Pearls

Chapter 12

We watched from a safe distance. I say a safe distance but what we hid behind wasn't really safe. Since it was winter, there was barely any foliage to cover us. There were some rock formations we could sit behind, but that would mean sitting on the snow, and the tree we were currently behind wasn't wide enough for us to stand side by side together. 

Do I even have to mention that our clothing isn't suited for camouflage against the white world surrounding us?

Pearl and I pressed against the tree, doing our best to keep ourselves hidden whilst keeping an eye on the two men still enjoying the picnic.

"Pearl, this isn't going to work. We both can't stand here." I sighed and looked at the rocks. "I'm going to move over to those rocks."

"But, Mystic Maya, they might see you run across."

"I'll try to be as discrete as possible. The distance isn't too far and I should still be able to talk to you at a comfortable level. There isn't much noise around so we shouldn't have to talk loudly."

"Okay, if you're that sure you can make it."

I watched Phoenix and Edgeworth talking in the distance, Edgeworth being my main concern as his body was more turned towards our direction. I waited until he was facing Phoenix completely and made a mad dash towards the rocks, careful not to slip or make too much noise against the crunching snow. My back hits the side of a rock as I breathe heavily and hear my frantic heart beat from my not-so-stealthy mission. Looking back, I give Pearl a thumbs up and took off Phoenix's jacket, laying it on the snow so I could sit on it.

I hope he doesn't mind me getting it wet. I'll just say I slipped and fell whilst on my 'walk'.

"What do you think is happening, Pearly? Did I miss anything?"

"No, nothing has happened. They're just talking and eating. Well, Mr. Nick is eating. I can't tell if Mr. Eh-ji-worth is since he's sitting very still."

"Is that so?" I peered from behind the rock and saw the two talking. "I can't tell what they're facial expressions are like either. Too bad we can't move closer to them. There's not enough hiding places. Edgeworth chose a great spot, didn't he?"

Pearl just nodded. "I wish something more would happen. It's quite boring just seeing them talk and not do anything."

"Yeah, same here. What do you think we should do? Maybe we could 'accidentally' push them together and make them fall on top of each other. That would be quite difficult though."

"It would be. What about Mr. Nick's jacket? You made it quite wet from sitting on the snow. We could do something with it."

"Hmm...I know! We could give it to Phoenix, without him knowing that it's wet, and make him put it on. When he does, his clothes will get wet too and we'll get Edgeworth to dry him up."

"Yeah! We could also pretend that we lost the jacket and ask them to find it. Once they start looking for it, we could do what you suggested and push them together!"

"Shh, look! They're laughing now!"

They're laughter could be heard above the chilling silence.

"I never knew Edgeworth could laugh like that."

"Really, Mystic Maya? I don't think it's surprising that he laughs."

"It's not that, Pearly. He's laughing really hard and loud which I think is a rarity from the many times I've seen him. He and Phoenix seem to be really enjoying themselves. I wonder what's making them laugh so much."

"Whatever it is, I think we did good on making them go on a picnic." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, "It truly is a romantic winter wonderland."

"Um, would you call this romantic or just friendly? It doesn't look like anything is developing between them apart from..." I squinted to see their faces, "Nick's face becoming extremely red and Edgeworth holding back another laugh. Gee, I never knew Edgeworth to laugh so hard. Nor could I imagine Nick's face being this red."