Ice Cream Making

  

The  questioning glare had no effect on the bubbly redhead that currently held her  captive at the inn's open kitchen

Spread  along one of the pristine counters were a variety of cream, eggs, bowls,  wooden spoons, fruits and chocolates. There was also an unopened red jar which she suspects to be honey. The whole space was basically a mess - an  amalgamation of the aforementioned items. The innkeeper had already politely  excused himself after 2 seconds of seeing the mess and the chaos in front of  them

Smart  man. Knows how to avoid disasters

The one  in front of her either lacked the wits or was simply just braving possible  consequences

"I  am not going to clean this up", Licorice was in not in the mood to play  maid. She was never in the mood to do so. She picks up after herself, and not  others, thank you very much

"Oh,  I wasn't expecting you to", he answered gleefully

There  was probably a smile beneath that mask. If only she could see so she could  physically wipe it off

 He  continues on, undeterred, "I need help with whisking?" 

"…  Whisking?", she echoes in disbelief

 "Yeah!"

 Pushing  her from behind, he directs her to the sole clean area of the counter where an  innocent bowl of… gooey mixture innocently peeked at her

 Hopefully,  her silence conveyed her confusion on the whole matter

"Me  and Triton are working on his recipe of No-churn ice cream", he declares  proudly, "Sadly, my arms get tingly all too soon. I wanna ask you if you  can finish the whisking"

 There was… so many, many things that  Licorice wanted to contest in that one statement alone. And it is still too early for me to be faced with  this….

Instead  though, Licorice took a deep breath

Held it  in for two seconds

Then  released it slowly

Her  fingers massaged the bridge of her nose

"And  why, enlighten me, do you think I could fare better than you, Locke?"

The  redhead shrugged on shoulder, "You mix those perfumes, right?"

The boy  sure keeps surprising her

"My  perfumes?"

"Yeah!  You mix them right? In that beaker, sometimes over flames, and continuously  mix before you get satisfied with the results?"

Licorice  sighed. Idly she wondered how many years were shaved off her life every time  she's around this fellow redhead. "One, remind me to show you the full  process of perfume making", she held up her ring finger for this, then  continued, "Two. I use glass stirrers, not wooden spoons. A large  difference in delicacy"

She held  up a final, third finger, "Lastly, perfumes are smooth liquids. This is  gooey"

"Still!  The principle is the same!"

…  "What do I even get out of this?", she humored him for a little,  hoping she could find one good flaw she could prey on

"Well,  you get ice cream?", he said confidently, now insisting her tow get to  work by pushing the bowl in her direction

She  raised a brow, "Why do you think you can bribe me with ice cream?"

Locke  laughed, "In this hot weather? Who wouldn't want ice cream"

Her  tense frame considerably loosened. The… redhead made a point. A rather smart  point…

She  chuckles inwardly. Licorice picks up the bowl 

"Fine,  I'll try it. Just hope that this ice cream is gonna be worth it"  

And the  vanilla ice cream certainly was worth it