[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGylrGZPuWQ][u]W A L K I N G   B E F O R E   R U N N I N G[/u][/url]
[i]Days since Departure:[/i] 9   --   [i]Time:[/i] Mid-Morning
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4315824]Previously...[/url][/center]
Edward winced when Luna's biting words carried out of the building. He understood her reasons for such biting wit, but did she really need to eviscerate Constance all the time? Small wonder that they were always at odds with one another. He knew that they didn't get along, but it wasn't a one sided thing, for sure.

Still, Constance seemed as interested in coming along as the rest of them, so he had nothing to complain about. Maxine had pursed her lips at the challenge to her authority, but what was she really going to do? They were newcomers in the region, and if Maxine was the kind of woman to have a ton of dirt on people to force them to do her bidding...well, they hadn't known her long enough for her to have any dirt.

"I shall get in touch with him, then," said Maxine. "He'll meet you at the Gods' Tower, I presume?"

"If it pleases him," Collin replied, nodding slightly to her.

"Marvelous." No trace of emotion etched Maxine's face, nor did her voice tremble with any feeling. "Until next we meet. Safe travels, my dear." Then she retreated back into the building, lightly shutting the door behind her.

"Right then," Collin huffed, heading down the steps to the street. The morning sun shone down smartly above them, and the street was criss-crossed by people going about their day of celebration. It reminded Edward of the Ventuian holiday of repentance. Ellal, it's called. People took "day of repentance" to mean "absolved of all sins", in the most literal sense of the phrase. The parties were quite substantial.

"I refuse to walk all the way to the Gods' Tower," Collin continued, making a very specific path across the street. "I know of a place where we can get a horseless carriage to take us there."

"Do you mean a car?" Edward asked, hurrying to keep up with the tall man's gait. "Back home, they're called cars. Well, automobiles is the official term."

Collin glanced at him with mild confusion. "Those words sound nothing alike. How are either of them related to a horseless carriage?"

"I..." Edward trailed off, his finger falling with confusion. "I don't know. But that's what they're called."

The older man snorted in what Edward hoped was amusement, before he quickened his speed further. Edward found himself beside Luna next, thoroughly disgruntled at being left behind. He was five-ten, for God's sake! But Collin apparently had longer legs.

[i]Oh, right![/i] Ed reached out to Luna. "Luna, I know you have every reason to give Constance a good what-for, but do you think you might be giving her a bit...much?" Ed spoke in a low tone, not wanting to alert anyone else as to the nature of their conversation. "I think being out here with the rest of us is opening her up to new things. Good things. But...do you think you might be laying into her a bit excessively?"

The sounds of a rejoicing population echoed around them, and Edward worried that he might have been drowned out. He almost asked again, but he didn't want to irritate Luna. Of everyone in their group, he trusted her the most.

Meanwhile, Raymond and Juliette walked beside Constance. The young man held his tongue as long as he could, but eventually he had to ask Constance, ask Juliette: "What did Maxine say in there?" 

He asked both of them in different languages. He knew that Juliette would be truthful--why wouldn't she be?--but he wanted to give Constance a chance to make an ally with them. Maybe their stories would match up.