me?”

He could hear Cass slam his head against the wall, although he chose not to say anything, not wanting to aggrivate him. “Yes, sir- Cass.” Alex replied without hesitation, sighing at his own little slip up.

He starts silent, brooding in the bathroom and ignoring the trickle of blood coming from his forehead. He’s pissed at himself for blabbing. He’s never coming back drunk again. He’ll just pass out somewhere else.

After a few moments of silence, Alex quietly sighed. He was almost certain Cassius would probably want a new roommate after last night. “I’ll go and talk to the headmaster about getting you a better roommate after I finish packing.” He muttered, turning and walking over to his bed before beginning to pack his things into his suitcase.

He sighs and opens the door. At least if Alex knows, he doesn’t have to worry about telling someone again. “Don’t go.” He murmurs, looking at the floor. “Please.” He tries to tell himself that he doesn’t want Alex to go simply so that he doesn’t tell someone else, but really, he doesn’t want yet another person to walk away from him.

“Why? I thought you’d be thrilled at the idea of having someone else as a roommate. Maybe this time you can have some cute thing for you to fuck.” He muttered with a small shrug, continuing to pack without turning to look over at Cass. “I promise you won’t have to deal with me again, and I won’t tell anyone about last night.”

He walks over and holds his wrist gently. “Alex, please.” He says quietly. “And I rarely say please, let alone twice in a row.” He murmurs. He’s vulnerable now that he’s sober and he hates it. “Now that you know, I guess I can vent to you more. I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to be on so many drugs that I don’t know my own name anymore, but it’s all I can do. I don’t have someone to talk to. My sister’s too traumatized. I want to help her, but I can’t. Not like this.”

Alex winced slightly when Cassius held his wrist. He sighed softly, finally looking up at Cass. “Fine, I’ll stay.” He said softly, gently pulling his wrist out of Cass’ grip. He wanted to help Cass, and after hearing everything that was just said, Alex felt that he had no choice but to stay. “But first we need to do something about your head. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s sort of bleeding.”

"Thank you." He breathes in relief, running a hand through his hair. He pauses at the mention of the blood. "It's nothing. I can guarantee I've had worse." He shrugs. "It's not that bad."

The vampire hums, a gentle sound deep in his chest. “Thank you for watching over me all those years ago.” He murmurs in return, setting the boy down on his soft bed.

"It was quite literally my job." He hums, curling up in the blankets and clutching them to his chest. "I hope this doesn't sound strange, but can you hug me while I rest?" He asks quietly.

He doesn’t hear the whine, but he can hear his heartbeat blocking his ears, and he curls in on himself slightly with a whine of his own. He’s incredibly hungover, and barely stopping himself from throwing up.

Alex sighed when he felt Cassius move. He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes properly to look at Cass, knowing that he was definitely hungover. “You need anything?” He asked as quietly as he could with a yawn.

He flinches at the noise. “Who the fuck…?” He whines. “Potion. Top drawer. Blue one.” He chokes out, tugging at his hair gently. “Need it. Hangover.”

Alex nodded and slowly slipped out of bed, making his way over to the drawers. He quickly found the potion and went back over to Cass, silently passing him the potion before sitting down next to him.

He drinks it quickly, wincing as he curls in slightly, and it slowly starts to work. He groans and opens his eyes, looking at Alex. “Shit. What the hell did I tell you?” He asks, mentally cursing himself.

“You didn’t tell me shit, fuckass. So don’t worry.” Alex muttered, looking away from Cass as he answered. He was completely aware that he was a terrible liar, and he could only hope that Cassius was too hungover to tell. “All you did was have an argument with the floor, which was bloody hilarious.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.” He hisses, rolling out of the bed. “Oh fuck off.” He grunts, stumbling into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. Of course he told. He’s an emotional drunk.

Alex sighed and followed him, sitting outside the bathroom. “If it means anything, you called me Gingersnap. You also said I had a temper.” He said, chuckling softly. “Listen, I promise you didn’t say much. I mean yeah sure, you said some conerning things, but you weren’t up front about anything.” 

He grunts in response, tossing a shampoo bottle in anger. Of course he did. “What things?” He sighs, bracing himself on the sink, preparing for the worst. “And don’t lie to me.”

Cass’ last sentence made Alex go quiet. That’s exactly what his mother would say whenever she questioned him. “You- You said something about deserving everything your father did to you, and how you hope you die.” He said after a few seconds. “You also mentioned something about having a younger sister.”

He curses loudly, slamming his head into the wall. “For fucks sake, Cass.” He grunts, sliding down the wall. He can’t believe he did that. “Last night didn’t happen, you hear me?”

He could hear Cass slam his head against the wall, although he chose not to say anything, not wanting to aggrivate him. “Yes, sir- Cass.” Alex replied without hesitation, sighing at his own little slip up.

He starts silent, brooding in the bathroom and ignoring the trickle of blood coming from his forehead. He’s pissed at himself for blabbing. He’s never coming back drunk again. He’ll just pass out somewhere else.

After a few moments of silence, Alex quietly sighed. He was almost certain Cassius would probably want a new roommate after last night. “I’ll go and talk to the headmaster about getting you a better roommate after I finish packing.” He muttered, turning and walking over to his bed before beginning to pack his things into his suitcase.

He sighs and opens the door. At least if Alex knows, he doesn’t have to worry about telling someone again. “Don’t go.” He murmurs, looking at the floor. “Please.” He tries to tell himself that he doesn’t want Alex to go simply so that he doesn’t tell someone else, but really, he doesn’t want yet another person to walk away from him.

