Bright lights

Date | 13th of November 2021
Time | Early noon, around 12pm
Weather | Its cold, but not too cold as the sun is up
Place | First the Nelson residence then later a Carnival/fun park
Attire | Black jeans, and doctor martens boots, a longsleeved deep red pullover and a royalblue hoodie
Car | Here

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So, things had been a little up in the air the last couple of weeks. Especially after Tien had asked him to come, after Eden had told some of the Nelson kids that the father, that they had thought where their biological father. Suddenly weren’t. And Ash, was the real father. Now. He had known Ash for a great deal of time, he had worked together with him when he had been in New York, as his last person he had been guardian for had been living there. Now, he had moved here because then he could be closer to Tien, as he was now guardian angel for. But things had clearly gotten a lot more personal than it normally became. Things tend to do that, when you were summoned into a clearly family meeting, and you tried to make sure that the person you were linked to help didn’t do anything they would regret, now that they actually had asked him to come. But it had been awkward, and he hadn’t felt like he should have been there at all.

Now, there hadn’t really been a lot they could do about it. So, in the end he hoped that everything had turned out for the better. He hadn’t really seen all that much to Tien after, giving the family space and texted and called her instead. He also had a whole lot to do with his work, so he only came when she absolutely needed it. But today, today he wanted to get her out of the house and see if she wanted to go somewhere with him. As usually he had texted her that morning and asked if she had any plans scheduled. Telling her that he would come by after breakfast, to take her out somewhere, but hadn’t gone into more detail than that. He parked the car and walked up the steps, knocking on the door waiting patiently for someone to come to open it.

Attire | Tien

Tien had been laying in her bed, mostly facing her wall, and looking at her phone in the early morning. Not that she was particularly depressed or sleepless – well, that was a lie - but she simply waited for that one message. Goodmorning. A small smile appeared on her lips, and she even sat up in her bed, to run a hand through her hair when he said he would take her somewhere. A little surprised about it she simply agreed and with no further questions, it had fueled her for the morning. Bath, shave, plucking eyebrows and actually putting some day creme and light makeup on her face. She had even gone to the lengths to curl her hair a little.

No she wasn’t excited about getting out of the house. She was just excited to see Max. No, wait, it was the other way around, right? Or none… Or both. Probably both.

By the morning table, she even got a compliment that she looked radiant, which lead to an actual smile on her face. Contagious.

The doorbell rang, and Tien almost jumped out of her stool. “I’ll get it!” she called only to shortly after open the door to see Max in the doorway. “Hi,” she greeted and looked over her shoulder, mostly to see if anyone was looking for who she was opening the door for, but also if there was anything last minute she needed, “Do I need anything?” she asked, just a little out of breath. If she didn’t need anything in particular, she would call to her family that she was leaving with Max. Yes, she had to mention who she left with by now, mostly because the trust for others had decreased so much in this family. It was almost worse than the family’s trust to Tien herself. She would close and lock the door before she would follow along.

Max gave her a bright smile as she opened the door. His shoulder slightly hunched over with his hands in his jacket pockets. “Hello, ready?” he asked as he saw how she looked over her shoulder, he saw Kemuel and Eden walked casually past the hallway, and he pulled his left hand out of his pocket and waved at them. “Nah, just yourself and something warm to wear, I’ve taken care of the rest” he nodded towards the car by the curb and then stepped a little further outside waiting for him to come out and close the door. “Did you have a nice morning?” he asked, as he walked down the stairs and walked over to his car. He pressed the car keys and unlocked the door just before he opened it and let her place herself in the front seat. When he was sure that she had sat down, and no body parts would get hurt he shut the door and walked around on the other side and sat behind the wheel. “How have things been?” he asked, as he started the car and made sure that the volume on the music wasn’t too high, so they weren’t able to talk as he started to drive down the road to their next destination.

