Chapter 254: The Beastly Bob Ross

Ren stood firmly at the front of the grassy buffet line, her arms crossed over her chest and a stack of 1-XP wooden bowls and spoons resting on a flat rock beside her.

The horde of massive, drooling beastmen rushed back from the waterhole, tripping over their own feet to get to the steaming platters of braised armadillo-pork and roasted six-legged turkey.

“Form a single-file line!” Ren barked, holding up a hand. “Let me see them! Palms up!”

Barnaby, the badger beastman basically shoved his hands in her face, his eyes darting frantically toward the dumplings.

Ren squinted, inspecting his claws. “Is that dried mud under your left index claw, Barnaby?”

“It’s just a little earth!” Barnaby whined defensively.

“Denied!” Ren pointed her wooden spoon back toward the waterhole. “Go scrub it again! Next!”

Barnaby groaned in pure frustration but scurried back to the pond. Yuriel, the wolf beastman stepped up, showing his hands with a confident, toothy grin. Ren inspected them closely, nodding her approval. She handed him a deep wooden bowl and a spoon. Yuriel practically wept tears of joy as he dove for the mini-bison stew.

Right behind Yuriel, a tiny, furry grey blur waddled up to the inspection point. It was the same hyperactive wolf cub from earlier. He stood up wobbly on his hind legs and proudly thrust his two front paws into the air toward Ren.

Ren’s stern expression completely melted into a puddle of absolute mush.

She crouched down to his eye level. Gently, she took his tiny, damp paws in her hands. She carefully inspected the little pink toe beans, giving one a soft, playful squish. They were perfectly clean, smelling faintly of pond water and wet fur.

“Oh my goodness, look at these squeaky clean beans!” Ren cooed, unable to handle the sheer cuteness. She booped the cub right on his wet nose. “You pass with flying colors, little guy.”

Since the cub was too small to hold a heavy wooden bowl, Ren reached over to the platter and picked up a plump, warm rabbit-frog dumpling. She handed it directly to the cub. He snatched it happily in his jaws, his fluffy tail wagging a million miles an hour as he trotted proudly back to his mother.

Ren ruthlessly inspected every single hand, paw, and claw that came her way, turning away two apes and a disgruntled white tiger before finally granting them access to the culinary heaven she had prepared.

Kael was the absolute last to step up to the inspection point.

He towered over her, casting a large shadow as he obediently held out his heavily scarred hands. They were absolutely spotless. He had scrubbed his skin raw in the water just to ensure she would be pleased.

Ren smiled brightly, her heart doing a little flutter. She went on her tippy toes and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down slightly, and planted a quick, affectionate kiss directly on his lips.

“Good kitty,” Ren praised sweetly.

Kael’s fluffy white ears instantly twitched atop his head. A dark, furious blush completely rushed over his handsome face.

Ren giggled, handing him his large wooden bowl and spoon.

“Go get your food before the strays lick the platters clean,” Ren told him, stepping away from the serving area. “I’m going to go wash my hands too. A dirty chef means a dirty kitchen.”

Kael didn’t need to be told twice. He turned his burning face away and marched toward the braised pork belly.

Leaving the messy, noisy sounds of slurping, chewing, and ecstatic groans behind her, Ren walked back through the brush toward the secluded waterhole. The forest was peaceful here, the loud ruckus of the village completely muffled by the dense brush.

As she approached the edge of the clear pond, Ren paused.

Kaelen was there.

Ren blinked in surprise. With the utter chaos of managing the buffet line and inspecting everyone’s hands, she hadn’t even noticed that he hadn’t been standing in the food line to collect a bowl.

He was seated cross-legged on the soft green grass right by the water’s edge. His long white hair cascaded over his broad, bare shoulders. In his lap rested a massive, perfectly flat piece of pale tree bark that looked like it had been stripped straight from a white birch. In his right hand, he held a long, stiff bird feather.

Spread out in the grass beside him were several small, hollowed-out stones acting as primitive paint palettes. One held a dark, inky paste made from crushed charcoal and animal fat. Another contained a vibrant, bleeding crimson liquid squeezed from wild forest berries. A third held a thick, yellow-green paste made of crushed leaves and clay.

Kaelen was painting.

“Hey,” Ren called out, stepping out from the brush. “You should really go eat before they clear it all out. I think Barnaby is on his third serving of everything.”

Ren crouched down at the water’s edge a few feet away from him. She opened her System inventory and got out her round, zesty citrus orange soap. She dipped her hands into the cool water and began to scrub vigorously.

Kaelen didn’t even look up at her. His piercing golden eyes were intensely, laser-focused on the flat bark resting on his knees. His large hand moved with surprising, delicate grace, the tip of the feather dragging the crimson berry juice across the makeshift canvas.

“I am not hungry,” Kaelen replied smoothly, his deep baritone voice completely devoid of interest.

Ren hummed skeptically, keeping her eyes entirely focused on her own hands as she worked the orange soap into a thick lather. She meticulously dug her thumbs under her fingernails, scrubbing out the stubborn bits of flour, meat, fat, and spices she had accumulated from cooking the five-course feast.

“Suit yourself,” Ren warned him over the splashing water. “But I’m telling you, there might not be any food left when you get hungry later. Your brother eats like a black hole.”

Kaelen only hummed, his feather dipping back into the dark charcoal paste. He was entirely lost in his own artistic world.

Ren finally finished scrubbing. She rinsed the suds away, put the soap back into her inventory, and stood up, shaking the excess water off her hands.

As she stood there, a burning, irresistible wave of curiosity washed over her.

What in the world was he painting with such devotion?

Ren quietly walked over the soft moss, stepping up right behind him. She leaned forward, peering over his broad, muscular shoulder to look down at the piece of bark in his lap.

Ren’s eyes widened. All the blood instantly drained from her face, and her knees completely buckled beneath her. She almost fainted right then and there when she saw it.

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