[i]"Oooowwwwww... "[/i] Pauline murmured, cringing and giggling softly as she lay there, ignobly laid out over the threshold of someone's room. She'd bounced her head off the floor quite soundly, and the palm of one hand was gently rubbing the back of her poor, aching skull.

Pauline opened one eyeball slowly, the other still all scrunched closed with the hurt, the fingers of her other hand still just barely touching the enormous cat's soft fur beneath her fingers. "What in the world... Did you do..." she mumbled as her sight finally began to come into focus again. 

The figure that loomed right overhead had a warm tenor voice with the lightest of accents, something foreign... French perhaps? Pauline's mouth may have fallen open, maybe a little dumbstruck, as she gazed up into those amazing, deep blue eyes. And even upside down, Pauline could see that smile was wide and genuine and oh-so-inviting.

"Handsome... ?"

She blinked, both pale blue eyes widening appreciatively as she peered up. Pauline probably gawked a little too, at least for the space of a heartbeat. Well, at least until she realized what she'd just said, and how that must have sounded.

"The cat! Handsome, I mean - the cat! Not that you're... Not... " 

[i]'Oh God have mercy, I'm babbling! Take his hand already, and get off the ground at least!'[/i]

"Fine... " she said softly, a little shakily, blushing brightly beneath that smattering of freckles on her cheeks and nose as she reached up to grab the awkwardly offered hand of his. She did not doubt for a minute, he must have instantly regretted offering to help up this nutty, babbling woman who just fell into his room, his warm, dry and strong hand wrapped about her suddenly clammy, sweaty palm. "Just fine... "

To Pauline, it seemed her voice had come from some great distance, her words uttered by a perpetually awkward imbecile and... Oh no. Oh please no - she'd done it again! [i]'God strike me down now, please? Mercy, an act of mercy in outer space, a little space lightning or something... ?'[/i]

"I mean [i]I[/i] am fine, not that you... Are... Or aren't... " Pauline continued to backpedal like a mad woman as she stood to her feet, a whole lot incoherent and feeling even more idiotic with every passing moment. It was a pretty pitiless spiral of awkwardness she was careening down at the moment, made not the least bit easier with the realization this man, even in his rumpled and wrinkled shirt and those sleepy-looking eyes, was even better looking right side up, and she was still gripping his warm, strong hand with her damp, perspiring one.

Oh! Better yet! She was [i]already [/i]sweat-covered, head-to-toe, from chasing Handsome from the cryobay. Nice... What man could possibly resist the charms a sweaty, disheveled and inarticulate lunatic who [literally] falls over his doorstep? 

And who won't let go of his hand, of course. Nothing says "I'm a catch" like desperate clinging, right? "Sorry," Pauline said quickly, pulling her hand back to her side to wipe her palm discretely against her sweater. "So sorry, I didn't realize anyone was here... Well, [i]obviously[/i] I mean, and... Well... " She laughed. Heaven above knew, she just could not hold it in - how absolutely [i]ridiculous[/i] this past two minutes had become! 

"I was playing tag with a cat," Pauline continued, smiling down at Handsome, "And he decided this was the right place for a rest break."