[C] Feeding A Small Army

Over a cup of coffee.

A cup of coffee couldn't hurt, could it? A drink between new friends. It would still be a few hours yet until sunset. She didn't have to worry about Claudio appearing. They could get done with their coffee before Claudio made his way to her apartment.

The woman gave a little smile. "I'd like that."

She said yes! Tom’s cheeks dusted with pink, he was both thrilled and nervous because of Fawzi’s response.

“Wh-what time would work best for you?” He asked, flashing her a shy smile.

"How about now if you're not busy?"

She didn't know if she was being too forwards with that. And, quite honestly, she didn't care.

The worst he could do was say no and rearrange. She wasn't so insecure to think that just because he said no that he didn't want to go get a coffee with her.

Tom smiled at how forward she was. He liked it.

"Oh, okay." He said, standing up. He offered her his hand to help her up. Naturally, he was a gentleman at heart.

"You'll have to help me out though. Being new here, I'm not sure where the best place to get coffee is." He said with a shy grin.

"And people say chivalry is dead. It's men like you that keeps me interested in dick," the woman chuckled as she placed her hand in his and let him help her up.

It was nice to see that some men still gave random acts of kindness like that.

It was a very endearing quality. Especially when she was with someone with so little endearing qualities like that.

"There's a wicked little pizza place down by where I live. We could go get something to drink and a dessert pizza." She could go for a chocolate and marshmallow pizza right about now.

The man's cheeks flushed red at her comment. He tried to push away the thought of her with another woman. That would be really sexy, but he didn't want to think of her that way.

Clearly Fawzi was a lot more bold than he was.

"I-it has been a while since I've had dessert pizza." Was all he could stammer to say, the blush still very evident on his cheeks.

The woman gave a soft chuckle when his cheeks flushed red.

Cute.

Fawzi was a bold person. She was naturally a very bright and open woman that didn't mind being open about what she thought. It made her the sort of person you could either love or hate, though.

She grinned. "Cool. This way."

Her hand reached out to snag Tomaso's as she led the way out of the park.

She didn't even bat an eyelid as she continued to hold his hand.

He smiled back at her. He wished that he could be as bold and care-free as she was. She seemed so confident in her own skin.

The blush certainly did not leave his cheeks when she took his hand. At first his hand was stiff and awkward as she held it, but slowly he twitched his fingers into place... so he was holding her hand as well.

Holding hands wasn't uncommon in Italy, and didn't signify anything other then a casual gesture. Still, Tomaso found he liked the way her hand felt in his.

It didn't take long to get to the pizza parlour. It was just a ten minute walk from the park.

The smile on the woman's pierced lips never faded as the two walked hand in hand. She squeezed his hand gently when he allowed his hand to relax in her grasp.

The parlour was kitted out like an old 50's diner; black and white linoleum floors, red leather booth seats and all.

Fawzi waved at the girl behind the counter as she made a bee line to her favourite booth in the back corner of the large open-plan diner. Right next to the hatch that separated the main floor and behind the counter.

This always made sure that they'd get their pizza right away.

"You've never had pizza better than in here. Old Don does the best Sicilian you've ever tasted. We'll have to come back here for a meal some time so you can try it."

Tom liked the way the diner looked, it seemed so retro, right down to the red leather booths!

"This is an interesting seat to chose." He thought when Fawzi made her choice, not realizing the logic behid why she liked it.

"You're telling me this little diner has the best pizza in all of Italy?" He said with a skeptical smirk. The dust of blush stayed on his face when she said they would have to return. He'd like that very much.

"The little places are always the best."

Fawzi stretched out on the leather seat of the booth, kicking her legs up onto the seat opposite.

"Old Don puts a little piece of his soul into every pizza he makes. You can really taste it. Right, Don?" the woman called out loudly.

A tall, slim man appeared at the counter. He was old, in his early seventies, with a shock of white hair and olive skin. He was almost skeletal in appearance.

"Always. Where's your brother at? Haven't seen him in days. Not like him."

"I think he's up at his girl's place at the moment. He hasn't been home, either. Oh, Don, this is Tomaso. Thought I'd convert another person to your amazing food. Think you can rustle us up a dessert pizza?"

Don grinned, a twinkle sparkling in his dark eyes. "Coming right up."

A warm feeling settled into the young man. Everything right now was so... comfortable. When was the last time he'd been to a restaurant such a this, with a stranger no less!

Yet the more time Tomaso spent with Fawzi, the more she made him feel like they'd been friends for a long time. Possibly even in a different life, if one were to believe in such a thing.

Of course, Tom kept all of those sentiments to himself. That would be terribly cheesy, after all.

He relaxed into his seat, though he maintained a proper stance. He seemed to be the type of man that couldn't kick his feet back and totally lounge, even if you paid him!

The woman grinned, her feet moving to rest on the man's lap.

Surrounded by the smell of her favourite food and the familiar feel of comfortable worn leather, Fawzi felt comfortable.

She loved this.

Not five minutes later, Don himself appeared at the end of the table, setting a large plat down, covered in sweet dough and white chocolate. The white chocolate was layered in strawberry and banana slices and drizzled in milk chocolate.

