Derek was a little startled at the sudden hug and rush of emotion, though he caught her and tentatively patted her back soothingly, still a tad bit stunned at the force of her gratitude but glad he could help and make someone feel so thankful.
She stared after him for a moment, eyes flicking to Derek, pad dangling limply from her hand. That simply? That easily, people took her in? A rush of relief, akin to the one she felt earlier in the day, overtook her, and she blinked hard so as not to cry. Putting the pad down, she couldn’t stop the huge grin from spreading across her face, and didn’t even try. Instead she all but bounded into the kitchen, leaning close to the chicken to sniff in a deep breath. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled again.
Derek raised an eyebrow as she just stared for a minute, but then he smiled a bit as she hopped up and dashed for the food. He was pleased to see a smile on her face. Isaac was a good one to talk to.
When she leaned over the food and sniffed, making her stomach growl, Derek laughed and Isaac chuckled. “Well go on,” Derek said, grabbing his and Isaac’s plate. “Don’t just sniff it, let’s eat.”
She mock-frowned at him, nose wrinkling, and snatched up her plate, holding it close to her nose the whole way to the table. Just the smells alone were heaven. Sitting down, she watched Derek, all but wriggling in her seat, to see when it was okay to eat.
As soon as she saw him take his first bite, she started in, and only some serious willpower kept her from devouring the whole plateful in less than five minutes. Halfway through, something occurred to her, and she struggled for a moment before darting after the pad. Scrawling in her haste to get back to the food, she wrote, ‘can I have a chalkboard?’