Spider threads caught at her face, a sign that no-one had been there yet. Perfect. Alice ignored how the webs tickled her nose and entered the room. A sea of chests and storage cases flooded the attic floor, each housing a different insignia of the Arcana. She scanned the chests for a moment before snapping her fingers.

Chests and cases alike shuffled around the floor until they were lined up along the walls. All of them, except one. A walkway was cleared for Alice as she moved towards the one chest in the center of the room. She hooked her finger to beckon the chest forward. The wooden box rose from the floor and floated towards Alice.

Alice opened the chest’s lid and grinned. Inside of the chest lied lush velvet, holding only two tarot cards. The gold lining of the cards glimmered as Alice took out the left card.

Alice turned the card over in her hand once before pocketing the card in the breast pocket of her dress. She closed the lid of the chest and cast it aside, the other chests and cases flying off the sides of the walls to reclaim the flung chest.

“Play nice with each other while I'm gone won’t you,” Alice said, turning on her heel.

She closed the door behind her and made her downstairs. The sweet scent of chocolate wafted through the air as she descended the stairs, making her nose wrinkle.

“How you can stand to be surrounded by sweets all day is beyond me,” she said upon entering the kitchen.

Elis shot her a glare from his post at the counter. The creamy chocolate coating shortbread paused mid-swirl the moment Elis heard Alice’s footsteps. Alice rolled her eyes at his wrinkled brows.

“Just my take is all,” she said.

Elis grumbled under his breath and finished decorating the chick shaped shortbread with a twirled bow around its neck. He slid the remaining rows of cookies from the pan into a plastic bag. As he tied a blue ribbon around the bag, Alice snatched the other bags into a basket.

“And what is this all for exactly?” Elis asked.

“Oh, Elis,” Alice said, rearranging the cookie bags in the basket. “It’s complicated business that would confuse you even more.”

Alice picked up the last bag Elis had wrapped when his hand clamped around her wrist.

“My shop. My business.” Elis snarled.

Alice stared at him cooly, pulling her wrist from his grasp easily. She dropped the last bag into the basket.

“What would you do if I said I was going to poison everyone in your town?” Alice asked. “Police included.”

Elis swallowed, dropping his gaze to the counter.

“That’s what I thought.” Alice tucked the basket under her arm and made her way to the door. “I’ll be back by sundown. Don’t wait up.”

***

Another spark of light raced up the trunk and crackled along its leaves before being blown away. Colby lowered his iron crescent with a frown.

“Why isn’t it working?” Colby groaned, stomping his foot on the ground.

“Maybe cause you named it Leslie.” Kale replied. Kale bit back a chuckle at the boy’s deadly glare. “It’s a pretty name. I just don’t think it's right for this...loophole.”

At Colby’s dejected expression, Kale relented and rose from his seat on a log. He clapped his hands on the boy’s shoulders. Giving them a squeeze, he noted the plumes of dark orange bleeding across midnight blue.

“How about we call it a morning, huh?” He asked. “Maybe you can ask your cards about how to use it after having some breakfast.”

Colby sighed, leaning back against Kale. “Ok.”

The two trekked back down the grassy underbelly of the forest until they reached a dirt path worn by footprints and bike marks. Grass lapped at Kale’s knees and Colby’s stomach as they walked. Dawn painted the horizon in a mirage of colors. They grew enraptured by the azure waves of the sea devouring the shore until Kale abruptly stumbled to a halt. Another yelp mirrored his as a body stumbled backward.

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry,” Kale spluttered, rubbing his nose than rammed into the other man’s shoulder.

“Watch where you--" the man stopped his cursing, squinting at Kale. “Wodtke?”

Kale blinked and felt his stomach twist. He forced a smile to his lips despite the sting in his nose.

“Morning Roger,” It took all Kale had not to grimace.

Roger looked Kale up and down, no doubt counting the number of leaves and twigs tangled in his attire and hair. Kale grip on Colby’s hand tightened.

“I didn’t take you for an outdoors man,” Roger sniffed. “Bunker get to stuffy for you?”

Kale’s smile twitched. “We needed a change of scenery from the classroom. Right, Col?”

Colby nodded silently, taking a step behind Kale. Rogers arched a bushy brow at him.

“At seven in the morning?” Roger asked.

“We’re early birds.” Kale shrugged.

Roger was about to say more when he caught the glint of the iron crescent. Colby quickly hid it behind his back.

“That some kind of witch toy or something, Colvin?” Roger asked.

Colby’s lips thinned into a tight line. “No.” His nails bit into Kale’s hand. “I made it.”

“Speak up when someone’s talking to you.”

“I made it.”

Roger’s brows furrowed at the icy tone when Kale wedged himself between them.

“So sorry to run into you,” Kale tentatively patted Roger’s shoulder. “Maybe next time we can run into each other when it's not so early.”

Roger shook Kale’s hand off with a scowl. As he made his way past them, he mumbled to him, “Our schools down here know how to teach children respect. When I see you at the meeting next week, we can talk about the programs best suited for,” he glanced down at Colby, “special cases like your boy.”

The scuffling of Roger’s jogging shoes grew distant. It was only when he was out of earshot that Kale let his smile drop. He ran a hand down his face with a sigh.

“I don’t like him,” Colby said.

“That’s not a nice thing to say Col,” Kale could feel the growl on Colby’s tongue. He gently tugged the boy along. “And you can’t talk that way to other adults.”

“But he talked to you like that.”

“That’s different.”

Kale came to a slow halt at the squeeze Colby gave him. He glanced down at the boy, noting how he dug his teeth into his bottom lip. Kale wriggled his hand from Colby’s and kneeled down. Tipping Colby’s chin up, Kale poked his nose gingerly.

“Collie Bear,” Kale said.

Kale smirked at the shudder that ran through Colby at the nickname. He forced his eyes up to meet Kale's, opening and closing his mouth to speak.

“Do you wish...I were normal?” Colby asked.

Kale tilted his head to the side and hummed. “Nope. You wouldn’t be Colby if you were normal.”

A grin wormed across Colby’s lips as Kale took his hand again.

“Now, I know we had pancakes yesterday,” Kale started, squeezing Colby’s hand. “But I'm thinking we make even bigger pancakes.”