“I’m so sorry for making you wait this long,” Doku sobbed. “You must think so little of me now after failing you as a wife. But please, I promise I’ll make it up to you, I swear it. Please give me a chance, Daniel. Please.”
“I… um… but…” Daniel managed to get out while looking around at all the girls.
“I’ll redeem myself in your eyes, Daniel,” Doku promised with a gracious smile at him. “I’m so sorry it took so long, but I promise I’ll try to make more time for this in the future. I know how important it is for you to bathe with your loved ones.”
“You’re not his loved one!” Falla yelled out. “We are!”
“I know you are as well,” Doku agreed at her. “Don’t worry, Falla, I haven’t forgotten that we all share him together. I know we all belong to him equally.”
“She is missing the point entirely once again,” Specca groaned in frustration.
“Hold on, aren’t you supposed to be making us breakfast right now?” Alyssa demanded pointing to the harpy.
“Alyssa,” Daniel scolded her, with Doku lowering her head in shame behind her wing. “She doesn’t have to make us breakfast every morning. She’s been doing so because she wants to be nice to us, you should be thankful that she cooks for you every day.”
“Oh, you’re right, Daniel,” Alyssa agreed with her head lowered in remorse. After a pause she again pointed to Doku with a mean glare. “What the hell are you doing in here and not the kitchen right now?”
“Oh, well that’s the reason why I had time to come here this morning,” Doku happily said. “Clover offered to make breakfast for everyone, so I was free to come here to be with my husband.”
“Clover?” everyone repeated in disbelief.
“She’s going to be making us breakfast this morning?” Specca nervously asked.
“Does she know how to cook?” Triska wondered.
“Why in Eden did she offer to do such a thing?” Kroanette inquired. “That’s not like her at all.”
“She was rather insistent,” Doku praised with a warm smile. “She told me to leave everything to her this morning, and practically pushed me out of the kitchen in a hurry so she could get to work. So here I am enjoying a lovely bath with my husband. This worked out well for everyone, didn’t it?”
Silence filled the bathing room as everyone stared at Doku with blank expressions. The harpy sighed happily and nuzzled against Daniel’s side again, looking up to him with a timid smile before bashfully hiding her face in his shoulder with a small giggle.
“What I’m getting out of this is that it’s Clover’s fault we have a naked Doku hanging all over Daniel,” Triska summed up. All the girls looked to each other then to Doku while Daniel was keeping his eyes up at the ceiling and not the harpy that was rubbing her body against his bare skin.
“Alright,” Alyssa said standing up and looking towards the archway with a bitter scowl. “Bath time is over. Everyone get dressed and let’s go see what Clover is up to. And someone get Doku off our Daniel before I do something really bad to her!”
*****
Inside the dining room Clover finished setting out the last plate at the table, the elf nervously looking over what she had prepared for everyone before shutting her eyes with a frustrated sigh.
“This isn’t going to work, I just know it. It’s not good enough. Who am I kidding, I can’t cook worth a damn.”
She started running back towards the kitchen area, her fears that what she made would only push Daniel further away growing rapidly. Before she could leave the dining area however she stopped with a squeak as she saw Daniel and the girls walking through the archway, all of them fully dressed and looking at the table prepared for them with curiosity.
Each spot had been set with a plate consisting of a plain salad of dry lettuce and a bread roll, mutton chops that were cooked to a very dark color, cups of water filled unevenly between everyone, napkins and silverware set in a crooked manner beside the dishes, and one plate that was actually completely bare of any food.
“Clover?” Daniel asked as the group walked in around the table. “We heard you wanted to make breakfast for us?”
“The hell did she do?” Alyssa derided. “The meat’s burnt and there aren’t even any vegetables or dressing with the salads.”
“Um, guys?” Triska said with a raised eyebrow, pointing over to the kitchen area where it was seen to have cupboards left open, dishes and silverware sprawled about on the counter, a pantry in disarray with baskets of produce hanging out from its shelves, a cooking tray set in the stove that had a few charred lumps of something on it, and a puddle of water next to the urn that had been spilled recently.
