Chapter 273: 274: Bubbly bubbly

Energy.

For some reason, Fresh feels that she is absolutely bursting with energy today. The store might be closed now for the second day in a row, after they had spent the entire remainder of yesterday napping together in what might be one of Fresh’s favorite memories ever. But that doesn’t stop her from running around the building, energy tingling in her heels as she runs up the staircase for the fourth time, having grabbed some materials from downstairs.

Sliding to a halt in the kitchen, she catches herself on one leg and grabs a big pot from the lower kitchen cabinets.

Jubilee sighs. “It’s exhausting watching you, you know?”

“What’re you up to?” asks Basil.

“IDEA!” yells Fresh, taking the pot with her into the workshop. Shamrock is standing next to the workbench and tinkering with some stuff and she runs up next to him, pressing the side of her body against him to nudge him to the side. “Hi, Shamrock!” she says.

“Hi,” says Shamrock, nudging her back. Fresh yelps, losing her balance. The pot clambers down onto the workbench and she catches herself on the ladder.

“I’m okay!”

Shamrock nods, looking back to his work.

Pulling herself up, Fresh returns to the workbench, running her fingers over the bottles of grim-powder that are secured to the wall. She wants the least explosive one.

Her finger runs over two vials. This one is full of water-essence powder. But so is this one. One is green and one is blue.

“Green or blue?” she asks Shamrock, who has no idea what she’s doing.

He turns his head to look at her for a second, before returning back to his work. “Green.”

“Thanks, Shamrock!” beams Fresh, grabbing the green vial of grimpowder. Carefully, she sprinkles a dash of it into the pot from a very low height, so that it doesn’t explode. Placing the rest back onto the wall, she grabs the pot and runs out of the workshop, closing the door behind herself with her foot. Running a lap around the table once, through the kitchen and then back around again, she stops at the stove and sets the pot down onto it.

“What I wouldn’t give to have that kind of energy,” sighs Basil.

“If you’re asking to be five again, that door closed a long time ago,” quips Jubilee.

Basil looks up at them. “If I pull on your ears, do I get a free wish?”

“Depends,” says Jubilee. “Is your wish to get a black eye?”

“Jubilee!” calls Fresh from the kitchen. “Stop threatening Basil!”

“Basil is going to get what she deserves one day,” states Jubilee, placing their head on their hand to signal their extreme boredom.

“But she already got a hug yesterday, Jubilee,” explains Fresh, looking over her shoulder. Jubilee sighs and Basil smiles a smug smile, sipping her tea.

Grabbing a bottle of sweet-tea, she slowly pours it into the pot of grimpowder. With a spoon, she slowly stirs the mixture around and lets it come to a stop. Then, grabbing their honey, she drops a spoonful of it into the concoction and turns on the heat.

“What are you doing?” asks Jubilee.

“I’m boiling grimpowder!” says Fresh ecstatically.

“You’re doing what?” asks Jubilee and she hears two chairs scooting away from her and the kitchen.

“Please don’t destroy the kitchen,” says Basil. “Plus that’s our only pot!”

“You’d think we could afford more than one,” sighs Jubilee. “Anyways, isn’t that stuff poisonous? Ignoring the whole exploding thing.”

“It’s not poisonous if you boil away the poison!” says Fresh.

“I…” Jubilee looks at Basil.

Basil seems to share their concern. “I don’t think that’s how poison works either,” says the priestess. “Besides, should you be boiling explosives?” she asks with understandable concern.

“It’s fine!” reassures Fresh. “Since it’s water-based grimpowder and only a little, it’ll work out.”

“Somehow, that was just a reassurance with no actual explanation,” states Jubilee.

Fresh taps the spoon against the pot, setting it down and then stepping back from the pot. She walks around the table. Once. Twice. And then she stops, walking the next lap backwards.

“Cooking!” she explains, seeing their lost expressions as she returns to the pot that has begun to boil and stirring it again before taking it off of the heat. Grabbing a glass, she takes some ice from the cooling cabinet and drops it into the cup, before pouring some of the mixture from the pot into it.

“You’re really going to commit suicide?” asks Jubilee, skeptically. “Right here? In front of Basil?”

Fresh frowns, listening to the crackling of the ice inside of the glass as the hot liquid and ice meet each other.

Effect: Restores +10 STAMINA / 100mL

Quality Effect: Restores +2 SOUL / 100 mL

Made with LOV: +6 DEXTERITY for 30 minutes

Value: ???

“Hey, those are good values,” says Basil.

