Name: Nikki and Kat
Story: Second Genesis and In the Heart; the title of this is 'Picnic.'
Colors: Spring Green 7. Can we find ourselves in the book of love? for Nikki; Sphene 20 (Inclusions) for Kat
Supplies and Styles: Eraser (OT4 AU), Mosaic, Collage
Word Count: 3,295
Rating: PG

It was a gorgeous day for a picnic. The sky was bright and cloudless where it was seen through the treetops, and it was just cool enough to be pleasant. The weather wasn't why Noah invited Joy on a picnic though. He wanted to get to know her, if she wanted to tell him, and he wanted to tell her about himself, if she wanted to hear it.

The problem with that was that he wasn't a very good talker in his opinion. He never felt comfortable talking. It was easier with Joy, but growing up where noise could attract predators or scare away supper, you grow up quiet. So he thought maybe that if they were in his territory, it would be easier. Noah had suggested a picnic to keep it from seeming like he just wanted to get her alone.

He reached behind him to grab Joy's hand and looked over his shoulder at her. "We should almost be there." 'There' being a little clearing he had loved to relax in for years. He had a picnic basket in the other hand, and he was careful not to swing it around too much as he pushed a few low hanging branches out of the way. His clearing was behind it, and he almost seemed shy as he led Joy into it. "This is it."

"Oh, wow," Joy said, her eyes widening. She kept hold of his hand as she stepped forward, into the green, flower-speckled clearing. "This is... Noah, this is beautiful! I didn't know there were places like this."

"Humans in general aren't very good at keeping things pretty," he answered as he pulled a couple of blankets from the basket, and started to spread them out. "I think God keeps a lot of them secret, but I guess He let me get lucky "

"He knew you'd respect this place, and take care of it," Joy said. She took one of the blankets from him and spread it out next to his. "You do such a good job taking care of beautiful things."

"Only doin' what He wants us to do." He smiled softly and brushed a kiss over her cheek, before he sat down, gently pulling her with him. He would love to take care of her if she let him, but he didn't have the courage to say that. Instead, he started unpacking their picnic. It wasn't much more than sandwiches and apples and chips, but Noah had agonized over what to make and how. What did dancers eat? Bottles of water were universal and safe, but food...
He only prayed for the best as he turned back to Joy to lay everything out. "Tell me about yourself?"

Joy grabbed a sandwich and made a happy little noise, unwrapping it. "Oh, um, about me? Well, I'm from Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Philadelphia. I'm an only. My mom teaches economics at UPenn, and my dad writes--probably not anything you've read," she added, winking. "What about you? Lived here your whole life?"

Noah let out a huff that could have been a chuckle, and pointed south. "Keep walkin' 'bout a mile, maybe a mile and a half. Its another clearing, like this, but bigger. None of the flowers. Me and Mama spent my first five years there, being out here with nature and God. Huntin', fishin' trackin'... That's all me. Out here is me." He thought for a second and added on. "I never knew it was odd or that people didn't live that way until I started school. We got an actual house, and I had to start wearing shoes."

It was like he reminded himself. He lay back and kicked off his boots, staring up at Joy and the sky above her. Her eyes matched the sky. "Ready to run, yet?" He asked, only half joking. "I'd be just fine right here."

Maybe.

Without her, maybe.

Oh, God help him. He didn't know what these feelings were or how to control them. His just prayed that nothing he did would scare Joy away. He could let her go, would let her go - this town was not the place for, and he didn't want to be the anchor that held her back.
He prayed that none of this was on his face or his voice. He prayed that she wouldn't run screaming. He prayed for courage. Because nothing in these woods scared him, nothing in this world scared him like these far-too-fast feelings for her.

Noah reached for an apple, and spoke up before his train of thought carried him away completely. "What kind of dancing do you do?"

