The soft floral breeze swept through Elenion like a wave over the small kittom as she struggled to pull a large knapsack uphill towards the famous eldertree of Faerindell in all of its pink glory. Spritz had demanded to be a part of the family trip, but as usual her parental figures had gotten distracted and wandered on their own, leaving the small kittom to her own devices. Which she was fine with, especially that it was no coincidence that she decided to visit Faerindell. He was here, and they were finally going to meet. This time, things would go much better than they had at their first meeting, she swore it.
“C’mon!” She whined through her teeth as she yanked the bag larger than herself over the soft grasses under the tree. Other nin had already pulled out their blankets under the cascade of pink petals falling from the tree in full bloom. The overlook near the tree showed the village underneath, which bloomed in the warmth of the early spring day. On the rooftops the myriad of flowers made a rainbow to the senses, as well as the gentle tickle of pollen on the nose.
The colorful elnin was trying her best to ignore the tickle at her nose as she yanked the bag with her sharp teeth, digging in her paws to the soft ground and gave it a final shove. “There!” Her nose wrinkled and she sneezed softly, her tails wiggling in the air as she did. She rubbed it with her arm and shook it off, bounding around her bag to untie it in her teeth, folding it out until the blanket was flat over the grass. In the center of the bag was a small basket with small pastries and fruit that she picked out especially for this occasion. Of which she made sure to grab the pink cherry tarts known through the region that resembled the bloom of the large tree overhead.
As she set up the tiny picnic and carefully put out the jars of juice and jelly, she stopped to take in the beautiful scenery. In her head she pictured how it would happen. The beautiful pink petals falling like rain overhead, the warm sun on her fur and he would approach from the path, his orange colors and bright eyes as he made his way through. He’d come and sit and they would laugh and eat, then just enjoy the loveliness of the day. Through the vibrant colors of the faerie shrouds they could walk…
Her mouth was open in deep thought and she snapped back to reality, pushing out the small plates and smoothing out the wrinkles. That’s the ticket! Spreading out her paws she sat behind the basket, staring at the path she’d come up and looking over the other springtime dates sitting under the tree and having their picnics.
Now where was Aurum?
Spritz was completely infatuated with the orange and white nin when he had come through the islands with his father while traveling. She only had a few short, awkward hours with him then, but he had mentioned being in Faerindell during the same time. She made sure they would run into each other, and when they had she told him to come to the tree before noon. Another paw moved to smooth the blanket and she stared up at the sunlight through the thickly blooming branches of the large tree. Had to be close.
Spritz held her breath. Eyes were fixed on the spot, waiting for the reflection of the bright fur she recognized. Minutes passed. Then moments. Scrunching her nose tightly her freckles had wrinkles and her tails wiggled in annoyance. Before noon means BEFORE! Another soft breeze brought multicolored petals over her and she felt the twitch on her nose again.
“Hey Spritz!”
She turned. “ACHOOOO~!” Closing her eyes tight she sneezed loudly with another shudder of her body and slowly opened them back up.
Aurum was wide-eyed, his fur bristled up on his back and he blinked in awe of her. Warmth covered her cheeks and she took in a deep inhale. “OhmygoshIamsosorryareyouokay?” In one breath she coughed up more words than she said to him the first time and moved over, using a paw to smooth out the fur on his head and she moved back. “Erm, I mean…” She motioned with her head. “I made this picnic for us!”
The other elnin shook it off and his messy fur stayed how it was. He was still wearing his pouch from his own journey with his dad. They’d come for some dried flowers and special herbs for his potions, but when he saw Spritz he was happy to have some time from away from his dad and explore the vast forest and bright flowers, plus free food. “This looks really good, thank you!” Carefully he moved onto the blanket and sat by the food, smiling as he took a step onto the picnic blanket.
Spritz let out a long exhale. It was a little bit later than she hoped, and he surprised her. And she sneezed in his face. A smile was on her face as she looked him over though, happy to see that he was there finally and they could talk without their parents. Well, without Aurum’s dad at the least since her own parents were now (badly) taking care of their new litter. It’s all fine now. “So Aur-“
SQUISH!
The autumn-colored nin felt his paw fall down into one of the tarts under his paw, staring down at it with horror. “Ah, I’m sorry!”
A nervous laugh escaped her. “It’s fine there’s more, if you just sit-“
Aurum sat back to get the tart off, but felt a cold twinge and he turned around. “O-oh dear!” He flipped back around with flat pastries stuck on the back of his fur. “I’m sorry!”
Spritz stared, slackjawed and in awe, moving over to quickly free him. “I’ll get it, don’t worry!” Gravity felt like more of a friend and she slipped on one of the jars, falling onto him and they rolled back into the grass. Aurum tried feebly to grab hold of the blanket, and there was a loud clang as the jars and plates hit the ground as the blanket wrapped over the two kittoms.
Shock. Awe. Disbelief.
The seven stages of grief hit Spritz like a boulder to the face and she moved back, shaking off her fur to get the rest of the crumbs off. Hotness filled her eyes and she shook more violently to fight it off, sitting down on the soft grass and her gaze moved down to the basket on its side, plates scattered over the grass and all of the small pastries, tarts and fruit scattered and some already being dined on the indigenous birds of the region.
The other small elnin was tangled in the picnic blanket, wiggling around and backing up over some of the carnage as his ears struggled to be freed. With an “Oomph!” he pulled back enough to fall and his eyes were wide, staring at the mess and his ears fell in dismay. “Spritz… I…” Scanning over, he found her nearby and slowly moved over to her, feeling bad for all of the work she had done. His eyes followed the small birds now enjoying their free lunch and the rest out, he sat near her, looking back with an apologetic look.
Eyes stared down at the dirt between the grass and the petals falling over it, idly moving one with her paw as she fought the drizzle of tears, her tails swaying in the soft breeze that moved between them.
Awkward silence, but the petals continued to fall and Aurum’s eyes watched as one landed on her cheek and he leaned over to her, pushing it from her face with his nose. Spritz turned back with soft pink over her freckles. “Aurum?” Softly she made a deep rumble and leaned over on him, staring back up at the tree.
“We still have juice.” Aurum replied, moving to retrieve the muddied blanket and he put it back down, smoothing it back out. He grabbed the plates and put them into the basket carefully, retrieving the two jars of juice that hadn’t been opened and he carried them back. With a flick of her tails, Spritz moved back over to the blanket, sitting with him now near one of the large roots of the tree. Reaching over, she opened the two juices and nestled up next to Aurum, letting out a sigh.
Aurum smiled back and took his juice in his paws, drinking it and he leaned back, leaning his head over onto her shoulder. Above them the rain of petals softly kissed the earth and were blown into the distance. The world around them seemingly vanished and the two kittoms were warm next to each other. Spritz drank down her juice and sat in silence. Though her plan of the perfect day went awry quickly, just being near him felt enough this time.
Under the beautiful bouquet of the trees above something else was blooming. Dough-caked fur, jelly on their paws, crumbs in their tails and settled on a dirty blanket – none of that mattered now. Petals danced over them and covered them while they sat together, bringing in the season of flowers and lovers, Spring.
