Who: Aurora & Logan What: Hiking!! When: Earlier in the month, pre Killian & Aurora stuff Where: Some hiking trail somewhere Rating/Warning: Looooow. I only warn for cuteness and too much optimism Status: Complete
While Logan did enjoy nature, it was typically more of a solo venture with him. But he also had a problem when it came to certain kinds of people talking him into doing things. For all his gruff exterior, he was kind of a softy at heart. Just never tell him that. So he’d taken her out near the Outreach Center. There were a lot of trails near it that lead off into the canyon and elsewhere in this part of the county, and many of them had gone unexplored.
He rubbed the back of his neck and adjusted his hat to shade his eyes from the sun. This trail was winding, with a little stream following it and lots of wild flowers. “Don’t think I’ve come this way before.”
Aurora was all sunshine and socialization. She didn’t really know the meaning of being alone since it happened so rarely. Her aunts were always around and people from school and whoever came in to talk to her about plants. She didn’t mind, though. She liked to be around people because her dreams seemed lonely. Well, lonelier than the life she lived here. It was possibly because she really did only have her aunties in the dreams. If you ignored the woman with horns and the crow.
All of that aside, Aurora was determined to prove to Logan that she would like him even if he was grumpy and that they would be friends even as time passed. She was just as sure about this as she was about the woman with the horns. She may have tried to frighten her, but then was something about her. Something she couldn’t see as frightening or concerning. After all, when she’d asked her (as a child) to pick her up, she’d done it. She had been reluctant, but she’d done it. And she’d let her touch her horns and hug her. She couldn’t be all bad. She was good. Aurora was certain of it. And the crow, in turn, was good.
“It’s always good to come a new way. Perhaps we can find something new and interesting on the way!” If so, she would take pictures and she was likely to insist that Logan take pictures with her. On the phone. She could just keep them for herself. Maybe he’d smile. It would be okay if he didn’t, though. But she’d get him to smile one day. If she was lucky enough and persistent enough. “I’m glad you agreed to come today!”
Ignoring strange magic women would only get you in trouble. Logan knew that from personal experience. But then his dreams ran the gamut from ridiculous to soul destroying and everything in between. It was like his life was a comic book.
She already got him to smile. Just when she wasn’t looking. She reminded him of some of the people he’d looked after in his dreams, when they’d been innocent. The world was a cruel place and he hoped that it didn’t change for her the way it had for them. “It’s not so bad.”
Aurora turned to look at him, flashing her brightest smile. “You are glad you came. Admit it!” There was a hint of teasing. “And you will have to come to my birthday later this month!” She paused briefly, a thoughtful expression replacing her sunshine smile. “I still have to decide what I’m doing. I always forget to make plans and my aunties are always making the strangest plans. Once they draped a dress on a chair and popped out from behind the furniture like it was the most normal thing ever.” She laughed then. It had been very funny. “But I told them I was old enough to plan my own party this year.”
She moved forward, looking around at the area to see if there was anything she might notice as more curious than normal. “I hope it’s nice out so I can have something outside. With lots of flowers!” Because that was very important. She would try to make sure they were planters so that they would last past her birthday. She was sure it would be fine. What was a crowded greenhouse anyway?
Logan grunted. “Fine. I’m glad I came. You happy?”
But he was, even if it was hard to admit it. Doing normal people things wasn’t always simple, or easy or even welcome. But maybe Logan could soak up some of that youthful enthusiasm. He’d been young once. Though he could scarcely believe it.
“You sure you want me there? People might think it’s weird.” About as weird as a grown ass man going hiking alone with a teenager. But he supposed the flowers were important. He’d never admit it, but he liked flowers.
There were a lot of things Logan would never admit, the secret softy.
Aurora’s smile grew when he spoke and she nodded. “Yes. Very happy!” Which was true. She was happy to know he was glad to be there.
She paused, turning to glance back at him. “Of course I want you to be there! You’re my friend. People might not mind so much. I don’t mind if they do. I’m sure there will be other adults. Most of the kids will be from school, so they don’t really know whether you’re family or not. They just know I don’t have parents.” She hadn’t gone into it much past that. She knew Killian was looking into it, though.
Aurora had an abundance of trust for people and she rarely had any reason not to trust anyone. Then again, she hadn’t actually found people she didn’t trust immediately, which made it easy to take advantage, but she also had more faith in humanity as a whole, so she didn’t really suspect people of having bad intentions...even with things that contradicted her worldview.
“All right. Guess I’ll be there. Don’t have anything else to do.” Which was his way of saying that he actually wanted to go, without saying that he actually wanted to go. Who would turn down cake? Aurora’s ability to trust so easily was a little worrying. A lot of people would take advantage of that, but Logan would have to keep an eye on her. Kind of like a fairy godfather.
She clasped her hand together, practically beaming. She was glad that he’d agreed. She wasn’t sure exactly what would have convinced him if he’d held to his not being sure if he should be there state. She would have had to get creative. “Good. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have to resort to begging you or not and no one should have to beg anyone to come to their birthday party. That’s just upsetting.” So she was glad that she didn’t have to.
“Darlin’, you could probably convince half the city to attend just by flashing a smile and being yourself. Its exhausting.” Still, he gave her a grin. “One day you’re gonna meet someone and they’re gonna have to keep up. Don’t envy them.”
That got her to laugh. “I’ve never tried it like that. It sounds like a very serious power.” She wondered how true it was, but then she couldn’t say anyone she’d asked thus far had said no to her yet. There was a shrug and she kept moving. “I guess I should make sure there’s plenty of sugar and caffeine so no one gets too tired, then.” Meeting someone could mean just meeting someone, but she had a feeling he meant in a more romantic fashion. “Well, if I ever do, I guess I’ll have to make sure they can, but so far, no one’s come forward.” She shrugged again at that. It wasn’t so important. Okay, so she’d maybe thought about it a lot when she had a lot of time and not much to do (and okay, sometimes even when she had a lot to do), but she figured if it was going to happen, it would.
“Just as long as you don’t have too much sugar yourself.” He wouldn’t classify Aurora as hyperactive, but she was very energetic. Logan knew several people that would have keeled over just trying to keep up with her. Logan actually laughed. “You’re still young. Give it a few years. Like thirty.”
He’d wrap her in a blanket and beat all the boys and girls away in the meantime.
Aurora laughed again. “Thirty years is a very long time.” She wasn’t sure she would ever be able to make it thirty years without falling in love at least once. But then she wasn’t sure that she had any idea of anyone falling in love with her. Maybe if she was a fairytale princess and every story ended in a happily ever after sort of situation, she would, but she wasn’t sure that was what she was going to run across.
For now, she was happy to have friends that she could talk into going hiking with her or whatever else she wanted to do at the time. “But I will try not to eat too much sugar. I can’t promise anything, though.”
“Thirty years’ll pass in a blink of an eye, an’ you’ll look back and wonder where it went.” As much as he joked about her not dating, ever, he still wanted her to enjoy life. He reached over, squeezing her shoulder. “I think a lot of people miss out. I don’t think you will though. Seems like you enjoy life.”
Aurora shook her head. “I’m not going to miss out on anything. Not if I can help it!” But she couldn’t imagine what thirty years from now would look like. She couldn’t really even imagine five years. She knew how she wanted it to look, but she wasn’t sure exactly how it would happen or what there was to look forward to. She hoped that, whatever it was, it was good. She believed that it would be, though.
Eternal optimists. Why did Logan always find himself surrounded by eternal optimists? Maybe deep down, he was one too.