"Alright, good to see you're holding down the fort, Deer," the young man said in mild enthusiasm. "The food's good as ever, but business is never your strong suit. I was even beginning to worry that you flat-out ignored the tax guy again."

The young man glanced out the window, then back at the old man, preparing butter, as he did as long as the young man was a young boy. Somehow, the simple process of preparing butter takes him back to his unholy youth, when life was crueler and every other corner was out to get him. The bakery was his only constant.

The young man snaps out of it. He patiently awaits his usual goods with a familiar smile.