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Despite only having been thrown into the human world within the last hour or so, Fettelite was starving. His mean ol' general had tossed him out here far too early! Dinner wasn't even served yet in the mess-hall! But nope, his rules were always "Sundown, and you're out." and with winter coming so quickly, it was darker way, way earlier than he thought about.

For a while, he just kinda blindly wandered around, holding his belly and internally whining to himself, smelling the delicious wafting smells of a hotdog stand just slowly leaving him behind as it went along it's business. He was lucky, his uniform wasn't so obnoxious looking that he stood out... But you know what the Hotdog man left behind? Whole bunch of barely touched, pre-made hotdogs he had to get rid of because it was the end of the day... Surely no one would notice if he just... kinda... reached down and picked one up, right?

"Just this once... Just this ONCE and I'll never do this again, I swear it!" he muttered to himself, and slowly started to reach his hand into the trashcan, not even bothering to look around to see if anyone was really looking or not.

Admiration over, Milo packed up his kit with practiced efficiency, and set off back through the park to go home.

It wasn't long before he noticed somebody else around, specifically, poking through the trash. A bum, maybe? To be honest, he had long since figured out that giving money to every passing beggar did not go well, so he typically paid them no mind. This one, though, couldn't have been much older than him, if at all.

People his age shouldn't be digging through the trash, and definitely not--oh god, was he going to eat that...?

"Hey!" he called out to the...admittedly somewhat oddly dressed boy, "What the heck are you doing?" His tone was a bit horrified, but it didn't really slow down his approach at all.

Just as his hands wrapped around the hotdog, still nice and luke warm, just mere inches from his lips when he was caught! Fettelite looked around, confused for a second, then smiled as he saw a boy with a bag on his hip.

"Huh? UH! You mean... U... OH! This?" He took the limp dog in his hand and gave it a wiggle. "I was just gonna have a snack! Ooh, did you want some? There's so many!"

Milo blinked twice at the offer and, if anything, looked even more horrified. "Absolutely not!" he declared, and actually swatted the hotdog, intent on knocking it from the boy's hand. "If you're that hungry, c'mon, there's a Burger King down the street. I'll buy you something..." he winced, "that didn't come from a trash can."

"Huh? No, no, it's fine! I don't gotta go nowhere! NOOOO MY HOTDOG!" As the hand was smacked and hotdog fell to the ground, in a way, so too did Fettelite's heart. Right at the surface of it he mourned the fallen, luke-warm dog that was to be his dinner.

"Why would you do that...?" His voice was nearly a wail and he kneeled down before the fallen dog to properly say goodbye. A moment later he picked it up with a sniffle and tossed it into the trash bin to join it's cold brethren. As hungry as he was, it looked like he'd upset whoever this other boy was, and he really, REALLY didn't want to upset him more than he was already upset.

"Noooo, I was okay, I promise! I was fine, just fine... I was gonna eat and be just a-okay! But now, what can I eat? I don't want you to buy me anything, I ain't got anything to pay you back with!"

Milo blinked in surprise at the strong reaction, but then brushed it off and shook his head. "Yeah, I can tell," he replied. "Don't think you'd be eating..." he gestured to the trash, "that if you could. I don't care. I don't need to be paid back. Just..c'mon," he gestured for the oddly dressed boy to follow him, and took a few steps. "You can pay me back by telling me a story."

The boy apparently didn't fully trust that he'd be followed, as he gazed back expectantly, in spite of already walking.

Fettel really wasn't one to argue too much against someone helping him. One moment later of morning his cold, soggy hot dog, and he sniffed, nodding and following behind Milo. When Milo did turn around to check on him, the negaverser did a quick step to join him by his side, rubbing his eyes of the sadness they had before. Not even a moment later, he was smiling again.

"Thank you! I mean, I'm okay, but thank you! I am really, really hungry. My boss kicked me out before I could eat so I just really can't eat anything until I can be taken back home, but I can't go home til dawn so I thought, hey, that's okay! I'll eat this instead! But uh... I guess that's not good, huh? BUUUT anyway, so what kinda story did you want? I got lots and lots of them! Oooohh, and what's your name? I'm Dee--- Uhhh, I mean, I'm Fettel! Nice to meet you!"

