Conn likes Benet. He cooks delicious food for him (especially those yummy biscuits) and knits him lots of warm, cozy clothing, from sweaters to gloves to long, snuggly scarves. Benet is also always there for him whenever he's in trouble, like when he was getting beat up by the previous Underlord's minions.

It's because of this that Conn wants to pay him back. And after giving it a lot of thought, he thinks he knows how.

He should make him a surprise dinner! Since Benet always makes him delicious meals, he should do the same for him. Besides, everyone likes food.

Conn decided to make said-dinner the following day, since he knew Benet would be out on a meeting with someone that evening. These meetings happened every week on the same day, so that made things easy for him. (Once, Conn had mentioned these frequent meetings to Rowan, who had burst out laughing. She then made a remark about Kernn doing the same thing on the same days. A very odd coincidence.)

It just so happened that Nevery would also be out, having something he wanted to discuss with Brumbee. Perfect. Conn couldn't wait.

Conn dug through each and every cabinet in the kitchen until he found what he'd been searching for. It was a big, dusty cookbook, bought by Nevery only to never be used.

Benet had questioned Nevery why he'd bought it, and Nevery had replied that if Benet wasn't around, he'd use it to make himself food. Benet had stated that he would always be around, and left it at that.

Conn was glad they hadn't thrown it away. He proceeded to open the cookbook to a random page, landing on a recipe for pot pie. Deeming it too hard, Conn continued to flip through the cookbook until he stopped on a recipe that seemed easy enough and looked tasty. Chicken vegetable soup.

Benet was gonna be overjoyed when he came back!

Benet was gonna kill him. Scratch that–both Benet and Nevery were gonna kill him. Or worse, send him to bed without dinner!

This was supposed to be easy. Conn was supposed to follow the steps, and make the soup. He knew he would probably end up making a mess, but not one that he couldn't clean up before Benet and Nevery came back! What he had NOT counted on was Pip coming in and flying around.

As he tried to shoo him out, Conn ended up accidentally elbowing the pot of very hot, still cooking soup, causing it to tip over and spill everywhere.

All of his hard work. GONE.

As he sat on the counter, moping, he unfortunately forgot about the stove still being on. Even worse, he didn't notice Pip landing on the oven, drawn to the fire. Or as he started scratching and biting at it.

By the time Conn finally noticed, Pip had smashed the top part of the stove as well as bit through the gas pipe.

Conn only had time to scream "PIP!" before the oven exploded.

If it wasn't for Wellmet's magic, Conn knew he would've been dead. But lying there in the living room, exhausted after having put out the fire, he couldn't seem to care.

He heard the sound of the room door being opened and shut.

"Boy, we're home," came the muffled sound of Nevery's voice.

Conn closed his eyes in dreaded anticipation.

"Boy, what in the name of the magics happened here!" There it was.

Conn stood up sluggishly. He sighed and headed to the kitchen. When he got there, he was greeted with Nevery's angry shouts.

"Were you trying to do pyrotechnics in the kitchen, boy? And look at that soup and chicken! What a waste. What exactly were you trying to do?"

Conn turned to look at Benet. He wasn't looking at him, but at the kitchen, if you could even call it that anymore. He looked sad. Just–sad. This was the second time Conn had destroyed Benet's kitchen, the only difference being Benet wasn't there. But he still hurt him. He can't seem to stop hurting people close to him, even when he was trying to do something nice for them.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer?"

Conn swallowed thickly. He could feel the weight of their expectant stares. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

"I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you, Benet, but I ended up ruining everything. Again." Conn glanced towards Benet before locking eyes with Nevery. "I'm sorry for being such a disaster that I can't even make soup without blowing up the kitchen."

A moment of silence. Benet turned towards him, expressionless. Nevery sighed.

"You are a disaster, boy. Then again, everyone's a little bit of a disaster. But you aren't one we can't handle. Honestly, I'm just glad you came out of this unharmed."

Conn felt a bit better. But that was just what Nevery thought.

Before he could argue the point, Benet approached Conn and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for thinking of me. That's nice. The kitchen blowing up isn't so nice, but we can always replace it. No harm done." Benet's gaze softened. It seemed to say, We can replace the kitchen, but we can't replace you. Conn smiled.

Benet's expression turned reproachful. "You'll help fix everything, of course."

"Definitely!" Conn nodded vigorously. "I'll do anything to make it right. I'll help rebuild the kitchen, and I'll make sure that Pip stays far away from the oven and other flammables. Sure as sure, this will never happen again."

Benet gave him a small smile, which he returned.

Nevery cleared his throat. He had a fond look in his eye that quickly morphed into a frown as he looked at the remains of the kitchen.

"That's all well and good, but I daresay that the kitchen is in no condition for cooking. Boy, go get your jacket. We're dining out today."

It took only two weeks to rebuild the kitchen, thanks to help from the magics and Rowan's staff ("Conn, the guards have better things to do than clean up your mess." "Sorry." ". . . It's fine, just never cook unsupervised again.").

Conn was glad. Benet's cooking was better than any restaurant's.

It was early afternoon. Conn had decided to visit his cousin to work on a pyrotechnic project of theirs. He was having lots of fun, but decided to head back early for lunch.

Immediately after he came back from Embre's place, Conn made his way to the kitchen, excited to see what Benet was cooking up. What he saw confused him.

Benet was sitting on a chair he placed just outside the newly constructed kitchen, reading a book.

Had Conn lost track of time? No, impossible. He always knew when it was time to eat.

When Conn made his way closer, Benet closed the book and swiftly set it down before giving Conn a Look.

Conn was very familiar with Benet's Looks, and this one said: "What are you waiting for?"

Conn was waiting for lunch, but he didn't think he should say that out loud.

Benet didn't wait for Conn to say anything either. He gestured for Conn to follow him and headed into the kitchen. Conn, confused but curious, followed him.

Lo and behold, there it was, sitting on the counter completely unharmed: the cookbook Conn had used to (try to) make Benet the surprise dinner.

Benet noticed his incredulous expression. "It has a thick cover. Almost as thick as your head."

He then flipped through the book until he landed on that same chicken vegetable soup recipe he had used.

Benet handed him a small apron with some faded stains on it. Then he started rummaging through the cabinets.

"We're making that recipe. Together. Only this time, no pyrotechnics."

Conn didn't bother to correct him. He smiled, and put on the apron.

They obviously still end up making a mess, but nothing explodes, so that's a win!

But yeah, I'm so glad I can finally contribute to this fandom! I started this a couple months ago, then started finishing it a couple weeks ago. So glad I can finally get it out!

There are some bits I'm not 100% happy with, but that's alright.

Reviews are much appreciated! (even though I know I won't get many lol) =)