I was at the shop, [ Yusuf starts, as if this questioning is entirely unnecessary. ] Working on an absorption modification for a compound. Acids were proving unhelpful in the pathway so I figured metals might bind easier. They are rather expensive for the purer metals-- gold, platinum, the like-- so I sat down to figure that out, pricing and such [ Yusuf waves a hand, ] Preemptive but necessary if I am going to make the order either way, and...

[ Footsteps slowing a degree, Yusuf follows that thread of thought right into oblivion. ] Curious.

[ Logically he should know that if Eames and Arthur are down here, then he must have closed up shop early and set them up in the small room with walls made more of bookshelves than plaster and the comfortable papasan. But he's dredging up another memory, nothing so close to the forefront as an action performed only moments ago. ] I suppose I... I have no idea.