Milo gave Fettel a quizzical sideways glance before shrugging lightly. "I'm Milo. A pleasure, I'm sure." It was his sister's sort of phrase (and intonation), sounding a bit... 'trying too hard to be upper crust', but that always entertained him. And the name swap thing was...curious. Something to ask about later.

"Boss, huh? So, do you work for some kind of..." he paused, considering possibilities. "Costume nightclub or something? You look like you should be hawking newspapers in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or somethin'." He scratched his cheek, and idly adjusted the position of his painting bag on his shoulder. "Tell me a story about your day."

"Uh.... Something like that! Work nights, sleep days, but I don't sleep all that much!" Not that he didn't want to, of course. Had Fettle been given the choice, he was sure he could sleep for two whole days with how much he's been deprived. But sleepless or not, he was still trucking away.

"Awww, you really think so? I like my outfit, but it's too... Not covering enough for me to really be out and about during winter. Hrm... About my day... Well... I woke up, maaaaybe around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, fed some yo--- some pets that belong to my neighbors, took care of my boss' errands, and then I was put out on the street to work tonight, until I can go back home. I'm sorry, it's not all that interesting tonight..."

Milo's brow arched higher, as they continued on toward the BK, which was in view, at least. There was a lot of crazy in that short explanation, which honestly didn't surprise him that much.

"What sort of job involves wandering around on the streets? In this town, no less?" The thought that maybe this odd guy going after trash can hot dogs was part of the reason it was dangerous to be out at night did not even occur to him--this was possibly the least threatening person he'd ever encountered.

"Well... You know. The kind your boss gives you." It wasn't illegal, was it? There wasn't any specific law out there that you couldn't drain people. It's not like he didn't ask or the people didn't get something out of it from him. Okay, maybe the whole thing was alot more complicated, because how would you report to the police that you suddenly got really sleepy and ended up taking a nap on a bench? It wasn't like he drugged them!

As they walked along, December pondered a bit about the logistics of it all, but then decided, at the end of the night, he was too hungry to think too much about it.

"What do you do? A student? Oooh, or maybe a part-timer? Did you finish school?"

"That doesn't..." Milo started, then sighed and shook his head with a resigned laugh. He'd let it go... for now.

They found themselves in the parking lot of their destination soon enough, and Milo answered, "Ah, nope, still in school. I don't really do anything else. I mean, I like to paint," he lifted the fairly long box he was holding as illustration, "And do that a lot, as well as other stuff like it, but I don't have a job or anything. Just a..." he paused, considering, "you know, pretty favorable allowance." That'd do, he decided with a nod.

"So get whatever you want. No limits--as long as you can eat it now, and not over the course of the next week."

December's head tilted just a little, but the laugh reassured him that his little story was good enough and he let out a happy sigh, glad he didn't have to talk about it any more.

The Burger Kings' Bright burgery sign made his stomach growl excitedly, full of expectation of fries and grilled burgers.

"That's not a bad thing though! I'm sure you're good at painting... OH, what if, if you wanted a job or something, you could be one of those instructors at those "Paint with me" places! You are already really nice, since you're treating me, so I'm super positive you'll do well!" There was a minor thought of whether or not he could do that too, but it passed,since the only thing he could paint was figurines, not actually pretty canvas-based art.

Ahhh, but the promise of food was near completion!

"This is really, really nice of you, thank you, truly! I think I only want a few things off of the value menu, nothing big!"

"Maybe," Milo replied with a shrug. "I dunno. Teaching people doesn't really seem... me. 'least, not a whole class of people. Maybe one or two."

He rubbed his chin. "Value menu? Alright, if that's what you want, go for it." He shrugged again. "Me? I'm getting something big. With fries. Mostly fries, honestly. I like those fancy places with the $10 burgers...but there's not one quite so close."

Luckily, not too many people in line, so the ordering would happen pretty quick. Didn't seem right to grill somebody for information while waiting to order...but sitting down? Perfect time~

"If you want something mostly fries, not just get fries?" As they drew closer to the place, Fettelite gave a quick look down at his outfit. Luckily for him, it wasn't horribly outlandish and stand out-y like some other Negaversers. Nope, it was pretty darned plane, and that worked just fine for him! It meant he could go right on in without any issues.