She didn’t need anything, except for something warm to wear. “Cool,” a light smile was still on her lips. She simply leaned over towards the hanger and grabbed her jacket and swung it over herself. As soon as the door was locked, and she turned to follow him, he wondered how her morning had been. Though they hadn’t met up that often, she was getting more used to share her thoughts with him. “Yeah, productive and all,” she said, her eyes locked on her shoes as she approached the car. The blue eyes widened a bit as he opened the door for her. She generally wasn’t that used to such things – or maybe it was just something so different when it wasn’t your family. She got in and made sure nothing would get stuck between the door as he closed the door. When he was about to walk around the car, it somehow hit her – did he open and close the door for her, because he believed she would hurt herself on it?
As soon as the door on his side opened, the thought was thrown in the back of her head and she looked towards him with a kind smile. She shrugged a little as he asked how things had been, “Seems like everyone is quite comfortable about the half-sibling  and some-of-us-has-another-father-situation,” she said and pulled on a grimace. Her eyes looked out at the road, and she slid back to what she felt was a comfortable position. “Okay, maybe it’s only me who hasn’t really… Adapted,” she said making another face. She shook her head a little. Well, it was never not going to be weird that she had kissed her half-brother and half-sister’s adoptive brother. It was just… So odd. It felt wrong in every bone of hers. She licked her lips with closed eyes before she turned her body towards him and crossed her arms loosely. “How have you been?” she spoke softly. She didn’t mind that he had to keep an eye on the road.

He nodded understanding, it had to be a weird situation suddenly having another father and half siblings. People you had grown up with, and never really knew how things had gone down. Now, he knew both Ash and Eden quite well. And with that knowledge he knew that Ash would try to be the father all of the Nelson kids deserved, and Eden – Eden always tried to do everything she could to make it better for the people around, forgetting that helping herself and being there for herself. Sometimes were better. “Well, isn’t that also, okay?” Max asked, letting his eyes briefly look at her before returning to the road. “I mean, no one expect you to just fully accept something like that, and I’m sure that everyone is okay with you still adjusting to the news” he said with a soft smile. He then sighed a little and shrugged. “Things are a little crazy at the hospital, it’s evident that its colder and people are just dumber each year around Christmas” he laughed and shook his head “So many broken bones” he added with a soft smile on his lips. “So, I thought now that I’ve finally got a couple of days off, I wanted to do something fun – now I hope you find my idea of fun, fun too” he gave her a bright smile as his fingers lightly drummed on the steering wheel.

Tien pulled on a grimace to his question. She honestly didn’t really know if it was okay that she hadn’t adapted. She simply believed that it was incredible how the others seemingly just had adapted like nothing had happened. “I guess,” she shrugged. She looked over at him as he spoke to her, she pulled a short smile, mimicking his. She might be agreeing. He did say things that made sense.
She licked her teeth a little as he spoke about how the hospital was quite crazy. She gave him a short chuckle with him. She did agree that some people could be dumber around Christmas, even though she believed they were too far away from Christmas to call it ‘around Christmas’ but that might just be her. She kept her eyes on him and couldn’t help but smile as he did. He really did love his job, and for a moment, she wondered how he liked the part of his job that revolved about her. Which wasn’t really a job, but a purpose, or whatever. She hummed shortly as he spoke about wanting to do something fun. “Well, that will be resolved soon,” she said with a light smile. She picked up on how he was moving and drumming on the steering wheel. “I’m quite sure it can’t be that bad,” she teased him with a little wider smile.

He gave a short and precise nod when she told him that it would be resolved soon. There wasn’t really any way around it, either it was a really good idea he had. Or the worst. Who knew? Even though he felt like he knew Tien, he didn’t really know her at all, but there was that slight flicker of something. That wanted to show her that life wasn’t as bad as it had been presented to her. While still looking at the road, he took his phone and unlocked it “here, put something on that you want to hear, it’s going to take a while before we are there” he said with a secretive expression. Something that might not look like it when meeting Max, was that he was a giant child at heart. He loved using time to explore what the world had to offer. Living as long as him, or longer. It was quick to forget to explore tings. To keep one’s curiosity intact. Which would be a shame, the world had so much to offer, and it was constantly changing with no intention of stopping. But that didn’t mean you should stop up and see what was happening around you. Take it all in and just breathe for a minute.

