Hiking Trip

Juno insisted that she would make herself easy to find when Grim arrived—they had been exchanging texts for days, talking about flowers and gardens and all the dirt and water and work that entailed over the app that matched them together in the first place. oh i know the perfect place!!! she had said, really woodsy lots of flowers, do you want to go on a hike with me?

Now, she waited at the base of the hill (a little steeper than perhaps mentioned), ears tied back with a scrunchie, wearing the flowery headband she promised she would so Grim could pick her out if there was a crowd. There wasn't, really, but better to be careful. Not promised was the bouquet in her arms; a relatively small thing (not too much for a first date, after all!), pink paper wrapped around the stems, a big red bow around the middle of it all, bright red blooms (roses, of course, among them) carefully arranged. She rocked back and forth on her heels, humming a little as she waited for her date.

A hike meant a walk, right? A nice pleasant nature walk? Grim was still having difficulty saying no to these kinds of things, especially since the other bun seemed nice and liked talking about flowers. There was also going to be a lot of flowers in this place! But Burrowgatory was a vast, vast place, and there was no telling what the place would be like. Still, it was worth a shot, right?

But a hike was not a walk. The way to get there was already an arduous journey that Grim did not expect, and he feared that he was oh so late. Shit. He didn’t like the idea that he looked sweaty in his clothes, even if they were made for the outdoors. Since it was nearing the spring season, it was also getting warmer. Nonetheless, he eventually made it, feeling already rather crestfallen seeing that Juno was waiting with…was that a bouquet?

He raised his arm, attempting to wave and catch her attention. His grand horns started to weigh on him; he regretted still wearing the face mask (it was a habit he had a hard time breaking, not wanting to be recognized on the streets even if it had been some time since his last gig). “Hey. I’m sorry, it was…I’m not the most athletic bun.” he blinked, eyeing the bouquet, particularly the roses. “Did we talk about bringing flowers? Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t bring any…”

Juno had started to space out, just a little, as she was wont to do. Would the snowdrops still be in bloom? She'd spotted daffodils on her way over; there would probably be more throughout the walk, and what a treat that would be! Her own daffodils would probably have to be moved out of their pots soon. Where could she plant them this year in a desperate attempt to keep that goddamn Rabebe from trying to eat—And then the waving arm not too far off, and Juno grinned, rising up on her toes and waving her arm high over her head.

"Omigosh, no, it's fine," she said, not even waiting until she'd finished jogging up to meet him to start speaking. Juno had somehow managed a near-immaculate appearance despite the walk, even in more athletic wear; a walk like this was nigh nothing for her. She hadn't quite considered how another bun might take it. Really, she wasn't quite considering it now. Instead, she went on, as cheerful as could be, "We didn't talk about bringing anything. I just wanted to surprise you!" she said, and thrust the bouquet out in front of her. "These are all from my garden," she said, practically preening, entirely unsubtle in her pride, and adding with a wink, "I got the impression that you would appreciate them."

Grim had a faint blush of embarrassment, hidden behind the face mask, at her admission of just bringing the bouquet as a surprise. It was a sweet gesture that he didn’t expect at all, and he tried to straighten himself up a little more as a result. It would do no good to keep slouching and appear fatigued. “They are? They look amazing.” he was no stranger to pride; he too was rather proud of his garden, but he would often feel that he did not compare just yet to many other gardening buns that had been doing this for much longer than he has.

In his doll form, his claws took the form of sharpened, bright red fingernails, but he was gentle in lifting the flower petals to get a closer look. He was also able to catch their gentle aroma as he took the bouquet. “I do appreciate them, thank you. I must provide a gift as well next time. Err, if you will have me.” there now came the question of where to keep these. If it were up to him, he would’ve loved to head on home and put these in a vase, but they were…a long way from home. Was he to carry this on one hand the whole time? “Oh, speaking of, I was curious to hear of the spot you were talking about in chat.”

"Ooooh, planning for next time already!" Juno tittered, a gleeful little giggle half from behind her hand, teasing more than anything else even as her eyes sparkled. Still, it was easy to see how she puffed up, watching Grim look over the flowers, hearing his compliment. For all her cultivation of a casual air, it wasn't just any occasion that she deigned to be worth flowers—her flowers, thank you very much; the effort she put into their growth and arrangement. But she'd decided, even through their brief exchanges, that she liked Grim, though she was finding him already a little easier to fluster in person than over text. This was not a downside.

Once he spoke again, she perked up, moving right on from the delightful distraction of watching him take in the sight of the flowers. "Oh! So, it's up that hill and a little farther past," she said, gesturing behind her. "The whole walk is really pretty, there's no bad part, but it plateaus out into this be-a-uuuu-tiful meadow." Juno drew out each syllable, sighing contentedly just at the thought. "Good for sitting! Good for picnics. Did you bring snacks?"

Grim had let out a little noise; kind of like an awkward, ah, he supposed so? Was he already looking forward to another meeting? Well, to talk about flowers at least, surrounded by flowers…that did sound nice! And he was no stranger to giving compliments; he knew as a fellow pride bun that those were an easy way to brighten their day. He made sure to keep a firm grip on the bouquet so that none of the flowers would stray, and he hoped that they would last by the time they headed back. While impossible to replant at this stage, they should be able to last in a vase for a few days.

