"If the rain spoils our picnic, but saves a farmer's crop, who are we to say it shouldn't rain?" - Tom Barrett

It was a quiet day.

The true heat of summer had yet to arrive, and people were out in droves to enjoy Central Park. Yet there was an unconscious consensus to keep all the games and running and screaming elsewhere, and the noise of the city was kept out of mind.

Artemis walked hand in hand with Percy, carrying a covered picnic basket at her side. Nature's whisper carried in the lingering breeze, dancing around them as they followed the paths to a familiar maple tree near the lakeshore.

She pulled away the fur cover and handed it to Percy, who gave her a kiss on the cheek as payment. Smiling, Artemis set the basket down on the grass, stepped in close, and returned the kiss.

They parted holding the ends of the pelt, and placed it on the ground together. Sitting, Percy took the basket and set it between them.

"So what'd you not want to show me?" Percy opened the basket. He laughed. "I gotta say, I wasn't expecting this."

He pulled out a pair of sandwiches in waxy blue wrapping paper. Peeling the wrapper revealed the bread was dyed blue.

"Your mother helped." She took out the rest of the food: blue sports drinks, cool ranch Doritos, cupcakes with blue frosting.

Percy raised an eyebrow, peeling open the sandwich. "Is the bacon … blue?"

A spot of color appeared on Artemis's cheeks. "We tried our best."

Percy chuckled. "You know, as much as I like blue food, I don't think you should make every food blue."

Artemis smiled, sheepish. "I must admit I thought it'd look more appetizing."

"Well," Percy shrugged, talking around a bite. "Tastes better than it looks."

Given a nibble of her own sandwich, Artemis disagreed. So she kissed him on the cheek again.

It is a quiet day.

The full heat of summer is almost gone, ushered out with the coming night. Still, none come out to enjoy the garden and the sunset.

Percy lies on the pelt of an animal he doesn't recognize, a picnic basket holding only waste now at his feet. Artemis lies at an angle, resting her head in his lap. He watches the sky above shift colors, hands playing with Artemis's hair as she reads.

Nature's lullaby rustles in the blooming flowers, the savored, soothing sigh of a moment of peace.

"What do you think of a silver picnic?" Percy asks.

Artemis pauses. He knows she raises her eyebrow, even if he can't see it. "Regardless of the lack of silver food dye, I don't have an absurd liking for a specific color of food."

Percy pouts, placing a hand over his heart. "Ouch."

She's definitely rolling her eyes. And that's a flick to his side.

Percy sucks in a breath. "Right. That actually stings."

Artemis puts her book into the picnic basket and twists, kissing the spot she hit. "Better?"

"Much better." Percy takes her hand and Artemis slides up beside him, head resting on his arm.

"Maybe we could do green food," she says, looking deep into his eyes.

"I guess I could be vegetarian for a meal." Percy shrugs.

"Well, some raw meat can turn green-" Artemis laughs as she rolls away onto the grass before he can pin her down. She stands up. "Or we could just have a regular picnic."

"You started this whole thing, not me." Percy gets off the fur, and they fold it together. They share another kiss when they meet at the final fold.

Percy picks up the basket, and they link hands. They walk out of the Garden of Bacchus.

They walk home.