"Are you seriously making a necklace out of flowers?"

Roy ignored him. Jason crossed his arms and tutted, watching him pull another bright red and yellow hibiscus from the pile at his side and deftly weave the stem in with the others. He already had a full loop of dark green leaves, and was slipping in the blossoms one at a time, starting with tiny buds on one side and working his way around to the other, gradually increasing in size.

Jason waited a while longer, settling against the rough bark of a tree. It caught on his thin shirt, hiking it up and generally being sort of itchy. As much as he enjoyed having a private tropical paradise, it was still far hotter and more humid than Jason had grown up with, and it made him tetchy. Not that his companions would probably notice if he were more irritable than usual.

"Are you that bored?"

"Are you that bored that you're watching me?" Roy countered without looking up. He tied off the end of the hibiscus stem and turned the garland around to examine it. "It's not a necklace, anyway."

"So what, a wreath? You're still tying flowers together."

"It is a crown," said Koriand'r, stepping out from the foliage. Her hair was dripping wet, and she carried the bulk of it in one hand to keep it from tangling in the leaves. The wrap she wore around her hips was already in tatters from a similar fate, though it still managed to serve its purpose. "I am a princess, Jason. I require a crown."

Jason snorted. "I should've known you put him up to this," he said. "Far be it for me to interrupt your foreplay."

He pushed himself away from the tree. Seeing Kori all wet and dripping was making him think a dip in the ocean might do him some good as well. His shirt was already sticking to his back with sweat.

"Jason," said Kori sternly, as if she were reminding him of something important. When Jason paused and turned to look back, she was examining the 'crown' by turning it around in her hands. Apparently satisfied, she placed it on her head before looking back at him. "I did not give you permission to leave."

Jason raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Excuse me?"

"This is my island," she said. As she stepped forwards she trailed her fingers through Roy's hair, ruffling it like she was scratching the head of a well-behaved dog. She smirked as she came closer, her toes lifting off the sandy ground as she levitated the last couple of feet and wrapped her arms around Jason's shoulders. "I am a princess. You are my subjects. You do not leave without my permission."

"Is that so, your highness?"

"Of course." She released him and floated backwards, returning to her previous spot without touching the ground. "I found you, I saved you, I give you both food and shelter and protection." Her playful smile grew as she rotated back, lounging as if on a chair with her face resting on her hand. "Bow to me."

To Kori's great amusement and Jason's sarcastic scoff, Roy made a big show of climbing to his feet only to drop to one knee as he bowed deeply over his right arm.

"It is our honor to serve you, your majesty," he said grandly. He grinned over his shoulder at Jason and winked cheekily. "C'mon, Jay-bird, bow to your princess."

Jason crossed his arms and leaned back against his tree. He smirked back at the two of them. "No."

Roy dropped his arms and straightened his back, disgusted. "Aw, come on, Jason, you don't have to be a party pooper every time, come on–"

"No?" Kori interrupted. She still spoke in her most regal tone, eyes blazing as she drifted closer to Jason. Everything about her was vaguely threatening; as she came closer, Jason could feel the heat radiating from her body and even see it shimmer with a pinkish aura in the bright daylight. "You refuse to bow to your queen, peasant?"

"Oh, you're a queen now, are you? No fair promoting yourself."

"I do as I wish. I rule this island."

"I do as I wish, your highness. On this island or any other."

Kori's fingers clenched around the front of Jason's shirt, sending the smell of burnt polyester wafting towards his nose. Neither of them broke eye contact as Kori grinned her most terrifying smile. "You will pay for your insubordination."

"Just you try it."

Kori took him at his word. Jason was only aware of a sudden blast of heat and light and the sensation of moving rapidly backwards and up up up– for a split second he was weightless, still carried upwards by their momentum as Kori stopped, high above the treetops. Jason only stayed aloft by Kori's hand twisted in his shirt and her other that had found its way to his hip, holding him like they were ballroom dancing.

"You were saying?" Kori cooed, still smirking gently at him. The heat radiating from her body had evaporated the seawater from her skin and hair. The fresh flowers Roy had chosen for her crown were already starting to wilt and dry, though it was frankly a miracle she hadn't simply caused them to burst into flame.

