Inca rescued Gabrielle from tumbling down a steep hill on a hike today. She did allow her to put her hand inside a hole in the ground, but only because Inca knew that there were no snakes inside. I am beginning to see what she meant about people like Gabrielle teaching an angel to move quickly.
I was there on Gabrielle’s outdoor adventure with her friends because for the first time since we met her, her boyfriend Nick was with them, having come into town to visit Gabrielle for the weekend.
“How far are we going to go?” he asked after about an hour, trying breathlessly to keep up.
Gabrielle stopped to look back at him from the head of the group. “As far as we want to. You’re not tired already, are you?”
“Oh, no, of course not,” he said, waving her on. He is a small man, with a physique not suited to physical exertion, but his eyes and heart light up at the sight of Gabrielle, so I was not surprised that he joined the group.
Gabrielle’s friend Victoria fell back to walk beside him. “Don’t worry, she’ll get tired or bored soon, and then we’ll go get milkshakes,” she assured him. She is a quiet woman with a soft smile, who according to Inca is one of the few people whose “no” Gabrielle will heed.
“Oh, I know,” Nick said with a smile. “I just wish it would happen sooner—and so do my knees!”
They walked on, Nick puffing along, Victoria setting a pace that would not strain him, but kept them in view of Gabrielle and the rest of the group.
“How long have you known Gabby?” she asked after a while.
“Ages,” Nick said, a fond smile coming to his face. “We were friends in elementary school. I even sent her one of those nerdy notes that said, ‘Do you like me?’ and a single checkbox for ‘yes’.”
Victoria’s eyebrows went up. “How did she respond to that?”
“I think she ate it, actually.” They laughed together. “Gabrielle was herself even then.”
“She says sweet things about you now,” Victoria said. “So you’ve come up in the world.”
“Well, I hope so,” Nick said, and behind those words I saw a bittersweet uncertainty. He loves Gabrielle, but he is not sure of what she feels for him.
I went to Gabrielle then, trying to find out that very thing. She was puffing slightly, having run up a steep path to get to a place where the trees opened up, and a slope coated with golden grass hissed and shifted in the wind, reflecting sunlight like flashes from waves. It filled her with joy to see it, much as it did me.
But then one of her other friends asked a question, and immediately Gabrielle’s attention was diverted. She talked about school with full, fervent irritation, then gasped aloud when another of her friends told her that her dog was having puppies. She is like a firefly, flitting from one thing to another, bringing her own glow to it all. I think, however, that also like certain fireflies, when she remains still, she sits in darkness. Perhaps that is why she is always moving.
It was later in the afternoon, after the prophesied weariness caused Gabrielle to lead her group back down the hill, that Victoria caught up with her. “So Nick,” she said without any elaboration.
Gabrielle’s reaction puzzled me. During the hike, she had blazed brilliantly for the sight of a cardinal, the laughter of one of her friends, and the views she had seen. But Nick’s name did not set off the same reaction. Instead, it was a low, deep burn that she felt, all but hidden under an aura that was suddenly blankly innocent. I couldn’t tell whether the feeling was happy or uneasy, or perhaps some combination of both. “That’s right, you haven’t met him before! Nick and Vic,” she said, laughing. “What did you think?”
“He’s nice. You’ll walk all over him, of course.”
“Of course,” Gabrielle said, laughing.
Victoria, who knows Gabrielle well, watched her friend’s face. “He doesn’t seem as sure as you are that this is forever.”
That genuinely surprised Gabrielle, and she blinked at Victoria for a moment before stopping short and going back along the path to find Nick. “Nick, Victoria tells me I’ve been neglecting you,” she said, slipping her hand into the crook of Nick’s arm.
He glanced at Victoria, also surprised—he had gotten the impression that Victoria didn’t like him. “Well, anything that brings you back to me is okay with me,” he said, looking back at Gabrielle.
Then I saw the bright happiness in her, rising up like coiling steam. “You know,” she said softly, leaning her face close to his, “when you say things like that, I go all gooey inside.” She kissed him, though she kept walking while she did so, and Inca had to jump forward to keep them both from stumbling over an uneven patch of stones.
So I am unsure. She is certainly not wholeheartedly invested in this relationship—something keeps her from giving Nick her all as he seems to have done already. But she does have a true affection for him. Perhaps that could be enough for her. I will have to watch more closely to see the truth. It seems that for Cupids as well as Guardians, this particular charge will be a challenge, but I think for me, slow movements will be the way to go.