Post by Raul Adalwulf on Jul 15, 2020 14:46:29 GMT -5
The scrambled eggs made a sickening slop noise as they hit the tray. Raul cultivated his habitually neutral expression in an effort to conceal his disgust as the runny, watery, rubbery, protein immediately began to congeal as it hit the cool surface of the pan. The wolf's belly gave a rumble of protest that was enough to rattle the cutlery on his tray, and defeated, he accepted the offering.
Raul stood seven feet tall, placing him at least a full twelve inches above the heads of the average Haven student, and many of the teachers as well. He had bulk to match that prodigious height, and though his muscles were long and lean like that of the wolf he resembled, they were densely packed and well corded, giving him a mass of some hundred kilograms, more than two hundred and twenty pounds. That is all to give context to his appetite, for it was no meager thing either. Raul could eat as much in a single sitting as any two grown men, and still not be satisfied.
This meant that his visits to the school cafeteria were often an exercise in frustration and disappointment. Haven, constrained by finances, had strict limits on the portion sizes afforded to each student. Said limits while more than adequate for an average student, in no way accounted for a giant like Raul, and he left every meal feeling hollow and unsatisfied. Seconds were almost universally unavailable or outright forbidden, with the exception of the leftovers from breakfast. Today's examples of scraps were several slices of cold, stale toast, a spoonful of browned applesauce, and the aforementioned rubbery eggs. Raul actually liked eggs a lot, and could eat an entire carton at once without complaint, but that did not include these eggs. They tasted rubbery and artificial, and he would have been shocked to his core to discover that they arrived in great big barrels every morning and the method of their preparation involved adding water and salt to the dehydrated powder that represented their base state, before cooking it for an hour in large covered vats like some mad science experiment.
However, they were his only option for nourishment beyond the meager portion offered as default. The cook gave him a sympathetic shrug, having grown familiar to seeing the shaggy titan hunting for scraps at lunch time. She was a heavy set middle aged woman, with a hair net restraining a bun of salt and pepper black hair, with a large mole on her second chin. Raul didn't know her name or what she smelled like, but had come to associate the odor of cooking food and spitting grease with her, and in his mind that was close enough for both. He was rather fond of the kind maid. She'd even started recently sneaking him a larger portion of the formal meal, but couldn't manage to give him enough to satisfy his appetite without depriving someone else. It wasn't enough, but it was very nice of her to recognize the oversight and she didn't even seem to judge him for coming back for the morning leftovers.
She was alone in that last regard however. Raul had more than once overheard some of the other student's commenting on his diet, and rarely kindly. In fact, Raul didn't think the other students liked him very much. They always seemed to look up whenever he was nearby, and say things about him when they thought he couldn't hear.
Of course, he had no idea this was because he was a big, very intimidating figure, standing more than two meters tall, weighing as much as a pallet of bricks, and always seeming to have a blank almost scary look on his face. Raul didn't wish any harm upon his classmates, but they didn't know that, they just saw this freaky half human behemoth who was perfectly happy to eat what they considered trash, and so he was shunned. No one would have stopped him from sitting with them, mostly because no one would dare to try and impede the will of the great gray wolf, but Raul knew he wasn't welcome, and though he didn't understand why, he had no desire to be somewhere he wasn't wanted.
He stepped away from the counter with a nod to the old cook and turned to look at the milling bodies filling the cafeteria. It seemed to him, one who had grown up in a village of less than a hundred people, that everyone in the world was in this one room, packed shoulder to shoulder and taking up every available inch. He had to hold his tray up high over his head and gently barge people with his hips to pass through the crowd, as he sought for a place to sit. There was one table that had free spots, and at first he thought it was empty. He usually sat by himself, so that seemed more or less perfect, but as he got close he saw someone sitting with her back to the wall, head down. Raul didn't know her, but figured if she was sitting by herself as well, maybe she wouldn't hate his company as much as everyone else did.
Raul sidled up to the table, and was shoved by the mass of bodies as he went to place his tray. He dropped the tray from about six inches up and it announced his arrival as it landed with a sharp clatter and splattered soggy eggs all over the table. Looking somewhat sheepish, Raul squeezed himself onto the bench opposite the stranger. The whole bench and table sagged as his mass settled upon it, and looking at him, sitting on a bench meant to comfortably accommodate three people, he seemed to take up the entire thing and still be struggling to fit in. When he noticed the other student looking at him, he paused pale blue eyes locking on hers with a spoonful of eggs, said spoon looking like a tiny teaspoon in his massive clawed hands, halfway to his mouth.
"Hello..." He said, somewhat uncertainly in a low rumble of a voice that very much fit with his bestial appearance.