"I thought you were going to punish me, not take me on a joyride." Jason kept his arms back and away from Kori, resisting the urge to hold her back for support. He trusted her not to let him fall, and he would not give her the satisfaction of initiating contact.

"Such disrespect," she said. "I should cast you out of my kingdom."

"Exile me all you want, princess," Jason scoffed. "I'm not going to bow to you. I can always head back to Gotham and fight my way back to the top of that hierarchy."

"True," Kori said, tilting her head to one side. She released Jason's side to put her hand to her lips in mock thoughtfulness, making him drop a good eight inches. His stomach lurched, in spite of his determinedly calm demeanor. He choked as his shirt rode up around his ears, the sounds of slowly breaking threads ringing inside them. He grabbed her wrist with both hands, instinctively.

Kori smiled. "Perhaps I have misjudged you. What was it your servant called you, 'Prince of Gotham'?"

Jason was struggling to pull himself up, teeth grit as he pulled on Kori's deathgrip on his collar. He was opening his mouth to argue that Alfred was not his servant, that even though he worked as a valet he was frankly the only person in Gotham to actually have any control over anything, but his protests were cut off by Kori pulling him suddenly upwards, wrapping her arm around his waist again to yank him right up against her, and shoving her tongue into his mouth before he could get out more than a syllable.

He gave as good as he got, grinning against her mouth and casually biting back. He finally allowed his hands to wrap around her; one tangled in the hair at the base of her skull, the other grasping her hip in a mirror of the way she held him. They both pulled each other closer, unified in their goal but battling for control.

She bit his bottom lip slightly harder than strictly necessary and they separated. She smirked seductively. He grinned back.

"You fight well," she murmured. She released his shirt, now crumpled, torn, and singed beyond repair, and wrapped her arm around his shoulders instead. "Too well for a prince, I think. Perhaps a knight?"

Jason was about to retort when Roy's annoyed voice shouted up to them.

"Why is it that I'm the one who does everything you say, and he's the one who gets rewarded?"

Kori glanced down at him through the corners of her eyes, stifling a chuckle. Jason just grinned straight down at him and, freeing his hand from Koriand'r's hair, flipped Roy off behind her back. Roy returned the gesture with both hands and stuck his tongue out for good measure.

Kori dropped slowly, letting Jason slip from her grasp so that by the time they reached the ground they were holding each other's hands. She deposited him on the sand without touching it herself, flitting back a couple of yards before settling on the ground. "You question your princess, subject?"

"I do when she leaves me high and dry to go tangle with her new consort instead."

Jason smirked loftily and walked over to lean on Roy's shoulder. "Technically, I had her first."

"You 'had' me?" Kori challenged. She stepped forwards, her long hair still blazing from her flight, trailing behind her in the wind and blowing heat over both men.

Jason coughed sheepishly and averted his gaze.

Kori ignored him, apparently taking the gesture as an acceptable apology for his twist on their relationship. She nudged him aside, her eyes locked with Roy's as she draped herself over his shoulders. She twirled his hair in her fingers, leaning happily into him.

"'Consort' seems more applicable to yourself," she said with a smile. "Given you are in my bed every night. One kiss is hardly deserving of your petty jealousy."

Roy smiled back, though he tried futilely to hold out a little longer. "Yeah, you're right," he said with a sideways glance at Jason. After a moment he remembered to tack on, "Your highness."

"Of course I am," Kori said. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, bringing him in for a deep kiss as well. When they separated she slouched in his arms, allowing him to carry most of her weight. She smiled up at him, pulling his face close to hers to speak in low tones. "My knight is not of noble blood, but adopted into noble heritage. He does not understand the customs of the Court as we do."

"Uh," said Roy. He glanced back at Jason, who was pretending not to be interested in their conversation as he fumbled with the remains of his shirt. "So what are we supposed to do about that?"

Kori reached up with one hand to pluck Roy's hat from his head. She placed it on her own, knocking her flower crown askew so it peeked out under the cap from one side. "Simple. We teach him."