Trouble down to an art

When she saw the other young woman, she became paralyzed. Her muscles locked and her breathing grew rapid. What did she do? Say hello? Turn around and walk away? Solveiga stood trapped in her indecision, watching as the stranger dipped her nose into the water and suddenly resurfaced with a squeal. The sound made Solveiga flinch, her body getting even more rigid, and so she wasn't prepared to get out of the way when the stranger came flailing toward her.

She scrambled for a moment to avoid collision but of course that didn't work, and the two fell rather gracelessly onto the ground. Solveiga regained her feet quickly, however, her wide blue eyes finding a matching pair. She swallowed hard, beginning the debate in her mind again over whether or not she should say anything, but then the other young woman became distracted with something else: the little critter that had been clinging to her nose when she had pulled it from the water. The cries of "Catch it, catch it!" were the only things to finally break through the fog Solveiga had been in for so long. It was as though, when someone gave her a command to follow, she suddenly had purpose. She hopped lithely over the fallen stranger and picked up the little creature by its shell, holding it carefully in her teeth as she turned to face the other woman again. She looked at her, and her pale blue eyes asked quietly for approval. This was what she wanted, right?