Verus nodded simply at her words. So then, she would not want him to kill in the arena, if he could avoid it. There was an issue in that, than, in that if the crowd wanted blood... They would receive it. The man couldn't simply ignore the bloodthirsty savages that called themselves people who gawked down as men, MEN, spilled their blood into the sand. Nor could he ignore the wishes of the emperor, who would almost certainly want to see him fight, make sure that the investment was worth it. Make sure he had the stomach to serve the royal family.

He movement caught him by surprise, Verus half-expecting her to actually go through with it. However, he also knew that she would almost certainly not be so... Free with her body towards him. Thus, there was no surprise when she instead turned away, walking towards the door with an almost prophetic prediction. Or perhaps it was simply luck, or maybe she hadn't intended to intercept the meal at all. Regardless, the door opened up before her, multiple platters laden with very enticing food being laid out on a table. The thing that caught his attention the most, however, was the jug of wine. Verus had, like all Romans, partaken of the drink several times, though not recently, and he highly doubted any wine he'd had would match up to the drink fit for royalty.

He walked over to the table, looking over the food with an almost suspicious look. It had been about a year since his last meal that he'd actually enjoyed, and nothing could equal the feast offered before him. He moved his hands about carefully. He seemed even more tense about picking the food up, despite how confident he'd been earlier. When it came down to it, Verus was still humbled by what he'd been offered, and truly didn't know how to react. He assumed that Claudia would likely find his actions humorous as well, given how uncomfortable he looked. Eventually though, Verus relaxed enough to begin eating normally, using the slices of bread with the meat and cheese. That was one meal that he did know, though it was still much higher quality than anything he'd eaten before. The same went for the grapes, Verus popping a few into his mouth and closing his eyes as the sweet taste flooded his mouth as they popped under his teeth.

Reaching over, he brought up his stone glass of wine, bringing it to his lips and taking a large draft of the crimson drink. The entire time, he'd been silent, focusing more on enjoying his meal rather than talk. He also ran over her words through his mind several times, thinking of what she had told him. A bath, this meal... Hell, his life was already better for having been given to her. At this rate, he would be glad to serve her... Not that he'd let her know that, of course. He still had to maintain his appearance, maintain that he was still to be treated as a human. If he acted like a servant, as a slave, in the end, she would treat him like one.

"I must say... I feel that you missed a great party on my behalf..." He let out a soft chuckle, before eating another piece of bread, chewing the soft stuff with his eyes closed again. "You're being much kinder to me than I had expected you to be... I feel that I need to thank you for that, given that you have no reason to do anything other than throw me into a cage and let me out once in awhile to stretch my legs. As I said before, I'll do my best to follow your wishes... I owe you that much atleast." He sounded grateful, but at the same time firm. He wasn't groveling, he was stating mere facts, and they were truthful in their entirety. His new owner treated him better than anyone else had in years. He had no reason not to be grateful, for such kindness.