Geography Lesson

"Watch your step."

Trinne smiled as she accepted the offered hand that accompanied the warning. "Thanks." She scrambled up and over the tumbled mess of rocks that blocked their path, her boots raising a small cloud of dust as she landed next to Harvey. Her grip on his hand tightened for a second as she caught her balance before she let go. "So, are we heading somewhere in particular?" she asked, flexing her fingers under the cover of her borrowed cloak where he couldn't see.

Harvey shook his head. "Just wandering today. You said your knowledge of geography was lacking. I figure we can try to fix that."

"Ah." Trinne smiled, falling in step next to him. "Well, will you hate me if I say I hope I'm a slow learner?"

Harvey gave her a confused look. "Why in Andraste's name would you hope that?"

Trinne smirked and fought the urge to giggle. "Oh... no reason," she replied sweetly, trying to look innocent. No need to scare you off... This going slow and seeing where things led was new to her, but since Harvey hadn't bolted after she kissed him the night they went for drinks, she figured it was only fair to try and do better. Falling too fast for someone has been a bit of a problem for you, Trinne Amell. This is probably a much better plan, anyway. "Do you come this way a lot?"

He nodded. "One of my favorite places to go when I want to be alone is over that way." He pointed in the general direction of a small clump of trees some ways off to their left.

"Don't feel like you have to tell me, silly," she teased. "It would be harder to be alone if other people know about it."

"I said one of," Harvey pointed out, gently tugging on her elbow to guide the mage around a bumpy ridge of ground she hadn't noticed. "This is quite the opposite direction from my very favorite place to be alone. Besides, it's not as if I own the woods. Other people are allowed here, too."

"True, but I know how special secret places can be." A sad smile pulled at Trinne's lips and she ran one hand through her tousled hair. "I remember, back at the Circle, Jowan and I had a secret spot that was for hiding when we got in really big trouble. Nobody else knew about it. There were dozens of places to hide if you were just avoiding a test or trying to evade a templar who you'd landed on his backside with a grease spell--" She smiled innocently again when Harvey turned to raise an eyebrow at her, "--Hey, I was ten, and the tower could be boring. But, anyway, this spot was just ours. We used it when we wanted to be alone more than anything in the world. I was always paranoid about other kids finding out about it, because it was ours. Just mine and Jowan's. The thought of having to share... well, I wouldn't have reacted well, let's just say that. Jowan would've shared it, if we had to, but not me."

"Mm." Harvey wasn't entirely sure how to reply to that--Jowan was still a touchy subject; in fact, he was surprised Trinne had even mentioned him--so he settled for a neutral sound that let her know he was still listening. A gust of wind chose that moment to swirl around them, pulling at their cloaks and ruffling Trinne's already-mussed hair even further.

"Maker... I'm a mess," she laughed as she ran her fingers through the tangles, attempting to bring some semblance of order to the wild black strands.The small, contented lilt in her voice made Harvey wonder if she really minded. Somehow he didn't think so. Women who cared about how they looked usually didn't agree to spur of the moment trips like this one. At least not with the alacrity and huge smile that Trinne had. They also didn't usually own a pair of sturdy, broken-in boots.

He thought about saying something to assure her she looked fine, but didn't want her to take it the wrong way, or to think he was interested if she wasn't. So he kept his mouth shut.

Something winked up from the shelter of the unkempt grass, and Harvey knelt to push the grass aside. His fingers brushed against the object, hard and smooth, for the most part, as he did. He picked up the small white rock, rubbing his thumb over one of the smooth areas of its surface as he reached to slip it in the pouch that hung from his belt.

"What's that?" Trinne asked, curiosity overcoming her recent resolution to stick her nose in other people's business less.

"Oh, nothing," Harvey shrugged, showing her the oddly-shaped rock.

"You collect this kind of stuff?" she guessed, and he nodded. "Just rocks or other things, too?"

"Other things, too," he replied, dropping the shiny rock in the pouch.

"Like what?" Trinne pressed, still curious.

Another shrug. "Pieces of bark with unusual patterns, interesting feathers, things like that."

"Ah."

"What?" he looked sideway at her, wondering what exactly was meant by the small sound.

She grinned. "Nothing. It makes sense that you'd collect things like that, much as you love the outdoors. It's just... not the sort of thing most nobles would do. Which is a compliment, trust me," she tacked on hurriedly. "Anders used to do something like that. He was another... friend of mine from the Circle. Always running away and getting caught and running away again. He would always bring back something little he'd found right around where the templars caught him each time; a rock or a feather or something. Considering how much you like to spend your time outside--" she gave him a playful nudge "--I'm sure your collections's quite a bit bigger than his."