“Oh dear,” Doku fretted hiding behind her wings.
“What a mess,” Luna worried.
“Clover… what the hell?” Kroanette exclaimed as all eyes turned to the elf.
“You made a mess of the kitchen and this is all that came of it?” Alyssa asked in disbelief as she waved to the table.
Clover clutched her gloved hands down at her sides while lowering her head in embarrassment, her flustered look still being noticed as she tried to keep calm with a few sharp breaths.
“I… I wanted… to try… and…”
“Do you even know how to cook?” Alyssa demanded.
Clover shakily shook her head and looked away from everyone with a cringe.
“Zoey always used to make everything for us. She… was better at it.”
“I can only imagine so,” Specca commented with a raised eyebrow at her plate, which was empty. “But at least everyone else got something to eat, whereas I apparently did not.”
“What?” Clover said looking over to her. “No, you had two fish on your plate.”
Everyone watched Specca lifting up her plate and looking around at the table skeptically before back to Clover with a dull expression. Clover walked over and saw no sign of the fish on the table then scratched her head in puzzlement.
“There were two fish right there for you.”
“I’m sure,” Specca dryly said setting the plate down with a clatter.
“I’m not lying to you,” Clover argued. She scoffed and marched over to a pantry in the kitchen while Specca crossed her arms in discontent at the elf. “I set two fish on your plate, both of them raw because I know you like them that way, and I got them from in here.”
She opened the pantry door then jumped back with a yelp, the group watching her staring at something in surprise with a bewildered look on her face.
“What the fuck? Get out of there!”
Bolting from inside the pantry Star ran past Clover on all fours with a mew, a fish held in her mouth as she warped out of the kitchen and reappeared behind the group where she took off out of the dining hall with quickly waving tails. Clover watched the jinx racing off with her fish then looked back into the pantry and groaned in frustration.
“What was she doing in there?” Triska asked walking over beside the elf, her eyes then seeing dozens of fish bones littering the floor of the pantry. “Of course. We bring a cat into our home and look what happens.”
“Did Star eat my fish?” Specca snapped as she looked to her empty plate.
“Actually,” Triska hesitantly corrected. “She ate all the fish.”
“WHAT?” Specca cried out. She rushed over to the pantry then gasped in horror with hands held over her mouth, eyes staring in shock at seeing the pantry in shambles with the remains of the fish resting on the floor.
“Oh dear lord,” Specca breathed out, tears forming in her eyes as she whimpered and slowly dropped to her knees. “No… this can’t be happening… this is just a horrible dream.”
“She ate all the fish we had?” Daniel asked.
“Every last one,” Triska sighed shaking her head.
Specca broke down crying into her hands, her loud wails echoing in the dining hall while everyone watched the nixie with sympathetic eyes.
“There there,” Triska gently said, pa
tting the heartbroken girl on the shoulder. “We’ll catch some more, don’t worry.”
“This day is simply terrible!” Specca sobbed.
“You didn’t wake up with Clover’s tongue in your mouth,” Alyssa muttered.
“Or her crotch,” Falla added with a grumble.
Daniel walked over behind Specca and gently held her, the girl then scrambling to her feet and hugging him with her face buried in his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Specca,” he spoke while holding her close. “We’ll make sure to stock up on more soon, I promise. It’ll be okay.”
“I hate that cat! I hate her, Daniel!”
“She didn’t do this to be mean to you,” Daniel assured as he gently rubbed her back. “She didn’t know better, she was just looking for something to eat. We’ll get her straightened out so this doesn’t happen again. So please, don’t cry.”
Specca leaned back with watery eyes, sniveling with her whimpers as Daniel wiped her tears away and straightened her glasses. He gently brushed her hair away from her eyes then gave her a light kiss, the girl slowly calming down as she held onto his shirt with both hands. After Daniel held her cheek with a warm smile, something that almost brought one to her face as well, they both then noticed a plate with two roasted fish held out towards them. To the side they saw Clover offering the food to Specca while looking away from them.