He pulled out his phone and told her to put something she wanted to listen to on. She took the phone and looked at him shortly. She wished to know what was being planned behind that forehead of his, and she wondered what she was going to put on without him judging her, though the chance of him judging her might not be that grand, after all, he knew so many things about her. She ended up putting on some music that she believed she liked. It was quite chill in total. She was getting herself to know, just like everyone around her. She didn’t know who she was, because she believed she had changed to be someone who she hadn’t been before. She might even go as far as call her Tien 0.4. Child. Tien. Tien with Judas. And her now. It was scary. “I’ve been wondering…” she said softly. “Do you have any family?” she wondered. She had so many questions that she wished to know about him, and this was just one of many. It was quite am open question if she had to say so herself. She at least hoped that Max would tell her what kind of family he had, or who he saw as his family.

He hummed a little along on the song that came on, not really noticing it himself, just a habit that he had. Awful habit really, when one thought about it as he also hummed along with songs on the elevator. And no one like the songs that played in those. Max looked at her for a moment when she started to talk again. Wondering? He raised a brow, as he turned his head towards the road ahead. A smile formed on his lips when she asked if he had family. “Well, that depends on what you think is family” he said and drummed his fingers against the wheel. “I don’t have any biological family left, they been gone for quite some time” he answered truthfully, not that he minded talking about it. Of course, it was hard when it had happened. But like everything else, life went on. “But I have people in my life that I see as my family, I have a fellow guardian, Ava” he added feeling how his lips widened in a bigger smile. “She is a bit of a handful, and always been like a little sister too me, even though I’m pretty sure she is older than me” he laughed then let out a small exhale “Then I have the family from the hospital, people that I’ve known for quite some time, one of them, Kieran, his kind of this man that takes people in and becomes like a father figure for those that doesn’t have a dad they lean up against anymore” he hummed, now he knew that he could talk a lot. But when it was something, he cared about, it was hard for him to shut up.

It didn’t really bother Tien that he hummed to the melody of the song playing on the radio. It killed some of the awful silence between them, without them having to be communicating. She sent him a kind smile as he said it depended on what she thought was family. “Whatever you believe your family is, is your family,” she replied to his short question, “As long as you don’t think I’m family,” she laughed a little watching how his fingers drummed, shortly thinking about all the lives he saved, or helped saving. Her thoughts were brought back to him as he responded. She pulled on a little sad crooked smile as he explained that he had no biological family left. She honestly couldn’t imagine a life without her siblings, and yet, sometimes she had caught herself thinking awful things about her siblings. Tien sadly had been in a situation with her mother dead, and her father not being around. He proceeded to mention a fellow guardian, Ava. His smile was contagious and was also found on Tien’s lips. It made this small warmth and comfortable feeling spread in her chest. A short chuckle left her, as he explained how she was a handful and how she probably was older than him. He continued to explain how he believed he had a family at the hospital. A team that was there for each other. Kieran was introduced for her, which shortly made her narrow her eyes. Did she know this man? She believed that she had heard about him before. The warm feeling that had been in her chest just a moment ago was replaced with a colder and heavier feeling as he explained how Kieran took people in and were their father figure. She couldn’t help but somehow miss her dad, and at the same time believe that she could use a Kieran in her life. The only problem was that Ash stood with open arms for her, and she didn’t accept it. She turned her head to look out the front window thinking a little. “I’m really glad you’ve found family elsewhere,” she spoke softly and pulled a little smile, pressing her own matter away. It was a dumb feeling anyway. She just needed more time. However long time she needed, and on the other hand, if she never accepted Ash, she was a grown up and didn’t really need parents – right? “Do you think I can meet Ava some day?” she wondered and looked over at him.

He couldn’t help but furrow his brows and look at her with a slight confused and yet amused face when she told him, that it was fine to view family however you wanted, as long as he didn’t see her as family. “N’aw, to bad” he laughed and shook his head a little. Not that he would view her as a sister or a child of his, but there were other ways of seeing family, weren’t there? Just like a person could be a home. But he didn’t comment on it further and nodded when she commented that she was happy he had found family elsewhere. “Me too” he agreed rather truthfully. Even though he never truly felt alone, it still felt lonely when you didn’t have anyone in your life. It wasn’t like he actively looked for someone. If it was another family member, a friend, or something romantically. He hadn’t really explored that side of himself, if he was being honest. Always thinking more about the duty that was given him. Taking it very seriously at that too. "I’m sure you can” he said with a big smile nodding. “But I have to warn you, she is quite the character, and she is also a hybrid between an angel and a demon, making it a little weird to be in her aura at first” he explained, knowing she had been treated rather unfairly throughout her life because of it. Maybe that was the reason she always lived as the next day would be her last one. And instead of turning to hate, she had found kindness and love in herself instead. He had always admired that.

