A Fox Surrounded in Darkness (Twisted Wonderland x Encanto f!reader)

Chapter 66

Your Pov...

⦓Harveston- Assembly Hall⦔

"Here, warm yourselves with some of this soup," Mrs. Marja passes bowls of soup to Sebek, Jade, Idia, Epel, and I. "The fish and veggies have been stewin' in a big ol' pot in the fireplace. It should be perfect to eat now."

"You use a fireplace," Jade questions. "Fascinating."

"We've got central heating and heaters, but lots of houses have a fireplace for extra heat," Epel answers.

"Do fairies manage the fireplaces here too?" I look at Epel.

"Fairies?" Epel looks at me slightly confused, then understands. "Oh, you mean like the ones in the school cafeteria? Nah, we just burn the wood ourselves. It'd be hard to get fairies to tend our fires way out here in the sticks. Besides, we've got no shortage of wood. It's a handy way to dispose of all the limbs we prune during harvest time."

"That's good," I give a sigh of relief. "I've had enough of fairies for a while."

"Do you often cook in a fireplace in lieu of a stove," Jade inquires.

"We always have a fire going in the wintertime, so we tend to cook stews in the fireplace," Epel replies. "It's a holdover from the old days when gas was harder to come by. With a slow, steady fire, you can get your ingredients nice and tender."

"Just sit back and savor the warmth," Mrs. Marja instructs. Idia, Jade, Epel, and I dig in. The soup was filled with rich flavors.

Sebek drinks some of the soup. "...This is outstanding!"

"The flavor from the vegetables and fish has seeped into the soup, giving it a mild, pleasant taste," Jade says after trying some of the soup.

"The ingredients are the star of the show in this dish," Epel smiles. "All they need is a sprinkle of salt and pepper."

"To think you can cook as well as you sew!" Sebek looks over at Mrs. Marja. "You're no ordinary human, Marja."

"Sebek certainly is forthright," Jade chuckles.

"Anyone want seconds?" Mrs. Marja offers, seeing us gobble down the soup. "There's plenty more where that came from."

"I'll have some, thank you," Jade accepts Mrs. Marja's offer.

"This soup's warming me through and through." Sebek gulps down his soup.

"I've never tasted anything this good," I compliment.

"The way you kids eat would flatter any chef," Mrs. Marja laughs. "Makes it all worthwhile."

"...Say, where's Idia?" Epel looks at our group, not seeing Idia's face.

"Hiding in a corner," I say while pointing over to Idia, who was in a corner not far from us. "Been there since we came in."

"Wait, really?!" Epel exclaims looking towards Idia. "What's wrong, Idia? Are you not feeling well?"

"No," Idia shakes his head. "I've had a real bad case of goosebumps for a while now."

"If you're that cold, then come on over by the fire," Epel smiles. "We've got plenty of hot food too."

"It's not because of the cold!" Idia uses his tablet to speak. "It's because you sprung a huge party on me outta nowhere!"

"Huh," Epel slightly tilted his head in confusion.

"Sitting at a table with a bunch of complete strangers?" Idia frowns while using his tablet. "I only need to imagine it to know it would be torture! I don't care about the food, and the last thing I want to do is talk to people. Nope, can't do it. Not happening."