I'll explain on the way

[Christopher Montjoy]

Shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck, shit.

Kit’s internal monologue would have made his mother faint as he rushed through the streets, legs pumping as fast as he could manage as he wove through the crowded streets of North Eldridge City. What were the odds of running into both a kind-of-sort-of-ex he couldn’t remember the name of and someone he owed a substantial amount of money to in the same place? It had to be laughably and astronomically small- surely? Even if Kit was capable of working out the odds, he didn’t have the time right now as he sprinted away.

Feeling a collision, Kit called out a quick: ”Oops, sorry!” without turning to see what or who he had hit. He barely missed a step as he darted away, ducking down an alley- jumping over a barrel- Kit didn’t stop, didn’t think, just kept moving. Hells, he wasn’t even sure if either of them had chased after him. The pretty redhead had scowled, moved to stand up… but had she actually followed him? Probably not. The other woman though, an equally gorgeous woman with soft dark curls, a woman who had (at least he maintains) cheated him out of a small fortune at poker, bridge, blackjack, any card game he knew… even ones he didn’t, a few nights before he had sailed away one one of his adventures. He hadn’t meant to keep gambling, but he had been due a win- a win that never came.

Anyway- Kit shot out of the alley, half leapt over a barrel of- something- and straight into Avalynn O'Shea . ”Hey-” Kit said between pants and gasps for air, the realisation of who he had just collided into dawning on him. He didn’t speak to the blonde often, but he knew who she was and that he should apologise… and quickly. ”Sorry! So sorry, no time to explain!” He almost moved to stand behind her, to use her small frame to hide himself from anyone who might be pursuing him. And then his cheeks flushed red as he realised just how stupid an idea that was. After all, he stood several inches above her and was much more broad. ”Come on!”

He didn’t give her a chance to interject, but grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along if Avalynn didn’t break his grasp and refuse to follow him. ”Got to hide, quickly!”

[Avalynn O'Shea]

Avalynn had decided to escape the palace for the afternoon, once her duties were fulfilled for the time being. It was a nice day and Spring would be upon them soon, so she decided to enjoy the sun and take a walk through the city streets, perhaps even get some shopping done.

It wasn’t often that she got time to herself, where she didn’t need to hide behind her mask of happy cheerfulness. It wasn’t that Avalynn wasn’t a friendly, happy, and cheerful person--she was, but it was nice to allow herself the chance to close in on herself and reflect on things, without worrying about being pleasant.

She was at a cart full of flowers, picking through several of the bunches to create her own bouquet for her room. That is, until someone collided into her. She gasped--or maybe even shrieked, the stems of flowers scattering about on the street and she nearly fell over, but had managed (surprisingly) to catch herself. Bright blue eyes narrowed at the man until he was apologizing.

But before she could say anything, he was grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her along with him. Why? She hadn’t the slightest idea. “What are yo--” She tried to question him, but he was already answering that he needed to hide.

She recognized the man but wasn’t certain if she could recall his name, otherwise, she would have scolded him with it. The shop owner of the flowers shouted after them, with an exasperated tone, before he threw his arms up in response to the scattered mess of flowers. What a waste--especially now that passerby’s were stepping all over them. Well--Avalynn couldn’t go back there now.

After a while of running, she finally halted, pulling him back with her to try and stop him, and she ripped her wrist from his grasp. She stood, leaning against a tree, her chest heaving from the exertion of the running. It had been a while since she had done that. “Would you care to explain to me, why we are running--and why you felt it necessary to drag me along with you?” Her voice was somewhat stern, but there was perhaps the faintest hint of amusement in her tone.

[Christopher Montjoy]

Kit barely noticed the flowers, it had taken all the attention he could muster to recognise the blonde he had crashed into and still remain upright. He didn’t turn to glance behind as he propelled the two of them a little further through the streets of Eldridge City- driving the two of them a little further north with each step. It was far more difficult attempting to sprint away with Avalynn in tow- he had to be careful not to barge into anything (or anyone) else, but he had to be extra careful not to drag her into anything either.

Why had he dragged her along?

Kit didn’t know, he had panicked- he’d been panicking since he first locked eyes with the two half-strangers. He hadn’t even paused to see if they would recognise him, to see if things might have been talked through. No, Christopher Montjoy had, in typical Christopher Montjoy fashion, simply flipped a table and bolted before things could get even remotely hairy. He’d not paused to think as he’d dragged Avalynn- simply recognising her and thinking he should probably apologise for barging into her but not having the time to.

Eventually, Kit noticed she was no longer keeping up- stopping dead in her tracks and nearly bringing him to a standstill as well. He half-jogged a few extra steps before turning to face her. Face flushed red and sweat sticking a few loose hairs to his brow, Kit didn’t apologise for his appearance (though in his defense, he had been running for a lot longer than she had) but instead half-crouched. Doubled over with his hands on his thighs, the young lord felt his breaths come in deep, heavy gasps as he tried to compose himself enough to speak.

”So-” He began, followed by another gulp of air. ”Sorry Ava-Avalynn.” Her questions were good ones, and if Kit hadn’t already been red with exertion then he would have certainly flushed red with embarrassment at the fact he didn’t quite know how to answer them. They were straightforward enough: why was he running? And why had he dragged her along. ”Good, ver-very good question” The man conceded between pants, ”I saw an ex, it didn’t end well and I didn’t- well- I didn’t stay to find out how she felt about it. And then, like out of some Noistarian tragedy- okay I guess I should explain, there’s this game, you play it with knucklebones and I thought I was quite good at it- so you know how it is, I played it against some guys down at the docks- oh this was months ago now so I’m surprised they remember but yeah- I may have sort of owed them money- quite a bit of it as well- and well one of them walked in tothesametaverncanyoubelieveit?” As he spoke, Kit felt some of his energy returning, and this was evidenced by how much more animated his expressions and gestures became as he ran through the events that had led to this moment. ”So after a daring escape, I ran into you- and thought I should apologise but there was no time, with you being too small to hide behind. So I guess this is when I say, forgive me Lady O’Shea?” He looked at her, eyes wide and pleading: though the happy-go-lucky grin that spread across his lips made him look a little less sorry than he should be.

[Avalynn O'Shea]

Avalynn was fairly impressed with herself that she hadn’t twisted an ankle in the process of running and being dragged behind the @chrisopher. But she wasn’t immune to her now disheveled appearance and reddened face caused by such exertion. So as she stood there, against the tree, she pressed her hands against her face, trying to hide the redness as she worked to catch her breath.

Her bright blue eyes lifted to look over at him as he began to apologize and explain why he had run into her and then dragged her along with him.

He was rambling, and she wondered if he was really telling the truth--but then again, what reason would he have to lie about it, unless he did not wish for her to know. Still, the story seemed so random that she didn’t think he would have had the time to think it up unless he was really good at that sort of thing.

As Kit continued on, she couldn’t help but grin in amusement, trying not to laugh at him. But when he asked for her forgiveness, she became stone-faced and narrowed her eyes at him for the briefest of moments. “Hmmm… I’m not entirely sure if I should. My hair is completely ruined,” she gave him the first excuse she could. The man hardly knew much about her, she imagined, so he very well could take her excuse seriously and think she was vain and full of herself, but her grin quickly returned to her lips and she shook her head, laughing. “No--I suppose I can forgive you this time.”

Avalynn gave him a playfully stern look, “though you might need to buy and bring me some flowers to make up for the ones you destroyed that I was supposed to bring back with me…” Her tone was sarcastic, and the lightness on her face made it obvious enough that she was only joking.