Leo went into the kitchen before searching for ingredients to decide what he can make quickly and in large batches while also satisfying a sweet tooth like Ophis. Then he decided to make pancakes. It's easy, cooks quickly and most importantly it's sweet after adding it with syrup or honey.
He was lucky they even have a pantry and kitchen in this place. Not something he would expect a villain organization base would. He makes a batch of ten and piles it up into a tower before drizzling honey, syrup and then adding some strawberry he found in the fridge.
"Here you go." Leo presented the dish to Ophis while wearing a pink frilly apron which belongs to Le Fay apparently.
Ophis took the fork and knife Leo offered to him and quickly cut a piece of the pancake before stuffing them into her mouth.
A small and indiscernible noise is made by Ophis to express her joy as she increases the speed of her eating until everything vanishes from the plate. When it's finished, she stares at the empty plate with regret for eating them too fast.
[+5 Affection]
"Hahaha. Don't worry, I'll make as much as you want." Leo said while looking at the notification.
'Its working.' He said as he noted on the profile, the thing Ophis likes is Sweet Food.
Leo returns to the kitchen and makes another batch and another plate with two pieces of pancakes for Kuroka since she also wanted to try from the way she was eyeing Ophis when she ate.
"Mnn! It's good. Very good Nya!" Kuroka described. "It's airy and fluffy, not too sweet and the strawberries are a great pair too."
Ophis, nodding along with Kuroka, totally agrees with her assessment.
"Haha, you are just exaggerating. It's just a simple dish." Leo felt a little proud they enjoyed his cooking because he never had a chance to cook for another before.
"Hum. It's simple indeed but for you to make both pieces taste exactly the same, same fluffiness and taste. It means you cook a lot and are quite experienced to be this precise Nya." Kuroka didn't let Leo belittle his hardwork.
"Besides, it's been a while since I tasted good cooking Nya. Le Fay know how to bake but not how to cook." Kuroka finished the last bite before holding her plate to ask for a second serving along with Ophis.
"...Want more." Ophis said with an expectant gaze at Leo like a puppy asking for more treat.
'Hngh! Such a face is cheating!' Leo felt like he was struck by an arrow into his heart before he collected the plate and returned to the kitchen.
———
More than three hours later.
"I'm sorry, but we ran out of ingredients." Leo looked ragged and drenched in sweat while Ophis still didn't look satisfied.
Ophis pouts and then looks at Kuroka.
"Eh? You want me to go and get more ingredients?"
Ophis nods.
"Eh…" Kuroka didn't mind but when she turned to Leo, he was already shaking on his feet, clearly exhausted.
*Plop*
Leo actually fell to the ground and passed out.
"Leo?!" Kuroka rushed to carry him to the couch to let him rest.
Kuroka didn't understand why he would work so desperately to cook for Ophis. This is clearly not out of fear because he was happy every time Ophis finished each plate. As if he was rewarded simply by making Ophis satisfied.
What Kuroka didn't know is Leo was happy watching the Affection rise up and he feared that if he didn't satisfy Ophis properly, the Affection he worked hard for would plummet when she became unhappy. Thus his desperation.
Coincidentally, someone knocked on the door before entering. It's the rest of the team. Vali, Bikou, Arthur and Le Fay returned at the same time.
"Kuroka. Lady Ophis? Hmn… who is that?" Vali entered the room and noticed Kuroka and Ophis looking at the passed out Leo on the couch with concern.
"Oh, Vali, Nya! Help, he suddenly passed out!" Kuroka quickly asks Vali to help.
"Why me? What can I do? Besides, your Senjutsu could help him recover some stamina right?" Vali rolled his eyes and reminded Kuroka of her power.
"Oh, right." Kuroka forgot because she was panicking.
She quickly used her Senjutsu as Vali suggested while the others went to do their things or rest.
"My kitchen was raided!" Le Fay suddenly shouted from the kitchen after seeing all her ingredients almost emptied out from the pantry and fridge and the mess left behind in her kitchen.
"No no. Leo is cooking food for Lady Ophis and me." Kuroka told Le Fay before she calmed down even though she is still dissatisfied because now she has to go out and resupply her kitchen again.
While waiting for Leo to wake up after Kuroka helped him to recover his stamina. Kuroka went to explain who Leo is and why he is here.
After the explanation, they can't help but pity him. Not only because of his tragic situation being chased by a killer but also ended up in a ritual made by those disgusting Eldritch Gods worshippers. But also because he now have to satisfy Ophis' hunger. They all knew first hand how difficult it is even for their group. They can only pay their condolences to Leo and thank him for lifting this burden off them.
Leo unknowingly earned the respect of Vali and his team for his efforts to lighten their burden.
"Hold on a second, Vali."
"Albion? What's wrong?" Vali and his team were surprised when Albion suddenly decided to talk.
"I can sense the foul and foreign aura in this human."
"Foul and foreign?" They asked.
"Albion means the Eldritch creatures. But considering he did find himself awake in a ritual made by those worshippers. Perhaps the ritual had caused some effect on him."
"Perhaps… Considering he survived meeting Ophis, perhaps he might just be affected. But I still need to warn you to be careful, Vali. Those foul beings might have tempered the human."
"Alright." Vali nods and accepts the advice. Albion never lied to him after all and he had no reason to.
After that, everyone left to do their own things while only Ophis stayed next to the couch while staring at Leo's peacefully sleeping face with an indescribable feeling.
She is still not satisfied with eating. However, seeing her food dispenser in this state because she forced him, made her feel regretful for forcing him.
Ophis might be simple minded, naive and innocent like a real child. But that doesn't mean she isn't intelligent. She was in fact very intelligent and wise as a Dragon her caliber would be but she simply lacks understanding and common knowledge. Like a child that was never educated and lived in isolation until adulthood and suddenly released into society.
This is the result of her spending most of her life slumbering and she becomes like a newborn child that lived most of her life in isolation until Great Red suddenly arrived and kicked her out from her home.
She takes one more glance at Leo before climbing up to his chest which slowly rises and falls as he breathes.
Leo is one of the handful who treated her kindly. She is aware that she is being used by the members of Khaos Brigade but she allows it because she reassures herself that if they become disobedient, she can easily kill them and make them obedient.
Leo is the only one that ever treated her with such kindness and she took it for granted and even made him collapse like this. She figures since Leo is like the 'ugly octopus' he isn't this fragile. But she was totally mistaken and paid the price. He is no longer just a simple and replaceable food dispenser in her heart. But an important and irreplaceable food dispenser she isn't willing to lose.
"Please wake up…" She mutters while nestling into the gap under his arm between him and the couch while watching over him so he cannot disappear from her sight.
(Can't find any art of this scene with Ophis but I got one with a cat. So, the rest rely on your imagination.)
—————
(Yes, the chapters are shortened because of the harsh economy.😔 Jk, I might make future chapter shorter because I feel shorter(1k) are better to write than longer (2k). But not all is like this so don't worry too much.)
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