Licorice looks around the living room. He'd walked with Vampire out the front door, and shut it once he left. He figured he should quickly tell Alchemist that Vampire had left. He wasn't too sure of how long Vampire would be out, and he expected it to be quite a while. Especially since the cookie liked to indulge himself with plenty of drinks.
He walked past the kitchen and to the same wood door that he knew held Alchemist's lab. He knocked.
"What?" a voice yelled from behind Licorice. He flinched at the unexpected closeness of the reply. He turned around to see Alchemist, holding a crate of empty vials turned upside down.
"What do you want?" she repeated, annoyed as always.
"Oh, hey. I came here just to tell you that-"
"Open the door. It's unlocked." she interrupted.
Licorice turns back to the door and opens it wide, pressing his back up to the wall to leave space for Alchemist to walk past. As she does, he walks in behind her, continuing where he left off.
"-I came here to tell you Vampire cookie left to the kingdom and- he should be back, later, maybe."
"So what?"
"huh?"
"Huh?" she mocks. "You know! What happened? When are you leaving?? And— You two were all together upstairs and now he just leaves you here? What's the deal??"
Licorice stays quiet as he tries to process all the questions and the appropriate response, but instead quickly blurts out a reply in frustration.
"Wha- Why are you so invested all of a sudden!? I thought you didn't care?"
"I didn't! Until it stopped making any rational sense! You guys just fluctuate from being on good terms to bad again! So, again, what's going on! "
Licorice's attempt to shut down the conversation seemed to have quickly failed, so, with a sigh, he began to answer. "Okay, well, I stayed here because the cookies in the kingdom don't like me all too much for- obvious reasons-"
"That didn't stop you two last time."
"Yeah but that pink potion thing didn't really work all that long—"
"Pink potion?! What pink potion?! Don't tell me Vampire actually tried making something-"
"No, no, he said it was some juice you gave him, and it turns hair pink."
Alchemist starred at Licorice with wide eyes. He felt uncomfortable with the prolonged eye contact and broke it by looking around the room.
"... he... He gave you that? The stuff in the barrels? In the back of my lab?!"
"Uhm, yeah? Why?-"
"OH MY— UHG JEEZ- I should've poured that stuff out after the initial incident— god.."
"Wait, wait what? What's wrong with it?!" Licorice asked, worried.
Alchemist sighs. "After drinking it, did you feel— different? I little too— uhm- comfortable?"
"..."
"Uh- God- IT'S A ROMANCE POTION! It makes whoever drinks it feel more— Uhg, romantic! The pink hair is just a visual indicator that someone is under its influence. As it sets the pink fades away- and the effect lasts for hours after initial contact of the substance."
"... that, definitely explains things..."
"I imagine, geez, that idiot must not have realized the potion did more than color hair."
There's a moment of awkward silence as the two both let their separate realizations die out in their minds. Licorice wonders if he should leave, or if there is anything else he should bring up. Meanwhile Alchemist has quickly written down 'Dispose of pink juice' on a spare sticky note and went back to organizing glass vials.
"Hey has Vampire talked at all about me?"
"Huh?! Why? I already told you Vampire likes you, and he didn't tell me that, it's just obvious."
"I know but You ask a lot of questions so I just wondered what Vampire has said-"
"I ask you a lot of questions, not Vampire."
"What, why?"
"Well, unlike Vampire, You actually answer."
"Oh.."
Strange. Licorice hadn't even really realized how much he allowed himself to say to her. He sure didn't feel comfortable talking to her. In an odd way he just felt it necessary? Likely because he was staying at her and Vampire's home, and she generally had an authority figure-ish feel to her.
"I didn't even realize.."
"Yeah Yeah, but back to my question: when are you leaving?"