strawberry fields forever | felix

[gehry benjamin ollivander]

no one i think is in my tree

i mean, it must be high or low

February 10, 2028
felix valentin fortescue

Benny had peeked into the Violet Hound but didn’t see the familiar face he wanted to see. He’d sometimes drop in anyway for a beer or some pie in those cases. But today, he wasn’t quite feeling it. Instead, with his hands stuffed into his pockets and a casual light bounce in his step, Benny made his way to the ice cream parlor. By this point, he was familiar with who worked there and the Fortescue siblings. Since it was a colder time of year, there wasn’t the line out the door one saw in the summertime or when everybody was buying their school supplies.

He pushed the door open, and a small bell rang over his head. Behind the counter was Felix. ”Hey Felix, got anything new today?” Around the holidays, Fortescue’s often displayed their special flavors around holidays. Most were the usual, such as pumpkin near Halloween, but sometimes there was a new one. And Benny had yet to miss a new flavor. He wasn’t about to break his two-decade-long streak. Even at his towering height, Benny peered through the glass like he was nine years old again. Did he need the sugar after the coffee he’d just drunk? His sister and his mother might say no, but they weren’t here hovering over him.

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[felix valentin fortescue]

February 10, 2028

Felix had grown up around the children of the other families who made their living by running businesses in Diagon Alley, and the Ollivanders were no exception. When Benny Ollivander came through the door of the ice cream parlor to ask what they had that was new on offer, that was a bigger question than it was from the average customer. Over the years, Felix was sure, Benny must have tried nearly every flavor his family had made. The good news was that they were still coming up with new flavors all the time, though some of them admittedly were new takes on flavors they'd previously sold or adjustments to what they knew would sell well.

Smiling at Benny, Felix took a look at what was available in the case. The blood ice cream that he and especially Vas had developed was hardly "new" by that point, but interested customers did occasionally ask about it. (Those who weren't at least part vampire seemed to do it because they had been dared to try it, more often than not, but a sale was a sale.) Felix figured that Benny probably didn't want to go that route, though, so that took that one out of the running.

What was more exciting, perhaps, was a new flavor that he had been working on for Valentine's Day that wasn't yet available for purchase. He had been inspired by Amortentia and had tried to channel the most unique aspect of the love potion: He had aimed to create an ice cream flavor that would taste different to everyone who tried it, just as Amortentia smelled different to everyone based on to what they happened to be attracted. The only problem was that he hadn't been able to get Vas in to give it a taste test.

"Actually, Benny," Felix answered, "I've got one you might be able to help me with…"

gehry benjamin ollivander

[gehry benjamin ollivander]

no one i think is in my tree

i mean, it must be high or low

February 10, 2028
felix valentin fortescue

The number of flavors and combinations would never cease to amaze Benny. The Fortescues never had a shortage of ideas, but he wasn’t surprised. Much like Vasilia’s mind regarding food, it was apparently some kind of familial gift. That wasn’t uncommon in the magical world. Sometimes talents pass through like a shared genetic trait. Benny and his family had a knack for wand-making, or most of it. Benny never really sat and whittled away at wood anymore, but his brain could easily tell you what wood would make a thunderbird tail feather combust in your face.

He'd like to think Frankie would have been the same if he’d stuck around. Felix also had a squib sibling, although her approach to it all was vastly different and remarkable even. Felix brightened at Benny’s request. ”I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with this year.” Benny grinned and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. ”I haven’t seen Vasilia around. Normally, she tells me when you’ve gotten something new.” Maybe all their schedules were misaligned now. Benny didn’t overthink it, as she was a business owner, and he very much was not. Though the last few times Benny had dropped by Fortescue’s, Felix had not been there either, so it was good to catch up with him as well.

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[felix valentin fortescue]

February 10, 2028

Just as Felix suspected, Benny was more than willing to try what he had been making, even without hearing what it was first. That required a certain level of trust, thought Felix, considering that Vasilia had come up with their blood ice cream to cater to the vampires—and anyone else who could stomach the taste of blood—around. Then again, most of the ice cream flavors his family had ever tested out weren't so much of an acquired taste. They weren't trying to make customers squeamish and put them off ice cream forever, obviously, because then they wouldn't have a business.

"I haven't seen Vasilia around," Benny added. "Normally, she tells me when you've gotten something new."

Although he had taken over as the one in charge of making the majority of the ice cream at the parlor, Felix did still seek the advice of his older sister despite her newer endeavor of running the Violet Hound. (Felix personally didn't know how Vas didn't lose her mind from the number of people who thought it was "violent" and not "violet", even though there was a massive difference in adjectives there.) "This one was all my idea, believe it or not," Felix explained to Benny. Come to think of it, the flavor was one that Vas probably would have had a harder time putting together because she was a Squib, though Felix absolutely would have been on hand to help her with it if she'd been the one to come up with it. It was just how they worked.

"It's a bit… experimental at the moment," added Felix as a word of caution, "so I can't promise perfection." Really, he realized that he couldn't promise much of anything to Benny until he knew what the flavor tasted like to him. He also didn't want to divulge too much about what he was planning, since he was concerned that it might influence Benny's response. "It's not blood or anything, though. No Bertie Bott's beans." In other words, no blood, no earwax, no vomit. That felt necessary to mention, too, to be on the safe side.

gehry benjamin ollivander