Work Text:
'Have you tried ice cream before?'
Maëlle's question caught Alicia off guard, taking her out of her manuscript. The weather was quite hot on that afternoon, and they'd pulled down the blinds of her closed window to keep the interior fresh. It was sort of working, but not enough: Maëlle was splayed on her bed like a starfish, while Alicia herself was struggling to focus on what was supposed to be a collection of short stories, but it was far more tempting to lay next to her friend and take a nap.
"Yes," she signed at her. "A long time ago."
"How long?" she signed in return. Alicia leaned back on the chair, trying to remember. The last time she'd eaten ice cream… Hm. It was probably when Clea was still here. Maybe she'd eaten it again at some point between her family's return from the Continent and the year where she was meant to gommage. So that would make...
"40 years, at least."
She heard Maëlle gasp in indignation, so great was her reaction that she sat up on the bed. 'I have to take you to eat ice cream, then. Oh— Unless it hurts your throat?' Alicia shook her head. 'Then lets go when the sun has gone down a bit. There's this one place that has really strange flavours. For example…' Alicia tilted her head, and saw the way Maëlle's easy smile became lopsided. '…Escargot ice cream.'
Alicia's expression must have shifted dramatically, because Maëlle let out a loud cackle, bending with the force of her laughter. What a sweet noise, even if Alicia was being so cruelly teased. She stood up from her chair and leaned towards her friend, pinching her cheeks between her fingers and pulling at them as punishment.
'Ow! Ow! I'm serious!' Maëlle shut her eyes tightly, putting her hands on Alicia's, though she didn't make a real effort to get away for her pinching. 'I swear I saw them selling escargot ice cream some years ago!' Alicia arched her eyebrow. 'I wouldn't lie to you! We can ask them when we're there!'
She had to admit Maëlle was right: she had yet to lie to Alicia about anything. And so she decided to be merciful for the time being.
They endured the heat for a little longer as well as they could, until the sun started to set and it was safe to lift the blinds again. Some warmth remained in the air, sneaking in through the window, but it wasn't as bothersome was before. Maelle helped her with the makeup as usual, and Alicia looked at herself in her hand mirror until she was convinced every part of her face looked human enough.
Alicia stared at her own hands, trying to figure out if the white lace gloves Emma had suggested she wore covered her hands enough. Maëlle looked at them too, but she was smiling as she took Alicia's hand in hers, tracing the flowery pattern of the lace with her thumb. 'They look so elegant… They're very like you.' If her intent was making Alicia blush, she was more than successful. 'And don't worry, I don't think anyone besides me will be looking at your hands for long enough to notice.'
Anyone besides me. She knew why Maëlle said that — not many people knew sign language in Lumière nowadays — but it still made her heart skip a beat.
They left the apartment, and, as usual, hopped on Maëlle's bike. Alicia sat with her legs dangling on one side and her arms tightly wrapped around Maëlle for support, her head resting on her shoulder.
Maelle didn't know why in the world she'd said it like that.
Did it sound weird? It didn't, right? It made sense that she was looking at Alicia's hands, because she had to use them to speak. But what if she thought she meant something else? Whatever could she ever mean otherwise?
(That she was always looking at her, that she liked her hands and the way they seemed so delicate despite the scars and the ink stains, and her hair that looked like a cloud, and the way her mouth curled so slightly into a smile when she was amused, and so many other things—)
She took a deep breath, focusing on the road ahead. She remembered the place vividly, had passed by it a few times while working as a courier, and that vivid memory had crossed her mind every time: "Try our new delicacy! Escargot ice cream available inside!" written on a plaque on a summer day such as the one they were having. She didn't remember anything else, except that she was holding someone's hand — possibly one of her caretakers at the orphanage? She hadn't trusted anyone else that much before Gustave and Emma — and, ultimately, she had been dragged away from the plaque.
There was no way she was misremembering it, she was sure of it. It was way too vivid.
They arrived at the place, and Maelle stopped her bike, waiting for Alicia to get off first. Maelle watched as she adjusted her skirt, taking another glance at her hands before linking them behind her back. 'Ready to taste escargot ice cream?' She made that face again, with a wide eye and a raised eyebrow, lips straight and pushed back, making Maelle chuckle. Once her bike was parked, she signed, "let's go".
The air smelled of salt, Maelle could hear the waves crashing in the distance and see the crowd that gathered nearby, which was made up of children and adults alike. Alicia walked behind Maelle, sort of hiding behind her, and Maelle wordlessly offered her hand. She took it.
