I can’t remember the last time I woke up to freshly cooked food. The smell of Pancakes and eggs fills up my room. I might be a morning person now if this is the case every day. Yesterday, I thought Kaiden was joking when he said he was a better cook than me. What would a kid know about cooking? We got paid and went to the grocery store, a diet based on takeout is going to get you out of shape really quickly and won’t take you far in a fight. He wasn’t a fan of my baked chicken last night, but neither was I. I just didn’t think he’d try to prove me wrong this morning.

I head out into the living room to see that he’s packed onto the table. Scrambled eggs with plenty of mixings; peppers, sausage, onions and anything else I might want. I’ve never seen a tower of pancakes like the cartoons in real life but here they were. I know we didn’t buy pancake mix; did he make these from scratch? The kid can be annoying and clingy, but I’d be lying to myself if I said he didn’t keep finding ways to impress me.

“Right on time, I was going to wake you up,” Kaiden takes a seat.

“Did you really cook all this,” I sit on the opposite side of the table.

“Yeah, I told you. I’m a great cook,” he smiles and stops short of patting himself on the back.

“I guess I underestimated you.”

“Take a bite, start with the pancakes, I promise they’re great.”

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh, I’m going to eat a lot,” Kaiden starts loading his plate. “But, a chef likes to see people enjoy their food.”

“Alright, but this better not kill me.”

I pour a little of the syrup that’s been warmed onto the corner of one of the pancakes. It smells good, but that doesn’t really mean it’s good. I break off a piece with my fork and my mouth instantly fills with saliva. This is so good. The kid can’t fight, and his magic is janky at best. But if there’s three things I know he can do it’s read, solve riddles and cook. I’ve really never had pancakes this good.

“Yeah you like it,” Kaiden laughs and finally digs in.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“My nanny used to let me help in the kitchen, but I never got a real understanding of baking.”

“What? You had a nanny? Are you a rich kid?”

“I mean, we weren’t poor,” he shrugs and takes a bite of eggs.

“Why would you run away from all that?”

“I guess I didn’t really belong there. When my nanny died, I felt like nobody there really knew I was alive. I basically walked out in the middle of the day and when nobody went looking for me, I just didn’t go back. I’m pretty sure they aren’t even looking for me now.”

“That’s crazy,” is the only thing I can say. I see it upsets him so I try to change the subject. “So, we need to get back to finding the Orc.”

“Got any idea where he’s at?”

“Nope, but I’ve had Sorkina looking for information. I’m pretty sure he’s at an Orc Stronghold, but I can’t really just kick down the door of each one until I find him.

“What’s a stronghold,” Kaiden is puzzled.

“Well, in the old days, they were like little gated communities for the Orcs. They didn’t have cities, but they had strongholds which were smaller and usually held one clan. It’s the same today except instead of being out in the woods somewhere they’re usually a culdesac, housing addition or something like that. Maybe an apartment complex for a large clan.”

“We just have to find which one?”

“Yeah, you don’t happen to remember anything else about the boss, do you? Any lady friends, addictions, favorite foods?”

“He had a brother. I think he has a convenience store. He always brought snacks and stuff for everyone even if he was just going to get in argument with his brother. He even started bring stuff for me after a while.”

“We can use that. I’ll tell Sorkina to look for an Orc with a convenience store.”

“Can I ask you another question Jason,” Kaiden gets super serious.

“Sure, what is it?”

“I saw this movie about a vampire hunter who was also a vampire. He dressed really similarly to you. Is that why you dress like that?”

“No, I just took some modified version of my father’s gear. He actually came up with the runes that are featured on my guns and knuckle dusters,” my father was supposedly great at designing runes, for a human anyway.

“Oh, well that’s cool. I guess maybe a lot of vampire hunters wear that kind of gear. Those movies were weird anyway. There were vampires, but no werewolves and the vampires were just focused on killing other vampires.”

“Never saw it. But this food is great.”