Off-season Picknick

[Gerrit]

Gerrit knew how tough a new beginning in a new Freehold was - which is why he finally contacted Vivian after they'd exchanged contacts at the Winter ball. He knew that there were many 'veteran' Lost of Sacramento he hadn't really met yet, but the awkward way the Elemental showed herself during the coronation made the Ogre feel for her. So maybe it was just the contrast of the Airtouched next to all the Spring Courtiers - sue him.

The weather had been pretty forgiving for Winter - which maybe was par on course for Sacramento - so he'd prepared a little picknick for the two of them in a small park downtown. Not too far off (to keep him from feeling too out of his comfort zone), but kind of detached from the busy city life to enjoy some simple sandwiches and sparkling water. Since he didn't know what Vivian liked he also packed some fruit and plain bread - he wanted to socialize, but he knew next to nothing about the Summer. Better to make sure and cover many bases of taste.

He'd already spread the blanket and nervously looked out for the Elemental, hoping the directions he'd given were good enough.

pisces Vivian Wing

[Vivian Wing]

Vivian was doubling as a pack mule. She had her gym bag on her shoulder, and several cloth shopping bags on her arms. The summer dressed simply in a pair of dark green yoga pants, and a bright lime green sports bra top, with a dark green zip up style hooded sweatshirt, unzipped. The cool winters were not punishing in Sacramento.

Vivian came prepared with snacking cheeses, prezels, beef jerky bites, and some chocolate covered toffee pieces, and dark chocolate truffles the old man had given her. She wanted to contribute! As she neared Gerrit the storm cloud waved happily smiling. Her mantle flared and the security and bounty of Summer filled the air around her. Warmth eminated from her. "Hi Gerrit! Thank you so much for inviting me out! This is a nice spot! I like it. Very open and not stifling like the indoors always is!"

She plopped down across from him and got out the food, arranging it around them so they could graze on this or that as they liked. "I brought some things too! The old man let me have some chocolate covered toffee candies and some dark chocolate truffles he makes special for me. Less sugar, but lots of chocolate flavor!"

[Gerrit]

Gerrit couldn't help but smile as Vivian stormed in. She obviously had lots of energy, but it didn't seem to be overbearing or exhausting - a breath of fresh air, really. He looked at the Elemental for a long moment, taking in the wonderful beauty of her mien. She looks so young.. Of course, things weren't always as they appeared but he still felt a sting of paternal worry as he watched her carry so much.

"Hello, glad you could make it. I've come to love this place too, it has a little bit of everything." He helped her where he could unpacking the goods, idly thinking that the transition from 'new in town' to where he was now had been surprisingly smooth and comfortable. "How are you? Did you have some opportunities to get to know the community?"

'The old man'? A scarred brow went up as Vivian talked about her contributions to the picnic. "Self-made? That looks delicious.. but who is the old man you're talking about? If you wanted to bring someone else you could have asked me, no problem." So maybe she was really young, living with her parents. Lucky her, being able to reclaim that life. Or maybe it wasn't luck and she was just stronger and more headstrong than I am- Gerrit shook his head slightly and grabbed a sandwich - he shouldn't assume things and he really shouldn't spiral based off of those assumptions.

He didn't want to sour the mood right from the get go, so Gerrit tried to keep a friendly face and went on.
"I brought some fruit and sandwiches, feel free to take whatever you like." He wasn't very good with new people, but food was a language everyone understood. The Stonebones took a bite out of his sandwich and waited for Vivian to dig in.

[Vivian Wing]

Vivian nodded a bit. "I have a little bit over Christmas and things, and Seraphina and I had a one on one talk which really helped me with some goals to get to for the future. I want to plant beautiful flowers and grow them for her shop. My business helping her business, and of course her business helping mine. I have a decent backyard at my house to grow things, seems silly to waste it."

