Kellam had bested many a fearsome foe and traversed unfathomably dreadful terrain, but there was one thing that terrified Kellam to no end- and that monstrosity was Lissa's baking. The everlasting nightmare was sparked to life one day when Lissa needed help finishing a pie no one else would eat. By Naga, Kellam shuddered just think about that horrid, wretched pie. For starters, the crust was somehow green and tasted like raw spinach. But that crust was a walk in the park compared to the filling, which happened to have approximately the texture of stale gelatin. Alas, Kellam put on a brave face, as only a monster insults a young girl's cooking. And a princess, no less! Ever since then, Lissa made Kellam her guinea pig… or as she called it, her taste-tester. Lissa had constantly been bringing him various baking experiments gone awry. For Naga's sake, once her brownies nearly reduced him to tears! Just imagine how humiliating that would have been, if anyone actually ever noticed him. That's when Kellam noticed something. Lissa always noticed him, usually dropping a friendly remark as they passed one another. Suddenly, his thoughts were dispersed by a cheerful voice.
"Kellam! Come out, come out, wherever you are." It was Lissa. Kellam gulped as he stepped out from his tent.
"Morning, Lissa." Kellam mumbled, his voice catching halfway through. Drizzles of sweat began to formulate as he saw what Lissa held in her arms. An attempt at cupcakes, that had somehow turned into globs of sickeningly sweet frosting smothering burnt, lopsided, smashed pieces of cake that looked like they would crumble at the slightest touch. "Th-thank you Lissa." Kella stammered, inhaling deeply before grabbing a cupcake, thus coating his fingers in sticky pink frosting. Kellam took a bite of it, and practically spat it out, but managed to hold on. Kellam could almost feel his soul depart his body as he allowed his taste buds to be utterly tortured. This alone made him never want to eat sugar, let alone cupcakes again. But, as always, Lissa was eager to hear Kellam's constructive criticism. His critiques were never a problem as long as he put things delicately.
"Lissa, I can tell you put a lot of effort into this, however, next time, I would recommend using less fro-" Kellam abruptly stopped. He realized this wasn't cutting it. "Lissa, we're friends, right?"
"Of course!" Lissa happily nodded her head in agreement,
"And you want to improve your baking, yes?" Again, Lissa nodded, her face wearing a radiant grin. "Then I'll be honest with you- the frosting was applied way too much. Why, look- my fingers are drowning in it just due to touching it. Not to mention that you burnt the cake with the intensity of a thousand raging suns. It seems like you were a bit reckless overall." Lissa looked shocked as she contemplated his words. Kellam winced at what he'd just said. "Lissa, I'm so sorr-" But he was cut off, as Lissa squeezed him so hard, his breath flew right out of him.
"Thank you so much, Kellam. All I needed was someone to be honest like that. You're such a great friend." Kellam noticed Lissa looked happier than ever before. Kellam grinned contentedly as Lissa joyfully skipped away. He felt amazing not only helping her, but also that he finally found someone who noticed him- let alone call him a friend. Kellam leisurely mozyed back to his tent, glad that he now had someone to keep him company, aside from some letters from his faraway family. And his tastebuds were a small price to pay for friendship.