Morning dawned on the great city of Norlov, the grand capital of the kingdom. The sun was coming up later but it still remained some of the heat from summer. All the people living here were beginning their days in earnest, with many of the citizens already having been up for a while. The encroaching winter required much preparation for the survival of the people. In a city this large most of the food and firewood had to be acquired from the surrounding countryside and the amount needed was not to be underestimated.

There were however citizens that had less to worry about than others, some because of their wealth and others because of their connections. It was one of the latter that was waking up in their apartment at the moment. Timothy the high priest of the Goddess Jenna. Of course he and his father Zachery were doing their normal winter preparations, though should they need divine assistance it was sure to come with just a request.

These were the thoughts on Timothy's mind as he got out of his bed. He knew the goddess could make things easy for him but he didn't want to have to rely on that. After all one of the biggest aspects of his new work was community outreach. He had been tasked by the goddess to help others in need, something which he was doing today in fact.

The Grand Temple of the Sisterhood. Once long ago in the distant past it was an active temple dedicated to several goddesses, then it became a museum about the goddesses, and now after all this time had become a functioning temple again. Even though he was dragged away all the time by the goddess he still had important work to do as the high priest.

The voice of his father came from outside the room.

"Boy! You better be awake!"

"I am father!" Timothy replied.

He sighed and went to collect his clothing and prepared to dress himself. Just before he began undressing he suddenly stopped and stood up straight in shock. He had forgotten something very important: the fairy! She was a girl and he couldn't just dress in front of her.

As if in response to his alarm a small figure appeared from the small dresser on the side wall. It was the tiny fairy Salferia who had spent the night here. She had suddenly appeared in Timothy's life only yesterday and decided she wanted to travel around with him, thus she came home with him and slept here.

"Is it wakey time already?" she said rubbing her eyes. "What ever happened to enjoying life?"

Even though Goddess Jenna had made very specific threats to the fairy about her behavior around humans there was still a nagging fear in the back of Timothy's mind that she was going to cause a lot of trouble. She was a fairy after all and they were dangerous. Though he wasn't worried about his own personal safety due to the protections of the goddess there was still plenty of terrible things she could do. She was so cute though and for some reason he couldn't bring himself to fear her completely.

Timothy held his clothes close to his chest and blushed while looking at the fairy. He decided to take the firm approach and see how it worked.

"I have to get dressed before we leave for the temple. So you need to leave the room."

Salferia sighed and fluttered into the air.

"Aww you can dress in front of me human. It's nothing I haven't seen before."

This made him blush even more and he pointed to the door.

"Y-You don't want to see it anyway. So please leave!"

This brought a smirk to the fairy's lips.

"You got me. Better hurry up though!"

Without further encouragement Salferia flew past Timothy and out of the room. Then he closed to door and was left to change in privacy. While he did so he heard some conversation between his father and their new "friend." Thankfully the sudden arrival of a magical being wasn't a huge issue for his father. After all, he had met a literal goddess too. What's another mystical creature hanging around the apartment?

Once he was finished dressing Timothy opened the door and stepped out into the main room of their apartment. Zachery was just finishing his breakfast of some bread and porridge which had nuts mixed in. There was another bowl left there for Timothy.

Zachery stood up and grabbed his cloak from the knob it hung from on the wall.

"I except you and your new friend will be safe today. I've got to head to work so I'll see tonight. Barring the goddess taking you away again."

Timothy nodded and went to give his father a quick embrace by gripping each other's arms.

"Yes father! Thank you for leaving me out some porridge. You be safe as well!"

Salferia had landed on the table and was looking into the bowl.

"Hey! Where's my porridge?"

With a smile Zachery grabbed a spare spoon and dipped it into the bowl on the table. He then lifted a big scoop out and placed the spoon down a short distance away.

"There you are fairy. That should be plenty for you yeah?"

After letting out a huff and making a pouting face Salferia walked over to the spoon and looked down at it. For someone her size it was easily a trough's worth of food so she wouldn't be able to eat all of it. But it did smell very tasty and so she turned around and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's fine for now human. Next time I expect some fruit though!"

Timothy sat down and began eating his food.

