It Takes All Kinds [private]

Applejack paid attention to what Sugary was saying about his companion even though she was moving about the kitchen getting two cups. Kimi followed after the two and kept outside, though she moved around the house and peeked in through the window just enough so that she could purposely be seen by Sugary, but not by Applejack, who at this point had to wash some cups because there wasn't any cleans ones left.

Kimi would grin  at Sugary after he finished saying what he said and she brought a finger up to her lips in a 'shhh' motion. As if silently telling Sugary not to bring Applejack's attention to her. shortly after that she would disappear.

Applejack at this point would turn around and look at Sugary. "Well that soundin' like quite the adventurin' yah got going." though what caught her attention the most was the fact that Sugary mentioned mother. "So yah tellin' me yah travelin' with her kid's too?" she had also remembered that he had mentioned that she was here just up until he showed up to give her the hammer.

When Sugary finally saw Kimi for himself, he raised his brows high in surprise and began to speak. "Lot-...?" He stopped mid-name as she wanted him to keep quiet, for reasons he could not fathom at the moment. He also realized he just spoke half a word, and thought Applejack might want to know what he meant as he at least finally knew Kimi was nearby, if being odd. "Er... Little more than just apple juice might be good, I mean! You're sweaty all over, so some saltine crackers would go along quite well for Electrolites!" It was a very on the fly suggestion, but hopefully a sound one. He also then realized he might have alluded that he was also might have been checki-... admiring the apple farmer's body when she wasn't looking.

He then tried to go with the flow as best as he could since he really did want to share what he could with AJ. "Well... There's definitely gonna be plenty of adventuring one way or another. Got no doubt about that... And no, her kids are elsewhere. She said she's got someone reliable looking after them in the meantime. It's for the best, since I'd rather not get them involved in my issues like this... Why do you ask?" He figured Kimi would stick aroud at least, so he was less compelled to hurry along himself.

Applejack could only give Sugary a very confused look at she wondered what he was talking about. "Electro-whatzits?" she uttered not entirely sure what that word meant, sounded like something Twilight would say. Though she did know what crackers were and it did sound like a yummy idea to have crackers to go along with the juice. She crossed her arms as she listened to Sugary. She seemed to have calmed down some once she heard that Kimi's kid's were being looked after, though part of it didn't really sit well with her.

"Well so long as the kid's are being cared fer." Probably had something to do dealing with her own parents, so the thought of other kids possibly being abandoned by their mother typically bothered her. she turned around and dried off two cups, one for her and one for Sugary. "I was just curious, twas all." she answered him as she began to look through a cabinet to the right of the window. She was looking for at least a pack of crackers, so with the door of the cabinet open, it blocked her vision to see out the window.

From the window Kimi stood up, but not as herself, in fact she looked like an exact replica of Applejack. She had done a simple transformation technique, like she did earlier in the train when she had shown Sugary her normal form, but this time her appearance was an exact color of Applejack from the coat color to the eye color, Hat included too. She looked right at Sugary and winked at him while placing a finger over her lips repeating that same 'shhh' motion she had done earlier. She then gave him a sultry grin as her hands would slide up her upper body and right onto her bust, which matched the same size and shape that Applejack's were. She gave them a little squeeze.

Right at this point Applejack, the real Applejack, would close the cabinet and held onto a pack of saltine crackers. At this same point, Kimi had disappeared again, so Applejack missed everything. "I found the crackers." she stated as she would place them onto a table.

"Electrolites. To put it simply, it's about helping to replace the salt in the body after sweating it off. About as important to keep in mind during hard work as drinking water or juice. Kinda something I've had to keep in mind for a long time is all." While it was originally a bit of a cover up, he nonetheless hoped Applejack would make use of the suggestion for her sake, whether she actually needed it or not since it didn't hurt to keep in mind.

Seeing Kimi as AJ was certaily another big surprise as he went blank trying to figure out why she was disguising herself... And then went both deadpan and blushing as she squeezed her own breasts in fromt of him. It was jarring to the point he mouthed 'What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing?' in her direction, before he turned to AJ herself again... and trying to not think on her breasts as much. "Ah, thank you... Shall we head out now, or would you rather stay here now? I'm good either way, really." He then looked at the juice, particularly the color of it. It looked like it came from a very good batch, and hoped it tasted as good as it looked.