Tien gave him a kind smile when he mentioned that surely, she could meet her. When he proceeded to talk about her aura, she pulled a wider smile. Almost a grimace and leaned further back in her seat. “Max,” she spoke softly looking at him and would wait for him to look at her, just for a moment, though that short moment could've been longer if she was to decide. “I won’t feel that,” she reminded him and licked her lips slowly. “Like her aura,” she elaborated before she scratched her jaw a little. “I’ll look forward to meet her,” she assured him and looked back at the road almost a little satisfied. “How far are we going?” she wondered trying to follow where they were.

“Mmhm?” he hummed, when she spoke his name, letting his eyes travel shortly from the road towards her. Only for a moment, before he returned his gaze towards what was in front of him. He had seen a little too many times what a car accident could do to a human body. He wasn’t about to get into a crash himself.
“Won’t feel it?” he asked, then she added the part of her aura “oh, because of your abilities? Does it go all the way to auras as well? Even if it’s a part of a human, much like their scent?” he wondered, he had never thought there would be someone out there that couldn’t feel auras. Well, humans couldn’t always, at least to some extent. But most humans even those that wasn’t evolved, could feel when an archangel or guardian angel entered the room. Just like many humans had a gut feeling when it came to demons.
“Not too far, don’t worry, I’ve brought lunch” he chuckled letting his tongue glide over his lips. “We can play a game if you’re bored?” he asked her, still keeping his eyes on the road however.

”Mhmm,” she hummed back that it was her ability, though sometimes she felt like it was more like a curse to her. There were so many things that she was missing out on. She nodded as he kept questioning, almost as if he thought it was impressive. “The only way I know that something as auras exist is because I’ve been told,” she said pulling a crooked smile while looking out the front window. “Like, I’ve been told my mom has a really great aura, and that Seraphina’s isn’t that pleasurable,” she looked back at him. “I don’t know, for me it’s weird to think that you can feel others enter the room just by some… Aura,” she said shaking her head as it sounded a little too magical to be true. “Is it like… When you can hear who’s walking around in the house, just by the sound of the gait?” she wondered. She knew every gait of the Nelsons. Her mother’s, father’s, Zadkiel’s, Laila’s and even the twin’s. Maybe it was because she had had to hide things from them, that she had learned them. Or maybe it was that underlying pressure to be a perfect Christian kid that made you constantly aware as a child? Who knew.
Tien laughed a little as he mentioned he had brought lunch. “Interesting,” she said and pulled a wider smile. She liked Max’s cooking, whether it was something simple or of it was something he had used more time on. What she loved however was when she could help him in the kitchen. It was almost rehabilitation, getting used to being in a kitchen and not be tempted to feel how it would feel to put your hand in a blender or how it would feel to cut of a part of your finger when you cut carrots. Yes, Tien had had many very interesting kitchen experiences. Luckily Max hadn’t been there to experience them firsthand. She understood why he might’ve thought it would be a handful to be her guardian angel.
Tien had been lucky that he had been focusing on the road, because her eyes and been staring. Zoned out almost and first got back to the world when he mentioned playing a game. Her eyes had been glued to his lips and how he had licked them. Whatever God who played with her feelings and attractions had to calm down. “What?” she blinked at little correcting her gaze before she looked out at the road again. “No, I’m not bored-” she had laughed a little, but it died almost as quickly. For a little moment she just looked out the window, assuring herself that it wasn’t boring just to sit in a car. “Fine,” she said wit pursing her lips a little before she looked towards him. “What game? ‘I see’?” she wondered

”Huh” he hummed, clearly a little flabbergasted by the idea of her not being able to sense other peoples auras. It would be like taking away his senses of smell, or if he suddenly couldn’t hear. She compared it to the fact that she was able to hear who was entering by how they were walking. It was an interesting concept. “Well, I guess” he mumbled, licking his lips a little, still not fully comprehending how an ability could work to that extent, because it was also such a natural thing. It was embedded in every human being, even if there were supernatural’s and humans with the ability to be true empaths, it was still something that was so deeply imbedded in human nature. It just baffled him a little, and he wouldn’t be without the ability to feel auras. Because it was not only haunting, but beautiful. It was what made a person, so with that, he was actually a little sad that she couldn’t. But not something that he was going to point out for her, because that would just be cruel.

