Prompt #71: Mischief Managed

Rating: PG

"He's a cocky bastard, that one."

Ami looked up from her constellations to find Mako fuming into her coffee. There hadn't been anything thrown so far, so she assumed that the Zeun princess wasn't completely wired just yet. "Who is?"

Mako seemed to relish this opportunity to vent. "Lord High-and-Mighty, Warden of the North, General Fucking Nephrite, that's who."

"Language…"

"He comes into the kitchens straight from the stables like nobody's business, and asks for a late lunch as if we were to cater to him directly. Who does he think he is?" She ended with a deep scowl.

Ami smiled into the pages of her book. Mako hadn't been so annoyed since the middle-ranking generals sniggered at their roles as Protectors of the Inner Realms. "Well, Her Majesty does allow His Highness' Companions run of the palace, and besides, it's not like you were supposed to be in there anyway. I'm sure it wasn't personal."

But Mako was the type to take any slight very personally. "It doesn't matter what I'm supposed to do or where I'm supposed to be. It's his manner that offends. Even if I were a kitchen maid, he should not have the cheek to stare me up and down and command for a meal. The man must be soft in the head if he thinks he can get away with it. I should poison his damn cocoa." The tall brunet did have a somewhat unnatural attachment to his cocoa.

The half-attentive Hermean made a sound that was neither agreement nor disagreement. "Just remember Mako, he's too big for me to carry, and I'm hopelessly slow at digging holes so if you're looking to dispose of a body, Rei would be far better help."

The Zeun sunk deeper into her chair, grousing. "I would challenge him to another spar, but quite frankly, it's getting kind of old." But her lips spread in a grin as she remembered with great pleasure that look on his face when she pinned him the first time.

"You know, there are other ways to get back at someone apart from beating their heads in."

"Yeah, poison," Mako snorted. "Don't think that would go down too well with Minako though. Or the Queen, for that matter."

Ami rolled her eyes, not unkindly. "You're a fantastic cook, Mako. All of your creations are delicious enough to make us cry."

One mahogany eyebrow lifted. "…and?"

"Well, maybe your food can make him cry for an entirely different reason."

Her spine uncurled out of its slouch. "…interesting."

It was unfortunate that the Terran King preferred all his gatherings to be set up – placement of the lords and ladies and suchlike – according to the format of a Terran court, that is, placing himself at the apex of a triangle, with his heir to his right, then his sons in order of birth, then on his left, his generals and higher lords in descending rank. To accommodate the Lunar Queen however, he'd had her seat placed diagonally across from his, so that she might sit her household and court to mirror his, that the four lines of seats formed a square.

This was unfortunate because when one greeted the monarchs standing at the centre of the square, there was much whirling around involved. First the Lunar Queen was acknowledged, then the Terran King. After were their respective heirs and offspring, one after the other, then their respective guardians. It was all rather tedious. But this afternoon, filled to the brim with heady anticipation, the Zeun princess barely registered the inconvenience.

"I must say, Princess Makoto, it has been a while since we were last treated to your expert culinary hand. This is both an honour and a delight." They say something about men's hearts through men's stomachs, and the Terran King was certainly not one to buck the trend.

"Please, Your Majesty, the honour is surely all mine." She gestured to the serving staff hovering in the wings. "These are candied pears from my homeland. We usually use nectar from ambrosia blossoms to coat the fruit, but unfortunately those can only be grown in a tropical clime."

She heard Serenity gasp with pleasure as the individual little dishes were presented, and she smiled to herself. "So I have substituted the ambrosia with white Lunarian honey instead, which lends a light crispness that I hope you will enjoy."

General Nephrite was only the slightest bit uneasy as a serving girl set a dish on the table beside him. In it sat an innocent looking pear, with little clear crystals pressed into the green skin. Upon further investigation, he found that the tapered top opened like a lid to reveal a hollowed out interior filled with glistening pear flesh, presumably infused with Lunarian honey. It seemed edible enough. He looked at his companions surreptitiously, still feeling suspicious. She's up to something…

"Ah Princess, it is truly remarkable." The king obviously had no such suspicions of his own. "The lightness of the taste is incomparable – sweet, yet not cloyingly so. It dissolves on the tongue like cream, yet you say it is honey? Your legend precedes you indeed." He waved at them, grinning broadly around his mouthful. "I urge you all to taste."