Applejack took what he said to mind, though as she was trying to figure it out exactly, well that didn't go so well so she left it all up to fancy unicorn words. She didn't question it as she would just do the same to him as she does when Twilight starts talking "uhuh." It wasn't saying that she didn't understand what he was saying, more so that she didn't get exactly how it worked. While she was by no means stupid, she wasn't top tier when it came to the books. Which was fine with her, she knew more than enough to survive day to day and if things got to complicated she could always ask Twilight to help her out or at least explain it in a way that she could understand it. Applejack took out the glass pitcher of Apple juice, a lovely golden color, with actual thin apple slices floating inside of it.

She would take the glass cups and and fill them each up. She placed the pitcher onto the table and she looked toward's Sugary seeing that his face was red. "Yah alright? Lookin' a lil' red there, too much sun fer yah?" she had teased. She would hand him a cup and with her back to the window Kimi would pop up one more time with another tease.

This time however it was two clones, and one clone was of Applejack and the other was of Sugary. Both the clones would wave at the real Sugary and give a mischievous grin before hugging each other and staring deeply into each others eyes, with the Applejack clone passing her fingers through the Sugary clones mane, before they would both lower as if to insinuate naughty things. Of course like before, this would happen pretty quickly and was done so that only Sugary would notice.

Sugary flinched lightly as he was questioned about his flushed face, having a hard time simply hiding it unless he relied on magic, but now it was a moot point with her being right in front of him. "... I'm fine, really... Just... remembered something silly. Don't worry..." He took the cup, and was about to drink it, but was then once more distracted by the following scene involving himself and the mare he was with. His red tinge was not going anywhere fast. "... I swear, it's like she's not the same mare I met! What is she doing!?"

He then swallowed, trying to keep composed over what was happening as he now had a somewhat harder time even looking at AJ, and so he drank... But now, his cheeks would remain rosy for another reason as the juice would not only turn out to be much better than he expected as he hummed in delight with a twinkle in his eyes afterwards, having Kimi's mental assault thwarted by something more tangible. "Mmm~<3 So sweet! I really needed that!"

He'd then turn towards AJ as Kimi was not in his sights again just yet, and decided to try adding more to the conversation for a change while pushing back distractions. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask but... How long have you been working on this farm?"

Kimi was highly amused by all of this and silently giggled to herself while she was recalling the look on Sugary's face when he saw what she was doing. Though she knew herself that she couldn't keep doing this, they were going to head out to the porch soon.

Applejack arched a brow at Sugary. He was acting funny, but he wasn't talking, well he was beating around the bush, but not exactly saying what was on his mind. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously for a moment before just sighing and shaking her head seeing him enjoy his drink. May as well bring the whole pitcher with them outside. She would turn around and grab the pitcher as she would hand it to him after he asked the question. "Do me a favor and carry this." after Sugary would take a hold of the pitcher, she would answer his question.

"I've been workin' on this farm since I was a little filly myself." thinking back from when she was a little filly, she would grab the crackers and her cup. "So fer most of mah life, I'd say. I did have a time though where I stay up in manehattan with family there, but that didn't last too long as I eventually came back home figuring out that it was the place I was meant to be." she stated. She'd walked past him and lead him outside to the porch.

On the porch are a rocking chair, a couple other chairs and to one side of the porch there was a swing couch installed there, pretty big one too, looks big enough for four people to sit in at the same time. Next to that was a small portable table. "jes' put the pitcher right there on the table and have a seat." she would place the crackers onto the table and then sit down onto the swing couch.

"Of course." Sugary would take the pitcher carefully and carry it right outside to the porch where instructed to do so. He would then sit along with AJ in the swinging sofa because it was more than big enough, and he liked the concept of it too as he took some more juice and crackers while hearing her brief answer with interest. "So you're really a farmer through and through... Heh... And yet, you've got quite a reputation as a hero, you know...? Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not here to just praise you, I'm genuinely curious to know what it's been like for you to go and do... well... something so different from your usual lifestyle." He then looked at the snacks, and listened to the relative calm in the farm while briefly looking around at the scenery and for Kimi. "... Or we could just eat quietly. It's really nice here."

