#currant-tree

[jadafitch]

Blue Jay on Shadbush

[gennsoup]

A late afternoon in August, ripe, transparent, the cherry tree's leaves unstirring, the grasses mute. Currants, already black, burst on the tongue, their sweetness holding the memory of spring and summer, of storms, and mornings, and the flight of a lark.

Adam Zagajewski, Night

[nightmyst14-blog]

I seen a few people do this on here, so I decided to try to as well. I only picked 9 because I would be here all day if I did them all in at once. Most rarepairs I want to talk about.

I'm going this in 3 parts, so today you're getting a good chunk of my Ovenbreak Exclusive ships. Let's go.

Some ships don't have clever ship names Im sorry.

HeroCroissant: They're on great terms in their Relationship chart. I can see them working together while traveling through dimensions, and Hero working on fixing his suit to make it easier when flying through vortexes. With Croissant's help, of course.

SourCurrant: Fashion designer gfs!! They would do a lot of collabs during fashion shows. Sour Belt has a special-made belt from Currant, while Currant has a leather jacket Sour made from her old works.

FireLotus: Roger and Jessica Rabbit vibes, He makes them laugh!! Fire Spirit tried to create them some fire flowers once, it kinda backfired. Lotus appreaciated it though.

Peperoncino x Blue Lily: Met one time during Peperoncino and Habenaro's wanderings. The two bonded over their strong sense to protect something they care about. I like to think Blue would take Peperoncino on dates under glowing giant mushrooms.

Captain Ice x Eggnog: I mentioned them before, and I still love them, Its a comfort ship. They're engaged, working under a long distance relationship. Eggnog would take her on ice skating dates whenever she's off work at a time. Ice loves receiving letters and phones calls from him whenever she had a hard day.

ChurroFig: Cottagecore partners. Churro loves listening to Fig's tales, maintaining the Millennial Forest Temple by himself can be lonely. Fig tend to recieve gifts from Churro, as in bracelets or flowers wreaths he used to make back in his village. Sometimes after a long day, they like to dance underneath the stars at night when its cool.

StringCoffee: Coworkers dating. String finds Coffee's clumsiness cute,even if it can be a nuisance sometimes. Coffee admires String's determination and intagrity, even though he can be a bit cold sometimes. She writes him small letters in sticky notes to cheer him up. String's is always making sure she doesnt hurt herself, down to making sure she remembers to eat during work hours.

Treenanas: A more common Ovenbreak ship, I think. Ananas finds Millennial to be one of the more "tolerable" cookies in their list. Millennial likes visiting Ananas' islands, the dragon always giving them a gift of fruit whenever they leave. Beach dates are very common, with Ananas dancing with Millennial along the water.

BeetNinja: An unexpected ship, I saw that they were together during the Valentine's day event, and now I can't stop. Beet and Ninja are pretty secretive with their relationship, not wanting really anyone to find out. When they go go on date, its always outdoors, like camping or hiking. Beet is the only one who's seen Ninja's true face, aside from his friends Muscle and Rebel.

That's all of my main Ovenbreak ships!! I have more, but again wanted to do some of my more less obvious ships.

My post on my Kingdom ships will show up later. Hope you enjoyed!!

[zoethehead]

PLEASE READ THE TEXT BELOW V V V

So, someone on the cookie run artists fb group posted bases of their art, and they allowed users to trace over the bases, credit to the OG bases goes to Oishi Gal (fb)

Characters: ackee fruit cookie, fruit punch cookie, cola float cookie, currant soda cookie, tree lichen cookie, cashew cookie, hand citron cookie, and black apple cookie

Honestly; I'm gonna probably use ackee fruit, black apple, cashew, and hand citron cookie the most

[lavendette]

I placed an order today for some saplings and bare root berry bushes for the spring and it’s making me so excited!! Last summer, when we visited my grandfathers cousin in Michigan, I had my first ever experience with thimbleberries and fell in love. I found out that they’re native to Ontario as well (even though I had never heard of or seen them here before) and found a small native plant nursery that sells them, so I am super excited to try growing some and hopefully can make and eat lots of thimbleberry jam in the future! We bought quite a few different things to try growing, and I’m so excited for all of them!

