Prompt by Sixphanel: Hot muffins

"You're not seriously going to eat that, are you?" Cara asked, looking on skeptically as Kahlan unwrapped a package she had received from a very grateful woman and her son. It was unlikely the villagers would give them something useful like clothing or weapons, so she wasn't surprised to see a couple of cakes inside the carefully wrapped bundle.

"Why not?" Kahlan looked up, a pleased little smile on her face.

"They could be poisonous," Cara stated simply, watching where she was walking.

Kahlan raised an amused eyebrow at her travel companion before looking down at the treats, her facial expression melting into one of disappointed. "It's such a shame though. These used to be my favorites." She shifted the package in her hands. "And they're still warm, too."

Cara looked up at the subtle change in intonation, noticing the slightly forlorn tinge in the brunette's smile. She stopped abruptly, leaving Richard and Zedd to walk ahead without noticing that they lagged behind. Kahlan stopped as well, turning back to the blonde to see what was wrong. She had a look of determination on her face as she looked down at the cakes.

"Cara?" she tried, trying to catch her eyes.

Cara's eyes flickered up momentarily to meet hers. Instead of answering, she took on an indignant pose and raised her hand in front of her, palm upwards.

Kahlan looked at her uncomprehendingly and then at the cakes in her hands. "I thought you said they might be poisonous?"

Cara rolled her eyes and took one for herself. "The world can go with one Mord'Sith less," she said, sniffing the treat before taking an unceremonious bite. Her eyebrows dipped down into a frown as she chewed, slowly at first, but picking up speed as she determined it wasn't poisoned and actually quite good.

Kahlan tried to keep the smile from her lips as she realized the implications behind the words. Apparently, the woman felt bad enough for ruining her moment to take it upon herself to fix it even though it might lead to whatever degree of food poisoning. Trusting Cara to have some experience with poison, she didn't complain as she bit into the cake, watching while the blonde's expression changed from one of serious business to confusion to reluctant acceptance. It almost appeared as if her companion liked the cakes.

Cara swallowed, raising her eyes to Kahlan's expectant gaze. "They're not poisonous."

Kahlan allowed to show her appreciation with a smile, amused when the fearless Mord'Sith averted her eyes and took another bite. "Are they any good?"

"They're..." Cara looked at the cake. "Not horrible," she settled.

Kahlan bit her lower lip to keep her amusement from spilling over. The cakes must have had chocolate filling, because there was a spot of brown just above the blonde's lip. "You've got…" she trailed off, wiping off the chocolate with her thumb. Her eyes followed her hand, letting the digit linger on lips longer than necessary. It had started out as a friendly gesture, but the softness of the skin was unexpected. The woman always came off as being distant and dangerous, so to have such tender skin was a jolting contrast to her behavior. It left her breathless for only a moment. "Something," she finished. Surprisingly enough, her smile had only wavered slightly and she found it came back easily.

Cara looked at her strangely, but didn't comment on her slip in composure and simply started walking again as she continued to eat the cake.

Kahlan watched her go, briefly distracted by the walking enigma before realizing what she had just done. She raised her hand to her mouth and sucked the chocolate from her thumb, eyes still on a leather clad back. Smiling at the thought that Cara had allowed the intimate touch, she jogged to catch up with the rest.

She ignored the next few thoughts diligently, thoughts and questions about whether Cara's lips tasted as sweet as the hot muffins she was about to eat and why Cara only ever allowed her touch and rebuked everyone else. Instead she focused on eating her gift.

Historical inaccuracies all over the place! That's what you get for giving me "hot muffins" as a prompt.