Applejack only chuckled as she adjusted her head to hide her face some, mostly to hide a blush that she got from the compliment. Of course the Hat only served to hide the blush, but a grin could easily be seen underneath that. "Aww, shucks, that ain't nothin'." she stated trying to brush off the compliment as if it were nothing. She rose her back to it's normal position once she felt control over her blush as it was gone and she took a drink. "I ain't do all that much. I just did what any pony would have done. I've done what I've always done, be kind to my fellow ponies and help out when they needed it. I'm sure they would have done the same fer me." she grabbed a cracker and chew on it silently as she gazed out over her farm.

Kimi was off to the side of the building, well quite literally crawling on the side of the building, and peeking out watching the two sitting on the Sofa swing. It would be a bit more difficult to tease Sugary, which Applejack there, so she figured she'd stop her teasing for now. At least until an opportunity arose.Nah, she couldn't wait that long. Just like before she peeked her head out enough to gather Sugary's attention and like before she was in the appearance of Applejack, though from Sugary's position what he would see would be her poking out just enough that her cleavage could be seen and one hand sticking out as she dropped a green plaid shirt. Indicating that she had gone topless and like that she had disappeared when the real Applejack turned her head. "Didja see somethin' over there? I thought I saw somehin..." she stated.

Sugary couldn't tell Applejack was blushing, but he could see she was smiling at least, and thought that to be a good thing. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable after all with the compliment, even if there was no guarantee of it either way. He smiled back at her answer though, liking it very much as he then began to show his age and experience a bit better with how he took the answer. "You know... That's what some would say so readily, but never get around to it, or they are actually given the chance, but don't make the best of it. I've seen it happen enough times to know. You're right in saying you just did the right thing, but be proud that you saw those moments through to the end, lived to tell the tales, and still manage to get back to your usual life like it was nothing. Trust me, you got one heck of a strong spirit, Mi-... I mean... Applejack." The tone of his voice was more of respect than mere admiration at this point, but he meant every word. He felt his old comrades would love to have someone like AJ if she ever actually got around to being a Guild Mercenary, as would he.

He wanted to say something else to the farmmare, something much more simple by comparison, but Kimi just had to tease the hell out of him again. It was so unfair that he was the one now finding her antics to be somewhat annoying where as the night before he was the one accidentally pushing her buttons. He wondered if she had hit her head on something, or if she was tsting him in some way. Being asked by AJ again also meant that he had less reason to beat around the bush, and decided to come clean at once, and see how things would play out from there. He chuckled, along with a slight deadpan look and a blush of his own again, and did his best to look at AJ as he set the record straight. "Applejack... If I told you that companion of mine decided to show up and mess with me by teasing me about how pretty I think you are, would you hold it against me?" He quickly stared towards Kimi's last hiding place. "And Lotus, will you just come out and say hello already!? I swear, I'm gonna get you back for this!"

Applejack heard what he stated, but didn't see a need to respond to it. she was still curious to see if Sugary had saw something or if it was just her imagination. It was then he decided to come clean about something and be honest with Applejack. Applejack would look at Sugary and arch a brow about what he told her. "That's ahhh....ummm.." she didn't know exactly how to answer that. So apparently his companion was hiding around and teasing him about how pretty she was? Well how in the world could someone do that without being next to him. Were they a unicorn? Her brow furrowed as she got a little annoyed by this. Sugary then called out to Kimi, who didn't react in response.

Kimi just smiled to herself and listened to what Sugary said about getting her back. Her ears twitched and she just chuckled and whispered to herself. "Quite the honest stallion, with no real subtly to him." she only shook her head a disappeared from her spot with a poof and then appeared sitting right next to Sugary. "Hello." she stated.

Applejack would suddenly jumped to her feet at the sudden appearance of Kimi. "What in tarnations?!"

Sugary patiently waited for Kimi to just up and show herself since she no longer held an Ace on him. Then again, he wasn't that young, so he wasn't as hesitant to just up and say how he felt as much since beating around the bush only got one so far. Of course, he narrowed his eyes towards her as he saw Applejack practically jump away while she made her own stylistic entrance. "So much for a peaceful talk..." He sighed, and tried to introduce his traveling companion to his host. "I really must apologize for my companion's awful manners... Applejack, this is Miss Lotus. She's most definitely the mare I was talking about. Don't worry, you're not seeing things. She really is that quick on her legs." He doubted that would calm the farm mare easily, but he may as well try anyway.