[treezey-the-tree]

random speedpaints of random things

some designs owned by @0-mos-0 , @thisauofreality and charitysfoxes

reblogs are better than likes!!!

[rastronomicals]

7:26 AM EST November 28, 2023:

Pink Floyd - "Candy And A Currant Bun (Acetate)" From the bootleg A Tree Full Of Secrets (2000)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

--

[polyrhythmic-paradox]

[crudlynaturephotos]

[figfiggyfigure]

Can you do a black currant poem plsplsplsplspls

-ykw

White pines, defeated by vicious mites

Unknown by the American mind

A sweet to be savored

A treat to be saved

Its imitation is what I have craved

Preserved, cooked, candied, and canned

But it seems we will never get it fresh

In this land, we will never enmesh

[20may]

Plant hedgerows.

“Bee engaged with Youth”. World Bee Day 2024. 

Which Hedge Plants Are Best For Bees?

All native plants, which make up our conservation hedge mixes, are great for bees, especially blackthorn and hazel, which open their flowers and catkins before most other trees and shrubs.

The other native classics are Hawthorn, Crab Apple, Dog Rose, Common Dogwood & Red Dogwood, Field Maple, Guelder Rose, Spindle, Sweet Briar Rose or Wayfaring Tree.

By mixing several varieties together (five is a good number), you ensure a good spread of flowering times.

Honey bee hives do not really hibernate; they are active on warm winter days, so plants that flower in cold weather are extra important.

Other great hedge plants for bees include:

Viburnum tinus Eve Price (Winter flowering)

Rosemary (Summer flowering)

Forsythia Spectablis (Winter flowering)

King Edward VII Currant (Early-Spring flowering)

These plants are too small or low growing to be a privacy hedge, but they are perfect for low ornamental hedging / edging.

Lavender (Summer flowering)

Sweet Box - Sarcococca confusa (Mid-Winter flowering)

[ericosyard]

4.6.24. Fertilized and mulched (5-3-3). Added the fuschia and a black currant. Need to add a couple dahlias when they arrive, but things are starting to fill in.

[mxrxax9]

[gallifreyanconsultingphilosopher]

Did a bunch of weeding again. Here's hoping I don't dream about bindweed and lamb's quarters tonight. Fuckin weeds.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Perfumery Vocabulary

Absolute - An extraction from a concrete using alcohol. The essential oil of scented flowers and other aromatic plant parts in its purest and most concentrated form. It is extremely expensive. A few important oils used in an absolute form are: geranium, lavender, lily, and rose.

Accord - A combination of a number of different scents which blend together to produce a new fragrance.

Agrestic - "Of the countryside"; odours of heather, forest depths, and the meadow.

Aldehydes - Aromatic chemicals isolated for the first time in the 19th century, but that also occur naturally. Certain aldehydes provide an increased diffusiveness, sparkle, and lift to perfumes, most famously in Chanel No. 5.

Almondy - Bittersweet, soft, and nutty scent.

Amber - An accord in perfumery that is supposed to recall the qualities of ambergris. It is often constructed with labdanum, Tolu balsam, or Peru balsam. Often an accord in Oriental perfumes.

Ambergris - A highly prized perfume ingredient consisting of the oxidized excretion from a sperm whale. It is rarely used in its natural form in perfumery because of its rarity, exorbitant cost, and concerns about sourcing ambergris from live whales rather than from shore-found ambergris. It’s said to have an earthy, sweet, tobacco, and pleasantly animalic scent. It primarily works to bring out other notes in perfumery rather than to impart a particular scent on its own.

Ambrein - The primary scented molecule in ambergris, isolated and used in perfumery. It’s warm, sweet, vanillic, and ambery, with facets of spice and tobacco.

Animalic - Describes fragrances with animal ingredients in natural or synthetic form, including civet, castoreum, musk, or ambergris. The voluptuous, erotic, and sometimes disturbing quality of animalic perfumes can register in an olfactory way, as something “dirty” or animal-smelling, or as a feeling, a mood, or a quality. Sometimes, it can be both.

