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Thog never told anyone the real reason why he’d had a kitchen installed behind the bar. Everyone was just glad they didn’t have to build a campfire every time they wanted to have a hot meal.
One day, Thog was by himself in the bar. He looked around outside to make sure no one was nearby, then slipped into the kitchen. In his hand he held a little recipe card written out for him by Dont.
Pulling out the necessary ingredients, the black-haired man set to work. It was more difficult than he’d anticipated, as apparently pigbats don’t have the neatest writing, but nothing he couldn’t manage. Within minutes, a pan was in the oven and Thog sat in front of the bar drinking some coffee and reading when Gregor suddenly showed up.
“Is something burning?” he asked, wandering over towards the kitchen.
Thog jumped to his feet in a panic, running past the boy and to the oven. Sure enough, the cake was burnt to a crisp. And slightly on fire.
The man grabbed an ovenmitt and yanked the pan out of the oven, slamming it onto the counter with a plethora of curses.
“How the hell? It was supposed to have another ten minutes!”
Gregor peeked around Thog to look at the charred confection. “Looks like too much sugar, I think. Or Kyr replaced the stovewood with his Fast-Burning Kierwood.”
Thog turned to glare at the small fighter. “He did what now?”
Gregor just stared back blankly as usual. “He thought it would increase production if he made some stovewood that cooked food faster. You should probably keep an eye on it next time. What were you baking anyway?”
Thog’s cheeks went bright red and he wordlessly shoved the bewildered boy out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.
Kyr was next to interrupt, while Thog was busy mixing his second attempt.
"Gregor told me you were testing out my new Fast-Burning Kierwood! How's that going?"
"F****** terrible! I have to make the food again because the last cake caught fire!"
"Hmm, interesting," the big man muttered, scribbling some notes. "Well, you just keep trying, Thog. And let me know if the food's actually edible after it cooks."
Thog glared at Kyr. Without a word, he shoved the man's invention into his arms and pushed him out the door, locking it this time.
The second cake didn't burn, now that he was using normal stovewood. It smelled rather nice, in fact. Thog was just starting to put the final touches on it when a thick black mist started to filter through the cracks around the door.
Suddenly, Markus appeared, looking rather smug and triumphant. "Hah hah! You really think a simple lock can keep out Markus Velafi?"
Thog glared ice at Markus. "The f*** are you doing here, Markus," he spoke through gritted teeth.
"Kyr and Gregor told me you were baking. It sounded so ludicrous, I just had to come see for myself. Smells amazing, by the way. Is that one of Dont's recipes?" The Tiefling leaned over to take a lick of icing as he spoke.
Thog smacked Markus' hand away with his gun. "So help me, Markus, if you ruin this cake, I’m gonna put so many holes in you even Ashe won’t know how to fix you."
Markus backed away a few steps, hands held up in surrender. “Okay, no need to do anything rash. What’s that for anyway? I never pegged you as the baking type, Thog.”
“Mind your own d*** business, Markus,” the black-haired man grumbled as he piped icing onto the cake, spelling out something.
Markus couldn’t help himself but watch as Thog carefully piped the letters. A...E...S...L.
“You’re making a birthday cake for Ashe, aren’t you!” The blonde exclaimed, startling is boss so badly that he squirted some of the green confection onto the counter. “Planning to take all the glory for yourself, huh?”
Thog glared at Markus so hard that he might have shrivelled if not for the proud confidence currently boosting the tiefling’s fortitude. The sound of grinding teeth was painful. A hand found its way down to the gun again.
“Yes. Markus. I’m. Baking. Ashe. A cake. Now. Get. Out.”
The tiefling was gone so fast that one might almost believe he was never there.
Later that evening, Thog was surprised to find his employees had decorated the bar in festive arrangements. They were already gathered around Ashe, showering her with affection and well-wishes as she couldn’t help but smile, Markus with his hand ever so possessively around the young woman’s waist. The blonde-haired tiefling had obviously orchestrated the little celebration.
Thog gritted his teeth. “He doesn’t have to look so d*** smug about it,” he muttered to himself.
Then Markus turned and noticed his boss in the corner. “Oh, excellent! Thog’s here with the cake!” He guided Ashe over to the bar and motioned for Thog to place the cake in front of the snow-haired girl, to which Thog begrudgingly obliged. “Thog spent all day making this just for you, Ashe.”
Ashe turned her golden eyes up to Thog and smiled. “Thank you, Thog. This is surprisingly sweet of you. I didn’t know you baked.”
Despite himself, Thog just had to smile back. He subtly turned a gloating look towards Markus, knowing he’d just scored himself some points over the tiefling. Probably not enough to win Ashe’s heart just yet, but every little bit helped. And Thog was very patient.