Lost

Meeting had Acai had accomplished at least one thing for Jacob: He had learned that dandelions were edible. After a cursory search online, he found her words to be quite true indeed and that there existed quite a few recipes that used them. Granted, Jacob had pictured someone eating the entire dandelion, yellow flower and all. Instead, as he learned, it was more about using the root or green stem of the plant. If nothing else, the thing could be used for tea.

Before he set out to meet Acai again at her flower shop--another thing he had to look up after failing to ask her about it--Jacob acquired himself a good bundle of dandelion greens and a nice box of the chocolate for her. He had promised her chocolate previously, and he had also learned of her derision towards acorns. In an effort to avoid any possible upset this time again, Jacob opted to buy a small box of assorted chocolates, sans any kind of nut.

He looked downright ready for a date, and he considered it a date of sorts. This time he was dressed nicely and not in his exercise clothes. So he must have looked odd stopping in front of her closed flower shop, waiting for a possible answer.

Acai? You there?"

After several attempts and no answer, Jacob backed off and wondered if she forgot or was still angry about the acorn incident. Both were completely viable, knowing Acai. But he was determined to find out which one the answer was, and started asking around.

It took only a few questions to a few people to get an idea of where she might have gone. There weren't a lot of people with dark skin like his and people remembered that. The trail lead to the park, and Jacob kicked himself for not thinking of it the first time around.

With his hopes up again, he readjusted the bag of dandelion greens, chocolate, and other ingredients on his arm and entered the park on a search for the odd, yet beautiful tree spirit girl.

One flock of birds of later, Jacob found her. She looked as happy and innocent as ever, and he could not help but smile as he watched her chirp at her little bird friends. He approached casually, not wanting to scare the birds or Acai, trying to wave and get her attention.

"Ahoy there. Mind if I join your flock?"

Jacob instinctively ducked as the birds took off in what could only be described as a swarm. Fortunately for him, they all simply flew overhead to somewhere else, and they held their food until they were far away from him. Standing back up, he watched the birds fly away with a bit of awe in his eyes. Acai had been in the middle of all those feathers, happy and without a care. She really was one with the natural world in a way that most people could only dream of.

However, he did feel a little bad about the other park patrons who received a surprise rain of bird poo. He really hoped they didn't trace it back to him and Acai and blame it on them.

"We could still be a flock. Just a smaller one."

With a bit more room to maneuver with the birds gone, Jacob could close the gap and take his seat next to Acai, setting the bag next to himself. He took a small handful of the seeds she offered and tried to do as she did, hoping that maybe the remaining birds wouldn't be too scared of him.

"I'm glad I found you, Acai. I went to your flower shop and you weren't there. Did our... date just slip your mind?"

He found the courage to actually call it a date, but kept his tone genuinely curious. There was no accusation in his voice. From what he already seen of her, Acai was a flighty young woman and he didn't put it past her to simply forget the date or be distracted by something else.

"We can't exactly cook the dandelions out here, y'know. And I have all the ingredients for a nice salad or something."

"You... I... got lost...?"

Acai's word heap required a bit of sifting and searching on Jacob's part. There were a few good seconds of quiet as he repeated her words a few times in his head, at varying speeds and with different emphases, trying to figure out what she was trying to say. Eventually, he took the words she left in a pile and ordered them in a way that resembled coherent speech.

"Oh! You got lost lookin' for me! I get it."

He too tossed out a few seeds for the birds, especially trying to get the white one to come a little closer.

"Well, I guess technically you don't cook a salad. But I guess I had, like, stir fry on the mind? I'm up for making a raw salad though. You're the expert on this."

For a split second, he thought he had stepped on her toes again by suggesting they cook the dandelions. But his fears were assuaged the moment she flung her arms around him for her customary affectionate hug. He did not waste any time in putting his own arms around her, giving her a nice squeeze. When she tried pulling away, however, as was her custom with greeting hugs, Jacob kept his arms loosely around her and tried keping ehr close as he smiled down at her.

"Hello to you too, Acai. Y'know you can hug me for longer than two seconds. I don't mind. If you like."

There was very little in the way of resistance when Acai chose to push away from his hug. Jacob's arms opened right up for her and let her leave his slightly-more-than-casual embrace with nary a tug. Her adamant refusal struck him down for a moment, but he quickly let the comment slide and got back to enjoying his time with her. It was as tough as ever to gauge how she felt about him, and he would have appreciated less obfuscation in matter. There was time, however, and he could still enjoy his odd time with her as a friend.

Jacob had never considered eating bird seed. He was no stranger to eating seeds as a snack or garnished on top of something else, but it had never occurred to him eat the stuff specially reserved for birds. He eyed his handful of seeds curiously as several birds eyed HIM anxiously for more.

"I've never eaten this kind. I guess there's no harm in tryin', right? You guys mind?"

He asked the birds before popping one into his own mouth. It was... seedy. Nothing too special he thought. Without salt it really didn't have any flavor.

"It's... Eh. I've had better. Speaking of which..."

The remaining handful of seed he set down for the birds and reached over to his bag, after brushing off any clingy seeds. Turning back to Acai, he showed her a small white box with a ribbon in it. He offered it to her.

"I brought more chocolate for you to try. This is the fancy stuff. Some of them have fillings!"

It was like a small version of the chocolate boxes couples bought each other on Valentines Day, only not heart-shaped and not quite so overtly romantic. Perhaps being a little overly cautious, Jacob chose to buy the assortment that didn't include any kind of nuts in it, for fear of dredging up the acorn incident.

"Nononono!"

He waved his hands about a little defensively.

"No. No acorns at all! Trust me! You have my word."

In an effort to show Acai that he was true to his word, he reached over and took her hand in his. Looping his pinky into her hand and around her own pinky, he gave them a little shake. Jacob was never sure how Acai would react to anything he did, especially if it was some kind of colloquial or cultural thing, but he thought that the sentiment would at least convey itself easily to her.

"See? Pinky swear that there's no acorns in that box or in my bag. No more acorns."

It still bothered him that she took so much offense at a simple nut. His curiosity demanded to know why, or maybe what the acorn represented to make her hate its presence. But that was obviously a highly personal question to be save for later.

Letting go of her pinky, Jacob reached once more into his bag and retrieved a pair of bundles of dandelions, bound by small rubber bands. Holding one in each hand, he held them up to her

"Well, I was hoping you could show me how you prepare and/or eat these. See. I got the fully dandelion here. And I got just the green stalks here. Just in case there was a specific need for either one. And then... Maybe we could go on that adventure we wanted from last time. Maybe I could take you on an adventure around the city!"