Arthur sighed. He didn't think he'd been stupid about it, but he also hadn't been adhering to the usual cautions he did to try to avoid the twinges in his knee — which meant there could, he knew, be injuries to the fragile joint. He didn't think Emrys would like hearing that thought, so he swallowed it down.

"Mm — not long," Art said, "Yesterday morning."

  

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set by MJ <3

Not long at all. That was a stroke of luck. If it had been a gradual buildup over days or weeks or months then it would have been possible that whatever had happened to cause it had gone unnoticed enough that Art had since forgotten about it. If it had happened suddenly two days ago, he almost certainly remembered it. He just hadn't recognized it yet for what it was.

"Alright. Then two days ago, before this happened. Walk me through everything." Two days ago had been New Year's Eve, hadn't it? The timing was a little suspect, but it was possible it was just a coincidence. At any rate nothing had happened to Emrys, or his staff, or anyone else in wizarding Britain that he knew of yet, so it couldn't have just been the date. There had to be some other catalyst.

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Lou made this! <3

Art tilted his head back, exposing his throat to the ceiling, and considered the question. "Breakfast at home," he said, "No work, either — I took my daughter to Diagon Alley because she needed new measurements." Measurements for a child were a funny thing, but Gwen was growing fast, and her grandmother wanted to take the older clothes she had made her back for mending and adjustments. Talking about Gwenog with Emrys was strange; looking at the ceiling made it easier. "We went to Fortescue's, and — a new booth. Changes."

He looked back at Emrys, awareness on his face. Changes implied something.

  

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set by MJ <3

The look on Arthur's face indicated he'd had the same thought Emrys had. Anything new was suspect, and a name like changes was doubly ominous. "Well, don't stop there," Emrys said. He wouldn't be surprised if Arthur's mind was racing ahead without him, but that wasn't especially helpful if Art still wanted his insight on trying to solve this.

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Lou made this! <3

"Gwen wanted to check it out, because it was new," Art explained, thinking it important to demonstrate that the booth was not his idea. Gwenog could be like her father, in ways that likely would not be good for her as she got older — they were lucky that she had her mother's diligence, and so far seemed less impulsive than her father. "And the witch inside — she asked what I would change about myself. Obviously I couldn't say anything real," Art said. Fuck, imagine if he'd asked to change something fundamental, something in his personality?

"So I said something flippant, about my knee. And handed her a few knuts." Gwenog had thought it was fun. But he couldn't blame her for it — she was a child. Eating the bonbon had been entirely Art's choice.

  

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set by MJ <3

The story was starting to come together. Whether the woman at the booth had intended to cause chaos or had thought she was doing real good, it seemed clear that magic had been involved there. Arthur had professed to want his knee better, or something like it; in a twisted way this seemed to accomplish that. The next steps were probably obvious, then. Find the woman and see what she'd done, and either get her to reverse it or get a healer to reverse it.

But something had snagged him in Arthur's retelling, and although he knew it wasn't the point Emrys didn't seem capable of just letting the remark go. He hesitated, then asked gently, "What would you have said if... it had been something real?"

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Lou made this! <3

The words not you got stuck in Arthur's mouth, even though they were true. He looked at Emrys' hands. "I'm going to gamble again, someday," he said, because Art knew that like he knew the shape of Emrys' mouth. "And I don't want that to be true."

  

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set by MJ <3