She nodded emphatically. "The Old Man, he's my best friend that's a human, and the only one I actually trust. He has a candy shop in town. We met while I was still homeless, and well little by little he got me to trust him. He would give me food and treats to demo in front of his shop for money. He paid cash and didn't ask any questions. Eventually I moved in to the apartment he had over the shop that he only used for storage mainly. He helped me get a Fake ID and slowly I got on my feet and built up money and funds to buy my own house and build a career of professional Singing and Dancing for money." She nodded a bit. She took a sandwhich in each hand and started eating. It didn't take long to figure out why she brought some extra snacks. She was a true trash panda (racoon). In Vivi's defense it sure took a lot to maintain all that muscle with how much she worked out.

After she managed to gorge down two sandwhiches and three sprigs of grapes to took a break to drink some water. She watched Gerrit thoughtfully a moment. "What do you do for money?" She asked. OF course the way she worded that, some might find offensive. It took Vivi a few seconds before her snow globe-esque eyes narrowed. "Uhh....um...I mean...what is your profession?!" She thought that was better. I mean....it was better right?

[Gerrit]

Listening to Vivian was like listening to the wind rustling through leaves. Maybe he was just romanticizing the slight alien-ness he was getting from her, maybe the day was just beautiful enough to lend itself to thoughts like these. It would at least explain how she talked about the human caring for her, the strange expressions she chose.

"That's good to hear. I was invited for Christmas, but I chose not to go - I prefer to spend the holidays with people closest to me. I'm not saying that the members of the Freehold aren't nice but I am pretty new here myself so.. I don't know, spending Christmas together with them seemed kind of wrong." He looked at the Elemental with a slight frown. "Does that make any sense?"

When she mentioned flowers Gerrit's face lit up, shifting the bruises and scars in an eerie way. "Really now? I work at a flower shop myself. I guess I want to find a little garden lot for myself some day, but at the moment the shop is the only place where I can tend for those flowers. So, if you ever need any help with your backyard feel free to let me know." As soon as the words were out, he felt too overbearing. We've literally just met, why would you insert yourself into her private space like that? He listened to that inner voice and disregarded it. He really needed to learn to be nicer to himself. So he went on.
"It's nice, isn't it? Seeing something grow and bloom, the beautiful colors and shapes.. it makes you appreciate life somehow. And I'm really glad that you've found some people you can trust."

He took a few slices of apple and took a look around - he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "So, you sing and dance? What kind of music are you singing?" An idle thought found its way into the Ogre's head: his wife dancing in the street without a care in the world. Although memories like these were less common nowadays they still hurt a bit. Gerrit blinked it away.

[Vivian Wing]

Vivian felt the diference of her one on one interactions with the Lost compared to humans. The stark contrast was mostly in sincerity, but also tolerance. They weren't impatient with her social foibles. She was learning a lot from them too. This helped reaffirm to herself that she had made the right decision to join the Freehold. The sense of belonging the Wyrdstone provided made her comfortable enough to try. She never felt she belonged anywhere. She felt like a normal girl, on a normal picnic, with an interesting man.

Vivian nodded to Gerrit's assessment of the Christmas Party. "I get that. I spent the Eve with the Old man. Who is about the closest thing to family I have really. My parents are passed as well as....the old me, so to speak. I had fun. It was nice seeing all the ladies and passing around presents." She paused and chuckled a little. "The Old man and I sit by the fire and roast chestnuts and marshmallows and talk over the blessings of the year, and our hopes for the next." Small traditions like that was what made family to Vivi.

She wiggled and fidgeted as they talked. It seemed impossible for her to completely stay still. Sensing his excitement on the topic, like a lightning rod, she mirrored that energy. "Oh my gosh! Really!?? Oh yay! I want to have a planting party in the Spring. You know instead of those painting the house parties people have! You will come and we will plant a giant garden of flowers. At first I was just gunna do the smelly ones, but with your help I can have some Tulips, and pansies, and morning glories, and happy Sunflowers for the birds, and and and Daffodils!" She jumped to her feet somewhere in the middle there, listing off the flowers on her fingers, and seemed to startle a second realizing she was literally standing, while her companion was sitting.

