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Walt stopped working whenever Hollis’s ma appeared. He didn’t seem to want her to know what he was doing. As if she would just not notice that her house was cleaner and better than it was earlier in the day.

Walt opened their kitchen pantry and just stared at it.

What now? Not organized well enough for His Royal Highness?

If Hollis could feel his arms well enough to fold them, he would.

Walt reached out and dragged his fingers across the labels, then picked up a jar of pickled asparagus.

You’re still doing this here... ? he said.

Everyone does it. We have a supermarket, of course, but who wants to rely on that all the time? It’s cheaper to make and grow stuff and share with each other. Should be familiar to an ancient demon like yourself.

Walt was using Hollis’s face to frown. He made a soft mournful sound and hung his head.

Don’t worry. Along with Little House on the Prairie , I’ve also read The Jungle . You can close the pantry and walk away if it’s too traumatizing for you to look at, Hollis said meanly.

Walt gripped the side of the pantry hard enough to hurt, then he put the asparagus back down.

You don’t know what it was like. If you did, it would never occur to you to be cruel.

Walt closed the pantry doors like he was closing the doors to a church.