A Deliciously Dangerous Game

[SFS 2] The scene was perfect. A fancy restaurant, glittering table settings, they had both dressed to the nines.

In all the years M and R had worked together, against each other, chased each other across borders of time and space, and vehemently vowed to end each other, she had never expected them to end up here.

Their attentive waitstaff brought over a plate, filled with a very decadent slice of chocolate cake, and placed in front of M with a flourish. “For the lady,” they said, “from the gent.” motioning that it was a special gift prepared for her by R.

“You appreciate the irony of all this, don’t you?” he said, smiling a knowing smile. She must understand what he meant, it was her after all. Overly cautious, always a few steps ahead.

“Two sworn enemies now going on a dinner date? Hilarious.” M played with her fork around the edge of the plate. Sunk the prongs into the soft slice of cake, and lifted a bite to her nose, smelling it. Made a show of pretending to examine it for flaws. Then she gulped down the cake eagerly.

His face went pale as a sheet. “I-I actually meant the irony of ending this dinner with a deadly dessert.”

She stared at him in bewilderment, started looking distinctly woozy. Cursed as she touched her throat. “I was a fool. You made arrangements with the kitchen.”

“You were supposed to see past the poison,” he gasped. “Not eat it.” He seemed stricken.

“The woman I love wouldn’t fall for such a simple…”

She looked at him with a fierce intensity. “For once, I trusted you. I will never make the same mistake again.”

“Wait, I mean… I’m sorry!” he cried out in desperation, as her head fell to the table with a clunk.

The waitstaff calmly came over to stand beside their table. “Will there be anything else here? A refill on your water?”

R was shaking like a leaf. “This can’t be, she can’t be - ”

“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“You weren’t actually meant to - to - “

“Do exactly as you told me?”

“No! It wasn’t supposed to happen this way - ”

“You vowed she’d die at your hand. You predicted it with your sixth sense. You swore it on your life.”

“I can fix this somehow. I can teleport back to the moment and - “

“Even you must realize it’s too late for that.”

“But I never got to tell her my truest feelings, and I’ll never know if we -”

“Don’t worry, our establishment will take care of this discreetly,” they said, motioning at the body.

“How can you be so callous?” he retorted, reaching for M’s limp hand. “So cold…” In contrast, her hand was still warm, and he imagined it even jumped as he grabbed it.

The waitstaff looked down at the body critically. “So dramatic.” They gave her a firm shove. “You’ve heard enough, haven’t you? He really cares. Now it’s time, you’re up.”

M raised her head from it’s death pose with a grin. “So pushy. You’re that eager to get back to him?”

The waitstaff pulled off a fake mustache and a few other accouterments that R realized should have been obvious to his scrutiny, had he not been so nervous about his deadly confession of love.

The dressy M stood up and took the bundle of props, as the waitstaff took her seat. Fitting her face with the mustache, she flashed them a last mischievous grin. “I’d be careful with this one, he’s a murderer you know,” she added with a wink and a squeeze of their uniformed shoulder.

“Har, har” M replied to herself. “Not like it’s the first time he’s tried.”

For it was clear now that M herself had been the waitstaff in disguise.

With a swoosh of her skirts, dressy M headed into the kitchen, and they heard the distinctive poof of her disappearing to a time shortly earlier.

“But how did you…?”

“You seriously believed I’d trust you with that one “special” slice of cake? I swapped it out for another. In fact, that’s what I’m doing right now,” she added, jabbing her thumb towards the kitchen doors where his original table companion was last seen. “This cake is safe. Here, I even brought you an extra slice,” she said, pulling it from behind her back and plopping it in front of him.

She could see him sweating. Now the tables were turned. After all that had transpired between them, a potentially deadly slice of cake was being presented to him instead. And to prove his love, he’d have to eat it. He trembled with the fork in his hands. There was no chance to bask in the relief of her living, if his life was now so soon on the line. For a long moment, the tension was palpable. His fork sunk slowly into the cake.

“Oh for good riddance!” she exclaimed, and grabbed his hand, wrapping her fingers around his and guiding the fork into her own mouth. “You see? It’s perfectly fine.” She said between a large mouthful of chocolate. Keeping her hand around his, she fed the next bite to him.

His gaze was filled with adoring hope, but hers took on an amused gleam. “But you know, I could’ve just fed you a poison I was immune to, or only poisoned half this cake slice, and that’s the side your bite came from right now, or…”

“I guess I’m just going to have to trust you. Entrust you. With my life.”