Running Dr Cee’s was never something Ambrose particularly wanted to do. It had just sort of happened. After Aunt Hilda’s disappearance, it didn’t really seem right to shut it down, nor to have someone outside the family managing it. He felt a strange sort of protectiveness for the kitchy bookshop, and so without too much thought about it, he’d volunteered.
What was even more unexpected, however, was how much he found that he enjoyed it. He loved discussing books with any customers who came in, and while he knew his talents were best served teaching at the University, he also just enjoyed the socialization of being around customers each day. 75 years of isolation had left deep wounds that Ambrose had still yet to fully heal from.
It was due to his fondness for the place, that Ambrose was particularly horrified when he opened up the shop on Wednesday morning to find that all of their food had been altered.
At first he’d assumed it was some sort of prank. Yet, as he reached out to others in Vallo, he quickly realized there was something bigger at work. Magic, of course. He wouldn’t be who he was without magic, but sometimes he wished that it came with a few less headaches.
He’d hung a sign in the window that they would not be serving food that day, but left the shop open for patrons to browse for books and order drinks. Given how many of Vallo’s citizens seemed to be affected that day, business was particularly slow. He dismissed the excess staff early and sat staring at a large orange jello mold that encased shredded carrots when he heard the door chimes. Looking up, he smiled at his cousin. “Hello, Sabrina. Can I interest you in some jello?”
Vallo being weird wasn’t alarming. After the sky decided to rain down various types of candy the two days before it what was currently happening inside of Vallo seemed pretty on par for its crazier hijinks. Except it wasn’t. She could feel that it was different from what usually happened. Something wild and chaotic with a depth of sadness to it. Which probably meant someone had caused this, perhaps accidentally, but she was going to leave that to someone else to figure out. It wasn’t her who had done this like the blackouts but she knew her magic got unwieldy when someone disappeared or she got a memory update.
But maybe it was just Vallo mixing things up.
And she really needed to focus on her soul decision. Otherwise she could mess up and make things even worse for those trapped inside of the Forest of Torment. So heading over to Cerberus’ seemed like a good idea.
Thankfully, Sabrina had already headed out with Hazel to locate where there were still some actual hamburgers in the city because the thing sitting in front of her cousin looked absolutely disgusting. “That looks disgusting. Why was that ever a thing?”
Ambrose responded with a shake of the head and a small shrug. “Haven’t a clue, honestly. And I lived through it. I suspect psychedelics may have had a hand in it.
I’m glad you stopped in. It’s been exceedingly slow in here today. I suppose most of Vallo is otherwise occupied.” He surveyed his cousin’s current attire. “Speaking of which, you’re looking totally radical.”
Sabrina shimmied a bit in her outfit. It really was a good look but she hoped it didn’t last more than the day. It wasn’t all practical.
“It’s hit or miss out in the rest of this place. Haze and I found some good burgers to have for lunch but then another person I know had only spam in their fridge.” She poked at the jello. “This is at least better than spam.”
He laughed and pulled up a chair for her to have a seat. “Maybe I’ll close up a bit early today. Witness the chaos first hand. And also find something to eat other than the 70s special here. Can I get you a milkshake?”
He already knew the response before she could answer and had moved to start making one for her. “I think….if I had to choose a decade, it would be the 20s. I look incredible in a tuxedo, if I do say so myself.”
She definitely wasn’t turning down a milkshake.
“Hazel is trapped in some of the 30s stuff.” Sabrina knew it was a bit different for her friend since that was the era she’d died in and it brought about missing people. “The 20s had some fun dresses too but I’m a pretty big fan of the clothes that are around usually.” Mostly because it was a nice mix of things and she could throw in several vintage items into her wardrobe and it wasn’t a big deal. Her style had always been a bit more eclectic than some back home. In Vallo everything was much more hodge podge. “What food would you want to be stuck with?”
While working on the milkshake, Ambrose furrowed his brow. He hadn’t interacted with Hazel directly very much, but he was aware of her background and could imagine that being stuck in remnants of the 1930s was probably not particularly pleasant for her. “If you run into her again, let her know I’ve got a free milkshake for her here too if she wants it.”
He set her drink down in front of her and pulled up his own chair as he thought about her question. He’d had a myriad of delectable food throughout his long life. “Honestly? I know it sounds awful, but the 90s had the best junk food. Complete garbage, but so good.”
Sabrina pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text to Hazel to let her know about the milkshake. It might brighten her friend’s day some or she could at least feed it to the horse. She thought about his response to the food question though. She hadn’t been alive through any of the 90s but it did seem to be the most sugar ladden stuff that had ever been created so she could get behind that.
“Part of me thinks waffles. But then its like I think I’d get sick of them after a few days.” Even if it seemed wrong to admit that. Though she’d not been able to eat them for a bit after finding out that was what her mandrake self had devoured before she’d killed her. She hadn’t been able to stomach them.
“Anything can get a bit tiring after a while,” he nodded before a thought occurred to him. Have you ever tried stroopwafels before?”
Sabrina arched a brow. “No?” Not to her knowledge anyway.
His face lit up. “You’d love them. They originated in the Netherlands. Basically you take two wafer thin waffles and sandwich them with caramel filling. As soon as this is sorted, you and I are going to find some.”
“Why have I never had these before in my life, Ambrose?” Because those sounded delicious and it was going to suck to try and wait for them. Probably for the best though considering they might turn out to be stuck in jello or turn into spam.
He was already thinking up ways to create a Stroopwafel milkshake for the shop. And selling them to go with tea and coffee. He sincerely hoped someone in Vallo made them, as baking was certainly more Hilda’s talent than his. “You’ve clearly been neglected in that respect, Cousin. For that I take full responsibility. I do believe we’ll have to start working on expanding your snack exposure.”
“I mean, I’m not about to say no to trying more snacks.” Especially ones that didn’t have vegetables snuck into them like Dan wanted to do because he was ridiculous. “This place is pretty good for having most things so I bet we can find some of those waffles and other things!”
“Who knows,” Ambrose continued with a smirk. “Maybe we’ll find some new things neither of us have tried.”
The two fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments while Ambrose tried not to stare at Sabrina too much. Since the new memories he’d received, he’d been terribly careful to not give anything away that might alert her to what he knew. It was difficult sometimes, however. His emotions could be somewhat overwhelming when it came to his young cousin. Sabrina was truly flourishing in Vallo. With friends and family and school, she’d created a good life for herself here. It seemed to be the balance of magic and normal life that she’d always been after, and it soothed him to see her have that. She deserved every moment and more.
The door chime rang and Ambrose looked up to see a customer enter. “I suppose that’s my cue.” He gave her a pat on the shoulder as he stood up to go assist them. “See you back at home? We can get the final preparations underway for your plans tomorrow.”
Sabrina nodded at that as she slid out from the chair. Her plans for tomorrow. She really hoped it worked, she thought it would, hadn’t been able to come up with any reason why it shouldn’t. The pieces of Hell that were there thought of her as its Queen so it should listen to her and do what she wanted, but she’d find out tomorrow if that truly happened or not.
“Might want to warn them about the jello.” At least the milkshakes were still their usual flare. She gave her cousin a wave and then teleported off, ready to do a little more prep work for tomorrow.