"Fruit's too expensive for us right now. You could ask the goddess for some though."

Being reminded of Jenna made the fairy shudder and she sat down to eat her serving without further complaints.

"Th-This is fine for now..."

With a chuckle Zachery shook his head and walked over to the door.

"Life sure gets more interesting with each passing day. You take good care of her Tim."

Then with a final goodbye he left the apartment and closed the door behind him, leaving the two alone together.

Much to Timothy's relief the fairy wasn't very talkative while they were eating and they finished quickly. Once they were done he took his bowl and the spoon Salferia had eaten out of away and put them by the stove. They had also each had a drink of water: him from a cup and her from another spoon.

Salferia stood on the stove and brushed her hair back behind her shoulders.

"It's pretty dumb you don't have fruit."

Timothy sighed in response and turned around, grabbing his own cloak from the wall and putting it on. The fairy flew into the air and followed behind him as he walked to the door.

"I already told you its because we don't have the money for that. You know what money is right?"

"Yeah its also dumb" she replied.

This caused him to stop for a moment and think before replying but he couldn't think of a retort.

"I guess money is dumb. But that's how society works. Anyway you want to ride on my shoulder on the way to the temple?"

"Yeah!" she said fluttering over.

Salferia landed on Timothy's shoulder close to his neck and sat down. Her little legs dangled over and she cuddled up right where the cuff of the cloak was so she had something to hang on to, as well as somewhat hiding herself from the view of others they passed by.

Once his fairy friend was settled in Timothy opened the door and left the apartment. It was chilly outside in the morning and there was even some light frost coating the places where the sun had yet to start shining. The air was also filled with smells both good and bad from city life which were carried by the wind.

Thankfully the trip over to the temple wasn't eventful with all the city dwellers busy with their own lives. Salferia kept very quiet and hidden the entire way as well, likely out of fear of all the humans around. It was pretty overwhelming for someone so small to be in such a big city after all. She did however speak up when the temple itself came into view.

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"Whoa!" she said standing up on her perch. "Is that the temple?"

Timothy looked up at the towers and spires. It was a very extravagant building.

"Yes it is" he replied. "The Grand Temple of the Sisterhood. Its where I work. There's some nice people here that I'll introduce you too."

Salferia nodded and sat back down again, still overtaken by the majesty of the the building.

"Ok. You humans sure can build big things though."

Timothy hurried the remainder of the way down the street to the temple and started climbing up the steps. There were not many people around the temple at this time of morning except for the poor and homeless who Timothy gave a wave to as he went up the stairs to the entrance.

The reason so many of the destitute of the city had gathered here is because of something new located here at the temple. A few weeks ago the goddess had ordered the completion of something called a soup kitchen, a place she explained where the poor could come and get a free meal of some kind everyday.

This act of charity of course didn't manifest out of thin air and relied on the donations that the temple had started collecting from the residents of the city. Food wasn't free and had to be bought, and wages had to be given to those working at the temple as well. The money from donations paid for these things and anything else the temple required as well, with whatever they ended up lacking being provided by the goddess herself. She took the stance that humans should be able to take care of such things on their own but she wasn't above manifesting things out of thin air for charitable purposes.

Salferia tugged on Timothy's neck and pointed at the people huddled up against the wall.

"Hey what are those dirty humans doing here?"

Timothy finished walking up the stairs and went through the grand doors into the temple.

"Well they're poor and homeless. They come here for food every morning that we provide. Its something Goddess Jenna set up to feed and clothe those that can't work or are destitute. The donations people give the temple pay for all of it. That's why we're here today: to help serve the food."

Hearing this explanation made the fairy rub her chin with her hand and think for a moment. She didn't say anything about it after that so whatever she was thinking was for her alone.

Leaving the fairy to her thoughts Timothy hurried to the kitchens where the food was being prepared. He was sure to find Maisy there and he was excited to introduce her to Salferia. As they approached the smells of cooking food permeated the air. It smelled wonderful.

Salferia fluttered up into the air and landed on Timothy's head. She sniffed in the aroma and drooled a little.

"That smells good! Much better than that boring porridge! We get to eat again already?"