She looked unsure of her excitement for a second, and gave a sheepish look at Gerrit. "Ohh...uh...sorry. I just....when I get excited I wanna go go go. Heh." She cleared her throat slightly, and sat back down on her butt, criss cross applesauce style, formerly known in her day as 'indian style.'

[Gerrit]

Vivian's tale about her Christmas gave Gerrit a ting of melancholic pain, and he welcomed it. "That sounds lovely. Shared time and hopes are so much more precious that handing out loads of gifts, at least in my opinion."

The fidgeting wasn't lost on Gerrit and at first he was a bit concerned if he addressed a touchy subject. Soon enough the Elemental made it clear that she was just excited in a good way, and her energy came back at the Stonebones again - a feel-good feedback-loop. He actually laughed a raspy belly laugh when she got going.
"That sounds like a great idea. I'd be happy to help and we'll make your garden full of color and life." He pictured it and treasured the feeling of warmth the idea brought him. When Vivian jumped up he just watched her with a smile, becoming a bit self-conscious about his seeming lack of excitement.

"Don't worry, I get that. I knew someone that was kind of similar when it came to joy." Well, the Airtouched amped this up to eleven, but this sense of wonder and stubborn energy was ultimately what made his wife dance herself into his life. Gerrit reached for something to drink and discarded that memory. At least he tried. "But now that I know this, I'll make sure to bring a frisbee or something the next time there's a picnic." He considered his next question for a moment but then went for it. She didn't seem like the kind of woman to take offense in it. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Vivian Wing]

She watched Gerrits reaction and smiled gently. "I like fireside chats, red wine or good dark beer, and settling in to the quiet around me but I usually need something like cracking nuts or something to occupy my constant need for movement. I spend more time in my backyard than anywhere else. I like being under an open sky. I even sleep in my tree at home. I mean, the whole purpose of buying a house, was because of getting kicked out of so many apartments. People get uncomfortable when you sleep on your deck." She spread her hands and just shook her head in puzzlement. She didn't get why it was an issue.

"I thought it was a good idea too. Something different. I like doing things physically while I talk and deal with people. Sometimes eating is enough if I have an ounce of stillness in me that day. Those are rare days, and I cannot depend on them. After awhile people begin to sense what I'm not. I look a bit alien as well. Doesn't help me fit in. The Old Man knows there is something odd about me. He's afraid of losing me so he does not press, and I harbor the same fear if he ever found out the truth. " They were at a truth stalement.

"You did? Who?" She asked the natural question, smiling up at him unwrapping the wax seal on the little mini cheese wheels she had brung to the picnic. When he asked her how old she is she gave him an impish grin, giggling slightly to herself. "Well....according to my ID I am 21, but really if you multiply that number by 2.5 it is closer to the real number. Now if only I could retain all the wisdom those years should have given me. I went missing when I was 18. It was during the summer. I just graduated from High School, and I got an acceptance to Julliard, but I never got to attend..."

She listened to the sound of his voice. The timbre and cadence. The little spaces between words. His breathing when his breath led to a sharp inhale. The sadness in the staccato of an exhale. It made sense to her that the only way she could really relate to emotions is listening to the changes in breathing. Sighs. Sharp intakes of breath. Holding ones breath. Those were some of the most lasting cues she has ever gotten.

"We can always walk the little trail around the park too." She said with a shy smile.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit couldn't quite hide his surprise when Vivian talked about her sleeping situation - a gust of raspy air escaped his lungs before he knew it. "You're sleeping outside? Aren't you cold? And is there a treehouse or do you just- I don't know, find a spot to lie in safely?" Genuine interest made him talk a bit faster than usual, the words not carefully chosen and thus maybe a bit more blunt than otherwise. "I guess seeing the sky or the sunrise could be worth all that."