Surprisingly, Joy didn't react at all to what he said--her body stayed relaxed, her face calm, no drawing back at all. "It must have been a wonderful childhood," she said. "You sound so happy when you talk about it. And don't think you're getting away with just telling me that." She leaned forward, and brushed a kiss across his forehead. "I want stories. But, anyway, to answer your question, I do whatever dancing there is to be done. Tap, jazz, modern, whatever. I'm trained in everything except ballet."

She made a face at that. "Apparently I don't have the figure for a ballerina. No breasts allowed. Or did you mean what dancing I do for a living?"

He frowned at that, his eyes quickly raking over her. "That's stupid," he muttered, about the rule. "And yeah, I guess. You and dancin'... it just makes sense." He said it shyly, looking away to toss the apple into the air a few times until he finally took a bite. "So what do you do for a livin'? I live for a livin'."

Joy giggled at that. "That sounds nice," she said. "Living for a living, I mean, it just sounds... well, yes. I'm a stripper, or sometimes I do burlesque." She winked at him, her mouth trembling just a little. "You should see me in a corset."

It was only the last sentence that made him pause, and, for once, he hoped it was obvious. He blinked, and answered, "That makes sense," because it did. To be honest, he had never been to a strip club. "And I certainly wouldn't mind."

She relaxed, a tension he hadn't noticed bleeding out of her shoulders. "Oh, yeah? Because I look good naked?"

It didn't sound accusatory, only teasing, and she added, "I really do it because I get to do my own choreography and dancing. Doing someone else's steps all day every day can get very old very quickly."

"Your dance moves feel good during sex," he teased back. "Of course it makes sense." Noah figured he might as well tell her. "I've never been to a strip club. You're my first." He grinned at the joke.

"Oooh," Joy said, and she sounded suddenly intrigued. "I'll have to give you the full experience sometime. It's a lot of fun, as long as you go in with the full knowledge that you have to pay for the boobs."

He blushed slightly. "If you want to, I won't complain." Noah sat up suddenly, as if a thought came to him, but he shyly looked down at their meal. It was a moment before he quietly spoke. "Would... would you dance for me now? Nothin' like..." He waved a hand, indicating her work. "Just... dancin'. Any kind you want. Please?"

"Oh." A shy little smile crossed her face. "Really? It looks kind of stupid when there isn't any music. I mean, I'd love to. I just want you to be sure of what you're getting into."

"I have a few songs on my phone that I listen to when I work. I don't know if any of them are dance songs, but if you wanted to look." He dug his phone from his pocket and held it out to her bashfully. "It's country, mostly. A lot of Luke Bryan and Eric Church. Guys like that."

"I love country," Joy said, and she was smiling broader, but not mockingly. "Pick something for me? Something with a good beat."

"I can do that." He quickly scrolled through his music while she got up, and to his delight, kicked off her shoes. She would be so beautiful. His fingers fumbled while he searched through Luke Bryan, eventually settling on 'Beer in the Headlights' , and he dropped the phone speaker up as the music started to play.

She started easy, a lazy, hip-swinging sway to the opening chords, stretching her arms and legs. Her eyes closed almost immediately, and she smiled when the lyrics started, but didn't open them, just... danced.

He didn't know the names for all the moves she did, but they were all open, big movements. She just threw herself into it, whole-hearted, like the music was taking control, like she let it, like she liked it. The expression on her face was... it was almost like she'd looked at him that first morning, sleepy and happy and absolutely content.

He simply watched, seeing her and the dance, nothing else in the sway of her hip or curve of her wrist, understanding the emotion on her face. It was how he felt out here, away from the modern world, and for a moment he wished he could join her in the dance. But he wouldn't be able to keep up.

So he watched, unaware of the admiring expression on his face, unaware of how in love he was.

The song ended, and Joy came to a stop, one foot forward, her whole body curved upwards for a moment before she dropped her hands and laughed. "That's it," she said. "Easy as pie."

