He's Sincere

"Do you really not know what this is? You're not joking?"

"I don't think I can joke about something like this. It looks too... Dry,"

Riley tried to calm her heart as she stared at this strange boy. What kind of human being didn't know what Pizza was!? She brought out something else and threw it to him!

"What is this!?"

Quinn fumbled to catch it and then he looked at the package.

"Uh... Chips?"

Riley sighed. Oh. At least he knew what these -

"What is this?"

BaDump!

Ah! My heart can't take this! What human doesn't know the wonders of chips!? He has to be lying! He had to be! But Riley couldn't see any lies in his eyes! This boy didn't even know what a potato chip was!?

"What kind of food do you even eat!? How don't you know about this!?"

Riley was now halfway off her seat and leaning towards Riley. Her eyes were wide and she coughed when she realized she just shouted at him. Dammit! She got too excited!

Quinn thought for a moment before he could answer. The truth was that he actually never ate any of these things before. What was Pizza? He eats normal food. Oyster, ratatouille, caviar with chicken breast. And that was for breakfast! Why would they be eating Pizza?

But now that he thought about it, was it possible that the food he eats isn't normal? Quinn had been a sheltered child all his life and he never left his family estate before. To tell the truth, he ran away from home not too long ago and somehow ended up coming all the way to the other side of Japan. He wasn't used to food like this because he always had his meals prepared by a legion of chefs every day. They never failed to make a full course meal for him!

But can he say something like that to Riley? I don't think I need to tell her all that.

"Uh, I just never ate them before. I've eaten normal food before, of course! Normal food!"

Riley narrowed her eyes at him before she sat back down. He was acting strange. It was obvious he was hiding something! Nobody that eats normal food doesn't know what Pizza is! But she decided not to ask him too many questions! It's none of my business so why should I go out of my way to start questioning him? Let's just eat.

"Just grab one of those triangles from the box and pop it in your mouth. It'll blow your mind, trust me,"

Quinn slowly took the pizza like Riley told him to and put it inside his mouth. His eyes widened and Riley laughed at his expression! He definitely never tasted pizza before! That expression is priceless!

Quinn, meanwhile, was lost in another world for a few seconds. By the time he came back to this world, it was to the sight of Riley laughing while pointing at him.

She was absolutely beautiful like that. Her rough hair was flying about in that uneven bun and she had this youthful glow around her that just made her seem unattainable. Riley's defining trait was a mole under her lip that accentuated her beauty and Quinn noticed she was the sort of person to cover it up while laughing. Was she insecure about it? Or was it just a trait she picked up?

"You're staring,"

"You're beautiful,"

Riley blinked in surprise and Quinn jolted in shock! Shit! He was just analyzing her! He didn't mean to say it out loud!

Riley coughed into her hand with a small blush and then told him to get back to the meal. The two of them didn't say very much to each other for the rest of that night.

.....

The next morning was Sunday and Riley didn't have to go anywhere for the whole day! She was used to lying in bed all day and only moving when she got hungry enough to start rolling around restlessly! But there was something wrong today.

Crash!

Groan!

Scrap! Scrap! Scrap!

"What the fuck are you doing - !!?"

Riley sat up in bed forcefully while rowing her blanket to her feet and she froze when she saw Quinn standing in front of her door. It would have been fine if he wasn't wearing an apron and holding a broom in his hands. What the hell?

"Uh... Hey? I just... I couldn't sleep?"

Was that meant to be a question? I don't think so. This boy is messing with my room!?

"Woah! Wait! I'm not doing anything! I'm just cleaning this pigs- !!"

Quinn shut up immediately before he could complete his statement and Riley narrowed her eyes at him angrily! He was just about to call it a pigsty, wasn't he!? This bastard! If it's so bad then you can just leave!

Riley breathed out deeply and then took a look around. To tell the truth, there was once a time when she didn't even know what her floorboards looked like. Was it always made of wood? And since when has she had a blanket!?

Riley turned to Quinn again with a questioning look and he chuckled while scratching his neck. He didn't know how to survive in a place this filthy so he couldn't just leave it dirty. It was both for him and also a way to thank her for letting him stay. Mainly for her though! Not because this place was so dirty that he couldn't even close his eyes for more than ten seconds while lying on that floor! Not for that reason at all!

Riley sighed and flopped back to the bed. She couldn't even tell him off because he was basically helping her. He was like a puppy that wrecks your garden while chasing away a thief. It did bad, but it also did good.

"Fine, whatever. Are you hungry? You can finish up and - I said don't touch that!"

Riley shot off the bed when Quinn was about to grab onto some of her papers and she dragged them away from him. She made sure that the papers were fine before she turned to him with another glare. The shock on his face was so great. It was just some papers. Why did she not want him to touch it that badly?

"I told you what would happen if you touch my drawings, right!?"

"Yeah. Sorry! I just wanted to look at it. I always wanted to draw too and I just thought..."

"You thought what? That you can copy my work?"

"No! No! I just... Can you teach me how to draw?"

Riley deadpanned before she stood tall and scratched her hair. What was this idiot saying? Did he think drawing was some kind of joke?

"You don't understand anything if you think that drawing can be learned in one day. Just forget it and don't touch my work again,"

Riley turned away from him, but Quinn wasn't going to give up that easily!

"Wait! I - I don't need you to teach me everything! Just the basics! I really want to learn it!"

"You can't just learn drawing in one day! It takes time and it is hard! Don't undermine all the effort put into this because you don't understand it! Let me guess, you think it's pretty right! You think that just because it's pretty you also want to do it! Well, it's not just something pretty, it's far more than that! It's the soul and spirit of someone that put their all into it! It's something you won't understand if you're just looking at it because it's pretty!"

Quinn took a step back in shock as Riley finished shouting at him. He squeezed his hand and grit his teeth. He still won't back down.

"Yes, I think it's beautiful. I think it's everything that I don't have so I want to have it too! So please, even if I'm not looking at it properly! Teach me!"

He was sincere. That was the only thought they went through Riley's mind now. Everything he said was sincere. He didn't have any other motive for this other than for the fact that it was beautiful. How stupid. For someone to just go into something because it looks good. Where is your heart? Where is your passion?

"Fine,"

What am I doing? Did I not say it was harder than that?

"I'll teach you how to draw the basics,"

Is it that easy to teach someone? I've never taught anyone before. Why can't I just say no to him? Why does it feel like I'll regret it if I refuse him for some reason? Like I can't get out of this now that I'm in. What am I doing?

Riley was confused, but she still decided to go through with this. It was just one weekend and there was no way he would be able to learn anything in that time anyway.