She blinked at the flowers in some surprise as she accepted them from him. They were certainly unexpected, but not quite as much as the strange somersault her stomach gave in response. She assured herself that such nervousness had nothing to do with him or some bouquet of freshly-picked flowers, but that it was obviously a very normal reaction to the impending closeness of her departure.
Yes. That made sense.
His question prompted her to look up from the pale blooms to meet his regard and she opened her mouth to respond, her eyes sliding over to the suitcase still open just a few feet away. He wasn't particularly observant, and it was such an easy out, a way to avoid spending any more time with him alone and the possibility of having to remind herself that she wasn't going to miss him while she was away...
"We just finished up," Coraline piped in, pouncing on her moment of hesitation as though privy to her every thought. Reagan's cheeks burned as her mother pried the daisies from her fingers and gave her a pointed smile. "I'll put these lovely things in water for you while you two chat a bit, hm?" Reagan's own mouth flattened into a thin line of betrayed annoyance, but this, she knew, was a battle she was not going to win.
"I'll grab my shawl," she muttered.
Moments later found her closing the door behind her and trying her best to ignore the innocuously sweet way her mother called after her to enjoy the fresh air. She fell into step beside him and clutched her very Aurellian shawl tighter around her shoulders, the color and style at opposition and yet strangely complimentary to the casual yet distinctly Clove dress she'd opted for that morning. It seemed that she was content to listen to the soft crunch of their footsteps against the ground for a while before she finally spoke. "Thank you, by the way. For the flowers. Before, I didn't say... it was... you didn't have to do that."