Swamped

You suspect your time magic could let you learn it - perhaps by showing you a previous time it was used around here. But you'd really rather not expend the ether, not until you better understand how much you can afford to.

Instead, you opt to bluff.

"I wasn't born yesterday. I do know a password, but how can I be sure you're the one who's supposed to receive it? After all, I don't recognize you, either."

You feel their arms squeezing a little harder.

"You're asking an awful lot for someone in your position," your assailant sneers. "Don't see how you're going to back up that kind of talk, but maybe you'll surprise me."

Perhaps you're not the best at bluffing.

"Let 'em go, Black," says a voice you can't see. "The hat's on the right way this time, but the clothes are all wrong. No jacket, for one. This officer's another fake."

You suddenly find the grip loosening.

"Hey, we can't just go droppin' our names, Sunflower," the voice behind you says pointedly. "Never know who might be listenin'."

"Well, you don't. You don't have the sort of eyes I do. And the only one here is this fellow. Who, judging by his conversation with our friend Mortimer, is looking for the same thing we are."

"Mortimer!" chirps a familiar-sounding voice.

"Your, ah, friend?" you ask.

"Yeah, Morty don't do the pet thing," says the voice behind you, evidently Black. "Which suits me fine. Easier if he feeds himself. So you think he's lookin' for Flame?"

You're not sure exactly what you've walked into. But it seems that it might actually work in your favor, somehow.

"I heard the whole thing," Sunflower says, stepping close enough for you to see him. "Unfortunately, we only thought ahead for a signal on 'somebody's coming', not 'I think they can help us'. Apologies for the trouble."

"You don't wonder why he's looking?" Black asks.

"Well, he's clearly not with the Guild or he would have either given up a password or tried a better bluff. And he doesn't have one of those strange masks, so he's not with that group either. Not to mention, he looks a lot like the old fellow I brought to the hospital earlier. I did tell you about that, didn't I?"

Black doesn't say anything in response. And from the way Sunflower is looking at you intently, you get the feeling that he's waiting for you to say something.