“Why? I thought you’d be thrilled at the idea of having someone else as a roommate. Maybe this time you can have some cute thing for you to fuck.” He muttered with a small shrug, continuing to pack without turning to look over at Cass. “I promise you won’t have to deal with me again, and I won’t tell anyone about last night.”

He walks over and holds his wrist gently. "Alex, please." He says quietly. "And I rarely say please, let alone twice in a row." He murmurs. He's vulnerable now that he's sober and he hates it. "Now that you know, I guess I can vent to you more. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be on so many drugs that I don't know my own name anymore, but it's all I can do. I don't have someone to talk to. My sister's too traumatized. I want to help her, but I can't. Not like this."

He shakes her hand gently. He likes this girl. She seems gentle, yet an outcast. “What’re you painting?” He asks, glancing at the canvas. He’s a bit of an artist himself.

His touch was kind and delicate. Meera pulled her hand back and glanced over her should at the canvas. “It’s a mother lion who lost her cub,” she explained and looked back over at Cassius, “She’s sad and scared that she can’t find them. The only reason she’s smiling is because she’s dreaming of them.”

That breaks his heart a little bit. The girl is so young, but she knows so much already. “It’s beautiful.” He says softly. He knows he wants to adopt her. “Look, I came here today to find a kid to adopt, and I’ve found you. Do you want to come home with me?”

“Thank you.” Meera liked this man very much. She could just tell that he was kind and caring. She froze a little and looked at him with wide eyes. “R-Really? You want to adopt me?”

He nods. “Yeah, I would, but only if you want to come with me. I won’t force you to if you don’t want to.” He smiles warmly.

Her face brightened up. “I’d love to!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around him tightly. As she was basking in the moment, Meera quickly pulled away. “S-Sorry,” she murmured awkwardly and glanced down at her feet.

He pauses for a moment, caught off guard, but he snaps out of it once she lets go. “Don’t be sorry, kiddo.” He smiles happily, opening his arms and offering another hug to her. “I’m excited to take care of you.”

Meera looks back up at him and smiles. She hugs him one more tightly. She lets out a content sigh and her eyes flutter shut. It felt nice to hug someone again.

He hugs back gently, enjoying the moment. When he pulls away, he smiles at her. “Here, let’s go and collect your things and then we can go and sign the papers.” He says happily.

Meera nodded. Before they left the room, she quickly took her painting of the stand and set it on the desk. She then walked over to Cassius out of the class. A smile was plastered on her face, she was finally getting adopted.

He follows happily. “We can bring the painting too. I have an art studio in my house. You can finish it there.” He says softly as they walk. “I hope you’ll like the house.”

“I’d love that,” she smiled. While Cassius went to go fill out paperwork, Meera packed up her clothes and belongings. After, she walked out with her truck dragging along behind her.

He smiles her as he signs the last paper. “Ready to go, kiddo?” He asks happily, standing up from his chair.

He offers her his hand. “Do you want to stop for lunch before we go home?” He offers, leading her outside and to his car. “We can get anything you want.”

“Sure,” she says excitedly. Meera holds onto his hand as they exit the orphanage and make their was to his car. Once they get there, she attempts to lift her suitcase into the trunk.

He smiles and lifts it for her, closing the trunk. “Anywhere in particular you want to go for lunch?” He asks, opening the back door for her.

Meera smiled up at him when he helped her. “No, I’m alright with anything,” she said as she walked into the car and slipped into the passenger seat.

He smiles and gets into his seat, buckling in. “I’m craving a burger right now.” He chuckles, setting off once she’s buckled in. “McDonald’s sound good?”

She nods, “Okay.” Meera buckles her seatbelt and happily watches out the window as they drive. She’s never really gone out past the land of the orphanage, except when she would go to the main church of town.

“Tell me about yourself, kiddo.” He grins. “What kind of things do you like?” He asks, glancing at her for a moment.

“Painting,” Meera answered, “I also really love to read. That’s it. It’s boring…I guess that’s why the other girls don’t like me.” A small frown appears on her lips and she looked down at her lap.

“Reading’s not boring.” He reassures. “I love to read.” He tells her with a small smile. “Don’t think about that, okay? You don’t have to see them again. I like you, that’s why I adopted you. You’re great, kiddo.”

Meera glances up at him and smiles. “Thank you,” she murmured softly. She then went back to looking out the window.

He smiles and pulls into the McDonald’s drive thru. “What would you like, kiddo?” He asks her, looking at the menu and deciding on his own.

“A happy meal please,” she asks. “What do you like to do? Besides paint.” Meera wanted to know everything about Cassius.

“Well, I love my job. I’m a highschool teacher.” He smiles. “I like to cook, dance, play soccer.” He shrugs before he orders their food.

“You’re a teacher?” she glanced over and smiled at him, “That must be fun. What do you teach?”

“It is.” He grins. “I teach history, mostly to the 12th graders.” He explains happily, pulling up to the window and paying. “What’s your favourite school subject?” He asks.

She gave a small chuckle, “Art and English.” Meera was a very bright girl and did well in all of her clases. However, the other subjects bored her to death that she wanted to stuff the textbook down the teacher’s throat.

“I was quite good at both of those in school.” He smiles happily. “Do you want to get some new outfits for school this weekend?” He asks.

“I get new clothes too?” she asked excitedly. Meera felt so happy. Like when she was with her first family, the Jensens.

“Yeah. You get anything you want, kiddo.” He grins at her, taking their food from the cashier and passing Meera hers. “Here you go.”

She smiled brightly, “Thank you. You’re very kind.”

He smiles warmly. "I just want the best for you." He says softly. "But you're welcome."