"Thanks, Don. Looks great."

Tom gazed down at his lap and then let out a shy chuckle, patting Fawzi's foot. Again she amazed him with her boldness!

She was really something else.

Tom could feel his mouth water when the pizza arrived. It looked and smelled delicious.

He looked up and nodded his thanks to Don before glancing back at Fawzi with a smile.

Fawzi lifted a slice from the plate and leaned over the table, holding it out for Tom to try.

"Best dessert you'll ever have. When you go with Don's food, you'll never want to go back to normal shit," she promised, leaning forwards herself to bite into the crust of the piece she was holding out to Tom.

"Hey, Don! Can I get a lemonade over here? What d'you want Tom? Coffee pop?"

When it came to anything scholarly, such as books or history or myths, Tom wasn't shy at all. But when it came to being with other people, especially those he found himself fancying, he was no better than an awkward, blushing, school boy.

He stared at the pizza she was offering him as if it was some sort of forbidden fruit. He just sat there and stared at it, not moving.

He floundered and in shyness grabbed his own piece of pizza, ignoring the one that Fawzi was obviously offering him.

It would very easily be taken as a rude gesture, but he didn't mean it that way. He was just a shy and anxious guy.

Quickly he stuffed a large bite into his mouth, causing his eyes to water because it was still hot.

Squinting because of the tears and burning on his tongue, he weakly smiled and gestured the twirling of the mustache signal as if to say "wonderful!"

Fawzi arched a pierced brow when the man opposite her picked up his own slice.

She pressed her lips together to try to hide the smile threatening to curl them upwards.

He was adorably awkward.

It was the cutest thing to watch him struggle with his shyness like this.

The woman leaned back in her booth, settling down as she bit into her pizza again.

"Good, isn't it?" she giggled softly.

"Mmm" He nodded, swallowing down the bite. He shouldn't have chomped off so much at once. He used his napkin to dap at his lips, making sure none of the toppings got on his face.

"Yes, it's very good." He said, smiling again. "T-thank you for showing me here." He stuttered. He was making himself look like an absolute fool.

"So, back to necromancy." He decided to cut the small talk and switch to a subject he felt more confident in.

The woman couldn't hold back the soft giggles as he wiped at his mouth. This wasn't the sort of thing that you could eat cleanly. The sauce was notorious for getting everywhere.

It was glistening on Fawzi's lips right now.

"What do you want to know about Necromancy?" she asked with a friendly smile.

"I'll answer everything I can."

"Well I suppose my first question is how you found an interest in such a thing as to pursue learning about it so much. Even in my studies I wasn't aware that some people were born with necromancy blood... I always thought it was something practiced, not inherited... what I'm getting at is that it's clear you know a lot... but why? It's not the most common of topics to study, beyond video games that is." He gave a slight roll of his eyes at his last remark.

"Before I moved here, I lived with my mother and her husband." Her brother's father. "My mother was bought up with stories of Necromancers and her mother before her was the same."

She sipped at her glass of lemonade when it was bought to her, thanking the waitress with a smile.

"Stories of Necromancers have been passed down the line for as long as anyone in the family can remember."

Those stories were technically history of the great Necromancers that had been in her family, but Tomaso didn't really need to know that.

"Those stories got me interested and from there, my studies branched out into reading up what I could about them."

A fascinated smile grew on the mans face, and a light filled his eyes.

"So it's like a family tale, passed on from generations... that's wonderful Fawzi, truly fascinating!" He said, placing is hands on the table and leaning in towards her more.

"So how do you study? Books, internet? What is the most effective way of research? I personally prefer books over anything placed online. I don't trust the world wide web..." He questioned, looking very eager to learn from her.

The woman nodded.

"Yes. The family has a lot of tales to tell about these Necromancers." And she had listened to each and every one of them a hundred times. She could do so again in an instant. She loved hearing about her ancestors.

"My word of mouth mostly. Settlements have a lot of stories to tell. Though books can be just as good. Spellbooks can tell you a lot about a Necromancer. If I see old spellbooks up on sale anywhere, I pick them up and study them."

She had travelled, listening to many stories about Necromancers and the like in her time.

Tomaso grabbed a small notepad from his pocket and a pen. He then started to take notes.

"Spell books, of course. Why hadn't I thought of that?" He mumbled, scratching down notes in a handwriting so scratchy it was unreadable to anyone other than Tom himself.

He continued to ask her questions. What sort of settlements? What types of people? Specifics on the legends and tales. All the while he took notes.

Fawzi answered the questions as best as she could without giving away anything that could alert him to Necromancer's existence.

As far as he knew, they were just stories. Fawzi would keep it that way.

Settlements. Usually small villages and tribes in areas around her homelands. Middle-east. Occasionally she travelled down to her fathers homelands to see tribes of people in remote parts of Africa.

She gave very few details about the specifics of stories and legends. ENough to keep him satisfied, but never delving further than the basics of the legends.

It was history to the people she talked to; not stories to tell their children about at night.