Chapter 7: Picnicking and Pleasantries
A/N: For months I had completely lost the book I had with all my plot details written down. After some brief (long, long) panicking I finally felt comfortable enough to attempt to re-tackle this… So I began to slowly write this chapter… until now. I finally found the book… it's such a crutch for me. Please forgive me! But… anyway, read on for *two* unexpected dates.
Lillian could do anything she put her mind to. She knew this. She lived by this.
She could fight a bear. She could wrangle a stallion. Not even a date could seem intimidating.
Which is why she awkwardly stood face-to-face with Nori's date for her.
It was almost like a staring contest, she looked straight at the boy in front of her, evaluating him. She tried not to look too concentrated, or too disappointed. She probably looked like she was silently figuring out how to kick him off the mountain without anybody knowing so she could get out of the date.
Phillip looked as intimidated as he felt.
Lillian rose a questioning brow.
She'd never actually ditch him, she believed herself to be too kind for that. That, and, she was pretty prideful. Nori wanted a date? She'll get her date, she'll get her date right up her-
"I was thinking lunch," Phillip said, breaking the tension. He managed not to squeak, Lillian thought that must have taken a lot of willpower. Maybe he'd run out of willpower soon, and call off the date?
"Lunch is nice," Lillian commented. She would obviously be the perfect girlfriend.
"Yeah, I, uh, kind of brought some things," Phillip started, lifting up a wicker basket he held in his hand, "and I think it'd be nicer to, maybe go on the mountain. Or just by the sitting area in town, or… somewhere nice. Wherever."
Lillian eased up on the judgemental looks. She had heard that Phillip was… abrasive, when it came to girls. Lillian wondered if, right now, he was just frightened.. or he actually cared. Either way, Lillian didn't care. "Oh, yeah, sounds nice. Maybe by the river, or something. It's nice this time of year."
"Right? I love spring, it's the best season. The flowers are gorgeous and spring crops are the best, lets be honest." Phillip seemed to get over the awkwardness quick enough, with a beaming smile. But it faltered quickly and Phillip went back to looking at his feet while Lillian glared.
"You should lead the way. You probably know the mountain better than I do, or something," Lillian suggested.
Lillian, multiple times, had figured that pride would be her ultimate downfall. Did she want to bail on many things, such as this date? Yes, yes she did. Did she ever? Hell no. She would always be on top, no matter what. And she intended to keep it that way. She'd even bear through Phillip, she decided, as they walked, Lillian following Phillip's auburn messy mop of hair.
"I don't see you in the mountains often, which is a shame, I think," Phillip said at the same time a dragonfly almost hit Lillian in the face.
"I don't know about it being a shame, actually," started Lillian, scowling as she watched the dragonfly buzz around. "I mean, I'm not much of an explorer, or a plant lover…"
"Oh… no, no, that makes sense. Ranches. Animals. If you like animals then flower-picking up here probably wouldn't be much fun…" But Phillip turned his head towards Lillian and smiled: "but you know, there's all sorts of creatures in here. Not just bugs! Like, cats, and bears. But not always bears, if you don't like them or something, they're not always around 'n stuff. Y'know?"
Lillian suppressed a laugh. "Yeah, I think I know."
"I actually do like animals too! Crops are fine, but animals are cuter," Phillip began explaining. He held out his hand for Lillian as they crossed a shady-looking log bridge over a river (a gentleman!). "I can go to the mountain and go fishing while watching the ducks and pandas for hours on end." He looked back at Lillian: "We should go do that some time. Animal spotting, or fishing, or whatever," he said with a grin. "You like animals, right? Haha… uh…"
"I do like animals, actually," Lillian stated as the slowed down in a clearing. It really was beautiful. Flowers bloomed around the small glen and sun poured down, trees rustling from a spring breeze. Lillian thought the area was just gorgeous. She'd love to come here again, maybe even with Phillip and then they could go animal spotting-
Wait.
Oh… he probably meant that to be a date.
Lillian inwardly cringed. Maybe Phillip was a good guy after all. That's amazing! But Lillian just didn't feel right when thinking about dates, them on a date, her dating anybody. Anybody… well. Surely not anybody.
Maybe not anybody?
Or…
"Animal spotting and fishing does sound super fun, actually," Lillian started, sitting down as Phillip sat down, "but… theoretically, if something like, this date not working out happens? Could it be cool just for us to do that as friends, or something?"
Phillip blinked twice. "Yeah. Of course."
"Yeah… thank you, Phillip. I'd love to do that sometime." Lillian beamed.
They took out sandwiches and dug into their food, staring at the clouds and river around them and enjoying the warm spring.
"You're nicer than I thought," admitted Lillian. "Yeah, I… I didn't know what to expect, I think. I judged you a bit before actually knowing you. Sorry."
