[exploration] picnic

“When you asked me if I’d like to come with you… This wasn’t what I expected.” Hale confessed as kindly as he could manage as he stepped around another puddle of questionable looking water. A suspicious bubble rose to the surface and popped, confirming that something was amiss about the body of water.

“You never know what you’ll find when collecting specimens. This is a very interesting area. ” Almira replied. Her attention was clearly elsewhere. A bizarre bug had made itself known from its perch on a rotting log and Almira had stooped down to observe the creature as it groomed its menacing looking pincers. Almira knew no fear. She was confident in her every step and no bug nor bog could bother her. If anything she seemed to delight in it. In Hale’s eyes she was fearless.

“Hand me my tweezers.” She said suddenly. Without taking her eyes off the bug she stuck out her clawed hand expectantly. Hale jumped and flipped open his bag to find the tool. In Hale’s eyes she was also intimidating…  

She was taller than he and her rigid posture and fierce predatory eyes made his pulse jump. It was like a Drakern sizing him up for dinner every time she turned her gaze on him. He handed over the tweezers and stood by fidgeting while she worked. They had been out there for most of the day and she hadn’t taken a single live specimen. She kept taking water samples or bits of wood. He was too afraid to ask what they were for. He already figured she saw him as weak, he couldn’t afford to come off as dumb too.

Whatever sample she was harvesting apparently required delicacy because she was taking a long time. Hale found his eyes wandering upward. They had been out for most of the morning and the sun had risen steadily. Clouds obscured it partially which meant the heat wasn’t terrible. Hale was thankful for that. The humidity wasn’t great but it was bearable. He silently wished she had decided to conduct her research somewhere more scenic than a bog…

“Very good.” She handed the tweezers and a vial with a lumpy piece of mold inside back to him. Hale repressed a grimace as he put the items into his bag right beside their lunch. He made a mental note to bring two bags next time. If there was a next time...

They carried on with no end in sight.

Hale batted away another bug, failed to dodge a stinky puddle, and was spooked by a snake slithering across his path. Oh! He thought they were going to have a picnic not trek through the swamps of Andras!!

Almira was holding a frog she had caught when she finally took notice of his plight. He caught her staring and dropped his own gaze in embarrassment. “I promised we could have lunch…” She said at length.

“Oh!” Hale was suddenly confronted with the possibility of eating in the less than ideal surroundings and despite being hungry the thought was unappealing. He desperately tried to come up with some excuse. “Well, you know- It’s just- Uh-”

“It’s well past noon now. I’m sorry I got carried away. I scarcely realized… Forgive me. I know the perfect place to sit down.” She didn’t give him a chance to protest. He followed after her meekly, regretting coming at all.

Almira led him on and he was surprised to find the ground becoming drier and the grass getting greener. Soon a grassy hill appeared on their horizon. It was to Hale as land was to a sailor who had been too long at sea. He couldn’t help but run ahead of Almira. A sweet fresh breeze struck him at the peak. He spread his arms as if he could take flight. “Oh this is wonderful,” He said to Almira when she finally joined him. She nodded in agreement. A puzzled look came over her face and Hale’s heart sank. Oh please don’t want to move on now, he thought to himself.

“I… I brought the frog with me.” Almira said.

“What?”

Almira lifted up a buffdeled amphibian. It had been so compliant she hadn’t thought to put it down. Hale used his paw as a visor and scanned the horizon in the direction that had come in… “We… can take him home on the way back. No sense in going back right after we got here, right?”

With the matter of the frog settled, they spread out a blanket and finally unpacked their late lunch. Almira took her first bite and was immediately surprised. “You made this?” She asked between bites, “It’s very good! I’m so used to Oren’s bland cooking.”

Hale happily ate his portion. The breeze that was passing over the grassy ridge was soothing after a long day of hiking. No bugs could fight the gusts to bite at him and if there was any humidity it was being carried away on the wind. Perfect.

“I’m sorry, by the way…” Almira apologized out of the blue.

Hale perked up, “Why?”

Almira cast her eyes downward and for a moment she didn’t look intimidating at all. “I’m sure today was awfully boring for you. I’m used to doing my work alone. I should have been more considerate. I even made you skip lunch.”

Hale hadn’t had the best time in his life if he was being honest but it certainly hadn’t been the worst experience on his voyage so far. “Oh… It’s alright. I wanted to come along. I think it would have been better if I knew what you were doing?”

It was Almira’s turn to perk up. “You’re interested? I-I don’t study big mammals and that’s usually what people are excited about- Uh… Do you want me to tell you now?”

Hale noted a hint of tentative excitement in her voice. He looked her over again and realized, perhaps a bit guiltily, that he had judged her primarily on her Mazri looks. She hadn’t intentionally been intimidating him. If anything she had probably been too shy to share when he hadn’t show any apparent interest. “I’d love that.” He said, and meant it.

Sure enough when Almira began to shed some light on what she had been harvesting that day, Hale was enthralled. They talked long after the food had been polished off and the moon had replaced the sun in the sky. By dusk the clouds began to pile up around them, the breeze became a constant gentle whisper, and a misplaced frog chirped nearby. They wouldn’t head home til dark.