Sugar and Spice
Written for the prompt "Guy/Anise, Cocktail".
Title: Sugar and Spice
Series: Tales of the Abyss
Length: 500 words
Genre: Friendship, Fluff
Characters: Guy, Anise
Summary: What little girls and potent drinks are made of.
As soon as Anise heard that Guy had created a special cocktail just for Natalia, she demanded one, too.
Yeah, demanded. That was Anise.
And as he was a gentleman, he couldn’t refuse a lady’s request, no matter the delivery. Still, he sighed, standing behind the bar in Chesedonia after she departed to torment the merchants in the bazaar. He even changed into the uniform, with its starchy white pleated shirt and tightly knotted black bow tie, despite it making him look more like a servant than ever.
His life was to serve no matter his station, he supposed.
He’d made Natalia’s drink on a whim the other night, layering orange juice with grenadine and dark rum. When the rich shades of orange, red, and brown drifted into each other, he’d dubbed the cocktail a Desert Sunset, and it captured the princess perfectly. The two of them always had their best talks at sunset. Its colors reminded him of her timeless, natural beauty, while the desert represented her bold, adventurous spirit.
Anise’s signature cocktail would have to capture her plucky charms, too. He couldn’t just spill a few spirits in a glass and shove it toward her. It required careful deliberation and insight, or else she’d be insulted. That wasn’t something he was in the mood to deal with.
He pulled a few bottles out-bypassing any anise-flavored liqueurs for being too obvious-and began experimenting, mixing and sampling, then mixing and sampling again until he had a pleasant little buzz going. Cherry vodka, peach rum, apricot brandy… he tried everything he thought she’d like.
Sugar and spice, he decided, the old phrase about little girls running through his mind. That would work. Anise could coo flirtatiously at him one minute and threaten to kick his ass the next. Her sweet-as-candy, feisty-as-hell personality kept them all on their toes.
This bit of inspiration made him pause, then grin to himself, as he added a shot of cinnamon schnapps to his latest attempt. It sat surreptitiously behind the sweetness of the fruitier flavors and brought a surprising but not unwelcome sensation of heat that lingered on the tongue.
Best of all, when shaken and poured into a glass, this cocktail was bright pink. The Sugar and Spice was born.
She let out a squeal of delight when she saw it and another after she’d taken a sip, as if she’d forgotten that the whole thing had been her idea in the first place. He smiled back at her; the alcohol he’d consumed in the name of friendship had made him feel especially chummy.
And it had dulled his reflexes, too.
He didn’t dodge her affectionate tackle like he usually would, even though she seemed to sprout additional arms and legs like an octopus to trap him in her stranglehold. Had he been completely sober, he might have noticed the gleam in her eyes and detached himself before it was too late.
Because when she kissed him, he tasted that cinnamon fire.
Title: Sugar and Spice
Series: Tales of the Abyss
Length: 500 words
Genre: Friendship, Fluff
Characters: Guy, Anise
Summary: What little girls and potent drinks are made of.
As soon as Anise heard that Guy had created a special cocktail just for Natalia, she demanded one, too.
Yeah, demanded. That was Anise.
And as he was a gentleman, he couldn’t refuse a lady’s request, no matter the delivery. Still, he sighed, standing behind the bar in Chesedonia after she departed to torment the merchants in the bazaar. He even changed into the uniform, with its starchy white pleated shirt and tightly knotted black bow tie, despite it making him look more like a servant than ever.
His life was to serve no matter his station, he supposed.
He’d made Natalia’s drink on a whim the other night, layering orange juice with grenadine and dark rum. When the rich shades of orange, red, and brown drifted into each other, he’d dubbed the cocktail a Desert Sunset, and it captured the princess perfectly. The two of them always had their best talks at sunset. Its colors reminded him of her timeless, natural beauty, while the desert represented her bold, adventurous spirit.
Anise’s signature cocktail would have to capture her plucky charms, too. He couldn’t just spill a few spirits in a glass and shove it toward her. It required careful deliberation and insight, or else she’d be insulted. That wasn’t something he was in the mood to deal with.
He pulled a few bottles out-bypassing any anise-flavored liqueurs for being too obvious-and began experimenting, mixing and sampling, then mixing and sampling again until he had a pleasant little buzz going. Cherry vodka, peach rum, apricot brandy… he tried everything he thought she’d like.
Sugar and spice, he decided, the old phrase about little girls running through his mind. That would work. Anise could coo flirtatiously at him one minute and threaten to kick his ass the next. Her sweet-as-candy, feisty-as-hell personality kept them all on their toes.
This bit of inspiration made him pause, then grin to himself, as he added a shot of cinnamon schnapps to his latest attempt. It sat surreptitiously behind the sweetness of the fruitier flavors and brought a surprising but not unwelcome sensation of heat that lingered on the tongue.
Best of all, when shaken and poured into a glass, this cocktail was bright pink. The Sugar and Spice was born.
She let out a squeal of delight when she saw it and another after she’d taken a sip, as if she’d forgotten that the whole thing had been her idea in the first place. He smiled back at her; the alcohol he’d consumed in the name of friendship had made him feel especially chummy.
And it had dulled his reflexes, too.
He didn’t dodge her affectionate tackle like he usually would, even though she seemed to sprout additional arms and legs like an octopus to trap him in her stranglehold. Had he been completely sober, he might have noticed the gleam in her eyes and detached himself before it was too late.
Because when she kissed him, he tasted that cinnamon fire.