"Ah— no, then, it must be the latter." Which, knowing all the man has suffered, all that haunts him still, hardly surprises.

Yet, she is a gentle little thing, isn’t she? Forthright. Earnest. He’ll have to dig, he decides. He wants to know exactly where those tangled threads might lead. "I’ve the same little affliction, you see. Minus the magical inclination. Well— ever since turning up here, anyway. Whatever I used to be able to do, I can’t."

A pause before he adds, one finger raised between them:

"A secret to be kept between us, of course. I’m rather fond of his company. Keeps the boredom away from time to time." His hand drops, his attention turning instead towards his own meal at last, the fragrance of it undeniable.

"But I’ll ask. No better way to figure out what has him all tangled up than to hear it straight from the man himself."