The Fairy Tail mage wandered into Batra's Inn one evening, trying his best not to look suspicious but ultimately failing due to his large frame. Heads were turned, and people began to speculate as to his intentions here in this humble inn; did the heir or heiress of some wealthy family escape into this kind of establishment, and he was the family bodyguard who's job was to bring him or her back? Or was he some sort of loan shark who was here to collect the dues that was owed to him by some carefree gambler? Rather than grab a young teenager by the ear though, or intimidate a middle aged man into ''coughing up cash'', as it were, Houren went over to the counter, exchanged a few words with the equally big sized bartender before drifting into the kitchen area. It wasn't as though he was ashamed about being a fry cook today, it was just the image of a guy like him standing behind a grill flipping burgers just seemed off. The average onlooker would laugh, but Houren would likely go red out of embarrassment. Still, by doing this, he was helping a good man out, and he was earning a bit of money on the side too. He was already gaining somewhat of a reputation in Crocus as a guy who'd do almost any menial task without complaint; but alas, it would not be long before it would be time for him to leave the city.

Putting on his apron, Houren waited for a while before the first order arrived; the dude just wanted two breaded chicken wings, probably just as a light snack since it was already heading into nighttime. It was a simple request, one that Houren had done many times before for his friends and he quickly whipped up two breaded chicken wings. They took a bit longer to cook than Batra would have liked, Houren knew, but that was because the Fairy Tail mage did not skim out at all on the breading, and wanted to make sure the meat was completely cooked. There were not many worse feelings in this world than biting into chickens that were still somewhat raw. Houren poked his head out of the kitchen afterwards too, and it seemed like the customer didn't mind waiting a bit longer for higher quality chicken wings. Batra saw this too, and gave Houren an approving nod of acknowledgement, which warmed the large man's heart, if only for a second. The next order was up, so he could not dwell on such pleasantries for too long.

Three hamburgers, and french fries.

Well, that wasn't too hard at all. The hamburgers here were exceedingly basic to make, simply two buns, a beef patty, some pickles and ketchup, and cheese if they requested it. He left the french fries in the grease pan, as he began to create the hamburgers, intricately modeling each one with just the right amount of everything. He picked the best patties he could find for the meat, each one received three complimentary pickles and the ketchup was generous, but not so much that it would overwhelm. Yes, this was perfect. He took the fries out and placed them on the plate also, taking a second to admire their golden sheen before passing them to Batra to serve to their customer. It would have pleased Houren if he could have poked his head out the door once again, to see the customers take their first bite of the burger and of the fries, but it was not to be as his third order for the night was already waiting while Houren had been garnishing the patty. He could only trust in his own ability that he had done an acceptable job.

Five hot dogs and a baked potato was the next on the agenda. It wouldn't be too hard to make the hot dogs, just a bit tedious as they had requested every single condiment that the inn's restaurant could provide. That would take a while. The baked potato would be a little bit tricky, as Houren had been eating here for the past few weeks and knew that it was not a dish that was popular. He had only ever seen it ordered once, so the exact method of preparation was not something that he was very familiar with. Fortunately, there was a board of recipes in the kitchen and he quickly consulted it so that he could make the baked potato as faithful as possible to the kind the previous fry cooks did. From what Houren could gather from the board of recipes, the only difference between this baked potato and the baked potatoes you could get anywhere else was that the servings here came with a generous slab of butter on the side. What other way to eat potatoes?

After exerting himself slightly, all five hotdogs were done, cooked to perfection and garnished with mustard, ketchup and whatever else it was that was requested. The baked potato was also finished and was resting on the plate like something you would have found out of Andy's toy box in Toy Story. Houren headed over to the fridge quickly, grabbed the tub of butter and a knife and slabbed a generous serving of it on the plate. He made sure it didn't touch the baked potato, as it was better for the customer to choose whether he wanted butter or not, rather than force this on him. If there were leftovers at the end of the night, then never mind; Houren was content as long as the customers were happy.

He waited a bit more, and when he finally went outside to check the time, it seemed to be nearing midnight and the restaurant was completely empty. Batra was there, washing the last of the cups before waving Houren over and handing him a bag with what felt like jewels. "You did good today, kid. A bit slow, but they said it was worth it, you know? I got a new guy lined up to start tomorrow morning, so hopefully he'll be as good as you. Sure you don't want to give up the mage life to be a fry cook?" the bartender laughed.

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