He found it funny. Wasn't taking Rowan from that place against his will considered kidnapping? If anything, Duke had already kidnapped the man. It's just that… should he have left Rowan on his own? The man was dying, after all.
"I'll be more mindful…" Rowan sighed in relief as he sat down.
He looked around the car and realized that the interior was indeed different. It didn't have the custom blue and gold finish inside—just as Connie wanted it. Neither did the custom dancer on the dashboard present to annoy Rowan.
The two cars only had the same model and the same color; nothing more.
Duke didn't know what triggered Rowan's fear, but he figured it had something to do with the car. He just recently bought this car; it might not be too late to exchange it for something else. Besides, he could just sell it to anyone he knew and recover his expenses.
…
The car ride was quiet, aside from Rowan's occasional sudden questions about Duke's food preference. It was as if Rowan was planning out even the brand to get, not just the ingredients. It somewhat scared Duke, but he comforted himself with the fact that he had friends who were weirder than this.
Rowan didn't even bother to look out of the window. He cared too little about the sleepy look of Wailing Veil as if he was a local here. Then again, even the locals would often look around as if begging for more action in the day.
After all, the night was a far more dangerous world. None of them wanted to be outside by then.
"…shopping might take a while…" Rowan walked inside the grocery and took a big cart from the metal snake. He then turned to Duke, who was only watching him closely. "Do you want me to just wait for you somewhere else? I think I can find you if it's somewhere close…"
"I can't shop with you?" Duke lifted his brows. Rowan only stared at him before he waved his hand. "Don't worry. I'll just walk with you or man the cart. Don't think too much about this."
Rowan looked down at the cart and nodded a little. He let Duke push the cart as he walked on ahead. The man took out a handwritten list from his pocket, and he started looking for the definite ingredients written on it. However, he didn't have problems switching to other things. The way Rowan whispered to himself made the trip more amusing to Duke.
Ring! Duke's phone just went off in the middle of their grocery trip. However, Duke answered it quickly so as to not distract Rowan too much.
"I'm in the middle of an important matter. Call me back later," Duke said as he looked down at the various items Rowan carefully put in the cart. They were even placed systematically so as not to appear like a small mountain of junk.
"…hm? Oh, no, I don't have it." Duke pulled his lips in an evil smile, only glancing at Rowan to make sure the cart continued to follow the poor guy. "Ask your sisters. Maybe they saw it. Stop insisting."
Rowan held two things in his hands, seemingly choosing between them. He then sought Duke's gaze to ask a question, so Duke just ended the call without saying anything more. Duke asked, "What's wrong? Can't tell which you like more?"
The poor guy shook his head. "No. Uh, both of them are good… I just… Which do you think is better? I mean… I like to eat both, but…"
"Take both. We still have a lot of room in our cart." Duke chuckled. This poor guy bought every piece of ingredients needed for Duke's 'favorite' dishes, but he scrimped on his own food.
"Actually, I'm looking forward to eating Rowan's favorite food, too. Who knows? I might like some of them." Duke just said to keep Rowan from choosing. However, the poor guy only stared at him after he said so. "Is… something wrong?"
Rowan looked at the cart. "…we might need more if I… Ah, no, I'll just find a way to make them without spending too much of Duke's money…"
Duke couldn't help but frown. "Money isn't an issue. If you need it, we can shop again next week. Don't hold back and cook as much as you want… cook for me as much as you want."
"That's too much… but I'll remember that…" Rowan only nodded again and placed both things in his hand in the cart. "Uhm, we should move along. Duke, do you have preferred desserts? I don't think you mentioned anything earlier."
"…anything with ice cream is good. Can we go with your preferred flavor?"
…
Duke didn't realize how exhausting it was to deal with Rowan. The poor guy was folding so much that he was like bent metal. He was only catering to all of Duke's requests, but he didn't want to put his own interests forward. How ridiculous, how cruel was this Scott person?
When they got home, Rowan still went straight to organizing everything they bought. Duke peeked into the kitchen and saw a small smile on Rowan's lips. It seemed like the poor guy was already happy to refill the empty kitchen. He was even doing it so efficiently as if he was used to doing this… and other domestic tasks as if a very enthusiastic housewife.
At this, Duke only dropped the matter for now. He was only with Rowan for a few days. It was impossible for him to reshape Rowan to his liking just as fast. He should just deal with exchanging the car for something else… and that ringing phone on the side.
"Reeva, you already scolded me so much…" Duke answered the phone with a sigh. However, he frowned at the floor. "…who in the world would ask something like that from me?"
His voice was extremely angry, but it was not rising to a yell. However, even the most minute snarls of anger would reach Rowan's ears. Rowan stopped working on the groceries and moved to the door. He started listening to Duke's growling and calm argument with the person on the phone.
However, no matter how upset Duke was, he seemed helpless. Rowan wondered what they were fighting about. It's just that Duke suddenly glanced in the direction of the kitchen door. Rowan quickly pulled away and ran to the counter as if he was not eavesdropping. His hands trembled as he picked up the cans and placed them inside the cupboard.
"Rowan…" Duke's voice came from the door, but it was like a sharp sword driving itself through Rowan. It made the other person freeze in his spot.
Then a hand slid to the side of Rowan's waist.
"Rowan, don't bother making my favorite tonight. I don't want to eat dinner." Duke sighed from behind Rowan. His hand even crawled across Rowan's tummy. "I'll be at the studio. Just eat and sleep. Don't disturb me anymore tonight."