Aromatic - Having a strong or distinctive smell.

B—E

Balance - A combination of different fragrance notes so adjusted in proportion to one another that none of the individual notes is more prominent than any of the others.

Balsamic - The resin from the bark of trees and shrubs (Peru, Tolu, styrax) that have a rich vanilla scent. Balsamic is a term used to describe perfumes with the soft, ambery aspects these resins impart.

Benzoin - A sweet, balsamic resin used in incense and as a base note in perfume for its vanillic scent and fixative properties. Also known as styrax because it comes from the bark of the styrax tree.

Bergamot - The essential oil from the peel of the nonedible Citrus aurantium fruit that looks like a small orange. Its sweetish, mellow lemony scent is a crucial top note in perfumery.

Calone - A synthetic “marine” note that is supposed to evoke the freshness of the ocean. It has a slight watermelon facet.

Camphoraceous - Describes a fresh, clean, medical fragrance.

Caramel - Sweet, rich, creamy, buttery scent.

Cardamom - An intensely aromatic, sweet spice from the ginger family, in the form of a pod filled with seeds.

Carnation - A smoky, sweet, and clove-like scent, the latter facet due to Eugenol, the primary component of clove.

Cassis - (or black currant bud) A sharp, fruity, almost cat-urine-like scented perfume note.

Cistus - (or Labdanum) A resin from the rockrose bush, traditionally gathered from goats’ beards as they fed on the plant. Labdanum is said to be the note closest to the scent of ambergris. Creamy, soft, vanillic.

Citrus - Fresh, light fragrance characteristic of citrus fruits, but also imitated synthetically.

Civet - In classical perfumery, the cream harvested from the anal gland of the mongoose-like civet animal, often described as cat like. Fecal-smelling when undiluted, civet “rounds” out other notes when used judiciously. Famous as an overdosed note in Guerlain’s Jicky (1889), it is considered one of the first abstract modern scents. Civet is primarily in synthetic form now.

Clove - An aromatic spice similar to cinnamon, but less sweet. Its primary component is Eugenol.

Coniferous - The fragrance note of pine, spruce, juniper and similar such trees, often used in men's fragrances.

Diffusive - A perfume whose fragrance quickly becomes apparent in the air surrounding the wearer.

Dry - The aromatic effect of perfume ingredients such as woods and mosses in contrast to sweet and warm fragrances.

Earthy - The subtle fragrance impression of earth or earth-mould which is found in certain essential oils such as vetiver and patchouli.

Equine - Notes of hay and leather.

F—M

Floral - The general fragrance of flowers.

Fruity - Citrus, berries, tropical, and other non-citrus fruit scents.

Fungal - Molds, yeast, and mushroom scents.

Green - General fragrance of grasses and green plant parts.

Harmony - A pleasing combination of fragrance notes.

Hayfield notes - Usually based on coumarin, which have an odour of new-mown hay.

Heavy - Denotes a fragrance in which the least volatile ingredients, such as mossy or animalic ones, are dominant, giving a very strong effect. Such fragrances are mostly used in chypre and oriental-type perfumes.

Herbaceous - The characteristic general fragrance of herbs and herbal medicines. Sage, rosemary and lavender are examples.

Honey - Used as an ingredient in early Arab perfumes and appears in later European ones (e.g., Honey Water). In modern perfumery a substance providing the sweet aromatic effect of honey and known as Honey (or Miel) is manufactured synthetically.

Indolic - The disquieting, ripe, animalic, and almost excremental facet of scents.

Leather - A perfume accord and category of perfume constructed from various notes, including birch tar, styrax, castoreum, and a variety of synthetic notes.

Light - Delicate, clean, and fresh-laundry scent.

Marine - Iodized scent.

Mellow - Soothing and calming scent.

Metallic - A fragrance reminiscent of metal, providing a clean, cool effect. Metallic notes are used in perfumes to assist in promoting an effect, not as main fragrances.

Minty - A fragrance reminiscent of mint, e.g., peppermint or spearmint. Such fragances are usually used to provide a special, fresh effect in a top note.