Noah realized his mouth was hanging open, just a bit. He closed it and swallowed before he answered. "Definitely not," he said, voice husky and quiet, and cleared his throat. "For you, yeah, but. Wow."

Joy shrugged, came back to the blanket, and sat down by him. "With me, you're seeing about sixteen years of practice. It's a skill, like anything else." She smiled at him. "You've just got to try."

He leaned forward to kiss her deeply, no ulterior motive behind it. He just wanted to kiss her for a moment, because she was so beautiful and acted like she had no idea, and it made more sense than any words he could think of.

She smiled against his mouth, and curled a hand around his bicep; not grabbing, just holding, for the sheer pleasure of the touch. "I take it you like my dancing."

"Yeah," he answered quietly, smiling shyly. "A lot. It's... You're beautiful. You make it beautiful." Noah hesitated. "It makes you beautiful. I can't tell which." But it was far from the only thing.

She blushed, a pretty bloom of color across her cheeks, and said, "You are so sweet, Noah, I... I don't even know what to say to that."

He shrugged, blushing himself, and looked down. "Don't have to say anythin'. Just tellin' ya what I see."

Glancing up at her, he hesitated and asked. "May I kiss you?" He wouldn't have asked, but there was something even more special about her now.

"You know you don't have to ask." Joy smiled at him.

"I do," he said quietly and reached forward to grab her hand in his and lift it to his lips. Noah kissed her palm, and then her wrist, open mouthed. "I want to know what's okay to do, is all."

When he looked up, her smile was gentle, and warm. "From you, sweetheart? I don't think you could do something wrong. You respect me too much."

It was far more than that, but Noah didn't know what exactly, and he was smart enough to keep quiet about it. Instead, he went into safer and completely different territory, and asked as he unwrapped his sandwich, "How did I do on food?"

Joy took a big bite of her sandwich and made obnoxious "mm" noises while she chewed. She swallowed, and then said, "Second-best thing I've had in my mouth all week!" She gave him a huge wink at the same time.

Noah knew he was blushing wonderfully, which was just what she wanted. Still, he wanted to try and tease her like she did him, so managed to meet her eyes as he put the sandwich down and grabbed his apple.

"And I'm a fan of forbidden fruit," he said, meeting her eyes as he took a bite, though his tone came out more serious than teasing.

"Yeah?" She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Am I forbidden fruit, then?"

"Certainly feel like you're out of my league." He said simply. "In the best way, you are. I... would have never talked to you first." There was that feeling again that he couldn't describe, so he glanced away and shrugged. "Can't tell you how glad I am that you came to talk to me."

"So am I," Joy said, her face unexpectedly wistful. "I mean... Noah, this might be fast or too soon or something, but I really think I might be... I like you a lot. Maybe more than I should."

Noah looked back at her, trying to hide his surprise and failing. "Me?" He immediately felt stupid. Wrong answer. "I mean... good. That makes me feel less - Well, not less. Relieved, I guess."

"Relieved?" She went still at that.

Noah eyes widened. "Oh, no, that came out wrong, I swear." He said in a rush, trying to think. This feeling he didn't like. He didn't want to drive her away. "I just - you're so amazing and I'm..."
He trailed off, waving a hand at the scene around them, desperately racking his brain for words and trying to tell himself that he didn't ruin this, but words didn't come to mind. Instead, he gave her an apologetic look before he leaned forward to kiss her, trying to tell her that way. Please, God, let her know. Or let him know the words.

Joy grabbed for his head the second he got in range, tangling one hand in his hair and yanking his ear with the other. It seemed to be an accident; she was just trying to get him close enough to kiss him fervently.

He was almost surprised at her enthusiasm, and he barely had the mind to wrap his arms around her before they tipped over to lay on the blanket. "Joy," he murmured into the kiss, unable to think of any other word. He rolled them over to where she laid on top of him, fitting perfectly there.

