“Truly,” Viola insisted, because he seemed so very sincere and in truth she had not meant to trouble him at all. He looked like he had been dashing through, after all. He must have more important places to be.

So she held out a damp spot on her skirt and with her other hand pinched out a patch of cocoa-slush wet on her chest, a little awkward about that patch but ultimately far more interested in witnessing the spell for herself. She bit her tongue for as long as she could for however long it would take so as not to interrupt him, but the longer she stood the more questions were planting themselves in her brain.

“Are you off to anywhere interesting today?” She asked, curious and a little wistful, the moment she could hold her peace no longer. She was quite aware that a strange gentleman had no obligation to tell her anything, but Viola was of the mind that everyone else’s lives were usually far more interesting than hers.

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