After trailing after them with a bored face, even Sylvester eventually got interested in some delicate-looking tools from a hardware shop, while Alistair stayed for a long time near the provisions and weapons area, wanting to stock up on the necessities for the team.
Once Alistair finished with the solemn purchase of provisions and weaponry, he was pulled by Marianne and Yurian to queue for the ice-cream that Libitina had recommended.
"This," Libitina gestured grandly behind her, "is the best ice-cream I've ever eaten in my life! You get to choose three toppings and three flavours and they stack it all up. I've never had ice-cream with such dense flavours before. You won't regret it!"
'Well, considering that this was the only shop I've had ice-cream from since arriving here, that was a bit of a stretch,' Libitina thought.
"Ally, which flavour do you prefer? I know we both like dark chocolate. Take a look and we can share one!" Marianne stood next to Alistair and smiled sweetly.
"Alright," Alistair's eyes creased into crescents as he leaned over the short Marianne to look at the pamphlet in her hand.
Yurian sniggered and nudged Sylvester who was next to him. "Sylvester, I know we both like chocolate, why don't you take a look and we can share one?"
"You want to die?" Sylvester made a motion to hit Yurian on the head.
"Nope, so I'm not going to share an ice-cream with you," Yurian snickered and turned to Libitina.
"Libby, wanna share an ice-cream!" he called out in a joking manner.
"Would it really be possible?" Libitina looked up in surprise from her pouch. She just ate one yesterday with Brian and did not have enough money for another one so soon. If Yurian could share one with her, that would save her the trouble!
Yurian looked at Libitina's almost empty pouch and his smile froze on his face before he started. "What flavour do you like, then?"
"Hmm, mint chocolate chip and moose tracks are my favourite. How about you, Brother Yurian?"
"I like those too…how about we get the pistachio for the third one?"
"Sure. Should we get the cup instead of the cone? It would be easier for us to separate the ice-cream."
"Smart but I was planning to—"
Just as Yurian spoke, the arm of a young boy swung towards him without warning. Yurian quickly reacted but his hair did not escape. As such, the ice-cream from the young boy's cone lathered finely into his blonde hair.
"Mama," the young boy smacked his lips innocently.
"Oh, my goodness!" the woman holding the boy in her arms spun around and saw the generous serving of ice-cream stuck in Yurian's hair. "I am so sorry! Julian! What have you done?"
Yurian froze like a statue as the strawberry ice-cream slowly dripped down in lumps onto the ground.
When he raised his head, a sunshine smile adorned his face. "It's okay, I'll clean it up."
The woman apologised with the small boy a few times before walking away.
Sylvester's shoulders shuddered before he burst into laughter. "We now have our very own strawberry and sherbet lemon ice-cream! Handy to bring around and delicious as a snack!"
Libitina giggled. "Don't worry about Sylvester," she said to Yurian, "I actually think you look very handsome with pink highlights in your hair. It makes you look even more vibrant than you usually are."
Yurian's eyes widened in surprise and his smile disappeared immediately.
"Come here, I'll help you," Libitina did not notice his change of expression before reaching out to wipe the ice-cream off Yurian's hair.
"Ah, it's okay, I will wash it off," Yurian quickly dodged her hand. "Here's the money Libby, go get the ice-cream first," Yurian gave her a forced smile before walking off to find a washroom.
As she watched his back retreat into the distance, Libitina slowly looked down at the money in her hands, thinking deeply in silence.
'Did I do something wrong?'