Shopping wasn't nearly as much fun when there wasn't any haggling involved, but Vex still liked to browse the boutique, maybe even rearrange displays or help people pick things out sometimes. So she noticed when there was stock on the shelves that hadn't been there before. Things she wouldn't expect to find: strange masks, wigs, fluffy-gauzy skirts? collars? she wasn't sure they were supposed to be, hats, and clothes that didn't look like what most people wore here.

So she was distracted when she found her way to the cafe, wanting to see if anyone she knew had shown up for check-in day. Or anyone at all, if not someone she knew. She carried a top hat decorated with shiny plastic gears and goggles that were inexplicably glued in place. After helping herself to a cup of coffee from the carafe, she found a table with a view she mostly ignored as she turned the hat over in her hands, wondering why.