Runaway

Chapter 2: Sorrow is Fed With Pie

Leo didn't get much sleep that night.

Being in a new environment wasn't easy to sleep with when you've lived in one place your whole life. He yawned, his stomach making a slight growl in its attempt to whine for food. 'Man I'm starving! Did I even eat last night?'

Though he wanted to just sleep the day away, he stood up and headed out the door. It felt strange for him to stuff a house key inside the pocket of his hoodie after locking his front door. The air down the hallway was uncomfortably thick and had a distinctive smell of must. Leo scrunched his nose as he quickly walked through the hallway and down the stairs, waving a quick goodbye to butterfly-lady at the front desk and left the building.

The wind blew softly against his skin as he observed his surroundings, searching for a nice place to get some food. 'I need to eat before I do anything else today. Not eating last night wasn't the best decision but at least now I have a place to live...assuming that I'm able to keep living there. How am I supposed to pay my rent every month without money?!'

With a light sigh, he scanned over the signs of various restaurants until his eyes caught the sight of colorful red, orange, and purple letters laid over the roof of a small yet sizable diner, 'The Groves Kitchen'

He stared at the sign for several minutes before taking a hesitant step inside. It was warm and the smell of fresh squeezed orange juice and pancakes loomed over the air like a welcome mat. Leo's stomach growled as he made his way into one of the leather booths stationed near the windows.

A waitress, a cat from the looks of her, came rolling by on roller skates with a pad of paper and a pen in her hands, "What will it be sweetie?"

Leo looked over the menu sitting casually on the diner table. "Can I have some pancakes?" He tapped his finger lightly against the table's surface as the waitress wrote away.

"A stack with motor oil and axle grease, got it. Anything else darlin'?"

Leo didn't quite understand what she said but assumed it meant 'pancakes with syrup and butter.' Regardless, he shook his head and handed the menu to the waitress. She nodded her head as she made her way behind the counter to hand the order ticket to the chef in the kitchen.

With a small tap of his finger, Leo looked out the window and hummed lightly to himself. 'I'm still surprised by just how much the Hidden City and New York have in common. Everything here kinda just looks like the surface but yet... different? It feels good to walk out into the open though.' Leo's inner monologue came to a halt as the waitress from before came in with a huge plate of pancakes.

His mouth watered as he thanked her and shoved a forkful of sweet buttery cooked batter into his mouth. He hummed as he ate, the taste having some sort of familiarity to it. 'This kinda reminds me of...' His stomach churned, the now half eaten pancake stack becoming unappealing. Memories of Mikey cooking in the kitchen, family dinners, movie nights, even that awkward dinner party at Draxum's flooded his mind and hot water pricked the corner of his eyes. 'Stop thinking about it Leo..they don't need or want you around...'

His head shot up, however, when the sound of shuffling fabric could be heard from in front of him. A female rabbit sat there with a warm smile on her round caramel latte brown face and she gave him a little wave of hello. Confusion laced his eyes for second before widening in fear at the sight of her uniform.

Blue vest, a badge with the letters HPC graved into it, a holster with a tazz-gun inside. 'This... This is a police officer!!'

"Sorry for the intrusion. It's just that I saw you sitting here all alone and thought a kid like you could use some company." She laughed lightly and brought her hand out to shake his. "I'm Lills by the way."