Mossy - The general odour of oils obtained from mosses and lichens.

Musk - Produced by the musk deer and excreted by the male during mating season. Musk deer were killed almost to extinction for their valuable musk glands, which were dried, and whose musk “seeds” were removed and steeped in alcohol to create tinctures for perfume. The scent of real musk is warm, with depth and a dark animalic aroma. Many synthetics now can mimic musk scent, but one of the most superior musk synthetics, nitro-musks, which were in Chanel No. 5 and countless other vintages, has been banned due to toxicity concerns. Musk can also be substituted with plant ingredients including ambrette seed and angelica.

Musty - Damp, earthy, or stale odor.

N—W

Narcotic - Exceptionally strong and heavy fragrances obtained from some flowers (e.g. jasmine and tuberose) and animalic ingredients, which need to be used with careful discretion in a perfume.

Ozonic - A perfume accord that attempts to create the smell of fresh air after a thunderstorm.

Peppery - Odour of pepper.

Powdery - Soft and clean scent.

Rich - Fragrances that have numerous layers, notes, and accords in all stages (top, mid, base), creating a multifaceted feel.

Rounded - The overall smoothness and fullness of a fragrance.

Sharp - A strong scent.

Smoky - The slight smell of smoke created in a perfume by certain oils such as Birch Tar Oil. It is used in men's fragrances to provide a leathery effect.

Spicy - Describes in general the distinctive fragrance of essential oils which have been obtained from spices.

Sweet - A sweet and rather sugar-like fragrance such as vanilla.

Tobacco - Fragrances resembling cured tobaccos, which are particularly popular in masculine toiletries.

Wintergreen - Has a very powerful and fresh, medicinal odour.

Woody - Fragrances reminiscent of wood. These fragrances are provided by wood oils, such as cedar, by essential oils from other plants having a wood-like aroma, such as patchouli, and by synthetics.

Sources: Perfume: The Art and Craft of Fragrance by Karen Gilbert ⚜ The Perfume Handbook by Nigel Groom ⚜ Scent & Subversion by Barbara Herman ⚜ Scent: A Natural History of Fragrance by Elise Vernon Pearlstine ⚜ Introduction to Perfumery by Tony Curtis & David G. Williams ⚜ The Big Book of Perfume

More: Word Lists ⚜ References ⚜ Describing Scent ⚜ Fragrance Notes & Levels

[padfootagain]

Love in Verses (XXII)

Chapter 22 : ‘And if you missed a day, there was always the next, and if you missed a year, it didn’t matter, the hills weren’t going anywhere’

Hi! Here is a new chapter! A very important chapter!!!

I hope you like this chapter! Tell me what you think!

****

Pairing: Hozier x fem!reader (professor!AU)

Warnings: slow burn, angst, hurt, hurt/comfort, tooth-rotting fluff in later chapters, some scenes in later chapters will have heavy sexual themes even if it’s not explicit nsfw description, so minors here

Summary: Your life seems perfect. You're engaged, your career is thriving as you become an assistant professor at Trinity College, and this Andrew Hozier-Byrne you're sharing an office with seems to be a nice guy you hope to call a friend soon. Life seems to be smiling at you... until everything goes sour. When your fiancé breaks up with you, your perfect world shatters. And when your colleague also gets his heart broken soon after, your shared office seems to be a curse rather than a blessing. But Andrew seems determined to mend your broken hearts... Will things finally go according to plan?

Word Count: 2436

Masterlist for the series – Hozier’s masterlist – Main masterlist

Sunrise

This time of year, the window boxes smell of the hills, the thyme and rosemary that grew there, crammed into the narrow spaces between the rocks and, lower down, where there was real dirt, competing with other things, blueberries and currants, the small shrubby trees the bees love— Whatever we ate smelled of the hills, even when there was almost nothing. Or maybe that’s what nothing tastes like, thyme and rosemary.

