As the sun began to set over the horizon, the old man sat quietly on his front porch, lost in thought.

I guess it won't be coming back soon.

"It's a wild animal, of course it won't be coming back. It will be returning to the jungle instead," said a voice behind him.

"I haven't even said anything," Lee replied.

"Pssssh, I have been with you long enough to know what you are thinking by now."

Raising an eyebrow, Lee turned and replied: "You have only been here for 3 months."

"Long enough," Tabby said as he licked his paws. "By the way, please pass me the bowl with the chocolate nuts."

"Cats aren't supposed to eat chocolate." Nevertheless, Lee grunted and passed the bowl over.

Crunch. "I am not exactly a cat though," Tabby munched gleefully.

"Then what's the point of transforming into a cat," Lee retorted.

"Ah, ah, my sweet summer child," Tabby wagged its toe. "Taking the form of a tiny animal that is fluffy yet regal does not mean that I must deprive myself of creature comforts. I may have the exterior form of a cat, but my inner workings still biologically advanced for me to consume any form of sustenance without negative feedback. The lack of self-imposed biological limitations is also why I gave myself opposable thumbs."

"Is that why you also don't...?"

"Yes, that is why I also do not need to shit." They stared at each other.

"You know," Lee said after a few moments of silence. "You could have said that before I used a city-size worth's of mana to bring a cat litter box from Earth."

"Seeing that you have a planet-size worth's of mana, expending a city-size worth's is of little effort," Tabby grinned. "After all, even a supreme creature such as I needs to treat yo self."

"That is not how you are supposed to say that."

"Would you rather me say that I literally stop... pooping," Tabby grinned.

Lee groaned.

* * *

After sitting on the porch for a little while more, Lee decided he had waited enough and walked back into the kitchen with Tabby walking behind him.

"What should we have for dinner tonight?" Tabby asked.

"I feel like having something simple today," Lee said as he started chopping some tofu and vegetables. He also took out fish paste from the fridge and started stuffing them into the chopped vegetables and tofu.

"Aish, you never get tired of Yong Tau Foo do you?" Tabby pulled out a chair and sat down. "Not that I mind though, it's been a while."

"I got tired of sashimi and oyakodon last month. Having a variety of dishes for dinner makes life more interesting." After heating up the oil in a wok, Lee started deep-frying the stuffed vegetables and tofu. The kitchen is now filled with the sizzle of hot oil and the fragrant aroma of fried fish meat. "Please help me set the table, is the rice done?"

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"The rice is done, as always," Tabby said as it started laying out some bowls and chopsticks on the ornate dining table. "Imagine how magicians worldwide will feel when they discover that the world's most complex, most intricate enchantment on transmogrification and transmutation was borne out of the desire to have an endless supply of fresh rice from a rice cooker."

"Don't forget the dimensional teleportation and the limiting parts too by the way," Lee grinned. "I nearly drowned the entire forest in rice when I forget to include that in the original enchantment."

Sighs. "I will get the chilli sauce and sweet sauce," Tabby said as it opened the fridge door. "Why in the world do we need that huge bowl?"

Lee lugged out a gigantic bowl from his personal dimensional pocket. "Why? For when it comes back of course."

Tabby rolled its eyes but said nothing. Lee brought that truly gigantic bowl outside and filled it with buckets-load of rice and stuffed vegetables.

As Lee was busy outside, Tabby continued setting the table for dinner. In addition to the stuffed vegetables, there was also one whole steam fish, a platter filled with different kinds sashimi, pipping-hot mushroom soup and some deep fried baby anchovies.

"Where did the other dishes come from," Lee asked. "Where else," Tabby responded before sitting down in anticipation.

"Itadakimasu," they both said before gorging in without more words.

* * *

Burrrp. "That was not exactly a regional-specific dinner," Tabby said as it fiddled around with a toothpick. "Good meal though."

Burrrp. "Of course," Lee reclined in satisfaction. "What with my cooking skills and your imaginative powers, anything we conjure up will always be delicious. Still got room for dessert?"

"There's always room," Tabby's protruding stomach instantly shrank. "I feel like having some mochi and ice-cream today."

"Before that, can you...," Lee gestured towards the dirty dishes.

Poof. The empty dishes on the table disappeared in a puff of air. As Lee took dessert bowls and spoons from a nearby cabinet, Tabby pointed towards the fridge. A tub of chocolate chip ice cream and some mochi floated out. He waved his fingers, producing two perfectly round scoops of ice cream from the tub and some mochi to the dessert bowls on the table.

"Why don't you enchant this table to automatically do the dishes," Tabby asked as he licked the ice cream from the spoon.

"Unfortunately, that is simply too complicated," Lee replied. "While it is theoretically possible, there are too many clauses and parts involved to make that enchantment work. In the first place, how do we even define a finished plate?"

"By subtracting the weight of the original dish from the completed dish," Tabby said.

"Okay. Then say there's a plate of drumsticks and a bowl of soup, how do you define which one is cleaner by weight?" Lee asked in returned.

Tap, tap. "Hmm, what if we define cleanliness by the amount of edible food left instead?"

"Then what if the dish has lots of sauce which is technically edible, but is also too salty once the main dish is finished?"

"Hmmmm, I see where you are getting at. I never thought creating an automatic dish-washing table will involve so much... technicalities."

"This is an example of the weaknesses of magic. It can be wonderfully practical, but trying to set a highly subjective standard for all is incredibly difficult. Most magicians can fly around easily once they learn the standard flight spell, but enchanting a table to clean up a dish automatically is much more difficult."

Lee pointed at his now-empty dessert bowl. "Dirty bowl." The bowl levitated up and spun quickly as Lee twirled his finger. "Clean bowl. It only takes three seconds, and no complicated lines of mana-infused enchantments are required. And on that note..."

Lee paused as he suddenly sensed a huge disturbance in the nearby jungle. The ground shook and flocks of birds suddenly flew up as if an earthquake is happening. Armageddon is nigh.

"... we now have a new pet," Lee grinned smugly to Tabby.

"Oh please," Tabby patted its now-round tummy again. "One Phoorumph is one too many."

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Author's Notes

Hi everyone, this is my first attempt writing a story and I hope you enjoy it.

To be honest, I have no idea where this story is heading and will gradually refine it as I go.

"Yong tau foo is a Hakka Chinese dish consisting primarily of tofu filled with ground meat mixture or fish paste. Variation of this food include vegetables and mushrooms stuffed with ground meat or surimi. Yong tau foo is eaten in numerous ways, either dry with a sauce or served as a soup dish." I personally prefer it deep-fried though. From Wikipedia