When they did get into the menu, his choices were simple. Small fries, small drink, a burger, a few chicken nuggets, and an piece of their chocolate cheesecake. It wasn't that, and, well, he'd be plenty full later!

"I think teaching is kinda like one of those things you gotta try it before you know. Unless you really really hate people, then you probably know right off the bat."

"Because that'd be weird, wouldn't it?" Milo asked with a smirk. 'Weird' described his dinner companion pretty well, by his reckoning. Ultimately, though, he got large fries and a small burger, in line with what he'd suggested.

"Cheesecake, huh?" he asked as he paid up. "Wonder if it's any good here..." he shrugged, and moved away to wait for the food to be done. As he got situated, and set his art bag down, he said, "You know, I just realized--I never actually introduced myself. Name's Milo, nice to meet ya."

"I dunno, would it? I mean, dinner of just fries sounds really good too. " There were lots of things in the world that were weird, but food was food and he was just so very happy to know that some was going to be in his mouth very soon.

"Mhm! I'll let you have a bite of mine, then if you want some more, you now know what it tastes like." He didn't really have anything he was carrying, so instead of sitting down, he simply rocked on his heels, looking out of the window and watching the glass fog up. It was getting cold outside, and he was more than a little glad Milo gave him a reason to come inside.

"It's a really nice name for a really nice person! I'm--" He paused, knowing that right now, he wasn't December. Luckily he caught himself. "Um, I'm Fettel. Like Fennel, but with 'T's instead of 'N's'. Weird name, right?"

"Fettel?" Milo echoed, and nodded. "I've heard...weirder names. That just sounds foreign. German or something, maybe?" He shrugged. “At least it’s easily pronounced, right?”

He idly scratched an ear as they waited, and though it surely wouldn’t be long before they had food, Milo decided to continue the probing questions. “So, do you live close to here or just come here for,” he paused and waved a hand vaguely, “whatever work-thing it is you do…?”

"I'm not sure, really! But thank you! That's the first compliment I got on my name!" No one ever took interest in him, and honestly, Fettelite was delighted!

"Uh... Nope, don't live nearby. But I do come for work, so I'm here every so often. My schedule is unpredictable, so I never know when I'll be here. My boss likes to throw me around as he likes." Milo didn't need to know just how literal he was being. Nah, that was just his own business. "What about you?"

"I live, oh, not too far from here," Milo replied, still smirking wryly about 'compliments.' I like that park there to hang out it, because it's usually pretty quiet, but still enough people to watch, if I feel like it."

Their order came up, and Milo retrieved it, handing over Fettel's portion before taking a table. "So...next time you're around here thinking about eating...garbage, see if I'm around first, yeah?"

"H-hey now... It wasn't exactly garbage..." At this point, it was a clear difference between what he had been eating earlier, and what Milo had so graciously placed in front of him. He wouldn't keep talking about it though because, well, talking with food in your mouth was rude.

"But anyways, I really, really appreciate it. I owe you, but I gotta figure out what I can do to help... Hrm... well, I know it's dangerous around here, and you could say I work in security, in a way, so I can make double sure that this area is safe, so then we can hang out more! Maybe. If you wanna."

"Security, huh?" Milo echoed, not sounding terribly convinced even as he nodded. "I mean, if you think you can make things nicer 'round here, that's never a bad thing."

As he spoke, a soft buzz in his pocket drew his attention, and he pulled out his (obviously rather fancy, with an expensive-looking case) phone and tapped at it. "Oop, I'd love to hang around and find out exactly what you mean by that," he told Fettel. "Maybe next time. And there will be one of those, I'm sure...But for now," he stood up. "I've gotta go, unfortunately."

The doubt in Milo's voice went straight over Fettelite's head, so he took it as true encouragement! "I promise, it'll be nice and safe around here for when we meet up next!"

Unfortunately, it seemed like their time together was going to be cut short.. Ah well, such was life. And with what Milo said, it seemed like he really was looking forward to their next meeting. Something that often seemed rare to him these days.

"Okay! That's just fine, I should get back on the way to work too. I'll eat this, and enjoy it, and not eat anything else from the trash can, promise." Atleast not tonight.

“Good!” Milo declared with a grin and a nod. “No more trash. Good night then, Fettel.” He gave a light wave, and made his way out, striding quickly toward his home.