Edith waited in the rain, as she was supposed to. Her cigarette wouldn’t stay lit, but that wasn’t the point. The only thing keeping her hair looking good was the wide brimmed hat she wore, which amazingly survived the onslaught despite how improbable it was.

“Wh-what are you doing out here?”

She looked up. The man standing there, she knew. But she wasn’t supposed to. She saw the realization dawn on him as they were both playing different roles. They had to be strangers.

Sometimes that was fun. Sometimes it was obnoxious. She couldn’t wait to see what this time would be.

He immediately put the umbrella over her head and she felt her role crack. Edith pulled it back together.

“Waiting to be let in.” She waved at the doors ahead.

The man looked over with a frown. “Waiting?”

“I… hear the food’s good.”

That wasn’t really why she was here. He knew it too. Exclusivity was a type of vice, she felt.

Edith could feel as the man weighed his options.* He cleared his throat. “I have an invitation. Care to be my guest?”

She raised an eyebrow. “A guest of a man who I don’t know the name of?”

He hesitated. “Aidan.”

It was a good thing her cigarette had gone out, because she felt like she would have choked on it. “Edith,” she rasped.

Apparently she wasn’t the only one to get it. He fidgeted in place. She wondered why his disguises had to be always so plain. He’d look wonderful in some more “spiffied up” clothes. Or however he put it.

Nevertheless, Edith put her hand on Aidan’s arm. “I won’t argue with that. It’s rather cold out here.”

“Hm,” said Aidan, leading them into the restaurant.

Someone was blessed. Someone was cursed. But the beings calling themselves, for tonight, Aidan and Edith? They had a splendid time.

*She wasn’t sure what his options were, but he certainly was weighing them.