[attr="class","textie"]The young man sighed but felt the breath get caught in his throat when a young blonde woman responded to the question that he seemingly asked himself. Considering the crowds, he didn't think anyone would hear his complaint about the metropolis, so he felt himself turn a little more red as he looked at the ground, focusing on collecting the fallen goods. His eyes would catch her helping hand as he mumbled a quiet "Thanks for the help." Hearing her comment about the city, Aiden would chuckle gently as he said, "Considering how drained I feel from being here, I think I can live without it for a little while. I appreciate the smaller cities more in all honesty." The young man would make eye contact with the blonde, his emerald gaze locking with her sapphire like one. Before he could break his eyes away, he caught her wink as he felt his face heat up as he looked towards the ground next to him. Shaking his head to brush away the feeling, Aiden would stand up and stretch to force himself not to mention what she just did.

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The young man's attention would be brought back to the woman as she stated her name. Aiden smiled softly while scratching the back of his head. "I guess alright describes how I'm feeling right now. Thanks again for the help." Aiden would give her a small smile before he realized that he didn't quite introduce himself. "Ah, my name is Aiden. It's nice to meet you, Natalia." Aiden would stretch his hand in offering of a handshake. He only ever introduced himself formally but if he did this, it was easier to talk but this woman gave off a little bit of a scary aura. Retracting his hand somewhat and bringing it closer to his body, Aiden would clutch the bag of goods tightly in his other hand, somewhat scared of what the woman in front of him would do.

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[attr="class","tagsie"][break]Natalia Hynes ☆

[attr="class","textie"]Aiden felt himself shrink a little as he ran out of things to say. His mind continued running in place of his mouth as he let out a breath, while looking at the blue eyed woman who stood before him. She seemed like the kind type, everything in his bag was seemingly there and she was even willing to act as a tour guide. However, her tone seemed to sway him in the direction of going with her. Feeling himself falter under her aura, Aiden would look at the ground as he felt his confidence melt away little by little. He felt really bad taking time out of her day even if she was offering. If it was someone like her, she could probably be off doing better things. Awkwardly tapping his fingers together, Aiden would let out a dry chuckle as he looked towards the ground, making sure that he didn't make eye contact with Natalia. "I mean, if are willing and are sure that I'm not taking up your time, I'd be really grateful... But, you don't have to if you aren't able to! I wouldn't want to take time out of your day..." Aiden rubbed the hair on his head awkwardly. He's already contradicted himself and he only spoken once. Feeling his face darken, Aiden would continue avoiding eye contact when he felt something rustling in his backpack.
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With a small meow, Lily would exit Aiden's bag with an excited expression. Aiden would laugh somewhat brightly in reaction to his Skitty running around him somewhat excited. Ah, it seems she was listening and was somewhat excited to explore the city with a new person. Picking up the Kitten Pokémon, Aiden would look at Natalia as he chuckled, the smile on his face almost beaming as Lily seemed to fill him with a little more confidence. "I mean, this one seems to be very excited to explore the city with someone who knows what they are doing, so lead the way. Preferably to some food." Aiden smiled until he thought about what he said again and began to shrink back a little, doubting himself once again. "Unless you ate, then I can manage somewhere else. Whatever is easiest for you. Sorry if I troubled you."

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[attr="class","tagsie"][break]Natalia Hynes ☆

[attr="class","textie"]Aiden snuggled Lily a little closer to his chest as he felt like shrinking a little bit more under the gaze of Natalia. Most of the time, he was like this when meeting new people and it was rare that he could easily open up to someone. However, the calmness and kind voice of the blonde woman in front of him calmed him down somewhat. It was nice to know that he wasn't bugging her with this and she really was doing this out of kindness. Letting out a sigh, Aiden would voice his thoughts out loud. "Ah, that's good. I didn't want to burden you with dealing with me." Smiling softly at Lily as he pet her, the somewhat self deprecating comment to himself would shoot over his head. He sometimes said what he was thinking without a filter so he was used to saying things like this when it probably wasn't the best time to do so.

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Aiden felt himself straighten out in his posture as Natalia snaked her arm around his. Before, he could hide behind the space between them, but when she was this close, it felt extremely hard to do so. The brunette's face would darken to a shade of red as he tried to protest the girl closing his one form of safety, but he didn't in the end. Lily ran up out of the man's arms so it would be easier for him to keep Natalia on his arm and planted her self comfortably on his head. Listening to her talking about how hungry she was caused Aiden to be somewhat worried. "Be careful, you need to make sure that you are treating yourself healthy. Let's get something hearty, like soup or something similar." Something that could usually overwhelm Aiden's nerves was acting like a big brother to people. It made it easier if he thought of the person of family that he was taking care of so he could find easier talking points and the like. "If you know any good places with soup, that'd be best." The younger man would look at her almost as if he was talking to his younger sister that he usually had to take care of, eyes full of concern for her well-being and general state. However, the nerves would strike back when she made eye contact again. Looking away from the blonde woman, Aiden would scratch his neck with his free arm. "Or whatever works for you. I have no preference so go wild." Talking to her too casually made him feel a little more embarrassed about how he almost treated her the same way he treats his sister because his instinct and habits kicked in when hearing how Natalia hasn't eaten. The blush that was seemingly ever present on his face would remain as he avoided eye contact from the Ranger.


