A dull aching pain throbbed through her head. A wave of her hand bought a small screen into existence that was simply a graph with a single bar. Her nearly exhausted mana visibly recovered as the average length of the bar slowly became longer. The right index finger tapped against her cheek.

Distressed screaming in the background interfered with her concentration, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as what she heard while using the public transportation in New York.

“Okay, so I was a little too enthusiastic with my roach decoration powers. Maybe I should be like a normal person and hate roaches, right?”

She looked past Alfredo towards the line where the doctor had gone to get food.

“Really stupid of me not to introduce myself. What if something bad happens and I don’t get to thank her? That would make me depressed all over again.”

Alfredo looked back, “Yuh talkin’ to yourself again?”

Circe put her arms around her chest, “So what If I am? I’m the most interesting person I know, right?”

There was no response and Circe spaced out a moment before they saw the butcher wobble over. The cleaver wielding meat meister no longer moved with the intimidating speed displayed during the battle. Circe squinted; the movements of the fat blurry body reminded her of a woobler toy that wobbled about but couldn’t fall down. Wait! The big scary guy was coming her way. Why was the big, bloody, scary guy who chopped people coming her way?

A pile of boxes weighed the sliced fabric of the bloody apron. The big man’s fingers, especially around knuckles, were covered in scabs. His exposed arms were crisscrossed with tightly glued together lacerations. Circe squinted to see the fresh wounds on his body, somehow self-sutured. Damaged flesh was not something she wanted to look at but when she diverted her gaze, she saw her right leg with its roach infested splint.

Alfredo took up guard and stepped between Fedor and Circe, “Whaddya want with her? She ain’t got no business with your kind.”

“I only want to be helping. Your American friend will not be giving your group any of the foods. So, I am saying that you can be taking some of mine. It is too heavy for me to be carrying much longer anyways.”

Circe bent her good leg and pushed herself to stand. Roaches clicked as they stiffened over her splint. They worked together and because Circe was careful how she walked they did not get crushed by her weight. Her bestial intelligence ticked upwards. There wasn’t a notification but she sensed it nevertheless.

It was easier to see the big man’s face if she stood because he towered over her. Her face barely reached his breasts. Even Alfredo, who raised his fists, stood a full head shorter than the big Russian.

A snarling growl that didn’t sound human pushed from between chapped lips as teeth bit down. A gentle tug on his shirt would snap him out of defensively hostile posture. Alfredo turned back to see a gentle smile and soft eyes as Circe looked up at him. His expression softened and his posture relaxed.

She thought he looked a lot better with his gray hair slowly becoming an inky black.

“Thanks, but I don’t think he means any harm. He said he wants to give us food. What’s getting into you?”

Alfredo deflated slightly before he turned back to face the Russian, “Oh, yeah, umm, if... wait a minute here. This guy was butchering a corpse way over there when we first seen him! How are yuh supposed to trust that?”

Fedor frowned, “They was already being the dead. Meat is meat.”

Alfredo blinked. Circe blinked. Her head tilted slightly and her mouth hung open. Then she smiled again. Perhaps this social thing wouldn’t be so difficult, after all, she’d read a ton of romance novels.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“You do you, I guess. But how are you going to keep the meat fresh? There is no refrigeration and no place to cook it.”

Alfredo shivered as Fedor tilted his head thoughtfully while keeping a hold of his apron full of nutrition bar, “You speak wisdom Dead Meat. I was not thinking of such problems. I also have no pallet and no plastic wrappings. And I am injured. So... I will not be working much until feeling better.”

Circe did a curtsey. Alfredo shivered and then blinked.

“It’s nice to meat you, sir butcher. My name is Circe Oratia Shefeild, at your service.”

Fedor laughed, he laughed so heartily that his entire body shook and wobbled. He continued to laugh despite the pain of his wounds. Alfredo growled quietly in a low pitch at this interaction. The entire pile of food bars fell at their feet as Fedor dropped his apron to hold his belly in the midst of a deep laugh. The growl from Alfredo continued as if he was some wary wolf.

