A Hot Meal

Apr 13th, 2012 07:50 PM

Nora arrived at the Methodist church a little before 5:00pm. They didn't actually start serving dinner until 6 pm, but they started passing out the meal tickets at 5:30, and by that time there was already a line down the steps. Anyone showing up then was likely not to make it in that night. Since they only served hot meals once a week, it really wasn't something she wanted to miss. She always made sure to get there by 5 pm to get a place near the front of the line.

A few people had started lining up already, but she didn't see any point in getting in line before Dominyk showed up, since she would have to move to the back to stand with him anyway. She looked around to see if she could find him. There were about a dozen people there, older women in tattered clothes, a mom and two kids, a few men with matted hair, some a family with a baby, and some other younger people like herself, who were probably runaways. No Flower Fairies yet, she thought to herself, sure that she'd be able to see the tall Changeling with flowers in his hair among this crowd.

**Dominyk Prise** · Apr 14th, 2012 08:31 AM

Dominyk arrived exactly three minutes before five. She had said five o’clock sharp, and he was just a little early. The address she had written down....was not something he had expected. But then he hadn’t been truly hungry for years, Alicia saw to that. At least he had the sense to not change after work. Instead the dark polo was the same, as were the jeans, and the light denim jacket was the same one he had worn in the morning.

He stuck out obviously in such a crowd, he managed to keep the slight shock off his face as he approached the church.

Not my first choice, but as the lady wishes it.

He stood there, almost adrift, and looking throughly lost, it had been a long time. He felt a light tug on his jacket hem and saw a small, dirty girl; instinctively he looked around to see where the girl belonged, as he felt the stir of hunger.

Not here, not now.

Apr 14th, 2012 11:58 AM

Nora saw the tall, handsome, smartly dressed fae stand there looking... rather awkward in the crowd. She chuckled a little, hoisted her backpack over her shoulders, and walked over to him. A little girl had wandered from her mom and was trying to get Dominyk's attention. I guess the ladies like him. Nora smiled at the girl, as she approached and greeted her gently, "Hey there, li'l mamas. You ready for dinner?." Nora raised her eyebrows and smiled enthusiastically, prompting the girl to smile back. "So," she said, now looking up at Sir Flower. "You made it. Good for you. I hope you're hungry."

Just then an older woman approached their group and proclaimed, "It's gonna be good tonight, because the Lord is Good and he provides!"

To which Nora immediately responded passionately, "Oh, yes he does!"

"He is Good! Yes he is, yes he is! Y'all have a good meal tonight, ok?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am! You too! And thank you, ma'am!"

"God bless you, both!"

"And you, too ma'am!" Nora called out after the woman as she continued walking. She then turned to Dominyk and shrugged. Something she discovered early on was that whenever there is free food, there is always at least one person wandering through the crowd praising the Lord. Nora found it was best to just respond in kind. "We better get in line for our tickets."

**Dominyk Prise** · Apr 14th, 2012 06:43 PM

Dominyk smiled down at the girl, he felt beyond out of place. He looked wrong, and this was, in no way, his scene. He squatted down next to the little one and gave her a smile. “So, Little Miss Daisy, do you come here often? he asked the child, who only seemed to blush in response. “Go back to your Mama.” He said moving the girl away, “And maybe the Lady Hazel here will convince me to tell a story.” He looked at the other winter, and wondered how she could stand it.

He watched the girl walk off before standing again. “Well, Lady Nora, this isn’t what I expected.” he said to his court-sister as he waved at the religious loony that walked by spouting words about some male version of Gefn or something. “But lead on.”

Apr 14th, 2012 11:26 PM

"How you doing' there, huh?" The street youth Wizened asked her dinner companion, noticing he looked somewhat ill at ease. She smiled inwardly, probably enjoying watching him be as uncomfortable as she was when he caught her trying to steal a book. Good. Let him squirm! Nora lead them to the back of the line, which only had about a dozen people, but they could see more coming quickly from all directions.

"Sooo..." Nora started awkwardly, realizing they really didn't have anything in common besides being Changelings, which was not something they could discuss out in the open among humans. Of course, half these guys are probably nuts. And the other half would just think we were nuts and leave us alone...

