Private Cats and Shadows

Quincy had been really bouncy since he'd woken up.

He didn't wonder why -- sometimes he just had days he was too giddy for no reason and was extra bouncy on his feet. But those were times was told to tone it down because 'it might bother others'. He didn't get why. Except when incidences happen like the one right... about...

"Ow!"

The blonde step backwards a bit too late, making himself fall over simply from loss of balance. For a moment, Quincy seemed dazed and confused but the moment he heard the other's murmurs, he quickly came back to reality.

"Oh, geez, I'm really sorry," he said as he reached for his glasses that had fallen into the snow. Right as he tried to get up, the he was greeted by a helping hand from the other. There was a little part of him that said I can stand on my own but there was another part of him wasn't sure if it was impolite to ignore the help.

"Oh, no, no, that was definitely my fault," he told the girl, with a bit of a laugh. Not really sure, Quincy pushed himself up and kept his hands to himself, forgetting to dust off the snow that had gotten onto him. "I wasn't looking where I was going, that was definitely on me. Ah--"

As if hit by a realization, he impulsively reached for her hand before she could set it down, suddenly stepping into her space to inspect for injuries. "Are you okay though? Nothing broken, nothing bruised?" he asked.

Quincy released the girl's hand once she responded. A small part of him wanted to keep asking, but decided against it, settling on her assurance. "If you say so..." he muttered softly. He followed after her gesture, removing the snow that was still on his shoulders. He raised his head to look at her, momentarily getting distracted with the ears sitting atop her head. (It wasn't a new sight, but it was nonetheless distracting.) "I don't think falling over is something you should get used too though," he continued.

It was only once she asked him a question that Quincy actually gave her his full attention, responding with a hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Wh- what, no..!" he denied, chuckling a bit to hide his embarassment, "I mean I wish, but no, I was following actually something -- it's probably got away already."

Quincy decided not to explain further about how he was following a shadow around. It wasn't probably something new in the city, but sometimes he found peculiar things that caught his attention. Although by now, that peculiar thing just now may as well be long forgotten.

"Quincy," he said, flashing her a childish grin as he relaxed just a bit. "But you know nevermind me-- between you and I, I'd have thought you here were the one who'd just got back from a date," he'd shoot back.

Quincy wrinkled his eyes a bit at Shiro's response wondering for a moment what she had meant with 'all the things'. The first thing about falling over was already flying over his head simply because he didn't really like losing his balance. Then again.. "Well, the snow kinda cushions the fall, I guess," he mused aloud. But then it was also freezing cold.

"And I'm not embarrassed!" he quickly denied, trying to keep the flush in his face in control but to no avail. If he were honest, Quincy was maybe just a bit flustered at the idea of dating anyone and all and Shiro only teasing him further put him at a loss of words. "Well I-- I wouldn't really count on that, you know," he managed to say, trying to avert the attention from him.

Before Quincy could say anything else, his earlier quip was thrown back to him. He'd said that only because she started it, but he didn't have any reason to actually back up his comment. "Ahh.. that..." A beat. "N....Actually no reason. I just thought of it since you brought it up first," he said, simply playing it off with a teensy little quirk at the corner of his lips.

"But you know: I actually have no idea what I was following but it was definitely a something," he insisted, but paused almost immediately after saying it. "...Actually, maybe it could have been a someone and I just didn't realize," he said, almost as if he was thinking aloud again.

"Whh... blushing doesn't automatically mean that..!" Quincy protested again. At first it never did cross his mind, but his mom brought it up one time forever ago and he's never escaped from it. And now even this girl he just met is doing just the same. Truly he has no escape.

"I'm not embarassed about d- dating anyone!" he added trying to keep a composed air, though narrowly avoiding saying the word. "Besides, I'm perfectly fine as I am, I don't need that sort of thing yet."

Just as he thought he dodged a bullet, he had to answer for his terrible decisions in sparking a conversation. "Nothing..! Nothing, it's just that you looked like you were just coming back from the city, you could have gone from a date, wouldn't you?" he tried to say, wondering if that would convince her. I mean, she was pretty and well-dressed for it, wasn't she? Plus, she seemed like she was the kind of person who would have a romantic life going well for her...

"Chasing shadows.." he murmured, echoing her words. Yeah, that was very specifically what he was doing. But was he willing to tell her his reason? It wasn't anything profound. It was simply because moving shadows intrigue him, especially when they don't look like they have a source. "Well... the moving shadows, I guess, compelled me to chase them...?" he responded, the tone of his voice rising as if he was unsure of his own answer.

There was really no escaping Shiro's teasing and really, there was part of him that was ready to leave her hanging just so he could have an excuse to end the conversation. But then that wouldn't be polite, right? another part of him contested. With Quincy left speechless, it only showed how flustered he was. Dating was still out of the question for him, but it didn't mean he hasn't thought about it.

Quincy slowly raised his hands to his face as if to hide his burning cheeks from the girl, just from picturing her setting him up with people. He barely made a response to her offer, apart from the whine he just made. But to Shiro, that may as well have been a yes -- Quincy didn't say he was against it anyway.

The only time the blond remembered to talk was when Shiro continued to prod at him because of his earlier comment. He gave her a childish pout in return, "That's not fair," he whined, defeat clear on the way he spoke. "You're already pretty cute! You can't do that face, I won't be able to say no!"