"It is a tired introduction," Natalia snaps, rising from the table so swiftly that, were she anything but superlatively graceful, the chair would surely be on its back. One man after the other, throwing themselves upon danger should they feel its lack even for a moment, or seating themselves at her table to joke about it.

"May we not even have two moments strung together in this place?" It feels like more a test of their sanity than ever of late, loops and deaths and unhappy reunions back to back. "That boy was happy here, and for the first time in his life, if I understand correctly. James is - " She stops herself, staring flint eyed at her tiny cabinet, and reaches for the vodka they'd not quite finished.

"What do you know about him?" she asks again.