Benjamin rubbed one of Teru's knees as he continued looking at the pale young man in front of him. "Well, you don't need to worry about that. I can have tutors come in and teach you things when I'm not here, and you're welcome to my library anytime."

Teru nodded but didn't look at Benjamin when he spoke of reading and being tutored. In all honesty, Teru couldn't read much farther than a sixth grader because he had been taken so early in his schooling. Taken from school as well. That was the real kicker. His parents hadn't even come to pick him up so... he was naive enough to get into a car with a man who said his parents told him to get Teru from school. He clenched his fists. "Thank you Sir."

Benjamin glanced down noticing the clenched fists. "Teru...what's wrong? You feel tense all of a sudden. Was it something I said?" he asked in concern as he covered on me of those fists with a gentle hand.

Teru looked up at the man and bit his lip. "Ah... Well... i... Uhm..." He stopped himself and looked back down at his legs. "I can't... I can't read any higher than a sixth grader... And I'm twenty five..."

Benjamin gently pushed some white hair behind one of Teru's ears. "That's what tutors are for...I can even hire a tutor to teach you another instrument if you'd like. I don't want you to be so uncomfortable or not really confident in yourself. I know you can learn."

Teru looked up at Benjamin as the man put his white locks behind his ear. Ruby reds almost brimming with tears because he believed that Benjamin would now find his stupid and lowly. He rubbed at his eyes roughly and wiped the unshed tears away before nodding to his Master. "I-I just didn't know what you would think of me... My old masters wanted someone smart because they wanted me to do thing I didn't understand and when I asked I was always called stupid and beat and ... and..." He stopped himself but pushed onward. "I-I didn't want you to think I was stupid... I'm not.. I promise... I-I can learn.." He sounded so desperate, even to himself. Desperate for the approval and to not be kicked out. Desperate to not be called a name and told he couldn't do something because of his education level. He was just so broken that he didn't even know what to say sometimes, making him feel stupid to himself. He sat there, staring at Benjamin with fear and worry in his eyes. Fear of the man becoming like his old masters and worry that Benjamin would see how flawed he was.

Benjamin frowned after hearing what Teru said before he pulled Teru's arms around him before pulling Teru onto his lap as he remained on the bathroom floor. Teru was so broken. He needed a lot of mending to and fixing inside and out, but he was willing to do anything to mend all of the wounds from Teru's past masters. "Teru...I would never think you were ignorant, dumb, or anything like that. You are a very intelligent individual, even without the tutoring. If you are willing to learn, then I will give you as much knowledge as possible." he said softly.

Teru let Benjamin pull him into the wealthy man's lap. The broken man wrapped his arms around Benjamin's chest and buried his face into the crook of the man's neck, unshed tears threatening to spill forth. He gripped his own wrists and nodded against Benjamin's neck before he turned his head to rest his cheek on his master's shoulder. "Yes sir. Thank you sir. I'm willing to learn... I want to be smart. Or at least attempt to become smarter than I am."

"Then I will assign you a tutor or two and even help you learn to read so you can get some more knowledge from the books in my study." Benjamin replied softly as he rubbed Teru's sides slowly out of wanting to comfort the white-haired male.

Teru nuzzled into Benjamin's shoulder, the man's cheek pressed against the wealthy man's bone. He sighed heavily and relaxed against the man. He placed his hands on Benjamin's waist and lightly gripped the flesh. "Thank you Sir... I will... I will learn what I can."