The chopsticks feel strange in her hand. Smooth and frictionless and so light she can hardly even feel them, and yet she can hold and manipulate them as if they were an extension of her fingers. She rolls them across her palm and fights with the urge to curl her fist around them to learn if they'd break before she did. 

The sense of danger crawling down her spine is overwhelming. Every muscle in her back tenses until a light tap would shatter her into a dozen pieces. She looks at the food. The floor. Never the god. This is a trap. Something like this is always a trap. Her throat squeezes saliva and a comment down her clenched esophagus with the same sort of pain she'd expect if she swallowed splinters. 

The question is whether or not it's worse for her to take the bait, or to run away. And why does it make her so afraid, when just yesterday (wasn't it?) she was completely sure of what she wanted? Her back itches in the shape of a beautiful rose, and she hisses away the rising image of Ivory Smile from the edges of her brain. Not that. Not that. All she wanted was--

[i]"Ohmigosh Bella, you've gotta try this!"

The delighted face of Redana (Age 11) poked over the top of the biggest stack of ultra-fluffy "black cat" style pancakes the planet of Tellus had ever seen, or indeed would ever see again. Her eyes glittered like the prettiest of jewels and her teeth dazzled as she bared absolutely every last one of them in a display of pure joy. The kind of special, somehow purer joy that humans only got from the true marvels of the universe, like surprise breakfast in bed. Her floppy orange pajama sleeves waved across her face to rub a little extra sleepiness away, which turned the bed into a place of pure chaos. Her nighttime braid flopped across her neck and popped loose from its band, untwining with rebellious intent and sending cascades of golden hair every which way. Covers shifted atop a pair of wiggling legs. And the tray of delicious breakfast food with its accompanying pomegranate juice rocked dangerously back and forth.

Bella (Age 12) pounced in a panic to grab the tray and keep it from ruining the whole morning. She regretted the decision almost before she finished making it. Her scrawny little arms clenched wire-taut as her claws scratched the surface of the tray all over with the effort of saving the morning. She knew as easily as she breathed she'd have to take Redana's fork later and scratch everything up more and pray, or there'd be terrible beatings in her afternoon. Stupid, Bella.

Much worse than that was the opportunity to review her own handiwork up close. She'd been too nervous as she cooked and carried it to really pay attention, but now... she blushed and tried her best to look everywhere [b]but[/b] the food. This was the dumbest idea she'd ever had, what was she thinking?! Stupid Bella, stupid stupid stupid! There's no way Redana would believe these amateurish kitty face designs were the work of the Imperial Chef! What idiot would? And if Dany figured out that it was her, it was over. She'd know what Bella's cooking tasted like, and then it was just a short hop and a skip away from realizing that they all tasted like this. The lie would be over. Once she found out Bella did all of the cooking she'd dig deeper. She'd learn who did her laundry. She'd learn who did the mousing. She'd learn her special pet and personal servant was doing stuff for the castle almost every second her back was turned, and then they wouldn't be friends anymore. Never let them see you work, dummy!

"Here you go, give it a shot!"

"Re-- Your Highness, I don't think that's such a--"

She had to stop so she could clamp her mouth shut in time to avoid a forkfull of pancake. Bella blushed and tensed with a nervousness that was only a little bit because her favorite fingers were so close to her face. The first rule of the kitchen was obvious: taste everything, so you knew before you cooked it what you were making. But the second rule was even more important than that: never let them see you try the food. Her ears pressed flat against her skull and she squirmed every which way she could, but Redana pressed the mouthful mercilessly in every path she tried to escape towards. This was a trap. Something like this was always a trap. The Master always baited her with kindness before he mmrfghlbrrble!

"There, see? Amazing, right? The best, right? I dunno how he did it, but the chef really outdid himself this morning!"

Bella's tail curled without her asking it to. She... she'd tasted everything, she knew what she'd been making, but even still she never thought that all together it would be so sweet! The sugary fluff of the pancake met the sugary tartness of the blackberry jam on top and her sharp little teeth cut through the delight with a ravenous hunger that gave the impression she thought she'd never see food again. Bella's golden eyes went wide, and then wider than that. Oh no. Her head darted first one way and then the other, looking for the trap to swing shut. For the Box to swallow her and carry her off to Hades like the bad girl she knew she'd been. Her heart pounded terror in her chest and her fingers squeezed tight enough to crack porcelain. She was in so much trouble.

She did the only thing she could think to do in her panic, and forced herself to cough. She gagged and sputtered and shook her head with shocking violence to cover her paranoid searches. And then she wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. 

"Bl-blegh! You're so weird Dany, how can you eat this kind of thing?"

"Oh. R-really? I was so sure this time. Well... darn it Bella, I'm sorry! I swear, I really thought you were gonna love it! And I thought maybe..."

Bella shook her head again, this time to quell her princess. The look on Dany's face was so fraught, so kind, and so genuine that it killed Bella inside to keep going. But she had to do it. She had to keep it all the same. So that she could stay. 

"No, it's, it's all right Dany. I mean Your Highness! Thanks for, no. I appreciate the gesture, Milady." her smile was plastic and ugly, but she kept it on her face anyway and prayed, "But did you forget? I'm not a person, like you are! You can't keep giving me people food. I'll get sick!"

Redana's embarrassed laughter cut her almost as deeply as it soothed her. The world's most perfect and beautiful girl pat her head, and Bella purred dutifully.

"Oh right! Gosh Bella, I'm sorry. I always forget you're different. But in my defense you don't exactly make it easy to remember!"[/i]

The girl flinches. But it's too late; the chopsticks are already cutting through the fish. The tender meat cuts without resistance, even from a lazy click of the blunted stick. She lifts a bite to her mouth, and closes her eyes as the meat falls to flaky pieces and melts inside her mouth with barely the briefest suggestion of chewing. The sweetness of the flesh bursts across her tongue all the more sharply for the contrast of the salt. If she were younger and less well trained, she might even make the mistake of moaning. 

She makes no noise at all. She squeezes a hand shut and focuses on the bite of her claws, and doesn't say a word. She's not stupid enough to try lying to a god. What did she have to do to make him go away? She takes another bite, and another. The mushroom is rich. The soup is creamy. The cake is so sweet, it makes her gag on a memory.