Work Text:
“So? How’s it taste?” Rinkah asked, her tone making her question come off as more interrogative. Takumi felt his jaw tighten, determined not to show his wife just how much the seasoning was getting to him.
“G-G-ood. Just a little bit of a- ehm, kick.” He managed to force out, tongue burning. One of the main spices- cumin, was it?- tried to come back up, the dust tickling his throat. The prince internally cursed as he felt his mouth open to try and pant, rapidly shutting his lips. The couple had recently received a new shipment of Fire Tribe spices from Rinkah’s father, something that his daughter was most eager to use with her husband. After examining the hull, Rinkah had declared they make something called ‘tikka masala’.
By her description, Takumi was intrigued, and so they set off to make the dish. The archer had managed to steer the fiery woman away from completely charring their dinner, so he at least had one win on him, he thought. When they’d been preparing the ingredients, Rinkah had given him a look, asking what his heat preference was. Truthfully? Not very high. But old competitive instincts and the desire to impress his wife overruled his common sense, and he’d told her he was up for anything.
So she’d decided to go all out on the spices, the kitchen now littered with the accumulated dust- one may have even been able to taste the heat from the air alone.
Rinkah watched her husband for a moment, a rare flash of amusement covering her features briefly before settling back into her normal neutral stance.
“Uh-huh. Is that why you're drooling?”
A part of Takumi was suddenly glad for his visceral reaction- otherwise, Rinkah would see just how furiously he was blushing. Bringing the back of his hand to his mouth, Takumi wiped away the liquid, a cough shuddering out as a fresh introduction of air aggravated the trapped cumin.
“O-Ok-ay. I may have -eugh- exaggerated what I can take.”
A knowing smirk now fully encapsulated Rinkah’s face, and despite how much his body was wanting to shut down, Takumi could make out the dusting of a blush on her cheeks. Any form of mushiness always got the two of them severely embarrassed, so the rare occasions where they basked in it made it that much more tender.
“Hm, serves you right. Looks like I’ll just have to give this batch to Saizo.”
“Saizo?” Takumi raised a brow. “Aren’t you gonna eat it?”
Rinkah’s amusement from before immediately died, a look of seriousness covering her as she whipped her head around.
“Just…since you're my husband, I’ll tell you, but don’t you tell anyone else. Ever. But, uh, I can’t…I don’t take spicy heat very well. That’s why I’d char all my stuff back home, so that way I could tolerate it.”
The notion was so out of left field and unexpected, Takumi couldn’t stop the laugh from coming up. As well as the last of the cumin. A small cloud of red powder escaped his lips, shocking the couple momentarily- before they both found themselves grinning again at the ridiculousness of the situation.
With seeing his wife happy and another chuff exiting his mouth, the prince hadn’t tasted anything sweeter.