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Fitz pulled his hands away from Jemma's eyes and he circled around her, uncertain what her reaction would be. She blinked against the sudden influx of light, bringing her hand up to shade her eyes, and he watched her swivel in place to take in her surroundings.
"We're—" she began, and he could hear the forced cheer in her voice as she tried to adjust to where she'd found herself. "It's a...playground."
"Yes," he confirmed, not giving an inch on the confident air he'd affected, though he was privately quite concerned this idea of his would be a disaster.
"You have a basket."
"It's a picnic. You said you were hungry when we stopped by the apartment after we left our last meeting with Radcliffe, so I thought we'd start with this." He led her from the area near the swings and the tall, spiral slide to a grassy hill, trusting that she'd fall in behind him. Even if she hated everything about this, he'd wager her natural curiosity would keep her mind open, at least a little.
They sat side-by-side, chatting about utter nonsense on the red, checkered blanket Fitz bought because it had reminded him of picnics in the American movies he used to watch as a kid. They ate the sandwiches and drank the wine he'd packed for them, chewing slowly and thoughtfully as their shoulders brushed together. The sun was just lowering in the sky, and he couldn't remember being this purely happy in a very long time.
"This is a lovely spot for a picnic, Fitz." Jemma reached over to cup his cheek in her hand, then leaned forward and pulled him into a kiss.
"We're not just here for this," he said, inclining his chin toward the playground equipment. "I intend to run a practical experiment to investigate the effects of friction caused by minor oxidation on the pivot point of a pendulum."
She rolled her eyes at him, but the smile on her face was wide. "You're going on the swings?"
Fitz shook his head. "No, don't be ridiculous. How could I maintain scientific objectivity if I made myself one of the experimental variables? I'm pushing you on the swings."
She stood, the setting sun behind her, and his breath caught in his throat as she reached down to help him up.
"If you want to get several trials in before we lose the light, we should get started."
They walked to the swings and he pushed her, watching her arc away and back again. The chains squeaked and she'd look over her shoulder from time to time, laughing as she leaned back into his hands. She hadn't smiled quite this way in awhile, not since they'd been asked by the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to surveil Radcliffe by accepting one of his many offers of employment.
When he couldn't wait one more moment to kiss her, he stopped her travel with firm hands on the chains. She gasped a little and laughed again, throwing her arms around his neck when circled in front of her and he bent forward to slant his mouth over hers. His hands found her waist and he lifted her, bracing her against his chest so her feet wouldn't yet touch the ground. He could feel her smile against him.
They pulled apart and she nuzzled into his neck. He was about to suggest they head back to the apartment they'd leased that still didn't quite feel like home (but it was getting there) when she whispered into his ear.
"If you think you've brought me here and you're going to deny me a trip down this slide, you're not as much of a genius as I thought you were."
"Race you," he said, though it wasn't much of a contest. They clasped hands and ran together, Jemma insisting Fitz should go first when they both hesitated at the foot of the ladder.
He agreed, quickly realizing he’d have to be in front of her to watch her descent properly. Scrambling up the metal rungs, he slid down once he reached the top, turning quickly once his feet hit the ground.
Jemma followed immediately after, swirling through the spirals of the slide on her way back to him, and he gathered her into his arms once they were together again.
It wasn't until hours later, when they were lying next to each other and about to drift off to sleep, that Jemma asked him what had clearly been on her mind since he'd uncovered her eyes.
"Why?" she whispered.
"Did you ever go to a playground when you were a kid?" he asked.
"Maybe. Actually...I don't know. I can't really remember," she said, blinking over her shoulder at him in the dark as she snuggled back against him.
"I can't either. I know which grades I skipped, when I took Calculus, and how many months I shaved off the length of my doctoral program, but I can't remember ever going to a playground like that and just...being there."
"It was perfect." She twisted around a little, giving him a tired peck on the cheek.
"You thought I'd gone insane." He raised an eyebrow at her when she opened her mouth to protest. "Don't even try to deny—"
She stopped him with a hand over his mouth, and he put a soft kiss in the middle of her palm.
"I'll never doubt you again, Fitz. I promise."