Abruptly, that familiar track vanishes beneath his feet. Alina doesn't poke another joke his way; she turns sharply serious. Her countenance is empty of recognition, her mind a room he has never set foot in.

Nikolai, for once, is at a loss for how to respond. His smile falters, and his step might falter too if not for the certainty that she would plow ahead through the crowd without him. It stings, to suddenly be a stranger, but although he doesn't completely understand, he knows he cannot take it personally. Because...

"You don't know who I am."

Not a question, but a realization.