When Alex reached Halcyon, the place was abuzz with people of all ages, gorging on a variety of fanciful dishes. Several waiters and waitresses in light blue aprons circulated the room, each wearing a servile smile on their faces.

Carsyn leaned against the counter watching the world go by inside, when she noticed Alex at the door and waved him over.

"No more avoiding your uncle?" Alex asked her.

"Only because he threatened to kidnap you from your house if he didn't finally get to meet you," Carsyn explained, sounding more exasperated then ever. "If his single-minded behavior bothers you at all, just give me some sort of look and I'll teach him better, okay?" Alex nodded. "And beware, he talks sometimes like he's a sidekick to the main character in a cheesy romance movie."

Alex chuckled, but nodded. "Lead the way."

Carsyn turned, starting towards a back room behind the counter. Alex followed as they entered what appeared to be a break-room. It was a spacious area with a few white folding tables and chairs — some of the most plain-looking objects in the entire restaurants. Although the walls, like the rest of the café, tremendously colorful.

At the center of the room stood Silas, gleefully resting at a violet colored, triangular table. "You're here at last!" he said upon laying eyes on the two. "Come on, let me get a good look at you. And please, call me Silas." Carsyn went forward with Alex right by her side, but as soon as they were close enough, Silas reached out and clutched Alex by his shoulders and pulled him in to get a closer view. "Alex Prior, you look precisely like your dad."

"Not sure that's really a good thing," Alex pouted.

Silas laughed, and the seasoned tone of it resounded in the room. "Martin had the right idea about you. Come sit. We'll dine like high-ranking, professional baking judges."

He stepped to the side revealing six dishes, three tall glasses, a napkin dispenser, and a clear jar with three metal forks tucked inside, all on set on the table. Wonder-struck by the placement, Alex followed Carsyn in taking a seat.

"In front of you is a slice of pumpkin chocolate-chip cake, topped with chocolate sauce on one plate. While on the other plate, is a slice of blackberry lemonade pie, topped with some blackberries. And for the beverage, is a chocolate and vanilla swirled milkshake," Silas explained. He held himself like an actual waiter announcing the appetizers at a high-class restaurant. "A pie and a cake will make your stomach ache, but since this is a special occasion, a stomach ache will be worth it."

Alex stood from his seat halfway, then delivered a slight bow to Silas. "감사합니다. (Kamsahamnida)" He then grabbed a fork from the jar and dug straight into the pie.

Silas glanced at Alex, surprised. His head craned to Carsyn for awaiting an explanation, but she grinned like a cat instead as she dove a fork into the cake as well, paying no attention to her uncle.

"I see you're passing on your knowledge of those Korean language lessons from Ziro, over to Alex," Silas still said to her.

"Mhmmm," Carsyn mumbled.

"Do you know any Korean, Silas?" Alex asked.

Silas beamed. "I know a few phrases. You see, before Syn was passing her newly learned knowledge onto you, I was first in line. Her mother was born in South Korea, yet she always neglected to teach Syn the language. Ziro's mother was born there too, and Ziro was always surrounded by the culture growing up. So, eventually after meeting Ziro, Syn let him start teaching her-oomf!" There was a stifled thud beneath the table, as it trembled a bit from apparent impact nearby. Alex watched as the smile vanished from Silas' face, and was aimed accusingly now at Carsyn.

She stared back at her uncle, mildly vexed. "Quit it already. Any other questions for him, Lexy?"

Silas snickered. "Lexy?" Carsyn's irate stare returned, compelling Silas to clear his throat and turn all his attention back to Alex.

Alex suppressed his laughter and asked Silas, "how do you get the ideas for all these kinds of foods you make?"

Silas' smile was a proud streak of light. "I suppose I started to develop the skill when I was quite young — eleven or twelve perhaps. Whenever I looked inside the refrigerator I would look at each item individually and wonder, 'what could go well together?' I blended different foods together — jelly and chocolate, apples and peanut butter, nuts and chicken, all sorts of things. I was young, but I got tired of the same old meals and desserts every single day. So of course, I had to take action. Try things that were completely out of this world. Try things that sounded utterly insane-"

Alex chuckled again. "You said 'udder'." His chuckling fit went one, spreading to Carsyn as well.

Silas looked at her, baffled. "You seriously think that's funny too?"

She shrugged. "Lexy's personality's pretty fascinating, in a platonic way, that is."

"Alright, my turn for a question," Silas announced. "Alex, what exactly do you like about my niece?" Carsyn glowered at her uncle, but Silas returned it with a curious smirk at them both.

