Lance put his hand out to shake which Bam eagerly grabbed. Bam's mustache quivered, unbeknownst to everyone else, he held back from crying. Lance stood back up then went back to the back room. He had just enough food to make everyone else a meal. He decided he would skip this meal, to allow Bam to enjoy the fruit of his spoils. Lance could tell he was a lonely person. He stood at the stove, handling the ork wok. He dumped the goblin ears, cave weed, moss, and spiders in with a splash of goblin alcohol the substitute for slime core juice.

  “Cook” Lance spoke with conviction, the pride he felt for feeding people who enjoyed his cooking was something he believed now to be the best part of playing Wish Legacy. He looked back out into the front, behind the counter Courage poured cups of alcohol handing them to Reilly and Bam who sat at the counter talking with one another. As Lance scraped the pan with the flat of his cleaver tossing the food, he envisioned a room full of people behind them all, chatting, laughter and drinks clashing in hoorahs. He smiled as he grabbed all of the gems from his pocket he received from Bam tossing them in one by one. The gems melted among the cave ingredients like butter, mixing with the alco, a syrup-like dressing congealed amongst the food as the heat of the pan began to fade. He plated the food which at this point looked like a wet stir fry. He set them on the platter and went back into the front. As he set the plates down one by one for everyone serving Bam last he nodded. Lance noticed Bam began to shift back into whatever form he was previous.

  “ Ah-ah, This must be eaten slowly, enjoy it.” Lance said to Bam, who frowned but stopped and picked up a fork.

  " Sorry, it's a habit now. It does make things taste better though, the first time I ate like this i began to give a better resp-”

  “ Bam. Shut up and eat” Reilly said. She had quickly taken a motherly tone when dealing with him. He did, and then began to fork some food. Lance had taken to cleaning the slime soda mugs as Wellyn had once done. Violet sat on the floor behind the counter staring up at him.

  Violet had a pair of nostrils appear on her round face for the first time that Lance had seen. Her nose bounced around like a dog sniffing out scraps on the floor. Lance poked at courage with his elbow, who looked down with his mouthful.

  “ Hmph, Here take a bite.” Courage said with his fork out a bite of cave salad on it. Violet bounced up onto the counter, startling Bam as it was the first time he had seen her. She looked at him and down on his plate, then slid along the counter towards Courage and his fork. Her gelatinous nostrils took a sniff of the fork and she looked up at Courage and then bounced onto his plate then on the floor. The plate was clean. “You little bi” his voice trailed off as on the floor Violet bubbled with carbonation, the sizzle of the food in her could be felt on the floor through vibration.

  Lance looked at Courage with a shrug of his shoulders intending sorry. Everyone stared at Violet who gurgled with an inner boil, her gel poking out in random moundings. After an amount of time she began to slow to a simmer. Her eyes reopened, everyone noticed she had grown in size by a little. Lance smirked. A second later a mouth formed on Violet in the same manner with an audible POP.

  Violet took in a breath with a gasp, a bubble appearing inside her. She pushed it through her and back out, making a cacophony of noises out of her mouth akin to a meaty fart. Everyone began to laugh, except for Lance. A bead of sweat began to form on his forehead. “ Wellyns gonna kill me” he thought. Violet's brow began to furl as they laughed. “ Stop stop… Shhh Eat your damn food.”

  “ What food!” Courage replied. Lance pushed his fork back at him. “Tsk.”

  “ Hey she deserves it after all the soda. I'll take care of this.” Lance said as he walked over and picked up Violet who had gone from a basketball to a beach ball in size. He took her in the back. As he went in the back he closed the door. “ Violet, are you trying to talk?”

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  Lance awaited a reply but all he got in return was another series of gurgly pops from her. Eventually she stopped and her brows tightened and she sizzled more, obviously upset.

  Lance consoled her by patting her and sitting her on the table in the middle of the room. He scratched his burlap head. “Hmm I wonder if she leveled up.. Can I level up npc’s? Violet is an npc right? Wellyn’s not here but she was his so… Is she just a monster?” he thought. He pulled a gem from his pocket. He stared at it. It was Graz’s Soul Prism.

  Violet stared at the gem as well. “Violet, are you a soul creature?” Lance asked.

  She shook her head side to side, no, her eyes not leaving the gem. She began to make more noises but stopped quickly when she couldn't get her mouth to work. Lance sighed, putting the gem back into his pocket.

  “ Well don't be upset that you can't speak. It takes us years to learn sometimes when we are young. At least you understand already. Take your time and play with your sounds. We have teeth and a tongue that we use for different sounds so it might be harder without those, but I'm sure Wellyn will be so proud of you when he gets back.” Lance patted her on her pointed slime tip. “ I'll make you more food when we get back, don't eat anything else okay? It won't be as tasty” Just as Lance finished consoling her she began to melt, her eyes were sad and she began to droop on the table, Lance panicked picking her up in his arms fearful, he took her over to her crate, she oozed from his arms into her padded blanket nest. He breathed quick breaths of fear and confusion but soon after she opened her eyes and winked at him. He didn't understand what was happening. A second later he heard a loud commotion from the front. Courage slammed open the door.

  “ Tell this guy to shut the HECK up!” he said stepping into the room, a moment later Bam pushed him aside stepping into the back room.

  “ Sammich! OH MY GOSH, YOUR FOOOD. ITS.. ITS”

  “ HEY! Get out of my kitchen. All of you now!” Lance pointed them out, both of them put up their hands stepping back out. Lance sighed looking back down at Violet. He took off his bat hide apron and laid it over her like a blanket and walked out.

  Reilly was sitting at the counter pinching closed Bam’s lips. “ And so what did we learn?”

  “ Don’t talk when other people are talking….” Bam mumbled through his pinched lips.

  “ Annnd?”

  Bam looked at Lance, “ Don't go in the kitchen unless asked..” Reilly then let him go. Courage looked at Lance and nodded alongside Bam bashfully.

  “ Alright what's up?” Lance said, addressing Bam, feigning ignorance.

  “ Dude when I ate your food I got a buff and I leveled up! I've eaten almost everything I could since playing this, and nothing has done that!” Bam said.

  “ Huh weird. Well you guys good to go now?” Lance ignored the implications.

  “ Did you hear me ?? Your food made me level up!”

  “ Bam, chill out we didn't level up, it must have been something else.” Reilly said, backing up Lance. Courage filled up a waterskin with some alcohol from the keg, his back turned. Lance looked over at him. His cheeks swollen and red as he bit his lips holding in laughter.

  “ Alright well pack up lets get in there.” Lance said, pulling up his ledger and signing his name. He passed it around the counter where everyone signed. He went into the back and came out in his bat leathers and backpack. Holstering his weapons, he opened the door to the dungeon holding it for them. Bam and Courage stepped through, Reilly approached Lance before they walked in.

  “ He’s not a good choice, he talks too much.” She said with a side eye.

  “ I can tell he's strong, he's just lonely. Let's find out if he's loyal before we dismiss the idea. At least I couldn't let him pay me so much. My conscience wouldn't allow it. I'm sure you hit 6 right”

  Reilly nodded. “ I'm not gonna babysit all of you. Don't forget about King and Valora. If the level gets harder with more people, you really want to raise the difficulty for that guy? He's kind of a blob.”

  Lance flicked her on the forehead. “ Don't get cocky. I babysat you. Now go.” He shoved her into the doorway.