"Uh, Princess, are you-?" Mickey hesitated as he looked around the surprisingly large dining room, built for a large number of guests, the echo intimidated him a little, more so with the lack of Daisy's presence. "Are you sure I should be here?"

"Mickey! There you are!" Princess Minnie's eyes lit up at the sight of him. "Of course! Please come closer, I'd have to shout at you all the way over there otherwise, and I just convinced Daisy to be with Donald for a bit!"

Ah, so that's where his comrade went. Well, Donald was guarding someone at least so Mickey was absolutely willing to let it slide that the duck wasn't at his agreed upon post.

Mickey also couldn't help but inwardly marvel at the architecture in this large dining room, the blue marble in places really made it work. Then as he got closer he couldn't help but slightly marvel at the delicious looking spread of desserts before her. An array of rich colors and scents he could only have ever dreamed of as an orphan in the orphanage.

He hadn't eaten anything since earlier that morning, never a need to have a lunch break since it's far more important to be protecting the princess at all costs. However it was completely dark out now, and a void was gnawing at his stomach. He averted his eyes to the ground to stop from fantasizing about all that food.

Once he finally crossed the room, he took the position off to her right, in his usual militant stance; eyes straight looking at the far wall, one hand on his sword and his free hand behind his back. He did idly notice that she hadn't touched her plate yet, apparently waiting for him. It was important to protect the princess even while she dined.

Of all his new musketeer duties to protect his princess as her bodyguard personally, this one was going to be tough in a way he least expected. He prayed that his stomach wouldn't betray him and growl loudly, especially in this echoing room.

He tried not to gulp in envy as he watched from the corner of his eye as she reached forward to ease a generous slice of cake up and onto her plate. It was a thick, spongy slice that glistened with cream and soft frosted flower petals. There was some sort of bright purple jam in the cake that he couldn't identify. He was close enough to smell the intoxicating wine as she served herself a glass. It smelled sweet.

Then, she stopped. Mickey tightened his jaw.

She turned slightly toward him, a hint of a smile that he could see from his angle. "I think you need to taste this for me," she said, calmly cutting into the slice with her fork.

Mickey blinked several times and did a double take. "Uhm…"

Turning to face him fully, Princess Minnie tilted her head with a cheeky look. "What, would you rather I be poisoned?" she offered the fork, her calm demeanor telling him that she had no reason to fear her food having been tampered with at all.

"O' course not." He said tiredly, taking a cautious step toward her anyway, and she nodded eagerly.

He went to take the fork in his hand, but she simply raised it up toward his face. Perfectly balanced. Perfectly graceful and dainty. Mickey glanced at her with wide eyes and tinted cheeks when he realized she wanted him to take the bite directly from her.

"Go on," she cooed, encouraging him warmly.

Strange. Despite himself, his mouth watered at the delicate forkful before his eyes. Mickey took a deep breath before he leaned forward to accept the bite. Before he could lean away, she had already eased the fork out of his mouth, the prongs leaving a funny feeling on his teeth and lips.

He had to close his eyes right away. The cake was absolutely delicious. The soft texture and milky sweetness overwhelmed his senses. The jam was just the right amount of tart to balance it out. "Mother of stars," he groaned, only to realize he'd said that out loud with a jolt. He straightened up and cleared his throat. Staring adamantly at the floor. "I—uhm—I think it's fine."

Princess Minnie gave a smile as sweet as the cake. "I think you should try a sip of the wine, too," she said, gesturing to the chair beside her. "Just to be safe. Sit, sit."

Mickey timidly went to the seat, though it was a tall chair and his boots didn't quite touch the tile floor, but neither did her dainty feet, so he didn't feel too silly there. Sliding her plate and glass closer to him, Princess Minnie folded her hands in her lap and watched expectantly. He realized she wanted him to drink.

As he took the delicate glass in his gloved hands, she spoke. "This wine is unique to France being from Chateau Mouton Rothschild. They currently have the second largest vineyard in the country." Her bright eyes tracked his every move, anticipating his reaction. Mickey avoided her clever gaze, having a feeling he'd only disappoint simply because he couldn't really handle the medicinal taste of most alcohols.

He hesitated before taking a sip, as the sweet smell completely engulfed his nose, then he took a tiny sip. Oh thank the stars it didn't make him gag, it was luxurious and ripe, and the sweetness overpowered that usual sting of alcohol so it was incredibly smooth. He blinked and gave an interested hum, trying not to openly savor it since he was supposed to be on the lookout for bad guys. If she got him drunk it would be her own darn fault if something actually happened.

"Should be safe." He told her honestly, sliding the glass back toward her, only to be faced with another forkful of cake.

Flabbergasted, he looked between her serene smile and the cake.

She fed him the entire slice, as well as samples from the rest of the spread. A cheesecake, a meringue pie, an apple turnover, an assortment of macarons and a tart that seemed like a bigger than normal eclair. His favorite were the dark chocolate truffles, they had cocoa powder on the outside that made them a bit bitter at first until he bit down and got the gooey sweetness. Princess Minnie also ate, but she was so preoccupied feeding him that Mickey hardly had time or a chance to raise a finger of protest. After every bite, she insisted that he drink more wine.

"If bad guys attack it's gonna be yer own darn fault, yer highness." Mickey deadpanned at one point just to take a sip bitterly. He laid his southern accent thick and whiney to show he didn't mean any true anger.

"Just this once, I'm all too happy to take that chance." She replied sweetly, charmed by his accent. Or at least he figured she was judging the tint in her own cheeks that wasn't from her own glass of wine that she apparently had the whole time.

After doing a double take upon that particular realization, he ended up jumping a little as a hand touched his cheek, causing his tail to straighten out like a rod.

"You've got a little something there, handsome…" Princess Minnie's thumb grazed the corner of his lips. Her soft gloved hand was warm, his cheeks warmed with the sudden rush of heat, be it from her hand or the term of endearment, he couldn't say, not that he could think much currently either. Regardless that he was sure he felt his heart leap into his throat.

As soon as her hand lifted, Mickey tried not to whine at the sudden cold absence. He hoped at the very least, that she didn't notice his shiver.

After that bewildering meal, Mickey escorted the Princess back to her quarters, he was guarding her room tonight anyway.

"I appreciate you joining me tonight, Mickey." She told him cordially. Then her tone became much more sweet, borderline seductive in his honest opinion. "We really must do this again sometime soon." She then kissed the side of his lips, a complete mirror from their first kiss. Then a second kiss to his cheek to wish him goodnight, to which he had enough sense to reciprocate with some chivalry by kissing the back of her hand and tip his hat.

Finally, left standing there as she headed into her room, many things hit him all at once leaving him a little weak in the knees. His skin still tingled where she kissed him, his hand still buzzed from holding hers.

Most importantly his belly was happy and full from all those desserts and then he realized something that made his face as red as the shirt of his musketeer uniform…

DID THAT COUNT AS A DATE?!

AN: Happy Valentine's Day part 1

got this from a prompt on tumblr: post/709235537457856512/drones-of-innocence-the-modern-typewriter-i