Kimi wasn't in any disguise and she was dressed as she usually was. She just sat there next to Sugary as if it were no big deal to her and shifted her gaze over to him when he stated that she had awful manners. She arched a brow at him and just shook her head while rolling her eyes. She then looked towards Applejack who had jumped away in surprise.

Applejack was confused, and with good reason too. A mare just suddenly popping up out of no where like that and to top it off it wasn't even a unicorn. she looked like an earth pony. Almost as if someone took Rarity, took off her horn and dyed her hair pink. "I..aahh....what?" She looked around trying to figure out just possibly where the mare came from and make some sense about all this. sugary then began to apologize for Kimi's 'awful' manners and then, poorly, reinforce that she really is just that quick. Applejack took a deep breath and took off her hat and scratched her head as she released her deep breath to calm herself. "I'm mighty confused. I reckon I seen some crazy things, what with the thing's I've done with the Elements, but seeing an earth pony move that quick. That's plum-pickin' amazin'."

Applejack herself was quite confident in her leg's, but even she couldn't move that fast. Strong legs usually always meant quicker speeds. She took a moment trying to figure where she was going to settle her feelings at. "Well then Miss umm...Lotus, was it? It's a pleasure meetin' you. Your friend here told me a little bit about you."

Kimi eyed Sugary. "I know." was her response while she stared at Sugary. She then looked back towards Applejack. Applejack blinked feeling slightly awkward at the response. She shifted her gaze to the side and gave a light chuckle. "Right."

Applejack would drink the rest of her drink down before she would refill herself and ask Kimi. "Would'ja like a drink as well?"

Kimi only shook her head. "No, thank you." she politely responded. Applejack would then sit back down on the sofa swing and nod her head. "she seem's...nice." Applejack said to Sugary.

Where as Kimi was being Kimi, and Applejack seemed to be feeling rather out of place, Sugary was feeling mostly comfortable, but even he could see AJ wasn't all too keen about shrugging off the encounter. "Really...? I thought Miss Pinkie was quite swift herself. Unless she has a horn hidden somewhere, but I doubt that." He might not have known the party mare well, but even he knew her speed was anything but conventional. Perhaps AJ was just more than used to it by now and didn't notice it as much?

Since the three of them were now in the swinging sofa, he would relax again as he spoke. "Nice? That's a maybe if you ask me." He wasn't trying to pretend Kimi wasn't there, especially since he was looking right at her this time when he spoke. "Really though, where did you go before you decided to mess with me?" He had a little more he had wanted to ask AJ, but now it would have to wait.

Applejack could only chuckle as Sugary mentioned Pinkie Pie. "Yeah, she's a quick one alright. I try not to think so much on how she does what she does. Last time I did that, I had such the headache and right near brought myself insane. You kinda just accept it now-a-days as Pinkie bein' Pinkie." She recalled the time Twilight nearly killed herself trying to figure out Pinkie Pie's pinkie sense. That was quite the funny time, well injuries aside that is.

Kimi didn't say anything and just eyed Sugary when he said maybe about her being nice. Kimi would just watch him and then look at Applejack when she spoke and then looked back toward's Sugary. "Behind you." she stated, which technically was true, well up until she moved in front of him and teased him from the window that is. She had been behind him the entire time.

Sugary was at least glad to see his host easing up further after all, which made the moment pleasant once again. "Frankly, I'm more curious to know where she gets all that energy from. Vigorous barely even describes how lively she is!"

Then came Kimi with her unexpected antics as she kept showing, or showing off, her speed and craftiness to him. He looked over at her with an amused, but impressed grin as he slowly traced her movements and flow of energy, both from her and the surrounding air. "You know, I'm gonna figure out a pattern if you keep doing that. I might just end up sneaking up on you someday." In a way, it was like issuing a challenge, both to her and to himself as he could tell she was very skilled, but knew not the extent of it. He had a strong feeling he could learn much from her, or at least polish his skills further, if not both.

