Now that we’ve given everyone a chance to make some guesses (and thanks for making them, it’s always fun to read!) and some people have written in asking, we’ll officially reveal the nature of the numbers on the cups!

The entire scene was actually a slight nod to Alice In Wonderland and The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. The Hatter’s Hat reads In This Style, 10/6, so we played around with the cups to match those numbers. Fragile has the number 4, which is mostly obscured by her hand, because it isn’t terribly important. However, 4+6 = 10 again, and in Kabbalah symbolism (referenced earlier in the comic, in title pages as well), 4, 6 and 10 are important elements/numbers, four being doubly important because it’s also the number of realms of created existence. There’s also a little bit more going on with the Kabbalah symbolism and numbers, but that’s the basic principle! And as another slight nod, Revelations 10:6 references: “And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created Heaven and Earth, that there should be time no longer.” This has long been a proposed idea of why the Hatter’s card read those numbers, but we found it apt for the comic as well.

Also, Arthur has a glass of milk because he wouldn’t like tea. No symbolism, he’s just a picky kid, but Gaki knows him well enough to anticipate it.

Thanks for the continued readership, and as always, the wonderful comments and discussions! <3 A&K Now: Tea Time.