For today, I thought I'd like to share a small vignette from Leona and Rivanna's chapter of my series. I know this is smaller compared to stuff I've written before, but today was really not my day. I hope to expand upon this later.

Link to original post: https://old.reddit.com/r/TwistedWonderland/comments/xe5lzy/twstober_prompt/

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“Mmm…These are good. What’s that sweetness? I’ve never had sweet meatballs before.”

“Oh, the usual things. But I did put a hint of shallot for extra flavor.”

Leona’s cheeks puckered, and his eye bulged. He aimed for the sink and spat out whatever was left of the meatball that stuck on his teeth and tongue. He gagged harshly, so he pulled the water tap and rinsed his mouth more times than he cared to count.

“What is wrong with you? How dare you react to a woman’s cooking like that?”

“Is this a time for manners?” Leona exclaimed. “I HATE shallots!”

“You cannot be serious. You’re a twenty-one-year-old beastman who can’t stand a simple vegetable?”

“Vegetables are to the food pyramid as termites are to houses. Everyone in Sunset Savannah can live without.”

Rivianna scoffed. “Well, I like shallots, so I’m not going to not add them in these meatballs tonight because you have some childish avoidance to them. Besides, I’ve seen Cheka complain less about food than what you are doing at this moment.”

Leona let out a small hiss. “If you’re going to do that, then, I can make dinner for myself.”

Rivianna side-eyed him as Leona approached the kitchen counter. “Oh, have fun with that.”

He grabbed globs of grounded meat and shaped it into a thick square patty. He pinched some spices in between his thumb and his pointer finger to mix with the patty. Once the patty was seasoned enough, he moved the raw square to the cooking platter, which was hanging above the cooking fire.

So Leona could actually do the work after all. “It surprises me that for a person who likes to do less, you know how to cook for yourself.”

Leona went to seasoning and molding a second patty. “I cook for myself all the time, here and abroad. No one knows how to make food I like better than I do.”

“Someone taught you?”

“I teach myself…but my father showed me the basics.”

A king taught his prince son how to cook? Rivianna’s mother never had to lift a claw in her life. If she had any memories of her father, she’d imagine that all he had to do was give his wife an heir, and that was it. Other than that, the royals of the River Region lived full lives of carefree bliss. “Did he always do things himself?”

“He as in…”

“The King.”

“He was particular. He lived a life thinking that if anything was going to get done his way, why let someone else do it for him? Everything Falena does now, he has Father to thank for that.”