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--donation bonus (day #24, post 3/5)--
‘I’ve got loads more jokes,’ the reaper said.

‘Please, no--’

‘Why aren’t dinosaurs any good at math? Because they’re all dead.’

Hector shook his head. ‘Y’know... of the two of us, I thought you were supposed to be the cheerful one...’

‘Oh, you want cheerful? I can do cheerful. A rabbit goes into a jewelry store, looking to appraise a gold watch. He asks the vendor, “How many carrots?”’

He couldn’t help smirking. ‘That... that’s terrible...’

‘Then why are you smiling?’

‘I’m not smiling...’

‘You definitely are. What about you? Know any jokes?’

‘Ah...’

‘Oh, c’mon.’

‘Uh... okay... a coal miner walks into a bar, and the bartender says... “We don’t serve your kind here.” The coal miner says... “You mean you don’t serve ‘minors’? Never heard that one before.” And the bartender says... “No, I mean we don’t serve black people.”’

‘Whoa, Hector, what the hell?! I thought we were sticking to cute jokes with bunnies and crap!’

‘Oh, ah, sorry...’

The reaper just laughed.

Throughout the week, Hector found considerable enjoyment from eating together with everyone. Of course, he couldn’t hold a conversation with any of them, which was embarrassing, but it was fun just listening. It felt a bit homely, which was something he wasn’t sure he’d ever properly felt before. Lynn’s family got along particularly well, he thought. Given the circumstances, they seemed strangely normal, but he supposed he wasn’t the best judge of that anymore.

Gina had been trying to acquire a new place with a similar level of concealment, but she’d not been having an easy time of it. She was hoping to move everyone by the month’s end.

“We’ve actually met before, Your Majesty,” said Gina over breakfast one morning.

“Have we?” said the King, squinting at her.

“It was very brief,” she said. “I’m not surprised you don’t remember. I was dressed as a maid at the time, and Desmond and Karkash were hassling you.”

He blinked at her. “Ah! Yes! Come to think of it, how in the world did you sneak into the castle? It was locked down at the time.”