It was certainly much easier to see the girl's features from where Sterling stood now. She was a small thing, making it near impossible to guess her age. However, he placed it somewhere in the early years of schooling, maybe. Her hair was thin, but a light, sandy blonde that movie stars would have killed for. Her cyan eyes fixed on him, looking him over as he did to her. Both were obviously quite surprised by the presence of the other, especially the girl, of course. He was just surprised he'd gone ahead and mustered up the courage to speak to her.
He blinked his dark brown eyes quickly, watching her as she smiled. He, in turn, gave a shaky sort of smile that conveyed his unease. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. Perhaps he should run off now before the Sheriff came out with a gun or something to shoot him. She trudged over before he could leave though and it made him feel almost like he was stuck in the snowy yard, unable to flee.
"Mr. Pearce? Bleh. That's really formal. You don't have a first name? A nickname? Mine's Leighton, but you can call me Leigh...Or preferably Princess Leigh of the winter lands." Sterling gave a nod, taking this request into consideration.
"Well, Princess Leigh of the Winter Lands," he began, playing along with her fantasy. "It is most certainly an honor to make your acquaintance. Um...of course I have a first name." He smirked back at her in amusement alongside her. "It's Sterling. Sterling Pearce." He was quiet then, forcing back a blush of embarrassment until Leighton's much warmer hand reached up and brushed against his. Instinctively, he let go quickly of the trike and let her take it.
"Sorry..." he mumbled, sort of scuffing his foot against the ground as he looked down at the shoes.
"What do you have there? Books?" Sterling slowly looked up, brow furrowed at her due to how close her voice suddenly sounded. He blinked in surprise at first, seeing her hand so close before his face. Slowly, he accepted it in his own clammy, chilled hand and looked down to see how one Earth she'd gotten up there. Suddenly, he removed his hand from hers and dropped his books so he could fall to his knees and hold the trike in place, afraid she would fall.
"That's not really an ideal perch..." he mumbled, looking back up at her so now she was the taller of the two. "Erm...yes. They're books." Suddenly, he gathered them up and pulled them toward his chest like a child might with books that took a fall in a school hallway. Leighton peered forward, trying to read the covers of his books. Sterling, panicking, held the trike harder in place. He exclaimed, "Oh, please don't fall!"
Looking up at her in worry, he couldn't help but notice how similar her appearance was to his Lily. In fact, if he hadn't known better, he would have said this was his little girl and not some child he'd met suddenly in the yard of a town Sheriff. Right now, he could have stood and hugged her tightly to his chest alongside his books. How he missed his little girl...what wouldn't he give to have her back before him? But, in a way, perhaps she was just before him now. Leighton could have been a carbon copy of his Lily, even. The thought caused his stomach to knot and a frown to form on his face. He missed her so much...
"Is that where you learned such big words like 'chariot'?"
"W-what?" he stammered, blinking his eyes back into focus as she spoke. "O-oh...yes, this is where I learned words like that. Well, these and school, of course..." He let out a nervous laugh and slowly stood up again, still holding a foot against the wheel of the bicycle to keep it in place.
"Well...I...um...you should...I should probably go," he said, his words coming out in a rush as if he were stumbling. "Must be weird having a strange man in your yard..." Another nervous laugh passed through his lips and he hugged the books even tighter, his knuckles turning white.