Unease

"Fluttery it feels, like excitement... but dangerous it is unlike the rest."

~

The next day was dreary with humidity and cold rain, very similar to the lack of spirit Pierce had. She had been happy the previous day but today was not her day, all she could do was look absently at the kettle as it brewed the simmering tea.

"You don't look so well."

"I feel down today, I don't know why though." She was sure her father didn't understand her behavior for the lack of reasons, she just couldn't help but be that way.

"Are you sick?" his monotonous voice asked, yet she heard some worry behind the words.

Not turning to meet his eyes she just watched the kettle with a deep sigh, her nerves feeling the lack of blood, there was also no enthusiasm she could look forward to, "I think not..." It was odd how she felt so low, as if sucked dry of all the happiness.

She heard footsteps approaching the kitchen and knew who it could be, as her father was already seated and was drinking his coffee with a tablet in hand scrolling down some document.

"You want juice or tea?" she asked the lad who sat next to her dad leaving a seat in between, and looked up at her expectantly. His hand motioned for the kettle in front of her telling her what he wanted.

As the kettle whistled she poured down the hot tea and arranged for some milk and sugar. Taking the tray with her she settled in between the men and slipped the tray to their hungry guest, he was grateful.

After a while of sitting ideally and still sipping the tea, she looked at the clock reading 8 am. She wondered if they were going out again, she hoped they weren't, as she was feeling very tired and stiff. She just didn't want to come out as discourteous so she stayed quiet about it.

A piece of paper made its way towards her palms on the table and she saw it was Vladius who had slipped it in there. His face looked concerned and for the first time she noticed how close they were sitting. Looking away with a blush she unfolded the chit and saw what he had to say, "You look down today."

She nodded not saying anything, it felt weird talking to a boy when her father was sitting right next to her sipping his coffee. She was absolutely sure where his focus could be directed at instead of his work tablet.

'What happened?"

To that she couldn't just nod, so she took hold of the pen from his hand and replied on his small chit of paper. "I feel down today, don't know why though. Are we going out by any chance?" She had assumed her handwriting was bad but when writing on a chit it came out almost unreadable.

"Do you want to go out today?"

"Is that a date?" she didn't know why she even asked but she had and now was vaguely aware of the heat radiating from her face.

"What do you mean, what date?"

Vladius was dumb in many instances but she hadn't known he was this dumb. "Date means courting someone whom you like and taking them out for a movie or a picnic, but I was just joking."

Vladius read it for a while with great concentration, then he crumpled it and threw it away in the dustbin, only to take out a new page from his brand new notepad, which suspiciously looked like one of hers.

All the while he wrote he never even looked at her, so she wondered if it was her fault in any way. "What's a picnic?" the seriousness on his face was epic and she just couldn't help but laugh at that. She just didn't care who heard it or thought what about it.

Any other guy would have replied with a joke or flirted back but he didn't do anything and instead asked something else entirely, a question too off shore from the main topic. She should have felt insulted that he ignored the date so effectively but when Vladius was involved she kind of ignored the details. "You don't know what a picnic is?" she asked out loud this time, making him pout and huff like a kid.

"Then I will take you to one."

"When will you be going then?" the sudden question made her jump with fright, she had totally forgotten about her father who was still there sipping his coffee since early morning. She was sure the coffee wasn't prepared to last for more than a few minutes.

"B-By 10 AM I guess, I need to prepare for the picnic."

"Don't go too far then," he replied and excused himself from the company.

When they both were left alone, they exhaled with relief simultaneously. "You too huh?"

He nodded awkwardly and left to get ready. There was no need to clarify to what they had in common, her father had that dominating air about him which most people often feared. Well, in the very least she felt uneasy around him.

--

It was a windy day, the humidity was still there and the dampness everywhere leaving no space or any dry patch they could settle upon. She vaguely registered her mistake in choice as she walked alongside Vladius with a slight embarrassed blush. She wouldn't admit but picnics weren't meant to be organized on rainy days and certainly not on some damp grass field of a local park nearby.

Biting her lip she slowed down, meeting his pace, clenching her fingers tightly around the basket handle with uncertainty. Small wet puddles scattered on the walkway and the cloudy sky spread across the horizon, together both the features contributed to the fault in decision she had taken, also what strongly enforced a sense of hesitation in her was the glimpse of shadows moving from object to object.

Shadows always seemed to be moving with her, following her, although she never caught any actual movement red handed, it was there. An observation she always made from the corner of her eyes.

Glancing around at the trees and the concrete walkways, her eyes caught onto various earthworms and bugs crawling on the surface, some squashed unknowingly by the random pedestrian or cars while some were actively still crawling. She did have some dislike towards them but it didn't agitate her.

She chuckled to herself remembering how Gracia had reacted just like the others when their school was having a field trip to a farmland nearby, at that time she was the only one who wasn't squealing or screaming. Girls tended to dislike crawling organisms, she thought it was a discriminating habit.

A slow hum coming from beside her caused her to look at the source quickly. True enough Vladius was the one who did it, even with her staring he didn't break off his tune. From what she could assume, his voice was lighter than her father's but at the same time deep. "It seems your allergy is finally receding."

Stopping the hum mid-track he nodded his confirmation, though he refused to say anything else.

After walking for a while they finally reached the wet park where she searched for that one spot where they could actually unfold the blanket without getting it wet, she soon found a covered greenhouse that was situated in the corner. "It appears we would have to walk some more, bear with me."

Walking upon the water puddles their feet splashed on contact and they both had to take care to not get themselves covered in mud, though it was quickly getting difficult to dodge, skip and slow down with each puddle they crossed. "Ah, sorry about this all," she mumbled out an apology finally declaring it was a very bad idea from the start, of course she didn't say anything aloud.

When they were finally there standing outside the small green house surrounded by a huge nursery, she asked her guest to close his eyes as it was somewhat a surprise for him. So he did what he was told.

Rushing in through the door which was kept open for another few hours for visitors, she found the perfect dry spot in midst of various flowering plants that gave off soothing sweet scents she loved so much. She started spreading out the sheet and unpacking her basket.

Visitors weren't allowed to bring food in there but she would be taking the chances. If they were caught she would just say she was a newbie in town. Plus with all the rain she doubted any gardener or public would be visiting the place anytime soon. They weren't as foolish as her.

When she was done with the unpacking, she again rushed over to the lad and nudged him along with her all the while asking to not open his eyes until she said so.

Eventually they reached her favorite spot and Vladius was asked to take a look around. What he saw was enough to render him speechless, it felt heartwarming and the setup was very cozy. It felt comfortable to sit on the blanket with all the food in the front and the vegetation surrounding him made him feel surprisingly nostalgic of home.

The creepers covering the skylight let in dim hazy rays from the outside casting their space with a warm glow. The green and the colored flowers surrounding them made the place look safe and secure, like nothing could ever harm them here while the dark bushes making the outer ring of the spot craftily highlighted everything with fashionable greens.

When his words failed him, he took to smiling as an indication to how much he liked it, for the first time in a while it felt as if he was still at home enjoying his days with his family.

"I knew you would like it," Pierce said with a broad smile, despite the rain dampening the mood, the picnic was a success in the end it seemed. "Shall we get started then?" she asked politely rubbing her palms together to add on the effect.