How to Make a Sinner Sleep

107 | threats; steaming sweet potatoes

tw: mild display of eating disorder

Two trays clattered on the ground, outside the sturdy bars that kept Noah entrapped. He'd tested it during his expanse of free time, realizing that they'd been reinforced by some sort of magic or material.

Noah blinked his eyes open lazily, peering up at the frowning pink-haired man as he reluctantly crouched down, sitting on the ground.

Kaden started poking at his food, similarly as plain as Noah's—even though Noah's was prison food. The dragon squinted at his tray and saw a few ugly chopped slices of fruit on a small plate.

It made his meal even more luxurious than Kaden's.

The thought irked him as his scrutinizing gaze bored into the fool. Kaden said nothing, only cutting and poking at his food while taking a tentative bite every few minutes. It would've been a perfect performance of eating, had the food decreased on his tray.

Noah propped up one leg as he moved, chains raking against the cold ground as his hands stretched through the bar to pick up a piece of fruit.

Still, there was no acknowledgment. It appeared that he was getting the silent treatment.

Two grown men in a prison, both three years older than they'd once been, now throwing tantrums. The thought made Noah snort lightly, eliciting a glance from Kaden.

Noah picked at the fruits, raising an ugly, peeled, and uneven chunk that was clearly done by a pair of unskilled hands. He looked at the gloved hands poking at the food and wondered if there had been new scars added.

He tore himself away from that curiosity, the deep need to know the many scars across the man's body, the need to know every detail and every change that had occurred since Kaden lay there, exposed before him.

When his teeth chewed down on the white flesh, sweet and fresh juices seeped into his mouth. Noah bit off another piece of the apple, breaking it in half in his mouth.

Calmly, he opened his mouth after swallowing. "These are very ugly."

He started with the fruits, observing the ugly and clearly rigid, unskilled knife work. Chewing one, tasting the sweet and fresh juices seep into his mouth, he stated, "These are very ugly."

"Not only have you started hunger strikes, you're also now a food connoisseur?" replied Kaden blandly, his hands moving away from the food. "Spit it out then."

Noah shook his head stubbornly, squinting judgingly at another chunk of fruit before popping it into his mouth. He stretched a hand out to grab another.

Then, his tray was rudely dragged away.

"You've lost your fruit privileges," said Kaden bitterly, frowning.

Noah stared at him deeply, cheeks protruding from the fruit he had already stuffed into his mouth as his chilling black eyes remained fixated on Kaden. It was comical, and Kaden smiled viciously.

"You're being irritating, dearest Bellamy."

"I'm being observant," Noah carefully savoured the uneven pieces in his mouth, thinking of the hands that were likely injured from cutting them crudely. "You seemed to appreciate my attentiveness several nights ago."

Kaden choked and Noah took the moment to snatch his long arms through the bars, dragging the tray back as he deposited the rest of the fruits into his palm.

He blinked long and hard as he placed another ragged piece into his mouth, deliberately chewing. Kaden stared in disbelief, clicking his tongue before he went back to stabbing at his dish with more vigour.