Maybe, too, that’s what it looks like— beautiful, like the hills, the rocks above the tree line webbed with sweet smelling herbs, the small plants glittering with dew—

It was a big event to climb up there and wait for dawn, seeing what the sun sees as it slides out from behind the rocks, and what you couldn’t see, you imagined;

your eyes would go as far as they could, to the river, say, and your mind would do the rest—

And if you missed a day, there was always the next, and if you missed a year, it didn’t matter, the hills weren’t going anywhere, the thyme and rosemary kept coming back, the sun kept rising, the bushes kept bearing fruit—

The streetlight’s off: that’s dawn here. It’s on: that’s twilight. Either way, no one looks up. Everyone just pushes ahead, and the smell of the past is everywhere, the thyme and rosemary rubbing against your clothes, the smell of too many illusions—

Between them, the hills and sky took up all the room. Whatever was left, that was ours for a while. But eventually the hills will take it back, give it to the animals. And maybe the moon will send the seas there, and where we lived will be a stream or river coiling around the base of the hills, paying the sky the compliment of reflection.

I went back but I didn’t stay. Everyone I cared about was gone, some dead, some disappeared into one of those places that don’t exist, the ones we dreamed about because we saw them from the top of the hills— I had to see if the fields were still shining, the sun telling the same lies about how beautiful the world is when all you need to know of a place is, do people live there. If they do, you know everything.

The hills are terrible, they hide the truth of the past. Green in summer, white when the snow falls.

Louise Glück

You went home that night a few minutes after Andrew had left. There was no need to stay, you couldn’t focus or have any kind of coherent thought after that kiss anyway. So you headed home, trying not to think of Andrew, of his delicious scent, of the roughness of his beard against your skin, of the softness of his lips against yours, of his taste of coffee and chocolate, of how good his kiss was…

You kept those thoughts at bay while driving, but then they were swarming as you took off your shoes in your flat, locked your door, took off your coat and started pacing across your living room.

What the fuck was that?! The first time around, you were both drunk, it was easy to brush off the moment you had shared as a mistake. But this time?!

You needed to be logical. Logic and reason. Logic and reason…

What the fuck was that?!

A mistake. That was what it was. You had said it yourself! His feelings were all over the place, and in these moments of intense stress, people did crazy and stupid things, like kissing other people they didn’t really like. Maybe he was feeling lonely, and, and… you were there… you were there and that was it. Nothing special about it. He had apologised, it was alright, the two of you could go on with your lives and your arrangement as if nothing had happened.

But then… why did you keep thinking about his lips on yours, and his tongue, and his hands, and his smell, and his rushing heart under your palm and…

No! You turned to the picture of you and Frank displayed there, on your mantlepiece, the one reminder of the life you should have, the one you wanted. You were a strong, independent woman, and you knew what you wanted. You wanted your life back. You wanted your life with Frank back. Yes, Andrew was smart, and kind, and a gentle soul, and hilarious once you had broken his shy shell, and adorable with his blushing and his discomfort and his glasses, and of course, of course he was gorgeous, tall and pretty and…

… yes, yes to all of that. But you wanted Frank.

You wanted Frank.

You wanted Frank.

You repeated the sentence like a mantra, just to convince yourself. And for a moment, you succeeded.

Still, the dreams you forgot in the morning were full of long brown curls, of a beard brushing your skin, of hazel and a laughter you knew was not Frank’s. Not Frank’s at all…

The air was crisp, the leaves white with frost, the grass a paler green than usual. The sky a moody grey, the trail ahead overgrown with bushes over its edges. The buzzy chirping of birds, the whisper of a river nearby. The hushed murmur of leaves under a squall, the shade under the canopy of the forest you were walking through. It was cold, and it was lovely, wandering across the countryside across the Wicklow Hills. Such a quiet day, life in winter was slowed down, Nature itself had settled for a rhythm that was quieter than its usual rush of life. It felt like you had a million years ahead of you, like this very day would never end, like time would stretch forever ahead, becoming infinite in its slowing pace. Like there would always be a tomorrow, like all things in life would last.

The warm feeling that had settled in Andrew’s chest was steady, unwavering, this afternoon. It had appeared when he had dropped by your building to pick you up. You were grinning, such a happy smile on your features. He was glad, relieved even, to find such grins more and more often on your lips these days. It seemed that you were happier again, a closer image to the woman he had first met, the one beaming with warmth and a quiet joy.

