“Not interrupting anything, am I?” Taylor said warily, eyeing the two boys.

  “Not at all,” Chaos said smoothly. “Ever was just telling me how his weekend was.”

  “Oh?” Taylor said. She went through into the scooping area, grabbed her apron and threw it over her head. She gave him a look that he had seen all summer, prompting him to grab the Floral Fem Fresh, giving himself a spray all over.

  “Yeah I went to the beach.”

  “Oh that’s nice, which one?”

  “Saint Kilda.”

  “Really? See any hot babes there?”

  “No.” Ever said quickly. He was pretty sure he could hear Death smacking himself in the head with his bony hand.

  Taylor gave him that other look, the one where it felt like she pierced his human shell, gazing directly into the flaming nucleus that was his true identity. How did she make him feel that he was lying, even though he wasn’t?

  “Anyway, we’ve got some paperwork to do.” Taylor shuffled behind Ever into the back room and came back out with a clipboard and a pen. “It’s time for the yearly ‘Mid-Summer Nights,’ the festival to end all festivals.” She didn’t sound very excited.

  “What do we do for ‘Mid-Summer Nights?’” Ever asked.

  “You haven’t heard of it?” Taylor asked, mascaraed eyes wide. “Have you been living under a rock your whole life?”

  Bedrock, lass. Though I’m not too sure where the Underworld actually begins, Death quipped.

  “‘Mid-Summer Nights’ is a street market where all the stores on Lygon Street come out and set up in the middle of the street once the sun starts going down. We close off both ends and people come by, sample our wares and just generally have fun.” Taylor crossed her arms. “It’s just not that fun for us because it’s noisy, we have to constantly move between the shop and the stall and it just generally sucks.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “That doesn’t sound too bad,” Ever said.

  “Yeah well, wait til next week. Anyway,” she handed him a form, and directed a set also to Chaos. “They need the full name and address of everyone who’s going to operate the stall on the day and I want both of you to help. Just fill it in now so I can give it back to the organizers.”

  Ever took the forms and looked at them. It was exactly as Taylor said, asking for a first and last name, postal address, age and the number of the specific type of identification. Ever's palms started getting clammy.

  “Drivers License OK?” Chaos asked.

  “Perfect,” Taylor responded.

  *Drivers License? What vehicle do you drive?*

  ∞Any vehicle I need to drive, Death’s Apprentice.∞

  “What ID do you have?” Taylor asked, “I think even a concession card will do.”

  Ever kept staring at the form. He was going to need to spray some more Fem Fresh soon.

  Hey Chaos, can Ever get a little help? Death asked.

  ∞No.∞

  Why not?

  ∞Why should I?∞ Chaos looked up from the form, eyes fathomless and everywhere again. He had instantaneously melded the Underworld and Earth together; Death stood not far away, clutching his right elbow through the voluminous robe with his bony left hand.

  ∞Who sends their Apprentice to work without the necessary tools?∞

  It’s my first time.

  ∞Fine.∞ Chaos raised a hand and clicked his fingers, Death was gone and Ever and Chaos were back in the ice cream shop.

  Taylor turned around. “Oh, mail’s here.” She grabbed it from the postman and sifted through it. “This one’s for you,” she handed Ever a letter.

  “For me?” Ever took it, hesitantly opened it then looked at the Drivers Licence stuck on the paper.

  EVER THANATOSIKOS

  1 COLLEGE CRESCENT

  PARKVILLE, VIC, 3052

  He looked up at his colleague, relief on his face. *Thank you, Chaos.*

  ∞You owe me, Death’s Apprentice.∞