"Then stop me," he said, like a dare. Without waiting for a response he strode away from the stairs, picking a direction more or less at random. He was rather counting on Hudson not following him and being able to disappear into the crowd, then later to disappear from the crowd. Not to throw peanuts at dangerous things, but to find somewhere more amenable to sulking through his feelings than a party. Possibly it would involve throwing peanuts, but that passing fancy had mostly already passed; he'd just wanted a phrase to illustrate to Hudson that he wasn't in the mood to stay and chat, and would rather be literally anywhere else, doing anything else.

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