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[/cell][cell][center][hr]Soup Kitchen
[@KillamriX88][hr][/center][color=bfbfbf][table=bordered][row][/row][row][cell=active][center][color=303030]Prompt.[/color][/center]Weiyuan and Chua-won enter the soup kitchen to find a large room filled to the brim with energy and conversation. While the outside is currently and is expected to remain cast in shadow, the interior is well lit by stark white fluorescent tubing in the ceiling. The lack of windows creates a space that feels crowded and claustrophobic but a part of that can also be blamed on the unusually large crowd that's been drawn to the dining hall due to the anniversary. The air is a little warmer than some may like and the smell is unpleasant one moment and the next, tastes of the food that's being served at the other end. It's confusing and at times too noisy, but compared to the world just beyond the doors of the kitchen, this is a temporary slice of a better life for most.

Stretching around the tables that have been situated in the center of the room is a rather long line that is moving somewhat briskly, thankfully. Anyone who isn't able to stand and wait in the line is seated and served by volunteers. Everyone else is or was crowded around a particularly important looking figure with a stethoscope around her neck who is currently engaged in conversation.

As the two enter, no one seems to take notice, save a girl who's sucking the juice out of a bottle in her hand. A short child of around 11 years of age with messy red hair that's pouring down either side of her dirty face from a hat. Her clothing, a sleeveless red jacket over a stained blue shirt and blue jean shorts, is ragged but still holding up.

She pulls the bottle from her lips and looks them both up and down but says nothing.
[/cell][/row][/table][/color][center][hr][@Abstract Proxy][hr][/center][color=bfbfbf][table=bordered][row][/row][row][cell=active]Sonam by this point had already expelled all the relieved air from her lungs. Although arriving only a little later than expected, to see Vasra in the kitchen and already in her work was a weight off her chest. There was very little Sonam could control outside, even when considering she was a lot of the reason why the nights outside were so dark. But here, whatever light the doctor brought with her could be preserved. In here, there was a safety to being surrounded by the people that needed you most and in the Lower Ring, it was never more true for the Doctor than when she was in the soup kitchen. Already she was being absconded by those whose lives she touched. Families held together by an uncompromising determination. Bodies held together by her more honest touch. Broken minds found purchase in her warm eyes and genuine smile, a smile that would fade for the briefest of moments before finding its way back to her lips again as another would come to greet her.

She was as a boat without a sail in an ocean that was eager to swallow her and yet, she continued to paddle forward.

By the time Vasra had made her request, Sonam had already stepped to the side of the serving station with an extra bowl in hand. She thread herself through a small crowd still waiting for their food and found the Doctor near a table with a few empty seats. Already the doctor was considering those afflicted who were expecting to see her.

[color=white]"I haven't had a bite to eat today, and it would seem that I have new patients waiting for me here."[/color]

[color=white]"There's always new patients."[/color] Sonam replied. [color=white]"I mean look at the crowd now. Remember when it was just a handful?"[/color] Sonam knew tending to them all was not an easy task and it was any wonder how the woman still had the energy left or the determination to continue to work in such conditions. Sonam was doubtful the single bowl of soup she'd brought would be of any help, but she'd set it down at a table and made a show of guiding the doctor to an empty chair before picking up her bag and moving it a little closer. She then sat opposite her, and while she was happy to see a benevolent face, hers was a mixture of vigilance and apprehension. Her eyes continued to shift over the crowd, reading as best she could the intentions of a sea of strangers. She noted a small bubble of space between the pair and the next set of ears and took advantage of the small isolation.

[color=white]"They've doubled the price."[/color] She began, holding up a hand as if to stop any thoughts on the matter from reaching her. [color=white]"Don't worry. It's been handled and there's no change for you but... you gotta be careful. Things are looking a little dangerous, Vasra. People know. More people than should and I get that it's important, believe you me. This means a lot to you and to them and it's the easiest money I've made, but there are walls closing in. As much as I love pretending to help here to get this stuff to you, I'd hate to see yo-..."[/color]

Eyes of exhaustion were regarding her words carefully. An exhaustion that had been battered into submission by a will trying to find the right in all the wrong. Things like this weren't meant to last and Sonam could only chew on her lie for so long.

[color=white]"You need to get some rest, Doc."[/color]

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