Gallery

“It’s been nearly a month, Lio.” Dan was less than amused by the man’s tardiness. Lio scratched the base of his ear awkwardly. “Sorry about that. Work’s had me busy up to my ears. I’m here now, though! Ready for my next lesson.” Dan hummed. “How much dango have you made recently?” “Platters after plates,” Lio said. He reached up and began wrapping his hair up to keep it out of the way. “I’m ready to start pounding when you are.” He chu...

Lio knew how to make dango and mochi. He didn’t know how to make bonbons, but would that stop him? No. He was on a mission, and that mission was making Khepri bonbons. He looked at the recipe card he currently held in his hands. Butter, confectioners’ sugar, sweetened condensed milk, coconut flakes, walnuts, vanilla, chocolate chips, and shortening. He had all the ingredients he needed after going to and returning from the store. “Make the filling,” he read, “...

Roses? No. Too common. Tulips? Also no. Dahlia! No. Lio was getting dizzy trying to figure out what flowers to put in a bouquet for Khepri. The little cards on each flower were helpful, but what did he want the bouquet to say? It had to mean something. Longing, affection, love. He was struggling more with this than he did with anything else. Perhaps it was because this was specifically for Khepri and not with everyone in mind. Plumerias, hibiscus, dianthus?...

Lio wrapped his hair around his ears, keeping it in place in preparation for what he would be working on. It’d been a week since Dan had taught him how to make proper dango, and now he wanted to try his hand at mochi. Now, he stood before the man again with a wide grin on his face. Dan had already cooked the rice and dumped a portion of it into the usu that Lio stood by. “Take this,” Dan said gruffly, passing off a kine to Lio. Mallet in hand, Lio held the handle tightly, ...

“Chichin,” Gabriel called. He wandered through his halls, food bowl in hand. “Chichin, come out!” He chuckled softly when he heard the fluttering in a nearby room. “What have you gotten yourself into now?” The little imp knocked loose papers off the desk as he fluttered around and chittered. Gabriel smiled when he spotted the thing. “You seem to be having quite a bit of fun,” he said. The imp chittered again and flittered just out of Gabriel’s reach. “Come now, Chic...

The snow was cold beneath Lio’s hooves, but he couldn’t stop to warm them up. No. This was war, and there was no stopping in war. He’d been hit several times already, the ice melting through his sweater. “Lio!” Hart’s playful voice sang through the chilly air. “You’re not hiding very well.” ...

Rice flour, powdered sugar, and water. The three main ingredients to make one of Lio’s favourite treats—dango. It didn’t have to be flavoured or coloured with food colouring. He craved it so often that he finally thought to learn to make it, and who better to teach him than the man himself, Dan? He looked on as Lio weighed and mixed the dough. Once mixed, he separated it into three bowls. A little match in one and a few drops of pink colour in another, leaving one plain. Once tha...

Lio was, to put it plainly, drunk. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, but between the mochi and the booze, his stomach churned, and his head spun. So far, the Mochi Moon season was turning out to be livelier, and he was having a wonderful time. At least he was until he drank too much. Now, he lay on the floor in his suite, staring up at the ceiling, willing the world to stop spinning. His wish was granted after a while, his eyes slipping closed when...

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�...

“How many of these did you get?” Khepri asked. “Enough,” Lio said. The two were outside in the courtyard, along with Juno, who watched from a nearby lawn chair. “Too bad Master Judah won’t be joinin’ us tonight,” Juno smirked. “Hart’s got him all wrapped ‘round his fingers.” “Literally,” Lio added. Khepri and Juno laughed in unison. “Let’s go, Lio,” Juno said, waving his hand. “Git to it. Light the sticks.” ...

Hart worked diligently, crafting supplies scattered around him as he glued yet another puffball to the sweater he had spread out on the floor. It was a black sweater to start, the bottom carefully hemmed with white puffed garland for snow. That was, at least, the easiest part to do. Now, he was working on a wreath. He had the wreath itself done, white tinsel garland carefully stitched into a circle on the sweater. From there, he was adding the puffballs as baubles and holly berries. Pe...

Judah was pacing in his office. Back and forth, back and forth, wracking his brain for some kind of idea of what to do. Cherubuns had ways of doing things, and from the book Hart had brought home, Judah felt like he wasn’t doing enough. He could buy all the gifts he wanted for people—his employees—and Hart. Were his employees his friends? He wasn’t sure he’d call them that. Was Hart his friend, or was he something else? He paused his pacing and stoo...