Life had a strange way of throwing the bad at you when good was right around the corner.

Fighting off hailstones and fire-rain caused him to lose his broom.
Acting a leader ended up in him being turned into a cat.
Trying to become a hero on an expedition to clear a mysterious fog resulted in him going home to the news that his father was on his death bed.

It was news like that, Thomas Tilcott found, put everything into perspective that didn’t need to be put into perspective. It was news that drew a dark cloud over the sun and specked the ground with cold water.
Life was a short adventure and no matter what you did to prolong it, it could end at any moment. Everything you were as a being could become a distant memory of something you hope would come back.

And it scared him. It terrified him more than the monsters in his nightmares when he was a child. At least they went away when his father comforted him. This was a monster that did not want to leave.
It crawled into his gut and made his stomach swell; his head turn. Every thought had been overwhelmed with fixations of his father’s body going limp; hand falling from his mothers grasp to fall against the side of the bed. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong and there was nothing the chaser could do to stop it.

Thomas couldn’t see his father. He couldn’t see his family. He wanted to but… he couldn’t. He was too fearful. If knowing what was happening felt like this, then what would it be like to see it? No. He couldn’t.

So instead, he hid in London for a while longer and arranged to meet with Zinnia Potts. He didn’t really know why he’d asked to see her. It just… felt right. It felt as if he knew her somewhat and that she knew him. He wasn’t sure why or how and he couldn’t turn to Rufus. He couldn’t turn to anybody, really. But he had to: - he needed someone. Anyone.

It seemed then that Zinnia Potts would be that anyone and help distract him on the premise of talking and eating desserts.

Upon entering, Thomas didn’t even realise the time until he noticed Zinnia half way through her treat – a similar looking woman sitting on the table next to Zinnia. Thomas smiled at the woman, assuming her to be of relation to Zinnia, before sitting down.

“Sorry… I lost track of time… I-er..” He looked distantly around the room before turning his eyes to the table briefly, “How are you, Miss Potts?” He asked quietly.

---