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Suzi, Caesar, and Joseph sat down on the pastel green gingham blanket, enjoying the scenery of the cherry blossoms trees as they sat in the city park. “Man, I never would have thought something like this could be so… peaceful,” Joseph sighed as they leaned back on their arms, watching the petals and clouds go by.
“Well, maybe if you got outside once in a while and didn’t just sit inside and read comics all day, you’d get to enjoy it,” Caesar chuckled and playfully shoved his datemate.
“Hey, it’s not like we have to save the world yet again. We have all the time in the world!” They blew a few stray strands of hair out of their face and looked at Suzi. “C’mon, you have to agree with me, right?”
“Well, you’re right, but it would be nice if you put them down and helped around the house once in a while. Caesar does,” She giggled and pecked Caesar on the cheek with a kiss.
Joseph clapped their hands to the sides of the face, an exaggerated look of shock on their face. “Oh no! You two really are teaming up against me!” They crossed their arms and turned the other way, but their anger wouldn’t last for long.
“Oh, Jojo, we can settle this later. We’re here for a nice afternoon, and I packed us a nice lunch as well.” Suzi patted the lid of the wicker picnic basket and looked sympathetically at them.
Joseph looked back at the other two and sighed. “Alright, but I’m not letting you forget about this!”
“Ok, Jojo, that’s fine. But know that we still care about you.” Caesar pulled them in for a kiss as well and patted them on the back. “Suzi, you left us all waiting last night. What did you pack for us?”
Her head perks up. “Oh!” She begins to open the basket and search through it. She lifted out 3 plates wrapped in tin foil and lifted the foil off to reveal tiny tea sandwiches on 2 of them and a stack of pizzelles dusted in powdered sugar on the third. She also pulled out two glass bottles of water, and a bottle of Coke, clearly for Joseph. “I thought that since we’re all living in New York now, I’d make us something that’d remind us of home. So I asked Miss Erina for some of the things you had growing up, and while she said you weren’t fond of tea time, you did like these!”
Joseph held one of the sandwiches up, looking at it in the sunlight. “I haven’t had one of these in forever! It feels like it was only yesterday, though!” They bit into it, and their eyes lit up, a feeling of bliss and nostalgia taking them over. “Suzi, oh my god, this is amazing!” They pulled her into a tight hug, happy tears and crumbs dribbling down onto the shoulder of her pastel yellow shawl.
“I’m so glad you like it, tesoro. I’d be happy to make it anytime you want.” She wiggled out of the hug and held the plate they took from up. “Now, can I tell Cae about what we have? I don’t think he’s ever had tea sandwiches before.” Joseph scooted back and nodded, giving her the time and space to explain. “Now, there’s 3 of each, minus the chicken one Jojo took. There’s also cucumber, egg salad, salmon, brie and ham, though I’ve never had brie before, and shrimp salad too! I hope you guys like it. Miss Erina was a lot of help!”
“It sounds wonderful, Suzi.” Caesar grabbed a bottle of water and a cloth napkin from out of the basket as well. “Let’s see if these are as good as Jojo makes them out to be.” He grabbed one of the cucumber sandwiches and bit into it. The flavor of the cucumbers, dill, and cream cheese filled his mouth, and he was quick to realize why Joseph had such an affinity for them. “Wow, Suzi, this is fantastic!” He finished the sandwich off and dabbed at the corner of his mouth with the napkin, getting any remaining cream cheese off. “Thank you for this, amore."
“You’re welcome! I think I should dig in, too!” Suzi picked one each of the salmon, egg salad, and brie and ham sandwiches and placed them on the napkin in her lap. The three of them sat under the tree, savoring the taste of the food.
Once the last sandwich was eaten (and after Jojo almost made a fool of themselves when offering to do a Hamon trick with their bottle of Coke), Suzi passed the plate of pizzelles around. When it got to Joseph, they looked at it inquisitively. “They look like snowflakes, and they’re so light too! You must’ve had them a lot back in Italy.”
“Not really, they took a while to make, so we saved making them for Christmas and Easter, at least that’s what the families I used to work for did.” Suzi bit into one, enjoying the sweet, licorice-like taste. At first, she didn’t like the taste, but she became accustomed to it, and it reminded her of the better days when she had to work for less than ideal bosses. She watched Jojo take their first bite, surprised at first but soon enjoying it. “I see you’ve taken a liking to them too!” She chuckled and then looked over to Caesar, who was already finishing his off.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had one of these, and they’re better than I remember!” Caesar kissed Suzi and rubbed where he kissed with his thumb. “You have to give me your recipe sometime!” Soon enough, the cookies were finished off as well, and the plates, napkins, and empty bottles were tucked back into the basket. The three sat for a moment to digest and take in the fresh air. The quiet was soon interrupted, with a yelp from Caesar and him quickly getting up and backing away into the tree. He was muttering Cazzo over and over, it quickly getting louder. Suzi and Joseph looked at him with concern until they saw the culprit: a bee about a foot and a half away from the older man.
