Falling Skies

Thirty Eight

So this is summer. The place where spring bleeds into the blaze of the sun and the colors of the earth explode into vivid greens and vibrant blues. Summer feels too arid to be true, so distant from the wet air outside of Haven and the soft ground their boots had treaded on long ago.

"Your hands okay there, buddy?" Jax jokes as he takes a seat next to December sprawled across a red-plaid blanket.

Wren had insisted they eat lunch outside today, rambling on about perfect clouds and blue skies in between scattered shėä phrases. It was an odd request, the idea of a lunch with someone who couldn't eat. Yet the excitement in Wren's eyes was something December couldn't turn down at the time. Yet now, as he glances at Wren cradled into Ryder's arm, a part of him wishes he had come up with a better excuse than just working.

The manila folder lays on the plaid blanket beside him, a rock holding down the files from the aggressive breeze that slides into the field from the nearby cliff points. He grasps a few of the pages in his hands, red marks scribbled over black ink as he works tirelessly. His  attempts to block out the sight of the two boys cast off on their own already proving to be futile.

"I'm fine." December feigns. "It was just an accident, but I actually have some work to do so..."

The message flies over Jax's head as he falls into the plaid blanket, hands resting behind his head and feet crossed as he stares into the azure sky. "You're not allowed to work anymore-

"Celeste told me-"

"Celeste isn't here." Jax interrupts, body flying upright before snatching the papers from December's grasp. "We are in probably the happiest place in the entire kingdom and you have your nose buried in depressing paperwork. Plus you haven't eaten a single sandwich!" He adds on, voice somehow more distressed about the food than the paperwork.

December can only laugh at the other boy's actions, one of the few genuine laughs he's let out in his nineteen years of life. Perhaps there is something about this field that fills one with happiness, a light December hasn't felt in years tugging away at him until he finally decides to give in. "Fine," he laughs, injured hands grabbing a fistful of grass with a childlike joy. "maybe this is the happiest place in the kingdom and I should ease up on the work a bit. If Celeste gets mad I'm blaming it on you though."

"See?" Jax speaks between chews, mouth full of bread as he digs into the wicker basket in front of them. "It's impossible to be angry in the soul bloom fields."

So that's what these are... the large flowers that surround the group in neat rows, divided by patches of plain grass housing benches and gazebos. It appears more like a park than anything else, groups of people audible from far off though the vast blooms shield them from view. Their appearance is closer to that of cabbages or pumpkins than flowers, large buds that grow close to the earth connected to one another by thick green vines. Each plant is surrounded by colossal leaves that nearly encase the bloom entirely, only a few peaks of white petal visible from between the thick foliage.

Their presence leaves December with an odd discomfort, body instinctively drawing away from the large bloom beside him. Jax seems to notice the movement, a sandwich filled hand coming up to stifle his laugh before explaining.

"Don't worry, the babies don't know you're there, they aren't really conscious until their petals are unwrapped. You're a doctor though, so I can understand why the concept would freak you out."

"Are you guys okay over there?" The voices falls from the nearest empty patch, Ryder and Wren placed on their own plaid blanket in the nearby clearing. "December, you look awful." Ryder adds, a short laugh escaping him with the comment.