Overture Downs you didn't socialize me properly.

*busts in to sweep you off your feet*
or maybe not.
Tags are for reference only! :)

Merrit was anything but lost - but, he was, admittedly, more than a little bit late.

Something had prevented him from leaving Easthollow at the time he'd originally intended. A feeling, a sorrow, an anger that resurfaced when he'd begun to leave for the Festival in search of his sister, but had scented @Greyback's marks so strongly along the borderline, and @Keen's so faded, that he couldn't step a paw beyond the Hollow. He had turned instead, and set about to desecrate each fresh mark his mother's suitor had left by leaving his right on top, until he found himself exhausted from bitterness, and a solid hour behind.

The snow kicked up behind him now in a pattern that almost seemed as calculated as the path that he charted through the gentle hills. In actuality, he had very little idea of where he was to go from here. The last time he had been this way, speed hadn't been on his side, but he needed something faster today. So when he caught the motion of an agouti stranger sauntering across the downs, his initial instinct was to turn away, and he began to. He didn't need unnecessary small talk - he didn't need something else slowing him down.

Unless she could help, and he stopped, before his body followed the turn of his ear and he cut toward her instead. Surely he could dismiss her quickly if she was of no assistance. Merrit approached with a sweeping stride set with rugged purpose, and he called for her attention:

"Afternoon, m'lady," his voice was polite, but devoid of, well... anything, really, but he rang a bit sharper than usual, a bit quicker, a bit more rushed. This was business, he hoped that was clear. "Are you familiar with the packs in this area? Elysium, particularly."