“Are we just going to ignore the poison thing?” asks Jubilee, watching as Fresh lifts the glass and takes a long drink from it.

With pride, she holds it out to her friends. “IT’S BUBBLY!”

Basil and Jubilee stare at each other, before looking back towards her. “But why?”

“Because of the grimpowder, Basil,” explains Fresh.

Basil nods. “Sure. But… why is it bubbly?” asks the priestess. “What do the bubbles do?”

“Why are you even bothering?” asks Jubilee.

“It’s bubbly because it has to be bubbly, Basil,” explains Fresh, giving her the glass. “See? Try it!”

“Is this some kind of cult’ish death ritual?” asks Jubilee.

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Basil shrugs, looking at the item’s window again, perhaps to make sure that the poison-indicating skull is really gone from it, before taking a sip from the glass. Her eyes open in surprise. “It really is bubbly…” she says.

“Right?!” asks Fresh.

Basil slides the glass across the table to Jubilee, who catches it from sliding off. “Try it,” she says. “There might be something here.”

Jubilee raises an eyebrow. “You want me to try a drink that is literally made with poison, out of a glass that the two of you have already slobbered over?”

Basil lifts her nose. “Please. We both know that that’s a selling point for you and not a hindrance.”

“You know what?” asks Jubilee, lifting the glass. “I’m going to try it just because I hope it does kill me.” They lift the glass to their lips and take a long drink from it, smacking their lips a second later and looking at it curiously. “Fucking bubbles…”

“Well?” asks Fresh.

“You know?” asks Jubilee. “I don’t hate it.”

“Same price as the normal sweet-teas? Or more expensive?” suggests Basil.

Fresh sighs. “It’s not about making money, guys.”

The two of them look at her for a moment before turning back to each other.

“Same price,” says Jubilee. “We’ll give them the illusion of choice and knock them off their socks with it.”

Basil nods. “As long as they’re buying from us.”

Fresh crosses her arms. “You guys sound really evil when you talk about money-stuff.”

The two of them give her another look, but then turn back to each other again. “Should we make the other drinks ‘bubbly’ too?” asks Basil.

Jubilee rubs their chin, contemplating. “Let’s stick with the sweet-teas,” they say. “I think the coconut water would be pretty nasty with bubbles.”

“Stop ignoring me!” exclaims Fresh.

Jubilee looks up towards her. “Run three laps around the table and I’ll listen.”

Fresh groans, rolling her eyes in obvious protest. But then she runs three laps around the table, poking Jubilee once with each lap. Reaching her original spot, she clenches her fists and leans in towards them. “You guys are always trying to sell the stuff that I’m only making because I want to make you happy!” she argues. “It makes me feel bad.”

Jubilee lifts a finger. “Counterpoint. Selling things that you’ve made make me happy.”

Basil grabs her hand. “Thank you very much, that’s very sweet of you,” she says. “This is a really good idea though. Wouldn’t it be better to share it with the world, than just with us?”

Fresh blinks, staring at the priestess. She’s actually almost convinced by her argument at first, at least until she sees the glint of Basil’s golden bracelet down beneath her sleeve. Then she can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a hint of ‘old’ Basil working her way back to the surface.

She plants her hands on her hips. “I’ll let you guys sell it, if you do three laps around the table.”

“Pass,” says Jubilee, sliding the half-empty glass back across the table to Basil who catches it and takes another sip. The priestess stares at it for a while as a tense silence seems to hang between the three of them.

Basil sighs, rising to her feet. “Fine. I’ll do it,” she says.

“Huh?” Fresh blinks, watching as Basil scoots her chair back into the table and then, just as she had demanded, runs three laps around it. Fresh rubs her arm, feeling a little bad now all of a sudden. Sure, it’s a ‘harmless’ gesture, perhaps a little foolish at worst. But she still feels bad about having essentially forced her friend to do it.

Reaching the end of her odyssey, Basil catches her breath and looks over towards Jubilee. “You owe me.”

“To make it up to you, I’ll allow your continued employment,” says Jubilee.

“I’m not your employee. We’re partners!” argues Basil.

“To make it up to you, I’ll allow you to continue being my partner,” replies Jubilee, rolling their eyes.

Fresh smiles at Basil. “Okay, Basil!” she says. “Sorry about that. We’ll sell the bubbly drinks,” she confirms, gazing at the priestess. As she looks at her, Fresh finds her eyes wandering to the side, past her face, towards Shamrock’s bed where the wooden-chicken is still standing.

It stares at her, judging her for having been a bad friend.

She takes a step to the side, so that her view of it is blocked.

Razmatazz

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