Max couldn’t stop laughing as he told him that she wasn’t bored, and then let a ‘fine’ slip from her lips before asking if they should play the, I see. “You mean, I spy?” he asked, giving her a teasing grin, before he then nodded. “Alright – I spy with my little eye, something, black” he mentioned, and slowed down for an upcoming red light in front of them.

Tien knew that she was missing out on something. Every time someone mentioned an aura, it was like telling a blind person to see something. She understood very well how someone couldn’t understand it when it seemed so natural. On the other hand, she had her gut feeling and was able to feel the moral compass of others, but that could trick her just as much as everything else.

Tien was glad that it amused him how she was stubborn about not being bored. Being a passenger just wasn’t always the most interesting, even though she had zoned out just by looking at him. “I spy… I see…” she mocked a little and crossed her arms with a little laugh. She narrowed her eyes as he mentioned he spied something black. She put a curled finger up to rest against her chin while she thought. “The asphalt?” she wondered and looked over at him. There were so many black things. The interior, his hair, her shirt and shoes, the plastic around the red light. She sighed a little… “The car’s interior?” she wondered, not thinking she had to be that specific, though it was quickly corrected, and she started laughing. “What?” she laughed and had her mouth a little open in surprise, “Fine… Okay, okay,” she said and looked around on the things in the car. “Uh… The steering wheel?” she decided. A wide smile appeared on her lips and she folded a fist and brough it down from the side of her head to her shoulder in a successful gesture while she whispered yes. Then she rubbed her fingers against each other while she looked around for something to spy. “I spy with my little eye… Something red,” she said with a wide smile and looked at him.

“Nope” he shook his head a little, to underline that it was not the asphalt that he had been spying. He waited patiently for her to tell him the next thing, while they waited for the light to turn green. When she asked if it was the car’s interior he started laughing. “What, No, that’s cheating, you can’t just say the whole car, where is the fun in that” he chuckled, he looked towards her, and placed a and on the corner of her seat, turning towards her while he waited for her to answer. Steering wheel. He made a mock pout. “You only guessed it, because I got defensive about the interior” he joked, not really mad about it. Then he took away the hand and waited for her to tell him what she was spying.

“Every red button in the car, no?” he joked shaking his head, you could see how the gears started to turn in his head. “Hmm, my shirt?” he asked, looking towards her and pressed down the speeder as the light turned green. Wait. “The light?” he chuckled and nodding “fair, okay” he licked his lips and leaned back in his seat and placed only one hand on the steering wheel. “Alright, I spy with my little eye, something blue” he looked towards her and gave her a smile before turning his gaze back again.

There was something about the way that he placed his hand on her seat that made it feel like her heart stopped for a moment. In some kind of romcom, it would definitely be something cheesy that everyone was expecting that would happen. Tien couldn’t help but laugh as she put on a pout. She loved it. Another short laugh left her as he guess on every red button in the car, and she looked over at him with a grimace that showed that she knew that he was mocking her “Every red button, meh, meh, meh,” she mimicked though with a wide smile to let him know that she was only doing it for fun, just like he had. As he  started to mention the things that he knew was red, she both shook her head and told him no to his shirt. He was quick to guess that it was the light that she believed was red, “You’re good,” she complimented him with a light chuckle and leaned a little back while she waited for him to think of something she could guess. She narrowed her eyes a little as he mentioned something blue. “They sky?” A thoughtful hum left her as it was denied. She noticed how the background on the radio was blue and leaned forward to point, “The radio-background?” she wondered and looked up at him. She furrowed her brows and looked a little around. What else could it be that was blue? It took her a little while before she looked towards him again, “The cooling buttons?” she wondered, only to be told no. She pulled her head a little back and blinked a little, clearly confused that it was none of her choices. “Your hoodie?” she wondered, letting her hand grab gently onto her arm to underline that it was the hoodie she meant. But it still wasn’t right. How could it be none of that? Still with her hand on his arm she leaned a little forward. “My eyes are green,” she stated, wanting to look him into his eyes, so he would look into hers shortly. For a short moment she got lost in his. Then she narrowed her eyes, “Fine! My eyes are blue for now. Is it my eyes?” she wondered and looked at him, almost hoping that she would guess right and leaned back. But no. She wasn’t right. “What? What is it then!” she said almost a little excited to get to know what it was. She was told to look at her necklace and she looked down and  was reminded of her outfit. She picked up her necklace, “Wow, really?” she said laughing a little while looking at her necklace and leaning all  the way bac k in her seat. “I spy with my little eye… Something black,” she said and let go of her necklace.

