They had a sort of a Mexican standoff in the kitchen, as though waiting for the oven's clock to strike the hour before the guns were pulled. I mean, just look at Spinnenfrau: all confidence and not bothered at all by the tension till the trigger-pull. Meanwhile, Elisabeth couldn't get her knees to stop knocking each other. The woman finally eyed Elisabeth’s containers of food and nodded to the counter.

“W-Whuh? Oh!” Elisabeth placed the food on the counter top, intending to ask some long-overdue questions.

Spinnenfrau suddenly scooped Elisabeth up into the tightest, most spine-breaking hug Elisabeth had up to that point. She twirled the shrieking girl around then stood her back on her slippers. Then, with Elisabeth being all confusion, Spinnenfrau checked Elisabeth's arm muscles and length, smacked her back (“Hurk!”) for apparently the right reaction from the girl, then inspected the dark roots of her platinum locks; her teeth, her gums, her ear canals...

Yet at an instance, the woman stopped with a gasp. She peered closely at Elisabeth, who found herself frozen. Spinnenfrau then shot forth an index finger and a thumb, pried open Elisabeth's wink, and glared at Elisabeth's lilac iris. The woman's once prideful countenance darkened into apprehension, almost into horror.

“Excuse me!" yelled Elisabeth, shaking Spinnenfrau off. "Who are you? What’re you trying to do to me? Why are you here at this hour? Why—" Spinnenfrau sniffed at the jar of preservatives again. "—The preserves. Why—what—why are you sniffing preserves.”

Spinnenfrau offered the jar to Elisabeth, who slightly shook her head in a perplexed manner. The woman then peered inside (as if not knowing what was in the jar to begin with) stuck in a finger (“How unsanitary!” Elisabeth thought) and tasted the sweet goo. She immediately made a face of disgust. Yet she held onto the preserves as she wandered about the kitchen, poking about certain items like crudely drawn pictures, silverware laid in drawers, squeaking faucets, and colorful letter magnets.

“H-Hold on,” Elisabeth finally said after many failed attempts. “Hold on! Frau!”

Spinnenfrau paid no attention to her. She merely sniffed the jar and bent over to pick up a plastic child’s toy left on the kitchen floor. While she closely examined it, the toy came to life with lights and song, surprising her silly.

Spinnenfrau crushed the toy in her hand.

Elisabeth gasped.

Fretting, Spinnenfrau hid the broken toy in the open fridge, closing its door inconspicuously. She then reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a silver pocket watch to check the time. She bit her bottom lip and pocketed her watch. She then offered the orphan her hand.

“A handshake?” Elisabeth said, airily. After seeing that woman crush the toy so easily, she really didn’t want to partake in proper courtesy. But she didn’t want to appear rude, either. “O...kay.” So she lent her hand out as well.

The woman snatched up her wrist. She then pulled Elisabeth along into the foyer.

“Oh-ee!” Elisabeth yelped. “What’re you--what do you think you’re--?” Entering the foyer, they both suddenly found themselves face to face with pajamaed women.