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[attr="class","tagsie"][break]Natalia Hynes ☆

[attr="class","textie"]Aiden felt himself jump up a little when Natalia made a pop with the last 'P' in soup. Truth be told, he was having a lot of thoughts rushing through his head at the moment. The thoughts ranged from a spectrum to asking about if Natalia was aware as to what clinging to his arm could look like to strangers to making sure that she was eating properly to how he felt about this situation. However, he could do without thinking about the last situation. He didn't need to think about stuff like that when she could potentially not be eating well. The only time he could override his anxiety, it was through his sibling instincts so while he was doing his best to think of Natalia as someone who he needed to watch over, he couldn't stay focused if she remained this close. Feeling his face heat up a little more while Natalia spoke about the nearby soup and sandwich places, Aiden would let out a shaky breath as he looked at her. Hearing her comment on how she usually preferred sweeter things caused him to soften up a bit. "Ah, I love sweets. They are great, I don't get much time to try them though because it's pretty boring to do stuff like that alone." Aiden felt himself blush a little. That was a little embarrassing to say out loud and he ended up covering his reddened face with a hand as he continued. "I'd rather go somewhere we can both enjoy, so how about a cafe?" Honestly, if steam could actually emerge from his head, it probably would. He usually had a hard time talking to people as is but around Natalia, it seemed to be a lot worse. Covering his face with his hands, Aiden would let Natalia completely guide them around the area.

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When he finally removed his hands, all that remained on his face was a delicate blush that coated his cheeks. It wasn't as prevalent as earlier but it still was there. The young man's eyes landed on a small little cafe that seemed to be not that busy and a nice place to sit down and get some snacks and a coffee. Pointing towards it, the young man would follow up by saying, "Ah, that cafe looks good." Lily would emerge from his bag temporarily and meow in agreement as he chuckled while looking at Natalia for confirmation. The hunger was a little bit stronger so the young man didn't really have any preference at all to where they ate anymore. He just needed something.

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[attr="class","tagsie"][break]Natalia Hynes ☆

[attr="class","textie"]Aiden let out a sigh of relief when Natalia affirmed that he chose a good cafe. Good. At the very least he could use a positive from today. Not that meeting Natalia was a negative, it was more of a neutral at this point in time. She was fun to be around, that part was undeniable but he could live without the amount of stress that he felt because of the girl. Either way, they would able to eat soon and he could use a cup of coffee to wake himself up. It was mid day but he was already feeling a little bit exhausted, most likely from the crowds and his own thoughts driving him wild basically.
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This should be fine. Aiden felt himself calm a little bit when he gazed at the menu of the place. A lot of the sweets that they had sounded pretty good, although he was feeling a little partial to a slice of the strawberry cheesecake that was on display behind the glass. Aiden's eyes locked onto the cheesecake as he heard Natalia ask him about what kind of coffee he preferred. He would respond with a smile as he slowly turned his gaze from the cheesecake. "Ah, I like mochas mainly because it drowns out the coffee with a little chocolate. Kind of childish, right?" Aiden chuckled as he locked eyes with Natalia's sapphire eyes again.
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Making eye contact with the blonde was always a funny situation because Aiden couldn't help but getting lost in the blue. She definitely was pretty and thinking of that reminded of them how they probably looked once again, causing his heart to start racing once again. Scratching the back of his neck, Aiden would let out a nervous chuckle. "Ah, m-maybe I'll try a frappe this time. Sounds like it could be fun to change it up." He was really trying his best to relax but considering he didn't even know where to look when he spoke to Natalia, it might take a while before he could look at her calmly while speaking.
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Turning to the counter, Aiden would order a slice of the cheesecake as well as a frappe as per Natalia's influence. He would say he was calm but the back of his neck and his ears were somewhat red as he tried to hide his face from Natalia.

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[attr="class","tagsie"][break]Natalia Hynes ☆

[attr="class","textie"]She had quite a habit of making continual eye contact with whoever she was speaking to and it was somewhat challenging for Aiden to consistently talk to her because of this fact. Sighing, Aiden would step to the side while Natalia placed her order beside him. Ah, she was getting two drinks which is fair. He never seen people end up with two drinks with one order unless they were ordering for themselves and some other person. The brunette felt himself staring at the pastries as he got lost thought once again.
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Smiling to himself while he looked at the desserts, he would be snapped out of his reverie as Natalia commented on the sandwiches that this cafe had to offer. Calmly keeping his eye on the pastries, Aiden would reply, "Yeah, I'm a bit more partial to getting a cheesecake right now though. The mood of the cafe just suits having a dessert for me." Smiling softly, Aiden would look at the bright pink cake pop that seemed to match the colour of Lily's fur. Something that seemed to be scripted as Natalia had coincidentally asked about his Skitty, who purred in response. She peeked out of his bag as he pulled her out to rest on his shoulder. Smiling softly as the Kitten Pokemon hopped onto her shoulder gently, her trainer would reply. "Yeah, her name is Lily. We found her near a patch of the flower so it just felt fitting."
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Thinking back to the time they found the infant Skitty was always a good day, even if she technically was left by her family. Or at least, they thought that. There could have been a thousand ways that Lily's life would have ended up but Aiden was thankful that she was by his side today. Turning to face Natalia, the young man would smile as he reached his hand out to pet the Kitten who nuzzled into his hand, rubbing her cheek against it and all the like. "She's the reason I'm exploring the region as opposed to staying at home on my family's ranch. Too hyperactive for the ranch life." Chuckling, Aiden would look fondly at the Skitty who smiled right back at him. Switching his glance to Natalia, he would tense up for a moment before letting out a breath and relaxing once again. "How about you? What Pokemon do you keep by your side?" Smiling awkwardly as his attempt to make small talk, Lily would meow with pride at her trainer getting better at attempting to break the ice.
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[attr="class","tagsie"][break]Natalia Hynes ☆