The sun, once pleasant and rather perfect, was now sweltering and Neil twitched with the urge to roll up his sleeves, unbutton the first few buttons of his stiff white shirt, but Stuart would likely get on his case for it. After the two men had finished their tense conversation, they began to make their way to the town, both to put Neil, officially, on the marriage mart, and to make a public appearance at the weekly market in the town square.

Neil was, as one might imagine, ecstatic.

He was burning to a crisp in the heat of the sun, in a suit that chafed both injured skin and uninjured, and to make it all the better, he could catch a glimpse of one Allison Reynolds headed straight towards the two men. Now, normally, the woman wasn't an entire nuisance, but Neil was already in a horrid mood today, and he wasn't looking forward to Miss Reynolds' underhanded form of interrogation.

"Morning, boys," Allison purred, her eyes glinting with her particular brand of cunning. "We don't see you both out and about too often! It must be quite the occasion, especially if Mr. Josten here is walking normally!"

Neil resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Barely.

"Miss Reynolds," Stuart greeted in an oddly jovial tone. "I'm waiting for my nephew to run out of energy, so to speak, but I haven't yet seen it happen. No, I'm afraid we are both attending to some business together."

"Oh?" Allison asked coyly. "Well, that sounds promising."

"Allison," Neil finally rolled his eyes, sparing half a thought for propriety. "I know it's shocking to learn that other people exist outside of your insipid little circle, but I, for one, would not like to waste my time on your posturing."

Allison laughed sharply, not at all offended apparently, and begrudgingly, Neil felt his interest pique a little.

"Oh, Neil, I knew you had claws somewhere in there," Allison said sweetly, as if she were commenting on the weather. "I'm glad to see that you're coming out of your shell."

Indeed, Neil's interest was piqued. His previous introduction to Allison Reynolds had been overshadowed by the sting of pain far sharper than his current injuries, or under the guise of a street cat. Allison Reynolds had given him the impression of a vapid, brainless little wretch and Neil could remember many instances where the sound of her shrieking had sent him flinching away in cat form. Allison Reynolds had been incredibly uninteresting then, a complete opposition to this version of the woman.

Stuart cleared his throat, jarring Neil from his thoughts and the sharp stare he had been aiming towards the woman of his musings.

"Well, if we are quite done here," Stuart trailed off, his British accent making the question sound much more polite than the woman really deserved.

"Actually," Allison cut off Stuart, and Neil smiled gleefully at the flicker of annoyance on his uncle's face. "I did have a reason to intrude on your business, Mr. Hatford. We have some new arrivals coming into town today, though most of the townsfolk know the family already. The Minyards, if you remember them, have returned from wherever it is that they went. I thought you might want to give our dear Mr. Josten the chance to meet the family."

A sharp snort escaped Neil at the woman's pettiness– he certainly was beginning to like this version of her much more than his previous interactions with her. She was almost on the same level of pettiness as him. It amused him.

Allison smiled, or rather bared her teeth sharkishly at him, her own dark amusement aimed towards him, and Neil likely imagined it, but it felt as if a moment of camaraderie passed between the two.

"Ah, the Minyards," the note of alarm in Stuart's voice made Neil grin wolfishly. "I wasn't aware that they would return so soon. I was under the impression that the trip would take them much longer."

Allison answered Stuart's unsaid question with a carefully flippant wave of her hand, "Oh, you know how Andrew is, Mr. Hatford, I'm sure he managed to connive his way into returning earlier than planned somehow."

"Quite," Stuart's voice was strained, and Neil's curiosity latched onto that chip in his uncle's armor.

However, before Neil had the chance to act on any of his observations, the group was interrupted once more.

"Allison!"

Neil had the absolute pleasure of watching the truly impressive eye roll Allison gave, before she changed into an entirely different person right before his eyes.

"Yes, Mother?"

Well. Perhaps not entirely.

The woman who stormed up to them had distinct similarities to Allison herself, as did the man who hurried behind her. Allison shot her parents a sickly sweet smile, that Neil now recognized for the true baring of teeth it was. With Neil watching the way Allison both tensed, and intentionally relaxed before her mother, he once again recognized a sense of similarity in the young woman.

He had also had to become a different person to please his mother and fulfill her certain expectations for him.

"I do apologize, Mr. Hatford," Allison's mother began blubbering, gripping the young woman's arm in a tight grip that Allison managed to not flinch at. "My daughter can be so obstinate at times, I hope she didn't delay you too badly."

Neil's attention honed in on the way Mrs. Reynolds grip on Allison tightened a fraction more, her white knuckles a stark contrast to her red face.

"On the contrary, Mrs. Reynolds," Neil interrupted smoothly, stepping forward to offer his arm to a now wide-eyed Allison. "Miss Reynolds wasn't intruding at all, and we were having a rather pleasant conversation. In fact, I had just offered to escort Miss Reynolds on a walk."

Allison's mother had no choice but to release her hold on her daughter, and Neil didn't think that the minute slump of Allison's shoulders was intentional as she slipped her hand delicately into the crook of Neil's elbow.

"Uncle," Neil continued. "I trust you have our affairs well in order?"

With a raised eyebrow, and hardly a second thought, Neil began leading the pair away from the oppressive air of "angry parent" and "angry uncle".

Neil was almost certain that his uncle was going to do his best to try and make him regret that, but feeling the tension slowly leech out of Allison's frame was worth it.

"Thank you," the woman murmured towards her feet, all masks off.

"Don't thank me," Neil responded. "I just did what I wish a number of people would have done for me."

Allison looked at Neil from the corner of her eye, relaxing even more now that the sounds of their respective family's conversations had died away. There was a spark of recognition in her eyes that made Neil nauseous to look at for too long, so he turned away, focusing instead on guiding them through town and around the random people wandering about.

"You are certainly not what I expected you to be, Mr. Josten," Allison laughed slightly, sounding a little unsteady.

"Neil is my name." The offer was made almost idly, but Neil knew Allison would understand.

"And mine is Allison," Allison laughed a bit louder, a bit freer the further they walked away from their families. "But you already know that!"

Neil laughed a little sheepishly at that, perhaps also feeling more free with the distance between him and his uncle steadily growing.

"Not that I'm complaining!" Allison exclaimed, a twinkle in her eye and broad smile on her face now that Neil chanced a look at her. "I haven't ever met someone who wears pettiness better than me in a long while!"

"It's not such a hard feat when you live with someone like my uncle," Neil offered quietly, a smile in his voice.

"I can imagine," Allison groaned good-naturedly. "The man has the biggest stick up his ass."

Neil choked on a laugh.