Ice Cream

It was the first letter Alfred sent that Kiku actually shared with someone. He would have shown it to Matthew, if he were still here, but in lieu of him Kiku let Angus look at it.

They laughed for a while.

Dear Alfred,

You are not the only one! Shortly before he left, Matthew had an appointment with his optometrist. He was not very happy with it either, though I do believe he put up less of a fuss about it. Then again, he had Arthur right there to complain about it for him. There is little point of voicing a complaint when it has already been stated!

I do believe we have the same amount of chores. They are just a bit different. Your house tends to collect dust faster than my house does, have you noticed? I wonder why that is.

Putting the beginning of his letter aside into his bag as the school bell rang, Kiku joined Angus. Angus spent a bit more time with him instead of wandering off after school. Probably because Matthew was gone. Kiku would have told him that it was all right, but he enjoyed spending time with Angus and could not pretend otherwise. Plus, it made him feel more comfortable waiting at that wall if there was someone with him.

"I brought something!" Ramon laughed from the other side of the wall. He slid a covered container through the hole. Kiku took it and Angus laughed.

"You're on the same page as we, mate!" Angus slid through the container they had brought.

All three of them dug out their spoons and started on the ice cream. Kiku was glad that ice cream season would not be over by the time he left. It was just fun sharing the experience, even if it kept them from being able to say much to each other.

Sometimes. Ramon and Angus did not have as many qualms of talking with their mouths full at times.

"What flavours are these?" Kiku asked as he and Angus picked between the three different scoops.

Ramon stayed quiet for a moment, probably checking his vocabulary. "Guava, mango, and... pineapple. Yes?"

"Yep, definitely mango," Angus agreed cheerfully. "This one's my favourite."

Kiku preferred the guava. He also noticed Angus was not touching it. "There are a couple of flavours in yours. They–"

"Wait! I want to guess!" Ramon exclaimed. Angus chuckled again and Kiku could not help but laughing as well. He should have known better by now! "One has... macadamia nuts, yes? And caramel."

"Ice cream connoisseur," Angus rolled his eyes with a grin.

"And the other?" Kiku prompted.

He watched through the hole as Ramon sampled the other. "Chocolate honey nougat!" the Cuban declared.

"That's amazing," Angus said. "'ow do you do that?"

"I really like ice cream!"

"He eats a lot of ice cream," Kiku translated out loud.

"Same thing," Ramon agreed.

They finished eating their ice cream (Angus finishing the mango and Kiku polishing up with guava, with both of them sharing the pineapple) while Ramon told them what he was planning to do for Independence Day, which was coming up soon.

"Independence for what?" Angus asked, confused.

"From what?" Kiku tapped a finger against his lips.

"Don't know," Ramon replied. "But is a holiday. Who cares?"

Angus seemed to agree with that, but Kiku could only wonder. There were many holidays in the Chinese Sector, in the Japanese Sector, in the Korean Sector. What were some of them for? What were they about? Why did they celebrate something that they had no clue about? He had missed the Moon Festival in the Chinese Sector. Kiku was not sure why other than to have an excuse to eat mooncakes. Not that some people needed an excuse to eat mooncakes.

He missed Yao's tea. Kiku held his spoon in his mouth and wished he could have had a little more ice cream.

"I recently started a new job," Ramon went on to say. "Torcedor! This is the product I purchased. I didn't make it myself, but now I make ones similar."

Kiku took the item Ramon handed over. It was a cigar. He and Angus both examined it and Kiku tried to read the words on the side. "Totalmente... a mano?" he asked.

"Made by hand," Ramon translated. "There is a market for handmade cigars and machine-made cigars."

"Handmade is better?" Angus asked. Through the hole, Ramon shrugged.

"Don't know. I've never smoked one before."

"Are ya going to?"

"Maybe," the Cuban responded. "I'm saving up for when I move out."

"Then maybe you should buy less ice cream," Kiku suggested.

Ramon was so offended by that Kiku was torn between laughing and apologizing profusely. Thankfully, Angus found it funny so Kiku did not feel quite as bad about his confused feelings. They talked about a few other things before he and Angus rushed back home. Since Matthew had left Arthur had become a bit more strict as to when they needed to get home. Kiku had first thought it was because now there were less people to help out with the chores.

Angus told him it was just because he was missing Alfred and Matthew. Kiku decided that made perfect sense. Just like it made perfect sense when Angus suggested they make an ice cream flavour themselves.

"Let's try an' see if he can't guess it," Angus grinned. "So nothin' simple like hokey pokey."

Kiku did not know what hokey pokey had to do with ice cream, but otherwise agreed with the idea. He agreed with it more after the other boy described a rather simple mixture of ice cream that made up 'hokey pokey'. They needed more than vanilla and honeycomb toffee.

I tried to make green tea mochi ice cream, thinking Ramon would like it. I had never tried to make ice cream before and I must admit it showed within my first several attempts.

"What is going on in here?" Arthur asked, surprised.

"...making ice cream?" Angus tried. Kiku wished Angus had been a bit more vague.

Arthur almost did not look like he believed it. "Well, don't forget to clean up afterwards," he reminded them before leaving them to the kitchen.

Angus grimaced. "I didn't think this would be so hard."

"Maybe we should try something simpler," Kiku agreed.

So instead of making their own ice cream, they bought a few different flavours and mixed them together. Ramon picked out all of it within five minutes.

"Leave out the strawberry next time."

He and Angus looked at each other and Kiku realized that whether someone lived in the English Sector or the Chinese Sector – being incredulous could stem from similar reasons. Yong Soo might not think Ramon's ability was that odd. Maybe Kiku should not find it that odd. He did live with Maddox, after all.

Do you have any ideas? I have a feeling Angus and I have begun an intensive project that might require some outside help. Kat suggested that we put in pickled vegetables because Angus would never be able to guess it. Angus baulked at the idea. If anything it would certainly distract Ramon from the other flavours. Still, I think whatever we come out making should be something edible for all of us.

Pickled vegetables do not seem to be something Angus thinks is edible.

Kiku nibbled at the end of his pencil and looked at his snack. His mochi ice cream melted sadly in front of him. Maybe he should have put it in a bowl.

It did not taste terrible, so he ate it. Not really how he had wanted it to turn out though. And he was not going to have Ramon try it until it actually tasted like how Kiku knew it was supposed to taste. Maybe if Angus knew what it was supposed to be like. But Angus had never had mochi ice cream before.

I have come to realize that I relied a bit too heavily on Matthew when it came to homework. Now I know you said to keep Arthur a bit more in the dark when it came to things (like homework), but I have started asking him anyway. It is not as bad as you led me to believe!

Then again, there were the times it was as bad as Alfred had led Kiku to believe. But between homework and ice cream, Kiku decided that ice cream was a fair bit more difficult.

And he was not going to ask Arthur to help with the ice cream.

Maybe ask Yong Soo to bring you some mochi ice cream. Could you tell me if you like it?

People are people, no matter where they are.