Work Text:
Everything was nearly perfect.
Evangeline picked a spot underneath her favorite tree to lay her blanket, feet away from the swing Jacks built for her. Centered in the middle were her pink picnic basket—which was filled with an assortment of pastries—and a golden tea pot she found in The Hollow’s kitchen. The tea usually casted a faint aroma of lavender, but the scent was being drowned out by the nearby apple trees.
Evangeline didn’t mind much, at least, she was rather fond of apples.
To finish her preparations, she picked a handful of flowers and scattered their petals around the blanket to add some extra color. It likely was alright without the petals, but Evangeline believed there was no such thing as too extravagant.
She took a moment to admire her hard work with a satisfied grin.
She hoped Jacks would love it as much as she did.
The sudden crunch of leaves from his place behind the tree implied he must have heard her thought.
“Have you finally finished?” he called. “You’ve been at this an awful while.”
Evangeline walked towards him, taking his hands in hers. “I wanted it to be perfect.”
“Anything you do is perfect,” he said more seriously.
Evangeline’s cheeks turned warm. “Make sure your eyes stay closed.”
“So demanding,” he murmured with a grin.
“I’m serious!”
”I know you are.”
She carefully guided the two of them towards the blanket. The morning air was cool against her skin and gently blew the hair away from Jacks’ face, just enough for her to catch the teasing crease of his closed eyes.
She had to force her gaze away.
“Alright,” she said after a moment, letting go of Jacks’ hands and taking a spot beside him. “Open.”
He listened, opening his eyes to Evangeline’s work. His gaze was intense, and Evangeline didn’t know what to make of the silence.
“Um, is everything alright?” She asked with fidgeting hands. “Please tell me if you don’t like it, I can—”
He broke her words with a delicate press of his mouth to hers.
“It’s perfect,” he said softly.
Evangeline’s nerves quickly settled.
They lowered themselves on the blanket.
She wasn’t entirely sure what to bake that morning, but she made sure to avoid anything apple. For some strange reason, Jacks went from always eating them around her to refusing to so much as look at one. Evangeline had asked him about it once, but he remained mysterious in his reasons why. She never asked him about it again because, knowing Jacks, she would never receive a proper answer.
He ended up settling on a cherry tart, but avoided the dough altogether, focusing only on the cherry filling.
Evangeline’s confusion must have been on display because Jacks then asked, “What?”
“That’s a rather strange way to eat a tart, is all,” she explained.
His mouth twisted into a sly grin. “I do lots of strange things,” he said as he fell back onto his elbows. “Surely you know that by now, Little Fox?”
She opened her mouth to retort and closed it just as quickly.
With a soft laugh, he intertwined his finger with a ribbon on her dress and gently tugged. She fell ungracefully on top of him, a hand on either side, and looked down with wide eyes.
Jacks, however, merely grinned up at her.
Evangeline’s mind raced as quickly as her heart. Even if she did wish to move she wouldn’t have been able to.
“Thank you.”
Jacks’ quiet words interrupted her thoughts.
“This was for me as well,” she said. “I’ve always wanted a proper picnic.”
“Not just for this,” he murmured.
She frowned. “For what, then?”
He softly trailed his hand down her hair, not answering the question.
And for a moment, Evangeline forgot that she had asked anything at all.