“Thank you kindly” he said with a small smile, now refocused on the road in front of him. “Nope” he shook his head with a smile, and each time she asked if the something blue was the incorrect thing, he said no and the smile on his lips got a little wider. “Giving up?” he asked, when it seemed like she was thinking hard, but couldn’t really come up with something that was the right thing.
“What, I know your eyes aren’t blue, why would I say that then” he laughed, finding that it just seemed like a bad excuse to see if he noticed such things.
Once again he said now, trying not to keep laughing as he didn’t want her to feel like he was mocking her, he just found her reactions to be extremely adorable. “Check your necklace” he said when she asked what it was “I noticed it when I picked you up, I've always loved the colour blue and gold” he explained and then let out a small exhale. “Something black” he mumbled looking shortly around, now he could once again make a little fun of her. Asking if it was the interior of the car. But he didn’t.  
“My hair?” he asked and then shook her head with her, when she told him no. He looked shortly around. “The seat of the car?” he asked, again no, maybe he wasn’t going to be so lucky this time. No matter, they were soon there. “The dashboard?” he asked, licking his lips. Once again it wasn’t the answer. “Eh, my shoes? Jeans? No? Damn” he laughed, and drived into the fun park parking lot. “Well, seems like I missed my chance in winning this game” he chuckled, clearly not very upset about it. “Extra guess?” he hummed, pulling into a booth. “The asphalt?” he asked, once again no. “God, alright, what is it?” he laughed then redirected his eyes to her shoes “Oh damn, so close! I'll pay more attentíon to your outfit next time” he laughed looking at her. “Well, we’re here, ready?” he asked with a soft smile.

Tien couldn’t help but smile as Max mentioned that he had noticed what color her eyes were, and that he knew that they weren’t blue. How should she have known? Some men forget such things! Details. The small things that made the difference.
While she inspected her necklace, she listened to which colors he told her that he loved. She pulled a little smile as she wrote it behind her ear. She would definitely remember that. Maybe on their ‘one year guardian angel anniversary’? Well, that was of course only possible if she remembered the date. She just remembered that it was in the start of October, just right after Seraphina had gotten her wings cut off. It gave her goosebumps to think of.
She shook her head, “Nope,” she said with a smile, looking at his hair at first, followed by the seat as he mentioned it. “Not the seat,” she replied. “Not the dashboard either,” she said laughing a little and keeping count. She shook her head when he asked if it was his shoes. It also made her pull a little smile, since he was so close to the answer. She continued to shake her head, laughing a little as he mentioned his jeans. She turned her gaze to the parking lot that they were driving into. A fun park? She tried to hide her smile, though it wasn’t that easy. “No, come on, one more guess,” she offered him and let her fingers interlock in front of her knees which were turned in his direction. As he guessed that the black thing could be the asphalt she let her head roll backwards in a little laugh, “No,” She looked down at her shoes and pointed at them. It could also have been her shirt, but she had specifically chosen her shoes. “So close!” she laughed with him. She shook her head a little, “You paid attention to my necklace, I think that’s more important than my footwear,” she defended him. As he reminded her that they were there, she looked out the window, drawing a deeper breath in before she nodded in her exhale. “Yeah,” she said before she turned in her seat to open the door and get out so she could meet him out of the car and follow him so they could access the fun park together.