Phillip visibly tensed and looked away for a moment before swallowing a bite of food and responding. "Hey, I like girls who are honest. And I get it, people judge all the time. What've you heard about me? That I've kissed every girl in the two towns? Because I don't know, that sounds kinda like a good rumour to me?" Lillian didn't suppress a laugh this time. "If anything, I haven't come close to meeting your expectations! I'm a mile below your bar!"
"Oh, so many miles."
"Truth is, I haven't actually kissed one of the girls here," he shrugged his shoulders comically, "can you believe it?"
"Actually, yes! I'm sure that if you had kissed a girl, they'd just be completely under your spell! You wouldn't be going on dates." Lillian tried to keep herself from laughing, but she couldn't.
"Oh! Exactly!" Phillip made a grand gesture with his arms and looked up at the sky, "somebody gets it!" He broke into laughter, as Lillian clutched her sides, stuffing her sandwich between her teeth so it wouldn't be thrown into the grass. It was probably a choking hazard, honestly, but she couldn't concentrate.
They had a great time.
When they had calmed down, Phillip leaned back and lounged in the grass. "You know… In all honesty? I'm not great with humans of the female gender in general."
"You're good with me."
Phillip looked at Lillian, with a small smile. "Yeah, but… I caught your hints that you wouldn't really want to go on another date. So this isn't anything romantic, is it."
Lillian looked away sheepishly, but nodded nevertheless. "I don't think it is."
"Ah well! Too bad so sad, I might get over it one day. But you know what? Don't even think of this as a date. This is 100% a friendly outing. This is not, and never has been, anything romantic."
Lillian honestly did like this chatterbox of a guy. He was actually pretty sweet. She thanked him, and dug out some fruit from the basket.
Not too long later, Lillian looked all around her and studied the area from where she sat. "Say, where are we?"
"Hm? Oh, we're actually more near Bluebell. Uh.. Around the middle of the mountain, on Bluebell's side. Not too far away from the path. You could never get lost just here."
"Huh. Cool. I might need a map of all this."
"For the right price, flowergirl." Phillip winked at her and shot a fingergun gesture in her direction. Lillian rolled her eyes hard. "I also thought it'd be nice if you wanted to ditch. Close to home, 'n stuff."
"Oh… that's really considerate. Thank you." Lillian thought of her fellow Bluebell inhabitants, and suddenly remembered something curious. "Err… hey, Phillip?" She asked, getting his attention. She twirled a piece of her straw hair in her fingers, antsy.
"Flowergirl?" Phillip replied, still relaxing in the grass with eyes half-lidded, lazily looking at his new friend.
"I was just wondering, haha, ahh… I heard, from someone- a little bird told me that you maybe fancy… Laney?"
Phillip groaned and flopped an arm over his eyes. "I knew that was going around. I knew it," he whined. He slid his arm to his chest and looked at Lillian with a pained expression. "You tell one guy in town, and then he blabs off to every girl he meets… probably." Phillip groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, face resting on his crossed arms. "I didn't think Kana would tell anyone. I thought he'd be a good guy who'd listen to gossip, not spread it." He sighed.
"How did it get to Bluebell, do you think?" Lillian asked. "...Dirk?"
Phillip huffed. "Nah, nah."
"Do you think... erm…" Lillian paused for a moment before a devious smile grew on her face. "Georgia?"
Phillip unexpectedly snorted in laughter. "Georgia! Yes, yes! Oh Goddess, can you imagine?"
"Georgia and Kana sitting in a tree…" Lillian sung.
"Please spread a rumour of that, I will honestly love you forever if it gets around."
Lillian tried to cover her mouth to stop her from laughing but she only managed laughed into her hands. "I can't! I can't! She's my friend! This is terrible! We are terrible…"
"I'll tell Dirk then! It'll spread like wildfire!"
"Oh no… that's perfect."
With the sun still high in the sky and their basket dangerously empty, the pair of new friends found themselves lazily rising from the spring green grass and dusting off their semi-nice work clothes, in preparation to leave. Saying goodbye to the small picnicking area, they trudged onto the dirt road.
Lillian smacked her lips and scrunched her nose. "I think I'd like a cup of tea."
Playfully nudging Phillip, she turned him around in the direction of Bluebell and shoved him to walk along, the brunette leading the auburn-haired boy down the path and towards the delicious tea of Bluebell's café. Phillip would point out things of interest, such as the strange stone chickens sitting on the rock wall entrance to Bluebell, and how surprisingly pretty the whole scene was even though, in his words, "animals probably roam free and do their business wherever they want".
"The flowers, they're pretty too," he admitted. He looked around, and as they were by the church, some of the most beautiful plants were on display in planters and surrounding the area in wildflowers and bushes.
Lillian nodded, looking at patches of small flowers that grew on the sides of the road. "Rose and Cam take such good care of everything. I couldn't do that." She was sure of that, or so she thought.
She was also sure that she'd never see a Konohana girl hanging off the arm of one of Bluebell's suitors, but she would be largely surprised that day.
