"A picnic?" Nadia asked Aeon several days later. "I've heard of picnics, but it's not usually a custom we do out here in the desert."
"Well, we can't do the usual things unless we go into Cairo," Aeon said. "While I have no objection about going into Cairo it would be an overnight trip and our relationship has just begun, so this is the idea I came up with. This village is far enough in the desert that even with my jeep we couldn't go and come back in just a few hours."
"We could if we flew instead of drove," Nadia said.
"True, flying would be considerably faster, as we wouldn't have to necessarily follow the roads on the ground, but we would have to follow the sky lanes. Besides, you know, your people do things the old way for a reason Nadia, and so using the flying feature, wouldn't be a good idea within Medjai territory. I don't want to be forbidden from coming back, because I broke one of their main rules."
"Unfortunately, true," Nadia sighed in obvious disappointment. "I've never been in a car while it was flying and it's something I'd love to try sometime, but still, you're right about my people, so it's not a good idea. I might be a rebel, but not that much of one."
"I can actually understand their point of view," Aeon said not unsympathetically.
It just wasn't a good idea, as they'd be the only ones in the sky and they might be seen, which could allow those that meant harm to the tribe to track their trail back to the Medjai village. The Medjai village was well hidden in a canyon, but could be found if one wasn't cautious.
"If we go into Cairo sometime on a date, then I'll take you flying in my jeep," Aeon told her. "We'll have to be careful though, as the inner parts of the car are delicate. If they get sand in them, then they could stop working and cause us to crash if we're in the air. There is a reason that air cars aren't common in desert countries like this one, as they'd be constantly being fixed. A lot of people would at least end up injured, if not killed depending on the height they fell from and whether or not the car exploded with them inside."
"I know, but I've never lived anywhere else where flying cars are more common," Nadia said looking wistful.
"Well, if we get to the point to where our relationship turns more serious, I can take you to meet my family, if your father agrees to let you go that is. We can fly every day where they live as they don't live in a desert country and air cars are quite common. It's the way that most people travel actually."
"That would be wonderful!" Nadia said enthusiastically. "I know that's for the future though."
Aeon started to unpack the picnic basket and put it on the blanket he had brought, as he and Nadia sat on another blanket, not touching, but still close to each other.
They were still within the village's perimeter, but far enough away from the village itself that it was relatively private. Still, that didn't mean someone couldn't ride up and discover them, and Aeon didn't want to ruin Nadia's reputation by making out with her where people could discover them.
In some ways, the Medjai were extremely old-fashioned, and it was better to save any smooching sessions for privacy. A brief kiss wouldn't send tongues a wagging, but anymore than that would so it was better to be cautious until they knew or not if their relationship was solid. The fact that Nadia was the chief's daughter, and so would be held to a higher standard, wasn't exactly fair, but then the world wasn't a fair place, and never had been.
Aeon, for one, had no doubt that Nadia was the one for him, because she was his mate after all, but Nadia wasn't as sure about him, which is why he needed to be cautious and think of her feelings. The fact, that she had been married before, and it was apparent she had loved Azim very much, was a roadblock to him, convincing her to eventually marrying him.
Jason Gideon had been more than ready for another relationship when his cousin Minerva Hotchner had come into his life, as he had realized that he and Sarah were simply comfortable with each other, but not really truly in love. Being high school sweethearts though, that often happened to where the couple divorced after their children were out of the house.
As for him and Nadia, while their situation shared some similarities with his cousins, they weren't precisely the same.
While Aeon knew that Nadia was his mate she didn't really understand what that truly meant, even if she knew the word and the meaning. She would need to time to realize on her own that her relationship with Azim was only a pale imitation of what she could have with him, if she would only allow herself to fall in love with him.
Aeon had never truly been in love, though he had been fond of several women in his life and loved them in his own way, but he knew that those past relationships were pale imitations compared to what he would have with his soulmate.
To convince Nadia of that though, he was going to have to be patient, not an easy thing for him to do, but he also didn't want to ruin his chances, so patient it would be no matter how his libido protested the slow pace.
"Well, you sure did pack quite a few treats, didn't you?" Nadia said smiling, as she looked at what Aaron remove from the basket.
There was Ful Wa Ta'ameya made with fava beans, which was basically a dip, and was served with warm pita bread, Koftas, in this case, made with lamb. There was also Koshiri, which was made with crispy fried onions, lentil, and bits of pasta, absolutely delicious so long as you avoided, adding anything like black chili as your mouth would feel like it was exploding if you made that mistake.
"Quite the feast," Nadia said, as she took a bite from a kofta roll.
"I'm glad you think so," Aeon said smiling. "This type of food isn't exactly traditional in other places, but then this is Egypt, so I had to make do with what I could get my hands on without having to go into Cairo."
"What is traditional for picnic where you come from originally?" Nadia asked.
"Well, it largely depends if it's a picnic with just adults or if there's also children involved," Aeon answered truthfully. "If there are children involved, there are usually things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or at least sandwiches with thinly sliced meat like turkey and ham and also cheese. As for drink, there is usually things like lemonade, or sometimes soda. There can also be things like fried chicken or macaroni and cheese. Of course, it largely depends on the age of those children, as to what's in a picnic basket, but usually it's stuff that can be eaten without a fork or any type of silverware. Mostly though, its things that are good to be eaten cold and don't have to be heated once you arrive at the picnic spot. There isn't usually a microwave or any type of device to heat up the food, which is why it's stuff that's good cold. They also, a lot of times, take place in parks. Some parks have tables set aside, for people who want to eat out in the open, in the fresh air. Also, a lot of people prefer to sit on the grass on blankets or not and enjoy their picnics that way, even if there are picnic tables."
