Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 762: No Dinner

"Nothing," Luna repeated from the couch, her voice flat.

"I didn’t prepare dinner tonight." Alexandra’s expression was perfectly, devastatingly guileless.

Seven - six on the ground and one pulsing above Kaiden’s head - stared at her in the specific silence of those who had burned thousands of calories fighting monsters all day and were now being told the cupboard was bare.

"That’s... totally fine," Nyx said, recovering first. She was already moving toward the kitchen. "Don’t worry about it, I’ll throw something together. There should be enough in the fridge for -"

She opened the fridge.

Nyx stopped.

The refrigerator was packed. Monster cuts wrapped in preservation film, stacked in neat rows. Dungeon-harvested herbs bundled with twine. Rare mineral salts in labeled containers. Marbled Ironback steaks, Emberfang ribs, Frosthorn tongue, and at least five things Nyx didn’t recognize.

Nyx’s look sharpened. "Bestie. What are you not telling me?"

"I’m not telling you anything at all." Alexandra collected an empty cookie plate from the counter and turned away.

The rest of the group was crowding in now. Luna vaulted the couch. Calypso’s head appeared over Nyx’s shoulder. Aria peered around Kaiden’s arm.

"Is that Emberfang?" Luna shoved her face closer. "Who put it here?"

A yawn answered her.

Kira and Rika emerged from the back of the private wing like survivors of a siege. Devices tucked under their arms, hair that had started the day in magazine-quality splits now fraying at the edges, and dark circles under their eyes so pronounced they could’ve passed for eyeshadow.

"Good work out there," Rika said.

"Seriously impressive," Kira added through a second yawn. "Chat sure had a blast. And your accounts, too."

They saw the open fridge, the gawking, Alexandra’s retreating back.

"Oh, that?" Kira waved a hand.

"We sourced monster ingredients for a cooking broadcast," Rika said.

"Premium stuff. Took a while to find vendors who’d deliver same-day to a guild hall away from civilization -"

"- but we got it done. If you’re too tired tonight though -"

"- just grill a steak, fill your bellies -"

"- and rest. You did a lot today."

"No reason to work even more."

They delivered this in alternating fragments without looking at each other, too tired for full sentences but still perfectly synchronized.

Kaiden’s dark halo pulsed, and Alice materialized beside him, bouncing excitedly.

"Yes! Let’s do it! Right now!" Her face was huge and bright and utterly immune to the concept of exhaustion. "For the first time EVER, my cooking for big brother is going to be recorded and published! No more hiding!"

She spun toward Alexandra and threw her arms around the maid, squeezing tight.

"Lexi, let’s go all out!"

Alexandra’s face went wide. "I... Alice, I haven’t been on a broadcast before. I don’t know if I can..."

Alice hugged tighter. Then she looked up.

The puppy eyes were devastating.

Alexandra gasped softly.

She looked at Kaiden for help.

Zero help. Kaiden was looking at his girls, all of whom were already perking up. Armor was coming off faster now. Luna had her torn jacket halfway over her head. Calypso was cracking her knuckles.

"Alright!" the demoness’s tail whipped behind her. "Let’s do a proper cooking stream! All seven of us!"

"Don’t you mean eight?"

"Nope."

"What about me?" Kaiden asked dryly.

"You..." Bastet’s half-closed gaze found him, and the purr that rolled through her voice could’ve melted the Emberfang ribs without a stove. "You can relax, Master. Leave the work to us. You deserve to relax..."

"Well... Fine, I suppose..."

He chuckled, and the private wing erupted into motion.

Kira and Rika moved without being told. Lighting adjusted, camera angle optimized through Kaiden’s interface settings, audio levels checked. This time, there was no makeup done, because the whole point was rawness.

Post-combat, still dusty, still bruised, making dinner together because they were hungry and happy and alive.

The broadcast went live as Alice claimed the center position, brow furrowed over a cutting board of Emberfang ribs, tongue poking out from the corner of her mouth in full concentration. The rest of the girls spread across every available surface and station.

Alexandra sighed softly and accepted her fate.

The viewer count, which had been winding down after the combat feed ended, reversed direction and started climbing. The chatters who’d tuned out thinking the day was over scrambled back in. The ones who’d stayed found themselves watching seven women crowd into a kitchen.

Calypso snagged a piece of raw Ironback steak and swung it toward her mouth.

Alice’s hand came down on the demoness’s wrist like a snapping trap.

"No snacking!"

"Little sister, I’m merely poison testing-"

The little sister in question wasn’t buying. "No. Snacking. Glutton Demon! I’ll turn your tail into part of the meal!"

"Huh?" The Infernal Matriarch blinked.

Then her expression changed, turning curious. "Wait, would it be tasty?"

"... I mean..." Nyx mused.

"There are a lot of monster tails that are tasty..." Luna spoke with a big grin.

Alice looked over to the girl busy making cuts. Her nose wrinkled.

"Storm Gremlin, those slices are too thick."

"Excuse me?! I’ve been cutting things since before you could hold a knife!"

"Not good enough! Thinner! Look -" Alice demonstrated on her own board, precise, delicate movements that produced paper-thin slices. "Like this. See?"

Luna’s purple gaze narrowed. She looked at Alice. She looked at the cutting board. She looked at Kaiden, who did not seem intent on speaking up. In fact, all he did was give the girl a thumbs up.

"..." Fiery determination. "I’ll show you cutting."

Her hands became a blur. The Stormblade’s precision translated into kitchen knife speed that sent Frosthorn tongue slices flying off the board in sheets so thin they were translucent.

"Okay," Alice conceded. "That’s acceptable."

"Acceptable?!"

Aria was at the stove, stirring a reduction that filled the kitchen with spice and char. Nyx handled seasoning with the same spatial precision she used to hurl boulders, measuring pinches without spoons. Bastet had claimed the dessert station and was arranging components with meticulous focus.

Alexandra moved between all of them - the only one who actually studied the recipes and thus knew what needed to be done - being the silent supporter who actually held everything together while letting Alice believe it was her who was the sous chef.

And in the back, barely visible unless you looked for them, Kira and Rika stood behind their tablets, mugs in hand, monitoring the feed, ensuring everything was going well.

Kaiden looked at them.

The twins had been here less than a day. Somehow the fridge was full, the stream was rolling, and all anyone had to do was cook and have fun. He looked at the two women barely keeping their eyes open behind their screens.

He raised both hands toward them.

Kira and Rika looked up. Confused for a moment, matching frowns, matching head tilts. Then they realized what he was offering and twin smiles broke across their faces.

They high-fived him. One palm each, left and right, a simultaneous clap.

"Kai?"

Aria’s voice. Soft. From the stove, where she was stirring with a wooden spoon and looking at him over her shoulder with silver eyes that held a very specific request.

"If you have nothing to do... why don’t you come hold me from behind while I cook?"

The twins giggled. Luna made a gagging sound. Nyx smiled from behind her cutting board. Calypso called out "Sharing is caring!" and received a sweet, territorial smile in return.

Kaiden walked over, slid his arms around Aria’s waist from behind, and rested his chin on top of her silver hair. She leaned back into him immediately, her stirring hand never stopping, her free hand settling on his forearm.

The chat went berserk.