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Lorn Murkish was hungry. So, so hungry. Dhe perched on a lamppost, watching the various and sundry people of the city walk or slither or otherwise beneath dhim, looking for dhis next meal. It had been weeks (or months?) since dhe had woken up confused, tired and groggy, as if dhe had been sleeping for a long time. But dhe hadn't – the next day was the next day and everything was as it should be. Except for one thing.

Dhe's tummy grumbled as he fluttered, keeling dhe's balance. Lorn wanted to eat something, but dhe had no money and had been caught stealing fruit not too long ago and now the merchants on dhis favorite fruity part of the market were on the lookout for the strange bird-child. And, for some reason, people were happy. Lorn could feel it, inedible and bright, and it made dhim sick. Dhe couldn't eat happiness.

Something about the sun and warmth made people happy – or, apparently, made the unhappy people stay home. Dhe was grateful for the warmth, but the sun hurt dhis eyes and dhe wanted it to go away, maybe cover itself with clouds or something. Dhe rocked on his perch, made impatient by dhis hunger. Surely someone would be sad. Surely someone would be food. But it was hard to tell through all the good feelings, which clogged the air like violets.

Lorn slumped, dhimself despairing. Where would dhe find something to eat?

Amidst the cloud of happy emotions, one source of melancholy didn't stand out. Not until, at least, it stood right beneath Lorn's perch. The feel of their emotions... and the scent of their sandwich... made dhis mouth water. Food, glorious food. Food to fill dhis tummy and make it stop growling and aching.

Dhe knew that what dhe should do was to jump from the lamppost and follow them until dhe could touch them safely and feed without worrying that they would hurt dhim. But Lorn was too young and hungry to be rational, and they smelled so good.

So, in the interest of filling dhis stomach, Lorn did something very different – Lorn spread dhis small, fuzzy wings and dropped from the lamppost, flapping to break dhis fall as dhe hugged the figure around the neck, settling into a piggyback position. The close contact started the feeding and gave Lorn a welcome, if slightly overwhelmingly good, splash of energy. It was delicious. It was grumbly misery. It was food.

Lorn peeped happily in pleasure and huggled them more, trying to get as much of their emotional energy as dhe could before dhe was thrown off or otherwise stopped. Then dhe could steal the sandwich and eat that too – win/win!

Lorn peeped in surprise, wiggling away slightly as dhe recognized the voice. “Toxxy?!” dhe yelped, gaping at her before giving her another hug. “I miss hyou sho much...” dhe mumbled, snuggling her. “I miss hyou lotsh and lotsh, big shister.”

“Sometimes, sad people walk in the park.” dhe explained, not breaking out of dhis hug. It was more than just feeding now – if dhe didnt let go, maybe Toxxy would stay with dhim this time, and not go away again. Dhe had been so alone, for so long... Dhe needed her here. “So I wait, I hungry, maybe sometimes someone has snack to steal! Sometimes tasty, yes.”

Dhe looked up at her with dhis shadowed face, the red eyes of dhis birdy hood glowing vaguely in the sunlight. “Where did you go, Toxxy-toxxy? Lorn was all alone. Lorn was so hungry...”