“You can call me Fedor. I am good butcher. Not needing food bar. I can be eating what you can’t be eating. So, it’s good, da? Dead Meat, I am glad to have been saving your life now, so please be taking the care!”

When did he save her life? The back of her hand went across her eyes as he started walking away. Her legs shook so much that the roaches had more work to do to stabilize her splint. Carefully, slowly, Circe sat back down and stretched out. A deep breath went through her lips, followed by three more as a droplet of sweat dripped from her forehead.

“Are yuh okay?”

“I’m fine, he’s really not so bad after all. But I think I haven’t gotten over it yet. I wish I had my glasses. I can barely see what’s happening at the line.”

The cave was a bit bright from the glowing rocks lining the ceiling and walls. In some spots, looking up was like staring at a white sun and hurt the eyes. Alfredo even put a hand over his forehead as he scanned Fedor walking away first, and then the line. There were still too many people to keep track of them all.

Two women walking backwards towards the exits and disappearing into the purple swirl of the steamy void caught his attention. The line and the crew managing food distribution released their combat stances after the duo vanished. Some others also left without bothering about the food line.

Alfredo raised his hand and waved to Ebony but couldn’t get her attention. Hands went on her hips. The officer’s baton pointed in their direction. He could hear a hushed argument but couldn’t make out the words because the people in line kept blabbing. The Nutrition Bars Fedor had dumped with them were now between Circe’s legs as she distracted herself by making a little castle out of them.

The officer said something to the others in the group before he beckoned Ebony and they began approaching. The group continued the distribution, yet Fedor turned around and focused his stare on the officer while reaching for his cleaver. Slowly, the big man crept a bit closer. All the while, red, blue, and bright neon green roaches crawled around Circe’s little castle of nutrition bars.

Their voices became clearer as they approached.

“He’s on your team, if he decided to give her a bunch of food then you need to consult with him. It’s not our problem.”

“I’m about to make it your problem miss.”

Since he approached Circe, Alfredo jumped in the way before he could get too close. An empty plastic shopping bag came out of Mark’s pocket. It crinkled as he whipped it a few times open it.

“Get out of my way old man,” Mark said, “I’m reclaiming those nutrition bars. You can keep one each and that's because I'm generous.”

Fedor pointed his cleaver, “Nyet! You will not be claiming them. They are mine and I can be giving them freely.”

“They aren’t even Demonians! These two are opposing Azoria and the little idiot waif couldn’t even find the brainpower to make a decision! You either keep those bars or give them back so we can feed Azoria’s people.”

Circe looked up and frowned. The officer had returned. Slowly, carefully, she stood.

“You’re the one who is the idiot.”

The baton came out and slapped against Mark’s palm, yet the officer backed up as Alfredo approached. The plastic bag crinkled.

“What was that?” Mark asked.

Circe hobbled around her castle and took a few steps towards him, even going so far as to push at Alfredo to encourage him to move aside. She looked up the officer with a squint. A flash of memory lit her face.

“You tried to get me killed and now you’re trying to steal my food. What do you have against me? Is it because I looked at your name, Mark?”

That was his name right, something fancy starting with Mark? Had she remembered it correctly? His middle name was harvard and the last name was Belvedere or something like that, right? If she had just said the wrong name her entire act would look stupid. She could hear a shoe squeak on the granite floor and deep breaths through flared nostrils. That sounded like agitation to her. Win!

His voice did not go towards her next.

“You better not pull anything like this again you fatso clown. I don’t want to have to question your loyalty to Azoria. I saw you take the pledge; you were one of the first to kneel. So, act like it!”

Circe took a step forward but Alfredo’s arm barred the way. Obediently, she went no further. Touching that man for forty seconds wasn’t worth it anyway.

"He tried tuh curb stomp yuh while yuh were out cold. He's not just some bad cop. He's a complete psycho."

Circe squinted before looking towards Ebony and giving a little curtsey.