The towering blue-scaled cook loomed over the frightened donkey, who in turn clenched his apron and tray as if his life depended upon it. The cervine felt the dragon's breath ruffle his mane right between his drooping ears. Regardless if the terror he felt was a natural response or a the only sensible way to act in front of the behemoth, he couldn't muster the nerve to look his superior in the eye, let alone, respond to his question.

"Come on, Larry! Just say 'yes' or 'no'! It's a simple question, for goodness sake!" The distressed dragon looked over his shoulder, swiftly looking aroun the kitchen, before staring back at his terrified sous-chef. "Have you seen those triple chocolate muffins? I placed them on top of the oven to let them cool down, and now they're gone."

It was anyone's guess how Larry was still conscious at this point. With a whimper and an even stronger grasp of the wrinkled rag that used to be his apron, he pointed towards the backdoor, and froze in place, bracing for the final blow...

...which never actually came. As was always the case. The hysterical donkey could hear the thudding gait of his distressed boss heading in the direction he pointed, before hearing the door hinges creak in an all-too-familiar way, as the star chef tried to cram his round body into the square hole (not quite matching with the "square peg in a round hole" saying but please bear with me) of a hallway, which lead to the cold room and the emergency exit.

And once inside, besides the rustling of his tight clothes againt the walls of the hall and the tapping of his bareclawed feet on the floor, he could clearly hear a rythmical chewing only occasionally interrupted by a moan of delight. The vague scent of chocolate assauled his nostrils as he inched forwards, closer to the source of the munching noises.

The figure, too enthralled in savoring bite after bite, became clearly identifiable after just a few steps forwards. It was hard to miss such a... distinct specimen. Feathers crowning his head as well as the tip of his tail, which wouldn't stop wagging from oblivious excitement. Green scales glistenning under the flickering fluorescent lights. Tight casual clothes belonging to somebody at least three sizes smaller than himself. And with a clear and hardly concealed overhang spilling over the waist of some failing shorts.

Only a meter away, Pete could clearly tell the unfortunate fate of his world famous, highly-regarded, deeply addictive triple-fudge, chunky, chocolate chip, truffle-topped Mega-Muffins™. And he wasn't happy to find out what had happened to them. Far from it.

As the apex of his massive girth finally made contact with the smaller dragon, eliciting a yelp, Pete cleared his throat and asked —somewhat rhetorically— the question to which he already knew the answer. His voice, deep, silky and as calm as a raging inferno could possibly be, echoed in the hall and caused the mexican dragon to flinch.

"Hey, Tzin... Uhh... Have you seen the batch of muffins I made...?"

Guilt washed over the smalled dragon like a cold shower. It dawned on him just as overwhelming as the wall of flab that was now pressing his back. Tzin reflexively interrupted the calm question from the dragon with a shaky voice, knowing full well he was not coming out of this one unscratched.

"Ohh... Pete! Amigo! Didn't see you there... I... can explain..."

And there was plenty to explain for the impulsive dragon turned thief. Although maybe there was a way to take all this in a decen and civilized manner, for sure...

*BURP!*

Oh well... For all it's worth, those muffins were simply superb.

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My side of a trade I made with fantastic  Eon54, who is an incredible artist, a patient soul and an overall kind dragon (unless you steal and eat his special muffins... Trust me, you don't want to be in that situation). His part of the trade can be found here: [ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/24816790/ ]

What will be Tzin's fate?
What will happen to that last muffin?
Why is Larry so afraid of Pete?
Why does Pete's kitchen have such a narrow hallway?
Why is Tzin wearing a Hawaiian shirt?
What's Pete's secret muffin recipe?

Comment your suggestions to solve these and many more mysteries... Or any suggestions you might have for me! I tried to change the coloring a bit, going for a more saturated palette. Played a bit with light and perspective, but it all ended up looking pretty standard compared to the rest of my gallery... I really need to improve my backgrounds and get much more creative with poses.

Anyway... Enjoy, go give Eon a watch, since he clearly deserves it!

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Pete the amazing cook belongs to  eon54

Art and Tzin the mischievous dragon belong to  dragontzin