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“But I want berry ice cream,” Tetia complained.
Richeh was sitting in the corner of the room. “We did do berries last time.”
“Yeah, but berries are so much better. They are like sweet and kinda sour and refreshing, and…” Tetia paused. “Vanilla is boring.”
Richeh clearly did not consider this complaint worthy of a reply, as she continued doodling.
It was just then that Tetia spotted Agott carrying some of the laundry that had been drying outside.
“What about you, Agott?”
The other girl looked over to them. “What about me?”
“What kind of ice cream do you want?”
“Master Qifrey has said he will make us some,” Richeh offered.
Agott shrugged. “I do not care. Ice cream is ice cream.”
“Buh! You’re boring!” Tetia complained, before taking in a ridiculously exaggerated breath.
Coco had been fearing what was coming now. And indeed, she could see Tetia’s gaze drift over to her, before the other girl asked: “What about you, Coco?”
“I…” Coco had been sitting on the sofa, reading one of the books on spells. She was trying to memorize some of the theory – something that had become a lot harder since the mostly one-sided argument had started. “I… I am honest. I… I have not eaten that much ice cream. So… I think I would like to try either.”
Tetia sighed. She let herself fall onto one of the stools in the kitchen with all the energy of someone who had just lost a race. “Fine. I give up. Master Qifrey? We do vanilla. Even though it is super boring!”
Master Qifrey had listened to all of it as he was standing by the stove stirring the mixture that apparently would become ice cream.
Coco admittedly was somehow surprised that the process of making ice cream involved cooking something. But then again, she only ever had something like this on the festival in the city. Out where she and her mother had lived it was not a thing you could easily get. After all, you needed to either be somewhere very cold, or you needed magic, and now…
There was another sigh from Tetia, as she turned around, putting her head onto her hands, watching Master Qifrey.
He chuckled. “We can make a note that when we get around to trying again, we will do berries. And you can go out to collect them.”
“Okay,” Tetia said. She tilted her head watching Qifrey stir the milk mixture in the pot.
Coco could not help a little smile. Because she missed her mother. She missed her so much. She wanted to find a way to help her as soon as possible. But at least something about living here, living in the atelier, was soothing her a bit.
Something was always happening. Be it Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio arguing about something. Be it Tetia being chaotic, or Richeh making plans. Or be it Agott, well… being Agott.
It was strange, and sometimes Coco did not know what to do about any of it. But it felt at times like she had siblings now. A three of them. Three sisters. And she never had had siblings before.
In a way, she liked it.
She wondered what it would be like if her mother would be here with them.
She would likely take care of the laundry for them. And maybe of the cooking sometimes. Maybe she would make sure Master Olruggio got enough rest. And that they all ate enough.
The thought made Coco’s heart twinge a bit, but before she could start getting lost in that thought, a voice sounded from the side building.
“Coco!”
Instantly she jumped up. That had been Agott.
She jumped on her feet and ran over to the other part of the building. “What is it, Agott?”
The girl did not meet her eyes directly. “I… Brushbuddy pulled one of the sheets down from the line. Look.” She showed it. There was a rather sizable grass stain on the white linen.
“Can’t we just spell it away?” Coco asked.
Agott blushed. “The last time… You shouldn’t use magic for everything just because you can. That is an important lesson to learn!”
“Oh,” Coco said. “Why did you…”
“Well, you worked with fabrics, right? Your mother was some sort of tailor or something. And I though…”
It took Coco a moment to understand. And then her heart did a little jump.
This was indeed something she knew. She could be useful!
She smiled as she rushed over to Agott, taking the linen out of her hands to have a good look at the stain.
If she was to make any guess, Brushbuddy had probably not only pulled it down, but laid on it. The stain was about the right size for it. “We can use vinegar or maybe buttermilk. The acid will break the color down,” she said. “It should not be an issue.”
Agott’s gaze now did drift over to her, though as soon as Coco met her eyes, Agott once more turned her attention towards the windows. “That’s… good then.” She picked up the basket with the other clothes she had gotten from the line. “Maybe we should learn, at times, to solve problems without magic.”
Coco paused. Because some part of her wanted to see magic just let the stain vanish. But then she smiled. “I can teach you some of it, if you want.”
“Uhum.” Agott nodded. “Maybe you should. The other two as well. I think they might need to learn some as well.”
“If Richeh even wants to,” Coco muttered.
“She can be curious. She just tends to be very stubborn.”
“Like you…”
Agott gasped. “No, I mean…” She almost stumbled over her words. “I am not stubborn,” she thn said with emphasis. Then she turned to go. “Either way, Coco. Thank you for the help.” With that she marched over to the stairs.
Coco looked at the linen. She was pretty sure she could clean it properly.
