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

[color=crimson]“Oh, I never realized…”[/color] Kathy awkwardly looked off to the side as she felt Crash’s eyes on her. A large part of her was begging her to just drop her worries and develop a sudden interest towards bikes. Even if it was just to put an end to the strained atmosphere between them. She peeked at Crash as he continued talking, taking in his nervous posture and expression. It felt worse when he tried to reassure her; he was putting in such effort to put her at ease when she was the one that had put them in such a tough spot. She was still at a loss as to what to do when he asked,

[color=red]"How did you get around when you travelled?"[/color]

She hesitated, but just for a moment. [color=crimson]“I walked. I did need to travel by plane or bus to cross borders, but otherwise I went around on my own two feet.”[/color] Kathy fiddled around with a lock of hair before tucking it back behind her ear. [color=crimson]“To be honest, I don’t like vehicles all that much. Cars, ships, even bicycles…”[/color] She looked up at Crash with a nervous smile on her face. [color=crimson]“It’s not as bad as fearing them, but see… It feels unsettling when I’m on a vehicle because I can’t really use my ability on one. With my ability, I always feel so balanced and sure of my footing, no matter how uneven or tilted the ground is. But that doesn’t help with driving cars or riding a bike.”[/color]

[color=crimson]“So what I’m trying to say is… I do feel a bit envious that you’re able to ride a bike properly. I’m not sure I’d be able to.”[/color] Giving a laugh she added, [color=crimson]“Although I do still think they’re dangerous. But if you’ve had one all along maybe it’s not as bad as I always thought they were.”[/color] Kathy was watching Crash’s reaction carefully, wondering how he would react to what she had admitted so far.

Back in her room, Kathy walked over to the foot of the bed where she had two travel cases waiting for her and began to dump the contents out onto the floor when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Having a fairly good guess of who it was, she took the phone out with a smile and… Re-read the short message twice after triple-checking the number of the sender. [color=crimson][i]‘He… Got my message and sent me a winking face?’[/i][/color] She knew that she should’ve been getting ready for the party, but Kathy was so confused by the message that she actually stopped to sit down on the bed with her phone still held out in front of her. [color=crimson][i]‘Isn’t a winking face the sort of emoticon you reserve for… Flirting? Or a clever joke? Or…. Flirting..? Crash?’[/i][/color] A number of different possibilities and explanations went through her head- though alas, not of them being the correct guess that he had somehow written that message with a phone-slap to the head- as her face showed a variety of different emotions depending on what her guess was at the moment.

By the time she decided not to overthink things, her brain felt short-circuited from all the blood and heat rushing to her face. [color=crimson]“The party… I should really get ready for the party.”[/color] She mumbled, going back to the pile of clothes she had left on the floor. Much to Kathy’s dismay, she hadn’t really thought to prepare for the party despite looking forward to it and ended up picking up a [url=http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=82593574]simple green dress[/url]. It wasn’t a bad dress, she rather liked it and had often worn it outside during warmer weather, but she had been hoping to wear something extra special to impress… Feeling silly and really embarrassed again, she stopped mulling over things that were too late to change and got changed. After smoothing her hair out once in the bathroom, Kathy got to the ballroom rather quickly and waited just outside of its doors for Crash.

As she leaned against the walls and looked down at her feet, she realized why she had made such good time. She had completely forgotten to change her shoes and ended up coming out in the same casual shoes she’d been wearing all day. [i][color=crimson]‘Do I have time to go back to change into heels? But then I might keep Crash waiting…’[/color][/i] Sighing, she shook her head and settled back against the wall. She was really no good at this. She wanted to show the better parts of herself in front of Crash, but she always ended up getting muddled and nervous when he was involved.