ι נυѕт ωαηт тσ вє ησямαℓ αgαιη [¢яуѕтαℓ σηℓу]

[~echo~]

"I already told you," she said. "Walking and thinking. It was a hike but I'm fast. I... well, I live out here."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"You live in the woods?" Confusion crossed Jonathan's face.

[~echo~]

"I have a house, a cabin, if you will," she said a bit defensively.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Jonathan laughed softly. "No need to be touchy," he said. "I've met some strange people. Not that you're strange," he amended.

[~echo~]

"Heh, thanks," she said with a grin. "I'm sorry. I'm never really around people."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Me either," Jonathan said. Then he realized that didn't make much sense from what he'd said earlier, so he added, "Not recently, anyway."

[~echo~]

She didn't notice. "I see. Why are you out here?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"I needed some time to clear my head," he said. "Being in the city is distracting, and quite frankly stressful."

[~echo~]

"I'm sure it didn't take you very long to get here."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"No," Jonathan agreed. "Not at all. Maybe five minutes?"

[~echo~]

She smiled. "Where do you live?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Chicago," Jonathan said. "I've lived there my whole life."

[~echo~]

"Oh, wow," she said. "I've always wanted to go to Chicago."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Why haven't you?" Jonathan asked. "It's not that far away."

[~echo~]

She shrugged. "I don't really like... crowds," she said. "They make me nervous. I don't know who to trust."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Jonathan gave a sad smile, just a slight twitch of his lips. "You sound like someone I used to know."

[~echo~]

She didn't notice the way he had said that. "Really? Who?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Jonathan's face went form wistful to hard. "It doesn't matter," he said. "And it's none of your business, either."

[~echo~]

She held up her hands. "Whoa, sorry, dude. Didn't mean to piss you off. Only curious."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Jonathan took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it like that."