On his hand was a black umbrella accentuated by black ruffles. Its handle resting elegantly on his white-gloved hand yet what it sheltered was the girl; still furious as to what had happened earlier.
"Are you dirtied my lady," the man finally asked. His neon yellow eyes seemed to glisten, like that of a cat's, as he looked at her worrily.
"No, that's not it," was her only reply, not even bothering on looking at him.
"Then would you mind if I ask what is troubling you?" he politely asked as they approached their destination.
The pair stopped by a familiar place. This was the city's cemetery. Not many people go here during this season, it was still February, and given the weather, they expected no one would visit. The two entered but not before another speeding carriage passed through them repeating the whole scenario of the man shielding her.
The girl heaved a sigh. "That," she said.
"The what, my lady?" the man courteously inquired.
"It's the cold…the air…"
He finally understood why she was upset. Running vehicles causes air to blow at pedestrians. He barely noticed because he was already soaked for hours because she insisted on walking. He won't catch a cold anyway.
"My apologies my lady," he said. "I do not have anything warm to—"
"Never mind that…let us go," she interrupted cutting him off mid-sentence.
The rain-soaked man dutifully obeyed yet the girl didn't start walking. She just stood there as if frozen. He feared for the worst—he brushed those thoughts away and shook his head a little. Whilst him doing this, she reached both her freezing hands to catch rain droplets.
"Rain…" she muttered to herself. He was taken aback by her actions.
"So powerful as to quench that fire…so cold as to a touch like death," she brought her hands together to her chest. "…yet, so warm to ease a heart."
"I wonder," she said after pausing for awhile. "If this rain reached them?"
The man said nothing, he simply placed a hand on his chest and made a slight bow indicating his honest response.
The girl's face brightened a bit.