"Well, I did have to start over when I left Highever," Harvey reminded her, smiling just a little.

"Still, he only escaped seven times, so I'm fairly certain your collection's bigger," Trinne laughed.

"If you say so."

They'd been walking in silence for a few minutes when Trinne let out a small sound of excitement and dropped to her knees next to a scrubby bush that sat by to the sort-of track they currently were following. "Oooh, look!" She worked whatever she'd seen free of the clutching branches of the bush and pushed back to her feet, matching patches of light brown dust showing plainly against the dark grey material of her pants. She used one hand to try and brush the dust off while holding the other one out to Harvey, exhibiting the mottled white and grey feather she'd plucked from the bush. "Isn't it pretty?"

You're prettier. He didn't know where the thought came from, and shooed it away hastily even as he nodded. "It is. Good eye to have noticed that."

She blushed and bit her bottom lip. Maker, what's wrong with me?!  "You can have it. Y'know, for your collection."

Harvey looked at her in surprise. "You sure?"

Trinne nodded. "I keep it, it'll just get dropped and stepped on. Or Dane will slobber on it or something. Since you collect things like that, you can keep it."

"Well, then, thank you," Harvey mumbled, taking the feather from her and sliding it gingerly into the pouch next to the rock.

"You're welcome." Trinne cleared her throat, feeling the undercurrent of something she couldn't quite describe swirling under their words. "So, um, are we going all the way to the woods? They look a lot closer than before."

"Did you want to go back?" Harvey offered.

"No! I mean, um, no, I was just curious. That's something you should know about me; I'm insatiably curious, usually about stuff that's none of my business. So if I ever start to pry too much, feel free to tell me to shove off."

"Mm." He knew he never would, even if she did.

"Anyway, I just was wondering where we are, exactly. 'Cause knowing the geography isn't going to do me much good if I can't find it on a map," she teased.

"Right," Harvey muttered. He pulled out the worn map to show her.

"What happened here?" Trinne giggled, fingering one smudged and chewed section of the map.

Harvey rolled his eyes. "Frida."

She giggled again. "Your mabari?" she guessed, smirking when he nodded. "Dane got lectured more than once for chewing up socks, but I don't think he ever went after the maps. So, anyway, where are we, exactly?" she asked, leaning closer to look and trying to ignore the way her shoulder brushed the rogue's as she did.

"Here." Harvey pointed to the spot on the map, tracing his finger over the map's surface back toward the city in a wavy line. "This is more or less how we got here."

"I see," Trinne nodded, cocking her head to look at the map. "So then, those woods--" she tapped the marking on the map "--are the ones up ahead?"

"Mm-hm. You're a faster learner than you give yourself credit for," Harvey replied, folding the map up to put away.

Damn it. Trinne blushed at her reaction to his words, relieved she'd at least only thought it rather than said it. "Thank you. Let's keep going." She tugged on his arm, setting her face toward the woods in hopes he wouldn't see the pink highlighting her cheeks.

They made the rest of the walk to the woods in companionable silence, aside from Harvey occasionally pointing out a landmark for the mage. He showed her some of the spots in the wood that were better for being alone; easy enough to find if you were looking for them, secluded, and beautiful enough they took her breath away and left her speechless, which even Harvey already knew was quite a feat.

"I'll have to make use of this spot," she commented, bending to snap off a half-clump of phlox, tucking the pale blue flowers in her hair. "I need some momento of this trip," she explained with a smile when she noticed Harvey watching her. "And flowers are perfect."

"Won't they die?" he pointed out as they headed back toward the city.

"Mm-hm. But then I can press them and keep them forever," she grinned. "As I said, perfect."

"If you say so," he muttered.

"In fact," she turned and gave him an impish grin, "This whole day's been pretty perfect. And I don't mean just 'cause I didn't trip and land in mud and make a fool out of myself. I had a good time." Her smile softened. "So, thank you for my geography lesson, Harvey."

"You're, um, you're welcome," Harvey mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. As with their walk out, a long stretch of the return was made in silence, this one slightly more awkward as they both tried to think of something to say. Neither of them could.

They were back to Trinne's house before she spoke, slipping off the borrowed cloak to hand back. "Thanks for lending me that. And thanks for the good time," she reiterated, giving his hand a slight squeeze before she turned to go inside. "I'm looking forward to my next geography lesson."

It wasn't until she'd closed the door and he was sure she couldn't see him that Harvey let himself smile, ever so slightly. So am I...