Life's a Picnic

The summer weather was finally starting to cool as autumn approached; the wind was blowing more frequently, squirrels began the frantic search to store food before winter, the nights slowly grew shorter. This, Red decided, would be a perfect time for a picnic. Not too hot, not too cold, fewer pesky insects to bite him. (They never did seem to go after Del or Keavyn.) It would be nice to just relax together, he thought, before it got too cold for proper picnic weather.

Del was enthusiastic about the idea from the start. She enjoyed the outdoors, especially when she could enjoy it with her boyfriends. Keavyn teased Red about showing his romantic side for once, what with the picnic and all. (“Should we bring candles?” he asked. “Hire a violinist?”) He was just as eager to go along, though, and he gave Red a grin when the human rolled his eyes. It was a nice, spur-of-the-moment plan, which the trio weren’t able to do often; they spent what time together they could, but actually being able to go on a date, or even a not-quite-a-date picnic, was a rare treat for all of them.

The park that they most usually visited wasn’t a long ride from their home, and it was surprisingly empty for a Saturday when they arrived. A few families were scattered throughout the grass, blankets laid out with all manners of food and goodies, kids and dogs running around and chasing each other, parents and grandparents watching from the sidelines. The sky was a beautiful clear blue, with small, fluffy white clouds peppered above. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees and pushed children’s kites around, creating a cool breeze closer to the ground.

It took them a few minutes to decide on a place to set up their picnic, somewhere that they could relax without being interrupted, yet weren’t completely isolated from the rest of the picnickers, should they choose to socialize. Decide was perhaps not the best word to describe how their spot was chosen, as Delinna saw the large old tree and insisted immediately that they should set up beneath it. There were no arguments from Red or Keavyn, though. It was a nice shady spot, and flat enough to settle down on their picnic blankets without fear of anything spilling. They settled down, laying out blankets and unloading the baskets and bags that they’d carried through the park.

Once they were properly situated, Delinna, who had been carrying Blue the whole time in the large pockets of her sweatshirt, placed her down on the blanket beside her. The kitten was curious as she meandered around the blankets, but Del wasn’t worried that she would stray too far. (The kitten was practically her shadow, when she wasn’t begging Red for food.) It was shaping up to be a good time very quickly, even with just being together.

Del was focused mostly on Blue, who was very cutely investigating her new surroundings, sniffing every pebble or twig she came across as if it were the first she’d ever seen. Every once in awhile, she would stray a bit too far away from the blankets for comfort, and Del would gently nudge her back towards them. Keavyn was watching Del watch Blue with a smile on his face, amused by the pair of them. Animals had a tendency to be afraid of demons, but Delinna’s charm had somehow worked on Blue. He and Red were both pleased that it had, because Del was completely head-over-heels for the pretty little cat. A few months after first having found her, and she was still in the honeymoon stage, so-to-speak, cooing over the kitten and pampering her as much as she possibly could. Her boyfriends couldn’t help but to be fond of the kitten, as well, considering how happy she made Del. (And, who were they kidding, the cat was damn cute.)

Red had brought along the novel he was reading, but it was closed and sitting beside him. He was making the three of them plates, setting the food that they brought onto plates and balancing drink cups on the most level patches of ground he could find. He even had a bowl of tuna and a few drops of milk for Blue, so that the kitten could participate in their picnic lunch. As soon as the smell of fish hit the air, Blue’s head shot up in the direction of the food; Red had immediately caught her attention, and with it caught the attention of Del and Keavyn.

Before he’d even set the bowl of tuna down, the cat was on his lap, making a beeline for him. She disregarded anything in her way that could be considered an obstacle and she stopped for nobody- she crawled over legs, slipped under basket handles, clambered across blankets, all in a matter of seconds, never considering that perhaps it may be simpler to go around the things in her path. Delinna giggled and Keavyn rolled his eyes, though none of them were particularly surprised by the cat’s enthusiastic eating habits. She got them from Del, they always joked. (It was more likely because of the scarcity of food when she was still a stray, but that was far less endearing of a thought.)

“Lunch is served,” Red said with a smile, carefully nudging the kitten off of his lap and onto the blanket so that he could serve Delinna and Keavyn without disturbing the cat’s meal quite as much. He didn’t have to get up, of course, he simply passed them their plates and drinks, but it was still far easier to do without a cat on top of him. (Shortly after adopting the cat he was forced to learn how he could do any and all day to day tasks with a cat sitting on him, but sometimes it was nice to be cat-free, believe it or not.) And, with the cat occupied by her food, Red took the perfect opportunity to sidle up beside Del and rest his head on her shoulder, a simple but well received reminder that they were sort of on a date. Keavyn smirked at them fondly between bites of his sandwich, content to sit across from them with his outstretched legs brushing theirs. Red remained beside Del as they ate, his side just brushing up against hers, similarly to how Keavyn’s legs were present against theirs.

They chatted idly and occasionally gave overly sappy (but incredibly sweet) compliments as the afternoon went on. They honestly weren’t doing much of anything, but that was more than alright. Having a lazy afternoon all together was hard to come by, and it was heavenly for all three of them. Done eating and now getting drowsy, the trio ended up dozing against each other, enjoying the presence of their closest friends and the light breeze that rustled their hair and the leaves above their head. They hadn’t exactly meant to doze off, but they were each too content to stir the others.

There they remained; Delinna laid propped against the sturdy tree trunk in between her boyfriends, their kitten curled up between her horns. Red’s head was nestled in the crook of her neck and his arms were wrapped around her in a hug-like position, listening to her steady breathing as he dozed. Keavyn, too, was drifting off, leaning partially against Delinna but supported by the tree trunk, his arms crossed and resting against his chest, his strong shoulder pressed gently against his girlfriend’s. They were surely a sight to behold, but if it was a strange sight, nobody seemed to mind, for the trio’s peaceful doze was not interrupted.