“What took you so long?” Taylor huffed.

  “I ran there, like you said.” Ever closed the door. He reached into the bag and pulled out the boxes of sprinkles one by one.

  “Perfect! You’re a lifesaver.”

  Ever froze, his arm still in the bag. ‘Lifesaver’? He didn’t exactly take lives, but neither did he save them. Warmth bloomed in his chest, as if the human blood in the corporeal shell he existed in had been trapped and was flowing for the first time. What was this feeling?

  “Um, why did you get these deodorants?” Taylor asked, snatching the tube out of his hand.

  “I didn’t want to reek.”

  The door opened and a familiar customer walked in: the little girl with the pigtails.

  “Just put it away for now,” Taylor hissed, shoving it back to him. “Hello again! How are you today? Would you like some ice cream?”

  Ever had crouched and was trying to find some space to put his deodorants.

  Ever, beware. His mentor’s voice had an edge of tension he’d never heard before.

  “Yes,” the little girl said, not in a little girl’s voice. Instead, it sounded like billions of voices of every pitch, speaking in unison. “Do you have any sprinkles?”

  Ever peeked up slowly. First, he caught the top of the girls head, then he saw her eyes… and he fell into them. It was only a few feet away, but it felt like he was falling into a fathomless breach. These organs for vision didn’t just see Ever, they knew and watched him. Countless pairs of eyes, from every single angle across every millenia stared at him. They followed him as he fell faster and faster, picking up speed until his fragile human form flaked away and all that was left was the soul who believed he could ever replace -

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  “Ever!” Taylor barked. Ever snapped out of it. The little girl gazed at him with innocent eyes wide open. Other customers had come in. “Please serve our customers.”

  Taylor opened up one of the bottles of sprinkles and moved to pour them into the empty tub. Somehow, she bumped the bottle into the sneeze guard, sending thousands of rainbow sprinkles scattering into the air and into all the ice cream flavors.

  ∞Death’s Apprentice∞ spoke the being with a billion, layered voices.

  Ever stood there. The ruined ice cream flavors were still there, as was Taylor, moving in slow motion, her face in shock at her inexplicable mistake.

  *Who are you?*

  The being gazed at Ever. Once again, he felt the sensation of falling forever. He willed himself to stay grounded in… whatever this plane was.

  ∞I can restore how things were if you answer one question for me.∞

  Ever waited an eternity compressed in moment.

  ∞What flavor do you think goes best with sprinkles?∞

  Ever stared at the being. From the corner of his eye, Death stood not ten paces away. His jaw bone was moving, but no words were coming out.

  Ever picked up the scoop, reached in and dug out a scoop of chocolate ice cream.

  *Cup or cone?*

  ∞Cone.∞

  Ever plopped it into a cone then weaved it through the air, collecting the sprinkles suspended in mid air until they evenly coated the ice cream. He reached over the glass, handing the ice cream over.

  “Thank you, mister!” The little girl with pigtails said brightly. Ever blinked.

  Taylor had shifted behind him and was serving other customers with her practiced customer service smile. Ever inspected the flavors; no contamination in sight. The only thing wrong was that the sprinkle tub was empty, as was the sprinkle bottle laying on its side on the bench.