8

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180 AC

Dragonstone

Aerion Targaryen

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Having a glutton king as a father has been great for my tastebud's future health.

Standing over a pot of simmering gumbo I dip in my wooden spoon and take a quick taste and unconsciously nod. The taste is not the same as grandma used to make around thanksgiving when all the family would gather but it's close. I close the lids on the different jars of spices and herbs and set them on their rack, placing the rack back into my personal chest I lock it and step back.

Birthdays or rather Name days are pretty hit or miss in my opinion in this world since they don't have real calendars. With how the seasons are years long it is also hard for me to try and make one similar to Earths so I just gave up. Mom said today was Danny and my name day so I went all out on different dishes I have slowly been recreating.

My father Aegon when he first tried some of my dishes when he caught word of them and had me teach a servant was excited. I was questioned for hours about how I came up with some methods of cooking which seemed odd to the cooks at Dragonstone but I gave them nothing. My secrecy made a few people mad but when I sent a request to my father for ingredients to experiment with he gave me his full support. Ingredients from all over the world that could be either preserved or planted here have been slowly gathered.

It took years to reach the point I have now where I have a pretty good selection of 'familiar' things to work with. It seems the creator of this world I think I remember being a George guy or something enjoyed food. The options available are wider than I had hoped and now that I have a steady supply I have made great progress in getting some 'normal' food on my plate.

'Glass gardens' or greenhouses have been made and set aside just for my use and I have a few designated servants to care for them. Most vegetables from Earth are here and I have seen a wide variety of fruit but some are near impossible to get here. The banana for example is something that is real here but hard to get before it's rotten. It was an act of the gods to get a living tree here on Dragonstone and after my first successful Banana bread, they are now cultivated for my future use.

"It smells amazing, are you done?" My mom likes to watch me cook, I can't imagine how she feels watching her now eight-year-old son walk around cooking different dishes in this private kitchen.

I mean if I saw an eight-year-old that is as fit as me slaving over food for hours I would just assume he is a dwarf or something.

"It's done, the roast should be rested by now and can be shredded and the gumbo tastes good enough." I wipe my hands on my apron and untie it before throwing it on a clean table.

"It sure has me feeling hungry, I will get some help carrying it into the dining room. I still don't understand the little candles on the cake you made but everyone who has blown them out seems to enjoy it." She watches me closely as I stick eight small candles into the cake for Danny and me to blow out.

I keep all the candles close together, this kind of wax is not to be eaten so the cake that it hits is thrown away. I have gotten everyone into the habit of tossing edible things into a compost bin so I can have good soil for my gardens. I am pretty sure it was invented by ancient civilizations but for some reason, no one composts in this world from my own research. They rather throw it to pigs and then eat the pigs which are not bad but compost is great for poor soil, which Dragonstone has a lot of.

I snap out of my thoughts seeing maids taking different dishes out of the room and I scoop the cake up carefully. The cake itself is actually my first time sharing something new with the family that I have worked hard on.

I started with this over a week ago and have been letting the beans ferment and they seem to work exactly how they did on earth. I roasted them and then peeled and crushed them before beating them in a mortar and pestle until it was a paste. I had to mix some milk to give it a liquid property since I don't have a blender to really make it work as I did in the past. Some sugar was added and then I let it sit in a mold I made and perhaps the world's first chocolate bar was made.

I still have not 'tested' the chocolate and went straight into using it as 'icing' for a simple vanilla cake. I very well may kill most of the royal family tonight when we all get a slice of this cake, but it will be worth it based on the smell.

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"Happy birthday." I whisper to Danny who is sitting on my left while looking intently at the cake.

Everyone has taken peeks at the cake but was quickly distracted by the other dishes being served. Gumbo and mashed potatoes and gravy are on everyone's plates or in their bowls and it brings a smile to my face. Grandma would be proud, all those times she would snatch me by the hair into the kitchen to help her cook were not wasted.

"Happy birthday." She whispers back, I am one hundred percent sure she thinks I came up with that saying. "This is the present you were telling me about, I don't see how this took a whole week to make. It was in those giant 'pods' that are a lot like nuts but they were squishy on the inside and smelled funny. I am not sure I will like it, but I will try it as you have yet to feed me something I hated." My nosey twin knew I was up to something when I danced around after being delivered the Cocoa pods.

