Tree

Axel cocks his head a little, finding Jess' choice interesting. Even though she'd said that she trusted him despite his past record, this proved it, and it made him feel good.

"Alright. Dirt road it is then."

Taking the lead once more, Axel heads out of town. They ascend a small hill where the road becomes dirt, then once over the other side, the town is simply hidden from view. But as such, Axel had been right - it felt as though they were out in the middle of nowhere.

Walking just a ways farther, Axel stops where there is a big oak tree that grew up beside the road, it's branches hanging over the way. "I used to come here to think," he muses. "I did that a lot at one time... before Cryptic came along. It was always quiet out here... not many people come this way out of town. But..."

He looks to Jess, a small smile creasing his lips. It was almost sly, but not quite. "...you really can't get the full effect of the view until you see things the way I did."

Walking over to the tree, he finds the lowest branch and starts to climb up to the next nearest that was a long, sturdy limb. It was a little more difficult than anticipated with a numb hand, but he makes it, then offers Jess a hand up. Still grinning, he helps her up, then climbs two branches higher. One would think he was crazy to do it in the dark, but even after a year, he knew right where to put his feet. Helping Jess up again, he finally sits, scooting over just far enough so Jess can sit next to him, their legs dangling off the sturdy limb. And from there, the view was amazing.

Up above through the branches, the moon and stars shone brightly, a million little lights, twinkling in the clear sky. Across the land one could see the lights of nearby cities, and the darkness of forests where a shimmering river ran through.

Axel takes a deep breath of the fresh air. "A little bit of heaven," he muses quietly.


Still shocked by what she'd done, Laura can't even laugh, though something deep down wanted to. She sits down next to Nate and takes off her gloves. "I'm sorry," she apologizes again. "Mm... jumpy I guess."

Pausing, she looks down at her hands. "So what... why did you come?"