Timothy let out a small sigh as he continued walking.

"No. This food is for those people waiting outside. We'll get to eat lunch later today alright?"

This made the fairy pout again and she pulled some hairs out of his head, making him flinch and curse under his breath.

"That's so laaame!" she whined. "I'm tiny enough no one will notice if I eat some right?"

Timothy sighed again and reached up to touch where she had pulled hair out but stopped since she didn't move from her perch.

"Don't do that!" he grumbled as he walked through the door. "And I guess not. But only a little ok?"

The kitchens were not much more than a large rectangular room with a row of windows along the far wall. There were many tables setup in the middle of the room for food preparation where several people were cutting vegetables and bread. Along the side wall there were ovens built into the wall with chimneys directly leading outside on the side of the building. Then of course there were the large metal stoves on which several large pots were currently sitting. They bubbled as ingredients were added in.

Of course no kitchen would be complete without the larder. This kitchen had the doors leading to food storage and the cellar on the closest wall near the entrances. Those places were usually dark and only lit sparsely to keep the temperature as low as possible.

It was from one of these doors to the pantry that Maisy herself walked from, the pretty young woman almost running into Timothy as he walked into the kitchen. She was carrying a small basket of potatoes which she almost dropped to the floor.

"Gosh!" she exclaimed.

Timothy quickly helped right the basket before anything could fall out and blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry!"

Maisy looked up and saw who it was. She then smiled and blushed some herself, brushing her hair behind her shoulders.

"Oh its you Timothy! It's so good to see you! Did you come to help with the food?"

The small voice of suddenly Salferia piped up.

"What about me? We came here to help me to some of that good smelling stuff!"

Maisy looked around in confusion for the source of the voice. After seeing no one behind her friend she looked up at his face.

"Wh-Who was that?"

Timothy smiled nervously and reached up on top of his head, carefully grabbing the protesting fairy and sitting her down in his right hand.

"Oh that's my new um- friend."

He then lifted up his hand around chest level and showed it off to Maisy. Salferia was sitting down on her legs in the middle of his palm and looked extremely upset.

"Who gave you permission to handle me you worm! I'll have you-"

The rant was cut off as Maisy's face got closer to examine the tiny person. This made the fairy look up with big blinking eyes as the two of them looked each other over.

Maisy however reacted with shock and fear upon realizing what kind of creature was in her friend's hand. She jumped back with a shriek and dropped the basket on the floor, several of the potatoes bouncing out.

"A fairy!" she cried.

At this point the commotion had got the attention of everyone else in the kitchen and brought them over to where the two young adults were standing. The half dozen or so people all gathered around and looked to see what Timothy had themselves. Then they either marveled or reacted in fear as well.

Among them was the old caretaker Arlon who usually helped with the food. When he saw the commotion he too came over. At this point however Timothy had covered the fairy up with his other hand for her protection.

"Alright" Arlon said. "What's the excitement? Timothy this isn't goddess related is it?" His last question having a hint of dread its his voice.

Timothy quickly shook his head and backed away from the gathered people to get some personal space.

"Well n-no sir!" he stammered. "I mean s-sort of sir."

Salferia was keeping quiet in his hands seemingly not liking all the excitement herself. He feared she might act up and start casting spells or something if she felt frightened enough. To protect her further he brought his hands close to his chest as he explained.

"You see there was this fairy that appeared in the goddess's village. After meeting me and the goddess she ended up coming home with me and wanted to visit the temple as well."

Arlon looked at him and wrinkled his brow.

"A fairy? As in a real one? Is that what's in your hands boy?"

Timothy nodded and gulped nervously.

"Yes sir. Her name is Salferia. She doesn't like all the attention though."

Understanding the situation Arlon nodded and clapped his hands.

"Aright everyone. We can all meet the fairy later. Get back to work and give us some space!"

There were groans of disappointment from a couple people and grumbles of unhappiness from others. They were sort of used to crazy things happening around here now, though an actually fey was almost scarier than a goddess.

As they all started going back to their tasks Timothy lifted his other hand away exposing Salferia again.

"She's not dangerous everyone so don't worry!" he said trying to be reassuring. "I'm sure she'll want to meet you all later. After she gets adjusted."