He listened to her explanation and nodded along - building relationships with humans was always tricky. There's always a lot to lose, a lot to keep hidden and a lot of trust required. Naturally, this topic segued into his personal loss. The hesitation was back in his voice, the breaths ever so slightly more laboured, more pained. "Uhm.. my wife. Or, probably ex-wife. She.." he put down his sandwich and looked at nothing particular in the distance "she had a way of just seeing the best in everything life threw at her. At us." There was more control in his breathing now, a steady in-and-out. "If she wanted something, she fought teeth and nail for it, but it hardly seemed like work when she did it. There was this playful determination that was just contagious." One last deep inhale, followed by something like a sigh.

"Sorry, that was a trip down memory lane." He took a small bite and looked back at her. He seemed to have risen victorious over that particular issue for now, the pain pushed back somewhere else. "I wouldn't worry - wisdom is not something necessarily linked to age. You seem to know what you like and where you want to go, that's worth a whole lot. And you've got a whole life of opportunities ahead of you." Of course, if she wouldn't be taken again. But if Summer and Winter didn't agree on most things, one thing they shared: the absolute determination to never let that happen again.

Suddenly an idea struck him. Well, Vivian provided the idea, but maybe it was time for the Ogre to become a bit more spontaneous. He smiled at the Elemental, then he started packing up the arrangement, storing everything that's not in immediate use back into the fitting containers. "Let's go right now. Between the two of us we can easily carry all of this and we can go until we don't want to walk anymore."

There was a hint of a question in Gerrit's inflection. A nagging voice in the back of his head was scolding him for being uncomfortable, for ruining the picnic minutes after it started. Well, if it is ruined it's even better that I've already packed up, isn't it? That defiant thought made him smile even wider, his wounded and beaten face reminding him painfully that joy was not something for the like of him. And that just made him want to defy the nagging voice even more. "I'm ready. Lead the way."

[Vivian Wing]

She giggled a bit, but heard the concern in the wush of air. "It's alright Gerrit. I am never cold. It's the benefit of being a hot blooded summer child." Summer child was a nice way of saying it was a contract that Summer taught. "I have a platform supported by the tree limbs. It really is the perfect tree! I even sleep out there when it rains. That doesn't bother me at all. I just roll onto my tummy and its like getting a back massage if its raining hard enough!"

She heard the shift in his breathing and leaned in a little closer, listening and watching his chest rise and fall with his words. She had been lucky, everyone was dead. It made it a little easier in her mind. She couldn't imagine being torn away from such an established and accomplished life. I mean....he had a wife and everything?! She may have been envious, but the way his breathing seeemed to stutter in his chest when he talked about her, told her otherwise. She stayed silent so if he wished to tell her more, he could. When he moved on, she let it go as well. It was his pain, it had to be his choice.

"It's alright. It's good to talk about things. I learned that in therapy. I wasn't always this put together. There is still things.....missing, but having her help has been good to me. She's helped me to feel things again, and that helps me sense it in others. Finding ways to understand., to listen, really listen. Not just waiting for my chance to speak." She paused a second, and left it there. To be Airtouched, was to have no bounds, no limits, no restrictions, which is the antithesis of this world. Iron side was all about boundaries and limitations. It had to be for it to all work here. To be shoved back into everything she had forgotten and learned to live without was harder than she could have ever imagined.

She blinked as she started to gather things up, wondering if she had done something wrong. Her nervous energy could be catching. She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully and nodded. "Yeah. That works. I'm sorry I'm such a fidgety person. I am working on it, but its gunna take time. I know why I am this way, but how to temper it with stillness....that I'm not sure." She smiled ruefully, and he could hear the tinge of yearing in her voice. "I want to be still with someone, and not feel the constant urge to go, and move on like a storm blows through." She shrugged gently. "I have to believe I will get there someday....but for now!" She hopped up brightening helping him with the bags, and slinging her own gym bag in a cross body fashion so she could move more freely.

And they were off! Like a herd of hares! "Oooo look at this tree!" She pointed to the one just before them on the walking path. "Look at the intricate patterns in its bark. Isn't it great?" She reached out and touched the trunk, and peered closer, and then looked at him. "You know, you have patterns too. Like the tree. Look!" She pointed at his visible skin on his hand. "It's beautiful."