Kevin glances over immediately at the sound of the teacup breaking across tile, his expression turning serious between one blink and the next. Emotional manifestations being what they are, shattered teacups are simply a fact of life in Empatheias, and the loss of one doesn't bother him a bit. It's just that the cause for such a thing could be anything from simply knocking the cup off the table, to seeing one's ex-lover parading around with someone else only a day after a terrible breakup. It may have been an innocent accident, or he may have to go wollop somebody in a second here.
Instead he gets a woman flying towards him.
"-- ah, hey, what's --"
The swordsman manages to straighten just as she hits him, and though he lets out a little oof, he's sturdy enough that she isn't able to bowl him over. He doesn't return the unexpected hug, though, his hands settling on her shoulders instead. For a long, confused moment, his mind races. Kevin doesn't know this woman, he's sure of it. But maybe she knows him? The last young lady who glommed onto him like this was someone he'd assisted during the recent fiasco with the fox thing, perhaps this lady is also someone he's helped lately, and he simply didn't have enough time to memorize her appearance at the time --
But then the long rose-gold ponytail he's staring at, held up with a fluffy ribbon, clicks into place in his memories. The others from home had shown him this. A household full of terrifying, wonderful women would take him in someday, they promised him, so that he wouldn't be too afraid of going back. He'd be beloved in that house, and totally devoted in turn. They'd given him visions over the amulets, so he'd know them if he ever saw them here. Proper dresses with lots of petticoats, and ribbons in long ponytails.
The shock of his recognition causes his own ponytail to abruptly explode, all that hair settling down around his shoulders, a few strands floating around with distressed static.
"...merciful heavens," he mutters, his grip on her shoulders tightening on her shoulders unconsciously. "Why, you're a Rainsworth."
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Instead he gets a woman flying towards him.
"-- ah, hey, what's --"
The swordsman manages to straighten just as she hits him, and though he lets out a little oof, he's sturdy enough that she isn't able to bowl him over. He doesn't return the unexpected hug, though, his hands settling on her shoulders instead. For a long, confused moment, his mind races. Kevin doesn't know this woman, he's sure of it. But maybe she knows him? The last young lady who glommed onto him like this was someone he'd assisted during the recent fiasco with the fox thing, perhaps this lady is also someone he's helped lately, and he simply didn't have enough time to memorize her appearance at the time --
But then the long rose-gold ponytail he's staring at, held up with a fluffy ribbon, clicks into place in his memories. The others from home had shown him this. A household full of terrifying, wonderful women would take him in someday, they promised him, so that he wouldn't be too afraid of going back. He'd be beloved in that house, and totally devoted in turn. They'd given him visions over the amulets, so he'd know them if he ever saw them here. Proper dresses with lots of petticoats, and ribbons in long ponytails.
The shock of his recognition causes his own ponytail to abruptly explode, all that hair settling down around his shoulders, a few strands floating around with distressed static.
"...merciful heavens," he mutters, his grip on her shoulders tightening on her shoulders unconsciously. "Why, you're a Rainsworth."