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“Adaine! Come here!” Basrar calls from across the ice cream parlor. Paper hat situated on her head, Adaine dutifully trots over, Boggy in his own hat sitting on top of her terrarium backpack.
“Yes?”
“I have come up with a new flavor and I’d like your opinion on it.”
“Oh, wow, I’d love to!” she says excitedly. “What kind is it?”
The djinni’s mouth quirks up in the corner for a sly smile. “I’d like you to guess.”
“Ah!” Adaine says with manic brightness, her mouth frozen in a rictus grin. Last month he had come up with two new flavors with poor reception; popcorn and grass, respectively (though the grass one had a small but fanatical following, surprisingly, so it remained on the menu). At least he took her suggestion on having a taste-tester before debuting the new flavors. “I’m excited to see what the new flavor is!” she says through her teeth. She’s not lying, but she’s also feeling immense trepidation.
He waves his hands, and with a swirl of blue and white sparkles, magicks a small scoop of pale purple ice cream into a glass dish. Adaine picks up the dish and a spoon and tries to quickly study it surreptitiously: nothing looks out of the ordinary, no lumps of anything, only a few dark purple flecks occasionally spotting the dessert. She takes a small breath to prepare herself and places a scoop into her mouth. The texture is smooth and creamy, like all of Basrar’s ice cream, and as for the flavor…
It’s got a soft floral flavor to it, and her eyes pop open in surprise at how gentle it is. She shoots a look over at Basrar and he grins and waggles his eyebrows. “Delicious, yes?”
“It is! Is this… lavender?”
“Yes! Success!” he cheers. “You got it in one!”
“It’s so lovely!” Adaine shoves another large scoop into her mouth and savors the creamy, light flavor. “The cream really compliments the flower, and the sugar levels are perfect so it’s not too sweet and lets the flavor of the lavender stand out! You’ve got a winner!”
He beams. “Wonderful! Let’s add it to the board!”
Adaine picks up the small chalkboard beside the register that advertises the Flavor of the Day and writes down the flavor before drawing a purple scoop of ice cream atop a cone. As she finishes up the drawing, she feels an itchiness on the top of her head and her hat slides off, though she knows better than to touch her hair while behind the counter. However, she notices as Basrar glances over at her and then does a double-take, his eyes bugging out.
“Um… boss? Is everything alright?”
He cautiously reaches out to the top of her head and Adaine feels a small tug at her scalp – it’s gentle and doesn’t hurt – and she glances up to see him holding a sprig of lavender over her head.
“I… I think I must tweak the spell a bit.”
She giggles. “That came from my head just now?”
“Yes!”
“I say keep it in! It’s a fun little reminder of the ice cream! And it didn't hurt when you plucked it!”
“Is that so? Are you sure?”
Adaine frowns thoughtfully and then flips down the small blackboard. “How about we get a few more test subjects?”
~~~
The rest of the Bad Kids yammer excitedly in their booth as Riz, the last to arrive, climbs in beside Fig.
“A surprise tasting?” he asks as she passes him some napkins.
“Yeah, that’s all that Adaine said.”
Fabian scoffs. “You don’t suppose it'll be as bad as the popcorn flavor, do you?”
“I didn’t mind the grass one,” admits Riz.
Gorgug shushes them as Adaine and Basrar approach their booth with five ice cream dishes and place them in front of them.
“And now, the newest flavor: lavender!” Basrar announces, and with a sparkly flourish the bowls fill with the delicately purple ice cream.
The teens dig in.
“Oh! This is really good!” exclaims Kristen, wolfing down her scoop. The others readily agree with her as they gobble up the confection.
“Bravo!” cheers Fabian as he finishes his final spoonful. “What a delightful ice cream!”
Gorgug nods. “Yeah, that was really good.”
“Glad you all liked it,” says Adaine with a smile as she collects the dirty dishes.
“So what’s the ‘surprise’ part of the tasting?” asks Riz, ever cautious (even though he didn’t hesitate to eat his ice cream). “Basrar told us the flavor, so that wasn’t a surprise.”
Adaine’s smile widens into a grin. “You should be finding out any moment.”
Riz freezes, mid-wipe of his face with a paper napkin. “What?”
“Oh, I do love a surprise!” squeals Fig, bunching her fists up near her face in anticipation.
“I don’t,” mutters Riz.
“Huh?” Gorgug says, pointing. “There’s something coming out of your head, Fabian!”
“What??” Fabian reaches up and feels around the top of his head, knocking his hand into the bloom. “What’s growing out of my head???”
Kristen gasps. “You, too, Riz, Fig!”
Fig looks around the booth. “We’ve all got them! Sprigs of lavender are growing out of our heads!”
Laughter draws their attention away from each other and toward Adaine and Basrar. “What do you think? Isn’t it cute?” asks Adaine.
Riz tries to stare up at the flower on his head, but obviously can’t. “‘Is it cute?’ How about ‘Is it safe?’ Will it hurt if we remove it?”
“No, it’s completely fine!” she says, reaching over and plucking it off of Riz’s head and handing it to him. “You get a free flower with each purchase!”
“I love it!” says Fig. “This is the best ice cream surprise ever!”
“Yeah!” agrees Kristen.
Fabian reaches up again and plucks his flower. “I admit it’s shocking, but it’s not harming anyone, so yeah, it’s cool.”
“I’m going to keep mine there,” announces Gorgug, and Kristen and Fig both nod vigorously, their flowers bobbing along with them.
“I think when people find out about the flowers, they’ll order the flavor just to get one!” says Adaine.
“Oh, totally,” says Fig. “In fact, how about we go out and advertise for you right now?”
“I’m with you!” chimes in Kristen, as the girls scoot out of the booth. “Let’s go downtown and walk around like this! Gorgug, come with us!”
“Okay.”
The three leave the shop, leaving Adaine and Basrar with Riz and Fabian.
“I think I’ll get a couple lavender milkshakes to go to give to Gilear and Cathilda – Mamá doesn't care for ice cream, of course.”
“Coming right up!”
Adaine turns to Riz. “And what do you think?”
“I think I’ll stick to chocolate, if that’s alright.”
Adaine smirks. “That’s alright, too.”
And so the lavender ice cream became the sleeper hit of the springtime, with demand slowly growing as the season went on. Basrar tried to imitate the success with a rose-flavored ice cream, but he was unable to replicate the flower growing as part of the spell, to mild disappointment. Oh well. Time to think up more flavors!