[Trade] Perfect Parfaits

"Alright love,  hang onto that and I'll be right back. No eating just yet, got it?"

Far be it the first time that Quince had ever taught someone how to make ice cream. As a matter of fact, she'd had so many requests once that she held a few classes on the matter. Though it had been a fair while since then, she was proud to say that she hadn't lost her touch. It helped that her current student was so eager to learn! The excitement to dig in shone brightly in his eyes and she could've sworn the stars around him almost glittered. It was all Quince could do to keep from petting his head every few minutes!

The ice cream had been finished the previous night and today they'd finally get to assemble their parfaits. While the woman left to gather everything they would be putting into them, she was trusting Kendi to not sneak a bite or two. Well alright, maybe one would be fine but not too much. She'd once had a student devour half the tub in just a few minutes and there was barely enough left for the both of them to enjoy. But Kendi swore he wouldn't touch anything and took a seat as he waited. Feet kicked back and forth as he inspected his nails, a sad little noise escaping him when he found one with chipped paint. He'd have to do a touch-up when he got home ASAP. Though Quince had barely been gone for a minute, the bun was already starting to feel the excitement winning over. Eyes trailed back to their tub of ice cream, a delicious strawberry flavor with a matching starberry syrup swirl. Surely he could sneak a quick bite? Quince would be busy gathering a lot of toppings after all.

"Ah— no no no! I promised!" He quickly shook his head and patted his cheeks before turning away from the ice cream once again. 'Just think about something else, Kendi. Like...  like... what I'm going to put in it!' Strawberry slices were a given, but he was also planning on blueberries, kiwi, and pineapple. He'd asked Quince about starfruit but she wasn't sure if they had those on hand. His wings had drooped at the news initially, but that was fine! Totally. Not like it was the end of the world or anything... But it sure would've been cute...

Nope, nope, stop thinking about that!

He pushed himself off the chair with a little hop that made all the stars both on and in his person jump and shake. This made him laugh and shake his tail back and forth just to hear the sound again. Just then, Quince had returned with her arms full of little tubs. It was so many he worried they might fall if she took another step. "Lend me a hand, dear? I can feel a couple of these slipping!" Kendi rushed to grab a few off the top and placed them randomly around the counter. Each tub seemed to be labelled and if he had to take a guess, it was probably by the topping. He'd have to ask Quince to read them off to him.

"Whew! Thanks dear." She wiped the bit of sweat from her forhead and placed her hands on her hips. "So I know we talked about fruits yesterday, but while I was looking I found some other things I thought you'd like. You don't have to use them, but if you do, you're welcome to use as much as you like."

"I will! But what is everything? Can you read them to me?"

"Of course! Start opening the containers and I'll tell you."

Well no one had to tell him twice. Kendi excitedly opened each and every container like a young bun on Christmas. And all the while, Quince explained each topping. Crushed graham cracker, edible gold, edible glitter, coconut shavings, chocolate covered marshmallows— these were just a few things in their assortment along with sprinkles for every occasion. Suddenly Kendi didn't know where to start. Was it possible to fit at least half of these in one glass? Quince saw the way his eyes moved across the table, looking at each topping several times as he tried to make his decision. Eventually, she gave a short laugh and grabbed the glasses they'd be using. "Here love, I think we have enough ice cream for more than two. What do you say we make as many as we can?"

At this, his eyes lit up and his wings flapped in joy. "Can we really?!" Quince nodded in answer and that was all it took for the bun to begin grabbing at all the toppings. "In that case, I want to use this for the first  one! And this— oh and this would be cute! These heart sprinkles can go on another. And..." As he trailed off, Quince began putting the first layer of ice cream into their parfait glasses. Like this, they worked up a little system. Quince would prep the glass, and Kendi would shove as many fruits and sweets as he could into one layer before handing it back to Quince. By the end of it, they had six different parfaits lined up before them with er... more or less cohesive themes. One was themed after love with its strawberries, cherries, marshmallows, and chocolate toppings. Another one was just a bunch different sweets he enjoyed. And another still was separated into the colors of the rainbow! Quince decorated one of her own and it hadn't yet dawned on Kendi that it was full of the original toppings he'd requested. On top, she used small scoops of ice cream and cookies to make a rabbit. Suddenly, she pulled out a small tub hidden away in her apron. Another topping?

"Sorry, dear. I know I said we didn't have any, but I wanted to surprise you."

The confusion lasted only a moment as she opened the container. Kendi's eyes widened as his mouth dropped open— inside were slices of starfruit! He watched as she carefully placed three slices at the top before finishing it off with a pinch of multi-colored star shaped sprinkles. Quince then slid the glass over to him and took out two spoons from her apron. "First bite goes to you!" He was speechless to say the least, colorful eyes simply staring at the spoons before trailing back over to the parfait she'd made. After a moment, he finally came back around, smiling as wide as possible. "Make that the first and the last!"