It was late in the day and after a helping a few people with some things in town, Tori had definitely worked herself up an appetite. While trying to decide what to have for dinner on the walk back to the hotel, Tori saw a familiar sign that marked the location of a place she visited the previous day. The bartender was a client she had taken a request from and he offered her a drink on the house in addition to her payment. She could sure use a seat and a drink after the day she had had, so in she went. Immediately entering the building, a man stormed past her, not even allowing her a chance to get out of the way and inadvertently shoving her into the wall next to the threshold. The guy didn't even apologize or anything, the jerk. She shrugged it off, guessing he was just having a bad day before heading up to the bar and taking a seat. Noticing a familiar face across the bar and a couple seats' distance away, she greeted the bartender, Batra, to catch his attention. "Heya, Batra. Any chance that offer of a drink is still on the table? Also, what was the deal with that ray of sunshine that passed me on my way in?" she inquired, somewhat joking but secretly hoping he'd say yes about the drink and slightly annoyed about the rude guy.

He barely glanced at her before letting out a deep sigh. "Oh, hey Tori. Sorry, but you caught me at a really bad time." he moped. "The guy you passed was my cook for the night. I say 'was' because he just quit. I have no idea why, but all I know is that dinner rush is in an hour and we have no one to work the kitchen." he continued as he poured the Fairy Tail mage a simple screwdriver. "Batra, let me get a glass of water." she asked, which he obliged albeit confused to the reason behind the request. She took the drink and then drank the glass of water before she stacked the glasses inside each other. "Why the water?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer. She stopped in mid-stride to look at him and respond. "To dilute the alcohol down more so it doesn't affect me while I'm working." she answered, not even meeting the bartender's eye, and instead looking around having made her way behind the bar. "Now where can I find an apron?" she asked, not waiting for Batra to respond before going into the back where she found a drawer containing aprons.

Batra rushed through the door and hugged Tori tightly. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this." he said, almost in tears that a practical stranger would help him out like this. Being short on time, he gave the ice mage a crash course on where everything was located. Sinks, fryers, ovens, freezers were all shown to Tori as well as the day's menu. He ran back to the bar to check on the current customers while she familiarized herself with everything. Looking at the menu, certain things were highlighted: chicken wings, hamburgers, and hot dogs. They must have been the top sellers or something. Assuming this, Tori got out everything she was going to need for preparation so that she wasn't caught off guard. Hamburger and hot dog buns were on their own counter with other bread items. Another counter was refrigerated and had cheese, sauces, and other things. Checking the other side of the cold counter, she found that she was lucky the former cook had pulled several packages of burgers, hot dogs, and wings out already. She turned on everything she needed and now it was just a matter of time of waiting until orders started coming in. Grabbing a nearby broom, she swept some flour off the floor while she killed time.

Soon, orders were coming in like clockwork. About every 5 minutes, she would have another one. Luckily, Batra explained the situation to the customers and informed them of a possibly longer wait time, but most understood. One man even offered to come back and help Tori in the kitchen before he was scolded by his wife for trying to escape their date night. Batra thought it was a bit of a culture shock to go to a bar for a date night, but to each his own. Acting as bartender and server for the moment, Batra would take the orders back to Tori, who was holding her own quite well for never having worked in a restaurant style kitchen before. So far, she had gone through a whole package of hamburgers and hot dogs, about 6 in each. One of the customers to order a burger had also ordered a baked potato, which was new. Tori had only ever boiled potatoes before, but it wasn't much different. Same process really, just without the water. The next order she had trouble with was for a decent sized group of about 6 people. They ordered 2 large servings of chicken wings, one hot and one teriyaki; and an order each of french fries, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. Batra had to come back and help her with the fried stuff, since they didn't really fry anything where she grew up. But all things considered, that order turned out ok. And she was able to learn so she could handle any new orders on her own. Luckily, that was the last order of the night and at midnight, Tori could hear the doors in the front room lock, followed by deep sigh to break the silence.

"Tori, I cannot tell you what this means to me that you did this. You really didn't have to." he thanked, glad the night was finally over. "After all that, you must be hungry. Let me fix you something to eat, on the house." he offered, seeing Tori respond by shaking her head. "I actually fixed myself a burger and ate it when it died down for a few minutes. I was actually about to tell you so I could pay for it. Now it was Batra's turn to shake his head. "No way, Tori. That burger is on me. Matter of fact, hold on." he said, turning his attention to the register. With some money in hand, he made his way back to the blonde and held it out to her. "This is everything that my former cook lost out on today. I want you to have it." Tori graciously accepted her payment, although he really didn't have to. Returning his hug from earlier, she made her way out of the bar for a very well deserved night's sleep.

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