A Treat to Start

Lio was chipper as he pranced around the kitchen. He’d been up for hours making mochi, and now that it was finished, he was ready to share it with everyone. He had small stacks of different flavoured mochis on several plates ready to set out to be tried.

He flicked his ears when he heard someone’s hoofsteps. He listened a bit closer and smiled. “Hart!” He called. “Hart, come here for a moment.”

The bun peeked curiously into the kitchen. “Lio?” He smiled. “What’s up?”

“I want you to try something.”

Hart narrowed his eyes at him. “It’s not anything with Judah again, is it? You’re not trying to trick me?”

Lio snorted. “No!” He said. “It’s not about Judah, or teasing you, or anything like that.”

Hart’s eyes fell on the mochi plates. “Is it those?”

“Yeah!” Lio confirmed. “You wanna try one? They’re all different flavours.”

“This one’s matcha, right?” Hart asked. “Are they sweet?”

Lio smiled. “Not too sweet, no. There’s matcha, strawberry, and sesame. You’re welcome to have some.”

He watched as Hart tentatively picked up one of the matcha mochis and nibbled at it. “Are you sure this isn’t sweet?”

“Take a bite of it, Hart. You won’t get the whole flavour unless you bite it.”

Hart pouted before taking a deep breath and shoving the whole thing in his mouth. Lio panicked.

“Woah, woah! Don’t eat it like that! You’re going to choke!”

Hart didn’t listen. He chewed and chewed…and chewed. Lio watched on, worried he’d choke but didn’t force him to spit it out. When Hart finally swallowed, Lio let out a sigh of relief but still watched closely. Hart was quiet momentarily before perking up and beaming at Lio. “This is so good!” He exclaimed. “Can I have another one?”

Lio chuckled. “As long as you don’t eat all of them, it’ll be fine. I made enough to share.”

“With everyone?” Hart asked.

“Yes, with everyone.”

Hart seemed rather pleased by this and grabbed one of each mochi before hurrying out of the kitchen. Lio could only watch. He smiled to himself, happy that Hart was so excited about the treats. It wasn’t long after that Khepri wandered in, his eyes spotting the treats immediately.

“Go on, take one,” Lio said.

Khepri smiled. “Thanks, Lio.”

“Hart tell you guys I made snacks?”

“Mhm,” Khepri nodded. “He was rather excited about it. I heard him tell Judah that he had never had mochi before.” He picked up a strawberry mochi and took a bite. He hummed softly, his tail gently swishing behind him.

“All right, I’m here,” Juno said when he walked in. “Hart’s all up in arms about this ‘amazing snack’ that you done made. Let’s have it.”

Lio chuckled. “He’s going around praising my mochi, but he only took three of them with him?”

“He’s feedin’ ‘em to Judah,” Juno said. He didn’t dawdle as he walked over and picked up a strawberry mochi. “You made these last Moon. Different flavours, though.” Lio watched as Juno took a large bite and wiggled. “These things git better every year.”

Lio’s ears flicked from the praise. “Glad you guys like them.”

“They love them,” Judah said as he entered the room. “At this rate, I think yer gonna run out of mochi. Do you need help making more?”

“You gonna help ‘im?” Juno smirked.

“Won’ be the first time,” Judah replied.

“He’s good at pounding things, remember?” Lio quipped.

Khepri snickered. “Shouldn’t we worry about eating what mochi is here first and then making more?”

Hart hurried in. “Is there still matcha mochi?”

“We’ll make a special batch when we make more,” Judah said.

Lio beamed, pleased to see everyone having such a good time. He was going to have to make treats more often.