Oliver
Huh… so he’d been wrong about the accent, not only that, but Scottish people seemed to be a bit of a sore subject. He filed that away for future reference. Now that it had been pointed out, Oliver could definitely hear the Nordic tones in the man’s voice as he spoke. Oliver pushed down the embarrassment that bubbled up as he continued to listen, fascinated by the description of a life and family so completely different from his own. Thankfully, Suleykaar claimed to be more relaxed than the rest of his family, information that Oliver was immensely thankful for, and honestly, Oliver wasn’t surprised that he wanted to get away from them for a while, that kind of life sounded stressful.
Oliver took an instinctive step back as Suleykaar exhaled a particularly large cloud of smoke, the back of his calves bumping lightly against the hard frame of the bed he’d dumped his bag on. He didn’t mind other people smoking, but it wasn’t something he’d ever do himself, he’d tried it once at boarding school, and it had ended up with him bent double coughing, whilst everyone else laughed. Not exactly his proudest moment.
Oliver’s eyes widened when his roommate mentioned his finances, 87 billion… that was… a lot. Oliver had grown up around wealth, it was a part of everyday life, his father was a banker, friends with CEOs and MPs, but it seemed Suleykaar was in an entirely different league to most of those people, a fact which took Oliver by surprise, but something he was also kind of happy about. With that kind of money, it’d be pretty difficult for his father to get information out of this guy. Hopefully whoever Alice was roommates with would have similar financial security.
The question made Oliver pause, instantly tense, he dragged his fingers through his knotted hair, and shifted his weight, “That’s… kind of a long story…” his smile was strained, and he debated over whether to continue or not. On the one hand, it would only take a phone call for Suleykaar to turn Oliver and Alice in, on the other, they were roommates, he was bound to figure it out eventually, and he didn’t seem the type to turn them over.
Oliver sat down heavily, his knees suddenly deciding that they’d had enough of standing up, but he kept a wary eye on Suleykaar, “I guess… me and my friend, the one I said I was travelling with earlier… we weren’t so much travelling as we were running away,” he paused, trying to figure out how to say the next part, “I guess that sounds pretty cowardly, ‘running away’, but there really wasn’t any other option. My father is terrifying, or at least he is to us, he’s very old and very powerful, and he… well, he definitely wants to kill my friend, he probably wants to kill me too,” he tried to shrug, failing at nonchalance, “I didn’t really stick around to find out. “I heard about this place from one of my father’s enemies, a teacher here, we came here because it’s safer than the road, and it gives my friend, Alice, a chance to be normal again. I owe it to her, to keep her safe. It’s my fault her life was ruined, I know that sounds self-absorbed, but it’s true. I can’t let him hurt her any more than he already has… and wow I’m oversharing,” he chuckled, “sorry, it’s just a relief to tell someone…”
A thought crossed his mind, “Actually, do you mind if I ask a huge favour?” Oliver wasn’t sure how well he’d take this, but it was worth a try, “If you hear about anyone asking about me or Alice, please tell me? I’m trying to keep an eye out, but it’s pretty tough, and sometimes I miss things… I’d totally understand if you say no, but I’d be eternally grateful if you said yes…” he looked up at Suleykaar hopefully, mindful that he’d probably refuse. It wasn’t exactly a pretty mess to get caught up in, even if it was just keeping an open ear.