She only kissed him harder and he was happy to go at her pace for a few long moments until he started to pull back. It wasn't to stop kissing her. Noah just wanted to slow down because if they kept going the way they were going, he would probably try something stupid. He was just happy to kiss her, slow and caressing, for as long as she would let him.

"No," Joy said, after a long moment of kissing. "No, I didn't mean to worry you, I was just… afraid of coming on too strong, I guess." She kissed him again, this time on the tip of his nose. "I'm really glad you don't think that."

"About you, darlin'? Never." He smiled a little stupidly and tightened his arms around her. "Just tell me if I... act creepy. Or weird. I don't mean to, but hell. You're the first woman that's wanted to spend time with me." That he knew of, that wasn't his mother, but he thought that he knew better than to add that part.

Joy laughed, and kissed his nose again. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll definitely tell you." She hesitated a moment, then added, "Really? The first one?"

He blushed and looked away for her. "Yeah." Noah shrugged, glancing back. "I mean, some would talk to me, and my friends' girlfriends keep trying to set me up, but it never..." He shrugged again. "I don't know. I was never what they wanted, I guess."

"Well, that's kinda…" She paused. "I don't know, I guess you want what you want, but I don't get how someone wouldn't… well. I want to hang out with you."

He smiled again, small and shy. "I want to spend time with you, too." He leaned up on an elbow to kiss her, lightly holding the back of her head and threading her hair through his fingers. "I'm so glad I went out that night. So glad I met you."

"Me too," Joy said, and kissed him properly this time.

Then she sat up next to him, pulled her knees up to her chest and looked at him, oddly vulnerable. "Noah… you know I'm going to leave soon."

His face fell almost immediately and he looked away, blinking. "Yeah."

She took another deep breath. "I was wondering if. If maybe you might… I don't know. Never mind, it's stupid."

"No, its not." Noah looked back at her and sat up. "Tell me. Please."

She was looking at him, biting her lip, her eyes worried. "Maybe… you might want to come with me?"

He sucked in a sharp breath, something sad he hadn't realized he felt before leaving him. "Yeah." Noah hoped he didn't answer too fast.

"Really?" She brightened, her grasp on her legs weakening. "You would really come along?"

"Yeah. I'd need..." He quickly thought. "Maybe another week? I don't want to hold you up, but I would need to take care of a few things. Find someone to take over my job, and that stuff." He hesitated. "You really want me to go with you?"

"I can spare a week." She shifted and tucked her legs underneath her, leaning forward. "I really, really do, Noah. I mean, I don't want you to feel at loose ends or anything, but I don't… want to go without you."

He was the one to grab her and pull her into a kiss this time, holding her by the shoulders and kissing her roughly. "And I don't want to lose you," he gasped when he pulled back.

She smiled at him, cupped his face, and stroked his cheekbones with her thumbs. "You won't. We can just… go across the country together."

He smiled softly and turned his head to kiss her palm. "We could take my truck. I can drive. You can distract me, and when I get pulled over, you can talk the cop out of giving me a ticket."

Joy giggled. "Between my breasts and my silver tongue I'm sure we can work something out."

Noah kissed her again, softer, and smiled at her when he pulled back. "Thank you. For everything."

She blinked at him, looking confused. "Everything? I don't… what are you talking about?"

He laughed. "You... you don't even know, how-" Noah looked down, dragging his fingers through the grass. "You make me happy, is all."

"You make me happy too," she told him, smiling. It made her eyes look soft. "You're… honestly you're the first person I wanted to stay with."

His heart flipped in his chest at that, and he wasn't able to stop the smile from spreading over her face. He stared at her for a second, unable to describe what he was feeling. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, and nodded, a little shyly. "I've dated before, but never really… you know. It wasn't serious. And I know I've only known you for a few days but you're still… I don't know. It's serious."

Noah ducked his head, smiling. "Yeah," he repeated and reached out to grab her hand. He ran his thumb over her knuckles. "I know what you mean."