Elwood was walking before him, taking off every now and then because of the nearby smell of a bird, a badger, or a fox, but Andrew was quick to call for him, and the obedient dog always stopped, returned to the safety of Andrew’s side. He seemed in bliss like this, free to run up and down the path as long as Andrew could keep an eye on him. He was busy sniffing the side of the path now, near a relatively tall oak tree, while Andrew was laughing loudly, so loudly he scared for good the fox Elwood had smelled.

“Do it again! Do it again, Andy!”

Andrew tried to calm down, to breathe fully again, but it was hard to do so when your laughter was still in the air. You seemed so happy this afternoon. Carefree. Radiant. Christ, he wanted this moment to last forever, to see you smiling like this until the sun itself would burst and destroy all things known to mankind, until the universe would collapse and die out, until even light was gone. He wanted this moment to last forever, for you to always be this happy, for him to always be able to see you like this…

He caught himself thinking these ridiculous thoughts, because okay, fine, maybe he liked you a little. Perhaps, just perhaps he had a tiny crush on you. But nothing more. Nothing close to love. That was a feeling only for Sam, you… you were charming, and funny, and so damn smart, and strong, and brave, and gorgeous and… yes! Yes, of course, to all of that, but you weren’t Sam, and he wanted Sam, because he couldn’t fall in love with someone else, that was impossible. He had come to this conclusion the night after your second kiss, a week ago. You had said it yourself, his feelings were all over the place, he wasn’t thinking straight. Yes, he was attracted to you, yes, he liked you… but that was it. That was it…

Except it wasn’t, and Andrew was painfully aware of it now. Now that you stared at him with those eyes he saw in his dreams, now that your laughter warmed his very soul, now that all he wanted was to kiss you, to hold you tight, to feel your grin against his lips and taste the joy that escaped your mouth.

He liked you. Badly so. He had a crush on you. A very, very heavy crush on you. One that he had to refrain and get under control, because none of this was the plan, because you were colleagues, because you were friends, because you still loved your ex while Andrew wasn’t certain of his feelings for his ex… and yet, he still felt it with every fibre of his being.

He had a crush on you…

“Do it again!” you commanded once more, and you were so adorable like this, all laughter and childish excitement.

He was laughing too much though. When he brought up his hands to his mouth, positioning a single blade of grass between his thumbs, he couldn’t blow enough air to make the grass whistle.

“Wait…” he choked on his laughter.

“Do it again, Andy!”

“Stop making me laugh so much!” he complained, stumbling on his feet, laughing too hard.

“Come on!”

“Hang on… wait, wait, wait…”

He adjusted the grass between his fingers, put it to his lips once more. It failed, but he tried a third time. The sound that came out was hilarious, but it worked. He looked at you with wide eyes, while you laughed again. He made a funny face while blowing hard a fourth time, and you doubled over with laughter.

“What was… that sound?!” you laughed so hard you were choking on your words, and Andrew wasn’t in a better state as he answered.

“A whistle!”

“It’s not… not a whistle! It’s a trumpet at best…”

You couldn’t speak anymore, Andrew had to stop walking, holding onto his stomach as he bent over and laughed, laughed, laughed until there were tears falling on his glasses. You reached for him for support as you were lost to a new fit of laughter. He reached for you as well, meeting you halfway so you could hold onto his arm, and he could do the same.

Further down the path, Elwood was sending the pair of you a questioning look, but Andrew didn’t notice. He finally calmed down enough to stand straight, stretching fully his back again. He waited for you to be steady on your feet to let go, but you kept on holding onto him. He took off his glasses to dry them on his scarf.

“I can’t believe you’re mocking my secret talent,” he shook his head.

“This was hilarious. Ugh… my stomach hurts now.”

“Come on, we’re almost there! There’s such a nice view up the hill.”

“Give me a minute. I need to catch my breath.”

“Am I making you out of breath?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows and successfully making you laugh again, although he couldn’t help but regret having this playful flirt with you.

