Stella stretched her arms out and sighed, resting her head on her jacket. As the heavy yet calming smell of woodsmoke that was thoroughly embedded in the leather filled the air, Stella adjusted her position on the ground to a more comfortable one and reached to her side for a sandwich, only to brush against a hand and draw a quiet yelp of surprise from its owner.

Stella turned her head and smiled slightly at the red-haired boy lying on the grass next to her, a pile of sandwiches and other traditional picnic foods between them.

"Heh, sorry. One tends to space out when staring at a sky as pretty as this one."

Schwarzer nodded absently as he crammed the food he'd taken into his mouth, as if a Simius could walk by them at any moment to steal their picnic. Stella took a bite of her own sandwich as the boy spoke through a mouthful of bread and fish.

"I can't understand a word you're saying."

The Pathfinder gave her an apologetic glance before swallowing the food and replying.

"I was saying that I'm glad you like it! The sky's so pretty here, what with the gigantic moons and all. And everything else too! The breeze in Primordia is nice as well."

Stella returned his nod as she took another bite. It was early in the afternoon, and the sky was mostly clear with indigens being nowhere to be found. Schwarzer had approached her a few days ago with an offer for lunch as a half-apology for a previous event. She'd accepted, and now the two of them were here. After weeks of bustling around NLA, offering help to and sparring with just about everybody, Stella was exhausted and had wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep. Now, with the wind ruffling her hair and the sun inching closer to the horizon, she concluded that this was somehow better than a hard-earned lie-in.

The two of them had eaten mostly in silence, savouring the quiet time before having to return to the comparatively frantic pace of city life. As the sun began to set, Stella noticed that Schwarzer was shivering slightly. Finishing her mouthful, she picked up her folded jacket and held it out to him.

"Wear this. It'll keep the cold out."

Schwarzer hesitated, but took it gratefully and drew it close around him. Stella pretended not to notice the boy burying his nose in the fabric, and picked up the last sandwich before offering it to her friend, who waited a moment before reaching out for it.

His thanks were cut short by the sight of an Ovis, its face buried in the grass, nosing its way towards them. Schwarzer stilled for a moment before breaking into a smile and coaxed the sheep-like Indigen towards him. Stella stood up warily as it ambled over to the two of them, and watched her red-haired companion gently stroke the top of its head with his free hand, offering it the food he still held in the other. The Ovis sniffed the bread a few times, then picked it up in its mouth before turning and trotting away on its stubby legs, its fluffy tail swaying contentedly. Schwarzer smiled after it as it disappeared into the lengthening shadow of a nearby rock formation, before turning to Stella with the same look on his face.

"Thanks for agreeing to this, Stella. We should do it again sometime!"

The Mediator helped him to his feet and gathered up what little mess they'd left before smiling back at him, a mischievous look on her face.

"Yes. We really should. And who knows? Maybe we can feed a bigger Indigen next time. I have a certain oversized ether bird in mind."

"Haha…y-you are joking, right? P-Please say you're joking!"