It was a little thing, that minor wiggle in the ride, but they were going fast enough that Lottie's arms tightened hard around Hermod's torso and she braced herself for impact because she was sure they were going to crash. But Hermod reacted so fast and so sure that he got the bike under control and they slowed to a stop. She wondered what the problem had been. The flats were the perfect place to do test runs because they were, well, flat. Potholes and rocks were there, certainly, but they weren't in great abundance. Had they hit one?
She was going to ask him just that when they stopped. But before she could, Hermod was turning around to look at her and asking a question of his own. One she didn't understand at all. Philotes blinked, then blinked again. Her mouth opened, then closed as she realized she didn't know what to say. Finally she repeated, “What?”
Before he could answer though, she moved on, because she needed to know! “What just happened? Did we hit a rock or something? We were barreling along, and man you really get this thing moving, Hermod, but it seemed like there was a problem there near the end, and I didn't see what happened. Did we hit something?”
It didn't occur to her that her arms were still around him, or that their faces were terribly close. Lottie was very used to being tactile and near those she liked. So she simply smiled and waited for Hermod to answer her questions.