"But a hearth, Berry." Liam turned his head. Looked down at Berry, his unfiltered longing directed entirely at a cooking station.

Berry’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. A flush crept up from her collar, spreading across the bridge of her nose like wildfire through dry grass. She’d been mid-argument. She’d had points, good ones. Strategic ones she’d rehearsed in her head twice. But he was looking at her like that, except he wasn’t looking at her like that; he was looking through her at a mental image of a portable oven, and somehow that was infinitely worse.

"You..." She swallowed. Straightened her spine. Drew herself up to her full five ten, which still left her staring at his collarbone. The faint smell of woodsmoke and crushed mint clung to him from the last campfire cook. She tried again. "You would get a Level 3 hearth in a few days anyway through guild progression; the soul stone is irreplaceable."

"A few days is a long time without a proper kitchen."

"Liam."

"Mm."

His gaze drifted back to the loot notification hovering between them, golden text reflecting off his pale skin. Berry watched his jaw flex a small amount beneath that sharp line, and her stomach pulled tight like a bowstring drawn past its limit.

"I will personally build you a kitchen."

That got his attention. His ears perked, actually perked. The fluffy white tips twitched toward her, and his head tilted—just the barest degree, like she’d said the one interesting thing in a room full of noise.

Berry’s thighs clenched.

"You’d do that?" Low and husky. The kind of voice that could stop a conversation in a tavern. Completely sincere and completely unaware that it was.

Her tail lashed once behind her, hard enough to crack against her own calf. She looked away, jaw tight, the blush now fully across her cheekbones and threatening to spread down her neck.

"It’s...it’s a strategic investment." She was staring at a wall. "You cook for the raid, the raid performs better. Simple logistics, don’t read into it."

Liam nodded slowly. His hand drifted up automatically, easily, the way he always did with the women in his party and landed on top of her head. Between her ears. His palm was massive against her skull, fingers curling gently around one striped ear, thumb brushing the soft inner fur with a lazy, circular motion.

Berry stopped breathing. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The pad of his thumb traced along the velvet edge where orange met black, and a tremor ran through her entire body involuntarily, devastating, completely visible. Her knees softened. The iron-fisted guild leader who’d made grown men cry during raid wipes was being undone by a thumb and some ear fur.

"Thanks." A single word. Dropped like an anchor into her chest.

His hand stayed. Petting, gentle and absent. Like she was a cat he was fond of, except his fingers found the exact spot behind her ear where the fur was thinnest, and pressed, and Berry’s toes curled inside her armoured boots. Her lips parted, and no sound came out; she was practically purring.

His attention had already drifted back to the notification, his other hand hovering over the soul stone, a frown pulling at his mouth. He smelled like cold air and rendered fat and something faintly sweet, sugar, maybe, from whatever he’d last been testing.

"Fine," he muttered. "Recipes are important."

Berry hadn’t moved; her fists were clenched at her sides, knuckles white inside her gauntlets. Her ears were pressed flat—not from exhaustion anymore. Not from anger, her tail had gone completely still, which for Berry was the equivalent of a full system crash and emergency reboot.

"You..." Her throat worked. A bead of sweat traced down her temple despite the frozen air. "You can’t just do that. In the middle of loot selection, here in front of everyone, in front of TWO streams."

"Do what?"

She turned her head and looked up at him. His hand was still on her head.

Liam was reading the soul stone description, brow furrowed, red gaze scanning text, completely unbothered. Completely unaware that he’d just short-circuited the most feared guild leader in the starting area with a head pat and a thank you. His thumb was still moving, small, idle circles against her scalp.

"Nothing," Berry said, very quietly. Her own reflection in the ice wall looked like a woman who’d lost a duel she hadn’t agreed to fight. "Pick the stone."

Liam selected it. The notification dissolved into golden particles. Liam watched them drift, then looked down at Berry again. His hand finally slid away from her head, but slowly, fingers trailing along the curve of her ear, dragging down through a loose strand of black-and-orange hair before dropping to his side.

Berry’s breath came back in a rush.

"I’ll make you dinner tonight," he said. "As thanks. For the kitchen thing."

Elizabeth moved through the crowd and interrupted them, " Not tonight, you.. You, ugh, can’t, we are busy, tomorrow sure."

Liam looked at her, puzzled, but nodded.

"That’s... acceptable." Berry was looking at the wall again, her flushed, devastated reflection. "Barely."

His tail wagged, slow and heavy, brushing against the frozen ground with a soft thud.

Liam turned and clicked the soul stone as a loot reward.

[Congratulations! You have selected: A Lich Soul Stone]

"You didn’t just kill him; you kept his house keys. Talk about a cold-blooded move."

Type:Boss-Room "Bypass" Stone

Effect: Allows the user to instantly teleport to the Throne Room of the Ice Lich King of the Catacombs at will.

The "Uninvited Guest" Property: This item ignores all standard instance locks. It allows the user to enter ANY active instance, it is random, it will either be clear, or it will be filled with a guild or six.

Cooldown: 24 Hours. (Use it wisely; showing up unannounced is a great way to start a guild war or a very awkward dinner party.

[TOOL TIP: CONFUSED PIZZA MAN]

Status: Guild Leader System Crash / Manual Reboot Required.

The "Kitchen" Gambit: Berry has officially pledged a custom-built hearth to Liam. In professional terms, this is a "Logistics Investment." In reality, her thighs are currently holding a board meeting to discuss how they just gave a man a house for a head-pat.

The "Uninvited Guest" Property: Liam now owns a Lich Soul Stone. He can teleport into any active instance of this raid. This means he can drop in on rival guilds at 3:00 AM like a very buff, very confused pizza deliveryman.

Tactical Analysis: Liam genuinely wanted the portable oven. He only picked the Lich Soul Stone because Berry promised him a kitchen. This is officially the first time a Legendary Item was used as a "thank you" for a cooking station.