Silence rules the date site. 

The tinny, soulless music barely qualifies as subliminal memory. The highest notes it can reach on crescendo speak less than Bella's lack of voice; they don't even register. What is properly worth listening to in the moment is the sound of breathing, the tiny popping of tired muscles and overworked joints, and the subtle thumping of a fluffy tail on a very exposed thigh. 

Bella closes her eyes. Her hands slide down Ember's arms and press against her tummy.

"You haven't eaten enough lately," she says, "Get working on these rations."

She leans in close, which squashes her breasts against Ember's back, and softly sniffs at the spot where her neck and shoulder meet.

"You haven't slept a minute since you saved everybody, either. Bad Girl."

Before a reply of any kind can interrupt her flow, Bella's tongue darts out and drags itself slowly, sensually up the neck and along Ember's cheek. She clicks her tongue in playful disappointment.

"So [i]nervous[/i]," she purrs, "Not to mention poorly cleaned. Shall I draw you a bath, princess? You always did need me for every little thing~"

Her fingers trace their way down the body trapped in the prison of her own limbs to brush playful fingers and even clawtips against shivering thighs. Bella dares every little thrill a teenaged version of her had fantasized about every night but never dared to act on. The sounds she elicits are the first notes of real music this picnic has known. The chirps and half-panicked, half-desperate whines pull her lips apart in a savage grin. She leans in again and lets her teeth speak as well: neck, neck, shoulder, ear, and then she drags them all along the route of Ember's flesh to where she started once again.

Now her hand grabs both wrists and pins the would-be Alpha, would-be Princess' arms in front of her. Her other hand grips Ember's jaw tightly and she presses, gentle enough not to hurt but much too firm to be ignored, until their eyes meet and Ember can watch the dim and dusty light of faint stars find true purpose and glimmer shining through those brilliant red and gold orbs.

"Honestly, when they were wolfing you did they just skip your nose entirely? It's like you don't even know something's there at all if it's not one of those cute little pheromone packets your lot are always huffing. Sorry I don't stink good enough for you to hear me, but unlike some of us around here [i]I[/i] have standards."

Bella laughs, taunting and bright. And then she buries that laugh along with her tongue down Ember's throat. No breath allowed for the living, today. No thoughts but the moment, the sensation, the [i]heat[/i]. No food but this divine flesh, in defiance of her own commandment a moment ago. The feeling, the pressure of lips on lips, of teeth that always threaten blood but never make good on the promise, of impossible strength bent like a singularity toward holding this one position in this one moment and this pointless gesture forever.

Until they part. Bella scoffs.

"I could waste my entire night explaining it all to you," she says, "But you're not going to listen if I do. You're going to find some secret worry that I missed and cling to it all night long, because you're you, which means you're a dumbass, and turning into someone else entirely hasn't changed a fucking thing apparently. But that's fine. I can just work on another problem I've been having."

She smirks wickedly, and pulls Ember's hands down to the feast of Crabtions still sitting patiently in front of the pair. She grabs it, pulls it up, and artlessly stuffs it into her lover's mouth.

"See, [i]nobody[/i] listens to me. It's not just a you problem. And it's entirely my fault. I got too used to just thinking I'm in charge and that everyone knew it. Forgot to actually put in the work of proving it. So how do you feel, Dany? My Ember? Is the princess in command by divine right?"

Bella's hand, which has never left Ember's jaw even as she sputtered and half chewed, now presses firmly and drags that silly head from side to side in a demure little 'no'.

"Correct. You listen to me. You obey [i]me.[/i] When you knew your wore a crown you would have put it on my head in an instant if you only thought you could get away with it. Now I'm going to show you why."