Hardison had taken her out into the middle of nowhere, out into the woods. For a moment, the rational part of her head said that it might be dangerous, but she pushed that away easily. Though she didn't need reasons, she could name two good ones not to worry: this was Hardison, and he'd never hurt her, and that no matter what was waiting for her, she had almost definitely faced worse. There were very few things that Parker could not handle.
There were, however, a lot more things that Parker did not understand.
He got out of the car and she did the same. "What are we doing?" she asked, blinking at her surroundings. Just as these words came out of her mouth, she spotted something round and neon pink laying in the leaves. Curious, she steps forward to investigate this odd object. The leaves on the ground were still there from previous autumns, being that no one ever thought to rake a forest. Beneath her feet, the leaves crunched; she liked the sound they made.
"We are going Easter Egg hunting," he said with one of those big, goofy grins that made Parker herself smile.
"Easter Egg hunting?" she asked as she picked up the neon pink object. It was made of plastic, and egg-shaped. It was split down the middle and, she discovered upon shaking, there was something inside.
"It's an Easter tradition!" Hardison replied, seeming fairly scandalized that she was unfamiliar with the idea. "Usually little kids do it, but I think it's fun anyways. You've found one egg already. They're full of candy and stuff, and once you've found one, you stick it in your basket, and—"
"I don't have a basket," she said.
He nodded, disappearing into the van for a moment and coming back with an Easter basket in his right hand. It was white, but covered in pastel-colored ribbons and bows. It was cute, if not silly.
He offered it out to her, and she took it, setting her first egg in it with care. Now that she thought about it, she had heard of Easter egg hunting before, but she'd never really done it. If she had done this before, she was too young to remember. Seeing something bright green out of the corner of her eye, she quickly went to retrieve it.
She considered how it was possible that Hardison had done this. He had been with her all day. Had he left all the eggs out there? If so, would the candy inside still be good? She liked candy, and she wanted to eat the candy. But it would not be a good idea to eat gross candy. "Hardison?" she asked.
"Hm?" he replied, following her as she looked for eggs.
"How'd you get these eggs out here?" she asked, eyeing a blue egg several yards away.
"I convinced Eliot to put them out here," he answered.
Eliot's the Easter Bunny! The image of the big, tough hitter in a bunny suit made her giggle to herself. Eliot probably didn't want to be an Easter bunny, though. "You convinced him?" she asked.
"There may have been a bribe."
She nodded, and jumped as there was another bright color in the leaves.
"I don't really understand the point of this whole egg thing, but it's nice of you. Happy Easter, Hardison!"
He grinned and watched her pick up another egg giddily.
AN: So I know it's a couple days late for Easter, but, well… I wrote most of it on Easter, so… Anyways, hope you enjoy it.