Door 8, prompt: Mulled wine & hot cocoa
Continuation of Door 6, still on the same christmas fair. Please leave a review!
Cinnamon bride
It so happened that Minako, Makoto, Zoisite, Ami and Nephrite had gathered at the booth that sold mulled wine, and it so happened that booth offered a great view over the fair in the hospital's entrance hall.
"I can't believe they're bickering at each other again!" hissed Minako, who didn't like what she saw, and eyed Rei and Kunzite disapprovingly.
"It's really becoming a habit," said Makoto and sipped at her mulled wine. "She'll never go out with him, will she?"
"She'll taunt him all day and when he's only one breath away from asking her out, she'll ditch him."
"Why is he playing along then?" wondered Makoto.
"She shouldn't do that," said Ami, who never could keep a trace of bitterness out of her voice when she was talking about Kunzite. "What if he one day gets serious? If she rejects him then, she could get hurt."
"Don't worry, Mercury," said Nephrite and put an arm around her shoulder. "I'll never let that happen."
"But still... " sighed Ami.
"But what if he was good for her?" asked Makoto. "They're much alike."
"Exactly," said Minako. "That's why he isn't good for her. He's too much like her, and too much like her father. He'd pay the price for every stupid mindless thing her father ever did. Not to mention the stupid things he did himself. No."
"Yes, they'd better not," agreed Zoisite with a sigh. "Kunzite understands the need to take revenge too well. He needs a counterpart, not double himself."
"There's already all the Kunzite in the world that the world needs," grinned Nephrite.
Minako nodded. "What we need for Rei is someone who isn't like Kunzite at all. We need someone low-maintenance. Someone who lets her breathe. Someone who will always have her back, someone she doesn't have to fight."
"Someone to raise kids with," said Makoto.
One by one, their heads turned into the same direction. Where a goofy, clumsy and not overly sharp blonde in the white dress of the female spirit of a baby boy's birth had lifted a little girl out of her wheelchair and now dashed from booth to booth with her, pointing every kitschy bit of christmas tinsel out to her and laughing loudly about his unfunny jokes until the little one couldn't help giggling along with him.
A heavy silence set in.
"What IS in this wine?" murmured Minako.
"Cinnamon, clove, aniseed, orange?" murmured Makoto.
"Must be cinnamon aldehyde intoxication," murmured Ami.
"Could be the alcohol," murmured Zoisite.
"Alcohol with sugar boost," realized Nephrite. "My goodness, this stuff is legal in Germany?"
"One of their most prized cultural heritages," snorted Makoto.
"Must be the country of crack pairings then," snorted Minako, who couldn't resist girl group giggles.
"That would explain a lot," nodded Zoisite with a smile. "Namely, a lot of their music."
Nephrite chuckled. "We've either had too much of this stuff, or not enough. I say not enough. Come on, let's get another round."
They all got themselves another mug of steaming mulled wine.
"Okay, everyone," said Minako in a commanding voice.
"Eyes on Rei and Jadeite, and then drink. If it still makes sense after that mug is down, we do it."
"Still makes sense? This made sense now?" asked Ami, but then she set her eyes on Rei and Kunzite, and downed her mug in one go.
