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They were running late. Of course they were. Clover had already known this whole ordeal was probably mostly pity. A little bit curiosity. Maybe, maybe, in the depths of their heart, maybe a little bit of fondness for them, but they were sure the reason Chara had even agreed to this was mostly pity. They considered standing by the beginning of the trail instead of awkwardly at the end of the parking lot, waiting for their car, but they didn’t want to miss it if they came, didn’t see them, and left. Clover checked their watch. It was a cute little thing that Martlet and they had made after way to much practice and reasearch on clockwork. They still ended up with a half a dozen trials before they found one that worked well enough. They sighed. Maybe they should call Martlet and ask her to pick them up. They really should’ve just brought the car. She’d told them they could.
Clover took out their phone, checking to see if Chara had happened to say anything. Nothing. Guess they better get a ride home. They scrolled through their contacts, suddenly aware of how far in the alphabet the letter M was. They really shouldn’t’ve bothered with this whole thing. Not only had they wasted their time, but who knew what Chara would think of them now? They’d already considered them pretty annoying. Which, to be fair, was mostly their fault, because they kept doing stuff like this.
They found Martlet’s contact and dialed it, holding the phone up to their ear. Twenty minutes late, and no text or anything. Chara wasn’t the kind of person to be late, anyways. They probably could’ve left a few minutes ago, if they weren’t holding onto false hopes. The dialtone buzzed in their ear. She wasn’t picking up.
They hung up, deciding they might as well enjoy the hike even without Chara. They shook their head, hands in their pockets. They hadn’t even presented it as a date, or anything. Just a short little hike together, only a couple miles, timed to get to the outlook right about sunset. They’d put a lot of thought into this! They were probably going to miss sunset now, anyways, after waiting this long.
They started walking down the trail, quietly enjoying the cool autumn breeze. The Surface was nice. They’d been back up here for a while, now, but they still enjoyed it. Seasons, especially. The unchanging permanance of seasons in the underground had wore on them, even though they had only been down there for a while. Still, it was nice that they existed. They looked up at the trees, watching a squirrel dive through the golden leaves away from them. They laughed. Fall was nice, even if they had no one here to share it with. Should’ve dragged someone else.
It was getting a little bit darker by the minute. Guess they’d missed the sunset. They should probably turn around. The park technically closed at sunset. That said, it was a pretty dumb rule, and was very ill-enforced. They ignored their better judgement and kept walking. It was going to be a pretty clear night, and maybe they could catch a glimpse of the stars. It was a pretty long hike with no one to talk to. They considered trying to sing to themself, but thought better of it. There were a bunch of animals trying to sleep, probably. Maybe. Come to think of it, animals probably slept farther away from the trails than earshot. Well. Human earshot. Animals could hear pretty far. Bats, especially. Maybe that was why Decibat had hated the noise so much when they were under the ruins back in the Underground. They’d have to ask him sometime. Or something.
“Evenin’,” they said, tipping their hat to a stranger down the path. The stranger stopped walking.
“Clover?” they said, something between indignation and disbelief in their voice. Clover took a second look at them in the dark, their face flushing as they realized who it was.
“Chara? How the heck did you get- I was waitin’ for-” they stammered, gesturing vaguely back down the path to the parking lot. “I thought you weren’t comin’.”
“Hm. Well, you were late, and I didn’t want to miss the sunset. You made it sound quite lovely,” they said, crossing their arms. There was a smug sort of smile on their face.
“I- I was only a couple minutes late!”
“I’d assumed you’d forgotten.”
“Forgot? I set this up!”
“Yes, and?”
Clover couldn’t really argue with that. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, before glancing at the path to the overlook.
“Well, if ya want to, it’s clear enough there might be stars,” they said, smiling sheepishly. Chara gave them a conceding side-nod, turning around to walk with them.
“Fine by me.”
They continued to walk down the trail as the world got darker and darker. Clover slowed their pace, squinting to see the roots and rocks in the path. Chara laughed a little to themself.
“Haven’t been here before, have you?” they said. Clover looked up, although they could barely see their face by now.
“I- I don’t come here too much, no. Least, not after a big storm like yesterday. I jus’ don’t want to hurt myself and make you have to carry me back, or anything.”
“What makes you so certain I’d carry you back?” they said. Clover scowled.
“‘Cause I’m pretty sure you would. I’d carry you back, at least.”
“Hm. How hurt would I have to be?”
“Huh?”
“I’m curious. Humor me,” they said, walking ahead of them on the path, picking up a slightly faster pace. Clover grit their teeth and turned their focus away from any potential ankle-breaking hazards in the path and towards Chara’s silhouette in front of them. “Obviously, if I was unconscious, you’d carry me, as I couldn’t walk myself.”
“Of course,” they said, tripping and catching themself before they hit the dirt.. “…You’d at least get me some help, right?”
“I would make sure you were out of any further danger, yes,” Chara said, pausing for them to catch their bearings. “Whether that meant a phone call or carrying you to safety, I’m fairly certain I’d do what I needed.”
“That’s a comfort, at least,” they said, tentatively picking up the pace again. Chara stopped rushing ahead and walked beside them, letting them walk the smoother path whenever it got narrow or rough. “Thanks.”
“Nothing exceptional,” they said, shrugging. “Just average decency, at that point. Anyhow. Say… say I broke my leg. Or something similar, at least. What would you do then?”
“Uh… Right now, you mean?”
“Yes. Right now. Say I fall right now, and break my leg, and we’re this far from the parking lot.”