"I understand," Nadia said, as she ate another bite of food and took a sip of mint tea, that Aeon had provided.
"There's really no type of food that isn't suitable for picnic so long as it doesn't have to be heated as some people do bring silverware, even if that's just plastic forks or knives that can be thrown away and recycled.
"And for adults?" Nadia asked.
"That depends if you're picnicking with friends or if you're romantically involved and just want some time alone with that person. Things like wine, or some other type of alcohol are often involved when it's only adults and also more sophisticated and complicated food instead of just simple things like sandwiches. There are also often desert type items involved in such outings things like pieces of chocolates or pieces of some kind of cake. That's just the bare basics, as it would take forever to explain more indepth," Aeon said.
"That is very interesting," Nadia said, "and we can discuss it some other time. I don't really know a lot about the different customs and other countries since I have never left Egypt."
"Most people don't though," Aeon said, "but as for me, I enjoy learning different things. I was originally born in the United States, even if I have basically moved here to Egypt."
"For someone not born in this country, you sure do speak Arabic fluently. You have a good accent," Nadia commented.
"Just like you speak good English," Aeon said. "You grew up speaking, both English and you're native language, but I had to learn after I moved here, as I grew up only learning English. Luckily, there are audio files that help you learn another language quickly."
"If you grow up in the states, why move here?" Nadia asked. "I mean, this would've been a totally different culture for you and I wouldn't be surprised if you suffered culture shock at least at first. You wouldn't have been used to the heat or the way the sand can get into everything and a lot of other things."
"I had multiple reasons for basically making Egypt my home," Aeon said. "For one thing, I got the ability to heal for a reason, and that is to help others. Also, Egypt is a very mystical and magical country, as a lot of the people here believe in the supernatural, because they have firsthand experience with it. It is not the same in the states believe me. If I had stayed in the states instead of coming here, I would've had to be very subtle in how I used my magic. People over there for the most part don't believe in magic and lot of times if they learn of it, they react negatively. Back in the dark ages, magic was considered evil no matter how it was used and so those with it basically went underground. We never reveal what we are to most people."
"But the Medjai know what you can do," Nadia said.
"That's true. However, they are aware that magic is very real, but that isn't true in most of the rest of the world, Nadia," Aeon said. "I have a couple of female cousins that have the same ability I do, and they have to be very subtle and how they use their abilities to help people. Both are doctors, though they went into different fields just like I am."
"So helping people is important to all three of you," Nadia summarized.
"Why else were we given this ability, if it wasn't to help others," Aeon pointed out logically. "It does run in my family, but it doesn't usually show up every generation."
"But it showed up in different branches of your family," Nadia said.
"That's true," Aeon admitted. "However, it's also not surprising because my family is enormous, and that means that there was a likely possibility of the healing ability appearing more than once."
"So both your parents are magical and I am assuming that one of them has your healing ability," Nadia said.
"You're wrong about both things actually," Aeon said. "Only my mother is magical and she got what is known as bakery magic, which means she's good with any type of dessert item and adds the magic to whatever she makes instinctually. Because of her talent she owns a bakery. My dad is just a normal guy, but he loves my mother deeply and I can say the same for Mom. They are mates just like we are, and have been married for a very long time."
"So how did you end up with healing magic? If your mother is what you call a bakery witch and your father doesn't have any magic at all?" Nadia asked trying to understand.
"It does run in the family as one of our ancestors married someone who had it a very long time ago," Aeon shrugged casually. "The rest of my siblings got my mother's bakery magic just not me and it does happen that way sometimes. It just reappears after nobody getting it for several generations, so I guess I just got lucky."
"I would say so," Nadia said, "as you probably saved my niece's life as she was likely to die from having the desert fever."
"She might've survived without my intervention as your healer was doing everything he could to help Amira get better. She certainly had a better chance of surviving, because you had an experienced healer on hand. A lot of people aren't as fortunate," Aeon said. "The Medjai know all about ancient herbs that can cure that would be considered alternate medicine, as it's not what's practiced in most of the rest of the world. Both types of medicine have great benefits, even if most doctors don't believe in using natural herbs to cure certain types of illnesses."
"That's a good point," Nadia admitted.
"I was still glad to help as the much as I could, as the Medjai have done so much for me," Aeon added, even as he packed up the last of the food that hadn't been eaten and helped Nadia rise to her feet like the gentleman he had been raised to be.
"We need to check in with your father as soon as we get back just to let him know that we got back into the main village safely, even though we never went outside the perimeter, past the guards," Aeon said. "It's just to let him know that we're OK and had a good time."
"Probably a good idea," Nadia agreed without arguing.
"I'm glad you're being sensible, because if we didn't check in, your father might think that we had been taken despite, staying within the perimeter of the village," Aeon said.
"I realize there are other tribes that would kidnap us for their own reasons," Nadia said, as she got into the passenger seat of Aeon Jeep buckling her safety webbing. "Our village might be well hidden, but it isn't impossible for somebody to find it, someone who has ill intentions. The bedouins immediately spring to mind."
"Exactly," Aeon agreed, as he started the engine, driving slowly back to the edge of the village where he helped Nadia out of the car once the door had automatically opened after he'd put the car in park.
~~~Aeon and Nadia~~~