"So long have you lived here? Do you know a lot of... People?" she asked cautiously.

**Dominyk Prise** · Apr 15th, 2012 07:53 AM

He stifled the emotions he was feeling under a mask of...something. It was a difficult look to pull off, but somehow he managed it, especially with the air of the place. Instead he flashed the youth a sharp smile, “Quite fine, for someone out of their atmosphere.”

As they waited in the line, the tall man with flowers in his hair and the short beige-ish girl. He looked down at her, and her questions. His own thoughts were starting to speed up, under the ice he was collecting under his skin. “I’ve been here since January, I know a few people. I spend a lot of time at a library and I’ve had my talks with them here and there. How long have you been on the streets?”

Just ignore it, Dominyk. Just ignore it.

Apr 16th, 2012 10:58 AM

When Dominyk asked so bluntly about her being on the street, Nora hesitated answering, but only for a moment. She then realized that it was probably pretty obvious by this point.

"Hrmm... Well, I guess since I've been back, about a year and a half ago." Nora had no concern about saying things like "away" and "back" in this crowd. Many were quite transient, going from town to town, or state to state, and jail time was also fairly common. No one would be too interested in that. "I was in homes and stuff before, and I'd run run away a lot, so I spent time out here then. Then I ran away pretty far, and I went with them. So then I was inside for, you know, like 6 years. And now I'm back," She finished with a shrug.

Just then a voice at the front of the line could be heard. It was a well-dressed woman, calling for everyone's attention. "I will begin distributing the meal tickets from the front of the line. Every person receives one ticket. You may not hold a place in the line for anyone, you may not take an extra ticket for anyone. The tickets will be distributed until they run out. Only those holding tickets will be allowed inside. Anyone not holding a ticket is asked to please return next week."

Nora looked back at Dominyk with an uncharacteristically perky smile, "Well, this is us! I hope you like cornbread. They always have cornbread."

As the woman walked down the line, many people smiled and thanked her. In fact, on the whole, many people looked to be in decent spirits. There were a few men and women angrily muttering, a few people looking far away, sad or maybe ashamed. Overall, though, most of the people looked... normal. Like they maybe went to school or work that day, like they were bathed and appropriately dressed. Sure, some were probably chronically homeless like Nora, but many were just working poor, temporarily displaced or in need of a little extra help. If Nora had been in the habit of feeding off of human emotion, this may not be the banquet of Sorrow one would assume.

**Dominyk Prise** · Apr 16th, 2012 11:40 PM

The fairest licked his lips, wetting them almost nervously. He made a noncommittal sound to the Wizened. “Next time, Lady Nora, next time I’m choosing the venue.” He smiled as he took the meal ticket, and looked at it.

He didn’t need it, there were others that did, maybe he would just give it off to someone else. He could, after all, eat somewhere else or even at his house. He could probably feed everyone here, it was an odd thought, really: being able to feed everyone there and yet masquerading as one of them.

It made him feel sick to his stomach.

Apr 17th, 2012 02:24 AM

"Oh, yeah? And where does His Fair Lordship Flower prefer to dine? Creme de le Hoity Toity?" Nora said with her nose tilted in the air and wearing a dour expression. She laughed then and nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. Well, again, it would have been his ribs, if he wasn't so damn tall! What she got instead was possibly his kidney. If he even still had kidneys, that is.

"So, Lady Killer, where do you usually take your dates? You look like somebody who's got 'em lined up. Are you wooing anybody right now?" She asked in a very playful, kid-sister kind of way. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and Nora could see he was the handsome, romantic type. She just wasn't affect by that kind of thing. She had too much else on her mind, like food and shelter.

Nora could see the end of the line, and that only a few people had been turned away. No families, though.

**Dominyk Prise** · Apr 17th, 2012 10:58 AM

“If that’s supposed to be some dig on my stature or the way that I speak, m’lady, I do not appreciate it.” He said rubbing at the place where she had elbowed him. “And in what sense am I a ‘Lady Killer’, I have a hard enough time dealing with my practice sessions.” He raised a single eyebrow and shook his head slightly at her questions.

“Jumping to a lot of conclusions today, aren’t you?”

A Hot Meal

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