He very much looked forward to the prospect of mutual training before turning over to Aj once more. "Say... We don't come around here too often, and might not be back for some time... Is there anything you'd like to ask us before we have to get back to the train?"

given that sugary had mentioned Pinkie Pie it made things just a little simpler to wrap her mind around it. Maybe she was just another anomaly like Pinkie Pie was, maybe the only explanation for her was that she was just being who she was? That was a better explanation than trying to drive herself crazy trying to make sense of it all. It's probably just better off to accept things as they are. Applejack just gave a shrug towards Sugary's question, his guess was as good as hers. No one really knew where Pinkie Pie got that energy from. She chuckled along with what he said.

Kimi wasn't going much right now she was just sitting calmly next to Sugary. Her hands neatly folded in her lap and her pink eyes gazing out toward's the farm, her eyes looking rather alive unlike back on the train where it seemed dull and kinda lifeless.  The flow of her energy pulsing through her body like the blood in her veins, hidden well as if one were looking at a container at an angle just to only see the thin surface of liquid that was contained within, but even if one were to peer further they would only be met with darkness, no visible bottom to be seen. "Good luck." was her only response to his little 'challenge'. She wasn't worried and if he did manage to sneak up on her, then that means she'd need to work even better to prevent such a thing from happening again. Her ears twitched subtly was the breeze picked up.

Applejack thought for a moment and wondered if there was anything she was curious about. "Didn't really think of anything to be honest. Just though a little chit chat would be nice." she gave a nice smirk as she eyed Sugary and then looked to Kimi, who looked at her and and gave Applejack a small smile. Applejack did finally think of a question. "Where do yah plan to go from here?" Her eyes went back to Sugary after she had said her question.[/color]

Sugary still found Kimi fascinating in her own way as he still tried to get a good read on her. Fortunately for her, his fascination was much more harmless compared to certain other undesireables, and merely sought to understand what he didn't with curiosity for knowledge and the unknown, rather than an obsessive thirst for power. "Them's fighting words." He had a playful glint in his eyes towards her. It wasn't fair for just one of them to have all the fun after all.

When asked by AJ where to go, his attitude changed a bit, seemingly less playful as he looked down in thught. "Well... We're taking a train ride to Dodge Junction. Got some business to deal with in the area..." He then looked over to AJ once more. "... Or did you mean after here here? Really, we're just passing the time more than anything specific."

Kimi only eyed Sugary when he said 'Them's fighting words' and only shook her head and rolls her eyes. Her fun of teasing the stallion had been cut short, but after that she got to sit down on a nice porch and just enjoy the breeze that shot through the farm land. It's scent was drastically different than that of the Ponyville itself. It was probably due to the heavy combination of the fauna and the animal life here given that they took care of other animals as well; chickens, sheep, cattle and so on. So it's smell was very different compared to the main town. She didn't let her tongue flick out as much as she did before, probably because she didn't want to actually taste some of the stenches in the air. Might make her gag, but other than that, quite a pleasant place. She shifted her attention to look at Sugary and Applejack and smiled pleasantly.

"Dodge Junction, huh? That's a mighty nice place, I knew a mare there, run's a cherry farm." she chuckled to herself remembering that time when she had stayed in Dodge Junction because she was too ashamed to come back to Ponyville when she didn't win the first place ribbon's like she had promised. "Cherry Jubille is her name. Very nice mare, gave me a job for a short time and took good care of me. Maybe when yah get there, yah can find her and speak to her. I'm sure she'll try an help yah out if you ask nicely." She stated with a smile before taking another drink of her juice.

While Kimi rolled her eyes, Sugary smirked in thought. "If she really thinks I can't do it, she's got another thing coming. Speed isn't everything..." Of course, he didn't actually have a plan yet, but he was certainly thinking on it. Otherwise, he could just improvise, but it was something he intended to save for later. Much later.

The information Applejack provided certainly got Sugary's full attention as well as a very grateful smile. "Cherry Jubilee, Cherry farm... Got it. Mis-... Applejack, thank you for that, I'll definitely keep it in mind. If she knows the area well..." He then turned to Kimi. "... We could definitely ask for her help." He looked between both mares, and then thought to pick out a bronze pocketwatch from his inventory to look at the time, and tried to remember whatever time the attendants were sure to have in their own watches here and there on the way out. "... Think we might have a bit more time to relax here. Unless either one of you objects?"

Kimi was enjoying this though, being in the company of others and just listening to chit chat. It was a missed past time that she doesn't get to have to often. Even though she didn't really have much to add to the conversation, she was pleased in just listening to it. It was similar to when she was starting out as a shinobi with her small squad. She only gave a short, but light chuckle.

