"Why are you feeding me filthy food?" Aki's tone and facial expression calmed slightly.
"Filthy?" Mario asked.
'Did M soiled the ice cream before giving it to Aki?' He tried to remember if he noticed anything wrong with his friend's actions before giving her the ice cream.
"Dirty," Aki said in a proud tone. "You don't know that?"
The three boys were silent for a while, staring intently at Aki until Mario burst out laughing. "Dirty. Ice cream. You rock, Aki!"
"What a dumbbell," M commented. Out of the three of them, he was the only one who knew why Aki had such an understanding.
While the quiet Matthew was still quietly smiling and brushing his long hair using his bare hand.
"That's not dirty. It's just called dirty ice cream, but that's not dirty. You dumbbell."
"It isn't?"
"You know what? Give that back to me. I'll eat that if you don't want to. Look, it's already melting." M tried to take the dirty ice cream when Aki pulled it away from him.
"Are you sure it's not dirty?"
"I swear. What a nag."
"You sure, huh?"
"Let me eat that. Give it back." She again pulled away the slowly dissolving food in her hand. "Eat that, before it melts completely."
"Hmm." Aki put the ice cream she was holding into M's mouth, which in turn surprised the young man.
"Hmm," Aki repeated when M didn't even move a bit and just gave her a questioning look instead. "Bite first before I believe it's not dirty. Hmm."
Smiling, M took a bite of the ice cream that Aki was holding. 'Even if she's ignorant, this angel still cannot be fooled!' M thought which widened his smile more.
"Ey...M is excited..." teased Mario with a cell phone in his hand. He was filming Aki and M.
"Shut up."
"How sweet…feeding each other! Naks!" Mharc, who just arrived, fueled the teasing.
"We reconciled!" Aki excitedly told Mharc. "We're okay now, aren't we?" She then turned to M.
Mharc was surprised at what Aki said. "You fought?"
"Didn't he get angry last night?"
"Huh? Are you really angry, brother?" she turned to her brother in disbelief. She thought that he wasn't angry but it looked like she was wrong.
"You think I'm angry?" M asked his sister back.
Mharc just smiled when she was sure she was right. "Sis, my brother didn't get angry. He was just shy!" she said with little laughs.
"Shut up, young lady," he reprimanded his sister in shame which was why he was laughed at by Matthew and Mario.
"M, your strawberry-colored face is back," Aki said innocently regarding M's slightly reddened face.
"Shut up."
"Is 'shut up' all you know to say?" Aki asked after licking the ice cream she was eating. While on the other hand, their friends just laughed.
"You can't even with Aki, dude!" Mario said in between laughs.
'Laugh all you want,' he thought. He planned to ignore how they teased him but not long after he couldn't help but speak for himself.
"I said shut up!" In the end, he couldn't find proper words to rebut and ended up saying these four lame words again.
"See? 'Shut up' again."
"Tsk. I thought we're good?" he asked Aki with remorse. He knew that the young lady was easy to fool.
"Yes, we are," Aki replied with a smile, ignoring M's tone.
"Yummy! Let's buy more, M!" She came to like the dirty ice cream that was why she asked M to buy another one the moment she finished the first cone.
"Do you even have money?"
"Buy me."
"You wish."
"Come on! Buy me some more so we can really say we're good!"
"Do you really think you can fool me?"
"Where did you buy that? I want it too, brother!"
M looked back at the place where the old salesman used to be but he was no longer there.
"It's gone. The vendor has left," said M, pointing to the now empty space.
"Too bad," Mharc said sadly while Aki pouted her lips again.
The two young ladies cheered up at the same time when they heard a soft ring coming from the ice cream vendor approaching them. Aki and Mharc looked at each other as if they were talking with their eyes.
"Yey!" / "Yeah!" they happily screamed in unison. They were both giving small claps and tiny hops.
"Let's buy now, M!" / "Buy us, brother!" They spoke at the same time and also held on to both of his arms.
'Tsk. It's like I have two naughty children,' he complained in his mind. While the two best friends just laughed at him.
When the ice cream vendor arrived in front of them, M and Aki were very shocked and trepidatious.
M looked at Aki when he confirmed what he had in mind. "Victo," she said softly.
It was Rhazen.
Here was Rhazen as a salesman. As he said, they will watch over and visit Aki here in Mhortaeo.
"Buy me too, M!" Mario also growled imitating the shrill voice and actions of the two young women. "Matt, do you want some?"
"Cheese," the latter responded shortly.
"One order of cheese flavor and one of taro, Old Man."
Rhazen smiled. "How about you, young ladies? What flavor do you like?" he asked before scooping some of the ice cream with cheese.
"I want all of the flavors!" Mharc happily replied. "How about you, Sis Aki?"
"Strawberry," she answered and tightened her grip on M's arm. She was still afraid that her parents might send her home to Vandeshna.
"M?" Aki called him, eyes glued to her father's every move.
M wasn't sure if he was being asked what he wanted or she was calling his name nervously like the last time her parents visited Mhortaeo. He can feel Aki's anxiety so even though he is nervous in the presence of Rhazen, he plucked up the courage and let Aki cling to him.
"Strawberry for me as well."
M's entire being was filled with nervousness when Aki's father stared at him after he spoke.
"Please."
He wasn't sure if the reason for that creepy stare from Rhazen was because of the way he talked—without respect? Or the fact that his daughter was tightly clinging to him and their bodies were so close to each other? He decided to rephrase his speech towards him with respect. "I'll have strawberry-flavored as well, please."
Until they got home, the two were still reeling from Rhazen's unexpected appearance.