Picnic

Azel - Gran 757

"Azel, don't go too far ahead!" Arvis's voice echoed behind me, but I just turned to stick my tongue out at him and kept on racing through the apple grove to hunt for the perfect spot. After all, today was our very first family outing! It had to be perfect! "Azel!"

"Azel, we're losing sight of you!" Alicia called, bringing logic into the fretting. Both of them were champion fretters, after all. "Actually, where did he go?"

"Over here!" I laughed, jumping out from behind a tree. And promptly tripping. "Wah!"

"Azel!" Arvis yelped, surging forward to catch me. He almost dropped the basket to do so, but caught it too. "This is why you shouldn't run like that!"

"Oh, come on! I'm excited!" I grinned up at him and he sighed, but smiled indulgently. "Who has the blanket again?"

"I do," Alicia answered, joining us. She wore slightly fancier clothing than normal, new clothes Arvis had Aida buy, but for the most part, she looked the same as always. Except she smiled much more, probably because she didn't have to be the healer here. She and Arvis were on break, and I was determined to make sure they remembered that! "Why are you rushing about anyway? Are you that eager to eat?"

"I get to eat your cooking for the first time!" I laughed. Because it was true. Alicia had insisted on making the food for our family picnic. "Of course I'm eager!"

"You're so silly." She muffled a laugh and smiled at Arvis. "Well, we should find a spot to sit down, then."

"Follow me!" And I was off again, laughing. I wondered if this was what it felt to be a 'normal' child. I certainly did feel like I was emulating Tailtiu, even if Tailtiu wasn't exactly 'normal'.

A couple of stumbles later, I found the perfect spot and helped Alicia spread out the blanket (which was probably fancier than most picnic blankets, but was the simplest one we had). Arvis set down the basket and scrambled up a nearby tree like a cat to pick some of the apples. I wasn't sure why there was fresh fruit, considering how cold it was, but supposedly, there were apples that had a 'peak season' around this time or something. Whatever the reason, there were always fresh apples here in the grove, and they were always delicious!

"Hey, Arvis, when will you teach me how to climb?" I asked around a mouthful of apple. I purposely skipped breakfast, so I was hungry and munched while Arvis continued getting apples and Alicia set out the food. She'd apologized for it being 'simple fare', but I thought it looked scrumptious! 'Scrum-diddly-umptious', as Tailtiu would say. "Or at least tell me why you're so good at it!"

"He keeps locking himself out of his office," Alicia answered easily. I fell over laughing, and laughed even harder when Arvis wordlessly protested above. "Aida refuses to teach him how to pick locks." She looked up at him, frowning. "I do wish you wouldn't do that, though. What if you get hurt?"

"He hasn't yet!"

"I believe that in a world where Sigurd of all people gets a fiance, anything is possible." She still continued frowning, and I still kept on laughing. My stomach hurt! "At least promise me you won't teach Azel?"

"Aw, come on!"

"I think I can agree to that," Arvis agreed, swinging down from the branches with ease. I managed to stop laughing long enough to scowl. "Azel, if I teach you, then Lex and Tailtiu are going to want to learn. And since I definitely won't teach them, they'll badger you."

"Oh, please, Lex gets into enough trouble as is," Alicia sighed. Still, she was smiling. "Has anyone told you about how he likes pulling Lady Ayra's tail?"

"I don't think anyone has even really told me who this Ayra is, aside from being the princess of Isaach." Arvis's expression darkened. "I worry for Sigurd. I agree with him, of course, but given the political cli-"

"Nope!" I interrupted, picking up a random cookie and shoving it into his mouth. Well, mostly in his mouth. I might've almost choked him. "Break. We're on break! No serious stuff! Aida's orders!" I grinned at them both. "But, I think that's a good lead-in to a story!"

I eagerly began telling them about some of the shenanigans the army got into, things Alicia missed because she was always in the infirmary. It didn't take long at all for them to both be laughing, which just… made everything better. This felt like how things should have been, and would've been if our family hadn't been so complicated. Just us in the grove, laughing and eating, enjoying time with each other. It was a shame Alicia could only spend a month here with us, but I knew this wouldn't be the last visit. And when we were all together again, we'd have another picnic and laugh, just like this. I looked forward to it.

Author's notes: So, little bit of family fluff. This is the picnic Arvis and Alicia briefly plan during the last scene of Interlude - Family in Memoirs of the Holy War.