Wraithvine to the pickpocket. "What are you doing?"
The pickpocket to Wraithvine. "I'm hungry."
Gikka, smiling. "We have a cure for that." -- Anon Guest
Some precautions are very wise to heed. Never eat a Kobold's cooking without knowing exactly what went into it. Never call a Hellkin 'teuf' if you want to live the day. And never, ever try to pick a pocket of a Wizard.
Scram was finding this out, looking to get one of the sweet buns that the Elf had pulled from hir pockets. When Scram put his hand in there, it got stuck. He didn't pull. He tried to figure out how to escape without notice. When the Elf turned, Scram just resigned himself to his fate.
"I'm getting a terrible sense of deja vu," said the Elf. "I meet so many people like this. Hello. What were you hoping to achieve?"
"Food?" risked Scram, his eyes still screwed shut and body tensed for the inevitability he was sure was incoming. All he could think was, Let it be quick. "I'm hungry." There was no point in begging for his life. People tended to kick him when he tried begging.
"We can cure that," said the Kobold nearby. "Right?"
"Right," said the Elf. They gently removed Scram's hand from their pocket. Gently taking Scram's hand in theirs. With the other hand, they presented a steaming ball of... something that smelled delicious. "Careful you don't burn yourself. It is hot."
Scram knew he wasn't being captured. He could easily slip the Elf's grasp in less than a second and bolt with the ball. He could even think of three routes to escape into places that not even a Kobold could go.
And yet... it was because the Elf wasn't forcing him to stay that he stayed. Nobody had ever warned him of hot food before.
Scram accepted the food, which he would soon learn was called a dumpling. It was hot, and delicious, and gone too soon. By the time he was done stuffing his face, there was a bathhouse and a bundle of new, clean clothes.
"Why?" said Scram.
"Because I can change your circumstances, and therefore the world."
Scram had no idea how accurate that could be.
[Photo by Prchi Palwe on Unsplash]
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