June 16th, 1888 - Magdalena's Bakery

Dazed, disoriented and what could only described as being in a dream-like state fuelled by opium and whatever else he could find under his pillow that day, Coleman walked through magical London in search of an animal.

When he'd awoken from his slumber in the middle of the afternoon, Coleman could have sworn there was a chocolate frog in his bed. Or a real frog. Either way, he hadn't been able to find it so with the determination of someone doing something that'd make you determined, Coleman sauntered through the streets of Diagon Alley. He'd made sure to take a hit from his opium pipe before he left because as anyone knew, opium was always a good option when you wanted to search for something.

He'd already forgotten why he was out when he reached a rather nice smelling bakery and when he reached out to open the door, Coleman's hand slammed into one of the shop-windows. It wasn't hard enough to cause it to break though there was definitely a bang.

Taking a step back, Coleman smiled. Doors were wonderful things. They opened and they closed and were like magical portals to other worlds. And this door was no exception. It took him four tries to open the door before he realised it was already propped open and he was grasping for a handle that wasn't there this entire time but he didn't mind; these things happened to everyone. Didn't they?

He entered the bakery and immediately went over to the sweet treats, his breathing had slowed tremendously and he seemed to be focused on a particular spot.

"Is that... a cake?" Coleman asked to nobody in particular as he stared at the sweet loaf of raisin bread, "Is it a... chocolate cake?" He said with a relaxed air, his eyes still fixated on the white loaf of raisin bread.

"I quite... like chocolate.. cake." He nodded over-confidently at himself.

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Maggie was..a mess. Really. It felt like her life was crumbling down around her. There was nothing that could be done for any of it though. There was, however, one thing she could do and that was to work. It was pretty much all she could do. It was the one thing that gave her some amount of peace and calm despite the flurry of emotions and thoughts in her mind. As a result, she was often up before the sun had even had a chance to rise and still up well after it had set.

That day had been no exception and she'd had the cases of the shop refilled with plenty of delicious baked goods well before it was to officially be open for the day. Cane had been able to take over the front of the shop one it was supposed to open and Maggie had quickly retreated to the back to work on some fancier looking cakes to put in the front windows. The new cakes had taken her until well into the afternoon but they looked marvelous in the front windows. She'd noticed after placing one of them that the front of the shop was actually quite warm though, so she propped the door open to let some fresh air in.

With a sigh and a faint smile, she turned to her little brother and shooed him off upstairs to get something to eat and to take a break. There was little else to do in the back by that time so she'd opted to take over the front. She doubted Cane would mind, he could certainly finish reading his new book while she took over. He'd just gone upstairs and she'd just started washing the front case displays when a loud bang startled her.

Wide blue eyes turned to see a gentleman acting quite peculiar. She slipped back behind the front counter, though made sure to keep an eye on him during the process, unsure what to think of him. Eventually, after a few tries of opening the already opened door, he came into the shop. Her gaze narrowed on him, a hand instinctively moving to the wand in her apron pocket, as he inspected what was clearly a loaf of raisin bread and talked as if it were chocolate cake.

"Are you alright, sir?" she asked, her voice tense as she continued to watch him closely.

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Marvelous MJ Masterpiece

Being the only occupant of your world had it’s benefits: You were in a world filled with quiet and away from distraction, for one.

Comparatively, there were some downsides to constantly being in your own bubble. One such downside was that he had no idea there was anyone in this shop and when the woman spoke from behind him – from the counter – he jumped up and let out an almighty, ‘ahh’.

He turned around wide-eyed and startled and then glared at the woman, “What’d you do that for?” He enquired.

He wasn’t entirely sure why she’d decided to scare him like that or, for that matter, why she was holding a quill like that.

“You don’t hold quills like that,” He spoke, his voice confused as his eyes narrowed on her wand, “And where’s the feather?”

Before she could answer, however, Coleman saw a nice bun that looked to have sugar and cinnamon on. He leaned over the glass and stared at it, “Is this edible? It looks like fake food. You know. When they put it in shops and you think it’s real but it isn’t and you think it’s an apple but the apple is just an enchant and it’s actually a rock.” He nodded and stood back up, grinning with bare teeth, “Did you know rocks hurt your teeth? ‘Cause they do.”

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Maggie simply stared at the man wide eyed. Something was clearly off. She wasn't entirely sure what it was but he certainly wasn't right. It was almost frightening, if she were to be completely honest even if she'd never admit as much. She could handle herself well enough if he did prove to be a violent sort of crazy person.

And then he was talking about a quill. She looked down at her hand, realizing she'd brought her wand out of her pocket and was holding it carefully though she hadn't pointed it at him in the slightest. She just.. wanted it close in hand. Just in case.

And now fake food? What was wrong with this guy?

"I imagine they do," she responded, warily still, "But no. It's not fake. All of the food you see here is quite edible." And quite tasty if you asked her. But..she wasn't sure how long she wanted to converse with the madman so she didn't say anything any further. Maybe he'd get bored and simply leave.

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Marvelous MJ Masterpiece

Coleman liked edible things.
Food, cakes, tablets. All of those things made his life worth living and as he watched her with a questioning look, Coleman took note of her wary attitude and simply offered a sigh before moving to another counter.

He didn't want to make her feel like he was being rude so he decided to point at a small bread bun and nod decidedly, "How much is this? It looks like I can eat it."

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Continuing to watch him with caution and her wand still in hand, Maggie moved over to the bread in question. She glanced at it quickly to see just which one he was indicating before her gaze focused back on him. She almost wished Lorcan were home in that moment and the thought made her cheeks flush. No, she could handle this. She didn't need Lorcan.

"Three knuts," she answered, straight to the point.

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Marvelous MJ Masterpiece

Straight to the point, it seemed. She wanted three nuts! Nodding confidently, Coleman reached into his pocket and pulled out some lint and huffed before turning to some other bread, “I have no peanuts but how much is this?”

Of course, it seemed, all sense of money had gone out the window. It usually did when it came to Cole; he wasn’t the brightest but he got by. Kind of.

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Maggie's eyes widened when he mentioned not having any peanuts. What in Merlin's beard was the man going on about? Clearly there was something wrong with him in the head. She still felt the tension in her body but she was beginning to think that perhaps he was just an idiot of some sort and not actually dangerous by any means.

With a small sigh, she pulled out the bread he'd asked about previously and offered it to him. "Here, the first one is on me," she said simply as she waited for him to take it. She just hoped he'd take it and leave.

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Marvelous MJ Masterpiece

Eyeing the bread, Coleman smiled widely and practically snatched it off of her. She was rather quite nice – though was acting rather strange. Which he didn’t understand and he found it to be rather rude, really! If she was in charge of this shop, surely it would be wise to not be strange around your customers. Oh well. People will do what people did, he supposed.

“Why thanks, Miss!” Coleman said as he reached into his pockets and pulled out a few shiny coins – a galleon and a few sickles. He didn’t quite realise what they were as he placed them on the counter. ‘Nor did he understand that he did have some money, “But I feel bad. It isn’t much but I have to give you something!”

With that, Coleman left and stood outside the shop for a moment staring at the bread. He glared at it and realised he wasn’t hungry anymore so he just gave it to some child and walked off.

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