"Hey." Pat said like he'd just gotten an idea. "Can you climb?" He pointed up at the tree above them. Logan looked up, his face darkening in confusion.

"Probably not." He said. "I've never really been allowed."

"I've never been allowed out alone before." Pat said. He jumped up and held a hand out to Logan. "First time for it all, though."

Logan looked at Pat's outstretched hand sceptically before looking up at his face and grinning. He grabbed Pat's hand and pulled himself up.

"Great." Pat grinned. He was so easy to smile, it was quite sweet. "Okay, so I'm thinking, cause you can't climb, we should probably find an easier tree."

"Lead the way, then." Logan said, gesturing with his free hand. Pat hadn't let go of his other hand.

"Right, um... hold on." He let go of Logan's hand briefly to grab his basket. He offered his other hand to Logan with an, "Are you fast?"

"I've got long legs." Logan said. "I'll be fine." And he took Pat's hand. Pat's face actually lit up with his smile. He turned and ran through the trees, dragging Logan along with him.

"How about here?" Pat asked. "First tree I ever climbed on my own, got a lot of leverage."

"Perfect." Logan said, hoping he didn't sound too nervous. "How do we start?"

"Right, yeah, never done this before. Um..." Pat scanned the tree, probably looking for easy access. "See that knot there?" He asked, pointing. "Well," he let go of Logan's hand and ran to the tree, "you grab the branch here." He demonstrated. "Put your foot on the knot- or your knee if you can't reach," he rested his foot on the knot in the tree, "and pull yourself up." And then he was in the tree, grinning over at Logan. "C'mon, try it out."

"I don't think I have enough strength for that." Logan said.

"C'mon." Pat said. "You can at least try."

"I suppose..." Logan straightened his waistcoat and approached the tree like it was about to bite him. Pat laughed from his vantage point.

"You'll be fine, don't worry." He promised. "It's not that long of a drop and I'll catch you if you need help."

"Somehow, that doesn't reassure me." Logan muttered, making Pat burst into laughter again. He did as Pat had done but when he tried to pull himself up, he found himself stuck.

"Goddammit." He hissed and tried to pull himself up again. This time, he did manage to get his other foot of the floor but fell back the second he'd done anything. He stumbled back a few paces before regaining his balance.

"Hey, stop laughing." Pat put a hand over his mouth to try and stop his giggles. It didn't exactly work. "By order of the crown, I say stop." Logan said imperiously. This just made Pat laugh more. Logan rolled his eyes.

"It was worth a shot, at least." He said. "Can you help me up?"

"Course." Pat grinned. "C'mon, I won't have you living your life without having climbed a tree."

"Alright, alright, hold on." Logan grabbed the branch again and tried pulling himself up.

"Little help?" He asked, his voice strained with effort. Pat grinned just short of giggling and grabbed his hand, helping him pull himself up.

"There we go." Pat said when Logan was sat (almost) quite comfortably next to him. "That wasn't so hard."

"Speak for yourself." Logan grumbled. He brushed down his waistcoat, straightened his shirt and checked his cuff-links. Everything looked fine. At least, he hoped.

"Are we going higher?" Pat asked, gesturing up the tree. "It's basically like climbing a ladder until about halfway up. We can stop then."

"I suppose the only thing it could hurt is my pride." Logan said. His gaze met Pat's. "As long as you'd catch me, right?"

"Course." Pat said easily. "I'm not about to let my only friend get hurt." He grabbed the branch above them and pulled himself into a standing position. "C'mon. Race you?"

"Absolutely not." Logan said, trying to pull himself up without wobbling or looking down. "I'm not about to enter a race I could never win."

Pat laughed. "Fair." He grinned. "Let's go."

And now they're climbing fucking trees. I don't know what's going on but it's cute, okay?
Bye,
Blaize