Teagan navigated the crowd. She'd thought she would stand out like a sore thumb with her preferred formal wear. But as it turned out not too few people were decked out in frocks and some such extravagant outfits.
	[i]Well, not like I came here with the need to impress.[/i] She thought to herself and scanned the crowd for the Chief. She quickly located him, surrounded by people and decided against joining in the fray.
	She looked around, wondering if she should stay, or just go home, when her eyes landed on the ray of sunshine from before. She was wearing a glorious sun dress and even though she looked like she belonged among the rich and powerful, she also appeared to be bored to tears.
	Teagan hesitated.
	[i]Ah, what the hell![/i] She thought. [i]I can't stand a lady in distress. Or boredom.[/i] And strode slowly but gingerly towards the ray of sunshine as she'd taken to calling the young woman. There was something odd about her though. As she was scanning the crowd in obvious boredom. She appeared to pay special attention to people's lips. Teagan wouldn't have notice it, if it wasn't for Megan.
	She remembered fondly the young girl she'd rescued from a forest fire back when she was still a rookie smokejumper. The girl'd managed to escape the ordeal relatively unscathed thanks to Teagan who'd suffered some heavy burns. Megan was quickly discharged from the hospital, but kept coming back to visit Teagan. It turned out she was deaf-mute and got lost prior to the fire and couldn't be found before the area was evacuated. During Teagan's stay in the hospital and Megan's regular visits, she'd grown accustomed to the girl’s constant attention to her lips. Since Megan was born deaf-mute, she'd learned to read lips and sign at a very young age. 
	So when she noticed ray of sunshine's attention to people's lips, she assumed a similar circumstance. [i]Or, she could be reading lips to simply spy on people.[/i] Teagan thought with a grin. To each their own, she guessed. Either way... the young lady looked bored, and Teagan couldn't stand for that. Even if she made an ass of herself, at least she would've tried to chase her boredom away.
	She slowly and deliberately entered the young woman's line of sight.
	[color=ed1c24][i]Hello.[/i][/color] She signed. [color=ed1c24][i]Couldn't help but notice you reading lips. I hope I'm not too presumptuous in assuming you're deaf?[/i][/color] She finished. She was confident in her signing. Megan'd thought her well. But when the woman remained unresponsive Teagan faltered.
	"Um..." She spoke out loud. "Sorry, didn' mean to presume ye knew sign language." She apologized, noticing immediately the woman's eyes flickering to her lips. [i]Okay, well, at least it looks like the deaf assumption wasn't wrong.[/i] "Pardon me for intrudin’. I was just about to leave when I saw ye lookin’ quite honestly bored to tears and simply had to intervene."
	The young woman favored her with a bored expression.
	[i]A challenge then![/i] Teagan grinned. "Allow me to introduce myself." She clicked her rider's boots, made a fist with her right hand, placed her hand on her stomach and bent slightly over it, wincing when her shoulder scrape reminded of itself annoyingly. "Teagan Hayes." She straightened. "If I may be so bold as to offer you my humble company for your entertainment." Teagan looked the young woman expectantly.
[@Old Amsterdam]