I immediately recognized them when I cracked one open but the outside is a bit different from what I was used to with some odd bumps along its surface. I eye the cake suspiciously when I think about those differences and I momentarily worry I actually will kill everyone here with poisonous chocolate.

"Trust me when I say this, if it works how it should then you will love this even more than strawberry shortcake." A single eyebrow raises in disbelief and she soon shakes her head.

Her and strawberry shortcakes hit it off and she had them made almost every day when I first made her some. It is one of the recipes I kept secret just for me to make for my family and potentially to make a restaurant in Kingslanding in the future. I plan to train a chief that is die-hard loyal and have them run a kitchen for me, it will be high-priced just for noble families. Fancy foods and potentially stuff like sushi if I can ever get some rice, my heart pangs in longing at the thought of rice.

Looking around the table at all the people drinking straight from the bowl or even licking plates in Rhaegal's case I feel satisfied. I shake my head seeing Rhaegal eating another peanut butter and jelly but I made like ten of them knowing he is obsessed so it's fine. It is a good feeling to see everyone so casual and comfortable with smiles on their faces.

"Are you about ready to cut the cake Aerion?" I turn to my older brother Daeron and nod as his wife Myriah Martell waves a servant over.

A servant approaches and lights the candles and steps back as I take a look at Danny and smile seeing her with her eyes closed. The tradition of making a wish before blowing out candles has been celebrated on every name day since I first did it. I wonder how far it will spread in the future when people hear the royal family does it.

She opens her eyes and blows and I quickly join in to extinguish some of the flickering flames. I quickly work to cut away the slice with the candles and double check the wax didn't get blown onto the rest. Satisfied the cake is 'safe' I cut pieces and set them on a stack of plates and the same servant behind me grabs the top one and carries it away. Each time I set a slice down it is carried off and soon the cake is equally split and only two remain for me and Danny.

"Ready?" I ask while looking around the table and see excited looks and eager nods and I nod signaling everyone to take the first bite.

I bring the potentially poisonous bite to my mouth and take it down with no problem, I did taste the actual chocolate bar earlier so if it's fatal it's already too late for me. I hear hums and even a high-pitched moan as everyone tastes the warm cake. I kept it warm so the chocolate would remain slightly melted and it seems to have been a good decision.

The dark taste is a bit much but to someone who has never had super sweet chocolate, this is a game changer. I am sure chocolate will become a requested item and to do so they will have to get a steady supplier of pods or grow them ourselves.

Looking over to Danny I see her with her eyes closed and nodding, victory.

"Told you." She snorts in amusement and goes for another bite.

----

Gripping the bat I look out at the mound Baelor is standing on as he grips the ball in his hand and winds up the pitch. The ball soars toward me and I swing the bat with my full strength with zero doubt I will hit my mark.

A crack of the wood and homemade baseball colliding and I am off the home plate on my way to first base.

"Catch it Aerys!" I hear Balerion shout from the left field to Aerys who is in the right field.

"AHHHH!" I hear the pitiful scream from Aerys and a dull thunk as I start running to second base chasing after Maekar who hit before me.

Me and Maekar are a menace on a team together so we get padded down with the 'bad players'.

I have to slow down and stop for a second as I see Maekar catch up to Shiera who starts running to home base. We both wait on our base as she closes in on home plate and just like I taught her she slides onto the plate even though Aerys is still trying to find the ball.

"Woohoo!" Cheers erupt from the stands and Shiera giggles out loud before getting out of the way.

The ball lands in Baelor's mitt and he looks back toward me and Maekar, seeing us both decide to keep our current plates he nods and turns back around.

"Good job Shiera!" I shout as she makes her way back to the 'dugout' and she turns around with a wide smile and holds up two thumbs up.

I stretch my back and see Maekar give me a signal behind his back as we wait for the next batter to get up to the home plate. I give a short nod and he bolts to steal for home but Baelor seems more than ready and tosses to Daeron who is the designated catcher. Maekar spins around and trips over his feet as his dad runs at him and I facepalm.

"Out!" His mom shouts when his dad sets his mitt on him and I let out a sigh.

So much for being the dream team I guess.

I head toward the pitcher's mound and catch the ball tossed over by Daeron as we swap sides.

A roar from the side from Moonfyre catches my attention and I see her shifting in place the look in her eyes tells me all I need to know.

She wants to go on a flight together.