Arthur doesn't see the tall man again for a long time. Then, right after school starts, the man shows up again.
Arthur's playing on the playground with some of the kids in his class. He thinks they might be friends, but he isn't sure yet. Right now they're playing tag, although Arthur's slower than the others because he doesn't want to trigger his asthma.
Bob is sitting on one of the nearby benches, talking with someone's mother, but the other bench is empty. Or it was but when Arthur looks back, the tall man is sitting there rather stiffly. He's much too big for it, his knees folded awkwardly, and he's staring right at Arthur.
Arthur manages to tag one of the other kids and backs away from the sandbox. "I'm going to take a break," he says.
The man has a weird expression on his face as he watches Arthur approach, but doesn't do anything when Arthur pulls himself up onto the bench next to him.
"Hi," Arthur says.
"Hello," the man says.
"I'm Arthur," Arthur adds, because it's polite to introduce yourself.
"... You can call me Phineas," the man says after a moment.
"Phineas," Arthur repeats, slowly sounding the name out. "Nice to meet you." He smiles and holds a hand out for Phineas to shake.
Phineas stares at it for a couple of seconds, then takes it in his own. He has the biggest hands that Arthur has ever seen; he could maybe wrap his hand around Phineas' thumb. Maybe.
"Likewise," Phineas says.
They sit in silence on the bench, watching the other kids run around.
"Why aren't you playing?" Phineas asks suddenly.
Arthur shrugs. "I have asthma. It's better not to run around too much, in case I get an attack." It's happened before, but Arthur doesn't want it to happen again.
"Asthma?"
"Uh-huh. Sometimes I have trouble breathing. But I have this-" he pulls out the blue puffer that Emily was picking up the last time Arthur saw Phineas, "-for when that happens."
Phineas blinks. "I see."
Arthur isn't sure if Phineas does see or not, but he's not going to press the issue.
"So who are you?" Arthur asks, after his puffer has been safely returned to his pocket.
"Phineas."
"No," Arthur says impatiently. "Like what do you do?"
"I tend the Incomparable Gardens."
"Incompable... So you're a gardener?"
"In a manner of speaking," Phineas says, but he doesn't look happy to be called that.
Arthur's about to ask what sorts of flowers there are in Phineas' gardens when the mother that Bob was speaking to suddenly coos, "Oh, does Arthur have an imaginary friend?"
Arthur peers around Phineas to frown at Bob and the mother on the other bench. "He's not imaginary." He kicks lightly at Phineas' ankles for emphasis.
The woman mostly ignores him and resumes chatting with Bob. Arthur can hear his name mentioned a lot, but decides he doesn't care.
"You're not imaginary," Arthur says accusingly, looking up at Phineas.
"No; but she cannot see me," Phineas says. "Stop kicking," he adds, tugging at his dark pants to examine the dusty scuffs Arthur's leaving behind.
"Sorry!" Arthur scoots away, feeling guilty.
Phineas brushes his gloved hand over the marks and they disappear. "No harm done," he replies. He pulls back his sleeve to reveal a shiny watch, which he stares at for a second. "I had better be going." Phineas stands, reminding Arthur just how tall he is.
"Wait," Arthur says. "When are you going to be back?"
Phineas looks surprised. "The next suitable day that I am available, I suppose." Which doesn't answer Arthur's question, but before he can ask more, the man disappears.