He gave her a small smile, when she said, that it was more important that he had noticed his necklace, rather than her footway. To be fair, it also spoke to the fact that he wasn’t really looking down at her, but rather by her eyes and around her neck.
Max got out of the car and walked towards the trunk of the car and pulled out a small basket and then he also took a blanket that he had found at home. Not that the fun park didn’t have any benches, but sometimes it was a little nicer to sit on something warm. Especially when it was getting colder by the day, winter really was just around the corner.
“All set” he announced with a bright smile on his lips, as he closed off the car and walked with her towards the entrance of the park. There were a few people already standing in line. But it was clear that it was just around the time where things were starting to close down, and if he did remember correctly this would be the last weekend it was open before they would close down for the season.
He paid for two tickets, including the attractions. Then they could just try whatever they felt like and didn’t need to worry about buying tickets afterwards.
“Want to get some lunch first?” he asked, as they finally stepped foot inside of the park.

She glanced towards the basket and blanket he had brought, and for a stupid reason, it spread butterflies in the bottom of her stomach and a little smile spread on her lips. Of course, she didn’t think it helped when he paid for entrance including the attractions. He honestly believed that she could have paid for her own at least, but she didn’t raise her voice about it, she simply appreciated it. A soft hum left her when they had gotten into the park, and he wondered if they should get some lunch first. Once again, a smile spread on her lips. “I think that depends what you packed,” if it was something that could wait, they could wait a little, find a closet to keep everything inside while they walked around, but if it was something that would be best eaten as soon as possible, it might be the smartest to do it now. Of course, if it could wait, but was something delici- no Max’s cooking was always delicious. She stepped a little closer with her eyes on the basket, letting her slim curious hands try and find their way to the basket to reveal what secret lunch he had brought with him.

When she asked it depended on what he had packed for them, he licked his lips and looked at the picnic basket. “Well, there are a couple of sandwiches, but some of them are with fresh mozzarella, so it might be a good idea not to wait much longer before eating them, even though I packed a cooling thingy” he mumbled the last thing as he had forgotten the name, that was as simple as cooling elements. So, one could argue that he was awfully close to getting it correct. “Then I made some fresh spring rolls with rice paper, some homemade focaccia bread and brownies, because nothing is complete without at least having a desert as well” he chuckled, knowing that they could have bought a lot of the things here in the park, but he had woken up so early, so he could at least make himself useful in the time. Besides, he really enjoyed standing in the kitchen and cooking. “So, how about you find us a good bench to sit on, and we eat first?” he asked looking towards her with a bright smile.

While he explained she looked at the contents of the picnic basket, but without showing it off to the world. Sandwiches sounded quite good, especially with fresh mozzarella. She could almost taste it already. She glanced up at him as he said he had packed them with a cooling element. She gave him an appreciative smile, knowing very well what he had meant. She looked down at the content once again as he continued to explain what he had brought with him. A wide smile spread on her lips, because all of it sounded so delicious. “That sounds absolutely mouthwatering,” she said looking back up at him, making sure the content once again was covered. She raised her brows a little as she was told to find them a spot where they could sit. She clapped her hands together in front of her, resting her indexf ingers against her lip while she turned, “Yeah. Umh-” she narrowed her eyes a little, but only until she believed she found a spot where they could sit. She looked over her shoulder to look at him and how he was carrying everything, “Here, let me take that,” she insisted and placed the blanket under her arm, “Come,” she said and took his hand before she turned her gaze to watch where she was going and walk in the direction of some benches. The first bench that she had set her mind to got occupied, but since it was one of the last weekends for the season, there was an empty one close by, and it didn’t even look dirty. “This one!” she said, claiming it by turning around and sitting on the tabletop and turning her gaze to the blanket so she could unfold it.

He couldn’t resist winking at her, when she told him that it sounded mouthwatering. “Well, I don’t make anything that doesn’t at least taste good” he joked, knowing that he did, but he just didn’t serve that to people. Only if he was alone and he just really needed something to eat fast.
Max took her in, as she looked around to see where they were going to sit down and enjoy this homemade lunch. A soft grin glided over his lips as she took his hand, and follow towards the bench that she had targeted, only to see how it got occupied just before they got to it. He couldn’t help but laugh when it happened, and she quickly changed direction and jumped up on it to claim it. Shaking his head, he walked around and started packing out the food while she unfolded the blanket for them to sit on. After all, it would get cold to sit for too long. Luckily, he had thought about that as well, and pulled out a thermos flask filled with tea. “A cup of tea?” he asked taking out to cups before she could even answer and looked towards her with a smile. “Thank you for joining me today and going along with my little mystery” he chuckled, handing her a cup filled with tea before he found the plates and the rest of the food.