Beneath the Tree (Snufkin x Reader) (Discontinued)

2

He fished with a line and pole, sitting against the river bank or up on a bridge, and even sometimes he would just hop on a rock in the middle and sit there to fish. We didn't talk a lot in all honesty, and sometimes I felt like a burden or that I annoyed Snufkin. But he never told me to go away, and always waited for me whenever we moved to a different area. 5 days in of traveling, and things felt like a comforting awkwardness, if that even makes sense. 

I took leaves and weaved a basket, using a loose string from my jacket, I pulled it out before cutting it and then using it to hold the basket in the water. This was my way of catching fish, just let the current bring them right in. But sadly, today's current was slow, so fish that entered easily swam their way out, so I kept a finger on the line for any movement. Sadly, I didn't catch anything. 

When the sun began to go down, we both sat in a tree, watching it in its utmost beauty.

I remember the first night perfectly, we both sat by the fire, and I began climbing up a tree. 

"Going to bed already?" He asked. 

"Nope." I smiled, continuing the climb. I propped myself on the highest branch that seemed stable, a large grin taking over my features. The sky was filled with so many warm colors, the clouds shaped the sun that was going down as it was being chased by the blue of dark of the coming night. I heard a branch snap. I looked down to see Snufkin attempting to climb the tree, picking every unhealthy branch on the way. I couldn't help but laugh, 

"Grab the thicker ones." I pointed. He still snapped most. I climber down and offered my hand. He eyed it momentarily before taking it into his own and using me to pull himself up. We both sat at on separate branches, me higher than him, looking at the sunset. 

He watched it with decently wide eyes and a smile, 

"Its fascinating." He said gently. I looked to him and smiled myself, 

"It's beautiful. But why fascinating?" 

"We're watching it go, and yet it'll be back. We can't control it, all we can do is watch it. And yet it's there." 

I thought for a moment. 

"We can control it." I answered. 

"Oh? How so?" 

"We can control what it touches. Like putting ourselves in the shade." I smiled. "We may not control the sun itself, or how it sets, but we can control how it's light effects the things around us." I explained, my eyes not leaving the purple clouds. 

He then took a puff from his pipe.

I smacked it out of his hand to earn a glare from him. 

"Smoking kills" 

He got down from the tree. 

We now sat at the fire, he started up on his soup, then looked to me, 

"Did you not catch anything?" He asked. I was about to say no, until I looked into his cooking pot. He only caught one tiny one, there's no way we can share that and both have enough. I nodded, 

"I-I caught two. But I'm not hungry so I'll just keep them lodged between two rocks to keep cool for the night, I'll eat them tomorrow." 

He nodded, eating some more of his soup. I pulled a notebook from my bag before hovering a stick over the fire. He watched me before going back to his dinner. As I was writing with the charcoaled wood, a bowl came into my sights. I looked up to see snufkin, pushing his bowl toward my lap, 

"Here." He said with a smile. I waved my hand, 

"No, please, I said I'm not hungry." 

He kept the bowl there, waiting for me to take it. I eventually did and he sat back down. 

"Don't lie to me again." He simply said, I looked up, 

"I- well- look you barely even have enough for yourself-" I stopped, leaning back slightly before taking a bite. "Thank you, Snufkin... I really appreciate it."

He smiled and nodded. I ate the rest before handing the bowl back to him. 

"Have you always traveled alone?" Snufkin asked. I nodded, 

"I've just always enjoyed traveling, never asked anyone to join me." I shrugged. "Why do you travel alone?" 

"I like to keep an even amount of time with friends and by myself." He answered.

"I'm not bothering your alone time, am I?" I asked. 

"No." He smiled, "Not yet." 

I smiled back, "Just tell me when you want to split and ill be on my way." I said, poking at the fire. 

"Alright, deal." 

Beats of silence went by, until I was fed up with it, 

"So do you just walk around until spring?" 

"Yes. How did you know?" 

"Plenty of things go around about you from people who accompany this forest." 

"Oh?" 

"The green man and his music. It's spoken about a lot since so many look up to you, I hear plenty of stories." 

"Stories? I don't know if I like that... In fact, I'm sure I don't." 

"I heard a story about you taking down the signs." 

"Those signs were useless, they didn't help anything." 

"They helped keep the kids in line."

He looked up with narrow eyes, obviously not happy with my response. 

"But I mean, they are pretty useless." I finished, fidgeting with my sleeve. 

We both went to bed, me up in my tree, and him in a blanket on the ground. 

"Don't you get scared just sleeping on the ground? Maybe getting stepped on, or certain types of bugs?" I asked. 

"Well, I haven't really thought of sleeping somewhere else." He answered. I patted the tree I laid in, 

"Boom." 

He laughed, "I met you because you fell out of a tree." 

"Correction, I didn't fall out, the branch broke." 

"So which is safer, tree or ground?"

I paused with a smile, 

"Tree." 

He sighed, and I laughed in response. 

"Fine, fine, chill on the ground." I said. He covered his face with his hat, using his arms as his pillow. 

"Goodnight." He said. 

"Goodnight." 

(1028 words) 

Uncomfortable