An FC Rascal In A Southern Queen's Court

[Spacefurry]

An hour before closing, the door to The Southern Queen chimed. The young man that entered was becoming a familiar face. He first started coming around shortly after the owner catered an event at the local private school, Claremont Academy. Asking for the older woman by name there had been obvious teasing from the staff at first, but with subsequent visits they had gotten used to him.

 

It wasn’t the first time Leon had arrived late at night, obviously flaunting the school’s curfew. But, it was the first time he came around looking quite so depressed. One of the staff pointed him towards an empty booth and brought him something to drink while he waited for Queenie to be free. A moment later, a piece of pie joined the glass and Leon glanced up at the woman, giving her a thankful smile.

“Thanks, Amy.”

 

“Everything okay?”

Amelia asked.

 

“Ya, just school drama.”

He half lied. But the best lies were grounded in truth.

“Don’t let me keep you from cleaning.”

The server nodded understandingly and moved on to finish her own work, leaving Leon to nudge what he knew without a doubt was very delicious pie around with his spoon as he waited patiently.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Spacefurry

[EternalPhoenix]

Queenie

 

It hadn’t been that rough of a day at the Southern Queen for Maybelle McQueen, alias the superheroine Queenie. Just another day slinging her recipes to a wide audience. She was a little tired, actually. Closing time was late. She was thinking about having Chris and Rose lock up tonight. She’d had a quick clash with a supervillain rookie robber at the grocery store down the block earlier in the day, and thus a new bruise on her side that probably wouldn’t bother her in the morning. But then Amy poked her head in and said Leon was here. He’d been dropping by periodically for some months now, since they’d met at that Claremont event she’d catered. Yes, even this late. She didn’t mind. He didn’t seem like one for rules, and she wasn’t his mother or legal guardian anyway. No reason to make a fuss over nothing.

 

So, with a quick word to David to finish tidying up without her, she walked out to go see him. “Hey there sunshine, why the long face? Matt’s pie can’t be that bad. It’s my recipe, after all.” Her smile did not literally light up the room, but she was always happy to see a friend. No matter what said friend’s age was.

[Spacefurry]

Leon managed a chuckle.

"I'm sure the pie's good. Probably not as good as when you make it yourself though."

He teased, but Maybelle could see though the attempted charm as Leon set his utensil down.

"I meant to stop by before now. Just been a busy week."

Leon hesitated a moment before sighing and slumping back in the booth.

"I saw my brother and sister last night."

He said without looking up from the pie slice. Over his visits Leon had told her about how he met Elizabeth and Richard in foster care, how they all had powers and how they had decided to run away from the foster system together to be their own family. He had told her that they had to resort to stealing for crooks and big businesses to survive and that had gotten good at it. He never made it sound like they were sorry for doing it, but since arriving at Claremont he hadn't been able to join his siblings. He was always upset about that.

But something else was weighing on the young man's shoulders this time.

[EternalPhoenix]

Queenie

 

Maybelle slid into the seat across from Leon, wincing slightly as she did so. “I don’t know about that. Matt’s got that strange whisking technique of his.” Like everyone who has a booth side all to themselves, she spread out and leaned back, stretching. She suppressed a hiss of pain and relief, as stiff muscles loosened up. “What do I always say? I’m not a doctor and this isn’t a fancy restaurant. You don’t need an appointment and I don't take reservations.” Meaning she wouldn’t ever hold him to anything like a visitation schedule. “Those two little rays of sunshine doing well?” Because that was the thing about Leon. Maybelle wasn’t dumb, she’d noticed how he was by now after so many visits. If he wanted to do or say something, he’d do it himself. Pushing him to just made him more and more likely to not to out of sheer contrariness. “I remember that old photo you showed me. Both cute as a button.” So the trick was to just wait, and eventually he’d get on with it. Fortunately, Maybelle was a patient woman. She had to be. The list of dishes that required it lest they be ruined was not short.

[Spacefurry]

Leon gave a little chuckle at Maybelle’s assessment of one of her staff’s skills. He glanced up as she slid into the booth across from him. Noticing her small winces, he gave her a concerned look. It didn’t seem too serious, and he is look said that he noticed but wasn’t saying anything.

He shifted his posture and sat up a little straighter. Leaning forward and resting his arms on the table, he tapped the tips of his fingers together in an anxious gesture.

At her questions, Leon managed a smile at the mention of the photo, though he did look away.

“They’re doing good, I think.”

He shook his head and looked back at her, still trying to hold the smile.

“Need to bring them around one of these days. Ya know, if they’re still talking to me later.”

He looked down  at the pie and actually smiled more.

”I’ve been meaning to bring Neko here. Let y’all see how great she is yourself.” 

Leon was obviously changing the topic, just doing a poor job of it. He leaned his head back against the booth and blew out a breath, falling silent for a moment until he seemed to force himself back on track.

“That is if I don’t ruin that too.”

He closed his eyes.

”Maybe I’m just reading in to things and causing my own drama.”

Edited January 18, 2023 by Spacefurry