The Assistant | Scavi

Picnic with a view

"So, where are you taking me?" Scott wanted to know. They finally left the hotel at 10.30 and after a pit stop at a café where they had tea and waffles for breakfast, they were on the road to their hiking trip.

"To the harbour. There are a lot of different parks we could go to, but the one that got me was World's End. Beautiful views of the city and the sea and a lot of nature" Avi explained. "If you're feeling like it? We could also look a little further and see what we can get up to."

Scott shook his head. "I'm fine as long as I have some fresh air and a nice day with my boyfriend."

Avi smiled. "Me too. I've been waiting for something like this, us just getting out of town and doing something. Even though we cannot hold hands or something, I still want to spend time with you."

Scott smiled back at him. "Spending time with you is very important."

"Muy importante," Avi said with a happy smile on his face.

Scott chuckled. "Muy importante" he agreed.

Half an hour later, Avi parked the car and got his backpack out of the car. "Ready to go?"

Scott got his backpack out as well and smiled at his boyfriend. "I am," he said. "Let's do this."

~

They walked through the beautiful nature of World's End, looked around a lot and finally found a secluded corner with a picnic bench and a view on the sea and the city.

"Shall we stop here?" Avi asked. "Have a snack and enjoy the view?"

Scott nodded. "I'd like that. We've been walking for two hours..."

Avi chuckled. "Well..." he said. "Usually my hikes are full-day hikes. I arrive at the site early in the morning, sometimes when it's still dark because I love walking at sunrise. And yeah, then I walk and walk some more and go back home once I'm tired. But I do take a lot of breaks. I write texts, meditate, have a snack..."

"This sounds like something you would do, Avi," Scott said. "I feel like you are one with nature. And it shows in your music. I can really see you sitting under a tree with your guitar and a notebook and just writing..."

Avi smiled. "That's exactly what I do," he said. "Either under a tree or just on the veranda of my cabin. But yeah, most of my songs come from the forest."

"Mmhm... and they all carry so much meaning," Scott said. "I feel like I never listened to the music of one particular artist and got so many different emotions. Did you like... put real emotions and memories into all of them?"

Avi nodded. "I did," He said. "Well... it's a bit difficult for some songs. There are of course the deeply personal songs like It knows me or I'll get by where I really tried to work through some things which were happening in my life, but then again there are songs, like Change on the Rise, which I just wrote for fun, but still, it has a deep meaning, because it reflects my love for fantasy and I really tried to put this in there." While Avi was explaining this, he got out everything he got for their little picnic and arranged it on the table.

"Change on the Rise could be on the soundtrack of a fantasy movie," he said excitedly and took a sandwich.

Avi chuckled. "I'm glad that it conveys the meaning."

"It does. And whenever you perform it on stage, it is so powerful. I really love this moment, especially because it's the last song and everyone leaves with this feeling of unity and just... it's so good" Scott said. "Sorry, I am so fangirling right now. Fangirling over my boyfriend..." He said the last words quietly, even though they were alone. He just didn't want Avi to get anxious.

Avi just smiled. "It might sound like it, Scott, but you know so much about music, I trust your words. And I always leave the stage with a good feeling. Well except for yesterday, but that was something else. It's a good song to end." He grabbed a tomato and ate it.

"It is," Scott replied.

They stayed silent for a while because they were both eating, but then Avi spoke up again. "I was wondering, Scott, did you ever write your own music?"

Scott blushed. "Yeah... I mean we had a few projects during our studies in which we learned about music theory and songwriting, but they were most group work and not what I was feeling, but..."

Avi smiled at his boyfriend. "Yeah?"

"I started a few songs but finished only one. Even recorded it. And it's a little bit embarrassing, to be honest" Scott said.

Avi raised an eyebrow. "Nothing is embarrassing between you and me. Got it?"

"I know..." Scott said with a smile on his face. "So, it's a lullaby, for my nephew. Because of the distance, I cannot be there with him, but I wanted to be a part of his life, so I recorded it and my sister plays it for him each night."

Avi smiled. "This is such a wholesome story, Scott. I really don't know what to say... would you show me the song?"

Scott nodded. "Of course. Tonight?"

The brunette chuckled. "It's a lullaby, so tonight is a good plan" he joked.

Scott rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but Avi pushed a little cookie in between his lips.

"Mmhm..." he hummed. "So good..."

Avi smiled and tried a cookie as well. "True," he said.

They enjoyed the view in silence for a while, sitting next to each other in the warm sun.

"Avi? I've been wondering about a song of yours..." Scott said after a while.

"Mmhm?" Avi hummed. "Which one?"

"Sweet Adeline," Scott said. "I mean this is the only love song you ever released and I was wondering who this is about? Is the sound about Mia?"

Avi shook his head. "No," he said softly. He laid his head onto Scott's shoulder and sighed softly. "I actually wrote this song when I broke up with her."

Scott furrowed his brows. "What inspired you?"

Avi shrugged his shoulders. "I wrote this song about a feeling I always wanted. When I came to terms with who I am, I always wanted to feel everything I sing about in this song. I only knew the one-night stands, not the feeling." He looked up at Scott. "But I know the feeling now."

Scott smiled brightly. "I am glad that I am the one to make you feel this way," he said softly.

"Mmhm... and every single night I get to perform this song, I feel like a teenager who just fell in love for the first time," Avi said. He shook his head. "I feel so silly."

"But these feelings are valid," Scott said. "Because it's the same for me."

Avi turned his head and looked up at Scott again. He wanted so bad to just kiss him, but he knew that he couldn't do it.

Scott just smiled. "I know," he whispered and laid his hand on Avi's thigh, squeezed it three times and then let go again.

Avi furrowed his brows, looked down and then back up at Scott, who just smiled.

And he understood. Understood that these three squeezes stood for three words he wasn't ready to speak or here just then.

"I know," he simply said.

Scott smiled. "Good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~