Joseph nudged their boyfriend to the side and quickly took a deep breath in, activating their Hamon. They focused their sights on the bee and repelled it, using the life energy in the bee’s body as well. It stood still for a moment but was soon on its way to another tree, allowing Caesar to relax. “It’s gone now, Cae. Hopefully, it won’t come back again. At least it shouldn’t.” Joseph sat down next to him and patted him on the back. “It’s all ok, come here.” They pulled him into a tight hug, which Suzi joined in, on the other side of him.
Caesar eventually shrugged them off and readjusted the feathers in his hair. “Grazie, it’s just that-” he shudders at the thought of the bee and any insect at all, their eyes and legs being too scary for reality. “Nevermind.” He shakes his head, trying to shake his mind of the thought as well. “Let’s talk about something else then.”
There was a brief moment of silence until Joseph spotted a small, brown bird chirping away on a branch nearby. “Oh, look! Seems like the wrens are back for the season!” It hopped around for a bit, flapping its wings and trying to find a good place to nest.
Caesar sat for a moment, scrolling through the smallish but growing dictionary of English in his brain. He knew the word for it in Italian, uno scricciolo, but he didn’t know it in anything other than his mother tongue. “Ah, Jojo, can you spell it for me? Wren, I mean.” He tried to mimic Joseph’s pronunciation, but his datemate was always willing to help him and Suzi out.
“Sure, Cae! It’s W-R-E-N. Doesn’t sound much like it’s spelled, though!” They let out a laugh, which sadly scared the bird away.
Caesar spelled it out while counting out the letters on his fingers. “W-R-E… Wait, why is there a W?” A look of bewilderment was on his face as he struggled to understand how a word so used to him could become… that.
“I don’t know. It’s just always been like that, I guess,” Joseph shrugged. They knew some words sounded weird, but they’ve known them as such their whole life.
“But there isn’t a W sound. So why is there a W if it doesn’t even sound like that?” Caesar was getting more and more confused and agitated as well.
“How could I know? I didn’t invent the damn language!” Joseph was now agitated as well, and if the past has proven anything, the two of them being mad at each other only leads to bad things.
“Uh, maybe we should-” Suzi attempted to interject to calm the two down, but her two loud, buff significant others were too involved in the argument to notice.
"Porca troia... THERE’S NO W SOUND! WHY IS IT SPELLED WITH A W THEN?” Caesar’s ears were blushing red, and his fists were clenched. The yelling was startling some nearby families, to which Suzi shot them a look of apology and sympathy.
“MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO FUCKING SHAKESPEARE THEN BECAUSE I’M NOT THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE ASKING!” Joseph was just about to slap Caesar in a fit of rage but stopped when a petal that had fallen down from the tree landed perfectly on the tip of their nose. Everything else stopped, and Joseph was focused solely on how long they could keep it there without sneezing. Caesar was shocked by how quickly Joseph’s attention was diverted, but he was curious as well. A few minutes passed, the dainty cherry blossom sitting in place. However, Joseph could feel a sneeze coming on, the familiar tingling sensation in their nose. Suzi and Caesar backed away, and Suzi handed Joseph one of the napkins. Soon enough, they let out a loud sneeze, the napkin blowing from the force in their hands. The petal shot away, moving onto the ground.
“I’m guessing we can move on now,” Suzi said, patting the other two on the back. “Maybe we should lay down for a while and take in the scenery.” The other two nodded, and they all laid down on the blanket together, their heads forming the points of a triangle. Suzi let out a deep breath and hummed slightly. “You know, I’m so glad you two are alive and well. There was so little I could do aside from pray and hope that you were safe.” Tears began to prick at her eyes, and she wiped them away with a small but calloused finger.
“Well, there were some losses.” Joseph raises their left arm, a reminder of their prosthesis.” But the important thing is that we’re alive like you said, and now we’re able to spend time together for the first time, without worrying about training or saving the world.”
“Jojo’s right. I’m thankful that both you and the doctors in St. Moritz were able to save me. Without them, I most likely wouldn’t even be here.” Caesar could see the looks of sadness on both of his datemate’s faces and got up to place a kiss on their foreheads. “Don’t look so sad,miei amori. It’s a wonderful day, and there’s no need to be sad.”
The other two smiled, but Joseph soon let out a yawn. “It’s pretty out, but man. all this pollen is making me sleepy.” They looked at Caesar and Suzi and made puppy-dog-eyes. “Maybe we can head home and cuddle together?”
Suzi and Caesar laughed, as no one could turn them down now. “Of course, Jojo. We all deserve it.” Suzi gave them one more kiss, packed up their things, and they made the walk through the trees back to their apartment.