#dbdss2022

Happy Valentine's @alexpdcl !

Peaceful Escape

Claudette Morel x Jake Park

Word count: 1,238

Warnings: slight angst, but mostly fluff. I'm sorry if I get any botany information incorrect. I hope you enjoy!

The forest was eerily quiet with the occasional cawing of an occasional murder of crows that the sounds of leaves crunching underneath the footsteps of the couple walking below them. 

It was a rarity to have a peaceful moment for the both of them. Between the vicious cycle of being hunted by killers for morbid entertainment for the entity and the growing number of new victims- survivors- wandering inside the cruel realm to have a fate like them.

Jake walked with Claudette, hyper aware of the surroundings around the two of them. Although the killers aren't allowed to go close to the survivor camp, it wasn't uncommon to catch some of them watching the survivors from afar. Claudettes gloved hand gently held on to his larger hand as she slowly guided him over to a plant. 

"This right here is a Plantain plant."

Claudette starts, her free hand carefully touching the oval shaped leaves. Her eyes had that faint trace of joy that Jake noticed when she started teaching him about the various botany around them. Jake wished he was able to see that look of joy more than the look of fear and pain on her face. Jake turned his attention to where Claudette's hand was at. 

"This plant has had a lot of benefits. It's completely edible for one. It helps with a variety of common illnesses like nausea and coughing." 

She looks behind at Jake, noticing how much closer the quiet man was to her. His lighter colored eyes looked into her darker ones, Claudette had the familiar feelings of butterflies in her stomach. She felt her face become warm from her shy nature. 

Claudette wasn't used to having many people  actually have much interest in what she knows, let alone have an attractive boyfriend who wants to hear the love and passion she has for botany. Jake feels his own face heat up from seeing Claudette looking at him as he places his own hand on the plant carefully.

"What else do you know about this plant?"

Jake broke the silence, enjoying the way she is so willing to teach you what she knows without being judgmental. Claudette has taught Jake more about botany than any of his teachers and tutors could ever do for him when he was in school. 

"Well.. if you turn the leaves into a paste, it's good for various skin irritations like poison ivy, cuts and scrapes, and like Aloe plants: sunburns…  overall, this is one of the better plants that you can use to survive off of." 

Claudette speaks, the bashfulness she feels becomes more apparent to Jake as he moves a bit closer to her, looking at the details of the herb below them. 

They embraced the silence together for what seemed like minutes as Jake gently sat down with Claudette in his lap. The slightly cool wind gently kissed them as the couple took the peaceful moment to simply just be together without having to worry about the realm they're trapped in. 

Jake wasn't the physically affectionate kind of person, especially when other people were around him. But between the eerily quiet scenery surrounding them and the potential threat of the entity dragging them into another twisted game of cat and mouse, Jake couldn't help but to be protective over the quiet young woman. 

"Have you ever thought about what life's going to be like if we finally escape this hell?"

Claudette broke the soothing silence as she turned to face him. Jake would be lying if he said that he's never thought about going back to the life he had. He does miss his family, even his estranged father. After a few moments of silence, Jake responded.

"I do.. my mother would try to convince me to go back to civilization, graduate from school, and live a normal life. I'm not sure about my father to be honest.. we didn't end on a good note.." 

Between the many years that Jake and Claudette had known each other, they had confided in each other about their lives before they were taken. Claudette knows some of what Jake meant by being estranged from his father. 

"Me too.. I wonder if my family gave up looking for me.. my parents always knew that I wasn't like the other children.. they were shocked that I didn't even have one friend for my 8th birthday party.. My parents would be surprised that I'm in a relationship.."

Claudette gently places her head close to Jake's chest, hearing his quiet heartbeats as she tears up. Jake moves his free hand to gently wipe the stray tears on her cheek. It hurts him to see the woman he loves be upset yet he understands the situation the both of them were forced into. He fights back tears of his own as Jake presses his lightly chapped lips on Claudette's forehead. 

"The only good thing that has come from this whole thing is being with you. And the closeness i've grew to have with the other survivors." 

Jake admits as a crow gently landed on his shoulder. Although Jake sees the others as close friends, some of them as family to him; Claudette was his first love, his first friend in the fog. The crow softly caw at them, causing Claudette to look up at the crow.

"We can get through this together. I promise you that once we're out of here, we will live a normal, quiet life away from all of this." 

Jake attempts to lighten the mood as he gently picks the crow up from his shoulder, moving it towards Claudette with such gentleness.

"The crow is often misunderstood. Some people say that when a crow visits, it's a dark omen- even a death omen. But I see the crow as a misunderstood animal. They are mysterious and people tend to not understand something that they don't know much about."

Jake carefully guides Claudette's hand to pet on the crow, letting her feel the feathery texture of the smaller bird. The bird caws softly as Jake removes both hands from the crow before it flew back to the rest of the Murder of crows.

Claudette listens to Jake speak as her eyes look at the crow. Given Jake's calm spirit, the forest animals tend to be comfortable in his presence. That was another thing that Claudette loved about Jake, he has a calming aura around him that helps her soothe her anxiety. 

Claudette points towards another plant nearby, getting Jake's attention towards where she's pointing. 

"That dandelion over there is completely safe to eat. Amazing for a source of vitamins A through C. Almost every part of it is edible, especially when the flower blooms." 

Jake stared at the yellow flowers with the familiar white seeds towards the well used dirt path. Feeling Claudette shiver a bit from the cool wind, Jake took off his jacket, wrapping the thick material around her as his long sleeve thermal shirt kept him warm. 

Claudette burrowed herself into Jakes coat, taking in the warmth. 

Soft chattering between the couple could be heard from the familiar glowing eye of the auris as the observer took another shot of scotch that he obtained from another realm.