Over the next few days, the routine remained unforgivingly predictable. Rai was constantly targeted on the sofa at night, only left to clean himself up since Zade finally regained a shred of self-control, usually mid-way through, when he'd suddenly act like he cared about Rai's well-being.
It wouldn't stay like this forever. Rai just didn't know that yet. This was all to make Rai recover without a bother so he can feast on him soon.
By now, Rai never missed his place on that sofa when Zade walked through the door.
Zade had even started texting him arrival updates, giving Rai a heads-up on when to expect him. On nights when Zade was exceptionally late, Rai wouldn't keep up the charade of having late-night work , he would simply slip away to bed.
Eventually, even the illusion of "work" crumbled. Rai was no longer sleeping on the sofa or pretending to furiously type away on a laptop. Instead, he just sat there and watched TV, a habit entirely foreign to him.
