Falcon shifted a little, taking a fry with his spindly fingers and
putting it into his mouth, which had drifted to his neck for
convenience.

Shinko pouted a bit at seeing Falcon so quiet. “Falcon, it’s okay. They’re nice! They won’t bite if you speak up!” she insisted.

When
Falcon didn’t respond to Shinko’s plea, Crystal gently took hold of the
fringe of Falcon’s other sleeve, a small smile on her face. This
managed to catch the demon’s attention as he glanced back at her.

“…you
can do it. Do you remember the Repairman? He was at our Halloween party
a few years ago. Remember?” she asked softly, keeping a gentle smile.

Falcon
seemed taken aback by Crystal’s words as he slowly turned to look at
the blob that lacked a bow. Slowly, he started to recall seeing the
walking gravestone that had come by their house once upon a time.

“…sorry. Thank you,” he finally spoke softly, nodding his head towards the Repairman.

Seeing
as how the fries had cooled down, Shinko was busy using a toy shovel to
literally shovel some fries onto her plate. “Aww, how come he never
does it when I ask?” Shinko whined before taking some fries to shove in
her mouth.

The Repairman nodded, smiling encouragingly.

“Yeah, it’s been a while…” he chuckled sympathetically. “Don’t blame ya for not recognizing me…”

He shrugged, before taking a handful of fries. No use dwelling on that.

“So, uh, other than the misfire, what else has been happening?”

Marie cringed. He was still acting like it was no big deal. No wonder he needed an assistant!

Still, she managed to put on a smile again and scooped a few fries of her own onto her plate. She had several questions, to be sure, but maybe several of them would be answered here anyway.