Not really recognizing its bluntness, Alex considered the question a moment while slurping down his milkshake. "Mhm...I like her personality, too. She's entirely different from all the girls back at my old school. She's not afraid to say what she thinks about something, and I'm pretty sure she could go toe-to-toe with Godzilla and live. She's my first, official best friend."

Carsyn's grin was radically radiant. "You mean I could go toe-to-toe with Godzilla and win. I swear you must think I'm a poser sometimes, Lexy." She and Alex erupted into a joyous bout of laughter, leaving out a bewildered Silas to sit there and watch them.

His gaze dangled back and forth between the two teens. "So she's...just your 'best friend'?"

Carsyn shot him another baleful look. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Silas went silent for a curt second. "Not at all." He and Carsyn kept up the intense staring contest, until a jarring slurping noise interrupted them.

They looked over as Alex stared into the wetted pit of his empty glass. "Oh..."

"You must be eating for two, aren't ya, Lexy? Hang on, I'll get you a refill." Carsyn grabbed his glass before leaving the break-room. Silas continued to eye her vacant seat.

Alex glanced at Silas. He was aware of the sour feelings Carsyn had towards her uncle, but she had never explained to him why. And now, without any idea of how long she might take to get him a refill, Alex decided to ask the unthinkable.

"Why does Carsyn not like you very much?"

Silas' eyes went wide. "Wow. You may look like your father, but you aren't really much like him. Interesting. So Syn never told you why?"

"No. I asked her about it in the letters once, but all she'd said was that she wasn't comfortable talking about it."

"I see. So did she ever mention of the issue between her parents and herself at least?"

"Yeah," Alex replied, a bit hesitant. "She did."

Silas nodded. "A year after she left home and came to live with me, she started working part-time at Halcyon, got a tattoo, and dyed her hair when she had saved enough. All at fifthteen. I started worrying that my brother and his wife weren't ever going to forgive her, so one day I asked Syn if it was possible that her whole 'coming out' was just a phase. I read a lot of studies that year, and it was actually the case for many teens her age."

"Their family was going to break up over something ridiculous, and I admit that even my brother was overreacting too. I told this to Syn, and she's been furious with me ever since. If I knew it would make her so upset I wouldn't have asked her anything until she was older maybe. We used to be so close, but now we're so distant. I still love her, though, and she loves working here at Halcyon. Maybe...one day, she'll be able to go back home to her parents."

Alex recalled when Carsyn had revealed to him a week ago about her kiss with Ziro. "So that's what she wanted to test out," he whispered to himself.

"What was that?" Silas asked.

Alex straightened his back and looked Silas right in the eyes. "Uhm, what did she need to be forgiven for?"

"W-what?"

"All she did was, confide in her parents about who she was. Why should she apologize?"

"U-uh, y-you know, when it comes to religion, people have their beliefs-"

"I'm sorry, but I thought God was supposed to love everybody? I can't imagine believing in a religion where your God supposedly loves you for who you are, and your parents don't. It must have been suffocating. It took Syn fourteen years to realize and accept that part of her, and then get the courage to tell her parents. But she gets rejected by the two people who are supposed to love her unconditionally. And the one family member she thought would be different, goes and tells her that it's all just a 'ridiculous phase'. She didn't just choose it; it's who she is. And no matter what age she is, such a suggestion is completely...single-minded. But at least you still love her, that's something. That's a lot actually."

A disheartened Silas watched as Alex resumed his pie consumption. Words tried to find their way out of his lips, but he couldn't muster any. Just as some sound was about to leave his mouth, Carsyn — who had been standing behind the wall by the door, for some time apparently — returned to the table with a large plastic cup and a straw inserted.

"I'm back," she said. "Oh, and change of plans, Lexy. Ziro called, and he actually wants to have a little private meeting with you before the actual group one starts. So I said I'd bring you over to his place ASAP. We'll just make a few pit stops to grab Helio and Aetherius. Come on, I'll get the rest of your dishes to-go, and I already got you a refill to-go as well. You don't mind, right Uncle S.?"

Silas faltered, still no words making it through. Maybe it was because Carsyn hadn't called her uncle that since she was fifthteen, Alex had remembered from a letter Carsyn had written once. "Of course not...go on," Silas said finally. "I'll clear your plates, Syn."

"Thanks for the dessert. You're really talented at what you do," Alex said with a courteous smile. He scooped up his dishes and headed off with Carsyn.

Silas stared at Carsyn's half-eaten cake slice as they did. When the two were gone, he grabbed the last fork from the jar, and sunk it into his own cake slice. Still sweet, but, somehow much different.