For Basil, there was nothing more exciting than making new discoveries and trying new things. This curiosity even played a role in the bedroom, much less his everyday life. So, even though most of Iris's mates tended to prefer more casual dates where they could relax while spending time together, Basil didn't quite have the same mindset.

Iris listened carefully as Basil droned on for quite some time about his recent successes in growing what had previously been wild plants. While there was only so much enthusiasm she could muster up for listening to the finer details of growing plants, she was still happy to see Basil's passion for the subject. She just enjoyed holding his hand and feeling his warm, fuzzy tail wrapped around their waist as they walked through the area.

"The garlic usually likes to grow in the wetter areas of forests. So, we had to plant it in the shaded areas near the trees and make sure it gets lots of water. I know last year you mentioned that we could try cross-pollinating the plants, but I'm still not sure if we're quite ready for that yet. This year the plants seem to be doing much better than the previous year's but I want to ensure everything grows consistently before I change anything up."

Iris said "I see." in response, showing she was listening, but continuing to allow Basil to lead the conversation. Iris had grown up on farmland and had even helped her mother grow a rather large garden full of all sorts of different plants. They even grew more specialized plants like rainbow carrots and rhubarb that they often had to special order the seeds for. However, most of that was straightforward and not nearly as complicated as Basil's work.

Iris hadn't done much studying into how wild plants had been domesticated and mass-produced. She was a history major, not a plant-based science major, so it wasn't really something covered in her college studies. While it was a shame that she couldn't be of much help to Basil in his experiments, it was still nice to see him getting results. More garlic, black pepper, and other seasonings meant more flavorful food for everyone without having to worry as much about the effects on the ecosystem. It really would be a shame if garlic became extinct in this world due to over-harvesting, after all.

After a couple of hours of walking around the private farmland area, Basil led Iris back to the clinic. She had been expecting him to show off some new medicines he had been working on or some new way of organizing the pharmacy. However, Basil was much less interested in showing off his work here. Instead, he brought Iris back to the workshop area and asked

"Could we work on some new beauty products or something today? It's been a while since I've developed anything new. According to the apprentices, a lot of the females tend to ask about it whenever they come with their males to buy things from the pharmacy."

Iris was starting to hate requests like these. She wasn't exactly a genius with a photographic memory. She didn't know how to make everything under the sun and she was already starting to run out of ideas. Yet, she felt like a fraud whenever she couldn't deliver and satisfy everyone's desire for more new products.

Basil felt guilty seeing Iris's face drop at his question. He hadn't meant to bother her. It was just that he found her so cute whenever she went off on her long spiels. Plus, she was absolutely fascinating. He loved hearing about all the ways her old world was different and he loved working on all the experiments she had requested he help with in the past. Just when he was about to distract her, however, Iris answered

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Well, I don't know all of the specifics, but there is one thing we could work on. In my old world, we had something called perfume. It was, basically, just a strong-smelling liquid with a pleasant scent that people would spray onto themselves. Well, spray bottle designs were the most common, but it isn't like it was the only kind to exist. Some had little balls and you would roll them on or a dropper would be used to measure a small amount out for use.

I don't think we can recreate any of the bottle designs, but it should be fine to use the same kind we use for lotions and such. Everyone will just have to be careful not to apply too much. It can be just as offensive to the nose to have a concentrated smell of fruits and other natural scents as it can be to be around someone dirty from less pleasant things, after all."

Basil's eyes lit up in excitement as he listened to Iris talk. He happily shuffled some things around until he pulled out a piece of charcoal and a stone tablet. Then he asked

"Alright, how do we go about making it then?"

Iris sighed, shaking her head as she reminded

"Again, I don't really know the specifics of how perfume was made in my old world. We should be able to make something usable, though. I still have some essential oils leftover from when I made candles with Fern a while back. If we mix some of those together and dilute them a bit with some water, it should work okay."

Basil frowned, setting the tablet down without even having the chance to use it, before replying

"That sounds simple enough. If that's all there is to it, then how come you seem so unsure of yourself?"

"Well, I believe most perfumes in the modern world tend to involve alcohol of some sort. Probably some other more complicated ingredients as well. I've never really looked at the ingredients list or tried to make some from scratch, so I'm not really sure. It isn't like we can make a usable alcohol base either since wine most definitely won't work and I don't even know the basics for brewing other types of alcohol like beer or vodka."

Basil was a bit curious about what the other types of alcohol were, but decided to wait until later to ask about them. He didn't like how stressed Iris was over his request. So, he wanted to move things forward and try to distract her instead. Wrapping his tail around her, he kissed her neck, gently sucking and nipping as he went.

Iris looked around embarrassedly. However, the workshop was empty beside them. Ever since witch doctor Alder had passed away, Basil was the only official witch doctor around. The other apprentices would have to work hard to perfect their knowledge for a few years yet before they'd be recognized as official witch doctors. Still, it seemed like the wrong place and the wrong time, so Iris pushed Basil away, blushing heavily.

Basil said nothing, just smiling about the fact that he could still rile his mate up as he went about their experiments. As Basil hadn't been around when Fern and Iris made the essential oils, the first thing they did together was to work on making some new scents. More flowery scents and musky scents were needed anyway since there was only so much overlap between perfume scents and candle scents.

Then they worked on making some prototypes for the perfumes. The results weren't too bad, but the smell didn't linger for very long. Still, it wasn't much worse than using scented soaps. Basil wasn't sure what the problem was, but he figured he could always spend some time experimenting with things. A few questions about the function of perfume and what little Iris knew about the other types of alcohol would have to suffice as a starting point. The rest would have to come down to his own experiments and hard work.