“Dang. Uh. I don’t know if I can carry you that far,” they said, rubbing the back of their neck. “I’d try, at least. At the very least I’d try and let you lean on me, or something.”
“Hm.”
“What?”
“Proper medical protocol would be to attempt to brace it first,” they said, shrugging. “But I assume you would do that if I guided you through it.”
“Heck yeah I would! I don’t want you to bust up your leg!”
Chara laughed a little to themself. “You seem quite concerned about this possibility.”
“Are you kiddin’? I can’t see a thing! And you’re walking like it’s broad daylight!” they said. Suddenly they stumbled on a vine in the path, almost falling, steadied by Chara’s hand. They stood there, panting, for a moment or two. They straightened up, not let going of their hand.
“…Perhaps we could be more careful,” they said. Clover nodded, heart still racing. Who knew how many roots and vines were in the path?
“Agreed.”
The two of them walked on, slowing their pace ever so slightly. Clover did not move to let go of Chara’s hand. Chara did not seem to mind. Or maybe they didn’t notice. Their fingers were oddly cold, which was oddly comforting. Something about the dark and the autumn and their fingers in theirs. They allowed themself a smile. They were walking exceedingly slowly, given that getting injured would frankly kind of suck. It was quite dark. It was beginning to get pretty chilly, too. Clover was suddenly aware that Chara was walking shoulder-to-shoulder next to them, so they could feel every incongruency in their step. They held their hand a little tighter.
“Finally,” Chara said. The overlook was in front of them, and the trees were clearing from view. The sky, free from leaves and branches, exploded with stars. Clover noticed they were holding their breath and exhaled with a quiet whistle, staring at the heavens. Chara watched them, smiling slightly. “The sunset would’ve been better, had you been on time.”
“Oh, shut up,” they said quickly, dropping their hand. They went to the edge of the overlook, leaning their elbows on the railing. “This is good too.”
“True,” they replied, standing beside them. There was just about room for two. The sky seemed to be sparkling.
“Man. Can’t imagine seein’ this for the first time.”
“You see stars this clearly often?” Chara asked. Clover shrugged.
“Yeah. I mean, when I was just a kid. There wasn’t too much blocking ‘em out where I was living. You?”
“I suppose I’d fallen before I’d really noticed it.” they said, sighing. “That, or the lights were bright enough to block them out. They’re rather beautiful, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, they are. It’s a bit more beautiful with you here, though.”
Chara laughed, and Clover seemed to notice what they’d just said, quickly stepping back from the railing.
“I mean, it’s nicer with… it’s nicer with people! Like, someone to watch ‘em with. Not that you’re not- I mean, you are beautiful, like, really beautiful, but I wasn’t tryn’ to- I mean- With the stars, and all. It’s nice that you’re also… looking at the stars,” they said, looking everywhere but at them. They laughed. Again. Their laugh was beautiful, too. They flushed red, hoping they couldn’t tell in the dark, and fumbled through a little more. Goshdarnit, Clover, why’d you have to muck this up? “I mean, I can’t even see ya anyways, so there ain’t really too much truth to the previous statement, if you were to interpret it like that, so what I really meant was-”
“I agree with you,” they said, sparing them from any more of their desperate rambling. “It is much nicer with someone to watch them with."
“Y-yeah,” Clover said, hesitantly leaning back on the railing. “They’re nice.”
“Indeed,” they said, although they weren’t looking at them anymore. Neither was Clover. Both had their eyes directed at the railing, as though the wooden bar held the answers to the question that now appeared to hang in the air. Chara inhaled sharply, taking their hand in theirs. Clover glanced at them, flushing, although they couldn’t see each other in the dark. The comforting chill of their fingers in their palm was obscuring the thoughts in their head.
“Uh,” they said, glancing around. Chara shook their head, smiling.
“This is, in fact, a date, correct? I couldn’t help but notice you managed to neglect to mention it,” they said. Clover felt their face grow warm again, and shrugged.
“I mean, if you want it to be? I-”
“You’re cute,” they said. Clover flushed scarlet, a hesitant smile spreading across their face. Chara seemed to notice what they said, and began to elaborate. “I mean to say- no, I mean it. And that is perfectly acceptable for me, by the way.”
“Well. Uh. I guess. I mean,” they started, rubbing the back of their neck. They laughed nervously. “Sure?”
“Perfect,” Chara said, shrugging. “That’s that, then.”
The two of them stopped talking, staring at the stars. Chara took in the fall night air, smiling. This was nice. They had been somewhat concerned Clover would really forget, and leave them to take the hike alone. The warmth of their fingers between theirs was somewhat grounding. It felt nice to be grounded. It felt nice to be watching the stars with someone. It felt nice to be watching the stars with Clover. They looked over at them. They were smiling, drinking in the dark, eyes sparkling with the reflections of the celestial bodies lighting up the sky. Despite having seen this all before, many, many times, as they so claimed, they appeared to appreciate it all the same.
“Hey, those ones kinda look like a horse!” they said, pointing at a cluster of stars.
“That is Ursa Major,” they said. “I believe it’s a bear.”
“Oh. Close enough.” They rested their chin in their free hand. A wisp of their hair had slipped out of their braid, blowing across their face in the wind. They blinked, blowing it back out of the way. Chara laughed a little, brushing it back behind their ear. They caught their eye contact, holding it for a moment. It was fully night, by now. The park was very much closed. As far as Clover knew, they didn’t check to make sure no one was on the trails, but they should probably go back. Maybe. Probably.
They stayed to watch the stars a while longer.