Applejack would nod her head and respond. "Not a problem, sugarcube. She's well connected, so i'm sure she would be able ta help yah out."

Kimi caught wind of the sounds being made by a carriage and the voices of strangers off in the distance. Her ears twitching to the sounds and she would speak up. "I believe your family has returned."

Applejack would look at Kimi and arch a brow before she looked toward's the entrance to see in the distance, Big Mac, Granny Smith and the boy's from the shop bring back the things they needed. "Well I'll be, that's quite a sight yah got on yah." Applejack downed her drink and she stood up. "While I'd love to keep you two company, I need to get back to work. So feel free to help yourselves to some more applejuice if you want. Other than that, take care partners." she would tip her hat to Sugary and Kimi before she would head off to meet up with the others.

Seeing how far Applejack's family was when Kimi heard them come along was a strong indicator of just how difficult it was going to be to ever catch her off guard, which gave him all the more reason to think he might need to be far more crafty if he ever intended to surprise her easily.

He waved farewell to Applejack as he saw her make her way to her family, checki-... admiring her on the way there before a sudden realization struck him, and his ears drooped slightly and seemed bit upset about something. "Dang... I forgot to ask for her hand..." said he softly before looking at Kimi. "... You're looking awfully calm all of a sudden... You feeling alright?"

Kimi watched Applejack leave and she eyed Sugary to see where his eyes were looking at. She only smirked and pondered to herself. men of this world are just like the men of my world. she made another mental note about the similarities and differences she had witnessed between the worlds. Her attention shifted over towards Sugary when he had asked about her calmness. "I am, as you put it, calm, so yes." she added as she stood up and stretched. "I'm perfectly fine." she walked along the porch until she was by the step's and she looked at Sugary. "We should get going back to the train, I wouldn't want us to end up meeting up with another interesting thing and getting side tracked." She smiled pleasantly at him and went down the porch's steps onto the gravel road following it out of the Apple farm.

Meanwhile, near the ponyville train station.

"Just be cautious with that. There's fragile equipment in there." stated Al to the ponies that were handling her luggage. It was a big brown suitcase, with worded tape on it that said. 'Fragile, do not flip. This way up.'

"Yes Ma'am." responded one of the ponies as they loaded it up into the train. Once they got it on there Al walked towards the attendant, who asked to see her ticket, which she promptly showed.

After their interaction finished, she went onto the train and grinned to herself. Oh this is going to be a blast.

Sugary thought again about the time he had known Kimi so far. He was trying to figure out what had made her change her overall attitude in such a short time. Between the first odd meeting, touchy subjects, and the night before, all he could tell was that she had mellowed out. "... Maybe she really did just need to get some comfort and fresh air." He simply shrugged, glad to see her at ease, still somewhat regretful that he didn't ask for Applejack's hand, ate one more cracker and sipped more of the delicious juice, and followed after Kimi calmly. "Let's... But It'd be nice to come back anyway if we get the chance."

If possible, he'd wave at the Apples from a distance, and then continue walking along Kimi, a small grin on his face. "You know, that was quite rude... Where you jealous that I wanted to meet with Applejack? I didn't think you liked me that much." He was obviously lying through his teeth about what he thought of her antics past the 'rude' comment, but he figured he'd take a jab at her anyway after startling their host when all he really wanted to do was chat.

Kimi's a woman much like any other female, there's hardly any logic with them when it comes to how they feel. One moment they may be down your throat and the next they're cuddling and coddling you. Maybe it was that she needed to get some fresh air and move around. It also probably had something to do with the fact that so far she's been awake for nearly three days straight. Even though she didn't need to eat or rest, she was still up for a very long time and the longer one stays awake the more unstable someone's emotional state can become when they aren't busy fighting that is.

Kimi pondered what he said about coming back, but she didn't say a word about it. she didn't want to feel like she made a promise to something she wasn't certain she could keep. As they would pass the Apple family, the Apple family would wave and say their goodbyes, and Kimi would wave back in response. Her ears would twitch to what Sugary stated and without missing a beat as soon as he finished his teasing comments. "I don't find animals attractive in the slightest." She would lift her arms up and behind her head and lace her fingers together as she continued walking.