General Jadeite's eyes met his briefly, a half shrug on his shoulders as he popped a spoonful in his mouth. Nephrite cocked an eyebrow as he watched the blonde Companion demolish the pear with wide eyes, then scrape the porcelain clean, licking the spoon. He turned his brown eyes to his own plate. Plucking the 'lid' with his fingers, he tasted it cautiously. Seems… quite nice, actually…

Dipping his spoon generously into the pear, he brought to his lips… and froze. This…!

"How do you like it, General Nephrite?" Princess Ami's soft voice rang out in the hall.

He hastily swallowed his mouthful and cleared his throat. "Uh, it is delicious, milady, quite something." But he stared down at the remaining dessert with an expression akin to mild horror.

"Is there something wrong, General?" It was the Princess Rei now, all daggers in smiles as always.

He forced a smile of his own, conscious of all eyes on him. "No, milady. Um, I just worry about my allergies, see. I am quite sensitive to honey bees." A blatant lie, as his friends would know, but thankfully, they were silent.

Princess Makoto laughed. "Oh don't be silly General! White honey is not harvested by bees. It is milked from the moonflowers by hand." She cocked her head a little to the side, a devious little smirk playing on her lips. "I hope it is to your liking."

"Of course, of course. It is delicious, naturally." He swallowed another spoonful, blinking furiously. The innocent little pear wallowing in syrup seemed like the most formidable dish in the world. You devil-woman. Minx. Spawn of…

She couldn't hold back her laughter as she pictured the general's pained expression yet again. Sitting in the shade of the gardens, she hummed as she basked in the glow of her success, digging into the extra large pear she'd saved for herself. To thank Ami for her contribution, she was planning a trip to the sky-docks in the morning to snap up the new shipment of Hermean cod, which would be really complemented by that brilliant sauce she'd whipped up on Wednesday…

"Princess."

She froze for a split second as that deep baritone registered with alarming clarity. Jumping up so that she could match his height somewhat, she swallowed before meeting his dark eyes defiantly. "Good afternoon, General."

He glowered at her. "Interesting thing you did with that dish there, Princess."

"Not at all. It is customary for the Zeun royal family to present edible gifts to visiting Houses."

He flinched ever so slightly at the mention of 'edible'. "I shall remember that for future reference." No doubt he would. But now she watched him warily as he stalked closer. "What are you playing at?"

She was a picture of nonchalance. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"What is it you have against me?" She took a step back as he advanced. "The challenge, the duel, and now this. What have I done to make you dislike me so much?"

She frowned, temper flaring. "I do not know how it is done on Earth, but here in the Inner Realms, if you would insult me and mine and expect me to sit there like a placid Terran female, you are sorely mistaken."

When he didn't respond immediately, she stood her ground and continued. "You Earthlings may consider your female counterparts to be inferior, but here in the Realms, we are just as able, if not more, than you male folk. So yes, you have done much, you with your unfounded arrogance, your airs and your commanding us 'kitchen folk' to do this and that and make you this and that whenever it please your royal ass-"

Thinking back, she realized this particular part could have been easily avoided if she'd just taken her eyes from his to watch the position of his hands, since he obviously wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Because in the space of a breath, one hand had grasped the jut of her hip, pulling her into him, while the other had caught her chin and pressed his open mouth over hers. Even now, eons later, she'd redden at the thought of these events.

His tongue played over hers, seemingly uncharacteristically gentle. His fingers danced along the line of her back. There was a strange, biting saltiness in his mouth, which she realized must be the remnant of the dessert she'd prepared for him specifically, seawater instead of sweet syrup. She wondered if he could taste the real candied pear in her mouth, the white honey from moonflowers mixed with pear flesh, smooth and caressing on the tongue, melting like cream in the warmth of the mouth, and light and crisp and sweet and utterly, utterly incomparable…

He broke the kiss just as suddenly, smile on his lips. "That is my response to your cruel little dish." Now she was the one to stare speechless as he moved to head back to the palace. "Oh, and-" he turned his head, satisfied smirk lighting in his eyes, "I hope I would have to chance to taste that sweet Lunarian honey again, in the near future, if you would be so obliging. I find it is a taste that will be hard for me to forget."

This was inspired by a scene from Chinese drama Bu Bu Jing Xin, which I do not own either. Hope you liked!