Sweet and Vain
Thorin Loong took a bite of the squid from the fork that Zi Mei was offering to him out of courtesy. She had insisted that he would like it. The moment the squishy sauce-covered morsel entered his mouth, he wanted to spit it out. The texture itself was grossing him out but the flavours was not as bad as he had thought. He forced himself to chew it and then swallowed it.
"There, it's not so bad right?" Zi Mei was looking at him expectantly. She had noticed his slight grimace when he was chewing the squid but Thorin still ate it instead of spitting it out. She had half expected him to spit it out in disgust.
"It's okay," Thorin said noncommittally. He pushed his plate aside. "I…uh…am not hungry at all, like I said, I don't need to eat…so you go ahead," he added. He tried to keep a neutral expression.
Zi Mei grinned at him. "Are you sure? This is nice too," she speared a cockle and brandished it in front of him. "Sure you don't want to try this too?"