"Not this past year," Ignis said, his smile instantly warming when her hand met his, his thumb still lightly brushing her cool cheek. "This past year has contained so much that exist well beyond what I'd have ever thought possible, even in dreams. And today yet another astonishing example."

But like her amusement, his smile faded, as well.

"But for the longest time," he said, "the only dreams I had were of things still to come. The true irony of my curse: I may have lost my natural vision, but I was given visions of a different kind, of things that would happen but things I could not change. There really hasn't been much else."

Which just may lean toward an answer to one of those unspoken questions.

But also, genuinely, no coffee he'd experienced yet could even compare.