Chapter 241: The Kitchen Secret

Vivian’s POV

I slipped my arms securely around his waist, leaning my back against his warm chest. I felt him bend his knees slightly to steady our weight, his bare feet planted firmly on the smooth floor.

"I promise you that I will never, ever, ever forget to eat my meals," I said softly, "if you promise me that you will never, ever, ever get into a brutal fight with other gods again. Deal?"

His lips thinned into a tight line, and he grimaced. Then he groaned out loud, looking up toward the ceiling for help before looking back down at me.

"How about we compromise: I will try my best not to fight other gods, and you promise to at least order takeout food if I happen to be gone?"

I laughed out loud, knowing full well that he would probably not be able to resist starting a fight if the situation called for it. And just as surely, I knew I would worry myself sick every single time he walked out the door.

"Fine," I said, still chuckling softly.

"Fine," he echoed back with a smile.

Just as we successfully reached our little truce, my wolf piped up from somewhere deep inside my mind, sounding a little too friendly for my personal liking. Now that we have finally agreed on food, can someone please feed this physical body before I start eating myself from the inside out?

Zahliver burst into a loud, booming laugh. "You just had to add that smart comment in, did you not?" I asked my wolf silently.

Well, duh. Since you are not taking the proper responsibility for feeding the body we share together, I figured I would just take matters into my own claws, she replied cheekily.

Claws? We do not even have hands in here right now, my beast corrected her with a mocking tone.

My wolf growled at that playful jab, and I could not help but snicker out loud.

"Whose side are you even on right now?" I whispered under my breath.

The side that actually feeds uswhich happens to be neither of you two. Aka, the guy over there, she answered simply.

Zahliver took my hand in his, his rich laughter still echoing softly as he led me down the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, I spotted Joshula standing in the kitchen, freshly showered and wearing what must have been one of Zahliver’s old cotton pajama sets they hung rather loosely on his lean, athletic frame.

"Now that all of us are finally clean, I think it is high time we got some dinner started," Zahliver said, walking briskly over to the refrigerator. He started pulling various ingredients out, then suddenly paused mid-motion and turned around to look closely at his brother. Joshula’s face twisted into an expression of utter confusion as he stared back and forth between Zahliver and me.

"What is going on?" I asked, catching the heavy question lingering in his green eyes as he stared at us.

"You do not cook your own meals?" Joshula asked slowly, his voice laced with disbelief.

I narrowed my eyes at him, instantly sensing the shock and perhaps a bit of old-fashioned judgment hiding in his tone. Behind him, Zahliver made a funny face at the refrigerator door and quickly shut it closed. He walked over and stood right beside his very confused and possibly endangered brother.

"Uh, Joshula, times have changed quite a bit since your day," Zahliver said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Women are not really expected to do all the domestic work around the house anymore."

Joshula nodded slowly in acknowledgment, but I could easily tell that he was still struggling to wrap his head around the modern concept.

"I am well aware that cultural customs have evolved over the ages," Joshula said carefully, choosing his words with precision. "Fate kept me somewhat informed as the outside world changed, but hearing about it secondhand is entirely different from experiencing it firsthand..."

My defensive glare softened as I began to understand his genuine struggle with the new era.

"For a quick second there, I thought you were implying that I should do all the kitchen work simply because I happen to be a woman," I said, tsking lightly and shaking my head at him. "Trust me, I could cook if you really want to risk getting severe food poisoning."

His soft green eyes widened in alarm at my warning, and then he glanced over quickly at Zahliver, who gave a knowing, solemn nod. Zahliver quickly resumed his rightful role as the master chef of the house.

"So your powerful brother does all the cooking now?" Joshula asked, clearly bewildered by the role reversal. I nodded enthusiastically, knowing exactly why this seemed so strange to him. Our reasons for being surprised might have been different, but the general feeling of disbelief was exactly the same.

Joshula half-turned his body to look directly at Zahliver, who currently had his back turned to us.

"When on earth did this massive shift happen? Last time I checked, you could not catch a single fish with a wooden spear even if it was sitting helplessly in a tiny puddle right in front of your face," Joshula said, looking highly amused.

Something metal slipped clumsily from Zahliver’s hands into the sink with a loud clatter, and he swiftly picked it up.

"Is that really true?" I teased, grinning widely as I watched Zahliver’s broad back stiffen up defensively.

Joshula turned his full attention to face me, matching my wide grin, his bright green eyes sparkling with mischief. Leaning forward slightly, he rested both of his forearms casually on the kitchen table.

"He might be much older and stronger now, but I was definitely the primary guardian back then. He was always way too reckless and far too spirited for his own good," he murmured softly, sounding more like he was talking to himself than anyone else.

"Well, you were young too, so you must have done wild things," I pointed out. Joshula’s head tilted to the side, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully at my words.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked after a brief moment of silence.

"You were young and reckless too. So what did you get up to back then?" I asked quickly, hoping I had not accidentally offended him.

Before Joshula could come up with an answer, Zahliver cut in smoothly without bothering to turn around from the stove.

"He trained relentlessly for fun with the other warriors who craved the wild rush of battle. Or he kept me on a tight leash whenever I looked like I was about to do something monumentally stupid. Am I right, brother?" Zahliver called out over his shoulder.

My nose suddenly caught the rich, savory scent of cooking meat drifting through the air.

Joshula shook his head with a deep, rumbling chuckle, then lifted his gaze toward the ceiling.

"Oh yes. Right you are, little brother. Like always," he said dryly.

"Not always! And just for your official information, the only reason I did not catch that fish back then was because it looked like a pile of well, you know what it looked like. I was certainly not about to eat that gross thing," Zahliver defended himself loudly as he moved around the stove, efficiently adjusting the food before walking over to sit down right beside me.

Joshula muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Oh yes, that completely explains everything."

Even though all three of us knew quite well that the much heavier, serious conversation was still waiting quietly in the wings of our minds, the kitchen still held a comfortable, subtle tension. It felt like they were both silently waiting for the other person to finally bring up the unspoken questions and the old accusations that still lingered heavily in the air. But not me no, I was certainly not about to be the one to open that scary door.

It was not my place to interfere, and honestly, I just wanted to savor this normal, peaceful moment of seeing Zahliver talk so easily, even if they both carried a bit of underlying unease beneath the surface.