Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

On the morning Tanya had recovered completely, she remembered having woken up before with Raven in her arms, but now she laid in her house on a cold bed with nobody but a sense of loss by her side. Her mind was vacant, something was missing and it knew it well–however as she put on her slippers and got out of bed, the first thing on her mind was not her lost husband or her child but breakfast.

Her stomach was rumbling, and she was more than a little hungry. Sleeping through an entire day without eating anything, her body had weakened and she could feel it in the sluggishness of her movements. Stumbling her way through the hall and heading towards the dining, she took support on the table which had now been scrubbed clean of blood and the fragments of glass her ex-husband had shattered.

For a moment, she struggled to keep herself up, but then taking a deep breath, she picked herself up and began the preparations for a filling meal. Thankfully for her eggs, kneaded dough, and a basket of fruits were already lying on the counter–almost as if someone had expected her to start making breakfast just moments after waking up.
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'Something feels off…' Although confused as to what was happening, Tanya continued with the preparations. First, she turned on a runic stove and put on top a bronze pan, breaking the eggs after a drizzle splash of butter, she turned her gaze to the dough and reached up on the kitchen counters to get some sugar to make hard doughnuts.

It wasn't her usual choice of a meal, but she was far from willing to put too much effort into making a nicer meal. So chomping on a green apple, she flipped the eggs on one side of the stove and placed a pot of water on the next. Once it came to a boil, she added the sugar–turning the whole thing into a slurry that she would later use to knead into the dough.

"Meat, that's missing…" Finally putting the missing piece together, she wondered if she should head out and get a freshly butchered cut of a cow from the butcher or just make do with what little food she did have.

Her dilemma, however, didn't last long. Walking into the house with great chatter, the entire hero's party was quite chirpy for the morning. In their hands, they carried morning treats sold by the locals as well as herbal juices mixed with fruits. Hearing their voice, Tanya turned around with a hint of confusion riding up on her eyebrows.

"Who is that?" She wondered for a moment, but then as the party walked into her dining room the familiar voices began to make sense once more. "Oh geezzzz~"

With a sigh she let down her shoulders, she was relieved that it wasn't some rowdy burglar or her pervert nephew who'd been visiting her far too often.

"I don't have enough room for you all, you know?" Chuckling to herself, she lifted her gaze and returned her smile with smiles of their own–once again after many days, the entire party felt like a big family.

Even Tanya wasn't immune to the effect especially after she had to warn Maine not to leave half-eaten apples as they could easily poison the others. Slapping Mino's hand off the other treats, she held a stern finger in warning.

"We'll eat together in a bit, wait up, you!" Glancing the cow-girl up and down, for a moment she wanted to tug at Mino's slightly protruding belly, but holding back from it, she returned to work.

Deciding to help the human girl, Amelia and Ophelia decided to work alongside Tanya–even though the duo were completely unaware of how to prepare even the simplest of meals. In the meantime, while they burned doughnuts in oil, Raven and the others moved the dining table to the side.

Shoving it into a corner, they set a couple of towels and clothes on the ground for them to sit down together and enjoy the meal.

'This feels nice, at least after what I had to see last night it does…' Raven thought reminded of the orc fucker and the horrific acts by her husband. But quickly shaking those thoughts off, he focused on the moment and so did the others.

Although not a one-on-one; spending time with his party and girls and just doing something as mundane as having breakfast felt quite soothing to the heart. The last time he remembered himself sitting on the ground having something to eat, something that wasn't monster meat in the forest, he was still living in the orphanage with Mel and Aria.

Erika was taken to the priestess's dorms, and Amedith was adopted by a single woman who had no clue how to raise a child.

'Rose still tried her best I suppose?' Looking at Amedith smiling as he chattered away with everyone, Raven couldn't help but smile to himself as well. 'I guess we don't have to visit the maze to destress anymore if having breakfast together continues to have this calming effect.'

"Alrightyyy~ Here's the sweats, now you guys can unpack the honeyed-ham and whatever else you've brought, ahaha!" Finally bringing the plates with doughnuts, eggs, and the juices poured out in glasses, Tanya set it on the ground and sat down on the floor as well.

Amelia and Ophelia quickly followed suit, they preferred sitting on the ground anyway so they had no issues getting down on tiled earth. And once everyone had settled, Aria whipped out the honeyed ham and began cutting a slice for everyone–but kept the bony end with a handle and the meatier parts to herself.

"Oi, you!" However, Mino wouldn't just let her have it, after all, she had plenty of assets to maintain in her body!

The two wrestled for a while, but at the end, with a smack on their heads by Raven the two were forced back onto their spot and the drumstick meat handle went instead to Maine. Smirking ear to ear as she chomped on her meal, she kept glaring sideways at the two as they were forced to surrender the best piece.

But her teasing only went on for a few seconds as neither the barbarian nor the cowgirl had the patience to just take the teasing lying down on their ass. Throwing themselves on Maine, Mino and Aria pinned her to the ground, and while one bit her tail–the horned girl of course, the other unleashed a flurry of backhanded slap to her face.

"MOMMMMAA!!" Maine cried, having forgotten for a moment that her mother was long gone and she was amidst her new family.

Too baffled by the whole ordeal, Raven as well as the rest of the group simply watched the conflict unfolding with a hearty laugh. However, eventually when it was time to make it stop, Raven had to promise to buy them all an entire piece of honeyed ham leg.

"This is so sweat!" And while the trio were fighting, the most aggressive of them all, Arche the Arachne queen was busy enjoying the first proper sweet of her life. Her eyes fluttered from the overdose of sugar, but the rush of energy through her system made even a monster like her beam like an angel. Looking right at Tanya with her many eyes, she snatched her by the arm and pulled her closer.

"Ohhhh I need to taste these hands that made the–EKKK!"

But much like the rowdy others, she got bonked on the head by Raven.

'I feel like I'm forgetting something, but…' Looking around at the smiling faces, and feeling a smile spreading on her own lips, Tanya–in that moment of absurdity, let her past slip through her fingers for a somewhat chaotic new family.