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There’s something about a sunny afternoon that feels so wonderful, no matter how many times Steve has seen it. It just feels like light, and happiness, and everything good in the world.
He can almost feel Alex soaking it in too, the way she’s swinging their linked hands forward and back with enthusiastic energy that makes the rhythm of their hands faster than that of their footsteps.
The leaves above stir softly, and the breeze brushes gently around them, carrying not really the smell but just the feel of trees, as if that very air was just breathed from their leaves. He and Alex glance at each other, and they share a smile and an extra-high swing of their hands through the cool breeze.
“Ooh look!” Alex drops his hand and runs off.
He laughs quietly and slows down a bit, watching her stoop to pluck a flower from the grass. He’s just as fond of flowers as she is, though he still finds it endearing how she’ll just run off and pick them on a whim.
“Look.” She’s running back, proudly holding it out to show him–lily of the valley. “Pretty.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, smiling. The flower is small, not quite in full blossom, but it is pretty.
She admires it for a moment more, and then tucks it behind her ear and takes his hand again.
“Um, you do know that’s poisonous,” he says, not as a question, because he knows for a fact they both remember what happened when she decided to put it in a stew.
“Eh.” She shrugs, already swinging their hands again. “I’m not gonna eat it.”
“Okay, good. Just don’t lick your face–” she sticks her tongue out and tries to reach up to lick the flower, of course– “That was a joke, that was a joke!”
She giggles, very proud of herself. “I know, silly.”
“You silly.”
“No you silly.”
“Well… I’m not the one who put a poisonous flower on my head.”
She scrunches her face at him and puts the flower behind his ear, which is how he knows he’s won. He laughs, and after a moment more of trying to look grumpy Alex laughs too.
They go on, wandering without really paying much attention to going anywhere in particular, just enjoying the sun and the trees and grass and flowers and each other’s company.
Eventually their way takes them to the base of a hill. It’s not very big, or very steep, and it doesn’t take too long to get to the top. Still, it leaves them a little breathless, and so it feels like an achievement and they flop down in the grass. Alex wraps both arms around his and hugs it to her chest, resting her head on his shoulder, and he leans over to rest his head on hers.
The hill rises out of the forest, just barely above the treetops. The trees blend together into one mass of leaves rolling gently up and down with the hills, off into the distance until the hills are almost far and tall enough to seem like mountains, and maybe they are; all Steve can tell is the vastness of everything, how high the mountains must be and even just the sheer amount of empty space in the distance between his eyes and the peaks outlined against the sky.
He tugs on his arm gently, pulling it out of Alex’s grip to rearrange into a proper hug, and for a few minutes they just stay there, snug in each other’s hold, swaying lightly back and forth.
And then it becomes a contest of who can squish harder, and they squish until they can’t breathe and they break down giggling.
They end up in a confused pile, still holding loosely to each other, him half laying across her lap, her chin resting against the top of his head. He pushes his head gently up against hers in a sort of nuzzle, and she nuzzles back; and somehow, saying nothing at all says everything they need to.