within the meadow √ h.s.

t h r e e

i've attached a photo of percy.

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the air was numbing as delilah struggled to carry her books while the strap of her bag kept sliding off of her shoulder. she was late for her shift and did not want to leave lenny to take orders and prepare them alone.

when the bell chimed signaling her entrance, she quickly shouted a "sorry" to lenny who was somewhere behind the counter as she maneuvered through the line of people to the office where she kept her belongings. she threw on her apron and tossed her hair up before rushing to the register to satisfy the paying customers while lenny's relieved smile greeted delilah from the kitchen. after the breakfast rush died down, she picked up a book and continued from where she left off.

harry slept in until noon. he was awakened by percy's annoying whines at his door begging for a companion, similar to harry. harry's mind was still inspired by delilah, but he only had his memory to guide his pencil across the paper, and to harry, that was enough.

but as harry attempted to complete the sketch, he realized it would never be complete. every pencil stroke was connected, and the shading was placed perfectly, but it was missing the realistic emotion she embodied while simply burying her head in a book.

harry wanted to talk to delilah, but in all honesty, delilah hardly remembered encountering someone else at the meadow she found herself at everyday after work. the only thing she remembered about the previous day was the new brush stroke technique she read about, but would never practice.

so when five o'clock rolled around after delilah cleaned up the cafe leaving it spotless, and cleaner than lenny ever bothered to attempt, delilah was waving goodbye and making her way to the meadow with a different book.

when delilah made it to the meadow, she went to the same spot by the tree, but this time someone was already there. she didn't mind, but recognized the green eyes that watched her as she found her place in the bed of sleeping flowers with a book in her hand. she didn't pay much attention to him though, just took notice of his dog that stood up to try and greet delilah. he was a precious dog that caught her attention.

and for once, delilah's book was not smothering her because she kept it far enough from her face to where she could glance at the dog that stared back at her. she was so in love with the dog, delilah didn't even realize that harry was completing his sketch of her with the right emotions being shown.

eventually, delilah couldn't hold herself back anymore and approached the dog and man carefully. harry saw her coming and felt nervous. he wasn't sure if she caught him staring at her, or if she knew he was drawing her. he wore an embarrassed smile while percy stood up to say hello. she soon realized the dog was not on a leash and knew he was well trained.

"excuse me? may i pet your dog?" delilah asked with her gentle yet certain voice. harry sighed in relief realizing that was all she wanted.

harry laughed seeing percy happily rub up against her legs, yet she still waited for the permission to pet him. "yes, of course. he seems to really like you."

delilah plopped herself down leading to percy plopping himself onto her lap as if he was a small lapdog. "what's his name?"

"percy," harry said, completely enthralled by the sight in front of him. not only did harry want to capture this moment, but percy was stuck up. he was a sassy dog that walked away from most people with no interest of showing this much affection and excitement. but harry was certainly interested in the smile that delilah wore while scratching percy's belly while his tongue happily hung out of his mouth.

she had read a book on different dog breeds, and never got the chance to see a chow chow in person. she wanted to blurt out random facts, like how it was thought to be one of the oldest dog breeds, and how they were only recognized by the AKC in 1903. but delilah didn't want to seem strange, so she kept her mouth shut.

it was rare for delilah to hold her facts back, but with harry she didn't feel like he would understand her fascination with useless knowledge. besides, she was there to pet percy, not force conversation along with the person who owns the precious dog.

it was something about the way delilah stared adoringly down at the impressed pup that could never under normal circumstances, seem impressed. harry wanted to draw her, or capture a photo, or paint her. he wanted to carry out the inspiration, but he stopped himself. he didn't think delilah would understand the fascination he had with her and this meadow.