“Here,” she said without making eye contact. “They were going to be mine but… well, I’m sure I fucked up cooking them too. Still, you can have them.”
“Clover…” Specca breathed out.
“Just take them,” Clover grunted as she pushed the plate into Specca’s hands. The elf walked away towards the other pantry she had raided and left in disorder then looked around at the mess she had caused in the kitchen with a tired sigh.
“Every time I try to be nice,” she grumbled to herself.
“Thank you, Clover,” Daniel said, with the elf looking back over her shoulder to see Daniel smiling kindly at her while holding Specca.
“I don’t think any of this is worth thanking me for,” Clover pointed out shaking her head.
“You tried to make breakfast for us the best you could, gave Doku a much needed break, and you even saved the last fish for Specca. I think that’s worth thanking you for.”
Clover lowered her head as she felt she still fucked up royally with her efforts, a single nod being made to acknowledge his words yet doing nothing to hide she didn’t believe them. Daniel gently sent Specca off towards the table, with Triska guiding her to her seat as the nixie kept her saddened eyes on the last of the fish they had, then walked over and rested a hand on Clover’s shoulder. She slowly glanced back to him with a tear seen in her eye before she quickly wiped it away.
“Come join us,” he encouraged. “Let’s eat the meal you made for us together.”
He then began fixing up a plate with a salad and bread while the other girls watched him curiously, a calm smile on his face as he casually prepared the dish from what was spread out on the counter before his eyes took notice of the charred lumps on the cooking tray.
“I don’t think those made the cut,” he jested with a smirk.
“I don’t know if any of them did,” Clover admitted in remorse.
“I’ll split mine with you,” he offered, earning a surprised look from her. “It’s the least I can do.”
“What do you mean? You don’t need to share anything with me,” Clover reasoned shaking her head.
“I want to,” he insisted handing her the plate. “You’ve been through a lot this morning and tried very hard in here to cook for us, at least it sure looks like you tried hard in here. I want to say thank you for putting up with us this morning and doing so much.”
Clover looked to the dish in her hands then to Daniel in wonder as he motioned her over to the table. He walked over to it along with the other girls, all of them sitting down at their seats then watching as the elf remained motionless in the kitchen.
“It’s okay, Clover,” Daniel assured. “Please, come sit with us.”
After a pause Clover slowly made her way over to the table, sitting in front of Daniel and looking down at her meal in silence. Daniel chuckled and cut his mutton in half, a curious look coming over him for a moment before he smiled and handed half of it to Clover.
“See?” he said, with the elf glancing to the meat he was giving her. “It’s only burnt on the outside. The rest of it turned out okay.”
Taking hold of the mutton Clover eyed it in awe, seeing that only the outer part of the meat was charred while the inside was cooked properly.
“It’s okay,” she softly said.
“It may look rough on the outside,” Daniel reasoned with a shrug. “But what’s on the inside looks great to me.”
Clover blinked then slowly looked to Daniel, seeing him winking at her before he began eating the meal. The other girls watched him for a moment then started eating as well, all of them noticing that the food may not have looked too appealing before but it still tasted good.
“It’s not really that bad,” Kroanette admitted with a shrug.
“Indeed,” Doku complimented. “I think it’s quite delicious.”
Alyssa chewed the meat a few times with a murmur then shrugged and glanced to Clover.
“I guess you only burned part of it, that’s not so bad. Triska used to serve us worse before we met you.”
“Hey!” Triska shouted at her. “What do you mean I served worse? I never burned anything I made for you! Well okay, there was that one time, but still!”
“I’m right across the table from you,” Alyssa said shaking her head. “You don’t need to shout. And as for you serving us worse, remember your rabbit stew? Because I sure do.”
