Leaving a trail of breadcrumbs [Shea~]

[Anonymous]

Rosalie whistled while walking around the forest, looking for berries.  She always loved the berries that grew in this forest.  They always just seemed to taste delicious and sweet, she smiled, it also helped that they were free.  She definitely needed all the free food she could get.  It was hard for her to make enough money to buy herself plenty of food everyday. She sighed, leaning down and picking up a berry.  She turned it over and over, making sure that the berry hadn't gone bad.  She couldn't afford to get sick.  Getting sick wasted time that she could be using to get more money or gather more food.
 
She looked all around the area she was standing in.  She knew this area had the most berries out of the entire forest, but where were they? She bit her lip, looking up, and a cheshire cat grin appeared on her face.  Right above her head, hanging in that very tree, was a huge bushel of ripe berries.  She hooked her basket over her shoulder before she started to climb up the tree.  She started breathing heavier and heavier as she climbed up the the tree.  Why is this tree so tall, she thought.  She had just managed to get to near the berries when she heard a quiet snore coming from the other side of the tree.  

She leaned over the branch, and gasped.  Sitting under the tree was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on.  Rosalie was absolutely stunned.  During all her travels, she hadn't ever met a man as good looking as him.  She shook her head quickly, don't be stupid Rosalie..men can't be trusted, she scolded herself.  Despite her thoughts though, she couldn't take her eyes off him.  

As she was staring at him, she reached over and attempted to grab the bushel of berries.  She frowned, taking her focus off the man and tugged harder on the berries.  Why wouldn't they come lose, she thought, pulling with all her strength.  She suddenly felt the berries give way, and she let out a small yell as she started falling down.  Right onto the man below her.

[miss_sanguine]

His sleep was going well until the sound of someone whistling cut through his thoughts. Whistling and stomping through the underbrush, as if this oncoming stranger had never been out in the woods before, or at least didn't care who heard her.

<It's a girl,> Maneki said from somewhere up in the tree he rested against. <She's picking berries.>

Through his shared vision with the cat, he could see the girl as she approached from below. Her hair was long, of an ordinary color, and she appeared to be around his age, maybe a bit younger. Not at all bad looking.

He almost laughed as she started to climb the tree. While he hadn't moved from his position, nor opened his eyes, he could still hear her. Clearly this girl wasn't a practiced climber. No one needed to make that much noise. Then again, maybe it was that he was simply more accustomed to the way of cats, who were professional climbers. Not that he could relate, hating heights so much.

He let out a fake snore to get her attention, then had to hold back a smile when she gasped. Sounds like I've been spotted, he thought to himself.  

<Hold your amusement for another time,> Maneki cut in. <She's about to—> But what the girl was about to do became obvious when there came a sudden snapping of branches and a yell. Before he knew it, he had a lapful of girl and the wind was knocked completely out of him.

"Gah!"

[Anonymous]

Rosalie groaned as she landed in the lap of a stranger.  She looked up at him, blushing.  "Uh, hi there," she smiled at him awkwardly, "Sorry about that.  I didn't except the tree branch to give way.  Are you hurt anywhere?  That probably hurt, huh?" she reached up, fixing his hair for him.  She looked him up and down.  Hm, she thought, he seemed to not be hurt anywhere.  She smiled, that was good.  She would have hated it if she had hurt him somehow.

Rosalie tilted her head to the side, he was even more good looking up close.  She definitely hadn't ever met a man as good looking as him before.  But then again, she hadn't met many men during her life.  "Oh, I completely forgot to introduce myself.  How rude," she smiled at the man before her, "I'm Rosalie, by the way.  You are?" 

She extended a hand towards him, suddenly realizing that she was still in this man's lap. "I'm so sorry, I completely spaced," she quickly got up from his lap, brushing herself off.  She looked up at the man before her, blushing.  She couldn't believe she had just sat there in his lap.  What had she been thinking?

[miss_sanguine]

Due to the air being knocked completely out of him, all Monnayage could do was wince as she remained where she was in his lap and wiggled around some, going as far as to messing up his hair for whatever reason.

He wheezed out a breath of air when she asked his name, her hand extended. When she finally realized her position and moved away from him, there was a large intake of sweet, sweet oxygen before he spoke.

"Nice to meet you . . . Rosalie," he said, coughing a bit and squirming around into a more comfortable position. He moved his hands up to his hair, making sure it was all right--he still had no idea why she'd touched it--and then looked at her a little more closely. "The name's Monnayage."

Up above, Maneki watched him with amusement.

[Anonymous]

"The name's Monnayage."

Rosalie quirked an eyebrow, staring at the man before her.  What a strange fellow, she thought.  Why would a man like him be out here in the woods by himself?  He didn't really seem like the type to be in a rugged place like this.  Ah, she shook her head, what did she know though?  After all, hadn't she been taught anything from her books?  Never judge a book by its cover, and yet here she was judging.  Alas, she really could be a hypocrite sometimes.

"So, um," Rosalie scratched the back of her neck, frowning, "what are you doing out here in the woods by yourself? And just sitting down too?" She titled her head to the side, curious to see what his response would be.  Since she came through this area of the woods a lot, she knew for a fact hardly anyone ever travelled this way.  She suddenly froze, what if he was an axe murderer?  She quickly shook her head, inwardly laughing, stop being silly Rosalie. If that wasn't it then what was he doing here in this part of the woods? And by himself too?  

[miss_sanguine]

He mirrored her quirked brow, unable to help himself in wondering what the heck was going on in the girl's head. She seemed to be having inner dialogue with herself, what with the way she stared at him and then shook herself.

"I was taking a nap," he said amiably. He gestured openly at the woods around them. "The woods are a great place for a nap. And it's not as strange a thing as you seem to think."

<Twitchy little thing, isn't she?> he said to Maneki, amused. He rubbed his abdomen where it felt like a bruise was forming.

<She's strange.>