Journey to the Trinity Tree

It was Kina's fault they had crashed into each other, because she had been coming out into the street from the alley and should have checked both ways to ensure she wasn't going to crash into anyone instead of being stuck in her own thoughts, and here Cole was trying to be a gentleman and take the blame for it. She wasn't about to just sit back and let that happen. She would own up for her mistakes.

After taking a deep breath, Kina started her apology again. "I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault, it was mine. I should have been watching where I was going, you aren't responsible for looking to see if anyone is coming out from an alley but I'm responsible for seeing who is on the street - well, I guess maybe this is just a bigger alley, but still - before I turn. I was just so caught up in my thoughts that I wasn't paying attention, which isn't any excuse, and then I managed to stumble right into you, and now I've gone and inconvenienced you again, and now you're having to listen to me ramble on again and I should really stop talking because this is getting so awkward." She snapped her mouth shut before any more nonsense could fall out, ears falling flat against her head as she once again avoided meeting Cole's eyes.

"It's fine," Cole answered after a moment, still smiling at her when she managed a shy glance up at him, "everyone makes mistakes." They stood there awkwardly for a moment, both sneaking looks at each other (and periodically accidentally catching each other without realizing the other was doing the exact same thing) before he finally spoke, obviously struggling. "Uh, actually, this, uh, works out. I was wondering..." he trailed off nervously, tail swinging back and forth.

"Yes?" Kina immediately cringed as she spoke, wondering if she sounded too eager and should have waited at least a moment more before asking so that she didn't come across like an idiot, because she most definitely sounded like an idiot at the moment. "Er, um, you were wondering...?"

Cole nodded, and for a moment Kina wasn't sure if he wasn't going to say anything else and they would continue to stand there like idiots while she wondered what he was wondering about, but then he finally spoke up again, awkwardly clearing his throat before saying, "I was wondering why so many people are, uh, up right now? Like, where is everyone going?"

The black and brown lioness tilted her head in confusion. "You mean you can't feel it?"

"Feel what?" Cole asked, obviously confused.