He nodded at her gesture, finding the energy a little infectious; he couldn’t help but smile a little. “I look forward to it. And yes, I did, in the backpack. I suppose if anything could serve as a gift, it’s the biscuits and cookies I purchased for the trip.” it was a good thing he decided not to bring cakes or chocolate - they may have melted at this point or have been tossed around his backpack. However, having a heavy weight on his back, coupled with the water bottle and other things, was also partially the reason why he was so tuckered out. He just hoped then that the spot wasn’t too far, but now that he was standing around rather than heaving, his eyes would linger on the different flowers on the side of the dirt path, bright and vibrant.

"Ah! Noooope, no gifts!" Juno said, one hand on her hip, one finger stuck out in front of her and up towards Grim's face with her index finger extended, trying very hard to look dramatically cross and failing entirely. "The flowers were a nice surprise, and not something you have to worry about," she said, insistent, drawing back to clap her hands together. "Besides, it's only natural to share snacks on the way, right?" With that, she spun around, both hands on her hips once she settled with her back to Grim to display the backpack hanging off her shoulders: smaller than his, brown, patterned with yellow flowers, a chain of them hanging from the buckle where the bag folded over. A gleeful little hop in place made the bag bounce, and the sound of rustling inside probably meant it contained more snacks yet.

Just as quickly, Juno spun right back around, beaming brightly and still half-posing when she landed to face him. "It's about an hour's hike if you're quick," she said, "but there's enough to see that there's no reason to be too quick, right? Those ought to last," she added, nodding up towards Grim and probably meaning the bouquet, "but there's a spray bottle in here," she reached back to thump the side of her backpack, "if they need a li'l mistin'."

Sometimes he was surprised at the sudden burst of more energy; he could tell that it was in jest, but he still felt awkward that he was not being given an opportunity to repay the gift (even if it was a gift). Still, he nodded once to hopefully appease her. “I hope that the snacks will be to your liking.” he said, watching her spin around to show her own backpack. It was cute like her, he thought idly.

“Wait, an hour?” he wasn’t able to keep that in his own thoughts, already thinking of how long it took for him to get all the way here. And if they were quick? What if they were not? But her follow up answered that question, though he still worried that her version of not quick was still going to be too fast paced for him. At least it seemed he wouldn’t have to worry about the bouquet - he shouldn’t have to worry about it since it came from an experienced gardener, after all.

“I’ll leave it to your judgment.” he replied, “But if it will take some time to get there, we should get going, then.” it would be horrible if it took the whole day to get there. As he took some steps, one could also hear the rustling of metal cans in his backpack. At least the journey along the way did not seem boring.

"Just an hour!" Juno said brightly, that just spoken far too easily, and any hesitation Grim might have expressed wouldn't have made it through to Juno even if his insistence on getting going hadn't melted any concern away. She gave, perhaps, too much of a false sense of hope when she said, "There's a walking path, so it's easy to follow," already all but skipping off towards the hill, snacks and supplies rustling in her backpack all the while.

Only about halfway up the hill did Juno finally think that maybe she had underestimated the hike, once Grim had sat down against a tree, trying to half-hide his face in the adjacent flower patch while he apologized to Juno, standing over him and holding both backpacks and the bouquet. It would not be the last stop they came to—only stubborn shame had kept Grim upright for that long—and it would certainly not be the last string of apologies Juno had to hear, and had to deflect with energy as boundless as ever.

"It gives us a little more time to appreciate these roses!" she said of one stop. "We wouldn't have noticed those daffodils if we hadn't stopped for a bit!" she insisted of another. "Look at this, look, do you have any idea what kind of bug this is?! I don't," she laughed at their third. And on and on it went, even well after the point that the promised hour had passed them by.

She was not thinking (a common theme for the day) when she let loose the lightest little sigh of disappointment as they approached the place where the hill crested over, a quiet(er, for her), "Oh, but we probably won't be able to spend too long up here if we want to get back before it gets dark..." And so again the apologies began, and still came Juno's insistence that it was just fine, it really wasn't so much of a bother—"And anyway," she said, "I've had a lot of fun spending time with you!"

This kept Grim well and truly shut up for those last few steps up the steepest part of the slope (all the effort of getting up that way certainly helped). Excitement got the best of Juno and she hurried on ahead, those few feet of distance enough for Grim to nearly jump in place when she heard her gasp at something unseen, fearing, for a moment, that something had  gone wrong.

"Look!" she cried.

He did, once he managed to catch up to her. The crystals and hellfire glowing against the Burrowgatory's cavern ceilings and the steep sides of the hill, and that sight made his stomach sink, thinking of it darkening on their way down. That worry, though, didn't last much longer than it took to look past Juno and into the promised meadow. The waning lights painted shades of deep orange all in front of them, dimming hellfire against the far walls of the cavern, and over the flowers across the open meadow, too; red and white and golden blooms stood tall on their stems and the verdant grass, reaching towards those fading warm shades.

It occurred to Grim, however fleeting the thought, how well the colors matched Juno. How bright her smile stayed even in the darkening cavern.

When she finally sighed, "We'd better get back," and they set to work packing up the snacks they'd brought. Juno hefted a backpack over each shoulder without so much as being asked, and did not make room for complaint, instead chirping, "We can try a shorter hike next time, okay? Hehe, now you've got me thinking about next time, too!"