Specca and Squeak nodded while glancing to Triska, the teen growling and sitting back in her chair while muttering something to herself. As Triska poked at her food with a grimace Specca began eating one of the fish she had with a faint smile on her face.
“It tastes so good,” Specca softly praised. “Thank you for saving these, Clover.”
“Wow,” Luna gasped as she and Falla looked at their bread in surprise. The group saw them picking at their rolls as they seemed to notice something different about them before Luna pulled out a beetle from hers.
“There are bugs in these,” Falla marveled.
“What?” Alyssa exclaimed before coughing out a bite of bread she was eating.
“Bugs?” Daniel asked looking at his roll carefully. “There are bugs in them?”
“Oh lord, I just swallowed,” Kroanette groaned holding her throat with a disgusted face.
“Relax, it’s just in theirs,” Clover explained, with everyone looking to her in surprise as the elf glanced to the sisters. “I saw the jar you keep your snacks in and… thought I’d give your rolls a bit of flair.”
“You put these bugs into our bread yourself?” Falla wondered.
Clover nodded in silence, with the butterfly sisters looking at their unique bread in awe as they saw a few beetles had been pushed into the rolls. Falla slowly lowered her bread with remorse then smiled a bit at the elf.
“Thank you. I… I am sorry about-”
“Don’t want to talk about it,” Clover quickly interrupted shaking her head. “Ever. Just don’t bring it up and neither will I.”
Falla nodded and looked to the tasty roll she had with a gentle smile while Luna began savagely devouring hers with maniacal laughter and wide eyes. Clover then glanced to Alyssa, the witch returning the look while chewing her mutton.
“Trust me, I’ll never speak about this morning again,” Alyssa promised, with Clover nodding in agreement to that.
“My my,” Daniel commented. “Preparing Specca’s fish the way she likes it and adding Luna and Falla’s favorite snacks to their breakfast. That was really kind of you to do that for them, Clover.”
“Yeah yeah,” Clover sighed lowering her head. “I tried to be creative with this but
… that was as much as I could come up with. I’m just not much of a cook.”
“I can teach you,” Doku offered, with Clover glancing to her curiously. “I don’t mind at all. If you really wish to learn how to cook, for whatever the reason, I’ll be glad to help you.”
Clover slowly nodded and looked down to the slice of mutton she had in her hand, carefully tilting it around as if examining the outcome of her cooking attempt while deep in thought about something that was poking into her mind. Her eyes then caught sight of Pip fluttering near her, the fairy watching her with a curious smile and shimmering specks of light dropping behind her. Clover eyed the fairy for a moment then smiled a bit and looked back down to her meal.
“I’ll feed you after we eat, okay?”
“Really?” Pip eagerly asked, with everyone watching Clover in wonder as she nodded while just staring at her food.
“I offered to make breakfast for you all, and that includes you,” Clover reasoned with a quick glance and smirk at the fairy.
“Yay! Thank you!” Pip cheered before quickly flying forward and hugging the elf’s chest. “I love you, Clover, even though your boobies are really small!”
“You could have left it at thank you,” Clover flatly replied.
“Why are you being so nice?” Triska asked. Clover glanced to her as the teen was watching her with a puzzled expression. “Seriously, where is all this coming from?”
“I must admit I’m a bit surprised too,” Kroanette added. “What’s come over you, Clover?”
Clover slowly looked around at seeing everyone staring at her, with Alyssa raising an eyebrow in question while taking a drink, Luna showing the elf a deranged smile with a twitching eye, Falla taking a bite out of her insect roll with a curious look, Daniel eating part of his mutton while watching Clover interestedly, Triska showing a cautious expression as she eyed over the elf, Kroanette chewing her salad and waiting for an explanation, Doku smiling kindly at the elf while knowing exactly what had come over her, Squeak sitting sideways on her chair while watching her with curiosity and lightly twitching antennae, and Pip who fluttered off her chest and landed down on the table in front of her with a tiny giggle.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII Page 41
