[h1][color=crimson]Katherine Argall[/color][/h1]

Kathy’s not-quite-repressed smile widened against her will as she caught the shapeshifter’s familiar gesture. The complicated bitterness she had felt about Little Feather had all but faded to the background now. It was still there, but luckily the unexpected wave of relief kept any negative thoughts at bay. [color=crimson]“Thank goodness.”[/color] She repeated. Seeing his text appear on her screen, Kathy’s fingers tightened around her phone as she fought the urge to hug the device to her chest. One, she decided that she was far too old to be making such obvious displays of joy. And two, she had no idea how she would explain herself to Crash to make her actions seem less… Awkward. [color=crimson]“I’m glad. I’ll keep my number the same from now on too.”[/color]

She wondered if the delight she felt was being transmitted to Crash, or if she was the one being affected by his good mood. Either way, she noticed that they were both grinning from ear to ear as they walked down the hallway. [i]‘Keys..? Even though he didn’t chain his bike up?’[/i] Something about the conversation seemed disjointed, but Kathy didn’t feel any need to question it. Even when she noticed that the keys he held up looked suspiciously like something that belonged to a vehicle that actually ran on an engine instead of just peddling. She felt happier than she had in years and she was subconsciously avoiding anything that could spoil the moment.

[color=crimson]“O-Oh? Really, that’s… I hadn’t expected that.”[/color] Unfortunately, she couldn’t hide her surprise when she realized that Crash had been talking about a motorbike. A two-wheeled insurance nightmare associated with daredevils and fatal accidents. She actually paled when the shapeshifter explained himself; her ears zeroing in on the mention of a ‘few close shaves’. However… Looking at his face, she didn’t have the heart to voice her objections aloud. At the very least, not right away. She wondered if there was actually a way to ease into it… [color=crimson]“Er, out of curiosity… Was there any particular reason why you got a motorbike? I don’t think you had it before, right?”[/color] Kathy tried to make the question sound like casual small talk, but was likely failing miserably from the strain that was making its way into her voice.

With a bit of guess work and pointing involved, they eventually reached the female dormitories. Stopping right in front of the door, Kathy hesitated to go inside. She wanted to say something, stall for time and talk a bit more, but knew that the sooner she went inside to get ready the sooner they could go join everyone at the party. [i]‘Stop being so silly Kathy,’[/i] She scolded herself. [color=crimson]“See you at the party Crash.”[/color] She awkwardly gave him a last-minute smile, having just remembered to do so after finishing her sentence. There was another slight pause before she opened the doors and began to step inside. Reaching out, she brushed his shoulders with her fingertips and added, [color=crimson]“And thanks for walking me over here.”[/color] Feeling another blush ready to make an entrance, she turned away from him and hurried inside.

It wasn’t until Kathy found her dorm room and shut the door behind her that she realized that she hadn’t specified where she would meet him. [color=crimson]“Ah!”[/color] Quickly drawing out her phone, she sent him a rather apologetic text asking if it would be alright to meet just outside the ballroom when he was ready.