Even with their careful make up work, the heavy scarring meant it was inevitable that some people would glance repeatedly, and even stare. But just because it was inevitable it didn't mean Alicia wasn't uncomfortable with it, or that it infuriated Maelle any less. And so, they stayed a bit to the side, waiting for the crowd to start going home.
Eventually, Alicia herself gently nudged Maelle towards the counter. Now was the moment of truth: she wpuld show her friend just how far ice cream makers had gone for the sake of shocking flavours. 'Excuse me,' she said, 'do you have escargot ice cream?'
The worker looked at her like she'd asked for pork liver at the ice cream place. 'What?'
'You know? Snails? Snail ice cream?' The man's expression remained the same. 'You don't have it anymore?'
His eyes wandered to Alicia, lingering on her face for too long before he looked back at Maelle. '…I don't think I've heard of that in my whole life.' He smirked. 'Sounds like a fun idea, though.'
She knew that Alicia was doubting her now. But she hadn't lied. She remembered it, the stupid escargot ice cream. Why would she have such a vivid memory of it otherwise? She wasn't lying. She wasn't… But then, why did she remember...
Alicia tapped her on the shoulder. The man had said something without her realising it. 'Huh?'
'I asked if you want anything else.'
Alicia gave her arm a gentle squeeze, and leaned closer to the menu. Maelle did the same. The start of the list was mostly normal flavours, such as vanilla or lemon, but as they looked down, it got weirder. Honey lavender, pear with blue cheese, cream cheese with glazed brioche, strawberry with black pepper…
Lobster? Maelle blinked a couple times. Lobster?
Alicia tapped on the menu: cream cheese and lobster. 'Oh, you're a brave one,' he said, immediately getting to work. He handed Alicia her double scoop cup, and glanced at Maelle. 'What about you?'
'…Pear with blue cheese and the strawberry with black pepper one, please.'
'On it!'
Maelle handed in the chroma for both of them, and they decided to sit on a nearby bench that was closer to the sea. Maelle watched as Alicia took a small piece of the lobster flavour ice cream with a spoon and brought it to her mouth. She squinted as she tasted it, but from the looks of it, it couldn't be that bad.
'Can I try it?' Alicia shrugged, letting her take a small spoonful of it. It tasted… Like lobster. And also cold. It was odd for sure, but it wasn't… awful. 'Huh, not bad. Do you want to try one of mine?'
She nodded, reaching for the ball of strawberry with black pepper. She tilted her head, unsure at first, and then signed "alright". It was a good thing their flavours weren't awful — Maelle would hate to throw away food, after all — but somehow, this was a bit disappointing. The pear and blue cheese one was actually incredible, though, and Alicia not-so-sneakily stole half of it in small spoonfuls. Maelle pretended to not see it, and ate half of the cream cheese one in return.
'…You know, I wasn't lying about the escargot ice cream. I don't know why I remember that, it's weird, but I do remember it. I swear I…'
Alicia put the cup aside on the bench, and pointed at herself. Then, she put her index and middle fingers on her forehead and under her mouth, and pointed at Maelle. "I believe you."
Maelle sighed. "Thank you."
Alicia's eye then looked downwards, noticing something on Maelle's lips. There was no reason for it, and yet Maelle felt herself blush, even more so when Alicia leaned even closer. Her lips pressed against the corner of her mouth, and Maelle held her breath for however long it lasted, which felt too long and too short at once. Then, Alicia moved away from her, quickly signing "lobster" before going back to what was left of her cup of ice cream, implying she was just trying to wipe ice cream out of her face.
Maelle touched the area where Alicia had… kissed her. It was a kiss. It was most definitely a kiss. On the mouth? Did it count as a kiss on the mouth? No, no, it was a kiss on the cheek, which was normal, friends kissed each other on the cheek all the time. It was simply close to her mouth, but technically still her cheek. She was making a big deal out of this. Why was she making a big deal out of this?
Her chest felt weird, like someone was constricting it. She… She wanted to get kissed by Alicia again.
They finished their spoonfuls of ice cream, and threw away the cups. There was a strange air hanging between them, as if both were holding something back, and Alicia took Maelle's hand, interlacing their fingers. Under the flower-shaped lace, her hand was cold, and Maelle was certain her own must've been sweaty. Which was a mortifying realisation.
'I'll take you home,' Maelle said in an unsure murmur. Alicia smiled, clinging to her arm with her other hand. Maelle had to take a deep breath.
Even hours later, and she lied down to sleep, the feeling on the corner of her lips still lingered.