“Sometimes,” you admitted with a wink, and the sight made his heart skip several beats.

He hoped you would take his flushed cheeks for a consequence of his laughter, or the cold weather, or your walk even.

“Come on, we’re almost there!” he dragged you along further up the path until you had found back your usual pace.

You hurried as you noticed that the forest was less and less dense, the trees more spaced out until there was nothing above your heads but the greyish white of the sky. You almost ran the first few meters to the top of the hill, while Andrew looked at you, shaking his head and climbing at a more reasonable pace. Elwood was trotting next to you, tail wiggling in joy.

At the top of the hill, there were about twenty more meters to walk to reach a clear view of the valley below surrounded by the small mountains of the Wicklow hills. A river ran through the valley, a string of greyish blue in a land made of patches of browns and greens. He let you walk ahead for a bit, stopped when your silhouette seemed to be overseeing the valley. He took out his phone, snapped a picture of you with your red scarf blowing in the wind, a vivid contrast to the pale sky, with mountains before you and Elwood sitting at your feet. He could have stood there for hours, looking at the gorgeous landscape, the cotton-like sky, you… He felt so peaceful then, without his ordinary dread of time passing, of running out of precious moments, of missing what was important, of wasting the little amount of years he was allowed to spend on this earth. There was just today, and he had all the time in the world, so long as he could watch you like this…

You turned around then, grinning.

“Andy! It’s gorgeous out here!”

“Told you!” he spoke loudly to be heard over the wind that was blowing harder on the treeless space of the summit.

“Come here!”

You held out your hand for him, and Andrew walked over to you, held the hand you were offering in his. You gave his fingers a squeeze, grinning, before letting go and turning to the beautiful sight again.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” you leaned against him, and Andrew didn’t think as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders, drawing you closer.

He heaved a sigh, taking in the view. Wild and peaceful and familiar. It felt like home. Your weight against him was grounding, reliable, warm. It felt like home, too.

And for a moment, while staring at the wilderness of the Irish landscape, Andrew felt human. Instead of a struggling adult with his love life in shambles who overworked to cope with the mess the rest of his life was, he felt like he knew what it meant to be alive on this earth. Being here, staring at the land spreading at his feet, with his dog rubbing his head against his jeans, with you in his arms… That was what being human was supposed to feel like…

“Let’s take a break before going back,” you offered. “I’ve brought snacks.”

He nodded, offered you some water but you surprised him with a thermos and proper snacks. You headed back along the track to escape the violent wind, the cold too intense to bare in the openness of the hilltop. You sat down on a rock, not far from the path, and handed Andrew one of the two small thermos you had brought with you, along with a little box in which you had prepared snacks for him.

“Thank you so much, that’s so sweet,” he grinned.

You pulled out some treats for Elwood too, and Andrew’s heart melted for good.

While you busied yourself with spoiling his dog, Andrew drank some of the tea you had made for him. He frowned hard at the taste. It was… exactly how he took it. It was undoubtedly the taste of his favourite brand, the flavour too strong, it had to have been made using two teabags instead of one. He opened the little box, found there two pieces of his favourite chocolate, some grapes and a couple of biscuits. His favourites, here again.

In eight years of relationship with Sam, she had never done anything for him that seemed so tailored to his taste.

He looked at your own snacks, same quantity, but different biscuits, chocolate and fruits. Tailored to your own taste.

You had gone out of your way to prepare this for him. And it was stupidly simple, if Andrew brought it up, you would brush it off as if it were nothing. But it was everything.

You knew him. You knew him, and you had prepared all this so he would enjoy it, because you knew him.

You knew him. You…

“Andy? You’re okay?”

He merely nodded, blinked tears away, looked down at the snacks resting on his knees.

“Thanks for the snacks. That’s really fucking sweet.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I love those.”

Your smile grew more tender.

“I know.”

You knew… you knew…

He struggled not to say the words on his tongue, knowing it would spoil everything, terrified at the thought that he truly felt this way. It was obvious though. Now that the words formed in his mind, they were obviously true, so painfully obvious, how could he have been so blind?

I love you.