Now that she was free again Salferia sat up on her hand platform and started adjusting her clothing and hair. She was visibly upset but didn't seem terrified anymore at least.

"Bunch of savage human filth. I ought to spike them all with thorns and let hot coals dance in their innards."

Timothy smiled nervously and left her alone to preen herself.

"Um well that wouldn't be very nice... Right?"

Now that the small crowd had cleared away both Maisy and Arlon came closer to get a better look at the tiny person. After it had been shown there wasn't an immediate danger Maisy in particular had become quite curious about the little lady.

"Is... Is she really safe?" she asked shyly looking closer. "You said you met her with the goddess?"

Salferia looked up from where she was sitting and gave a viscous glare to the young woman.

"Yes and I'm his new lover. He's mine you shriveled hag!"

The angry insults caught Maisy by surprise and she stood up and took a step back. She brushed her hair over her shoulder again and huffed angrily.

"Not a very nice little thing is she? And clearly lies out of jealously."

While Timothy was unaware of the situation a man as old as Arlon could see what was happening. He knew that Maisy and Timothy were in love with each other, even though neither wanted to admit it for now. This fairy possibly was attracted to the young man as well and the jealously between the two women was likely going to cause conflict for the poor boy. He had just met the fairy of course so this was just speculation.

Salferia stood up and twisted her foot into the skin of Timothy's hand in order to cause him pain and put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah you caught me. I don't have any feelings for a human as weak as this one. I just wanted to see your anguish dumb bitch."

Timothy was too shy to touch the fairy too much but he did hold is hand closer to his chest.

"Stop insulting her!" he said. "Maisy is my friend and you need to be nice to her ok? Please?"

Without looking at the other two humans Salferia flew up into the air in front of his face and crossed her arms over her chest. Her face was still pouting.

"I don't wanna though... I'll be a little nice but that's it."

Maisy stepped closer and grabbed Timothy's arm. This prompted the fairy to fly up and land on his head to sit, glaring down at the young woman below.

"That's right" Maisy said addressing Timothy while frowning. "We're very special friends. I'll only be nice to your fairy friend because you want me to."

With the situation somewhat resolved Arlon took the chance to interject again. As the caretaker of the temple it was his responsibility to get things back on track.

"Very well. It's nice to meet you Salferia. However we have a breakfast to finish preparing and then serve. Timothy is needed so if you'd like to wait for him you can wherever you wish. Or if you want to accompany him that's fine as well."

The injection of authority brought both Timothy and Maisy back to the situations at hand and they stood upright. This made Salferia's perch wobble around and she gripped the hair beneath her for stability.

"Yes sir!" they both replied.

Maisy gave Timothy a brief smile and scooped up the basket and dropped potatoes.

"I'll see you over there ok Timothy?"

Timothy nodded and smiled back.

"Y-Yeah of course."

Arlon helped gather the dropped vegetables and both he and Maisy walked back over to the preparation tables to continue cooking. Meanwhile Timothy looked up at his head and sighed.

"So are you going to come help me with the food or do you want to stay somewhere while I work?"

Salferia let out a sigh herself and pulled another hair out of his head, smiling deviously as he expressed pain again.

"I guess I'll come over and observe your work. I do have to get a taste still after all! Just don't let that lecherous woman get too close to you. She just wants your attention. Attention you should be giving me!"

"I don't know why you want me to pay so much attention to you" Timothy said in a defeated tone. "Maybe you do have feelings for me."

"I really don't." she replied twirling her hair and smiling devilishly. "Its more that when I get your attention she gets less of it. I just want to see her unhappy is all."

He slid his cloak off and hung it on the wall where there were already several on pegs.

"We really need to work on your friendliness."

With the introduction of his new fairy friend going somewhat well Timothy walked over to the others to make himself useful in the food preparation process. He was happy to have someone to keep him company like Salferia, but he worried that she might get possessive of him like she already seemed to be. Her intentions and thoughts were a mystery only the goddess could know, but if Jenna trusted the two of them together then it must be ok. He just hoped Maisy and Salferia could start getting along better.