*Everything hurts.*

  What did I tell ya? You didn’t have to go that hard, Death chastised.

  After finishing with the bicep curls last week, he decided to try a fascinating machine called a Stairmaster. It seemed fun - then he started cramping. After showering and dressing himself, he’d turned himself into reaper form, floating back home.

  Ever dragged himself towards the workplace, very much without the usual spring in his step. His left arm shook tremulously as he tried to lift it. Was he even going to be able to scoop ice cream today? From here about 20 feet or so from the front door to Pagoto’s, he could see that Taylor and Chaos were already inside. Taylor was wearing her favored black denim with rips at her knees. Ever knew this because she was standing on one of the customer chairs near the door. Chaos spotted him, poked Taylor and she seemed to hurry up what she was doing.

  Just as he got there, she hopped down and scuttled away. Ever pushed the door in.

  Ding!

  He looked up at the source of the happy, little sound: a polished, golden bell hung there, its hammer swaying slightly. Ever closed the door and opened it again.

  Ding!

  “It’s cool, isn’t it?” Taylor said, arms crossed with a proud smile on her face. “It’s like one of those vintage bells that people had back in the ‘good old days’. I found it at the weekend market near me. Adds a bit of character to the place.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “We’ve already got a vintage character here,” Ever said, looking squarely at Chaos.

  Taylor’s hands flew up to her mouth, smothering her giggle. Too late - it escaped out of her nose as an snort. “Ever! What the hell! Where did that come from?” The laughter bubbled forth like a forgotten pot.

  Chaos’ face initially darkened, but seeing the unfettered joy Ever’s joke created, his mouth twisted into a wry smile. Ever couldn’t help but smile broadly himself, his post-gym pains forgotten.

  “Yes, clever aren’t you?” The older man said.

  *You should be happy, that joke was spontaneous. You might even say that it came from a place of chaos.*

  ∞I already said that you were clever, didn’t I?∞

  Taylor finally caught her breath and wiped away the tears from her eyes.

  “Oh wow, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

  The three of them continued setting up the store and in minutes, it was all done, ready for the first customers of the day.

  “Did you ever hear back from the winner of the competition last week?” Chaos asked.

  “Not really. The vet clinic liked the post, but Zoe didn’t actually say that she’d come in. I even tried calling the number on her card, but it just went to voicemail.”

  “Hm, her loss,” he replied. “I’ll take her prize if she doesn’t want it.”

  “Nice try, dude,” she said. “You’re already getting two scoops a day. You’ll have to pay for more.”

  Ding!

  The three of them snapped to attention as the door to the ice cream store opened.