Then the eggs slipped off his spoon and into his lap, and he jumped somewhat, shaking the whole table as he tried to swat the eggs off before they
could stain his uniform.
1,067/1,067
Raul stood seven feet tall, placing him at least a full twelve inches above the heads of the average Haven student, and many of the teachers as well. He had bulk to match that prodigious height, and though his muscles were long and lean like that of the wolf he resembled, they were densely packed and well corded, giving him a mass of some hundred kilograms, more than two hundred and twenty pounds. That is all to give context to his appetite, for it was no meager thing either. Raul could eat as much in a single sitting as any two grown men, and still not be satisfied.
This meant that his visits to the school cafeteria were often an exercise in frustration and disappointment. Haven, constrained by finances, had strict limits on the portion sizes afforded to each student. Said limits while more than adequate for an average student, in no way accounted for a giant like Raul, and he left every meal feeling hollow and unsatisfied. Seconds were almost universally unavailable or outright forbidden, with the exception of the leftovers from breakfast. Today's examples of scraps were several slices of cold, stale toast, a spoonful of browned applesauce, and the aforementioned rubbery eggs. Raul actually liked eggs a lot, and could eat an entire carton at once without complaint, but that did not include these eggs. They tasted rubbery and artificial, and he would have been shocked to his core to discover that they arrived in great big barrels every morning and the method of their preparation involved adding water and salt to the dehydrated powder that represented their base state, before cooking it for an hour in large covered vats like some mad science experiment.
However, they were his only option for nourishment beyond the meager portion offered as default. The cook gave him a sympathetic shrug, having grown familiar to seeing the shaggy titan hunting for scraps at lunch time. She was a heavy set middle aged woman, with a hair net restraining a bun of salt and pepper black hair, with a large mole on her second chin. Raul didn't know her name or what she smelled like, but had come to associate the odor of cooking food and spitting grease with her, and in his mind that was close enough for both. He was rather fond of the kind maid. She'd even started recently sneaking him a larger portion of the formal meal, but couldn't manage to give him enough to satisfy his appetite without depriving someone else. It wasn't enough, but it was very nice of her to recognize the oversight and she didn't even seem to judge him for coming back for the morning leftovers.
She was alone in that last regard however. Raul had more than once overheard some of the other student's commenting on his diet, and rarely kindly. In fact, Raul didn't think the other students liked him very much. They always seemed to look up whenever he was nearby, and say things about him when they thought he couldn't hear.
Of course, he had no idea this was because he was a big, very intimidating figure, standing more than two meters tall, weighing as much as a pallet of bricks, and always seeming to have a blank almost scary look on his face. Raul didn't wish any harm upon his classmates, but they didn't know that, they just saw this freaky half human behemoth who was perfectly happy to eat what they considered trash, and so he was shunned. No one would have stopped him from sitting with them, mostly because no one would dare to try and impede the will of the great gray wolf, but Raul knew he wasn't welcome, and though he didn't understand why, he had no desire to be somewhere he wasn't wanted.
He stepped away from the counter with a nod to the old cook and turned to look at the milling bodies filling the cafeteria. It seemed to him, one who had grown up in a village of less than a hundred people, that everyone in the world was in this one room, packed shoulder to shoulder and taking up every available inch. He had to hold his tray up high over his head and gently barge people with his hips to pass through the crowd, as he sought for a place to sit. There was one table that had free spots, and at first he thought it was empty. He usually sat by himself, so that seemed more or less perfect, but as he got close he saw someone sitting with her back to the wall, head down. Raul didn't know her, but figured if she was sitting by herself as well, maybe she wouldn't hate his company as much as everyone else did.
Raul sidled up to the table, and was shoved by the mass of bodies as he went to place his tray. He dropped the tray from about six inches up and it announced his arrival as it landed with a sharp clatter and splattered soggy eggs all over the table. Looking somewhat sheepish, Raul squeezed himself onto the bench opposite the stranger. The whole bench and table sagged as his mass settled upon it, and looking at him, sitting on a bench meant to comfortably accommodate three people, he seemed to take up the entire thing and still be struggling to fit in. When he noticed the other student looking at him, he paused pale blue eyes locking on hers with a spoonful of eggs, said spoon looking like a tiny teaspoon in his massive clawed hands, halfway to his mouth.
"Hello..." He said, somewhat uncertainly in a low rumble of a voice that very much fit with his bestial appearance.
Then the eggs slipped off his spoon and into his lap, and he jumped somewhat, shaking the whole table as he tried to swat the eggs off before they
could stain his uniform.
1,067/1,067