They neared the café, and at the top of the stairs leading to the statue Lillian saw Reina and Cam clear as day. Looking over at Phillip with curious eyes, she saw that he himself was surprised enough to give him a sour-looking face.
"Is that Reina?" Phillip said in a hushed tone, even though Reina and Cam wouldn't have heard them anyway.
"Err, yeah. Geez, you look so offended," Lillian pointed out, nudging the farmer with her elbow. Phillip shrugged.
"Well, yeah, I guess I kind of am! She rejected me, and now suddenly she gets to be with…" Phillip trailed off, pouting. "Hm."
"We… can't avoid their line of sight." Lillian noted, starting to gently climb the steps.
"Hm hm hm. Whatever." Phillip sprang up the steps quickly and made himself known, turning to the two by Bluebell's statue. "Reina! Yeah, you, Izumi!" He called out. Lillian sheepishly followed him.
Hearing her name, Reina turned to look over her shoulder, black hair cascading around her. She rose her brows and pursed her lips, seeming to lean into Cam more. Lillian looked at Cam, who smiled when he saw her, getting Reina to turn around fully so they could talk to the new pair properly.
"Hello, Phillip, and Lillian" Reina greeted in her usual, quiet fashion.
"Lillian. Hi." Cam smiled, but it turned awkward as made a movement that suggested he was trying to shrug the blue-clad Konohana girl off him. If he did, it didn't work. His face fell.
"So… yeah, hi," Lillian started, trying to neutralize her expression from a state of surprise. "Cam! and Reina! I'm…"
"Surprised?" Reina suggested with a smile.
"Yep."
Reina giggled and loosened her grip on Cam's arm, and he thankfully let her.
"Reina and I met a few days ago. I wish I knew beforehand that she liked… almost everything I do. I was showing her around town, because she's interested in the stuff here." Cam paused, visibly glancing at Phillip. "Can I assume the same is with…" He awkwardly trailed off.
"Err, not really. We're friends!" Phillip interjected, swinging the wicker basket. "We just found that out. It's pretty cool! We were just gonna get some tea or something, right?" He looked expectantly at Lillian.
"Eeyup, that's… right," Lillian was still distracted by Cam and Reina, constantly glancing at the confused faces Cam would make. "But first! First, uh, I just remembered and it's really important." She looked straight at her florist friend, pursing her lips. "Kamil, Kamil, Kamil… I needed to ask you about… some possible shipments."
Cam rose a brow. "Shipments?"
"Of flowers, duh." Lillian chuckled half-heartedly. "I mean, I was thinking, maybe… for my mom… actually, this would be better spoken in private." Lillian felt Phillip look at her knowingly. Cam took a second, but he seemed to relax from a tensed state.
"Oh. Yeah. I understand. Reina…?"
"...Okay." Reina let go of him, quickly hiding her hands behind her back and bowing her head ever so slightly for the other to not see the tint of red that spread across her face.
"Thanks, Licorice," said Lillian, using Reina's cute nickname from Konohana. She herself snatched Cam's other arm, and with a final thank you, she dragged him off to his stand. She heard Cam let out a big breath.
"I think you saved me back there. So, uh, flowers?"
"I don't want to talk about flowers!" Lillian scolded quietly. She looked back at the two Konohana villagers, who seemed to be talking pleasantly. "Reina?"
"She's nice, and pretty."
"What are you doing?" Lillian took hold of Cam's wrist.
"I'm, you know. Dating an intelligent woman." He replied, but he looked away from Lillian while saying it. Lillian took in a sharp inhale.
"What does Laney think?"
Cam furrowed his brow. "...She thinks this isn't what I want at all."
"Oh, Cam... Is it?"
Cam shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a social situation kind of guy."
"This isn't about social situations, dummy. It's about you." She freed his wrist and poked him in the chest instead, making him defensively lift up his hands. He clapped them together and brought them to his lips, pausing for a moment.
"Lil... I'm just trying to figure things out right now… Reina, she's beautiful and basically everything I should want." Lillian opened her mouth to say something but Cam shot her a glare, making her back off. "I think I need this."
"Okay, I'm just… Kind of worried, for the both of you. Reina's my friend, not a best friend like you, but… don't break her heart, I guess."
"Like you broke Phillip's?" Cam asked, putting his hands down and giving a small smile.
"Pff. Exactly."
"I would never. I swear. Just… let me figure things out first? Probably meaning to let Laney interrogate me to hell and back, forcing me to inevitably face my problems in the face." Cam shrugged. "But, um, before we go back? Can I ask? About you and Phillip, I mean."
"Oh Harvest Goddess, just blame my friend Nori. I agreed to a date and it went horrible in the romantic department. That's all you need to know. Shall we get back to our "dates" now?" Lillian suggested with a bright smile.
"Of course," Cam grinned back. Lillian gave a little laugh and they both walked back to Phillip and Reina, who turned to them happily.
"Reina had a great idea. How about we all get some tea?"
"Sounds great to me," Lillian nodded.