Colton thumbed through the volumes on the shelf, trying to find one particular book on chemistry. A recent experiment was needing a particularly sensitive mixture not often used and he'd heard through a colleague that a store in Slateport had a copy of said book on its shelves. However, the search had not proven itself to be so fruitful, as the owner, as kind as they had been about it, didn't have an exact shelf spot for the book, leaving Colton to dig about to try and find it.

His thumb brushed over each leather bound volume, his lips silently forming each's name as he ran through a mental checklist until, finally, his finger settled on the very tome he sought. A grin broke out on his face as he pulled the book from the shelf, already turning away from the bookshelf as he opened the book and flipped through the pages. "Finally. I can get back to the lab and -" he started, though his excited muttering was swiftly interrupted as he sharply turned a corner and walked directly into another person.

Colton stumbled back, nearly tripping over himself before his footing settled. "Ah! I'm so terribly sorry about that, ma'am!" he babbled, bowing to her as apologetically as he could manage.

Elise Calcifet

Colton could only look at the floor in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as she forgave his blunder. But that didn't mean that he forgave himself for such a mistake. "N-no, it's my fault. I was too busy looking at my book to pay attention to where I was going..." he said again, glancing up at her tentatively. He was surprised to see she looked more concerned than annoyed, only to be even more surprised to hear her continue the conversation as if he hadn't just walked right into her. While he would have gladly walked right out the door with his apology and shut himself way in his lab as atonement, the fact that she was actively to him kept Colton rooted to the spot.

"Ah, yes, I was...well, just one book in particular," Colton said, slowly straightening as he lifted up the chemistry book in his hand with a nervous smile. "J-Just a chemistry book I needed for some research. I don't really read much else." He couldn't help but chuckle nervously, though he cocked his head curiously. Home region? She must not be native to Hoenn, if that was the case. He, weirdly enough, did get a sense of wanderlust when he heard about the other regions. There was something about traveling that usually did appeal to him, but Colton had never actually gone out of his way to do so.

"I see. Where are you from? That may explain why they're hard to find," he asked, his eyes suddenly going wide. "Ah! Forgive my manners. My name's Colton Boothroyd. I-it's nice to meet you, Miss...?"

Elise Calcifet

Colton felt his heartrate begin to go down as their conversation continued. She seemed very kind, even offering him help to try and track down the book he was looking for, or at least the section it may be in. A much nicer response than someone who was run into would normally have. "Oh, I've already found it, but thank you! It's rather annoying since I only need this book for one really specific formula for one really specific mixture and no one thought to just scan the pages and upload them to the internet," he said, thumping the cover of the book with a laugh. "All the things we've achieved and no one thought to write up the things in this one twenty year old book on some internet database."

It took a moment for Colton to process what he had heard and he had to run it through his head again just to be sure he hadn't misheard her. "Duties as a prince." Her father and aunt were royals in Galar. Which meant she was a royal in Galar. And he had just carelessly walked right into her. He felt himself looking around, searching the shelves for some Galarian black ops team coming to toss him into the gulag for being so careless and endangering one of their royal family. "I...uh..." Colton said, swallowing in an attempt to wet his now very dry throat. "Well, i-it was very n-nice to meet you, Miss Kuro-...Your Maj-...um..."

Colton felt like the hole he was digging himself was just getting deeper and deeper, but his legs simply refused to respond, trapping him.

Elise Calcifet